November 12, 2012

Roast Chestnuts

November 12, 2012/ nonreactivepan

In three simple steps, you can have fresh roasted chestnuts.

Use them in your Thanksgiving stuffing, minced over pasta with a poached egg on top, in salads or with Brussels sprouts.

November 22, 2011

I Love Pumpkin Bread

November 22, 2011/ nonreactivepan

Yep, that's right. And, I think Ms Iz does, too (that's my daughter, in case you didn't know).

I made a gluten-free (happens to also be dairy-free) pumpkin bread yesterday, which I have to say beats the pants off my old version. I don't bake a lot, so it's very nice to find a recipe that comes together easily and has little to no mess (but a few dishes to clean up afterward).

The original recipe is from Noteworthy: A Collection of Recipes from the Ravinia Festival, which is a book I received as a wedding gift. Many years (almost 15) and life changes (had a kid, got out of my marriage) later, I still return to this recipe every Thanksgiving. I love pumpkin pie, but can't really eat the crust, and being a novice baker, muffins and breads like this are much more in my comfort zone.

Even though butter and I are best friends, using vegetable oil here makes the bread moist and the batter silky. I changed up some of the spices, though. I didn't have everything on hand, so used cinnamon, cloves and ground ginger. Adding the walnuts just before baking gave the bread a nice crunch, but didn't mess with the interior texture. Oh, and of course, I used a gluten-free mix of flour instead of the traditional white flour the recipe calls for. I bought a pre-mixed flour this time, but you can go here to find a great recipe for your own mix.

I had intended to make muffins this year, but as always happens, I had no liners for the tray. Once I bought the liners, I realized I only had a mini muffin tray, so the liners were too big. I spotted the mini springform pans in the back of the cabinet. Adding a little oil and some parchment paper made the breads a snap to remove from the pans.

Pumpkin Bread

makes 5 small loaves

Recipe adapted from Noteworthy: A Collection of Recipes from the Ravinia Festival

Ingredients:

1 2/3 cup sifted gluten-free flour (use a mix or make your own)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup orange juice
1/ 1/4 cups canned pumpkin puree
2 eggs lightly beaten

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and ginger in a large bowl.
Mix together vegetable oil, orange juice, pumpkin puree and eggs in another large bowl.
Combine the dry and wet ingredients. Make sure to mix completely to incorporate everything.
Lightly oil the pans. Line your baking pans with parchment.
Pour the mixture into the pans.
Add nuts to the top.
Bake for 30 minutes. Insert a cake tester or toothpick into the center and if it comes out clean, the bread is ready. If not, bake for another 5 minutes.

December 11, 2009

who you calling Turkey?

December 11, 2009/ nonreactivepan

Thanksgiving, 1992, San Francisco, CA, my first away from home as a newly minted full-grown adult. I figured I would make the turkey, since of my 3 roommates, 2 were veggie, and one had no interest in taking on the bird. And so, I got us a huge frozen turkey that sat in our fridge for a few days befoere Thanksgiving.

The big day arrived. I went to the fridge and found that the turkey was nowhere near thawed. It was around 8am PST and our party started at 6pm. The phone (which had a very long cord, we for some reason didn't have a cordless, and no cell phones yet) was dialed and Gran Fran came on the line (it being 3 hours later in NY, her turkey was well on its way. Must also mention here, that Joe was well out of the house, too, since he cannot be in the house with odor of the roasting bird.)

"Well, you'll need to run cold water on it to get the ice to thaw. And, to make sure it's ready to cook, you don't want to give everyone salmonella." (note: Gran Fran is very wary of all manner of undercooked food for fear of diseases.)

OK, so the turkey is huge, our sink is not. Into the bathroom I go with the turkey, dragging the phone through the length of our flat. The bird is dumped into the bathtub, cold water is run over it for an hour or so, and it is thawed. (Picture my two veggie roommates coming into the bathroom and seeing me wrestling with a gigantic turkey. Needless to say, as soon as it was thawed, I was back in the bathroom armed with bleach and tub cleanser to get all meaty-juices off the surfaces).

The turkey made it into the oven around 10am, plenty of time for it to cook through. I went about my business to make other dishes, and help get the house ready for our guests. We were dressed up and the house lit with candles just in time.

The turkey had a beautifully browned skin, the meat was moist, the side dishes were delicious.

But, I had forgotten one thing. The paper wrapped innards were still in the turkey cavity. Oy, this was a tough one to explain to the guests. Suffice it to say, the turkey had been cooked for so long that the innards had been cooked, too, no danger of salmonella. But, boy, what a discovery was made when that cooked white sack was found!

Luckily, we were mostly a bunch of out-of-towners on our first solo Thanksgivings, so all was ok, as long a the wine and beer kept flowing and the pies made their way to the table.

And so, now 17 years later, that still stands out in my mind as a Thanksgiving to remember. Below is a chutney I've made in the recent past that is a great accompaniment to turkey, but could be eaten on it's own with some brie and bread, too.

Enjoy your holidays!

Cranberry Chutney

from Gourmet Magazine, 2000