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November 27th, 2010 
Delicious stuff. I added some orange zest and flaked coconut to vary it up a bit. Recipe from King Arthur Flour.
November 27th, 2010  I had originally intended to make this for Pie Day, but unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time to let it chill thoroughly beforehand, so my roommates and I had to enjoy it ourselves. The recipe is fairly simple, even if it is a bit time-consuming. It has a nice butterscotch flavor without being overly rich, and a hearty texture similar to that of pumpkin pie. Recipe adapted from this one on The Kitchn.
November 24th, 2010  … and it’s delicious. It also happens to work quite well for wrapping vegetables (sautéed asparagus tips, in my case) into neat little bundles. For those who aren’t familiar with prosciutto (usually found at the grocer’s deli counter or cheese bar), it’s a dry-cured Italian ham normally served in paper-thin slices. Keep it in mind the next time you want to make a dish more omnivore-friendly.
November 22nd, 2010 
This weekend I had the opportunity to host my second gingerbread bake, which was surprisingly well attended. Fitting 18 people into our tiny front room and kitchen was a bit of a challenge, but I’m glad that everyone who was able to come was willing to crowd around our little kitchen table. It definitely made for some very lively conversations.
Some conclusions I reached this weekend:
- Wherever I live, I will need a huge kitchen.
- I could easily justify owning a 10-quart vertical mixer despite the fact that I was able to mix a quadrupled batch of gingerbread dough in my 6-quart KitchenAid.
- Tapered rolling pins are truly amazing and I honestly don’t know why I didn’t purchase one sooner.
- I’ve never gone through so much flour, butter, powdered sugar, and molasses so quickly in my life.
- Meringue powder is incredibly difficult to find. (Luckily, Williams-Sonoma carries it.)
We used a standard buttercream frosting for the base, and royal icing for the piped colors. I’d picked up some gel food coloring from a restaurant supply store as well as some gold powdered food coloring, which unfortunately resembled orange much more than anything even approaching a metallic gold.
Rather than type out my exact recipes, I’m just going to link to the ones I started with. If anyone has any specific questions about adjustments I made, etc., I will be more than happy to answer them in the comments.
Gingerbread dough: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/gingerbread-cookies-recipe
Buttercream frosting: http://www.pastrychefonline.com/American_Buttercream.html
Royal icing: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/royal-icing-recipe
November 9th, 2010 
This was, quite possibly, one of the best pecan pies I’ve ever had. Not that I eat pecan pie very often (I don’t), but it is simply just that decadent. Enough so to make me end my 4-month period of blogging absenteeism. Enjoy!
For the pie crust:
1½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ tbsp. sugar
½ tsp. salt
½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cubed
⅜ cup ice-cold water
- In a medium bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt.
- Fold the butter cubes into the dry mixture until they are coated.
- Place the mixture in the bowl of a food processor and pulse in 5-second intervals until the butter cubes are reduced to the size of small marbles.
- While pulsing in quick bursts, drizzle the cold water through the feed tube and continue to pulse until the dough has formed a ball. Tip: The plunger for my food processor’s feed tube actually has a couple of tiny holes at the bottom, so I was able to just pour all of the water into the plunger and let it take care of the rest.
- Flatten the ball into a 5- to 8-inch disc and then wrap in parchment paper and plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm. (If making the crust in advance, it can be kept in the refrigerator for a few days or frozen for up to 3 months.)
- Grease and flour a glass pie dish.
- Once the dough is firm, roll it into a 12-inch circle and transfer it to the pie dish. Fold any overhang under and crimp the edges as you go.
- Cover the crust in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for at 2 hours.
For the filling:
2 cups pecan halves
3 large eggs
¾ cup light corn syrup
3 tbsp. granulated sugar
4 tbsp. packed dark brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 tbsp. bourbon (optional)
3 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
⅛ tsp. salt
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
- Toast the pecans. Spread them out on a lined baking sheet and place in the oven @ 250°F until dry and crisp, checking frequently to make sure that they do not burn.
- Preheat the oven to 325°F
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, then add in the corn syrup, sugars, vanilla extract, bourbon (if using), melted butter, and salt. Continue to whisk until combined.
- Coarsely chop ¾ cup of the toasted pecans and fold them into the mixture.
- Remove the pie crust from the freezer, unwrap it, and scatter the semisweet chocolate evenly over the bottom.
- Gently pour the mixture over the chocolate.
- Place the remaining pecans on top of the mixture and press down until they are incorporated into the mixture.
- Bake the pie for 30 minutes at 325°F. After 30 minutes, cover the edge of the crust with aluminum foil to prevent excess browning and bake for an additional 30 minutes or until set.
- Cool the pie on a wire rack and eat warm or at room temperature.
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I currently work in Bangkok, Thailand as an analyst for a US-based company. When I'm not crunching numbers or fighting traffic, I enjoy cycling, cooking, and even a little modern literature. My background is in computer science, which shows in my enthusiasm for Android development.
