Thanksgiving Pudding, Pals, Poetic Justice

This is beginning to get a bit same-y as an intro sentiment, however 'I am getting really behind' on the story telling. Iceland and Barcelona (again) are patiently waiting in the wings, and to be honest, were such fab short bursts that I don't know where to start. So will stick with Thanksgiving and a recipe.

 

Last night we did Thanksgiving dinner. Not that anybody at the table was even from a country that 'does' Thanksgiving but like Halloween, and Christmas, and chestnuts on an open fire on street corners, Thanksgiving makes sense to celebrate up here in the dark Northern Hemisphere. With darkness hitting around half four, a great meal, some old fashioned champagne cocktails, and bottles of delicious wine are really what is required on the eve of the first official day of winter. The bonus factor of not having any emotionally attached Thanksgiving traditions is that we can do it our way, i.e. take the bits we want (pumpkin pie), leave others (sweet potato and marshmallows) and add our own takes (luxurious Beef Wellington).

 

A veritable feast was prepared by Hannah, who of course made things look very effortless having gone down the pub to watch the league at 2pm - sounds a bit like chalet girl Christmas - it is all in the preparation. Beef Wellington was taken to some very impressive heights (seared eye fillet, which was wearing a reduction of assorted mushrooms, encased by a layer of prosciutto, before being baked in pastry), served with celeriac remoulade, baby carrots, roast baby onions and potatoes and an incredible festive salad of kale, cranberry, sweet potato, pecan and feta salad with homemade vinaigrette. Shouldn't have touched the cheese and crisps. Good health and good friends and the opportunity to live in such a dynamic city, were the general consensus of what we had to be thankful for. Lucky us.

stolen from Hannah's Instagram

Lots of wine chat (merci recent subscription to wine society by Adrian), thanking, and playing Poetic Justice, among catching up on holiday stories and planning potential Christmas feasts. I made pudding, which we eventually got around to deciding was necessary.

 

Pumpkin Pie - Jamie Oliver's recipe

 

500 g ready-made dessert pastry - I actually used Jamie Oliver's sweet shortcrust pastry recipe for this, as a former male colleague whose wife was the Australian ambassador to NZ once convinced me how easy pastry is to make. Click here for that recipe

 

 

1 large butternut, quartered  (pumpkin isn't as available in the UK as NZ, so I think in NZ you could use a flavoursome pumpkin in place of butternut)        

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon        

4 tablespoons maple syrup

6 tablespoons caster sugar

3 large free-range eggs, beaten

200 ml double cream (same as normal cream in NZ I think)

 

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6. Roll the pastry to the thickness of a pound/dollar coin. Get a 22cm loose-bottomed tart tin, line with the pastry and bake blind for 20 minutes. Set aside. Poundland didn't have tart tins, so I used a 18x28cm slice tin lined with baking paper, pricked with a fork and then poured rice over another piece of paper on top of the base, to 'bake blind'. I think the idea is the rice weighs the pastry down, though mine still puffed up a bit.

Lay the butternut in a baking tray. Don't use a crusty tray that you wouldn't want to eat the sugary bits from when it is cooked - cover with foil if this is the case. Sprinkle with the nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon and drizzle with the maple syrup. Cover the tray tightly with a double layer of tinfoil and bake for 45 minutes until soft. Reduce the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4.

Allow the pieces of butternut to cool, then scoop out the flesh, discarding seeds and stringy bits. You should have about 600g of cooked flesh. I would bother to weigh this, as I really dislike eggy flavoured puddings. You want it to taste like its name! Don't forget to scrape out the bits in the tray and the maple syrup. Put in a food processor and whiz until smooth (I used a wand hand mixer, and at a push I reckon a masher and a sieve would do the job more slowly, but still effectively - you want puree). Add 3 tablespoons of the sugar and the eggs. Mix well and stir in the cream.

Fill the cooled tart case with the mix and bake for 45 minutes. I didn't read the part about cooling the tart case first, so impatiently gave it about 15min before pouring the filling in and patiently baking it. You know when it is done because it is just firm and slightly resistant to a light touch.

 

I left the tart in the tin for a few hours until cooled to room temp after dinner. Jamie sprinkles the seeds of the butternut mixed with sugar on top (Google his recipe), but I went for mixing cinnamon and icing sugar together then sifting over the top, before lifting the tart onto a board and slicing with a sharp knife. Doesn't really need anything to go with it, we had cream and yogurt that barely got touched. Good vanilla ice-cream would be delicious. 

Sliced pie

I made Chalet Joseph brownies  in case the pie was a disaster, they were delicious too, but it was a success. Would make again!

Poetic Justice (think literary Pictionary), Pumpkin Pie, Brownies

Happy 1st December! Let the countdown to Christmas begin. I promise Emma's guest appearance in Barcelona, and a storm on Icelandic horses, are coming soon.