Chocolate Cream Puff Trifle

Every year I want to make lots of Thanksgiving desserts, but I always want one with wow factor.  It should taste delicious, obviously, but it should also be impressive to look at.  Last year, my wow factor dessert was the croquembouche.  Ironically, this year my wow factor dessert was also made of cream puffs, but instead of filling them with maple cream and stacking them in a tower, I filled them with a chocolate pastry cream and made them into a trifle!

When I saw this in my mom's holiday issue of Martha Stewart Living, I knew I had found my wow factor dessert.  Trifles may not always look like the most impressive thing, but this was absolutely gorgeous: layers of chocolate-filled cream puffs, ricotta cream specked with grated bittersweet chocolate and orange zest, orange marmalade, and dried fruit that had soaked in anisette, all topped with fresh homemade whipped cream... yeah, this was wow factor.

 While there are many components to this dessert, it was quite doable and I was able to make most of the parts the night before Thanksgiving.  I made the cream puffs, the chocolate cream, the ricotta cream (which by the way was the most delicious part of the entire thing... so light and refreshing), and put the cranberries and cherries (along with some golden raisins just because I had them on hand) into the anisette to soak.  The next morning, I filled the puffs and put the whole thing together; at Thanksgiving, I made the whipped cream and put it on top.  It wasn't really that much work considering how impressive the whole thing looked!  I couldn't seem to get any good pictures of it but trust me that it was beautiful, and it managed to sway many of the Thanksgiving dessert-eaters to try it first.  That's always the sign of a wow factor dessert!

And the results?  Everyone loved it.  My mom (and Kenzie) made the comment that she could do without the marmalade, which I would probably leave out next time, but also said that the chocolate pastry cream was probably the most delicious thing she'd ever eaten.  The ricotta cream was good enough to eat by itself, and the cream puffs are delicate and soft.  I definitely recommend the chocolate cream puff trifle for your next wow factor dessert.

Recipe:

chocolate cream puff trifle
from the December 2013 issue of Martha Stewart Living
serves 10

Ingredients:
dried fruit:
1/4 cup anisette liqueur
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup dried cherries

pate a choux puffs:
1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 cup water
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 large eggs plus 1 large egg white

chocolate pastry cream:
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
4 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon coarse salt

ricotta cream:
16 ounces whole milk ricotta (2 cups)
2/3 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
2 tablespoons anisette liqueur
1/8 teaspoon coarse salt
1 ounce bittersweet chocolate, very finely chopped

assembly:
1 1/3 cups blood-orange or regular orange marmalade
1 cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks

Instructions:

1) Make the dried fruit: bring anisette just to a simmer in a small pot.  Add dried fruit and simmer 1 minute.  Remove from heat; let sit at least 1 hour and up to 3 days at room temperature.

2) Make pate a choux puffs: preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Bring butter, sugar, salt, and water to a boil in a small saucepan.  Remove from heat.  Quickly stir in flour with a wooden spoon.  Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture pulls away from sides of pan and a film forms on the bottom, about 1 1/2 minutes.  Transfer to a bowl and beat with a mixer on low speed until cool, about 2 minutes.  Beat in eggs and egg white, 1 at a time.  Increase speed to medium and beat until a soft peak forms when you touch dough with your finger, about 2 minutes.  Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip.  Pipe dough into thirty 1-to-1 1/4-inch mounds, 1 1/2 inches apart, on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets.  Smooth tip of each mound with a moistened finger, then bake until puffed and golden, about 30 minutes.  Let cool completely.  Choux puffs can be made 2 days ahead and stored in refrigerator, or frozen up to 1 month.

3) Make chocolate pastry cream: place chocolate in a bowl and set a fine sieve over the bowl.  Bring milk and 1/3 cup sugar almost to a boil in a saucepan; remove from heat.  Whisk together egg yolks and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in another bowl until thick, 2 minutes.  Sprinkle in flour and salt, then whisk to combine.  Whisk in half of hot milk, then pour mixture into remaining milk in pan.  Bring to a boil quickly, whisking very fast to prevent scorching, about 1 minute.  Pour mixture through sieve over chocolate, then whisk to combine.  Press plastic wrap directly onto surface of pastry cream to cover and refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour.  Pastry cream can be made up to 2 days ahead.

4) Make ricotta cream: beat together ricotta, cream, sugar, orange zest, anisette, and salt with a mixer on medium-high speed until very thick and fluffy.  Stir in chocolate and refrigerate until ready to use. Ricotta crew can be made up to 2 days ahead.

5) Assemble: place chocolate pastry cream into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-ich plain tip.  Make a small hole in bottom of each choux puff with a paring knife.  Insert pastry bag tip into hole of each puff and squeeze bag until puffs are completely filled with pastry cream.  Spread half of ricotta cream in a 12-to-16-cup trifle bowl.  Top with half of marmalade, then sprinkle with half of dried fruit and soaking liquid.  Top with 15 cream puffs.  Repeat layering with remaining ricotta cream, marmalade, dried fruit, and cream puffs.  Top with whipped cream.  Refrigerate at least 30 minutes and up to 4 hours before serving.

Cranberry-Walnut Jelly Roll

If I am going to have a dessert, I am more of a salty-sweet or sour kind of girl.  Straight-up sweetness has never been my thing - although I know everyone else on earth is all about the sweets!  Nevertheless, when my Thanksgiving issue of Food Network Magazine had a recipe for a cake roll filled with a sweet and tart cranberry filling, I was excited and added it to my list.

Now, there is good news and there is bad news about this dessert.  I'll start with the bad: something happened to my cake roll.  And it was ugly.  It cracked, it broke, the cranberry filling leaked out, and since I made it all the night before, I figured it would be a soggy, sopping mess by the time we brought it to Tracy's.  And then it did look pretty rough... rough enough that no one cut into it at dessert time.  I couldn't blame them because it really wasn't as pretty as I wanted it to be; because it cracked while I rolled it, and some of the filling seeped out, it just was a mess.

Here's the good news: Gary told me that he ate nearly the entire roll by himself the week after Thanksgiving!  He said it was one of his favorite desserts, and that it was absolutely delicious, especially the cranberry filling, which is sweetened with orange juice and sugar and then flavored with allspice, nutmeg and a cinnamon stick. The cake itself is lemony from zest and sprinkled with chopped walnuts before it is rolled up with the filling.  The fact that Gary gave it such rave reviews makes me feel that this cake is worth another shot.  I'm not sure why my roll cracked (maybe I rolled it while it was still too hot?), or why my filling ended up being thin enough that it sort of leaked everywhere (I think I didn't refrigerate it long enough, maybe?) ... but if it tastes that delicious, then it's worth working on the cosmetics :)

Recipe:

cranberry-walut jelly roll
from the November 2013 issue of Food Network Magazine

Ingredients:
for the filling:
1 pound cranberries, fresh or frozen
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cinnamon stick

for the cake:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
unsalted butter, softened, for the baking sheet
1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
confectioners' sugar for dusting (optional)
whipped cream, for serving

Instructions:

1) Cook the cranberries: combine the cranberries, sugar and orange juice in a large saucepan.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low; stir in the allspice, nutmeg and cinnamon stick and simmer 5 to 7 minutes

2) Make the filling: strain the cranberry mixture; set the berries aside.  Return the liquid to the saucepan, bring to a simmer over medium-low heat and cook until syrupy, about 8 minutes.  Discard the cinnamon stick, then puree half of the cranberries in a blender; transfer to a bowl.  Stir in the rest of the cranberries and the reduced syrup.  Spread the mixture in a baking dish so it cools more quickly.  Refrigerate until completely cooled, about 20 minutes.

3) Make the batter: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Sift the flour, baking powder, and cream of tartar into a bowl.  Combine the eggs, granulated sugar, lemon zest, and 1/3 cup water in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.  Beat on high speed until light and airy, 3 to 5 minutes.  Gently fold the egg mixture into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula.  Do not over mix: the batter will posse from volume, but small bubbles should remain.

4) Bake the cake: butter a 10-inch-by-15-inch jelly roll pan, line with parchment paper and butter the parchment.  Add the batter.  Slowly tilt the pan back and forth to evenly distribute the batter.  Bake until the cake is golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.

5) Unmold the cake: while the cake is still warm, place a slightly damp kitchen towel on top; lay a cutting board over the towel.  Hold the cutting board and baking sheet together and flip over.  Lift off the pan, then peel off the parchment.  Let the cake cool slightly, 3 to 5 minutes.

6) Add the filling: dollop the cooled filling over the cake and spread gently, leaving a 1-inch border on all sides.  Be careful not to tear the cake (ha!).  Sprinkle with the walnuts.

7) Roll the cake: position the cake with the shorter end facing you.  Use the towel to tip the edge of the cake forward and gently roll it over, using the towel to guide it.  Once you make one full roll,  pull the towel away and gently squeeze the cake to make the roll compact.  Continue rolling the cake, using the towel to guide it and gently squeezing as you go.  Position the cake roll seam-side down and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight.  Transfer to a platter and dust with confectioners' sugar.  Slice and serve with whipped cream.

Caramel-Spiked Pumpkin Pie

Here's another one of my Thanksgiving baking extravaganza desserts!  I've never actually made a pumpkin pie (weird, I know), and when I saw this recipe on Annie's Eats, I knew that this would be the one I would try.  I thought about making it for Thanksgiving, but then Maggie was assigned the pumpkin pie for our feast.  The day before Thanksgiving was Maggie's birthday, so I ventured a guess that she wouldn't feel like baking on her big day; luckily I was right and she handed over the pumpkin pie reigns to me!  I had roasted two sugar pumping the week previous and had plenty of homemade pumpkin puree, and luckily the rest of the ingredients were things I had on hand.

I made Annie's pie dough recipe, which I have made before; you make it in the stand mixer, which is nice.  Then while it was chilling and subsequently baking, I made the caramel sauce.  Something kind of weird happened to it and I ended up  with a rather thin sauce with a few hard caramel candies in it - not sure how that happened - but it was okay in the end.  The caramel sauce gets mixed in with the pumpkin along with spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves, and into the pie crust it all goes.

My crust ended up looking a little burned around the outside, but I think it just looked that way, because everyone who tried the pie said it was delicious.  I was assured that you could taste the caramel, and that the consistency was delicious.  I didn't try it, but I suggest that you do if you're looking for a not-your-average pumpkin pie!

Recipe:

caramel-spiked pumpkin pie

from Annie's Eats

Ingredients:

1 9-inch partially baked pie crust*

1 cup sugar, divided

3/4 cup heavy cream, warmed

1 tablespoon dark rum (optional)

2 tablespoons butter, cut into 4 pieces

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

pinch of ground cloves

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 large eggs

Instructions:

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium saucepan, spread 1/2 cup of the sugar out in an even layer over medium-high heat.  Once the sugar begins to melt and change color,g entry mix together so that the sugar is evenly melted.  Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has turned a deep amber color (keep a careful eye on it to be sure that it doesn't burn).  Once it has reached the desired color, remove the pan from the heat.  Add in the cream in a slow steady stream down the inside edge of the saucepan, stirring or whisking constantly to incorporate evenly.  If any lumps remain, return the pan to the burner over medium heat and cook just until melted.  Continue mixing in the cream in this manner until it has been completely incorporated.  Stir in the butter and the rum and mix just until smooth.  Set aside the caramel and let cool for 15 minutes.

2) In a bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, coves and vanilla.  Whisk to blend.  Whisk in the eggs one at a time.  Blend in the caramel.  Pour the filling into the partially baked crust.  

3) Place the pie plate on a baking sheet and transfer to the preheated oven.  Bake 45-50 minutes, or until the center is just set and the edges are puffed.  Transfer to a wire rack to let cool at least 30 minutes.  Serve with freshly whipped cream and caramel sauce as desired.

* To blind-bake a pie crust, preheat the overt o 400 degrees.  Roll pie dough out on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch disc.  Place it in a 9-inch pie plate, trimming away the excess and creating decorative edges as desires.  Prick the bottom and sides of the crust with the tines of a fork.  Line the crust with a piece of aluminum foil or parchment paper and fill with baking beads.  Bake 25 minutes. Remove the baking beads and foil and bake about 5-10 minutes more, until light golden.  Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

My job for Thanksgiving this year was to bake my heart out.  I was in charge of baking something for everyone in my family to bring (it's just easier if I do it rather than have us all fight over time in the kitchen!).  I asked Rachael if she had any specific requests of what I should make for her to bring, and after a look on Pinterest, she chose cranberry pistachio biscotti.   I'd never made biscotti before, and we happened to have everything we would need, so I decided that I would give them a try.

The thing about biscotti - which most people probably already know - is that you make the cookie dough and pat it into logs, which are partially baked.  Then you cut the logs on the bias to make the traditional biscotti shape, and they get baked again so they're crunchy.  My family all claimed to prefer them before they are baked the second time, but I was strict about making biscotti the right way, so even though they all stole pieces when they were soft, I did bake the rest again.

These biscotti are very good; the crunchy pistachios mixed with the soft, chewy cranberries make a great texture contrast.  The cookies themselves are crunchy, crumbly and sweet with a touch of orange taste (I did not have orange oil so I used vanilla extract, but the orange zest did the trick).  They are perfect with a cup of coffee or tea, and the red and green from the berries and nuts in them make them perfect for Christmas too :)

Recipe:

cranberry pistachio biscotti
from How to Cook a Wolf

Ingredients:
3 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
grated zest of 1 orange
1/2 teaspoon orange oil (or vanilla extract)
1 cup shelled pistachios
1 cup dried cranberries

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment.

2) In a medium bowl, whisk the dry ingredients.

3) In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then beat in the orange zest and orange oil.

4) With mixer on low speed, gradually stir in the flour mixture until smooth, then stir in the pistachios and cranberries.

5) Divide the dough into thirds.  Shape each piece into a 12-inch log.  Place 2 logs on one sheet (apart) and the other in the middle of the other cookie sheet.  Bake for 30 minutes, until the logs turn a light golden color and are somewhat firm to the touch.  Remove from the oven to a cooling each and reduce oven to 300 degrees.

6) Let cool about 15 minutes; then using a serrated knife, slice diagonally into 1/2-inch slices.  Place upright on cookie sheets and bake for about 20 minutes, until dry and lightly golden. Let cool on rack and enjoy.

Overnight Caramel Pecan Rolls

Okay, folks: we have officially reached my list of things that I baked for Thanksgiving this year.  Be ready for an overload of sweets this week (maybe you'll find something to bring to a Christmas party?).  I can say that most of the things I baked for our family's party at Tracy and Gary's were well-loved, but by far, this was the favorite, and the most exciting.

First, some background: my uncle Artie always brings pecan rolls from the Old Mill restaurant here in town.  A dozen pecan rolls costs $14, and we need about 4 dozen, so it's practically more expensive than the turkeys to buy all these rolls, but they are just so good.  This year since the party was in Belchertown and Artie was on call, there weren't going to be any pecan rolls for the first time ever at the Haley family Thanksgiving... until Tracy asked me if maybe I would try to make them myself.

As a girl who grew up in Massachusetts, it felt sort of wrong to be "competing" against the Old Mill's pecan rolls because they're legendary around here, but I started to really warm up to the idea.  I searched for a long time for recipes, and found millions, but I finally settled on this one for a few different reasons.  First, and probably most importantly, they are logistically the best ones to make for Thanksgiving because all of the work gets done the night before.  Then they get refrigerated overnight and you can just pop them into the oven in the morning.  Isn't that perfect?  I also picked them because the pictures seemed to look the most similar to the Old Mill's rolls, and also it had 142 reviews with an average rating of 4 1/2 stars, so I knew it was tried and true.  Oh and lastly, the great thing about recipes from allrecipes.com is that you can type in the yield that you want, and the recipe automatically adjusts the ingredients, which is just awesome if you happen to be baking 50 pecan rolls the night before Thanksgiving :)

Behold... the dental floss roll-cutting trick!

I actually gave these guys a try the week before Thanksgiving just to make sure that they were good enough, and ohhh were they good enough.  My family was in love with them; one recipe yields 24 rolls and we had devoured all but 4 of them a week later.  They're soft, sweet, slightly sticky, and simply to die for, so we all agreed they passed the test, and the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I created pecan roll mayhem in my kitchen as I made a double batch of these babies.

Here are some interesting things about the recipe: first, you may not believe me, but this is really an easy recipe.  They honestly don't take that much time (I mean, yes they take an overnight rest and an hour's rising time, but during that time you can be relaxing, or sleeping, or if you were me, baking for 8 straight hours) and they are so much less difficult than you expect.  Basically you make a dough, let it rise, roll it out and spread it with butter and cinnamon and sugar, roll it up and cut it into individual rolls (I read the comments on this recipe and found out about the awesome tip to use dental floss to cut the rolls by passing the floss under your roll and pulling the two ends... genius... it led to perfectly cut rolls).  Then - here is another really interesting part - you make a ridiculously easy caramel sauce (melt butter and brown sugar in a pan, add corn syrup, and you're done... in fact, some of the comments said that people used this recipe just for the caramel sauce!) and pour that in the bottom of the pan.  Then sprinkle the pecans on top, and add the rolls on top of that.  And you're done!  The next day after you bake them, you invert the pans on top of your serving dishes, so that the caramelly-pecanny bottoms are now the tops, and voila: pecan rolls.  Honestly: so good, and so simple to make. I got so many compliments on these guys that they stole the show from my actual desserts (these were served with dinner!) but I am not doing any complaining.  I am celebrating that pecan rolls are just a few rather fun steps and one overnight away any time I want them!

Recipe:

overnight caramel pecan rolls
from allrecipes.com
yield 24 pecan rolls

Ingredients:
for rolls:
2 cups milk
2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 egg
7 cups all-purpose flour

for caramel sauce:
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 cup pecan halves (I added some more, probably about 1/2 cup more)

for filling:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Instructions:

1) Warm the milk n a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat.  Let cool until lukewarm.  In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.  Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

2) In a large bowl, combine yeast mixture, milk, sugar, oil, baking powder, salt, egg, and 3 cups flour.  Beat until smooth.  Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition.  When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.  Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil.  Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

3) Make the caramel sauce: Heat brown sugar and 1/2 cup butter until melted.  Remove from heat; stir in corn syrup.  Divide mixture between two 9x13-inch baking pans.  Sprinkle 1/2 cup pecans in each pan.

4)  When dough has doubled in size, punch down and turn out onto a lightly floured surface.  Roll out into a large rectangle and spread with butter.  Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.  Starting with the long side, roll up the rectangle into a log, and slice it into 1-inch-wide rolls.  Place the rolls slightly apart in pans.  Wrap pans with aluminum foil and refrigerate at least 12 hours but no longer than 48.

5) Remove rolls from refrigerator and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

6) Bake uncovered in preheated oven until golden 30 to 35 minutes.  Immediately invert pan on heatproof serving plate.  Wait 1 or 2 minutes before removing pan, so that caramel drizzles over rolls.

Eggplant and Three Cheese Calzone

One thing I suddenly realized I love this year is eggplant.  I've never really had much of it, and as for cooking with it, I made baba ganoush and that was about it.  And then we went over to Anne's for dinner a couple months ago, and she made us eggplant parmesan.  It was exquisite.  I have since ordered it at 2 different restaurants and apparently I am obsessed with it (I definitely need that recipe, Anne).  When I noticed that my beloved new Smitten Kitchen Cookbook had a recipe for eggplant and three cheese calzone, I knew I simply had to try it.  I love calzones, and eggplant, and cheese.  So... thus it began.

Deb (yeah we're on a first-name basis) has 2 different pizza dough recipes, called rushed and leisurely.  She says that leisurely has a more developed flavor, but it requires 8 hours to overnight in the fridge.  However she says that the rushed pizza dough is also "perfect."  Obviously I went with rushed, where it rises in a warm but off oven for about a half hour.  One more note about the dough: her book has directions to make the doughs by hand or by mixer.  I will be sharing the mixer version only.  While the dough rose, I roasted the slices of eggplant. and made the cheese mix.

When the dough was ready, I rolled it out and topped it with the sliced roasted eggplant, a mixture of ricotta, parmesan and mozzarella, and oregano.  Other than salt and pepper, that's all you need!  I am not really sure why my calzone ended up being really ugly and more trapezoid-shaped than your usual calzone, but I think it was because the recipe says to roll it out into a circle, and next time I think I will do a rectangle!  Oh well - I am used to my food tasting great and looking a little funky.  After an egg wash, I baked it and could hardly wait the 20 minutes it took!

I ended up serving this with the same sauce I made for the potato gnocchi because it was so damn good, and the gnocchi were long gone but I still had some sauce left.  The recipe did come with its own sauce recipe, so I will include that just in case you don't happen to have leftover potato gnocchi sauce!  It was a pretty good idea to use it, because the sauce is amazing, and now I could enjoy it with an amazing calzone.  The calzone really was great, but unfortunately I made it on an awkward night where Kenzie, an eggplant lover, wasn't home, and Mom and Rachael had already eaten, so I was the only one who got to enjoy it.  You will just have to take my word for it.  The dough was great: soft, crunchy on the outside, and chewy.  Inside, the cheeses were melty and the eggplant was earthy, and dunked in the tomato sauce, they made a hearty, warming, delicious calzone that will have to be made again to introduce it to my family!

Recipe:

eggplant and three cheese calzone
from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook by Deb Perelman
serves 4

Ingredients:
for calzone:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium (3/4-pound) eggplant, sliced 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick
salt
freshly ground pepper
1 3/4-pound pizza dough, ready to go (see below for rushed pizza dough recipe)
1 cup ricotta
1 cup coarsely grated mozzarella
1/3 cup finely grated parmesan
dried oregano
1 egg, beaten with 1 teaspoon water for egg wash
a handful of snipped fresh basil leaves

for quick sauce:
1 cup strained tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 garlic clove, minced
red pepper flakes
pinch of sugar (optional)
few drops of red wine vinegar (optional)

Instructions:

1) Prepare eggplant: preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  Coat a baking sheet with olive oil.  Arrange the eggplant slices in one layer.  Season them with salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Roast for 20 minutes, flip, then roast for another 10 minutes.  Let the eggplant cool slightly.  Leave oven on.

2) Assemble calzone: Roll the dough into a 12-inch round.  Mix together ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan, then season the cheese with 1/2 teaspoon table salt, a pinch of dried oregano (or more to taste) and freshly ground pepper.  Stir the eggplant into the cheese mixture, and then heap it down the center of the dough.  Pull the sides of the dough over the center, pressing and crimping a seam down the middle.  Brush the outside of the calzone with egg wash.

3) Bake the calzone for 15 to 20 minutes, until puffed and golden all over.

4) Make the sauce: while the calzone bakes, heat the tomatoes, salt, garlic, and a pinch of red pepper flakes in a small saucepan until simmering.  Gently simmer for 5 minutes, then taste for seasoning.  For extra sweetness or punch, add a pinch of sugar or a few drops of red wine vinegar to taste and simmer for one minutes more.  Pour into a small dish.

5) To serve: when calzone is finished baking, slide it onto a serving dish and slice into larger sections.  Garnish with snipped basil and serve with sauce on the side.

rushed pizza dough
yield 1 12-ounce dough

Ingredients:
1/2 cup warm water
1 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups all-purpose or bread flour, plus more for counter
1 teaspoon table salt
olive oil, for coating bowl

Instructions: 

1) Turn oven on to warm (about 200 to 225 degrees) for 5 minutes, then turn it off.

2) Pour 1/2 cup warm water into the bowl of your electric mixer, sprinkle the yeast over the water, and let it stand for 5 minutes.  Add the flour, then the salt, and mix with your dough hook at a moderate speed until the mixture starts to form a craggy mass.  Reduce the speed to low and mix for 5 minutes, letting the hook knead the mass into a smooth, elastic dough.  Remove dough and wipe out bowl.

3) Coat inside of mixing bowl with olive oil, place dough back in bowl, and cover with plastic wrap.  Place in previously warmed oven, and let it sit for 30 minutes, or until doubled.  Remove the dough from the oven.  Turn the dough onto a floured counter if you want to roll it out, pizza peel, or prepared baking sheet, and let your recipe take it from here.

Quinoa and Winter Squash Bake

I cannot stress enough how delicious this quinoa and winter squash bake was.  All I can tell you is that Mark and I basically ate the entire thing ourselves throughout a week for both lunch and dinner, and we were  both thrilled.  It is a filling, hearty, warm vegetarian dish that is perfect for both fall and winter; it has winter squash, so that's wintry, and also pepitas and dried cranberries, which is very fall-ish.

So let's talk about this bake.  It's made in a pie plate which is adorable, and it's full of delicious treats besides the pepitas and cranberries which give it such a great texture.  It has both mashed and cubed roasted squash, and heaps of fresh herbs - marjoram, rosemary, sage and thyme (I have no idea what marjoram is and so it didn't go into my bake).

The recipe calls for flax to make it vegan, but I used eggs; one egg replaces one tablespoon of ground flax, so I used 3 eggs and it all held together beautifully.  You can actually cut it like a pie.  I also used a squash different than the butternut that it recommends.... although I am still not totally sure what it was.  Kenzie brought it home from a friend at work.  It was round and green and stripy and bumpy... but hey it was good!  I think any squash would work fine.

This was exquisite the night I made it; it was creamy from the mashed squash, but had a crunch from quinoa and pumpkin seeds, and little pops of surprise sweetness from the Craisins.  It was literally one of the best things I've made in a while.

Recipe:

quinoa and winter squash bake
from The Kitchnn
serves 8

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds butternut or other winter squash
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided, plus more for greasing dish and brushing on top
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
3 eggs (or to be vegan, 3 tablespoons ground flax mixed with 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon water)
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh marjoram
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups cooked quinoa
1/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
3 tablespoons dried currants or chopped dried cranberries

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Peel and cut the squash into 1/2-inch cubes.  Toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and spread in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Roast until tender, about 30 minutes, turning halfway through.  Remove from the oven and lower the temperature to 350 degrees.

2) Mash half the squash using a fork.  Add the mashed squash to the 3 eggs (or to the mixture of flax and water) and stir with a fork until well-combined.  Set aside.

3) Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion, garlic and herbs and cook, stirring occasionally until the onion is soft and translucent.  Transfer to a large bowl.

4) Add the quinoa and mashed squash-egg mixture to the bowl along with paprika, nutmeg, 2 teaspoons of kosher salt, and a few cracks of black pepper.  Stir until well-combined.  Add the remaining cubed squash, pumpkin seeds, and currants/cranberries, and stir until combined.

5) Transfer the mixture to a greased 9-inch pie plate or a similar-sized oven-proof dish.  Press it down firmly and evenly and brush a little olive oil on top.  Bake until set and edges are browned, about 40 minutes.

6) Slice and serve warm or at room temperature.  Leftovers will keep, covered and refrigerated, for up to a week.

A teacher's best friend at work is a great lunch :)