Tag pumpkin pie

Parties That Cook’s Top Pumpkin Recipes

0 comments By The Kitchen Whisperer Filed in Menus & Recipes Tagged with , , , , , , October 18th, 2012 @ 11:14 am

We are always SO excited this time of year. The candy, costumes, turkey-fueled parades, and holiday parties are all wonderful.. But what really pushes us over the edge are all the pumpkin recipes! Sweet, savory, baked, pureed, cakes, lattes – Bring. It. On. We’ve compiled quite the pumpkin recipe library over the years, and it’s about time we shared the wealth. Now presenting, our Top Pumpkin Recipes!

Sweet Pumpkin and Apple Cider Soup with Sage
This recipe can be found in our Soups, Salads & Pasta Section

Ingredients
Soup:
1 medium sugar pumpkin or butternut squash
6 Tablespoons butter, divided in half
6 Tablespoons brown sugar, divided in half
1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped or 2 teaspoons dried
8 cups fresh chicken or vegetable stock
1 large onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 large carrots, peeled and finely chopped
4 large cloves garlic, peeled
1 tart apple, such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored and finely chopped
1 cup apple cider or apple juice
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs sage
1 1/2 Tablespoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Garnish:
1/2 cup crème fraîche
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh sage leaves for garnish

Methods/Steps
Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Roast Pumpkin: Cut pumpkin or squash in half and scoop out seeds. Place in roasting pan, flesh side up. Spread half of the butter and brown sugar among the cavities. Sprinkle with rosemary. Pour 2 cups of stock around pumpkin or squash and cover pan with foil. Roast in preheated oven, stirring once or twice, until squash is soft, about 45 minutes – 1 hour.

Sauté Vegetables: In large stockpot, melt remaining butter. Add onions, carrots, garlic, and apple and sauté until soft, about 7 minutes. Once the vegetables are soft, add the remaining 6 cups stock, remaining brown sugar, apple cider, ginger, nutmeg, bay leaf, sage, salt and pepper. Cover pot and then bring to a boil. Remove pumpkin or squash from oven, cool slightly then scoop flesh out of skins and add to stockpot. Cook for about 8-10 more.

Puree Soup: Remove bay leaf and sage from soup pot. Working in batches (filling no more than 1/2 full), puree soup in blender on high speed until very smooth and light, 2 to 3 minutes per batch. Helpful hint: you may want to hold the lid on with a towel because the soup can spit! Strain soup through fine strainer into second stock pot over medium heat.

Mix Crème Fraîche: Combine crème fraîche with salt. Set aside.

Serve: When all the soup has been pureed, bring to a boil and simmer for a few minutes to blend the flavors. Add additional seasoning if necessary. Serve soup in bowls, topped with dollop of crème fraîche and sage.

Serves/Makes
Serves 16

Extra credit: You’re sure to ace your pumpkin-lover test if you try either of these delicious recipes!

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting Recipe – We hosted an entire Halloween contest around these bad boys last year. Let me just say, the results were DELICIOUS.

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie Recipe – Ummm, need I say more?? You’ve got to be crazy (or on a diet) to turn down a winner like this.

Parties That Cook Reinvents the Thanksgiving Pie: Mini Apple, Roquefort and Caramelized Onion Pie Recipe

0 comments By The Kitchen Whisperer Filed in Menus & Recipes Tagged with , , , , , , , November 8th, 2011 @ 1:43 am

Let’s reexamine the Thanksgiving meal. In the last ten years, how many times did your turkey day dinner include pumpkin pie? Be honest. Six times? Nine?? Ten?! Geeze. This holiday season, give pumpkin pie a rest and try this delicious, simple and savory mini pie recipe at your next holiday party! This recipe is just one part of the mouthwatering menu for our upcoming Thanksgiving Appetizers cooking class in Chicago!

To prove we don’t have anything against pumpkin, we’ve also posted this delicious alternative to the usual pumpkin desserts: a Pumpkin Roulade with Ginger-Cream Cheese Frosting – YUM!

Mini Apple, Roquefort and Caramelized Onion Pies with Honey Recipe
This recipe can also be found in our Appetizer Recipe Library!

Ingredients
Pastry:
 1 1/2 cups AP flour + more for dusting
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
9 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½” pieces, frozen if possible
1/3 cup ice water
2-inch round cookie cutters
24-cup mini muffin tins

Apple, Roquefort and Caramelized Onion Filling:
 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1 onion, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 cup water
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, halved and cored
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme, plus thyme leaves for garnish
3 ounces Roquefort cheese, crumbled
2 Tablespoons honey

Methods/Steps
 Preheat oven to 400°F

Make Pastry: Place the flour, salt and butter into the bowl of a food processor. Run the machine for 30 seconds or until the mix looks like pea size crumbles. Add the water and pulse just until a dough ball starts to form. A tablespoon or so more of ice water may be needed. Do not over work the dough or the crust will be tough. Gather all of the dough and press into a disk. If you are not rolling the dough immediately, wrap in plastic and refrigerate until ready to use.

Roll and Cut Pastry: Place the dough disk onto a well floured surface. With a floured rolling pin, roll dough to about a 1/4-inch thick. With a 2-inch round cookie cutter, cut 24 rounds from disk of dough. You cannot re-roll this dough so cut the rounds carefully and without wasting space between cuts. Gently press dough rounds evenly into the cups of a 24-cup mini muffin tin. Bake crust for 15 minutes. When pie shells come out of the oven, they will have puffed. Gently use a spoon or a fingertip to tap shells back down.

Cook Onion/Apple Mixture: In a sauté pan, heat the butter over medium-high heat until it is hot and beginning to brown. Add the onions and salt to the pan. Stir to make sure all the onions are coated with oil. Add the water to the pan, reduce heat to low and cover for 10 minutes to allow the onions to soften.

Dice Apples: Dice the halved apple into 1/4-inch cube. Once the onions are softened, add the diced apples and continue cooking, uncovered, until the apples are soft and the onions are golden brown, approximately 15 minutes. Stir to prevent burning. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Add the chopped Thyme and Roquefort.

Assemble and Bake Tartlets: Place a heaping spoonful of the filling into each pie shell. Bake in the oven until the cheese is bubbling, about 5 minutes.

Serve: While still hot, drizzle the mini pies with honey and garnish with the thyme buds.

Serves/Makes
 Makes 24 mini pies

Recipe adapted by Parties That Cook www.PartiesThatCook.com from Parties That Cook Lead Chef, Mick Dimas

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