Thanksgiving in Santa Monica

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Santa Monica this year! Four of us worked together to make what we all thought was a fabulous meal: turkey, mashed taters, gravy, mom's stuffing, Paula Deen's green bean casserole, Christie's cranberry-apple-orange sauce and sweet potato casserole, ambrosia, and two homemade pies. The boys baked the gingerbread pumpkin pie (with streusel) and Christie and I made the caramel chocolate pecan pie. And yes, they were as tasty as they sound! Per the request of our generous and fabulous hosts, I am posting the pie recipes. We altered them a bit, but generally followed these recipes from Cuisine at Home. Check out this month's issue and you'll see the beautiful caramel chocolate pecan pie.

Recipes

Gingerbread Pumpkin Pie with streusel topping
9 in. pie; 12 servings

Pie:
pie crust (use your favorite recipe...or buy one! We used a graham cracker crust)
2 eggs
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 Tbsp. molasses (we used light corn syrup as substitute, but I would use molasses if you can)
1 can (15oz) pumpkin puree
1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger (we subtracted to make pie a little more traditional)
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, ginger, clove/allspice, nutmeg)
1/2 tsp. table salt
1 cup heavy cream

Streusel:
1/4 cup crushed gingersnaps
2 Tbsp. chopped pecans
2 Tbsp. chopped crystallized ginger (we subtracted this based on preference)
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees; line a baking sheet with foil
Prepare and roll out pie dough and blind bake (pre-cook filled with foil and beans for 15 minutes, remove beans and bake for another 10 minutes); cool to room temp.
Whisk eggs, brown sugar, and molasses together in a bowl, add pumpkin, ginger, pie spice, and salt and blend.
Stir in cream until smooth; pour into prepared pie crust and bake until set--approx 40 min.
While baking, make streusel: combine gingersnaps, pecans, crystallized ginger, and butter for topping in a bowl until saturated with butter. Scatter streusel over the center of the pie and return to oven too cook until center is set--approx 15-20 more minutes. May need to shield crust.

Caramel-Chocolate-Pecan Pie
9 1/2 in. pie; 12 servings

Crust and Ganache:
Pie crust (make one or buy one!)
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (we used chocolate chips)
1 1/2 cups chopped toasted pecans

Caramel pastry cream:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup hot water
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
3 egg yolks
1/2 tsp. table salt
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1-2 Tbsp. rum

Whipped topping:
1 1/2 - 2 cups heavy cream
2 Tbsp. powdered sugar
(we also added a touch of vanilla)

Caramel and chocolate syrups to drizzle on top

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Prepare pie dough and blind back (see above); cool to room temp.
Combine 3/4 cup cream and syrup in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Pour over chocolate in a small bowl, let stand for 5 minutes and whisk until smooth. Pour ganach into cooled pie shell and top with 1 cup toasted chopped pecans; press pecans into ganache.
Prepare pastry cream: Boil granulated sugar and water in a pan over medium heat for caramel, stirring occasionally, until the color of iced tea, about 15 min.
While waiting for caramel, whisk milk, brown sugar, and cornstarch together in a pan over medium heat until blended. Whisk in egg yolks and salt. DO NOT let milk mixture boil.
When the caramel is done, slowly whisk in the milk mixture into caramel. Continue whisking until milk mixture and caramel are combined and begin to thicken into custard (medium heat, whisking until thick). Boil 1 minute to eleminate starchiness of cornstarch.

Off heat, stir in butter and rum until butter melts. Cool to room temp., about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Spread caramel pastry cream onto ganache layer in pie crust. Cover with plastic, pressing surface to prevent a skin from forming. Chill at least 4 hours to set cream.

Before serving, whip 1 1/2 cups cream with powdered sugar (and vanilla, if preferred) in a bowl with hand mixure on high speed until fluffy. Top whole pie with whipped cream to edges. Drizzle with caramel and chocolate syrups and garnish with remaining pecans after slicing.

Enjoy these delicious Thanksgiving pies any time during the year!

Background on Sunday Suppers

The Isbetto Bistro Sunday Supper began April 27, 2008, though the tradition began long before at Michigan State with co-founder Matt and his friend, Ion. After leaving MSU, Matt took the tradition to the University of Montana, where he met co-founder Kelly. Now, they've traveled to Austin where they can share the Sunday Supper with new and wonderful friends! What better way to escape from grad school, work, and just the stress of life than to eat good food with fun friends?

Eating Healthy

Here at the Isbetto Bistro, on our nights off of Sunday Suppers, we are trying to eat healthy. You'd think, with all the health advice out there, this would be easy. It's not. Eating healthy not only involves a lot of planning (think grocery store) and thought; it also involves a lot of motivation and will power. Let's face it; eating unhealthy food can be fun. Most annoyingly, I just read a blurb for a book that said (and I'm paraphrasing here) eating food for enjoyment is immature. Are you kidding me? Eating for enjoyment is a primary requirement or goal in the Isbetto home. I guess that's the problem? I would like to think not. I am determined to make eating healthy just as fun as eating junk. So, the fridge is full of fruits and veggies, low-fat meats, and other goodies that we can spice up and still have some fun with. There's also some Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches in the freezer. With only 140 calories, I just can't feel guilty. That's like an extra 15 minutes of working out. See, here is where the thoughtfulness of healthy eating comes in: how many calories are in it? How much can I eat? How many calories have I burned? The list goes on. But, we can do it. We can eat healthy, exercise healthy, and go to bed feeling good about our days!!

We tested the healthy eating on a few of our friends, and they enjoyed it. What did we make? Just a simple chicken stir-fry with a spicy soy sauce. We started the meal with gyoza; if you buy the right brand, these actually aren't too bad for you either! For the stir-fry, we used broccoli, onion, carrots, yellow squash, zucchini, and snap peas. For the sauce, we combined soy sauce, sri-racha (red chili/rooster sauce), hoisin sauce, and a bit of chili oil. We need to add some chicken stock to this recipe to help lower the sodium content. But overall, it was good...and healthy.

Don't get me wrong, we will still be testing out recipes like the fabulous bacon wrapped steak, but we also want to bring healthy eating en vogue here at the Isbetto Bistro! And guess what? We are going to enjoy it...even if that does make us immature!

First Monthly Sunday Supper

Wow! Our first Sunday Supper was quite a success! We shared Spring Surf 'n Turf with 7 of our wonderful friends! And dessert was divine: Chocolate Covered Strawberry Shortcake! Yummy! Dinnertime conversation created many laughs...to the point where Shannon thought she might have developed a six-pack in one night! Laugh as we might, we even talked about a few serious topics, like naming H & J's new company. Oh wait--the guys made that not-so-serious, too.

There have been some requests for recipes, so I thought this might be the easiest way to do it. So, here you go! You should check out Cuisine at Home for other excellent recipes and cooking ideas. It is a great magazine that brings us much delight!

Skewered Bacon-wrapped Steak "Turf":
1 lb. cubed top sirloin (3 per skewer)
4 strips thick sliced bacon (1 per skewer)
4 slices baguette (1 per plate; can increase)

Saute bacon until nearly crisp, but still bendable; approx. 4 minutes. Drain bacon on paper towel, then loosely weave bacon around 3 pieces of meat on skewer (metal or wood is fine). Lightly dust meat with non-stick spray and grill on medium-high to desired temperature. Turn occasionally. Medium rare=approx. 4 min. per side. Remove and tent with foil.

Spring Shrimp Scampi "Surf":
16 jumbo shrimp; peel; deveined; tail on or off (1 lb.)
1 T. all-purpose flour
Salt and pepper
2 T. olive oil
1/2 c. halved cherry tomatoes
1 T. minced garlic
Red pepper flakes, to taste
1 c. dry white wine
3 T. unsalted butter
2 T. fresh, chopped parsley
Juice of 1/2 lemon

Toss shrimp in flour, salt, and pepper. Saute 1 minute per side in olive oil over medium-high heat. Stir in tomatoes, garlic, and pepper flakes. Cook 1 minute. Deglaze with wine; simmer until sauce reduces by about half (3 min.). Add butter, parsley, and lemon juice.

Serve over or alongside steak skewers on top of grilled baguette slices for a delicious combination! I would suggest doubling the sauce on the scampi so you have extra sauce for your bread!

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Shortcake:
Shortcakes:
1 & 3/4 c. flour
3 T. sugar
1 T. baking powder
1/2 t. table salt
1/2 stick cold, unsalted butter, cubed (4 T.)
1/2 c. heavy cream
1/3 c. plain yogurt (I used non-fat)

Preheat oven to 425. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly spray with non-stick spray.
Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl
Cut butter into flour using pastry blender or 2 table knives until butter is cut up into the size of peas.
Stir cream and yogurt in different bowl. Add to flour mixture and blend with fork until dough comes together. Dough will feel loose, but you will pat it together (lightly; do not over-work) on a lightly floured surface. Pat into a circle about 1 inch thick. Use a 2 & 1/2 inch round cutter (I used the top of a wine glass) to cut out shortcakes. Press scraps together into 1 inch thick circle again to cut remaining cakes. Place on prepared baking sheet; Dust with cream and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.

You can add semi-sweet chocolate shavings/chips to flour mixture when you are blending with fork if you want extra chocolate in your biscuits.

Strawberries:
1 lb. strawberries, hulled, cut into thirds
1/4 c. sugar
2 t. fresh lemon juice
Stir together; let stand for at least 30 min. to create juice. You can crush some strawberries. I did not. You can play with amounts here; may want extra strawberries, or may need more sugar depending on the season. Taste it!

Cream:
Beat together 1/2 c. heavy cream, 2 T. powdered sugar, and 1/2 t. vanilla extract

Chocolate Sauce:
Bring 1/3 c. heavy cream and 1 T. light corn syrup to a simmer in saucepan over medium heat. Place 4 oz. semisweet chocolate (chopped or chips) in bowl and pour hot cream mixture on top. Whisk together until smooth.

To assemble: Cut shortcake in 1/2; add strawberry sauce; top with whipped cream and chocolate; place top of shortcake sideways on top. Beautiful!

These recipes are for about 4 people. They can easily be doubled, or tripled.

Here's to a successful Sunday Supper!! Cheers!!
~Isbetto Bistro~