Fresh Pumpkin Pie - take two!

So excited to have fresh canned pumpkin shipped to me by Mr. Flip Flop's sister, Ruth, in Indiana.  I used her recipe and pumpkin last year to make my first ever pie from fresh pumpkin.  It was, indisputably, the best pumpkin pie I have ever eaten.  Hope this year's lives up to the previous one.

I didn't have luck last year with my fancy pie crust border.  A few years ago I used a leaf cookie cutter and used a paring knife to mark the veins.  That was quite labor intensive, but looked beautiful IMHO, for a first attempt at a "fancy" crust.  I baked a piece of cut-out pumpkin shape dough on top of the pie - and it didn't work very well.

Last year, I used a Paula Deen plunge cutter - but the pieces were too big for a crust edge, they just draped down - not a bad look - but it didn't look like I expected, nor wanted.  I used an egg wash and a pastry brush on the crust top - and only had foil to cover my crust - I felt like the egg wash was too abundant and it browned too quickly.  I was darn well determined to find a pie crust protector instead of foil for future use. I used some extra dough to cut out pumpkins and baked them separately for embellishments.  They turned out quite well.  Every year is a learning experience.

So, this year?  I got out 3 different plunger cutters.  The pumpkin from last year, with thoughts of trimming the pieces (nope - too much work).

Another large maple-type leaf from the Paula Deen set I bought last year, but it looked too big also.

 My third choice was the one I used... a rose-leaf shaped fondant plunger (worked beautifully).  I also changed from a pastry bush and egg wash to a small paint brush and painted the crust with a conservative amount of heavy cream - lightly painted on each leaf to enhance the veins.

Additionally, I bought a pie crust shield (silicone) that ended up being too small to cover my crust once the leaves were on the edge and caused the 10 inch pan to actually extend to about 10 1/2 inch from leaf edge to leaf edge.

I turned the shield over and placed it on the crust between the 15 and 20 minute mark, and it worked just fine!

I used the maple leaf and the pumpkin leaf from the Paula Deen set to cut out some leftover dough for toppers.  Also painted those with cream and sprinkled on some sanding sugar for shine.

The toppers turned out quite nicely.

I've said it before - I am not a great pie baker, but with the right tools, even a mediocre pie baker can make a really nice pie presentation.  Like men have been saying for years "it's all about having the proper tools"... well, the same thing goes in my kitchen.  I try not to buy single use items, but the pie crust shield is a necessity for me.  I get so frustrated trying to cover an edge of a pie without messing up the pie or the crust and having to worry that it is going to fall off.  Not worth the stress and anxiety.  So, this is going to be one of those "one use" products I do recommend.  Too bad I can't find one that actually fits my glass pie pan.  But, hey, upside down worked, so I will just go with it.

Everything came together and was placed in the oven on a cookie sheet.  (just in case of high rise overflow)  I took it off the cookie sheet for the last 10 minutes to ensure the bottom of the crust was done enough.  It is perfectly browned.  I'm so pleased.  Oh, and in case you are wondering?  Pillsbury refrigerated rolled pie crust.  I simply can't make it any better and this is very consistent.  Another de-stressing choice for me on holidays.  I have not had great luck with store-brand rolled pie crust...so Pillsbury it is!

A little freshly whipped sweetened vanilla bean cream, a cute topper, and one delicious pie, ready to serve.  The full recipe is on the 2013 blog post which you can find here.  If you have the chance to make a pumpkin pie using fresh pumpkin, it is really something special!  If you don't have the inclination, canned pumpkin is great - I've used it for years...but give these pie crust decorations a try - easy enough to do, and makes a simple pie look special!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone...

Bon appetit, Y'all!!!

Dump-in Beef Vegetable Soup

We were so hungry we didn't take photos...although my husband deemed this soup worthy of a wait for photographs.  Unfortunately, I didn't feel like setting it all up.  When I make it again, I'll add some photos.  It was absolutely delicious.  Give it a try!


Ingredients:

2 tbsp. olive oil
1 pound quality stew meat chunks or chunks of thick sirloin steak
1/2 large yellow onion, diced
1 15oz can crushed tomatoes
3 tbsp. tomato paste
3 stalks celery, diced
3 carrots, halved and sliced
1 tsp dried basil
3 cloves of garlic, pressed
1 tsp of garlic powder
1/3 head of green cabbage, large dice
1 cup sugar snap peas, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 can cut green beans
1 can black-eyed peas
1 quart low-sodium beef broth
2 cups chicken stock
4 cups water
kosher salt - to taste
fresh ground pepper - to taste

Method:

Heat olive oil in a Dutch Oven.  Season beef with salt and pepper and add to pan, tossing to brown.  Add onions and garlic with a pinch of salt, stir around for about a minute.  Add tomato paste and stir in and cook for a minute or two.  Add the celery and carrots, stir for a minute or so.  Add can of crushed tomatoes and all of the other ingredients except the canned green beans and black-eyed peas.  Stir well and bring to a boil then reduce to simmer.  Leave on a good simmer (not too high, not too low) until meat is tender, stirring every so often to ensure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan.  In last 30 minutes before serving, add green beans and black-eyed peas (do not drain) and re-season to taste. 

I let mine simmer for several hours.

A hearty and delicious vegetable beef soup - perfect on a chilly night!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

Squash Sugar Cookies, Take Two!

Undecorated allows you to see how nicely they
are rolled and cut as well as the bits of squash and
spices in this wonderful Fall-ish cookie!

In early August, Ian asked for a spice cheesecake for his birthday.  I didn't recall having a recipe for a spice cheesecake but we looked back at the blog because he remembered I had made one before.  We found a 2010 recipe for Squash Chocolate Cheesecake.  He said "yes, that's the one"!  I was so surprised!  Squash? I asked of the "vegetable-hater"... Yes, he confirmed...that's the one.  Fortunately, I've got a couple of cups of roasted and peeled acorn squash in the freezer - it's a wonderful staple to have on hand for sweets (I use it often in lieu of pumpkin) and as a wonderful addition to soups.  The recipe only called for a cup of the squash, so I decided to re-make the Squash Sugar Cookie recipe, I had also done in 2010, with the remaining squash.

I noticed, when reviewing that recipe, that it didn't include any egg.  Huh?  Was that a mistake?  I tried to find the source recipe and it is no longer posted on the B&B Recipe web site.  Hmmmm.  I set out some butter and followed the recipe and I have to say "this MUST be a mistake"...the dough was way too crumbly.

After 2 1/2 more years of baking experience since I developed that recipe, I knew of a couple of tweaks that would make a much nicer cookie...still keeping the sweet flavor of the squash silently in the background.  So, here's the recipe I ended up with.  The texture is now perfect for rolling and I can only apologize if anyone tried to make the one I posted in 2010!!!  I try to be very careful...but sometimes mistakes happen...and I think that may have been one of those times.

Printable Recipe

Squash Sugar Cookies, Take Two!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 cup drained, dry, roasted acorn squash (I squeezed the squash in a cotton kitchen towel, twisting until quite dry - then I pulsed it in the food processor...I remember the previous cookies having some long strands of squash - the food processor didn't truly puree the squash, but it did cut the long strands)
1 large egg
1/2 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Method:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until combined.  Add squash and mix until combined.  Add egg and vanilla bean paste and mix until well incorporated.

In a 4-cup measuring cup, mix all of the dry ingredients with a whisk and add to the wet mixture in the mixer bowl.  Mix just until blended.

Divide dough in two parts.  Form a disk and wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour - preferably 2 or 3 hours for a nice rolled cookie.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Remove dough 5 minutes prior to being ready to roll the dough.  Roll either on a lightly floured surface or between two sheets of parchment paper.
Use your favorite cookie cutter to cut various shapes.  Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet or on a baking mat lined cookie sheet.  Bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on thickness (some thick cookies that were cut with a large cutter took 13-14 minutes to bake...light brown along the bottom edge is the indicator).  Allow to cool on rack before decorating with a glaze or buttercream frosting....or royal icing if you want to decorate nicely!

These are a great Fall flavored spice cookie with an unusual cookie ingredient.  However, they are great any time of the year.  They are an awesome cookie!  The photos I took were of the naked cookies...the next post will include some of these that I baked recently and decorated for an on-the-beach birthday party.  Keep an eye out for that!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!