December - Winter Comfort Foods - Recipes

LEAH'S DISH - Individual Vegetable Pot Pies

A variation on Ina Garten's Recipe

Ingredients

• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks)
• 2 cups sliced yellow onions (2 onions)
• 1 fennel bulb, top and core removed, thinly sliced crosswise
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups vegetable stock
• Pinch saffron threads
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cups diced sweet potatoes (1/2 pound)
• 1 1/2 cups asparagus tips
• 1 1/2 cups peeled, 3/4-inch-diced carrots (4 carrots)
• 1 1/2 cups peeled, 3/4-inch-diced butternut squash
• 1/2 cup minced flat-leaf parsley

For the pastry I used a different pastry dough than what Ina uses:

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
• 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, cut into pieces, room temperature

Directions 

For Filling:

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and fennel and saute until translucent, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the flour, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 3 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Slowly add the stock, Pernod, saffron, salt, and pepper, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the heavy cream and season to taste. The sauce should be highly seasoned.

Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for 10 minutes. Lift out with a sieve. Add the asparagus, carrots, and squash to the pot and cook in the boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain well. Add the potatoes, mixed vegetables, onions, and parsley to the sauce and mix well.

For crust:
Mix flour and salt in processor. Add butter and cheese; blend until moist clumps form. Shape dough into 6-inch-long log. Wrap; chill while making chicken and filling.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Divide the filling equally among 4 ovenproof bowls. Divide the dough into quarters and roll each piece into an 8-inch circle. Brush the outside edges of each bowl with the egg wash, then place the dough on top. Trim the circle to 1/2-inch larger than the top of the bowl. Crimp the dough to fold over the sides, pressing it to make it stick. Brush the dough with egg wash and make 3 slits in the top. Sprinkle with sea salt and cracked pepper. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, or until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling hot. 

MARILYN'S DISH - Sour Cream and Cheddar Biscuits

Adapted from Gourmet

Ingredients 

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
• 1/4 pound sharp Cheddar cheese, coarsely grated (about 1 1/2 cups)
• Drained and chopped pickled jalapeños, to taste (I used about 2 tablespoons)
• 1 cup sour cream

Directions 

Preheat oven to 425°F. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Either cut the butter pieces into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or rub them in with your fingertips until well-combined. Stir in the cheddar, jalapeños and sour cream until the mixture forms a sticky dough. Pat it out to a 1/2-inch thickness on a very well-floured counter and use a 3 1/2-inch biscuit cutter to cut six rounds. Bake on an ungreased (or parchment-lined, if your baking sheets are as “weathered” as mine are) for 15 to 17 minutes, until golden on top.

Do ahead: If you’d like to serve them over a couple days, I recommend freezing already formed but unbaked biscuits until you are ready to bake them — you can bake them directly from the freezer, adding just a minute or two to the baking time.

JENNY’S DISH - Pear Crostata with Figs and Honey

Recipe by Jeanne Kelley

November 2010

Using unpeeled pears in this dessert saves time–and adds texture.

8 servings

PREP: 1 hour

TOTAL: 3 hours 20 minutes (includes baking and cooling time)

Ingredients

crust

• 1 2/3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cornmeal
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 3 tablespoons (or more) ice water

filling

• 1/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon (scant) ground cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• 2 1/4 pounds firm but ripe unpeeled Anjou pears (about 4), cored, each cut into 8 wedges
• 10 dried but moist Calimyrna figs (about 4 ounces), stemmed, quartered
• Heavy whipping cream (for brushing)
• Raw sugar
• 2 tablespoons honey

special equipment

• Rimless baking sheet

Directions

Free-Form Crust

Simply roll out the dough, mound the pear filling in the center, and fold the edges of the dough up and over the edge of the filling, creating free-form "sides" to hold in the fruit. No pressure, no crust anxiety. Just loosely shape the dough for a rustic and beautiful Thanksgiving dessert.

Preparation

crust

Blend first 4 ingredients in processor. Add butter; using on/off turns, process until mixture resembles coarse meal. Remove lid; spoon 3 tablespoons ice water over mixture. Return lid to processor; using on/off turns, blend mixture until dough forms ball, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if dry. Flatten dough into disk; wrap in plastic and chill at least 20 minutes. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled. Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.

filling

Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 400°F. Whisk first 6 ingredients in large bowl. Add pears and figs; toss gently. Roll dough out on lightly floured parchment to 14-inch square or round. Transfer parchment with rolled-out crust to rimless baking sheet. Mound pear mixture with juices in center of crust, leaving 2- to 3-inch plain dough border. Using parchment as aid, fold dough up over edges of pear mixture, pleating edges and pinching to seal any cracks in dough, forming square or round. Brush crust edges with cream; sprinkle generously with raw sugar.

Bake crostata until crust is golden, pears are tender, and juices are bubbling thickly, covering crust edges with foil if browning too quickly, 50 to 60 minutes. Remove crostata from oven; drizzle 2 tablespoons honey over hot filling. Run long thin knife or spatula around edges of warm crostata to loosen. Cool crostata on parchment on baking sheet until slightly warm, at least 1 hour. Transfer to platter. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

JACKIE’S DISH - Pumpkin Soup with Chickpeas 

Estimates of measurements in brackets

Ingredients

• Water
• Pumpkin puree - [2 cups]
• Chickpeas [1 cup]
• Orange [1]
• Yellow Onion  [1 chopped and browned]
• Garlic [1/2 clove roasted]
• Honey
• Olive Oil
• Cumin
• Ginger
• Cinnamon
• Chili powder [only a pinch]
• Salt, Pepper

Directions

Cook in pot until chickpeas are soft enough to blend. Blend the soup with an immersion blender or regular blender.

TAMIKA’S DISH - Potato-Fennel Gratin

An Ina Garten Recipe

Ingredientsnocoupons

• 2 small fennel bulbs
• 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons good olive oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 pounds russet potatoes (4 large potatoes)
• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 2 1/2 cups grated Gruyère cheese (1/2 pound)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

 

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter the inside of a 10-by-15-by-2-inch (10-cup) baking dish.

Remove the stalks from the fennel and cut the bulbs in half lengthwise. Remove the cores and thinly slice the bulbs crosswise, making approximately 4 cups of sliced fennel. Sauté the fennel and onions in the olive oil and butter on medium-low heat for 15 minutes, until tender.

Peel the potatoes, then thinly slice them by hand or with a mandolin. Mix the sliced potatoes in a large bowl with 2 cups of cream, 2 cups of Gruyère, salt, and pepper. Add the sautéed fennel and onion and mix well.

Pour the potatoes into the baking dish. Press down to smooth the potatoes. Combine the remaining 2 tablespoons of cream and 1/2 cup of Gruyère and sprinkle on the top. Bake for 1 1/2 hours, until the potatoes are very tender and the top is browned and bubbly. Allow to set for 10 minutes and serve.