Episode 77
November 20, 2011
Pumpkin Pie and Thanksgiving Sides
Sorry about the late post! It’s been a whirlwind the past couple months, but I’m glad I was able to get a Thanksgiving episode in right under the wire! Last year, I brought you my original recipe, the Pumpkin Mousse pie, so this year I decided to be a little more traditional and do an episode on a standard pumpkin pie. I wanted the video to have a little more bulk so I decided to add in a couple of side dishes: Spicy honey and garlic glazed green beans and candied sweet potatoes.
First, let me catch you all up on what’s been going on (if you haven’t been following me on Facebook)! For the past 3 weeks, we’ve been updating our kitchen giving it a fresh new look, cleaning out the clutter, and making it more functional. In addition, I’m working on getting my paperwork together to submit to the Virginia Department of Agriculture in order to get approved as a home based baking business – which is why I’ve been updating the kitchen. I won’t really be producing baked goods for sale or special order. Instead I plan to take my YouTube videos on the road and perform live semi-interactive demonstrations in homes, business, and schools. And if that wasn’t busy enough I had a trade show this past Saturday (where I baked 1200 cookies with help from my friends over at the food blog All in the Name of Noms!) and on top of that made my very first wedding cake for a good friend of mine for this past Friday. And how about just for fun we throw in my full time job too. Needless to say, it’s been pretty hectic – especially when my kitchen was in disarray and I couldn’t shoot new episodes – and I’m glad things are winding down! After I got home from the trade show I literally face planted into my bed and woke up around dinner time. I’m going to make sure this Thanksgiving I take it easy so I can get back on track and get more episodes done for you all!
Wamp wamp... still it tasted pretty delicious thanks to the anise oil! Be sure to go easy when using oils - a drop goes a very long way
So getting back to the episode at hand, as I’m sure you’ve noticed my pie crust fell! I had a feeling it would long before it went into the oven but I crossed my fingers hoping that it wouldn’t. I guess I didn’t cross my fingers hard enough? One of the reasons it fell was that there wasn’t enough of a lip on the edge of the pie dish I used. Another is that the pie crust tore at one part so it wasn’t evenly distributed across the dish. These two factors combined drew the crust into the pie. Unfortunately, my other pie dishes were already being used – including one for the Kahlua White Russian Pie episode. That’s right! I do my best to try and shoot two episodes in one day if I can. Not an easy task. I really wonder how these Food Network personalities do it. But anyway, check out the basic pie dough episode to learn how to make pie dough and how to make a fluted crust.
Pumpkin pie is an extremely easy recipe. You basically take all of the ingredients, throw them into a bowl, whisk them together, and pour the filling into an unbaked pie shell! Literally, easy as pie. The custard-like filling is easy to customize with a variety of spices, herbs, extracts, and oils so feel free to experiment and come up with your own unique pumpkin pie blend!
Using ramekins and other dishes for individual servings make things a little more fancy and make each guest feel more appreciated (I think anyway). But it is one more dish to wash.
Also in this episode are two of my favorite Thanksgiving side dishes. The candied sweet potato, or yam, casserole is a common staple in many households for the holidays and echoes the simpler times our grandmas always tell us about. There’s something especially American about a side dish that is already naturally sweet and rich being bolstered with brown sugar, butter, and marshmallows. This super easy side dish is very low maintenance. Just take pre-cooked sweet potatoes (canned or cook them like in the sweet potato pie episode) and combine them with butter and brown sugar in a pot and let them simmer for a little while. Then scoop up the sweet potatoes and place them in an oven safe dish, top with marshmallows, and brown in the oven!
If you like garlic we should be friends.
The other side dish I make year round. It is very easy to make and I always have the ingredients on hand. This recipe is somewhat original in that I was actually trying to copy an appetizer that I had at one of my favorite restaurants: Coastal Flats. They have an appetizer that is calamari and green beans served with a sweet and spicy glaze. In an effort to mimic the glaze, I combined garlic, red pepper flakes, and honey. The resulting glaze was no near the restaurant’s version but is extremely tasty nonetheless! I use lots of garlic and let the pot simmer with a couple tablespoons of water (to keep the honey from burning or getting too thick) so that the garlic flavor is really nice and developed. Then to cook the green beans, just take a pot with an inch of boiling water and throw them right in. The boiling water will steam the green beans to perfection in about a minute. Another near effortless tasty dish! I love serving these green beans with chicken. Two of my favorite kinds of chicken: Ranch chicken (breaded with ranch dressing mix) and mustard black pepper chicken (chicken marinated overnight with a mustard, vinegar, and cracked black pepper marinade).
I hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving, and I hope you are able to enjoy the company of your family and of course lots of tasty food. Also keep in your thoughts the less fortunate who are struggling to make ends meet this holiday season – and all year round – and do your best to donate some non-perishables to your local food drives and shelters.
Here are the recipes for the basic pie dough, the pumpkin pie, the spicy honey glazed green beans, and the candied sweet potatoes. Enjoy the video below!
