Green Beans with Shallots and Pancetta

Ingredients

• 1 pound green beans, ends trimmed, strings removed (if any)
• Salt
• 2 ounces pancetta, diced very small
• 2-3 large shallots, chopped
• 2 teaspoons butter
• Freshly ground black pepper

Method

• Blanch the beans in a large pot of boiling salted water 4 minutes, or until they are crisp tender. Note: Test one, if it is "chewy" keep the beans cooking a bit longer. If you are using French cut beans, or extra thin beans, they may not need to cook as long as 4 minutes; start testing them at 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. 
• Drain and place the beans in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. 
• Drain again and set aside. (At this point you can make the beans a day ahead, store in refrigerator.)
• Heat a large sauté pan on medium high heat. 
• Add the diced pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, 2-3 minutes. 
• Use a slotted spoon to remove the pancetta from the pan to a plate.
• Add the shallots to the pan. Cook, stirring often, on medium high heat, in the fat rendered from the pancetta, until lightly browned.
• Add butter to the pan; add the drained green beans and pancetta. 
• Season to taste with salt and pepper. 
• Stir constantly until the beans are hot and are well mixed with the shallots and pancetta. 
• Serve immediately.

Old Fashioned Pumpkin Pie

 

Ingredients

• 2 cups of pumpkin pulp purée from a sugar pumpkin* or from canned pumpkin purée
• 1 1/2 cup heavy cream or 1 12 oz. can of evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs plus the yolk of a third egg
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest
• 1 good crust 

Direction

 

• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Mix sugars, salt, and spices, and lemon zest in a large bowl. 
• Beat the eggs and add to the bowl. 
• Stir in the pumpkin purée. 
• Stir in cream. 
• Whisk all together until well incorporated.
•  Pour into pie shell and bake at 425°F for 15 minutes. 
• After 15 minutes reduce the temperature to 350°F. Bake 40-50 minutes, or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
• Cool on a wire rack for 2 hours.

Serve with whipped cream.


* To make pumpkin purée from a sugar pumpkin: start with a small-medium sugar pumpkin, cut out the stem and scrape out the insides, discard (save the seeds, of course). Cut into sections and steam in a saucepan with a couple inches of water at the bottom, until soft. Scoop out the pulp from the skin. Or you can bake whole or halved in a 350°F oven until fork tender. Optional - put pulp through a food mill or chinois to make extra smooth.

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Cranberry Relish

Ingredients

• 2 cups washed raw cranberries
• 2 skinned and cored tart apples
• 1 large, whole (peel ON) seedless orange, cut into sections
• 1 to 2 cups granulated sugar (depending on how sweet you would like your relish to be)

Method

• Set up the grinder with a medium-sized blade on the edge of a table with a large roasting pan or bowl to catch the mix as it grinds. These old fashioned grinders tend to leak some of the juice down the grinder base, so you may want to set up an additional pan on the floor under the grinder to catch the drips. 
• If you don't have an old-fashioned grinder you can use a grinder attachment on a KitchenAid mixer, you can chop by hand (though that will take a lot of work), or you can chop in a food processor (be very careful not to over-pulse, or you'll end up with mush).
• Run fruit through a grinder. Use the entire (seedless) orange, peels, pith and all.
• Mix in the sugar. 
• Let sit at room temperature until sugar dissolves, about 45 minutes.
• Store in the refrigerator.

 

Roasted Baby Carrots

 

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs of 5 inch long baby carrots, carefully washed, greens cropped to 1 inch above top of carrot
1 red onion, peeled, cut into 8 wedges
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp fresh chopped rosemary, or 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary
Garlic powder
Salt and pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. 
2. Gently toss together the carrots, red onion, rosemary to coat with the olive oil. 
3. Lay out on a rimmed baking pan. 
4. Sprinkle with garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
5. Roast for 30 to 40 minutes on middle rack or bottom rack, until well browned.

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Onion Potato Gratin

 

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
3/4 pound onions, thinly sliced
1 cup (packed) grated Gruyere cheese (about 4 oz)
8 Tbsp (packed) freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 2 oz)
2/3 cup whipping cream

Direction

• Preheat oven to 400°F (unless preparing in advance).
• Combine Yukon Gold potatoes and sliced onions in heavy large saucepan. 
• Add enough water to cover. 
• Bring water to boil. 
• Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are almost tender, about 3 minutes. 
• Drain potato onion mixture well.
• Arrange half of potato-onion mixture in 11x7 inch glass baking dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. 
• Sprinkle mixture with 1/3 cup Gruyere cheese and then 2 Tbsp of Parmesan cheese.
• Arrange remaining potato-onion mixture atop cheeses. 
• Pour cream over. 
• Sprinkle with salt and pepper. 
• Sprinkle the remaining 2/3 cup of Gruyere and 6 Tbsp of Parmesan cheese.
•  

(Can be prepared 8 hours in advance. Cover and refrigerate.)

• Bake gratin uncovered in 400°F oven until cream thickens, about 25 minutes. 
• Remove from oven. 
• Preheat broiler. 
• Broil gratin until top is golden, about 2 minutes.