Butternut Bisque – To Roast or Not to Roast

That is the question, and for me the answer depends on what else is on the menu besides this delicious butternut bisque. 

When you roast butternut, you caramelize, and concentrate the flesh, and get something sweeter, starchier, and richer, which is perfect if you’re enjoying it as a meal, but maybe not such a great thing if it’s going to be followed by additional courses.

The last thing you want when you start a big holiday meal with a soup course are your guests feeling full when they finish. Of course, as with all things food, this is highly subjective, but I did want to share my thought process on skipping the roasting step.

I really enjoyed the festive, seasonally appropriate garnish seen herein, but if you are going for more of a stand-alone meal, it’s pretty amazing embellished with a handful of crispy bacon, and spoon of crème fraiche. So, whether you roast or not; whether you’re going to serve at some fancy feast, or just some chilly Tuesday night, I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 6 portions:

1 butternut squash (about 2 lbs)

3 tablespoons butter

1 large onion, diced

1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 quart chicken broth

pinch of cayenne

1/2 cup heavy cream or crème fraiche (plus more to swirl on top)

2 tablespoons maple syrup, or to taste
chives and pomegranate to garnish

Tourtière – A Meaty Holiday Main Course That’s Easy as Pie

Many holiday main course recipes involve expensive ingredients, and/or time consuming, complicated techniques, not to mention the anxiety that comes along with worrying whether all that time and money will have been worth it. I’m looking at you, dry, overcooked beef wellington.

If you want to avoid all that, maybe consider making tourtière. This French-Canadian meat pie is hearty, satisfying, easy to make, visually impressive, relatively affordable, and since it’s best served at room temperature, doesn’t require any kind of precise timing.

You can also easily tailor this to your own tastes, since other than the ground meat and mashed potato, pretty much anything goes. Or, make it just like this. I’ve only had tourtière a handful of times, so I’m certainly no expert, but I thought this came out extremely well, and I wouldn’t change anything when I make it again.

Although, I may try it with some beef gravy, as a few of my Canadian friends have suggested. Some even suggest ketchup, which I did try on a cold slice, and not surprisingly it was delicious. But, no matter how you serve this tourtière, I really do hope you give it a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for one 9-inch Tourtière:

For the crust:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, sliced, frozen

7 tablespoons ice cold *water

2 teaspoons white distilled vinegar

*add a little more if dough isn’t pressing together

1 large russet potato, boiled in enough salted water to cover (reserve water)

1 tablespoon butter

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 large onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup finely diced celery

1 pound ground pork

1 pound ground beef

1 cup potato water, plus more as needed

For the spice blend:

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon dried sage

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1⁄2 teaspoon  ground ginger

1⁄4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground mustard

1/8 teaspoon ground clove

pinch cayenne

For the egg wash:

1 large egg

1 tablespoon water

Please note: Once your filling has cooled, taste for salt, and adjust before filling the crust.

- Bake at 375 F. for 1 hour, or until browned

Holiday Cheese Board – Finding Michele

After posting the long, and relatively complicated croissants video last week, I decided to take a little mental break, and do a video for how to put together a holiday cheese board. I’ve wanted to do this one for a while, and since we’re in the middle of entertaining season, I thought the timing was perfect.

It’s always stressful to have people coming over this time of the year. You want to please, and impress, but there never seems to be enough time to get everything done, especially in the kitchen, and that’s when a well-designed cheese board can save the day.

They’re fast to put together, and you don’t need any special skills, other than being able to talk to strangers at the fancy grocery store. Most feature extensive cheese selections, and it’s been my experience that the people who work in those departments love helping you pick out your cheese. 

I know this, since I’m married to one of those people. Michele used to sell cheese in various shops and charcuteries, and her selection/pairing skills are legendary. Customers would simply tell her how many guests were coming, as well as what was being served, in particular, which adult beverages, and she would work her magic.

I gave you our basic approach for composing one of these boards, but there are many different ways you can go, so I encourage you to find the “Michele” at whichever place you’re buying your cheese. You won’t regret it. No matter which cheeses you end up with, or how you garnish them, I really hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Le Mothais sur Feuille - Goat Cheese 
Prunes 
Fuyu Persimmons 
Bread - Rye Krisp 
Knife - Combo (spread, slice, stab) 

Manchego Membrillo - Sheep Cheese
Quince paste
Bread - water crackers 
Knife - slice and stab (knife with holes) 

Stilton - Cow Bleu Cheese 
Candied Pecans 
Grapes
Bread - sliced baguette 
Knife - spreading

Note: Allow for at least 2 ounces of cheese total per guest, as a portioning rule of thumb.

Croissants – Slightly Easier than Flying to Paris

I wouldn’t describe homemade croissants as an easy recipe, since there are multiple steps, and it does take a least half a day, but it’s really not that hard either; and certainly simpler than flying to Paris, which is the only other way to enjoy these amazing pastries.

Sure, some of you may live near an authentic French bakery, maybe even one of the few that still use pure butter, but for the sake of this post, let’s assume that you don’t. Besides, sitting next to a basket of homemade croissants raises your foodie street cred like few other things.

Despite taking a fair amount to time, this is actually the quick version, in that we’re not leaving the dough to rest overnight, before laminating with the butter. I don’t think there’s a huge difference, but I did want to mention in case you’d prefer to start the dough at night, and do the rest of the work the next day.

The technique is pretty straightforward, but be sure to pay attention to the temperature of your butter.  If you’re slab is too soft, it will just blend into the dough, and you won’t get the gorgeous layering seen herein.  And if it’s too cold in firm, it won’t spread between the layers of dough like it needs to. It should basically have the firmness of clay.

So, take your time, and when in doubt, pop the dough in the fridge for a few minutes to chill it down as you’re working. You’ll notice I didn’t serve anything on my croissants when I did the final shots, and if you make these, you’ll understand why.  I really do hope you give these a try soon. Enjoy!

Makes 12 to 16 Croissants:

This recipe was adapted from one by Bruno Albouze, from The Real Deal (which he is)

For the dough:

1 cup warm water (about 100 F.)

1 packet active dry yeast (about 2 1/2 teaspoons)

1/4 cup granulated white sugar

3 teaspoons kosher salt (1 3/4 teaspoons if using fine salt)

3 1/2 cups unbleached bread flour

6 tablespoons room temp butter for the dough

For the croissants:

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted European-style butter for the slab

1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water for the egg wash