More To Thanksgiving Than Pumpkin Pie

Courtesy Martha Stewart

Our Thanksgiving hostess sent out an email a few weeks ago asking her guests to let her know what they plan to bring for the holiday.

Everyone likes to bring dessert, she said in her email, but and she wanted to avoid serving 20 apple pies and nothing else for dessert.

It might not seem like Thanksgiving without a traditional assortment of apple or pumpkin pies. But you can definitely wow your host, or your guests, with some fun and tasty fall surprises on the dessert table.

A few weeks ago Megan Olund at Dough Heads Bakery in Englewood, N.J. shared her pumpkin whoopie  pie recipe. My husband is addicted to these and we actually fight over them when I bring them home from the bakery. So they have my vote this year as the best alternative dessert for Thanksgiving.

But for something that involves a few less steps, I definitely recommend my old standby favorite: Martha Stewart's Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins. Before I discovered whoopie pies this was my go to recipe for a party.

They always got rave reviews. It probably has something to do with the last step: brushing the muffins with melted butter and rolling in cinnamon sugar.

So if you are still mulling over what to make for Thanksgiving dessert, break with tradition and add something a little different to the table.

Martha Stewart's Pumpin Doughnut Muffins

Ingredients:

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
3 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 1/4 cups pure pumpkin puree (from a 15-ounce can)
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs

For The Sugar Coating:
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 stick unsalted butter, melted

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 12 standard muffin cups.

Make batter:

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and allspice. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping down bowl as needed. With mixer on low, add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with two additions pumpkin mixture, and beat to combine.

Spoon 1/3 cup batter into each muffin cup and bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine granulated sugar and cinnamon. Let muffins cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Working with one at a time, remove muffins from pan, brush all over with butter, then toss to coat in sugar mixture. Let muffins cool completely on a wire rack.

Dough Heads Bakery

Megan Olund's Pumpkin Whoopie Pie

Sorry I haven't been writing lately, but I've been spending most of my weekends interning at Dough Heads Bakery  in Englewood.

Since I am still working during the week, it is a pretty hectic schedule.

But I feel lucky that I picked Dough Heads to spend my weekends and finish school, if I can't be at home catching up on some sleep.

I discovered the bakery after reading an article about it in The Record. Megan Olund, a French Culinary Institute graduate and former retail manager at Amy's Breads, opened Dough Heads in January with her partner Chris Heslin.

Some of my co-workers were already raving about the soup and quiche so I went to check it out and met Megan. The place instantly reminded me of the coffee shop my college roommate and I used to dream about opening during late night alcohol induced conversations. We would know all the customers and our friends would hold poetry readings and play music.

Wonderful deep chocolate brownies 

I was also quickly won over by the brownies, which are the best I've ever had. And for a serious chocolate addict like me, that says a lot. Megan revealed that her secret is unsweetened chocolate. I've also become a huge fan of the coconut melty bars and my parents rave about the cupcakes.

Chocolate cupcakes with raspberry frosting

Before I came along, Megan had been doing on the baking on her own while Chris ran the front of the store, greeting customers, making coffee and taking orders for birthday and wedding cakes. Chris and Megan are on a first name basis with most of their customers. I frequently hear them having long conversations when I am in the back scooping red velvet whoopie pies or cutting up croissants for bread pudding.

Chris at the counter helping a customer 

Megan making crumb cake in the kitchen

I was told that working in kitchens can be pretty grueling and I would have to develop a thick skin. That is why I feel like I lucked out finding Dough Heads. I think I'm learning a lot and Megan has been great to work for -  she has endless patience when I try to shape baguettes and they end up looking like a long snake that ate a mongoose. And she was very understanding when I didn't fill the eclairs enough on my first try. We had to hold each one upside down after they were covered in chocolate to add more filling. Somehow that ended with me getting to eat one of the barely filled eclairs, so I don't think I was in any trouble.

I'm probably responsible for the oddly shaped baguette on the left 

On Sunday mornings when customers from the neighborhood stream in for coffee, croissants and muffins I get a little jealous that there isn't such a place near my home. I would spend all my afternoons there drinking coffee, working on my lap top and eating sweets until my stomach hurt (which I sometimes get to do now under the excuse of "trying of the products").

Megan agreed to share her pumpkin whoopie pie recipe with me. I think it would make a perfect treat on the Thanksgiving dessert table, or anytime during the fall. And it seemed appropriate because Megan is from Maine, where the whoopie pie craze started.

Please stop by and visit! I'll be working in the back on weekends through the new year, and the bakery is open Tuesday-Sunday.

Dough Heads Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
 Courtesy of Megan Olund

1 stick butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup oil
one 15 oz can pumpkin

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 t  cloves

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat butter and sugar until its light and fluffy, nearly the consistency of sour cream. This can be left going on the mixer while you prepare the other ingredients.

Add eggs one at a time, scraping bowl in between additions. The vanilla can be added with the eggs.

In a separate bowl combine combine sour cream, oil and pumpkin. Stir to mix together. In a second bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Mix together to combine I usually just stir with my hand.

After adding eggs to the butter and sugar, alternately add wet and dry ingredients in three additions, starting and ending with dry. Keep mixer on low during this step and scrape down bowl in between additions.

Using a small ice scream scoop, about the size of a tablespoon and a half, scoop leveled whoopie pie halves onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. For easier scooping, first refrigerate the batter for at least half and hour.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 7 minutes, until the halves are golden and spring back when touched.

Makes 36 whoopie pies or 74 halves

Pumpkin whoopie pie filling:

1 pound of Marshmallow fluff
2 sticks butter butter
8 oz cream cheese
3 cups confectioners sugar

Beat butter and cream cheese in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until combined.
Add in the confectioners sugar and beat until light then beat in the fluff.

To assemble:

Scoop a small amount of filling onto cooled whoopie pie half, top with another half and gently press together.

The one cookbook you can't live without?

One of my favorite blogs, Food52, recently posed the question:

If you could cook from one cookbook and one only...which would it be and why?

I'm totally stumped! Is it really possible to sift through my totally disorganized but sacred bookshelf, pick one cookbook, and just forget about all the others?

The cookbook I can't live without depends on my mood. If I have a whole lazy day at home I'm going to grab Jeffrey Hamelman's "Bread" book and make a few loaves to keep in the freezer so I can avoid store bought bread for a while. If I have time in the morning and want to make dinner, I am going to grab my Crock Pot cookbook published by Rival and pick a meal that will be waiting for us when we get home.

Not to mention my beloved binder filled with recipes I have clipped from cooking magazines over the years. That is one collection of recipes I couldn't live without, but in this case I am not sure it counts.

If I was forced to grab one cookbook from my shelves and toss aside all the rest I think it would have to be "The New Jewish Holiday Cookbook" by Gloria Kaufer Greene.

This cookbook has won me years of praise at family holiday dinners. It's filled with wonderful recipes from around the world. My picky mother who avoids anything "ethnic" because she thinks its spicy doesn't know it, but every Rosh Hashanah she raves about a Moroccan dish (chicken braised in honey and tomatoes) that I make from this cookbook. I love this book because I love cooking for the holidays and having our entire extended family gathered around the dinner table.

So now I ask you the same question: If you could pick one cookbook to cook from- and only one - what would it be and why?

Summertime!

Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Cake

The burning question right now is what I am going to do when I am done with culinary school.

This fall I will be an intern - hopefully in some wonderful New York City bakery - and I'll get to keep learning. That is the part I am excited about. After that I really want to start developing my own recipes. And I might start telling all of my neighbors that they should think of me the next time they need a cake for a special occasion.

A friend suggested that I start writing about easy dinners for working couples. I don't think I am destined to be the next Rachel Ray with a cookbook of 30 minute meals. But maybe my friend was onto something and I I should try to capitalize on what I love to do most: quick and easy desserts that look impressive, but take little effort.

This mint chocolate ice cream cake is the perfect example. It's my twist on a suggestion I found a while back in Mary Engelbreit's "Sweet Treats Dessert Cookbook.''

Before culinary school I used to cheat and buy a ready made Oreo Crust for this cake and it tasted pretty great. This year I thought I had to make my own crust. I separated 20 Oreo cookies and scooped out the cream. Then I crushed the cookies in a food processor, drizzeled 4 tablespoons of melted butter over it, pressed it into a pie plate and froze it for about an hour.  The crust was a little stubborn when I went to cut up the cake. It didn't want to come out of the pie plate, but when I wrestled it out, it did taste wonderful. Maybe next time I'll use less butter or won't press it so tightly together.

The secret to this cake is buying premium quality ice cream. I use 2 pints Haagen-Dazs mint chocolate. I like it because it doesn't have any artificial color to make it green. Then I let the ice cream sit on the counter til it's soft, empty it into a bowl and stir in some green creme de menthe. Next spread the ice cream in the crust and freeze it until it's set. I usually do this over night.

Now comes the fun part: decorating! Place half a pint of heavy cream in a mixer and whipped with a tablespoon of sugar to make a whipped cream that will hold its shape if you want to put it in a piping bag. I also use Andes candies and run a vegetable peeler over a bar of chocolate to get shavings that I scatter on top of the cake.

But you can decorate it anyway you want to make your own perfect summertime treat. Thin Mint girl scout cookies would work really well too if you have any left in the house.

The best part is it takes minimal effort and it will impress the heck out of your friends.

Oh, and did I mention how wonderful and refreshing it taste? Yum!

Bread Alone

I can't tell you how happy I am that the height of the anti-carb craze is behind us.

Man (and woman) may not live on bread alone, but life is pretty dreary without it.

There is some inexplicable pleasure in dipping a crusty loaf of Italian bread in a rich tomato sauce I can't even put into words. How can anyone resist spreading a garlicky hummus on pita, or creamy brie on spread on slices of a crunchy crusted bread? Those are moments that just make life better.

We've been eating bread for so long it's mentioned in the bible. If people could make bread all those eons ago without ovens that have a thermostat dial in their homes, than it should be something anyone can do today, right?

Then why don't more people make bread at home?

For some reason yeast is a scary thing for home bakers. I am so glad that culinary school helped me get over this fear. Now all I want to do a day off is make a few loaves of bread I can stick in the freezer and use for the weeks ahead. And the bread I make at home doesn't have high fructose corn syrup or half of the other ingredients that are in the loafs of bread sold on the supermarket shelves.

It helped to learn from one of the best bread makers in the country - Sim Cass, a founding baker at Balthazar- to get over my fear of making bread. I am here to tell you that making bread is one of the easiest things to do and one of the most satisfying. It doesn't require a store bought bread maker. And who wouldn't feel proud after making something of such basic sustenance.

So let me unlock the bread making mystery. It starts with Jeffrey Hamelman's "Bread" book. It has about 80 pages of introduction that explain the bread making process and recipes that are adapted for both the home cook and professional baker.

I haven't ventured past the first chapter yet, breads made with a pre-ferment. That simply means the night before you want to make bread, stir water flour and yeast together in a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. It might look something like plaster, and creates a stick substances that is pain to clean off your spoon. But over night the magic happens: the yeast starts to do it's work. The next morning the mixture will have doubled in size and be filled with air bubbles - a sign that you have done it right.

Success -a very bubbly pre-ferment!

Here is an easy follow bread recipe that should only take a few hours the next morning and doesn't require much fancy handiwork to shape into loaves. Just remember your pre-ferment needs about 12-16 hours to mature before you start making your dough, so plan accordingly and you won't be trapped in the house all day waiting for it to rise (like I usually am because my preferments are never ready to go before noon).

Oh, wait, let me give you a few other tips first. The secret to bread's crispy crust? Professional ovens have a feature that steam inside the oven to create the crust. Sadly, that is a tough one to replicate, but Chef Sim advised to spray water from a bottle on the outside of the loaf before baking.

Bread is also also baked directly on the floor of the oven, not on racks. In a home oven the best way to replicate this is to place baking sheets in the oven as it preheats and cook the bread directly on the sheets. You can place a little corn meal to stop it from sticking.

Pain Rustique
Adapted from "Bread: A Bakers Book of Techniques and Recipes"
Makes three loaves. Three hours prep time not including the pre-ferment made the night before

The Poolish (or pre-ferment)

1 pound or 3 5/8 cups high gluten bread flour
1 pound or two cups water
1/8 teaspoon instant dry yeast

Pour the water in a bowl, disperse the yeast on top of the water, add the flour and mix until smooth (it will look something like plaster). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand for 12-16 hours at about 70 degrees.

Get a good nights sleep!

The Dough:

1 pound high gluten bread flour
6.1 oz or 3/4 cup water
all the pre-ferment
.6 oz or 1 tablespoon salt
.17 oz or 1 1/2 tsp instant dry yeast

Add the pre-ferment, flour, and water in a mixing bowl and mix using a bread hook at first speed until it just comes together. Don't add the yeast and salt just yet! Let it rest, covered in plastic for 20-30 minutes. Then sprinkle the salt and yeast on top and mix on second speed for 1 1/2 - 2 minutes.

Bulk Fermentation
This is when you let the dough rest and rise. Let the dough sit in the bowl covered with plastic. Do laundry. Call some friends. Read a book. You have about 70 minutes while the yeast does it's work and you don't have to do very much anything. Just give the dough a few turns once after 25 minutes and again at 50 minutes (turn each side of the dough in toward the middle once, press firmly into the center and then flip over).
 

Dough resting in a lightly oiled bowl on my counter top

 Dividing:

After 70 minutes divide the dough into three one pound two ounces sections (if you don't have a scale divide in three). Don't tear at the dough use a dough knife or regular knife. Place the pieces on a floured linen on a baking sheet, cover with plastic and let rest for another 20-25 minutes at 76 degrees. This is the final fermentation stage. A little humidity doesn't hurt at this point. In the winter I've turned on my shower (our bathroom is off of the kitchen) and let the kitchen get a little steamy.

At this point pre-heat the oven to 460 degrees with the baking sheets inside. When the dough is ready slash it with a razor across the center, spray with water, place on the baking sheets in the oven and bake for about 35 minutes, until it's nice and dark.

My bread right out of the oven - I am so proud!

A Volunteer at the James Beard Awards

I wonder if film students in L.A. get to volunteer at the Oscars?

Because that is what it felt like for me volunteering last night at the 2011 James Beard Awards Gala.

I was so lucky to be teamed up with the chefs from Clio Restaurant in Boston. They were a bunch of very laid back tattooed all over kind of guys. But best of all, they had done all their food prep in Boston and brought their amazing white curry trip dish ready for service. So I had hours and hours to wander around before they needed help plating to serve the 1,800 guests.

Preparations for the James Beard Awards Gala at Avery Fisher Hall 

I saw Food Network star Anne Burrell talking on her cell phone on the Red Carpet waiting to get into the event. Bobby Flay signed my program after I babbled something about loving Throwdown and eating at Mesa Grill for my birthday. I had a Jersey Pride moment when Chef Vola's in Atlantic City was recognized as an American Classic.

Anne Burrell outside Lincoln Center

One of my favorite moments was Gabrielle Hamilton's acceptance speech for Best Chef in New York City. In talking about how much she loved her profession, she exclaimed: "We don't spill oil on the shore line. We don't rob people of their money. It's pretty honest work.''

That kinda summed up why I enrolled in Culinary School after working for 14 years as a reporter. Chefs make people happy. They expose us to new cultures and new ideas. They feed the hungry and the sick. Sometimes I feel like studying baking and pastry is a totally self indulgent and I worry that my life won't be any different when I am done. But I believe people who cook for a living do important things, shape our relationships with food, and are part of an amazing tradition that goes back to ancient times. And hopefully I will have a shot at doing something memorable like starting the next great dessert trend.

In case you haven't realized it, I am totally star struck. Last night I got to be part of the biggest event of the year in the food world. I got to sample creations from some of the best chef's in the country. But now it's time for this aspiring pastry chef to come down from cloud nine and head back to my paying job.

If I am lucky tonight I will have time to grab a slice of pizza from a restaurant in a Jersey strip mall before heading to cover a school board meeting. But I will probably still have a big smile on my face remembering all the fun I had last night.

Complete list of James Beard 2011 Award winners: 

Best New Restaurant

ABC Kitchen, New York City; Chef/Owner: Jean-Georges Vongerichten; Owner: Phil Suarez

Outstanding Chef Award

José Andrés, minibar, Washington, D.C.

Outstanding Pastry Chef Award

Angela Pinkerton, Eleven Madison Park, New York City

Outstanding Restaurant Award

Eleven Madison Park, New York City; Owner: Danny Meyer

Outstanding Restaurateur Award

Richard Melman, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, Chicago

Outstanding Service Award

Per Se, New York City, Chef/Owner: Thomas Keller

Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional Award

Julian P. Van Winkle, III; Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery, Louisville

Outstanding Wine Service Award

The Modern, New York City; Wine Director: Belinda Chang

Rising Star Chef of the Year Award

Gabriel Rucker, Le Pigeon, Portland, Ore.

Best Chef: Great Lakes (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio)

Alex Young, Zingerman’s Roadhouse, Ann Arbor, Mich.

Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic (Washington, D.C., Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia)

Michael Solomonov, Zahav, Philadelphia

Best Chef: Midwest (Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin)

Isaac Becker, 112 Eatery, Minneapolis

Best Chef: New York City

Gabrielle Hamilton, Prune, New York City

Best Chef: Northeast (Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New York excluding the five boroughs of New York City, Rhode Island, Vermont)

Tony Maws, Craigie On Main, Cambridge, Mass.

Best Chef: Northwest (Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming)

Andy Ricker, Pok Pok, Portland, Ore.

Best Chef: Pacific (California, Hawaii)

Michael Tusk, Quince, San Francisco

Best Chef: South (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi)

Stephen Stryjewski, Cochon, New Orleans

Best Chef: Southeast (Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia)

Andrea Reusing, Lantern, Chapel Hill, N.C.

Best Chef: Southwest (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah)

Saipin Chutima, Lotus of Siam, Las Vegas, and Tyson Cole, Uchi, Austin, Tex. (tie)

Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America Inductees

Jonathan Gold, Writer, LA Weekly, Los Angeles

Lee Jones, Farmer/ Owner, Chef’s Garden, Huron, Ohio

Charles Phan, Chef/Owner, The Slanted Door, San Francisco

Frank Stitt, Chef/Owner, Highlands Bar and Grill, Birmingham, Ala.

Nick Valenti, CEO, Patina Restaurant Group, New York City

America’s Classics Awards

Chef Vola’s, Atlantic City, N.J.; Owners: Louise Esposito, Michael Esposito, Michael Esposito Jr., Louis Esposito

Crook’s Corner, Chapel Hill, NC; Owner: Gene Hamer

Noriega Restaurant and Hotel, Bakersfield, Calif., Owners: Linda Elizalde McCoy and Rochelle Ladd

Le Veau d’Or, New York City; Owner: Robert Tréboux

Watts Tea Shop, Milwaukee; President and CEO: Sam Watts

Lifetime Achievement Award

Kevin Zraly

Humanitarian of the Year

FareStart

The Search for the Best Brownie Recipe

I never thought I would come across a recipe that could match Nick Maglieri's Supernatural Brownies. They are deep, rich, moist, and simple to make. All the characteristics of the best brownies recipe in my book.

But that was before I discovered Baked in Red Hook, Brooklyn.  I love everything about the place from the incredible frosting on the cup cakes to the owner's story. Baked was founded by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. They met while working at an advertising agency, but their first love was dessert. All the stories I came across about the pair said they were tired of the cupcake craze and cakes that were shaped like purses, but tasted like cardboard. Matt Lewis went to ICE (back when it was still the Peter Kump School) at night and the two ended up opening a wonderful bakery with a focus on classic American desserts, made even better.

So back to the brownies.

While I was doing research on Baked and toying with the idea of interning their for class (why 'o why is there no subway that goes to Red Hook) I came across my new favorite recipe: Matt and Renato's Baked Spicy Brownie. It has so much flavor it left me speechless. After my first bite I had a look on my face that made my husband jealous. They are that good. These brownies earn my high praise because they have a little kick to them with some ancho chilli powder, fresh ground ginger (I used grated fresh ginger root - amazing) and cinnamon. I gave some to friend of mine and she told me they were too good to share with her husband. I take that as the highest compliment.

My deepest thanks to Matt and Renato for coming up with the best brownies recipe imaginable!

The Baked Spicy Brownie

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. Dutch cocoa powder
• 1 Tbsp. ancho chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 5 ounces coarsely chopped dark (60 percent) chocolate
• 1 stick unsalted butter , plus more for pan
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. freshly grated ginger

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°. Butter sides and bottom of a glass or light-colored metal 8" x 8" pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, cocoa powder, chili powder, and cinnamon.

Configure a double boiler (fill a medium saucepan with 2 inches of water and fit a metal bowl on top without letting it touch water; bring water to a boil). Place chocolate and butter in bowl and stir occasionally until both are completely melted and combined, about 6 minutes. Turn off heat, but keep bowl over water and add both sugars. Whisk until completely combined and remove bowl from pan. Let stand until room temperature, about 20 minutes.

Add eggs to chocolate-butter mixture and whisk until just combined. Add vanilla and ginger; whisk to combine. Do not overbeat the batter at this stage or the brownies will be cakey.

Sprinkle flour-cocoa mixture over chocolate mixture. Using a spatula (do not use a whisk!), fold the dry ingredients into the wet until there is just a trace amount of the flour-cocoa mix visible.

Pour batter into the greased pan and smooth the top with the spatula. Bake brownies for 27 to 30 minutes; brownies are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool brownies completely before cutting and serving.