Cranberried Sweet Potatoes

My mom used to make a casserole she called cranberried sweet potatoes for me that I love, love, loved as a kid. When I was in seventh grade Mr. Hinkle, the technology teacher at Memorial Middle School and also the resident Piney, made us all bring in a dish made with cranberries, and that was dish I chose bring. I've never been able to replicate it, or get the recipe from my mom [update: I now have my mom's recipe!], but the following recipe is one that worked out pretty well for me, and it also contains cranberries and sweet potatoes.

Ingredients
4 Large Sweet Potatoes
6 T. Butter
One bag or about 2 1/2 C. Fresh Cranberries
1/2 C. Orange Juice
4 - 6 T. Sugar

Method
Peel and chop up the sweet potatoes into about 1-inch or so cubes. Boil 30 - 45 minutes until soft. Drain the water off the potatoes, reserving a little--maybe 1/2 a cup or so. While the potatoes are still very hot, throw the butter in and mash it all up with a potato masher. Add a little of the reserved potato water as needed to get a nice consistency. (You can also use milk or orange juice to do this if you like.)

While the potatoes are boiling, heat the orange juice on a sauce pan until it boils and reduces by about half. Mix the reduced orange juice, sugar, and cranberries together in a bowl.

When your potatoes are mashed, spread half of them in a 2-quart casserole dish. Layer on one-half of the cranberries, then the other half of the potatoes, then the rest of the cranberries. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, until the cranberries are hot and bursting.

You can sprinkle some walnuts on top for the last ten minutes of baking, if you like. Serve piping hot.

Turkey Burgers

As you well know, dear reader, my household is not vegan, vegetarian, kosher, gluten-free, or lactose intolerant. We do not eschew fish, poultry, pork, or even red meat. And everyone knows that a turkey burger is no substitute for a beef hamburger. But sometimes it's nice to have a turkey burger. This recipe was honed by my girlfriend, and I love when she makes it:

20 ounces Ground Turkey
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Bread Crumbs
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon finely diced Onions
2 Egg Whites, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon chopped Parsley
1 clove Garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
pinch Black Pepper

Mix is all together. A. says it's best to use your hands for the mixing. Then divide this into 4 or 5 patties and grill 'em!

Christmas Cheesecake

So, after the 2008 Cheesecake Bake-Off (in which I did not win any awards), I rashly proclaimed I'd never make a cheesecake again--until next year, at least, I said. Well, for two reasons it has become apparent that I need to make the cheesecake ONE MORE TIME. First, I have exactly 200 grams of digestive biscuits in my house, and none of the members of our household is in need of a digestive aid, so far as I know. Second, I want people to taste my cake in an environment that is more suited to its subtlety--the Bake-Off was a little manic. So, I'm going to make the Christmas Cheesecake for Christmas dinner.

I did steal this recipe off the internet, but I had to do so much calculating and experimenting to get the measurements right, that I'm putting it up here as my own. It was from an Australian magazine, and they measure things by weight, not cups or tablespoons; and not just weight, but METRIC weight. Translations were necessary; charts were consulted; substitutions were made. So, if you want a very fine, creamy, custardy cheesecake, do this:

Crust:
• 200 grams Digestive Biscuits (this is actually pretty OK to measure by grams because if you’re buying a package of digestive biscuits, they’re probably imported from Europe or Asia and sold in packages of 200 or 400 grams anyway)
• ½ C Unsalted Butter, melted
Layer one:
• 16 oz. cream cheese (two regular sized “bricks”)
• ¾ C. Heavy Cream
• 3 Eggs
• ½ C. Powdered Sugar
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
Layer two:
• 1 ½ C. Sour Cream
• ¾ C. Yogurt
• ½ C. Powdered Sugar
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
Topping
• 2 C Frozen Cranberries
• 3 T. Port
• 1 ½ tsp. Cornstarch
• 12 small rosemary sprigs dusted with icing sugar, to garnish
Method
1. Preheat oven to 350°C.
2. Process biscuits to fine crumbs in a food processor. Add butter and whiz to combine (we don’t have a food processor, so we mash the biscuits to bits in a ziplocked baggy). Press evenly into the base of a 9-inch springform cake pan and bake for 5 minutes.
3. Place cream cheese, heavy cream, eggs, ½ C sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla in a mixer, and cream until smooth. Spread filling over biscuit base.
4. Bake for 30 minutes or until filling has set. Remove cake from oven and set aside to cool for 30 minutes. Seriously: you must let the cheesecake cool before putting the next layer on or it will crack open like the San Andreas fault.
5. Meanwhile, combine sour cream, yogurt, ½ C. powdered sugar, and 1 tsp. vanilla. Spread over the cooled cake, then return to oven for a further 10 minutes. Set aside to cool, then refrigerate overnight (or at least 4 hours).
6. Place ½ C sugar, cranberries, and port in a saucepan over low heat. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Remove lid and stir. Continue to cook until the cranberries give off their juice. Take out a little bit of the juice and mix the cornstarch into the dash of the juice, then return this mixture to the pan with berry mixture and continue to cook until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat and cool—all the way cool.
7. To serve, top cake with cranberry sauce and garnish with the dusted rosemary sprigs.

Thanksgiving 2008

Here are my cooking notes from Thanksgiving 2008. The carrot soup recipe I got from T. at a dinner party many moons ago. I make it so frequently now that I didn't even write out my recipe! Thanks, T.! The green beans recipe came from Mollie Katzen on NPR. I followed her directions word for word, and they came out perfectly. She's a genius with the veggies. The cranberry relish was also from NPR--in a very entertaining article by Susan Stamberg. The audio version neglects to mention the 3/4 C. sour cream, which is an ESSENTIAL ingredient. Listen to it anyway because it's funny. And if you want to know how to make delicious turkey, you'll have to ask my girlfriend.

Tiramisu

When my lady requested tiramisu for her birthday cake, I was a little panicked. I had NO IDEA what went into tiramisu or what the method was. It turns out that it's pretty easy, and my girlfriend was super-impressed by my practice efforts. There's an excellent website already in place to tell you all about it: Heavenly Tiramisu. I used the recipe called "Better Safe Than Sorry," because I don't want to accidentally poison anyone with salmonella.

I followed their recipe almost to the T--I just changed the two cheeses to mascarpone, and I had to use cream in my yolk mixture because I didn't have any milk:

Ingredients

8 egg yolks
1 C. Sugar
1/4 C. Milk
2 C. Whipping Cream
16 Oz. Mascarpone Cheese
3 - 4 C. Hazelnut Coffee, brewed and cooled
3/4 C. Amaretto
50 or more Lady Fingers
2 squares Bittersweet Baker's Chocolate, chopped finely
A sprinkle of Cinnamon

Method

1. Whisk egg yolks, half the sugar, and the milk in a 2-quart saucepan until smooth and blended.
2. Heat to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.
3. Refrigerate and cool.
4. Whip the whipping cream to very stiff peaks. Set aside in the refrigerator.
5. Mix the cheese and remaining ½ cup of sugar together.
6. Stir in the yolk mixture.
7. Then fold in the whipping cream.
8. Combine the coffee and Amaretto in a large mixing bowl.
9. Quickly dip each ladyfinger in the coffee mixture and place on the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.
10. Sprinkle with half the chocolate.
11. Cover with half of the cheese mixture.
12. Add another layer of dipped ladyfingers.
13. Sprinkle with chocolate and finish with the cheese mixture.
14. Sprinkle cinnamon over the top and garnish with coarsely grated chocolate.
15. Refrigerate overnight for best flavor.

A fun little game from Very Good Taste

Here’s what VGT wants you to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoises
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomoatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S'mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchang
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobi beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harisa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee
100. Snake

"Thai" pumpkin custard

So, most Thai restaurants at which I've eaten in NYC have some version of a pumpkin custard on the menu, and there are a TON of "Thai pumpkin custard recipes" on the internet. My good friend and roommate, V. says that this is clearly one of those made-up American things, like French fries or chop sooey. Never the less! I have made my own Thai pumpkin custard! Both of my loyal readers know that this is in large part because my sweetheart adores all things pumpkin. This custard is quite delicious, even if it's not authentic--whatever that means. And, as you can see from the attached photo, it's a nice-looking dish, too. You can also see the lovely color of our new living room: Benjamin Moore's 'Pumpkin Pie.' It's spot on, right?

1 smallish pumpkin (but bigger than the one in my picture by a little bit)
9 eggs
1 1/2 C. Coconut milk from a can
2 C. Sugar
1 pinch Salt
1 tsp. Vanilla

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Cut a hat out of your pumpkin, and then scrape and spoon the guts out as though you were going to make a jack o'lantern. I toasted my seeds with salt, and they were quite delicious. Set this all aside while you make the custard.

The Custard:
Break the eggs into a large mixing bowl. Using a fork or whisk, beat by hand until fluffy (1 minute). Add the coconut milk, vanilla, and half the sugar. Beat again for 1 minute, or until well mixed. Add the rest of the sugar, stirring to dissolve it in the egg mixture.

Pour the custard into the pumpkin until it is within a half inch of the top. Set the custard-filled pumpkin in a shallow baking dish or a roasting pan and pour water into the pan until it comes up to about 1/2 an inch on the pumpkin. Put this all into the oven and bake for 90 minutes. The custard will rise as it cooks, but don't worry, it will sink back into the pumpkin when you cool it. It's possible that the custard won't have completely set in 90 minutes, so you may need to leave it in for another 15 to 30 minutes. You can roast your pumpkin's little lid, too, but not for 90 minutes--take it out after 45 minutes or so, so it doesn't burn up completely.

Allow the custard to cool on the counter for 30 minutes at least before taking it out of the hot water. Custards are served room temp or cool--I refrigerated mine overnight before slicing it like a cake.

This didn't happen to me, but apparently if your custard doesn't set properly, it's a BIG mess when you slice the pumpkin open. Good luck! And invite me over for some, I LOVE this stuff!