Shutterfly Photo Book Giveaway

one of the recipes in my Shutterfly photo book: Lemon-Blueberry Muffins

One Christmas, many, many years ago (way back when everyone shot film - remember that?), I had wanted to make a recipe book for my sister as a Christmas gift. 

Of course, I wanted the recipe book to have photos, and with my usual poor holiday planning leaving just a few weeks until the big day, that meant quickly making the food, shooting photos, having those photos developed, scanning them, creating a layout in Photoshop, and then finding a way to print and bind the book that wasn't going to be cheesy. 

I know that this will shock you, but despite my best intentions, no homemade recipe book did my sister receive.


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Apple-Cinnamon Crostata

We're all down to the last hours of preparation for the big Thanksgiving feast, so I'll keep this quick and to the point. Crostata, the Italian relative of the French galette, is a rustic tart that provides all of the flakiness of a good pie, only without the blind baking process.

From the time you start mixing the dough until the moment the crostata emerges from the oven, it will take around an hour and 45 minutes. Twenty minutes or so to make the dough and get the apples sliced up, 30 minutes while the dough rests and apples macerate, another 10 minutes to roll out the dough and fill it, and 40 to 45 minutes for baking.

To speed things up further, you could use frozen puff pastry dough, and keep the crostata more rectangular than oval in shape.

See? Very flaky.

Apple-Cinnamon Crostata, serves 12 to 16

Dough:

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into pea-sized pieces

8 tablespoons (1/2 cup) cold shortening, cut into pea-sized pieces

3/4 cup to 1 cup cold water

Apple filling:

6 medium apples (approximately 2 pounds), peeled, cored, and cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch slices

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup raisins (optional), soaked in warm water for 10 minutes and drained before being added to the apple mixture

Cream wash and sugar for sprinkling:

2 tablespoons light cream or milk to brush over the crust before baking

1 tablespoon turbinado sugar for dusting the crust

In a large bowl, combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt, mixing well to distribute all of these dry ingredients. 

Add the butter and shortening to the flour mixture. Work the flour from the bottom of the bowl up to the top, distributing the butter and shortening pieces evenly throughout the flour mix. Gently squash any larger-than-pea-sized pieces of butter or shortening you come across.

Using a fork, add the ice-cold water a tablespoon at a time until the dough just comes together. Form the dough into a ball.

Place a piece of plastic wrap of approximately 9-by-12 inches on your work surface. Turn the dough out onto the plastic wrap, and flatten it into a thick round. Cover the dough round with the plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the apples, sugar, and cinnamon, and set them aside so that the apples can macerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Get out your 10-by-15 inch rimmed baking sheet.

Roll the dough out on a lightly floured piece of parchment paper that is slightly larger than your 10-by-15 inch baking sheet. 

I typically use the plastic wrap from the refrigerator resting time to cover the top of the dough while rolling it out, as I think it works a little better than dusting the rolling pin with flour.

Working from the center of the dough round, roll out the dough to a misshapen rectangle approximately 10-by-15 inches. 

Once the dough is rolled out, remove the plastic wrap from the top of the dough, some bits of dough will stick to the plastic wrap, but our crostata is rustic, so don't fret over a little thing like that.

Slide the parchment paper with the dough onto the baking sheet, add the plumped raisins to the apple mixture, stir well, then fill the dough with the apples.

Place the apples and their accumulated juices in the middle of the misshapen dough rectangle, spreading the apples around so that there is a 1-inch apple-free border of dough. Working from the long sides first, fold the dough border back over the apples, then fold the dough border on the short ends over the apples, tucking the corners up and over the dough to seal the apples in, leaving a center of exposed apples.

Pour the cream or milk into a small bowl, then brush it over the crust. Sprinkle the crust with the turbinado sugar, and bake until the crust is golden brown and the apples are bubbling, 40 to 45 minutes. Remove the crostata from the oven and allow it to cool for 15 minutes before slicing away. 

 

While we're talking crostatas, galettes, tarts, and desserts, if you're looking for a savory tart for the holiday (or for after the holiday), try Alison Lewis' fabulous-looking beetroot, goat cheese, and hazelnut tart, and if you're looking for something a little sweeter, perhaps with bourbon and chocolate (yowza!), check out Rebecca Lang's Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Sweet and Spicy Candied Butternut Squash

A couple weeks ago, while prepping my wares (and foodstuffs, too) to teach a cooking class at the very lovely Hotel Providence (with an incredibly fun group of students and the amazing ladies of Hotel Providence, Trish and Sarah, assisting), I realized that I needed to gather some ingredients for our day-of-class lunch salad.

Being squash-obsessive as I am, there was plenty of butternut squash stashed in the pantry, so I peeled one, sliced it thinly, drizzled it with olive oil, coated it in honey, and added a little crushed red pepper and fresh thyme to the mix.

On the day of the class, the squash was such a hit both with and without the greens that I should have doubled the recipe (this is a warning, please heed it if you and yours also love squash).

I've made this no fewer than four times in the last week (I did say we had plenty of butternut squash on hand, you'll remember), have eaten it as a side dish, and with greens, goat cheese, dried cranberries, and walnuts in a salad. I have also eaten it as a snack before dinner, and might have had a slice after coffee the other morning.

And no, I am not sick of it. Much to the contrary, my friend. Much to the contrary.

In fact, I feel compelled to make this for our Thanksgiving turkey-in-a-hole-in-the-ground feast - a feast for which (sidenote alert, in the event that the dash after "feast" and before "a" didn't give it away) JR and I raised the turkey, all 36 pounds of him. We're a little proud of this, as he is a beauty. The owner of the slaughter facility even made a point of telling us both what a nice looking turkey we had raised after it was dressed out, fueling the flames of our homesteader geek-pride. End sidenote.

Annnnnd...back to the butternut. Let's make it, shall we? The solid pieces of squash from its neck are easier to cut thin, so be sure to look for a squash with a long neck to make your butternut slicing life less taxing.

Once you have a long-necked squash, cut the neck crosswise into smaller sections, then cut those sections in half lengthwise, so that you have half-round chunks of butternut squash. This will make the slicing safer, as you'll have a flat side of the squash to place securely down on your cutting board.

oooooh - sparkly.

Sweet and Spicy Candied Butternut Squash
Serves 4 to 6 (2 to 3 if your peeps go crazy for it, which might undermine the value aspect, but, heck, it is a holiday, after all)


(1) 3- to 4-pound squash with a long neck. Peel the bad boy, scoop out the seeds, follow the tips above about divvying up the neck, then slice the squash crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces.
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two 9- by 13-inch rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, toss the squash, olive oil, honey, thyme, and crushed red pepper flakes together. Pour the squash onto the baking sheets so that they are in a single layer. Season the squash with pepper.

Roast until the squash cooked through and is easily pierced with a fork, and is just starting to brown at the edges, 40 to 45 minutes, turning the squash over 20 minutes into the cooking time.

Toward the end of the cooking time (35 minutes into it, or so), peek in on the squash to be sure that the pieces closest to the edge of the pan aren't over-browning. Thin slices and those at the edges can cross the line from candied to burnt and blackened, a la overcooked campfire marshmallows, quickly at the end of the cooking time, so if some slices appear to be significantly darker than other slices, move them to the middle of the pan or remove those darker slices from the oven.

Serve the butternut squash forth, either as a side dish, or as an addictive salad topping.

Estimated cost for candied butternut squash: $6.84, or $1.71 per serving for 4 people, $1.14 for six people. The butternut squash costs 79-cents per pound, so 4 pounds is $3.16. The olive oil is your everyday cooking olive oil, so that should cost no more than 12-cents per tablespoon, 24-cents for this dish. It would be great if the honey used was local honey, and at around $8.00 for 16-ounces, with 1.375 tablespoons per ounce, 4 tablespoons will cost us $2.75. If using supermarket brands, the cost will be around half of that, so $1.38. We'll use the higher cost for the tally, just to be on the safe side. The crushed red pepper flakes should cost around 3-cents, though if you like a little more heat, you could increase the measurement to 1/4 teaspoon for 6-cents. It would be great if you had bought a thyme plant and grew it in a pot that you're now keeping indoors, as the $4.00 for the plant at the beginning of the season would have more than paid off by now, but if not, you'll be using no more than a quarter of a package of fresh thyme that costs $2.49, or 63-cents.

What are You Making for Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving is, by far, my favorite holiday, and I know that I'm not alone in this. The food, the lack of pressure (well, the no-gifts pressure. there may be some pressure to provide good food), and for our family, the bonfire (!) all combine to make this the best day of the year.

Because you probably don't cook your turkey the way that we cook our turkey, which is in a hole in the ground, if you're looking for tips on how to roast a turkey, Aimee from Simple Bites has an excellent tutorial filled with hard-earned tips. She once spent a summer as a resort chef and roasted 22 turkeys over the course of 11 weeks. I think this makes her an expert on the subject, don't you?

However, if you're looking for bread, appetizers, sides, and desserts, there are more than a few options scattered throughout this site. To make it a little easier to track down some of my favorites, here they are, in handy, photographic form.

The first thing I'll be making in my Thanksgiving prep is cranberry sauce. I've tried many variations on the theme, but this is the sauce that has emerged victorious. Even die-hard jarred jellied-sauce fans like this one:

 

Bonus: the cranberry sauce can be made over the weekend and kept refrigerated for up to a week. It also pairs nicely with cheese - appetizer and condiment all in one. Thank you, double-duty chutney.

You may also need a breakfast option, particularly if you have house guests. I'm partial to the scones, though you really can't go wrong with pancakes (real maple syrup! butter! any excuse to have the two together!).

If you've been put in charge of bread, either focaccia (substitute dried cranberries and walnuts tucked into the dough for the potato, rosemary, and lemon juice in the posted recipe) or oatmeal bread are good choices.

If you're the designated appetizer-maker, perhaps some buttery broiled oysters would be your thing? If not, how's about some caramelized onion dip, or this super-easy-though-always-a-hit caramelized onion tart (we're on a caramelized onion roll, here, it seems)?

It's always difficult to decide what sides to make, though Mom's Stuffing (Mom's mushy stuffing. There, I said it.) is a must.

For a little change of pace - and because I'll be making a cousin to candied yams, sweet and spicy candied butternut squash, this year - sweet potato cakes are another possible side.

 

Speaking of candied butternut, I'll be posting the recipe for that over the weekend. It's quick and easy, and quite addictive, so if the idea of squash with a kick intrigues you, you may want to put a butternut squash on your shopping list. I'm just sayin'.

butternut about to be cooked to a candied state

If you have my book, the Roasted Carrots with Thyme, Roasted Garlic Collard Greens, Roasted Beets with Caramelized Beet Greens and Orange-Walnut Pesto, and Cider-Braised Fennel are all good veggie side-dish options, and the Israeli Cous Cous with Chickpeas and Almonds or Smashed Sugar-Roasted Sweet Potatoes are substantial sides that also pair well with turkey.

If you'd prefer to go altogether meat-free, this roasted root vegetable pot pie is a hearty, flavorful option:

And - of course - no Thanksgiving would be complete without dessert. This apple cake does double-duty as breakfast, and, well, you know - so does the pumpkin tiramisu, now that I think about it.

 

I haven't yet posted this recipe, but, it, too, is coming. Apple Crostata - easy and feeds a crowd. Oh, and it too doubles as a breakfast item. Hmmmmm. How about that? Now that this trend has been exposed, I have to admit that in my world, pretty much any dessert could double as breakfast. Hello, flourless chocolate cake, you'll be a perfect match for this espresso, nice to see you here this morning. 

Only there isn't a flourless chocolate cake on the Thankgiving menu. Yet.

What are you making this Turkey Day? What are your family's favorites or must-haves? And are there any that you wish would go away?

Butternut Squash-Butter Sauce with Kerrygold Reduced Fat Butter

About five years ago, I took a class in cheese studies. This is an actual university course (albeit continuing education), and when the course ended, those of us who passed the final exam received certificates in Cheese Studies (initial caps intended).

Probably unsurprising if you've been reading here for a while, I'm proud to say that I am a Cheese Studies certificate holder and, of course, a cheese aficionado, thank you very much. My certificate might not have any real practical application, but it does help in the appreciation of cheese, and all milk products, for that matter. And what can be wrong with that?

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* this post is my entry into a recipe contest sponsored by Kerrygold Butter, and Kerrygold provided the butter for the contest to me free of charge.