Thanksgiving: Maple Pecan Tart

Alright...I can explain! Its officially been THREE whole months since I've posted. I'm so sorry! What can I say, life is time consuming. Since I last blogged I've just finished a enormous grad school project, Joe and I hosted our first Thanksgiving dinner, AND Joe and I got engaged!! So hey, I think I deserve some slack :)

Anyways, back to the food. Like I said, Joe and I were so excited (and nervous) to host our very first Thanksgiving. We bought a 19 pound Heritage breed (aka fancy pants) free range turkey from Greenbranch Farms, where we get our CSA. It was well worth the time and effort. But, the most important part of our meal (and the only part I really got to do hehe) was of course, dessert. In our holiday Eating Well magazine I found two recipes that I just had to try. The first was a maple pecan tart. Instead of using corn syrup, this recipe calls for maple syrup. Seeing as Joe is from Vermont, we have more maple syrup in this house than we know what to do with, so this recipe was perfect.

Maple Pecan Tart


1 egg yolk
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp water
2 c. pecan halves
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 c. plus 2 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 lg. eggs
1/2 c. pure maple syrup
1/2 c. dark brown sugar
1/3 c. dried cherries, chopped

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 9 in. tart pan with cooking spray. Combine egg yolk, 2 tbsp. melted butter and water in a bowl. Process 1/2 c. pecans and sugar in a food processor until fine. Add flour and 1/4 tsp. salt and combine. Add the egg yolk mixture and mix. Spread the mixture into the pan, pressing firmly to create a crust. Place on a baking sheet and bake until the edges are beginning to brown, 12-14 minutes.

Whisk eggs, syrup, brown sugar, 1 tbsp butter, and 1/4 tsp salt in a bowl. Transfer 1/4 c. of the mixture to a small bowl. Chop 1/2 c. pecans and add to the medium bowl. Stir in cherries. In the small bowl mix in the rest of the pecans. Toss to coat.

Remove the tart from the oven and reduce the temperature to 350 degrees. Spread the mixture in the tart crust. Arrange the maple coated pecans on top and drizzle with remaining mixture. (Take the time to make  it pretty. It's easy and very worth it!) Bake the tart for 25-30 minutes or until the middle no longer jiggles. Let cool.

This was a very easy, very tasty recipe. I was worried the tart was going to be sickly sweet like pecan pie, but the cherries added a great tartness. The tart looked so pretty, when it really did not take a lot of time at all. The maple syrup and cherries added a very fall flavor to the tart. Next time I might add cranberries instead to make it more Thanksgiving-like. Happy holiday baking!!

Side Note

On a big side note, check out my friend's running blog. She's obsessed with running in an awesome, be jealous way.
http://greenmountainrunner.com/

The Best 2 Bean Salad Ever

This is honestly the best salad Joe has ever made. I tasted it and it just blew me away. We had gone to the store and Joe saw a pre-made chickpea salad and edamame salad. He used his phone to take a picture of the ingredients. I came home one Saturday and he had made this whole recipe, just by looking at the ingredients (how talented is that).

Joe's Awesome 2 Bean Salad (just too cool for the third bean)


fresh cilantro/basil/oregano/parsley (chopped)
1 lb. edamame (frozen)
1 lb. corn (frozen)
1 lb. (13 oz. can) garbanzo beans, drained
2-3 red/yellow peppers, diced
1 lg. onion, diced
6-7 ribs of celery , diced
7-8 green olives, chopped
several tbsp. of oil
1/2 - 3/4 c. apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp. lemon juice
coriander, cumin, turmeric, salt, pepper to taste
dash red pepper flakes

Boil the frozen corn and edamame for 15 minutes, then drain and cool. Mix everything together. That's it! Super easy. The most time intensive part of the recipe is dicing the veggies.

This is an amazing, amazing salad. It's full of protein, so it's good for you, but it tastes so good it's hard to believe it's healthy. It's refreshing and light yet packed with flavor. It's a very big recipe of we were able to eat it with several different meals, plus we each took it for lunch a few times. If you like summer salads this is a must try!

Spaghetti Squash Fritters

For the past few weeks, our CSA has been filled with hardy squash, making it very clear that autumn is here to stay. I've been mystified by our spaghetti squash. It's my first time ever cooking with this type of squash, and it truly does come out looking like spaghetti. We've even used it like pasta and covered it with tomato sauce (a sneaky way to eat more veggies). Joe decided to take the squash, make a batter, and turn them in to squash latkes. As usual, he looked up several recipes for potato latkes and then based his own recipe off them.

Spaghetti Squash Fritters


4 egg whites
1/2 c. flour
garlic, minced
1/2 c. pepper, diced
1/2 c. onion, diced
3 c. cooked spaghetti squash (about 1 large)
salt/pepper to taste
fresh parsley, chopped

Whip the egg whites and flour together until combined. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Once melted drop spoonfuls of batter in to the pan (just like making pancakes). After a few minutes flip the fritter over until browned on both sides. Let cool on a plate covered with a paper towel.

These fritters actually came out wonderfully! It was a great mix of sweet and savory, between the squash, pepper, and onion. These would be a great side dish with pretty much anything. They were light and fluffy, like a pancake, but packed with flavor. If you have access to spaghetti squash I would highly recommend trying this recipe. Instead of pepper and onion you could add celery and carrots for the same crunch. Cheers!

P.S. Sorry for the lack of picture of the finished product, we were too busy pigging out!

Chocolate Souffle Torte with Raspberry Sauce

I cannot believe that I am saying this but...I actually made a souffle...from scratch! Well actually it's a souffle torte, which I'm guessing is easier than an actual souffle but I don't care, it says souffle in the title. We had found raspberries on sale, so I needed a recipe quickly before they went bad. I love raspberries and chocolate together, so this recipe seemed great. I had some time and was feeling adventurous so I decided to go for it. I went out and bought a springform pan and gave souffles a try. The silly thing is, before this recipe I'd never even tasted souffles. Now the recipe sounds complicated, but once you get started it's not bad at all, I promise!

Raspberry Sauce

1 c. water
1/2 c. sugar
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
1 package frozen raspberries (I used 2 pints of fresh)

Combine the water, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk over medium heat, until boiling. Cook 2 minutes. Stir in raspberries and cook for 4 more minutes. Take off heat and chill for 1 hour.

Torte

3 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
3 tbsp. butter, softened
3/4 c. sugar
1 lg. egg
1/4 c. milk
1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa
2 tbsp. cornstarch
4 lg. egg whites
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/8 tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Melt the chocolate with a tbsp. of water over low heat until melted. Stir frequently. Place butter and 1/2 c. sugar in a medium bowl. Beat with a mixer for about 1 minute. Add 1 egg and beat 1 minute. Gradually add the milk and beat at low speed. Add the melted chocolate, cocoa, and cornstarch, beating until combined.

In another bowl combine the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt. Beat at high speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add 1/4 c. sugar, 1 tbsp. at a time, beating until stiff peaks form. GENTLY (it has to be gentle) fold the egg white mixture in to the chocolate mixture. Pour the mixture in to a 8 inch springform pan coated with cooking spray. Bake for 45 minutes. Loosen the sides of the torte then allow to cool on a wire rack. The souffle will fall a little. Serve with raspberry sauce.

It actually turned out wonderfully!!! I was definitely expecting it to completely fail. The egg whites made the torte fluffy and light. The chocolate flavor was extremely rich and the raspberry sauce complimented it well. I'm so excited to try another souffle recipe. Remember, don't be afraid, it's totally worth it.

Butternut Squash and Leek Gratin

Now that fall is here, our CSA is full of loads and loads of squash. My favorite type so far has been butternut squash. It is full of flavor and has a ton of "meat" inside. Through the CSA I've also discovered that I love leeks. When looking for a butternut squash recipe I found one that also used leeks, which sounded almost too good to be true. The recipe suggested making individualized portions, which was convenient (and gave me an excuse to use my cute ramekins that never seem to have a purpose). 

Butternut Squash and Leek Gratins

1 (2 lb) butternut squash (halved and seeded)

1 tsp. butter

4 c. chopped leeks (about 4 large)

1 tbsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground pepper

4 large eggs (lightly beaten)

1 lg. egg yolk (lightly beaten)

1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Put the squash on a cooking spray covered pan, cut side down. Roast the squash for 45 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes, then scoop out the squash and mash in a bowl. Set the oven to 325 degrees. 

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter in the pan. Add the leeks, cover, and cook until tender, about 20 minutes. Make sure the heat isn't too high because I almost burnt mine. Reduce the heat, uncover , and cook for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. 

Combine the sugar, salt, pepper, eggs, and egg yolk. Whisk together then add the squash and leeks until well combined. Divide the mixture into 6 ramekins coated with cooking spray. Place in a 13 X 9 pan and add 1 inch of boiling water to cover the bottom of the ramekins. Cover the pan with foil and bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes. Uncover then bake 15 minutes to finish. Take the pan out and put 2 tbsp. of cheese on each gratin. Melt the cheese under the broiler until the cheese is brown, about 2 minutes. 

This recipe came out so well, I'm thinking of baking it for Thanksgiving this year. The egg and boiling water bath combine to make the gratins like custard. Our entire meal was delicious and all organic. The green beans and squash were from our CSA. The chicken was all natural and hormone-free. To save money we decided to buy a whole chicken and have Joe break it down. Joe did an awesome job (what guy doesn't like using a sharp knife). It worked out so well we're still doing it. Overall it was a very satisfying, tasty meal!

Dilly Beans

We finally did it!!! We finally made a batch of pickles that tasted exactly like they were supposed to! For anyone who hasn't tried to make pickles, it sure seems easy to do. Let me tell you that is all a big fat lie! So far this summer, Joe and I have made at least 3 different batches of pickles and this is the very first recipe to turn out just right. Pickling is an art; a very difficult, finicky art. So to say I am proud that we made delicious pickles, is an understatement.


I've always loved pickles, but dilly beans are my all time favorite. I first had dilly beans (which are simply pickled green beans) at my grandmother's house. Once my grandmother stopped making them, my parents and I were always on a search for dilly beans. We found them several times in Amish Country in PA but they were few and far between. This year I told Joe we HAD to try to make my beloved dilly beans. The food blog Food in Jars has been a lifesaver, helping us not just with how to can but also providing our first successful pickle recipe. 


Dilly Beans
(makes 4 pint jars)


2 pounds green beans, trimmed to fit your jars
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 teaspoons dill seed (not dill weed, learned this the hard way)
4 cloves garlic
2 1/4 cups white vinegar (5%)
2 3/4 cups water
1/4 cup pickling salt (use a bit more if you’ve only got kosher)


Wash a trim green beans to fit your jar. Sanitize the jars for about 5 minutes in the boiling water bath. In another pan heat the vinegar, water, and salt until the salt is dissolved. In each sanitized jar put 1 garlic clove, 1 tsp dill seed, and 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper. Pour the vinegar mixture over the beans until only 1/2 inch of headspace is left. Use a chopstick or knife to run along the edge of the jar to remove air bubbles. Put the lids (already heated in boiling water for 15 minutes to soften the seal) on tightly but not too tight. Process the jars in the boiling water bath for 5 minutes. Let cool for 24 hours before readjusting the lids. 


The canning part is daunting at first but after a few times you get in to a rhythm. Let the beans sit and mellow for at least 2 weeks, then open and enjoy! I still cannot get over how much our beans taste exactly like my grandmother's recipe! Now our cabinets are filled with 8 jars of dilly beans just waiting to be eaten!! If you decide to try pickling on your own, try to make small batches and don't get discouraged! It takes several times to find the recipe right for you! Refrigerator pickles would be a good place to start since they don't involve the canning process. Happy pickling!