Recipe Review from 11/23/09 (with adventures!)

Oh, do I have the adventure for you this week! It was my intent to make two main course dishes, but I only fit in one. But I did make a fantastic pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. The recipes weren't available on-line yet so I'll have to come back and link to them. Sadly, I don't even have any pictures. Husband has the camera at the moment.

Ancho Pork and Hominy Stew (Ckng Lght, Dec 09) 4.5
This was a great stew - chili like in its flavors but not heavy or 'saucy'. Recipe called for 1 1/2 lbs of pork, but I only had 1 lb on hand, so I added about 1 lb of cubed butternut squash. A great addition! Chicken would also be a good substitution if one doesn't eat pork.

And this is where the adventures begin - not wanting to overwhelm my fridge with a hot pot of stew, I dished out a small bowl for my lunch on Monday and put the rest outside on the porch to cool - LOVE this time of year where you can use the porch to cool things off!.

The evening grew late, I fell asleep on the porch (darn brandy old-fashioned's!) and woke up in time to go to bed. Hounds needed last piddle run so I sent them outside and decided to quick run the vacuum around. As I was putting the vacuum away I heard a strange clink clink clink out on the porch and realized with horror my STEW was still OUT THERE!!!

Flying to the door I opened in time to see two happy hounds licking their chops and one empty, very clean and shiny pot. BUT! It doesn't end there! Kia-dog was having surgery the next morning and wasn't supposed to have any food after 10p! Not only did she eat half a pot (or more) of chili, but it was almost 10:30p! Arrgghh!

I decided it would be best for all involved if said chili didn't sit on her tummy over night. She had a 7:45am vet drop-off. So we commenced barfing activities. I learned hand-down-the-throat doesn't work very well and I just ended up with a stressed out dog and a chewed up hand. So we tried the hydrogen peroxide method (after Googling to verify safety and quantities) and that worked. Poor hound didn't get to enjoy her booty very long.

So, the Ancho Pork with Hominy gets two thumbs up and two tail wags.


Spiced Pumpkin Chiffon Pie (Ckng Lght, Dec 09) 4.0
Quite frequently, come Thanksgiving, I need to try out new pumpkin pie recipes. This one caught my eye this year and after waffling about buying a pie from Cub (I was super tired and the pies were on sale for $3.00 each from the bakery) I decided to just make one.

I will say up front this was a slightly putzy recipe, but it moves along very quickly. The pie crust is baked in the oven and set aside to cool. The pumpkin, milk, spices, and egg yolk are cooked on the stove top. Meanwhile, gelatin is dissolved in orange juice and added to the pumpkin mixture. This is set aside to cool.

Next step - egg whites are beaten to soft peaks and set aside while a simple syrup mixture is brought to 250*. I didn't know if I could make this part work as it was awkward to get a good temperature reading with such a small quantity. But lo! it finally hit the magical temperature and was added to the egg whites to be beaten to stiff peaks. Then this was added to the filling and everything put in the fridge to set up.

Good? Oh yes! It was light, creamy, and full of pumpkin-y goodness. I would make this again. Sometimes the second time around with a recipe it goes more smoothly.


On deck for this week:
Parkey Stew (Kielbasa and cabbage stew) from Penzey's Dec 09 catalog
Anti-Pasto Style Penne (Ckng Lght Dec 09)