RECIPE: LATKE PUMPKIN PIE

today in i'm-going-to-be-sick-of-thanksgivukkah-food-well-before-thanksgivukkah: a latke pumpkin pie!

seriously, by the time thanksgivukkah rolls around, i will already be on, like, cottage cheese, or whatever diet food is it these days.

i yolo'd a shit ton of chocolate today, also scotch eggs and half an apple sticker (bc you know what's worse than finding a whole apple sticker on your apple...). and then when all was photographed and done, i scraped a bunch of pumpkin pie filling out of this pie and then ate the latke crust. (i left out the sugar in the filling so it could be eggboy-friendly. ew, you guys, don't ever do that.) 

i should really get my tookus to the gym one of these days. sometimes egg works out with a kettle bell in the living room and i join him with my yoga mat and foam roller and dumb core workouts, but i usually just end up in shavasana thinking about cookies and puppies. (omg have you seen this puppy?)

also sometimes i buy salad greens and if they sit in my fridge for long enough i can usually convince myself that i've been eating healthy.

i am counting on next week's new york trip being a big walk fest. i'm going to pre walk off all of my holiday meals and pretend that any and all schnitzels eaten while walking don't count in the calorie department. 

in other vaguely exciting news, you have until the end of the day to enter my pretty apron giveaway!

oh but back to this pie. it has a fun sweet/salty thing going on (like dipping your fries in a pumpkin frosty, if pumpkin frosties existed... do they??) and it was inspired by a quiche recipe that i love that has a sweet potato hash brown crust. this recipe is basically a how-to for a latke crust, and then i encourage you to pour in your favorite filling because my filling seriously blew nuts. you don't even have to make it a pumpkin pie, you can make it chocolatey or custardy or bacony or whatever!

latke pumpkin pie 

makes one pie 

ingredients 

a half batch of ex-boyfriend latke mixture (if you get weirded out by weird things, leave out the onions... but i kinda like it with the onions)

canola or vegetable oil, to coat your pan

a batch of your favorite pumpkin pie (or any pie) filling

clues 

preheat oven to broil. 

once you've mixed up the ex-boyfriend latke mixture, coat an oven safe pan with oil and set over medium heat (i use my 9-inch cast iron pan). pour the latke mixture into the pan and use a spatula to firmly press the mixture all over the bottom and around the edges. 

cook until the bottom browns. the crust may start to puff up in the center-- if this happens, poke a few holes in the bottom with a fork. 

once the bottom is brown, stick the pan in the oven and broil for 8-12 minutes, or until the top starts to brown. 

reduce the heat to 375 (or whatever your pie filling recipe advises), pour in the filling, and bake until the pie is set. 

enjoy immediately with a dreidel! 

-yeh! 

chocolate tahini cake with rosemary buttercream

what a gift today has been.

wide awake at six am, egg and i found ourselves en route to darcy's for a little breakfast date. darcy's is where the farmers go for breakfast. it's the kind of place with a counter and bottomless coffee and usuals, who are welcomed by first name and served without ordering. 

we had diner eggs and diner potatoes. we indulged in buttery diner toast, which is one of the best kinds of toast, if you ask me. we took our sweet time and talked about sugar beets, just like the other farmers... and then when a farmer friend came in, we talked about china and mooncakes. it was perfect. i think darcy's is my new favorite.

i took eggboy to the farm as the sun rose, and after i dropped him off, i stopped at the market for berries and herbs to make a very special cake. 

a few months ago, i donated some cakes as donor gifts for wolftree's kickstarter. wolftree met their goal (yay!), so a few people received vouchers for a custom cake. one man gave me the freedom to make any cake and to deliver it at any time.

i am sort of in love with the idea of a spontaneous cake appearing at a moment's notice. perhaps he'll invite friends over to eat it, perhaps he'll eat it all himself! who knows!

so for this friday cake, i made a cake that i have been desperately wanting to try: a tahini cake. i used my favorite chocolate cake recipe and with the help of my friend jenna, found a good way to incorporate tahini: rather than using the 1/2 cup of oil, i used six tablespoons of tahini and two tablespoons of oil. i also always use coconut milk instead of cow milk with this recipe. it gives it an extra somethin somethin and then also makes it dairy free. the results were so moist and delicious.

for the buttercream, i infused two sticks of butter with rosemary by boiling it for a few minutes with a handful of rosemary sprigs and then covering it and letting it sit out overnight. today, i melted it back down, strained out the rosemary sprigs, and then stuck it in the fridge for a bit to firm up. once it was firm but not too hard, i whipped it up with some more softened butter, added a splash of vanilla and powdered sugar to taste, a few pinches of salt, and a few tablespoons of milk. literal. perfection. 

frosty frost frost, in the naked fashion (don't you love naked cakes??), and then this cake got some fresh raspberries, pearl sugar, powdered sugar annnnd candied rosemary a la carey from reclaiming provincial. that girl is a genius.

boy, i had fun with this cake! i wanna do it again! i wanna do it again! 

happy friday, all! i am off to fargo to deliver this cake and for a little wolftree* party... and then a halloween celebration! i am going to dress as a garden. i think. 

 -yeh!

  *speaking of wolftree. if you live in the midwest, you should come to this wolftree cooking workshop lead by yours truly!! i am nervous. it is my first cooking workshop. i've taught paradiddles and marimba songs and other music things to big groups. but i've never taught pies and soups and bread before. eeeek! i promise not to poison you, i promise it will be funnnn!!!! 

update from three minutes after i originally posted this: how the fock am i going to get this cake to fargo?

RECIPE: BRUSSELS SPROUT LATKES WITH BALSAMIC DIJON SOUR CREAM

for the first 20 years of my solid food life, my thoughts on brussels sprouts were exclusively informed by cloudy with a chance of meatballs. i'd run from them, i'd spit them out, i'd talk smack about them without even checking my phone to make sure i hadn't butt dialed them. 

the recipe that changed this is my mum's recipe that we make every thanksgiving. the brussels sprouts are roasted and then tossed in a yummy mustardy vinaigrette. (i did a guest post with the recipe on ashlee's blog last year.) these opened the door for some very fantastic sprouty experiences: the cheesy ones at parm, the mustardy ones at buttermilk channel, roasted ones in sesame sauce... i think brussels sprout season might be my favorite season.

anywho, i made a little brussels sprout fried rice yesterday for lunch. i shredded some sprouts, stuck them in a pan to brown, and then scooted them to the side of the pan to make way for the egg. i cracked the egg in, and at first i was stressed because the whites oozed into the sprouts, but then i thought well if all of those sprouts stuck together, that could make a fun little pancake thing.

and then it struck me that i had no choice but to immediately make a brussels sprout latke! the perfect thanksgivukkah treat.

i dug up my favorite latke recipe, the ex-boyfriend latke, made a few adjustments, and cranked out some absurdly amazing latkes. then i made a variation on mum's mustard vinaigrette and mixed it into some sour cream. ooooh baby!

i want to eat the entire batch right now but i also don't want to get all bloaty in case i decide at the last minute to dress as a slutty marilyn hagerty for halloween. (just kidding i'm not actually considering that. but you should.)

 brussels sprout latkes with balsamic dijon sour cream

makes 10-12 latkes 

ingredients 

4 c shredded brussels sprouts*

1 medium onion, chopped

kosher salt and pepper to taste (i use about 4 big pinches of salt and a couple good cracks of pepper) 

the juice from 1/2 a lemon

4 egg whites 

1/2 c all-purpose flour or chickpea flour**

oil, for frying (i use canola) 

*you can find brussels sprouts in the store pre-shredded. i measured out one 9 oz bag to be 4 cups, even though the nutrition facts state otherwise. perhaps i simply didn't pack them as tightly in the measuring cup... i just sorta tossed them in...

**thank you to awesome reader courtney for testing this out with chickpea flour for a gluten free option! she also added bacon. hell yeah. 

 sour cream ingredients

1 c sour cream

2 tb dijon mustard

2 tb honey

4 tsp balsamic vinegar

 clues

if you've bought your sprouts pre-shredded, comb through them and chop up any big chunks because those could cause the latkes to fall apart.

in a large bowl, combine the sprouts, onion, salt, and pepper. stir in the lemon juice and egg whites, and then stir in the flour.

heat 1/4 inch of oil in a pan over medium heat. using an ice cream scoop or a large spoon, place dollops of the mixture in the oil. gently flatten them with a spatula. fry until golden brown on each side.

for the balsamic dijon sour cream, simply combine all ingredients (and place in a cute ramekin).  

enjoy for thanksgivukkah!

-yeh! 

p.s. if you're worried about oil spitting all over your cute thanksgivukkah clothes, enter my cute apron giveaway! 

WHAT I'M LOVING LATELY, BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE LETTER "S"

string beans // they're the best for when i feel like a vegetable but am too lazy to chop anything. i put them in a pan, forget about them for a little, and then smother them in sesame sauce.

siggi's skyr (double points for two s's) // it's officially the only yogurt i'll buy. it has just a few, all-natural ingredients, and it's sweetened with a bit of agave. also, i wrote a love letter to the company and they sent me a bunch of coupons. teehee. 

squash // there have been a shit ton of squash recipes on the internet lately and i want to eat them all. even if i turn orange. #oitnb. here's a roundup: squash donuts, green curry spaghetti squash, squash noodle soup with swiss chard, stuffed pumpkin, squash galette, spaghetti squash cakes. there was also a pretty lookin stuffed acorn squash a few days ago that i just spent 20 minutes trying to find, but i  guess i lost it. oops.

sweaters // i keep one in every room because you just never know.

snare drumming // i started keeping my drum pad at my desk. it's good for burning off energy when i have too much for sitting still and not energy for getting up to bake.

socializing with my penguin // ok now i'm just fishing for s-words, but mumbles has kept good company when eggboy is out in the fields.

happy weekend!!! 

-yeh!