Ingredients

• 500 grams of plain flour
• 1 sachet of dry yeast (7 grams)
• A mug full of warm water
• Salt
• Any oil to use for the potatoes
  
• 8 medium sized potatoes suitable for mash/boiling
• Couple of spring onions or one medium sized white onion cut into small cubes.
• Small bunch of coriander
• Natural or Greek yogurt
  

Dough

I have to say, this is a very easy dough! But then again it’s not exactly french bread we’re aiming for in Afghanistan!

• First things first, get a large mixing boil and add 1 tbsp of salt, the whole contents of the yeast packet and half of the warm water in the mug. Give it a stir.
• Add all of the flour and give it a mix with your hands!
• Now the thing with this dough is that it has to be sticky, NOT SOPPING WET. So the remainder of that water is to make it a little wet if its too dry and if it’s too wet to then add a little bit of flour. Okay?

• Mold it in a smooth ball of dough and cover the top of that ball with cling film and then cover the bowl with a tea towel. The dough should be warm cos of the water but put it in a warm place although my mum just put it on the table in the kitchen to rise.
• Leave it for an hour.

Directions for the potato filling – Do this while the dough is rising.

• We all know how to boil potatoes so I don’t think I need to write much :p. Just add the potatoes to salted boiling water and wait until they are cooked. Shouldn’t take too long depending on the size of your potatoes.
• Once they are cooked, wait for them to cool down so you can peel them.
• The peeled potatoes should be mashed and salted.
• If you’re using spring onions, just cut them thinly. If you’re using an onion, cut in half and dice them semi-finely. It ‘s meant to be rustic. Add the onion or spring onions to the mashed potatoes and give it a stir. There should be flecks of onions that you can see through the mash.
• Pick off the coriander leaves and add them to the mash.
• Add a small glug of oil just to emulsify it. It should be a mash that is not chunky but it’s a little rough, if you know what I mean
• Leave that to the side while the dough rises.

TICK-TOCK. TICK-TOCK.

After the dough has risen divide it into 8 balls. There should be enough filling for 8 so don’t have a heavy hand unless you want loads of filling if so then I suggest you boil some more potatoes

• On a lightly floured surface, get a ball of dough and flatten it with your hand. You should spoon and flatten enough filling for one half of the circle.

• Fold it over and you should push along the edge of the semi circle to ‘glue’ it together.
• So all my family in Holland have this contraption. It’s basically like an catering tool! We use it when we need to make a dish in large quantity! The size is great cos you can fit two bolanees in it!

• Add a small dollop of oil in the middle and put the bolanee on one half of the pan. Use your fingertips to push the dough around the edge of the pan. That way you get a nice segment shape.
• Cook it until the side is golden brown. Then flip it over and do the same.
• Keep adding a little drop of oil to the pan every bolanees that you cook.
• Soon, you’ll have a massive pile of them! Stack them neatly on a nicely decorated plate with a nice big dollop of yogurt on the side.

P.S I love leftover bolanee.  The only trouble is that there never are any leftovers! These are ideal to eat hot or cold. I blitz it in the microwave cos I like the soft, pillowy texture. This is great veggie lunch fare to take to work! They will keep for a good couple of days in the fridge for you to take to work or have as lunch

I also am alive! I know I haven’t been posting a lot but I guess you need that in order to miss the blog and come back to it! And it’s a nice to know I did a dessert post on DinaRA’s birthday to herald my comeback as well as hers (Please be kind on her back, God)

This are some CRAY-ZAY brownies and it makes about 30 handy sized pieces so no need to double the recipe! It’s from Ina Garten and you know how crazy she gets in the Hamptons! Ha! Ha!…

Yes she uses a pound of butter and about 1000 grams of chocolate but it’s all good when you think of it in moderation. Just have 1 brownie a day. Like you have 1 drink in the morning, another during the afternoon and another during the evening!

The recipe can be found here!

Ingredients

• 1 pound/450 grams unsalted butter
• 1 pound plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (I used 1 pound and 6 oz and just used Cadbury’s rather than chips. Save 1 oz to put in the brownie mix at the end to make it even more chocolatey)
• 6 ounces/200 grams Dark chocolate
• 6 medium eggs 
• 3 tablespoons instant coffee granules (I used 1 teaspoon which I added to the melted butter and chocolate)
• 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups sugar (I used agave nectar cos I’ve broken up with sugar and I used about 125 ml)
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I forgot to add the 1/4 cup!)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cups chopped walnuts
• I also added dollops of crunchy peanut butter for obvious reasons But only if you are a über fan of Dinara’s, sorry!

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/Gas mark 4. I bought 2 foil roasting trays which measured 31cm x 21cm and sprayed oil onto them.

• Melt together the butter, the dark chocolate and  the unsweetened chocolate in a medium bowl over simmering water. I added the coffee granules here. Allow to cool slightly. In a large bowl, stir (do not beat) together the eggs, vanilla, and agave. Stir the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and allow to cool to room temperature.
• In a medium bowl, sift together 1 cup of flour, the baking powder, and salt. Add to the cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the walnuts and 1 ounce of chocolate chunks you saved in a medium bowl with 1/4 cup of flour, then add them to the chocolate batter. (I forgot to do this ) Pour into the greased tray and drop small spoonfuls of peanut butter and swirl it in.
• Bake for 35 minutes until a toothpick comes out semi-clean. (I removed from oven when moist crumbs stuck to toothpick) Do not overbake. Allow to cool thoroughly, refrigerate, and cut into squares.

Yes, I stuck on a photo of DinaRA on top of the brownies. Why? Cos I’m like that. And you know after 7 months of not having chocolate or sugar, she will be torso-deep in chocolate cakey goodness.

First there was lovely Aniek, who is the third member of the Trifecta of Twitter Greatness (along with Maz and me). She is Dutch. That might have been enough to spark my obsession. But then she told me her brother was moving to Cincinnati for work. So I figured if I was going to actually meet someone who is Dutch, then I ought learn something about the Netherlands.

Anyway, what do you think I started learning about the Netherlands? History? Politics? Geography? Hah!

Food. (Okay, and sport too.)

They have delicious food in the Netherlands, apparently. There are stroopwafels, oliebollen, speculaas, pannenkoeken, drop, vla… that’s just sweets and desserts! And they have so many different kinds of cheeses. That’s how I know it’s the place for me. Sweets and cheese.

There’s also hutspot and pea soup. And french fries with mayo, which I cannot wrap my mind around just yet. And then under Advanced Dutch Cuisine is herring and onions. Not sure that I’ll ever try that one. Seriously, just go read the whole Wikipedia entry on Dutch cuisine.

For my first foray into Dutch cooking, I made stamppot boerenkool. That is, mashed potatoes and kale. Of course, because I do not have a Dutch mama (my mom makes awesome German food though), I did not grow up eating this dish and, thus, have no clue what it is supposed to taste like. I just made this how I think it ought to be made. Normative cooking, I guess you could call it. Or stamppot boerenkool ala Americana.

Stamppot Boerenkool (Mashed potatoes and kale)

Serves 4

Prep time: 15 minute     Cook time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 pound (500 g) potatoes – I use Yukon Golds because they are good for mashing
• 100-150 g kale, chopped into small pieces – I eyeballed it, just use a little more than you think is enough because it shrinks a lot.
• 1 leek, chopped – Don’t know how kosher this is, but I love leeks and they are common in Dutch cooking I think?
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and pepper
• 3-4 Tablespoons butter
• a quantity of milk or cream (1/2 cup of milk, I would guess)

Instructions:

• Wash, peel, and quarter the potatoes. I don’t really peel them all the way because I like the skins. Put them in a big pot.
• Add the chopped kale, leeks, and bay leaf to the pot. Fill with water until the vegetables are just covered. Add a little spoonful of salt.
• Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and keep just below a boil for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
• Drain and let sit for about 5 minutes. Remove the bay leaf. Transfer to a bowl for mashing.
• Add the butter, and start mashing. Slowly add the milk and mash until the potatoes are nice and creamy. (I used my KitchenAid. Best $65 I ever spent ). Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with sausage. I didn't have rookworst so a bratwurst had to suffice until I can drag Aniek's brother to Jungle Jim's to help me buy stroopwafels, cheese, and proper Dutch mayo to eat with fries!

Sooo, since I love the color orange and I can make stamppot boerenkool, can I have my Dutch passport now, Aniek?

Dinara Safina is just the greatest tennis player ever. FACT. That’s why Maz and I started this blog.

The inspiration for this post comes from her post-match interview after she defeated Elena Baltacha on Friday at the Australian Open:

Q. You looked really relaxed out there. What did you do on your day off?

DINARA SAFINA: Well, yesterday what I do? Nothing. Practice as early as possible because I want to have as much rest as possible. So I practice early. Then I come back to the hotel. I eat somewhere close to the hotel. Then just hanging around in the room, watching movies.

The only thing I did yesterday, I went to the bookstore, and I bought from Julie and Julia cookbook. This is what made me walk out of the room.

Q. Did you see the movie?

DINARA SAFINA: That’s what made me buy the book. I had to buy two books. I like cooking. I’m having new apartment in Moscow. I’m like, Okay, instead of library of books, I’ll have cookbooks. I want to cook.

Q. Did you watch any tennis?

DINARA SAFINA: Yes, a little bit of Baghdatis against David Ferrer. Very good match. Was somewhere else playing? I think that’s it.

Q. Are you a good cook?

DINARA SAFINA: I’m just starting, you know. Until now nobody got sick, so this is the positive (smiling.) They might like, not like, but if they have problems with the stomach, it’s not good.

But until now, nobody would complain about the stomach (laughter).

Q. What is your signature dish?

DINARA SAFINA: Actually, I can make not bad asparagus, risotto with asparagus. This is the thing that I can do. And, of course, green salad with olive oil.

THIS is why we’d be BFF if we ever met. I am a STUD at making risotto. It’s yummy, creamy comfort food. You can do it up a million ways too.

My recipe is orginally from Mario Batali (if ever a person knew risotto, it’s this dude), but I am so awesome at making it now that I don’t even use a recipe. Yup, I am bragging again. It just feels so good when you can go renegade. It’s like driving alone for the first time after you get your license. Or something.

Basic Risotto

Serves 2 meal-sized portions

Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 125 g Arborio rice – You can find it in the supermarket in the Italian section, or Whole Foods has it in bulk, which is much cheaper.
• 1/2 of an onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup (120 mL) white wine – broth is okay if you abstain
• at least 4 cups (950 mL) of low-sodium chicken broth – vegetable if you’re vegetarian
• 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 50 g grated Parmesan cheese – reserve a little for sprinkling
• olive oil

Instructions:

• Chop the onion and garlic and saute in a big skillet on medium for 8ish minutes, or until the onions are tender. Do not brown them.
• Meanwhile, heat the chicken broth in a big saucepan. I usually add another cup or can (if your broth comes in cans) of water. Bring to a steaming simmer, but not boiling.
• When the onions and garlic are ready, add the rice to the pan. Toast for 2-3 minutes.
• The fun part: pour the white wine over the rice. It will bubble up and steam. (If you have a gas stove, you might want to turn the flame down just in case.) Using a wooden spoon, stir until the wine is absorbed by the rice.
• Add 1 ladleful of hot chicken broth to the rice, and stir until nearly all the liquid is absorbed. Repeat again and again, until the rice is al dente. You don’t have to stir constantly, but make sure the rice doesn’t start to stick to the bottom of the pan. You might need to add more broth/water to the pot. This whole process usually takes about 25-30 minutes for me. It is tedious and time-consuming, I know, but all the stirring is what brings out the creaminess of the dish.
• Add the butter to the risotto, let it melt, then add the Parmesan cheese and let it melt too.
• Note: If you’d like to add some crunchy green veggies – asparagus and peas are common, but I like broccoli too – just steam them and add at the end. Serve with a little sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

Risotto for advanced learners: A few weeks ago, after I made the Crema de Calabaza soup, I had half of a butternut squash leftover, so I decided to get creative with my risotto. I roasted the squash, pureed it, and set it aside. In my big risotto pan, I fried up 4 strips of bacon. When they were crispy, I took them out of the pan and set them aside too, and then I drained off some of the bacon grease (but not all!). I fried a chopped onion and minced garlic in the bacon grease. Then I made the risotto like in steps 4 and 5 above. At the end, I stirred in the butternut squash, a little bit of sage, 3/4 of the bacon crumbled up, the butter, and the cheese. I sprinkled with cheese and the rest of the bacon. It was delish and very filling.

I leave you with one of the best Dinara videos of all time. Cooking with Dinara and Diet Tips:

It’s winter, it’s super-cold, we’re forecast to have a snowstorm on Thursday, and I am downing cups of tea… and yet somewhere out there, it must be warm because Meyer lemons are showing up in the stores. This means it is time to bake scones!

(Last winter I had to hunt high and low for Meyer lemons and, when I found them, they were like $5/pound! Now they sell them at Kroger in 3 pound bags for under $4. How can you not buy a bag when they’re so cheap?! I eat them like other people eat oranges. I cannot get enough of lemons.)

I zest a lemon and add that to the cream I use for the scones.  I had a bag of cranberries going soft in the fridge, so I chopped some of those and added them to the dough as well. You can customize the fixin’s you add to the dough. Lemon-cranberry is a good combination, orange-cinnamon-cardamom might be good too, add some walnuts, or even just plain… I love scones!

These are infinitely better when they are fresh out of the oven, with crispy little corners and a little steam rising out of them. Do you want to know my secret? I flash-freeze these babies. I pat the dough out into a circle, cut into wedges, separate and place on a baking sheet, and put them in the freezer until they are hard on the outside. Then you can just cram them in a freezer bag and keep them frozen until you are ready to bake them! In the morning, I preheat the oven and put a scone on a baking sheet. I put it in the oven, go put makeup on or something, and exactly 12 minutes later, I have breakfast.

Scones

(adapted from America’s Test Kitchen, via the lovely Smitten Kitchen)

Serves 8 (unless I am around, then I will eat at least 2! )

Prep time: 10 minutes (not to brag, but I can do it in 5 minutes… TWSS)     Cook time: 12-15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 3 Tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 Tablespoons chilled butter, cut into smaller cubes – I pop mine in the freezer for 10 minutes
• 1/2 cup-ish chopped fresh cranberries – you can use those dried ones too. I shan’t judge… too much. Oh, and if you don’t like things too tart, toss the fresh cranberries with another tablespoon-ish of sugar before adding to the dough!
• zest of 1 Meyer lemon (or regular untreated lemon)
• 1 cup heavy cream

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 425F/ 218C.
• Sift together the dry ingredients.
• Cut in the butter using your preferred method (processor, pastry cutter, knives, fingers). Ever since I watched Alton Brown cut butter in with his fingers, I think it is the easiest way to do it. Also, you should watch his episode on the biscuit method.
• Add in the chopped cranberries.
• Stir together the zest and the cream. Then add to the dry mixture, and stir a few times until it gets clumpy.
• Turn the not-quite-formed dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Wrangle all the bits together into a ball. You may have to knead it together a little. Don’t worry, this isn’t quite pie crust, so a little body heat isn’t going to kill it. You still want chunks of butter to make the scones flaky though.
• Pat the dough into a round, about 3/4 inch thick. Cut into 8 wedges.
• Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 12-15 minutes.
• Cool just a little bit before eating. They keep for about a day before tasting tough.

I just want to mention that thsese were one of the first recipes I mastered, when I started cooking seriously about a year ago. I could probably make these in my sleep. And my mom kept asking me for the recipe. You know it’s good when your mom wants the recipe!

I finally got around to making this soup last week, and invited him ’round to sample a bowl and take some home with him since he was in town. What, you mean you don’t invite YOUR exes to dinner? Whatevs.

This is a really good winter warming soup, with a little bit of cream and chorizo to make it hearty and a chipotle pepper to make it spicy. It is HIGHLY delicious indeed.

Crema de Calabaza

Serves 6

Prep time: 5-10 minutes     Cook time: 30 minutes + 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2.5 lbs/ 1 kg winter squash – I used 1.5 butternut squashes
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 -2 chipotles en adobo – I used 1.5 for medium heat
• 1/2 cup cream
• 3 cups water
• 1/2 Tablespoon salt
• pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 1 cup cooked chickpeas/garbanzo beans – I used canned
• 1/4 lb chorizo – apparently the original used soy-rizo so this can be a vegetarian dish!

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 500F/260C.
• Cut the squash in half length-wise, and scoop out the seeds. As Maz said, “It’s a nasty bitch of a squash,” so please do not hurt yourself trying to slice it open. Here is a good primer on cutting butternut squash.
• Place the squashes cut side down in a baking dish, and fill about 1/4 the way up with water. Roast in bottom third of oven until soft (about 30 minutes). Let it cool a little, then scoop out the flesh.
• While the squash is roasting, brown the chorizo.
• Toast the 4 unskinned garlic cloves in a dry skillet on all sides until slightly charred. Peel and discard the skins.
• Puree the squash, garlic, and chipotle pepper with 1/2 cup of the water in a food processor until smooth.
• Put the puree into a put with the rest of the water, cream, spices, and sugar. Simmer for a few minutes, then add the chorizo and chickpeas. Simmer for another 20 minutes.

It’s a lot better than the picture suggests.

Here is another old Christmas picture of me and my little brothers! I am 7 years old here... I think by this time I had figured out the Santa Claus story.

It is Christmas Eve.

I had huge blogging ambitions for December. I was going to carefully document every holiday recipe I made and share them with you all so you could have a Martha Stewart Christmas. But of course, nobody ever has Martha Stewart Christmases in real life, so it seems my idea was destined to fail. Either way, here I am, finally showing you some of the candies and sweets I made.

I made a slew of different candies: caramels, toffee, turtles, and buckeyes. As for cookies, there were mocha nut balls (which turned out not so ball-y), chocolate chip cookies, and sugar cookies decorated with my niece. And for the grand finale, two huge loaves of Christstollen mit Marzipan.

The first recipe I’m sharing with you is the easiest. It’s English toffee! I found the recipe while digging through a stack of old cookbooks in a cabinet in my house. It’s written in my mom’s handwriting, but she claims the recipe is actually her first mother-in-law’s. Thus, it’s at least 30 years old, if not older!

English Toffee

Prep time: 5 minutes     Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup / 2 sticks / 1/2lb / 225g butter
• 1 Tablespoon white corn syrup
• 3 Tablespoons water
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans
• 4oz dark chocolate, chopped

Materials needed:

• candy thermometer
• large, heavy-bottomed saucepan
• wooden spoon
• large cake pan or sheet pan with sides

Not quite done - 60 degrees left to go!

Instructions:

• Chop the pecans and chocolate. Spread the pecans on the bottom of a 9 x 13in cake pan.
• In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, butter, corn syrup, and water. Cook on medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture reaches hard crack stage (300-310F/ 149-154C). Mixture will be think, brown, and bubbly.
• Pour the caramelized mixture over the pecans. Tilt pan to evenly distribute (careful, the pan might be hot).
• Sprinkle the chopped chocolate over top the toffee mixture while still hot. Once the chocolate melts, spread it out with a spatula.
• Once the candy has cooled – and it doesn’t take long – break by sticking a knife into it. It should just sort of shatter.

I don’t know about y’all, but my city in the Midwest is recently smitten by salted caramels. I looooove salted caramels, but it seems nobody ever does them right. They just taste like regular caramels to me, usually. And don’t even get me started on salted caramels that have been dipped in chocolate. What’s the point? Sometimes a girl gets sick of chocolate. Usually my mom and I make our own caramels, but they are just regular ol’ caramels, not salted caramels. We decided to try something new this year. But don’t worry! I still wrapped them all by hand!

Salted Caramels – the recipe is here (Sorry, but I can’t be bothered to re-type a recipe I followed step-by-step!)

This recipe is a little more difficult because you have to caramelize the sugar and corn syrup together first, then add cream and butter, and stir until it reaches the right temperature. If you follow me on Twitter (@tisenfine, btws) then you might have noticed a few weeks ago I was not just melting sugar, but burning it. I think the key is a combination of patience and instinct. Patience because it takes awhile and you can’t stir the melting, bubbling sugar (there is science involved); instinct for knowing JUST when to take it off the heat.

These are pictures I took of various points along the way to caramelization. The top left picture is when I had just thrown the sugar, water, and corn syrup together in a pan. The top right picture shows it after a few minutes of boiling – it’s bubbly like pop or something. But I can tell you from experience, those bubbles are really hot (what is it about cooking that compels me to carry through every harebrained idea I have while cooking?!). The bottom left picture shows it starting to change color a little. And the bottom right picture is almost done – just another 30 seconds and it will be perfectly caramelized!

Then after you caramelize the sugars, you add the butter/cream/salt that was warming in a smaller pan while the whole big shebang was going on. This is like a goddamn science experiment: when you add the two, the whole mixture will bubble up violently. I mean, violently. I advise not putting your face near the pan and standing back as far as you can while still being able to stir.

You have to cook this whole sugar/butter/cream mixture for a long time in order to bring it up to the firm ball stage, which is 245-250F/ 118-121C. I always also do the cold-water test to make sure it’s doing what I want it to do. Courtney, this is what I was referring to when I was talking about being badass. It is really fun to do this, and then fish out the cooled caramel and taste a little of it.

Then I pour the caramel out into a foil-lined, greased square pan. This part is important; do not listen to your mom when she says you can just butter the pan. You will spend 15 minutes trying to pry it out of the pan, and telling your mom to go into the other room because you are getting frustrated and angry. Not AT her – Mom, I was not angry at you, I just did not want to have to wrestle with a glass pyrex dish with all that sugar and butter I had talked to so lovingly while waiting to caramelize and get to the right temperature. I was having visions of having to toss out the whole batch and start over again.

After all that, then you have to cut up this whole pan of caramels. You need a good, sharp knife. It takes awhile. Then, you wrap all the little caramels individually in little pieces of wax paper, twist the ends, and…

… everyone just unwraps them and pops them in their mouths! But they are so delicious, and we do it for the people we love, so it doesn’t matter how long it took to make them!

Merry Christmas!

(and if you don’t celebrate Christmas – enjoy your 4-day weekend!)

Let’s be honest here, folks: Panera has the best broccoli cheese soup EVER. I apologize to all the non-Americans out there who have never experienced the awesomeness of dipping a baguette into Panera’s broccoli cheese soup, but take my word for it: this is the soup to aspire to. However, it is definitely not the healthiest item on their menu: a 12-ounce (~350mL) serving has 390 calories and 1500mg of sodium. I am not a fan of all the added sodium in restaurant food. This recipe is slightly healthier because there is no cream, but there is lots of milk to make it creamy – would you eat broccoli soup if it wasn’t creamy?! I know I wouldn’t.

Anyway, I was a little nervous about tackling this recipe because it requires making a roux, which is a mixture of equal parts butter and flour. Roux are the basis of many sauces and gravies, so it’s important to be able to make a simple one well. But they are also slightly tricky, because if not done well they can end up lumpy instead of smooth. I don’t know why I was afraid of making a roux, but I am not alone; this recipe book I have from the 1960s says:

“It is strange that the most feared recipe by a young homemaker is, perhaps, the easiest and most simple recipe to make – the basic sauce, the basis of all creamed dishes, scalloped potatoes, chicken gravy, and a thousand other dishes. From it springs a myriad of other sauces, all the essence of simplicity, once the technique of making the basic sauce is mastered.”

And after watching my mom make a roux, then making it on my own, I can say that it truly isn’t that difficult and I am confident you will have success! Besides, a few tablespoons of butter and flour aren’t expensive, so if you ruin the first try, you can pick yourself up again and re-try!

Broccoli Cheese Soup (adapted from Cooking on the Side, who got it from a broccoli package)

Serves 6-8 (in practice, I often halve this recipe)

Ingredients:

• 4 cups broccoli florets
• 1/2 cup celery, chopped – the original recipe called for a full cup, but I actually hate celery. I just include it because it improves the flavor of the soup.
• 1 cup carrots, chopped
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 6 Tablespoons butter or margarine
• 6 Tablespoons flour
• 3 cups lower-sodium chicken broth – you can also use vegetable broth or sub a little water
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• fresh parsley, if you have it
• 4 ounces (110g) cheddar cheese (or any mild cheese), plus extra for sprinkling – I highly suggest buying a block of cheese and grating it yourself. The pre-grated cheese is coated in flour or an anti-caking agent and it doesn’t melt as nicely.

Instructions:

• In a large pot, bring the water to a boil. Add the broccoli, celery, and carrots and cook for a few minutes, then drain and set aside. (I have no idea why this step is necessary.)
• In an even larger pot, melt the butter and saute the onions until soft.
• This is where you make the roux: add the flour slowly and stir continuously. You might feel more comfortable using a fork. If you feel like things are moving too quickly, you can take the pan off the stove and continue mixing. When it’s formed a smooth paste, congratulations! That’s a roux!

• But it’s not over yet: add the broth to the roux slowly, stirring constantly. The roux thickens the broth up… it’s like magic! Add in the milk slowly too.
• Bring to a boil, then add the grated cheese and stir.
• After the cheese has melted, add the vegetables and garlic power. Cover, reduce the heat, and cook for 40 minutes.
• Sprinkle with a little extra cheddar cheese if you want, and serve with a warm, crusty piece of bread!

A few weeks ago on Twitter, I put out a call to borrow someone’s French rolling pin. I have a regular one, but I really want a French rolling pin (I hope my mom is reading this!). One follower, a writer for our local paper, responded with an offer to GIVE me one of her rolling pins. So off I dashed to the Enquirer’s offices downtown, where she gave me not only her rolling pin, but also her apple pie recipe! And can I just say it was totally awesome to meet a tweetfriend?

I did modify her recipe, because I have to make it my own somehow. Not because I was a little afraid to make a double-crust pie, nope, not at all. I replaced the top crust with a layer of crumble topping. Really this turned out amazing, a combination of apple crisp and apple pie! My family said it might just become a new must-have pie at Thanksgiving, along the pumpkin and chocolate pecan. Why do we even do turkey anyway?!

Apple Struesel Pie

serves 8

Prep Time: 20 minutes     Cook Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Pie crust recipe – like my vodka pie crust!

For the filling:

• 6-8 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced – you’re supposed to use a mixture of different kinds. I used 2 each of Cortland, Mutsu, and Winesap (Winesap are just THE BEST even plain, imo)
• lemon juice, for tossing with the apples as you slice them to prevent browning
• 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar

For the struesel (I kinda just made this part up):

• Scant 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 to 1 cup flour
• 6 to 7 Tablespoons butter

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 400F/205C.
• Press the pie crust into a deep-dish pie pan, and refrigerate.
• Toss the sliced apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and sugar together. Let sit for several minutes while you prepare the crumble topping.
• To make the crumble, mix the flour and sugar together. Rub in the butter (I do this with my fingers but you can use a food processor) until you have pea-sized clumps.
• Arrange the apple slices in the pie shell (okay, just dump them in), and pour any syrup over top.
• Strew the topping over the apples. Did you know the German word strueseln means ‘to strew’? Yup, those eight years I studied the language are really paying off.
• Place the pie pan on a baking sheet. This is very important unless you like scrubbing out the bottom of your oven. Bake for 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown and delicious looking.
• Cool for at least an hour before serving with ice cream or a little cream.

Now that Thanksgiving is over, it’s socially acceptable to listen to Christmas music so I can finally share some of my favorite music. When I was little, we’d start decorating the house the weekend after Thanksgiving because we had to get the stockings up in time for St. Nikolaus (I will say, one thing I learned as a German Studies major is that my family is a textbook example of German Catholic Christmas traditions). So we went hunting for a Christmas tree – arguing over who got to pick the tree, who got to cut it, and who really DID choose it; dragged the boxes up from the basement; and put some Christmas records on the record player. My mom’s favorite Christmas song was “Little Drummer Boy,” and we listened to over and over again because it was the only time all year we used the good record player.

So for my momma, who I called late at night to ask if she remembered who sang the version on the record, here is Johnny Mathis singing “Little Drummer Boy.” I love the old songs, like Johnny Mathis, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Perry Como. I am pretty weird, I know.

Oh, and here is a picture of my mom and me decorating the tree:

I have a pretty good idea of what she'll say when she sees this.

Now it’s time to fill them with something delicious and yummy! My family traditionally serves two pies on Thanksgiving: pumpkin and chocolate pecan. Pumpkin is far and away my favorite, so my pie quest this year has been in search of the best possible pumpkin pie. But I am still going to tell you about chocolate pecan pie- you just have to wait til the end of this post.

Okay, so this pumpkin pie recipe is from Cook’s Illustrated/America’s Test Kitchen. It is a pretty fussy recipe, what with the canned yams, maple syrup, and pulsing in a food processor. However, it is mind-blowingly delicious. How delicious? I made one this weekend and it was gone in 15 hours. And people who are not related to me even told me it was the best pumpkin pie they had ever had. So if you, like me, think Thanksgiving isn’t really about the turkey but the pumpkin pie… this is YOUR pumpkin pie!

Pumpkin Pie (adapted from Cook’s Illustrated – recipe here)

Serves 8

Prep time: 30 minutes     Baking time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 pre-baked pie crust of your choice, whether it’s my vodka crust or store-bought.
• 1 cup heavy or double cream – but buy a pint so you can whip the extra!
• 1 cup whole milk
• 3 eggs + 2 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 15oz can pumpkin puree
• 1 cup (drained) canned yams – or substitute an extra 1 cup of pumpkin puree, OR 1 cup pureed sweet potatoes
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup real maple syrup
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 400F/205C.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the cream, milk, eggs + yolk, and vanilla extract. Set aside.
• In a large saucepan, combine the pumpkin puree, yams, sugar, maple syrup, spices, and salt. Simmer over medium heat, stirring often and mashing with a spoon, for 10-15 minutes.
• Remove the pumpkin-yam mixture from the heat. (At this point I transferred the mixture to my KitchenAid, because the next part involves some mixing. You can use a hand mixer or a whisk in a really large bowl). Slowly whisk the cream-egg mixture into the pumpkin mixture. You have to go verrry slowly with this, because the hot pumpkin can cause the cool egg and milk to curdle if you dump it all in. This is important!
• Now, transfer the whole mixture to a food processor and pulse until it is thoroughly mixed and chopped and blitzed to a creamy yummy pumpkiny custard. This is the fussy part. If you don’t have a food processor, I would not disapprove of you saying, “Screw it” and just pouring it into the pie shell. It might still have some errant strings from the yams or pumpkin, but the world will not end.
• Pour the pumpkin custard into the pre-baked pie shell. You might have more custard than fits in the shell. I had enough to bake a second pie! But if you don’t have that much, you can also bake it in custard cups, which is almost better than a pie. Oh, and it’s a good idea to put a pan under the pie plate in case it bubbles over!
• Bake at 400F/205C for 10 minutes. Then, reduce the oven to 300F/150C and bake for an additional 25-40 minutes. It’s done when almost the whole thing is set BUT the very middle should still be a little jiggly. Remove from the oven and it let cool for 2 to 3 hours before eating.
• Serve with fresh whipped cream. (Oh my God PLEASE don’t use Cool Whip!)

The second pie is chocolate pecan pie. It’s very rich, so I can’t eat a lot. However, it is very easy to make. My younger brothers bake this pie to impress their girlfriends’ families. It seems to work!

Chocolate Pecan Pie (adapted from one of my dad’s recipes clipped from the newspaper)

Serves 8-10

Prep time: 15 minutes     Baking time: 40-45 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 pre-baked pie crust – it’s pretty crucial to use a deep-dish pie plate for this recipe
• 1 1/2 cups light corn syrup (golden syrup for you Brits?)
• 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
• 1 cup pecans
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 375F/190C.
• In a large saucepan, combine the corn syrup, sugar, and butter and heat over medium-high until bubbly. Let boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly (and be careful since this is really, really hot). Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature-ish.
• Place the pecans and chocolate chips in the pre-baked pie crust.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and vanilla, then add to the corn syrup mixture.
• Pour the corn syrup mixture over the pecans and chocolate chips in the pie plate.
• Make sure you place the pie plate on a baking sheet, as it has a very strong tendency to bubble over. Trying to pry the contents of this pie from the bottom of your oven would ruin anyone’s Thanksgiving!
• Bake for 40-45 minutes or until set. Serve with ice cream, whipped cream, or alone.