Posts tagged ‘pecans’

Oct 8

Pumpkin Pecan Spiced Waffles And Pumpkin Spice Compound Butter

It’s pumpkin season, this is my absolute favorite time of year and I want to celebrate by focusing on some recipes using pumpkin. Now, I am not the adventurous type that buys a whole pumpkin and goes through the arm breaking task of cutting and cleaning, Libby’s pumpkin puree is just fine by me.

These waffles are light, soft and delicious. I saw the recipe on Martha Stewarts site and adapted it substituting part of the all purpose flour for toasted pecan flour. The gentle warm spicing and pumpkin flavor of these waffles is like having Fall on a fork. It literally takes only minutes to put these waffles together and it makes a hearty and delicious meal. I like to think that with the nut flour and pumpkin it’s health food. The compound butter is also nice because in reality you are using less butter since you have added pumpkin pureé. Win win!

pumpkins lined up at the local markets

Pumpkin Pecan Spiced Waffles

Adapted from a recipe by Martha Stewart

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup +2 tbs toasted pecan flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp powdered ginger

1 1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp kosher salt

scant 1/4 cup sugar

1 3/4 cup whole milk

1/2 cup pumpkin pureé

3 eggs

1 stick (1/2 cup melted butter

Pre heat your waffle maker. To toast the pecans heat oven to 350 place 1 cup pecans on baking sheet and toast in the oven for approximately 15 minutes or just until you can smell the nuts. Let cool and then grind in the food processor or vitamin, it will resemble course flour. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

Pecan flour

In medium bowl whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, spices, salt, baking soda and powder. In large bowl whisk together the milk, egg, pumpkin, eggs and melted butter add the flour mixture and stir until combined. Let sit for 5 minutes and follow manufacturers directions for your waffle maker. Keep them warm in the oven after you make each batch. They freeze beautifully also, I usually put in a zip lock bag with each waffle separated by parchment.

pumpkin spice butter

Pumpkin Compound Butter

1 stick (1/2 cup) softened butter

1/4 cup pumpkin pureé

2 tsp brown sugar

Pumpkin pie spice blend (You can use the same spices in the waffles)

Mix it all together until thoroughly blended. Serve on top of waffles

Aug 5

54 Comments

Pralines And Cream Ice Cream

It has been so hot in NYC that I have barely turned the stove or oven on. Salads, quick cooking foods are what I am making and because of this my blog has suffered from neglect. Ice cream has become a major food group for me along with cucumbers and tomatoes. A few weeks ago I made mocha almond fudge and now I am going to tackle the other flavor that I love, Pralines and Cream. I am partial to Haagen Daz ice cream and their Pralines and Cream is amazing, but I have not found it in a store around here for years, it must be really unpopular with the general public, it’s not even in the Haagen Daz store near me. The other day I was rummaging through the frozen case in the market looking for a pint of vanilla and almost shrieked, there it was 1 pint of Pralines and Cream, it had probably been there for a while, it was caked with ice but I got it anyway. It was a little worse for wear, probably had partially melted but still the taste of this creamy, dreamy concoction was still there. I was able to commit to memory the taste, fresh in my mind and I set out to make my own. Pralines are not readily available around here, you ask for them and people look at you like you have 2 heads. Searching the internet for recipes for Pralines and Cream Ice Cream I came across one from Emeril Lagasse. There is a vanilla custard base, caramel sauce and pralines, pretty simple really. Taking into account the terrible heat and humidity and not wanting to spend one minute more at my stove than absolutely necessary I decided to use already prepared vanilla ice cream, make some pralines and use dulce de leche I had in the fridge (it’s ridiculously easy to make). Love this because the time at the stove is minimal and the ice cream is really wonderful. The recipe for pralines is from Emeril and makes enough for several quarts of ice cream.

I don’t like the term semi homemade but thats what this is. Using Haagen Daz vanilla with homemade dulce de leche and pralines this was easy to make and was almost instant gratification and really pretty close to my beloved Haagen Daz Pralines and Cream.

This yummy ice cream is coming with me to Fiesta Friday #132, I’ve got the ice chest ready and will try to make it there without it melting. Angie’s co hosts this week are Sandhya @ Indfused and Nancy @ Feasting With Friends.

Pralines

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup heavy cream

4 tbs salted butter

2 tbs water

pinch of salt

Put all the ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a boil on medium high heat stirring constantly until it reaches the soft ball stage 238 -240 degree’s, if you don’t have a candy thermometer have a bowl of ice cold water next to the stove and drop a little in, if it forms into a soft ball it’s ready. Add the pecans and place the pan in an ice bath stirring constantly until cooled. Pour onto buttered parchment lined sheet pan and let cool. The consistency will be like fudge. When it’s cool break into pieces and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Making the Ice Cream

To make the ice cream (my shortcut) soften some vanilla ice cream (I chose haagen dazs) put half of it in a freezer container, sprinkle on some chopped praline and drizzle caramel or dulce de leche. Add the other half of the ice cream on top and add the rest of the praline and caramel, swirl with a butter knife and freeze for a few hours.

There was a little dulce de leche left so I added it to a homemade fudge sauce serving it warm over the ice cream. It was really good. To make the fudge sauce is easy, just like ganache, equal parts chocolate and cream. Add the chocolate to scalding hot cream, let it sit, stir and add some dulce de leche if you like and spoon over ice cream. It’s wonderful.

Hot Fudge Sundae

Nov 17

49 Comments

Classic Pecan Pie With A Twist

Pecan Pie

Pecan pie is a staple on Thanksgiving at my house. I took a classic pecan pie recipe that I have been using for years (it’s the recipe on a Karo syrup bottle) and I tweaked it by soaking the pecans in cognac (you can use the booze of your choice, bourbon or brandy come to mind) the pecans are then slowly oven dried I also subbed Lyles golden syrup for the clear Karo, I also added an extra egg. The cognac infused pecans are delicious (kept sneaking a nut or two) and for the filling I used vanilla sugar instead of adding vanilla extract and I flavored with cognac. The booze is optional of course you can use this recipe to make a classic pecan pie but the addition of the cognac makes it more festive. Use your favorite pastry recipe. I always use the Julia Child master pastry recipe. I always have a container of vanilla sugar on hand, simply add a split vanilla bean to a container of sugar, cover and let sit so that the vanilla infuses the sugar.

Makes One 9 inch pie

The boozy pecans:

1 1/2 cup pecans
1 cup cognac or bourbon or brandy
OPTIONAL you can add a cinnamon stick, whole allspice, cardamom pod or whatever spice you like to the cognac for spiced boozy pecans.

Pour your cognac in a saucepan and bring to a boil, remove from heat and pour onto your pecans. Place them in a covered container and let them sit at least 6 hours preferably overnight.
When the pecans have finished their soak, drain (don’t discard the booze it will look cloudy but thats ok, I use it for flavoring, you will need a tsp for the filling) Turn your oven on to the lowest temperature (mine is 170) line small sheet pan with parchment and spread the nuts. Let them dry in the oven for 4-6 hours.

Making the pie:

Your favorite pastry crust or store bought dough
4 large eggs at room temperature (or 3 extra large)
1/4 cup dark Karo syrup
3/4 cups Lyle’s golden syrup
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup vanilla sugar or regular granulated sugar
1 teaspoon of your reserved booze or vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup of your boozy pecans

Pre-heat oven to 350. In mixing bowl add the eggs, just break the yolks and lightly beat them, now add the syrups, sugar, butter and flavoring. Mix with a spoon just until combined. Add the pecans and stir just to mix it all together.
Place dough into 9 inch pie pan, pour in the filling and bake for 60-70 minutes. The middle of the pie should jiggle slightly when lightly touched. Remove from oven let cool completely before serving.

Oct 18

22 Comments

Bake Together-Caramelized Pecan Sweet Potato Skillet Souffle

Sweet Potato Skillet Souffle

This months Bake Together with Abby Dodge is a skillet souffle, Abby’s beautiful caramelized pear souffle was the base recipe and as always we are given creative license to make it our own, I used the basic recipe switching pecans for pears and sweet potato puree for the mascarpone, I made a few other little tweaks to the recipe and I must say this is like a super light pecan pie. It was not without mishaps, I had to make it three times, the first time I burnt the pecans (multi tasking doesn’t work when you have time sensitive food on the stove) the second time I didn’t burn the pecans but I caramelized the pecans in the brown sugar and found that when the souffle was done the brown sugar and pecans turned to hard candy, it was overcooked. To remedy this I roasted the pecans in the butter, added the brown sugar, syrup and rum and just let it sit until I was ready to put the souffle in the pan. This yielded the gooey caramel sauce i wanted.

I just want to give a shameless plug for Abby’s new book, Mini Treats & Hand-Held Sweets I made her triple threat chocolate squares and they are so good, rich and fudgy I recommend you get this book, I want to make every single recipe.

Sweet caramel pecans

3/4 cup pecan halves

3 tbs butter

2 tbs firmly packed brown sugar

1 tbs Lyles golden syrup

1 tbs dark rum

Melt butter in non stick oven safe 8 inch saute pan, add pecans and saute for 2 minutes or until you can smell the nuts, add the brown sugar, rum and golden syrup stir to combine spread the pecans evenly in the pan and let sit until you are ready to add the souffle.

Souffle

2 large eggs at room temperature separated

1/4 cup sweet potato puree

2 tbs heavy cream

1 tbs brown sugar packed

2 tbs flour

pinch of salt

Pre heat oven to 425 degrees, wash sweet potato or yam, wrap in foil place on baking sheet and bake for 40-60 minutes depending on the size of the potato. You will know its done by pressing on it with your finger and it will feel very soft. Remove from oven and let cool.

When potato can be handled comfortably blend in food processor or blender until very smooth

Make the souffle

In a medium bowl, whisk the yolks, sweet potato puree, heavy cream and vanilla until well blended and smooth. Add the flour, 2 tablespoons brown sugar and salt and whisk until well blended.

In a (very clean) medium bowl ( you can use a stand mixer, if you’d like. I did.), beat the egg whites with an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment on medium speed until the whites are frothy, 30 – 45
seconds. Increase the speed to to medium high and beat until the whites are very foamy and barely soft peaks. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon brown sugar, increase the speed to high. Continue beating until the peaks are glossy and
form soft, floppy peaks (see pic above). Scrape the beaten whites into the yolk mixture and gently fold until just blended.

Heat the skillet (with the pecans) over medium low heat. Gently pour/scrape the souffle mixture into the skillet and smooth the top. Reduce heat to low and cook until the edges begin to look dry, 3 to 4 minutes.

Using a potholder, slide the skillet into the oven and bake until the top is puffed, golden brown and the center springs back when lightly pressed, 5 to 7 minutes. Working quickly and using potholders (the
handle is super hot), move the skillet to a wire rack (or cool stovetop and dust the souffle with a light coating of confectioners’ sugar. Gently place the serving plate on top of the souffle and invert. Carefully
lift off the skillet. Using a small serrated knife, cut into wedges and serve immediately.