Pumpkin Pie, Part I: The Untraditional

no-bake pumpkin cheesecake, originally uploaded by monpetitchoufleur.

Don’t go in expecting your normal Philly cheesecake! This is a subtly sweet and tangy dessert, with a mellow pumpkin taste and strong hint of nutmeg. It has a creamy and smooth mouth feel and is a lot lighter and less sugary than your standard dense cake, almost mousse-like, but plenty rich (aka plenty of cream cheese and butter involved). It’s dead easy to make, especially if you buy a pre-made crust, and requires no baking. It may not be the best kid-pleaser, but an interesting and impressive dish, geared for more refined palates.

Easy Spiced Pumpkin Refrigerator Cheesecake

Recipe from Whole Foods

Serves 8

• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (4 tablespoons melted, 4 tablespoons softened)
• 1 cup pumpkin purée
• 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Use a long, thin rectangle of parchment paper or foil to line the inside edge of a 9-inch springform pan; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and melted butter. Press mixture into bottom of prepared pan and about 1/4-inch up the sides. Bake until golden brown and toasted, 7 to 8 minutes; set aside to let cool completely.
3. In a medium bowl, beat pumpkin purée, remaining softened butter, cream cheese, vanilla, nutmeg and salt with an electric mixer until smooth. Reduce speed to medium low and add sugar 1/4 cup at a time; beat until smooth. Transfer pumpkin mixture to prepared pan, spreading it out evenly over the crust. Cover and chill until set, about 6 hours, or overnight. Remove outer ring of pan and peel off parchment paper. Cut into slices and serve.

Notes:

• The recipe I used was from Whole Foods, but I have seen different renditions all over the web, even a vegan-friendly version!

 

 

thanksgiving 2010: snapshots

the menu.

the turkey. http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/roast-spatchcocked-turkey

the sides.

(beets with raspberry vinaigrette and orange http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/beets-with-orange-vinaigrette-recipe/index.html)

(parsnip brioche bread pudding http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/roasted-parsnip-bread-pudding)

the drinks.

the table.

(nothing like a little engrish on the thanksgiving table. )

the plate.

the pies.

(vegan pumpkin pie)

(no-bake pumpkin cheesecake)

the leftovers.

(turkey and sausage  jambalaya)

the recipes: to follow.

happy thanksgiving 2010!

first (homemade) college dinner and a “recipe” for apple galette

Long time no post– classes have started and college life is busy, busy, busy– between work and homework (the workload is ridiculous!) there’s nearly enough time to sleep, let alone blog. Props to my friend S for making a delicious dinner– the potatoes especially were amazing! (Now, off to write a 6-8  page paper due tommorrow that I haven’t started yet…hello, dark roast coffee!)

Roasted potatoes roasted potatoes provençal

mixed greens salad, roasted potatoes, arugula and fontina frittata

Freestyle Apple Galette (serves about 6)

Note that this is really a freestyle kind of thing. I just sort of “winged it” and it came out fine. Feel free to use any fruits or berries of your choosing (S recently made one with peaches, raspberries, and honey and it was delish!)

• 1 refrigerated pie crust (I used Pillsbury)
• 3 apples (pilfered from the dining hall), washed, unpeeled, cored and sliced thinly
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 t cinnamon
• Sugar

1. Preheat oven to 400°F and grease or line a cookie sheet.
2. Toss sliced apples with cinnamon and lemon juice in a large mixing bowl.
3. Roll out pie crust onto baking sheet. Pile on apples, and fold edges over to make a “crust”.
4. Sprinkle the entire shebang with liberal amounts of sugar. (It would probably be easier to brush the edges with milk or egg wash first.)
5. Bake for approx. 30 min, or until edges are browned and apples tender.
6. Serve warm.

birthday brunch!

broccoli cheddar and spinach mozzarella quiches

chocolate chip scones

corn muffins

mango upside-down cake

half-set table

gifts!

hello kitty disguised as red panda?

lol cat bible!

Food footnotes:

• due to poor planning, I ran out of eggs and substituted silken tofu for the quiches– they turned out really delicious!
• chocolate chip scones were adapted from Vegan with a Vengeance. They were surprisingly tasty– with a great “scone” texture and taste. They tasted very “scone-y”, if you know what I mean.
• mango upside down cake adapted from here. the mangoes were delicious– I used defrosted frozen mango halves from Trader Joe’s. The cake was okay, sort of dense. Next time I’d use a standard vanilla cake recipe, but definitely worth experimenting.

chocolate mousse pie with pb crust

this is probably the best pie ever, has only 5 ingredients, involves no baking or cooking, and takes all of 10 minutes to prepare (minus refrigeration time).

for the crust I used pb instead of margarine, so it was nutty and healthier to boot.

P.S.: yesterday I shared a chocolate mousse from Le Pain Quotidien with my friend… and i have to say it tasted eerily similar, and perhaps mine was even better!

P.P.S.: it’s vegan.

Avocado Pie

I like interesting recipes. I also like easy recipes. So I had to try this recipe for Avocado Pie, which turned out to be very nice. Although it’s a bit on the sweet side and not as firm as I expected it to be, it’s creamy, refreshing, and for some unknown reason, kind of tastes like strawberries. Give it a try; after all, it only takes about 30 seconds to whip up – what have you got to lose?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Avocado Pie (from Recipezaar)

SERVES 6 -8 , 1 pie

• 1 large ripe avocado
• 1/3 cup lemon juice (or lime juice)
• 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 prepared graham cracker pie crust

1. Combine first 3 ingredients in blender.
2. Blend until completely smooth.
3. Pour into piecrust.
4. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.
5. Serve with whipped cream.

P.S. Don’t just take my word for it- other people have made it too.

Broccoli-Carrot Quiche

To be honest, I’ve really never eaten quiche before, so I was pleasantly surprised at how good it tasted when I tried this recipe last Wednesday. It was very easy to put together and not too heavy. The filling is lovely- silky and creamy, and the Dijon mustard gives it a little bit of a tang. I used broccoli and carrots, but to be honest, any vegetables will do. You can also add cheese (or meat) if you like, but I didn’t miss it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Broccoli-Carrot Quiche (a conglomeration of several recipes)

9” piecrust*
2 cups cooked chopped broccoli 
½ cup cooked sliced baby carrots
1 cup milk
3 large eggs
2 tbs Dijon mustard
½ tsp salt
pepper

•Preheat the oven to 350°F.

•In a large mixing bowl, beat milk, eggs, mustard, salt, and pepper together.

•Scatter broccoli and carrots onto piecrust, and pour the egg mixture on top.

•Bake for about 50 mins, or until quiche is set in the middle. Cool 10 mins before serving.

• Enjoy!

 

* For my quiche, I created an olive-oil whole wheat crust, inspired from this one. It was nutty and tasty, but a little tough, although it softened after sitting in the fridge for a day.

The piecrust in question

the whole pie

cross section of a quiche