Cooking Light Bonanza

This month's double anniversary issue of Cooking Light magazine (November 2012) looked good enough to eat.  The headlines, scattered all over the chocolate-hued cover, were obviously meant to delight.  "The Best Fast Meals Ever," "Best Recipes of Our First 25 Years," "The Most Delicious Desserts" and more.  Hard not to fall in love. I write a column for Cooking Light called Radically Simple and in this edition are three stunning starters meant expressly for your Thanksgiving table.  There's a tri-colore salad (endive, watercress, radicchio) with an addictive bacon-cider-maple dressing; a creamy pumpkin-red pepper soup thickened with sweet potato and perfumed with five-spice powder and rosemary, and phyllo cups filled with ricotta, chèvre and fresh thyme.  Looks like you cooked all week.  Yet the recipes, in keeping with the column's intention, are radically simple to prepare. But this special issue has had me devouring each of its 296 pages and  inspiring me to cook so many OPR!  (Other People's Recipes!)  Want an idea?  There's Creamy Lobster Pappardelle, Cavatappi with Browned Brussels Sprouts and Buttery Breadcrumbs, Scallion Pancakes with Korean Dipping Sauce, Fiery Chicken Thighs with Persian Rice, Soy-Citrus Scallops with Soba Noodles, and Fresh Ginger Cake with Candied Citrus Glaze,

And I was totally wowed by the food of 13-year old Flynn McGarry, the culinary avatar to the mesmerizing talents of pianist Lang Lang when he was of a similar age.

To the list of most important Italian cookbooks of the last 25 years, however, I would stand up and add the delicious and encyclopedic tome Naples at Table, written by renowned Italian cooking expert, historian and teacher, Arthur Schwartz.

Best of all (and I love to learn new things every day), was a word I stumbled upon in the ingredient list for a winter citrus-and-escarole salad.  In the spirit of full disclosure, I had never heard the word before!  Pomegranate arils!   Apparently, it's a popular crossword puzzle word.  Look it up!

Here's my recipe for Creamy Pumpkin-Red Pepper Soup.  Enjoy. Creamy Pumpkin-Red Pepper Soup Hands-on time: 30 min. Total time: 60 min.

The soup can be topped with a variety of things: I love Parmigiano-Reggiano and rosemary, but savory sprinkles like chopped smoked almonds or toasted pecans would be lovely. This tastes even better the next day ... or the day after.

3 cups chopped peeled fresh pumpkin 2 1/2 cups chopped red bell pepper 1 1/2 cups chopped peeled sweet potato 1/4 cup chopped green onions 1 teaspoon five-spice powder 1 teaspoon ground cumin 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic 3/8 teaspoon salt, divided 5 cups no-salt-added chicken stock (such as Swanson) 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 1 tablespoon rosemary leaves (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 2. Combine first 8 ingredients in a large bowl. Sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon salt; toss well. Place vegetable mixture in a single layer on a jelly-roll pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until tender, stirring once. 3. Combine vegetables, stock, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes. Place half of vegetable mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters). Process until smooth. Pour into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining vegetable mixture. Stir in butter. Top with rosemary, if desired.

Serves 6

Creamy Pumpkin Cheesecake, Your Way

So here we are, one day before Thanksgiving, and I urge you to count your blessings and be mindful of the tangibles, and intangibles, in your life for which you are grateful. Someone recently told me they are grateful for this recipe (below)! But if your gratitude has more to do with the people you love and care for, then why not consider making it for them? This one-bowl, crustless cheesecake sets beautifully after a day in the fridge and actually improves with age. The topping can be done your way -- I like to use a medley of pecans, white chocolate chips, and candied ginger, but you can use chopped-up Heath Bars, granola, crushed chocolate wafers, gingersnaps, tiny marshmallows, shredded coconut, dried cherries, or glacéed fruit. And whilst I make it in a 10-inch removable-bottom cake pan, it can also be made in a large square pan and cut into brownie-like pieces (as it's done in the photo. It's from an article I wrote for the fall issue of Real Food magazine.)

Wishing you all a happy and nourishing Thanksgiving Day.

Creamy Pumpkin Cheesecake Having the cream cheese at room temperature is key to a smooth and creamy texture.

24 ounces cream cheese, room temperature 1/4 cup crème fraiche or sour cream 1/4 cup cornstarch 3 extra-large eggs 15-ounce can pumpkin puree 1-1/2 cups sugar 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground ginger 2 teaspoons real vanilla extract soft butter for greasing pan

Suggested toppings: 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans 1/3 cup white chocolate chips 3 tablespoons candied ginger, finely minced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, crème fraiche, and cornstarch until smooth. Add eggs, pumpkin puree, all but 1 tablespoon sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Heavily butter a 10-inch, removable bottom cake pan. Pour in batter. Bake 30 minutes. Top with pecans, white chocolate chips, and ginger (or toppings of your choice) or the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Bake 40 minutes longer until firm. Remove from oven and cool completely. Cover and refrigerate 24 hours before serving.  Serves 12

Nice to sip with bourbon or brandy or Drambuie.  (It's in the back of your liquor cabinet.) Enjoy!

Tastes of the Week

November 7 through 13, 2011 Jack o' Lantern leftovers! We never got to carve our pumpkin this Halloween and so a faceless orb has been staring at me for the last two weeks. Small to medium in size, about 3 pounds, including a long graceful stem -- I vowed to treat it with respect and serve it forth for dinner. A radically simple recipe ensued:  Cut a 3 pound, very round pumpkin in quarters. Place in a small paella pan or baking dish, upside down (the seeds and membrane are easier to remove after it's cooked.) Place 1 inch of water in pan and bake at 400 degrees until soft, about 45 minutes. Turn over, cover and bake until very tender. Remove seeds and membranes. Drizzle with good olive oil and a liberal sprinkling of ras el hanout (a Moroccan spice blend) and kosher salt. Drain water; place pumpkin in pan and bake until slightly caramelized. See my recipe for Calabaza Soup with Celery & Crispy Sage (below) -- just in case you, too, have a leftover pumpkin.

The sweet aromatics of ras el hanout (available in Middle Eastern markets and spice shops) are intoxicating. Meaning "top of the shop" in Arabic, each mixture is unique but generally combines more than one dozen spices (and sometimes up to 100!). The predominant perfume comes from cardamom, clove, cinnamon, chili, coriander, cumin, nutmeg, and turmeric. It is wonderful rubbed on lamb or chicken or simply sprinkled on tomato soup to take it in an exotic direction. It lent a playful aroma, and taste, to the nutty quality of the pumpkin. It is a spice mixture that has a definitive place in my pantry and in my heart.

Perhaps as I get older, I covet reservations at my friends' tables, even more than at the newest restaurant. And so, last night, we were lucky enough to be invited to the home of Jerry Adler and Beth Lebowitz. They are the perfect couple in many remarkable ways and also in the kitchen where Jerry is cook to Beth's pastry chef. This amazing meal began with homemade ricotta gnocchi -- I was knocked out by their lightness -- with a heady sauce of porcini, prosciutto and tomato paste (also homemade!). It was followed by a luscious pork shoulder (baked for 18 hours and inspired, perhaps, by a recipe in Radically Simple); tiny roasted brussels sprouts, lovely carrots with capers, and golden, crispy roasted potatoes.  A voluptuous onion sauce accompanied the pork which was already generously flavored with coriander seed and garlic. The skin on top of the pork got so crispy that we shared it like a peace pipe and nodded with the crunching brittle sounds of happiness. A wonderful pear clafouti and good strong coffee followed. A brisk, and needed, walk home. Jerry is a crackerjack journalist: Check out his story on heirloom grains in an upcoming article in Smithsonian, and his previous piece on scientist/chef Myhrvold.

This week's most extraordinary food experience, however, took place at the James Beard House during "A Dinner to Remember."  No doubt, I will remember it, and Jerry's ricotta gnocchi, for a long, long time.

You might want to start your own "week of tastes" with the following almost-winter soup:

Pumpkin Soup with Celery & Crispy Sage This soup, adapted from Radically Simple, has an air of the West Indies about it, with its earthy flavors of ginger, scotch bonnet, pepper, celery, thyme and sage (often found in "jerk" recipes.) Butternut or calabaza squash can be substituted for the pumpkin.

3-1/2 pound piece of pumpkin 6 tablespoons olive oil 2 cups finely chopped onions 1 cup finely chopped celery, plus leaves for garnish 2 tablespoons finely chopped peeled fresh ginger 1/2 small scotch bonnet pepper, finely minced 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves 20 medium-large fresh sage leaves 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove seeds and membrane from pumpkin. Place in a roasting pan. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Pour 1 inch water into the pan and bake 1-1/2 hours until very soft. Scoop out the flesh. Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in a 4-quart pot. Add the onions, celery, ginger, minced pepper, thyme, 2 sage leaves, and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook 15 minutes over medium heat. Add the sugar and 4 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and add the squash. Cover and cook 15 minutes. In batches, puree the soup in a food processor until very smooth. Fry the remaining sage leaves in a small pan in 2 tablespoons hot oil until crispy. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with salt.  Serve the soup hot with the fried sage leaves and celery leaves. Serves 6