The Classics: Pecan Pie (Parade of Pies, Part 1)

The first pie in the parade is pecan. This pie screams Thanksgiving to me, even more than pumpkin pie. Growing up, I remember there always being a pecan pie on the Thanksgiving dessert table. It was probably especially popular in kosher households because it’s an easy pie to make pareve, or non-dairy, so you can eat it after a feast that includes meat.

It was always one of my favorites because it was nutty and not very very sweet. I think it was probably my introduction to pecans as well (a word, incidentally, that I have extreme trouble saying correctly or consistently to this day – is it puh-kahn, pee-can, pee-kahn? My mouth can never decide in time).

Pecan pie is also one of the easiest pies to make. You can arrange each nut so that they  make a beautiful design, or you can dump the nuts in, as I tend to do. You can crimp the edges of the pie crust fancily, or you can leave torn dough edges for a rustic look. That’s about as complicated as it gets.

The recipe I’ve been using for the last few years kicks it up a notch by adding bourbon, which fits amazingly well with the flavor of the toasted nuts and the syrup. I use a lot because I want to be able to taste it, but you can adjust the amount or skip it entirely to suit your taste and the group who will be eating it. It is delicious but not integral. The original recipe that I got this one from also calls for chocolate chips, which I found wholly unnecessary for a pie that already has plenty of sweetness on its own.

Read Full Post »

Thanksgiving

Last year our Thanksgiving dinner went off without a hitch. I’d like to say it was five years of practice that made it so, but I can’t take all the credit for how things came together. My whole family all worked together to make our Thanksgiving a feast that we could enjoy, but not keel over from. Below are some of the things we did that enabled me to enjoy the leftovers for days afterward without feeling Thanksgiving’d out.

Read Full Post »

Pumpkin Hummus

Between the CSA we joined this fall and all the great prices on squash at the markets, we ended up with a cache of winter squash to figure out what to do with this year. We ran through the basics pretty quickly, with pumpkin pie, butternut squash soup, and stuffed acorn squash; even a few out there experiments like curried butternut squash and an unfortunate black bean and pumpkin soup. But I find that I can only handle having squash as a main dish once or twice a week at most before I get sick of it, no matter how good the dish.

To remedy this issue, I thought it was high time to figure out how to use pumpkin as an appetizer instead of the main course. I did all kinds of googling to see how other people use pumpkin as an appetizer and found that it is much more commonly used as a dessert, which shouldn’t have been surprising. And as appetizers go, I’m pretty lazy, and I’d rather not have to make dozens of bite-sized anything if I can avoid it.

And then I stumbled upon a great idea: pumpkin hummus! I didn’t want to have to shop and get tahini though. And pumpkins aren’t really known for their protein content, so I didn’t think it fair to make a hummus without chickpeas. Either way, pumpkin as a dip is a great way to get that pumpkin flavor in before dessert without it taking over the whole meal. The flavor is bright and exciting and is a great addition to any holiday party.

As long as I have winter squashes in the house, I will also probably have pumpkin hummus.

Read Full Post »

A Simple Turkey, a retrospective

If you’ve never bought a turkey before, it can be overwhelming to try to understand all the differences between them. There are plenty of guides, but there are so many of those too, it’s hard to know what will be best. In my family we have always chosen frozen kosher turkeys, but even if you don’t keep kosher there are plenty of good reasons to choose a kosher turkey. This cuts down the options a bit, which in this case, is a good thing.

My favorite reason is that kosher turkeys, like all koshered meat, have already been brined. This results in saltier meat that is more likely to retain its moisture during cooking. Sure, you could brine any turkey yourself, but if you live in a tiny New York apartment like I do, you probably don’t have room for the equipment to do it right. And besides, I have enough other dishes to worry about on Thanksgiving, I’ll take the occasional shortcuts where I can find them. If you start with a kosher turkey, then you’ve got all the flavor you need inside the meat before you even start.

Read Full Post »

Getting into the Thanksgiving mood

Last year I thought of all kinds of things to say to all of you about my favorite holiday, but I thought of it all too late. I mean, really, who needs Thanksgiving tips a week after you’ve passed out from feasting? This year, I’m going to get my Thanksgiving started early. I have so many things to be thankful for this year, and I want to share the great resources I have with you early enough to be useful.

Read Full Post »