The family feasts are finished and the parades wound down. We have gathered together to celebrate our blessings and the abundance in our lives.
This Thanksgiving and in the upcoming holiday season, please remember those who are less fortunate with a lasting Gift of Hope to the World Food Programme.
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Fed up with the same old, tired pumpkin pie for dessert? This year try something deliciously different and sure to be an unforgettable finish to the holiday meal.
Celebrity cookbook author DeDe (pronounced Day-Day) Wilson took time recently to share her fantastic take on the traditional pie - Amaretto-Almond Crunch Pumpkin Pie. Creamy classic pumpkin custard shot through with Amaretto and topped with a luscious Amaretti-Almond streusel, this pie is bursting with flavor and texture.
Wilson, who loves to cook everything, but has an affinity for decadent desserts, says her recipes are for anyone who is interested in the art of baking.
"I'm self-taught," says Wilson. "I grew up in a family with a mother and father who loved to cook. Everything was from scratch and authentic international ingredients. I didn't realize that this was educating my palate. You can do this."
Her recipe is easy as pie and straight from her recently published dessert cookbook, Unforgettable Desserts (Wiley, Hardcover, October 2009i, $29.99).
serves 8 to 10
To use current parlance, my BFF is a fabulous woman named Juanita Plimpton. She is not a cook—but she is an amazing taster and is able to consistently give me extremely helpful critiques. On one occasion she provided me with an entire concept. “Why not,” she asked, “create a pumpkin pie with the flavors of almond and amaretto?” I never would have come up with this myself—and she was right. This is sensational in flavor as well as texture. Picture a fairly classic pumpkin pie flavored with a shot of amaretto liqueur, topped with a crunchy blend of amaretti cookies and almonds—almost a streusel. The juxtaposition of creamy pumpkin custard and ultracrisp topping is unexpected and exciting.
20 Lazzaroni Amaretti di Saronno cookies
¼ cup blanched sliced almonds
1 recipe Double Butter Piecrust (recipe below), chilled and ready to roll out
One 15-ounce can pure solid-pack pumpkin
¾ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons Disaronno Amaretto
For the topping: Crumble the cookies by hand into a small bowl. The pieces should be about ¼-inch chunks, more or less. Toss with the almonds; set aside.
1 ) Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Coat a 9 x 1¼-inch tempered glass pie plate with nonstick spray.
2 ) Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a 13-inch round. Transfer to the pie dish. Fold the edge under, and crimp decoratively into a high border. Line with foil and weights and blind-bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until just beginning to color. Remove the foil and weights. Bake until the crust is tinged very light brown, pressing with the back of a fork if the crust bubbles, about 5 minutes longer. Transfer to a rack. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F.
For the filling: scrape the pumpkin into a food processor fitted with the metal blade attachment. Process for 15 seconds; scrape down the sides and process for 15 seconds more. Pulse in the brown sugar, spices, and salt until combined. Pulse in the eggs one at a time until blended, scraping down once or twice if necessary. Pulse in the cream and liqueur. Finish off by processing for 5 seconds to smooth out the mixture. Pour the filling into the crust. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the filling.
Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until the filling is set around the edges, and quivers in the center when you gently shake the pie dish. Cool the pie plate on a rack. The pie is best served the day it is made.
Store at room temperature, loosely covered with foil.
After years of making piecrust in a variety of ways I have come to prefer an all-butter crust made in the food processor with ice water. The flavor is exceptional, and since the metal blade is so sharp and fast, it cuts the chilled butter in quickly, yielding a flaky textured crust. The proportions are quite typical, and if you do not have a food processor, feel free to make it by hand. In either case take care not to overwork it.
Ingredients
2½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
4 to 6 tablespoons ice-cold water
To make with a food processor:
Put the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade attachment and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse on and off until it forms a very coarse meal; there might be pockets of butter that are larger, which is fine. Drizzle in the smaller amount of water through the feed tube and pulse until the dough is moistened and just holds together if squeezed. Add additional water only if necessary.
To make by hand:
Whisk together the flour and salt in a medium bowl to blend. Add the butter and cut in, using a pastry blender or two knives, until the fat is cut into approximately ⅛-inch pieces. Sprinkle the smaller amount of water over the flour mixture and toss with fingers or a fork until evenly moistened and the dough just holds together if squeezed. Add additional water only if necessary.
To continue for either technique:
Gather the dough into one or two balls and flatten into a disk or disks. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days. It may also be frozen for 1 month, in which case, protect it further by placing in a
zipper-top bag; defrost in the refrigerator overnight. Let the dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.
Bouchon Bakery New York (10 Columbus Circle, NY, NY, 212.823-9364) is serious when it comes to dessert.
But the busy bakers know how to have fun too and they're dreaming up new holiday goodies to add to their delicious favorites.
Inspired by the boulangeries and patisseries of Paris, restaurateur Thomas Keller created his Bouchon bakeries to provide bread for his restaurants and add a "layer of cafe life" to the communities they serve. The bakeries are perfect for a relaxed cafe lunch, to pick up a sumptuous dessert for your next celebration or simply to soothe a sweet craving.
Doughnuts are their newest delight to bite on weekends - a best kept secret no more - and, of course, the bakers have taken the tricks out of trick or treat.
With Halloween just around the corner, we're sure you'll be 'batty' about at least one of these whimsical treats!
Bat TKOs – A Bouchon Bakery Halloween favorite; crisp, bat-shaped chocolate cookies filled with sweet white chocolate ganache
Pumpkin Brittle – This classic brittle is fused with pumpkin seeds to highlight the flavors of the season
Hours:
Retail
Monday - Saturday, 8am to 9pm
Sunday, 8am to 7pm
Cafe
Monday - Saturday,
11:30am to 9pm
Sunday, 11:30am to 7pm
Entertaining can be a ghastly chore.
We recommend enlisting a few good-natured ghouls to transform the typical Halloween party into a frightfully fun floating costume and dinner party.
Plot each stop on your creepy crawl to cover the evening's menu from cocktails to dessert. Everyone is happy because the grim work is distributed so all have a chance to enjoy treats minus the tricks.
Allow at least an hour at each location.
Jump start the evening with Jello Jigglers laced with gummy body parts and vodka. Hostess with the Mostess shows you how and even shares a recipe for the teetotalers and the kids.
Like your refreshments liquid? Try this tart and tangy Italian Halloween Punch made with orange juice, limoncello and maraschino cherry liqueur. The traditional Italian liqueurs make this punch perfectly bewitching.
Finger foods (and eerie eyeballs) make for some mighty interesting munchies. The hauntingly healthy and deliciously decadent Halloween snacks at FamilyFun.com are scary and satisfying.
These may be a little kitschy, but Betty Crocker's Cheese Pumpkins make the classic cheeseball cute as can be.
Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories throws a new twist on an old fav with Eyeball Caprese. Taste of Home has tons of appetizer recipes but what grabbed us were the Cajun inspired Crunchy Monsters' Claws.
Epicurious makes your meal monstrous with a saucy Yummy Mummy Meatloaf. For more ghoulish grub, try these Baked Bones chocked full of ricotta cheese and tomato sauce. For something savory and very unscary, try Pumpkin Stew with a recipe from Taste of Home.
The great pumpkin wouldn't mind winding up in this rich dessert, Pumpkin Sour Cream Cheesecake, garnished with crystallized ginger strips. Bubble, bubble toil and trouble no more with these Witches Hats in the guise of old fashioned brownie a la mode.
Finish the evening with a sweet and silky Garish Ghostini from Celebrations.com or toast the Headless Horseman with an Apocalypse, a warm and toasty hot chocolate laced with Southern Comfort.
The upcoming holiday season means loads of family dinners, entertaining and parties. Home cooks - neophyte and expert alike - need inspiration and guidance to create memorable menus that will become holiday traditions for years to come.
We've compiled a list of new cookbooks from culinary experts that are great references for any occasion.
These new essentials belong on your kitchen shelf.
Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade: Cocktail Time by Sandra Lee
Wiley, Paperback
192 pages
October 2009
$17.95
Just about any fan of Sandra Lee's long-time hit Food Network show Semi-Homemade Cooking will tell you their favorite part of the show is "cocktail time." Yet until now, Sandra has never written a book devoted to cocktail recipes and tasty and easy appetizers to serve with them. The tall, narrow format is also new to for Sandra Lee, a slim volume perfect for keeping handy at the bar or kitchen island for mixing up drinks for friends. Cocktail Time is an entertaining guide for real homemakers who enjoy the company of family and friends.
New American Table
by Marcus Samuelsson
Wiley, Hardcover
Marcus Samuelsson is celebrated and adored for his innovative, distinctive cuisine. This promises to be his best book yet with 300+ recipes inspired by the American melting pot accompanied by enticing food and sweeping travel photography from his journeys across America.
Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking: Traditional and Modern Recipes to Savor and Share by Paula Wolfert
Wiley, Hardcover
October 2009
$34.95
A one-of-a-kind cookbook showcasing modern and authentic clay pot cooking from the premier expert on Mediterranean cuisines. Paula Wolfert is legendary for her expertise on and explorations of Mediterranean cooking. Now, Wolfert shares her inimitable passion for detail and insatiable curiosity about cultural traditions and innovations, with Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking. She shares 150 recipes featuring soups, fish and shellfish, poultry, meats, pasta and grains, vegetables and beans, pies and breads, eggs and dairy, and desserts.
New Classic Family Dinners: More Than 200 Everyday Recipes and Menus from the Award-Winning Campanile Restaurant by Mark Peel with Martha Rose Shulman
Wiley, Hardcover
September 2009
$34.95
Award-winning chef Mark Peel has made "Family Dinner Night" a favorite at his Los Angeles restaurant, Campanile. Culled from more than ten years of these menus, New Classic Family Dinners features upscale twists on everyone’s favorite classic comfort food dishes. For more than ten years, acclaimed chef Mark Peel has used Campanile's Monday night dinner menus to present his own special takes on popular comfort food dishes like eggplant parmesan and beef goulash. In New Classic Family Dinners, he shares recipes for more than 200 of his best-ever versions of family favorites such as Macaroni and Cheese with Wild Mushrooms, Steak with Anchovy Butter, and Monkfish Osso Bucco.
Pasta Sfoglia: From Our Table to Yours, More than 100 Fresh, Seasonal Pasta Dishes by Ron Suhanosky and Colleen Suhanosky
Wiley, Hardcover
224 pages
October 2009
$29.95
Anyone Can Cook: Step-by-Step Recipes Just for You
by Better Homes and Gardens
480 pages
Wiley Hardcover, Spiral bound
September 2009
$24.95
A new kind of cookbook for a new generation of cooks, this book's highly visual and interactive elements literally show consumers step by step how to cook. There's everything from comfort food to world flavors in the more than 550 recipes. Although tailored for the novice, the seasoned cook will enjoy and appreciate it too. This new edition now contains a bonus DVD with instructional how-to videos and step-by-step demonstrations.
Unforgettable Desserts: More than 140 Memorable Dessert Recipes for All Year Round by Dede Wilson
Wiley, Hardcover
304 pages
November 2009
$29.95
For bakers and home cooks of all skill levels, Unforgettable Desserts shows how to create grand finales that look and taste as if they were bought at a posh patisserie. Many of the recipes are deceptively simple, such as the gorgeous Matcha Tea Leaf Shortbread and the amazing Hot Chocolate Truffle Bombs, made with just three ingredients. Others are more adventurous, such as the Chocolate-Glazed Marzipan Cake with Cognac-Soaked Apricots. Filled with surprises for the eye as well as the palate, the desserts you make from this book will be sure to keep guests talking long after the party is over. An ideal resource for holidays, birthdays, or any special occasion, Unforgettable Desserts
Rose’s Heavenly Cakes
by Rose Levy Beranbaum
Wiley, Hardcover
512 pages
September 2009
$39.95
Rose Levy Beranbaum, "most meticulous cook who ever lived," follows up her definitive IACP cookbook of the year, The Cake Bible, one of the bestselling cookbooks of all time, with a simplified approach to cakes and lighter results for contemporary tastes. Nearly 200 fresh and easy cake recipes appear for today's baker, and a stunning package features 4-color photography throughout the book. Rose shows you how to create everything from Heavenly Coconut Seduction Cake, Golden Lemon Almond Cake, and Devil's Food Cake with Midnight Ganache to Orange-Glow Chiffon Layer Cake, Mud Turtle Cupcakes, and Deep Chocolate Passion Wedding Cake.
You can borrow the witches' chant from Shakespeare's MacBeth—"Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble!"—as you stir these special Halloween punches from The Culinary Institute of America (CIA).
Young boys and ghouls will love to add the candied worms and other sweet creepies to the Ghoulish Gummy Punch below, a tasty concoction filled with healthy fruit juices.
For a special trick, add candy that fizzes to their glasses before you fill them up.
Treat those of drinking age to delicious Tea Punch. Made with Green Tea or any other type of tea you prefer, the combination of rums and simple syrup will surely please your guests.
Ghoulish Gummy Punch
Yield: 1/2 gallon
Nutritional analysis without candy per cup: 130 calories, 0 grams protein, 32 grams carbohydrate, 0 grams fat, 0 milligrams cholesterol, 20 milligrams sodium.
Tea Punch
Yield: 1/2 Gallon
Combine
the rums, lemon juice, Green Tea, and simple syrup in a punch bowl. Adjust
sweetness to taste by adding more simple syrup. Add ice or dry ice to
cool.
Simple syrup: Combine 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup sugar in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Remove pan from heat and cool to room temperature.
Nutritional analysis per cup: 160 calories, 0 grams protein, 7 grams carbohydrate, 0 grams fat, 0 milligrams cholesterol, 0 milligrams sodium.
Knackerli
Makes 24 Knackerli
Melt the chocolate over a double boiler.
Spoon the chocolate or fill a parchment cone with the chocolate and pipe 1-in disks (1 teaspoon per disk) onto a parchment-lined sheet pan.
Arrange 1 pistachio, 1 dried cherry or cranberry, 1 piece of dried apricot, and 1 piece of slivered almond onto each disk of chocolate.
Let the chocolate fully set before removing the disks from the parchment paper.Notes: The
chocolate can be piped in larger or smaller disks, if desired. Any type of nuts
or dried fruit can be substituted for the pistachios, dried cranberries, and
apricots.
When making Knackerli, it is important to remember that the size of the nuts
and dried fruits corresponds to the size of the chocolate disk and that the
colors and flavors complement each other.
Chef's Note: When preparing
Knackerli, work in small batches so that the chocolate disks don't set before
you've had a chance to garnish them. For Halloween, you can add candy corn
kernels or make ghosts using white chocolate and dark chocolate chips.
Nutritional analysis per 16-ounce candy: 80 calories, 1 gram protein, 12 grams carbohydrate, 3.5 grams fat, 0 milligrams
cholesterol, 0 milligrams sodium.
No time to make a costume for the Halloween parade or party?
Need inspiration?
Buy.com has a huge range of costumes, masks, make-up and accessories ready to wear.
With a quick click of your mouse, Halloween tricks and treats will be on their way to you.
Whether a superhero, a celebrity, a monarch or an old-fashioned ghoul, there is a costume to fit every budget.
Give the grown-ups a treat this Halloween.
While the kids fill their loot bags and bob for apples, the big kids get their own nostalgic treat - a candy apple martini.
Chambord Candy Apple Martini
1 oz Chambord Black Raspberry LiqueurSplash of Tuaca Liqueur
Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a martiniUsually when I grill, I get this overwhelming desire to throw every meat imaginable on the fire.
Lately, however, I've taken a more single-minded approach. I'm thinking about simplicity, about the beauty of a classic: the burger.
For the Fourth of July, when the skies cloud with blue and aromatic smoke all across these United States, I wanted to share a few burger recipes that I'll be sampling in my quest for the perfect juicy all-meat patty.
I love the rich flavor of lamb and what could be cooler and fresher than a chutney of English cucumber, yogurt and mint. (Epicurious)
Leave it to Emeril to kick it up a notch. Here's Lagasse's Tuna Burger for the seafood lovers in your crowd.
Of course, the doyenne of domesticity, Martha Stewart, weighs in with this big Best Beef Burger packing little more than the ground chuck. This all-beef biggie is the one for the purists.
Finally, for the artist lurking in the dark heart of my little kitchen, the Scratch Burger. Labor intensive, this recipe takes on every tiny detail from grinding the beef fresh to making the perfect bun. (The Washington Post).
Get Dad the tools he needs for culinary adventures this Father's Day.
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