Culinary Clique.com

Archive for the ‘Tis the Season’ Category

I love pumpkin pie.  I would never eat someone’s homemade pumpkin pie because Mrs. Smith’s Custard Pumpkin pie was my absolute favorite. It was sad to me that a frozen store bought pie tasted much better, yet the calories (GUILT with every bite).

Then in a Cooking Light issues I read how I could get fresh pumpkin from a pie pumpkin. Then I saw a pumpkin pie recipe from Cooking Light. Reading the reviews several of the comments said use fresh pumpkin and not canned. Let me just tell you that I did not get the perfect pie (for me) on the first try. I had to tweak the recipe until I got it to MY TASTE. That is the key to recipes. You can start with a great basic recipe and change it to your families taste from there. Don’t be afraid to try something new.

The other Ah Ha moment I had getting to my favorite pumpkin pie was in the spice. I originally started with McCormicks Pumpkin Pie Spice. I looked at the ingredients and saw that it did not include cloves so I added cloves to my recipe. However, when I bought  Island Spice pumpkin pie spice I noticed it had cloves already added, so I left it out when I used that brand.

The other great thing about using fresh pumpkin, instead of canned pure pumpkin is that you can control the calories, sugar and other ingredients.  So just remember that here is a great start but tweak it to your taste.

Pumpkin Pie Ingredients

• Fresh Pumpkin from half of a pie pumpkin or 2 cups      
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (only if not included in spice)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 12 oz can lowfat evaporated milk
• 1-2 Tablespoons fat free condensed milk (optional for texture)
• 2 eggs
• Pie crust
• pie pan
• cooking spray

Place bottom rack of oven on lowest setting.

Preheat oven to 425F

Cover a cookie sheet or tray with foil for the pie plate to sit on and catch spills.

Spray Pie plate with cooking spray.

Lay pie crust in the middle of pie plate and gently push down to shape the bottom of the pie plate.

Form the edges of the pie as seen in the picture. It should not look perfect, it should look homemade.

Place the pie plate on the foil lined cookie sheet. Pie will be full to the edge so it should be ready to place straight in the oven.

Place Brown sugar and spice in mixing bowl. Mix with electric mixer to evenly mix together.

Add salt, evaporated milk, eggs, and condensed milk to sugar and spice.

Mix well for a minute.

Add pumpkin and mix another minute to make sure all ingredients are mixed well.

Pour pumpkin mixture in pie crust, making sure to get all the pumpkin off  beaters and bottom of bowl.

Carefully place baking sheet in oven with rack on lowest setting trying not to spill pie mixture.

Bake 10 minutes at 425F, then lower heat to 350F and bake an additional 45 minutes.

If knife does not come out clean in the middle,  keep adding 5 -10 minutes at a time until pie is done in the middle.

Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Keep leftovers refrigerated and enjoy!

I recently discovered that I could make a pumpkin pie as good as Mrs. Smith and not have to feel so guilty with each bite or pie I ate. What I also discovered is the I can make it from fresh from real pumpkin. This means I don’t have to start with canned pumpkin that has additives. It is so simple and makes the pumpkin taste great. It may be all in my head that it taste better but I know for a fact that it doesn’t end up around my belly.

First I started by shopping at my favorite farmers market for a pie pumpkin. Yes, it has to be a pie pumpkin.

Then I break off the stem (if it has one), cut it in half horizontally and clean out the insides by scraping it clean with a spoon.

Then place the pumpkin open side down on a jelly roll sheet (or a cookie sheet with sides). Bake the pumpkin for 1 hour at 350.

Remove from the oven and let cool.

Once the pumpkin is cool enough to handle,  scrape out the inside flesh part with a spoon. It will be soft so it will come right out.

Use a permanent marker to write on 2 quart size freezer bags to label pumpkin. Place the bag over a large tumbler and flap the top edge of the bag over the lip of the cup. Spoon pumpkin from one of the halves in the bag. Repeat with the other bag and half of pumpkin.

Remove bag from tumbler, remove air and seal bag.

The fresh pumpkin is ready to freeze and one day become the best pumpkin pie ever.

Monk's Farmers Market

I do some writing for a hyper local site in my community. One of the recent posts I wrote was about taking the opportunity to buy from local farmers and farmer markets.  This year I am fortunate enough to have a garden, but I can’t say many years has been that season in my life. Even with a garden, I am not growing everything fresh I would like to eat this spring and summer.

So may I ask WHERE does your garden grow? Mine grows at several of my favorite roadside farmer trailer and markets in my community. I also frequent a “pick your own” berry farm. How about you? I know it takes an extra trip outside of grocery shopping, but can I say it is just worth it. I love the fresh taste of spring and summer. I eat the local honey because it builds immunity to local allergens so I can enjoy the great outdoors. I especially love the fact that at Bill’s Honey Farm  you just go in his small building get your honey and leave your money in the bowl on an honor system. I call that a pretty sweet community.

So whether your garden grows in your back yard or a roadside farmers market; enjoy the great tastes of the season. Seek out great recipes that have what is in season like this Corn and Black Bean Salad/Salsa and don’t forget to support your locals. Take the kids along and have them pick out the reddest tomato they can find. Stop at roadside stands along your vacation drive and look up recipes to make something with your fresh buy.

If you are traveling or want to support your local farmers, try visiting www.localharvest.org.

If you live in Huntsville AL, check you this Hyper-Local Site: www.DiscoveringHuntsville.com