Steak and Onion Pie (for cold winter nights)

I'm trying to decide if steak and onion pie is better when the weather is cold and sharp . . . or cold and damp. 

No matter:  if it is December in any northerly climate, this is the most satisfying dinner imaginable.  My father's birthday is December 8 and it has long been our family tradition to make it on that occasion. When I was chatting to my mother this week I mentioned that I was making the pie . . . and she laughed and said that she had made one, too.   It was always great in Texas, but I think that it may be even better in England.

Of course meat pies are an English standard -- pub grub, and available year-round.  But for me, this pie is a seasonal pleasure.  My mother got it from an old cookbook, with a brown cloth cover -- and I can still picture the 50s era font.  (I'm sure that some long-ago farmer's wife patented the special blend of spices.)  It came from an earlier American era, when people had lots of outdoor chores to do.  But even if your only exposure to frigid air is running from the car to the house, this comforting dish is just what you need this winter.

Steak and Onion Pie

Ingredients for filling:

one large onion, sliced into thin rounds

2 lbs (or 1 kg) of round steak (or other stew meat) cut into chunks

4 ounces flour

1 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon allspice

4 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

40 ounces (or two English pints) of boiling water

4 medium-sized floury potatoes, cut into chunks

Method for filling:

Saute the onion in a tablespoon of vegetable oil (canola or similar).  When it is translucent, remove from the pan and reserve for later. 

Mix together the flour and seasonings, and dredge the meat in the mixture.  (I usually toss them in a ziploc bag.)  Then, in three or four smallish batches, brown the meat strips in hot oil.  You will need to add about a tablespoon of oil for each batch of meat.

I tend to brown the meat in a skillet, and then remove it to a large saucepan for the next step.  After browning all of the meat, add the boiling water and left-over seasoned flour, stir well, and then cover and simmer until the meat is tender (approximately an hour).  Then add the potatoes and simmer for 20-30 minutes more.  (The potatoes should be starting to soften.)

Pour this mixture into a greased casserole.  (I use an oval corning ware dish, approximately 9 x 13 inches, which leaves enough meat-and-potato mixture to make up two individual pies for a later meal. )

Place the cooked onions on the top, and let cool.

Then cover with pie crust -- not forgetting to punch some steam holes in the crust.

Bake for 30 minutes in a very hot oven -- 450F/220 C.

Simple Pie Crust

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of flour (approximately 10 ounces)

4 ounces vegetable shortening or lard

1 teaspoon salt

iced water -- a few tablespoons

You can easily double this recipe, and I often do.

Method:

Cut the shortening into the flour and salt.  Add just enough ice water to bind.  When it comes together, form into a ball and chill for at least half an hour.  If you roll it out between two sheets of waxed or parchment paper, you can just lift it -- and flip it -- straight onto the pie.  Make sure the filling has cooled though, or it will start melting the pastry.

You can prepare the filling beforehand, and keep the covered casserole in the refrigerator for 24 hours or so.  When you are ready to eat, add the pie crust and start preheating your oven.  This pie isn't difficult to make, but it does take a while.  It's not a dinner that you want to start making after 7 pm.  Labor of love, though . . . definitely.

Yesterday, when my ravenous teenaged daughter came looking for a snack, she demanded the left-over steak and onion pie.  Even though our kitchen counter is loaded up with homemade cookies and candies at the moment, when it is dark and wet and you've had a long day there is nothing better than some warmed-up (and warming) meat pie.

christmas favorites: teacakes and a tea ring

first i have to say that we are in the darkest time of the year here in denmark and that means that on the best of days, there's only good light between about 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. by 2:30, there's already a sunset quality to the light. most days are dark, overcast and very grey and it rains a lot and we don't see the sunshine for weeks on end. i'm explaining this for several reasons. one, it means my pictures all have the very golden cast of the artificial light combined with the yellow walls of my kitchen. and two, it means we take cover in the house, baking. especially here in the lead up to the holidays. this weekend, we baked two family holiday favorites and we will bake them again before the season is over.

the first is a holiday tea ring in a pretty wreath-shape that my mom always makes. the recipe makes two, one to keep and one to give away.  it has festive candied cherries on top and is a delicious, slightly-sweet bread. it makes a good breakfast if you have any left the next morning, just slather on a bit of butter and drink with a steaming mug of tea (or coffee).

holiday tea ring

1/2 C butter

1 C milk

melt the butter and add the milk, heating it til it's rather lukewarm (you don't want it too hot or it will kill your yeast)

4.5-5 C flour

1/2 C sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 package fresh yeast (or two packages dry yeast)

2 eggs

handful of raisins

halved candied cherries

pecans (if desired)

sugar

cinnamon

butter

put the yeast and the sugar down in your mixing bowl and when the milk/butter mixture is warm, add it to the yeast. allow it to dissolve and begin to work, add the eggs. begin adding the flour, one cup at a time. mix it well. if you use your kitchen aid, let the dough hook do the work, if not, you will need to knead the dough for about 5 minutes, then place it in a large, lightly-greased, floured bowl to rise until it's double in size.

when it's doubled in size, divide it in half and roll it out into two rectangles that are approximately 18" x 7" (according to my mom's instructions), spread it with butter down the middle, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar (to taste) - we put quite a lot, then add a handful of raisins, pecans and cherries down the middle. since there is a little girl at our house that loves the cherries, but not raisins or nuts, we put only cherries in ours. it's really up to you. you could also put in other dried fruits - melon, apple, papaya, cranberries - whatever you like.

join the two ends so that it forms a wreath shape and transfer to a baking tray lined with baking paper. use a scissors to clip 2/3 of the way in (that's not what i did in the picture - i did it wrong and only remembered how to do it correctly afterwards) every inch and a half or so. then take every other one of those, pull it up and twist it to make the wreath look more wreath-like. allow it to rise half an hour or so in a warm place, brush with an egg/water wash (if desired) then bake at 175℃/350℉ for 20-25 minutes (my oven seems faster than others, so you may need more time than this).

make up an easy powdered sugar frosting and drizzle it over, decorating with cherries.

frosting

1 C powdered sugar

2 tsp. milk

dash of vanilla

i advise diving in while it's still warm. be sure to make a fresh pot of christmas tea to go with it.

the other favorite we made this weekend were my grandmother's russian teacakes. they're so easy, not too sweet (which makes them perfect in my book)

russian teacakes

1 C. butter
½ C. powdered sugar
¼ t. salt
1 t. vanilla
2 ¼ C. flour
¾ C. finely ground pecans (or walnuts if, like me, you can't find pecans anywhere this year)

bake 200℃/400℉ 8-10 minutes. they do not need to be brown, but are quite pale. make 3 doz. balls. grandma always mashed them criss-crossed with a fork. when cooled, roll the cookies in sifted powdered sugar. try not to eat them all the first day.

improvisation in the kitchen

thanksgiving was nearly a week ago (bearing in mind we celebrated on saturday) and i think i'm still recovering. i've been cooking simply all week (thank you leftovers) and generally been rather low key. i think i used so much energy and concentration on the Big Meal that i lost my cooking mojo for awhile afterwards. i can feel it creeping back in today as i contemplate going to see what goodness my fish man might have today.

as the week has gone by and i thought about my thanksgiving cooking frenzy, i realized that there was an awful lot of improvisation going on in the meal i cooked. it's not easy to cook a traditional american meal outside of the US, there will always be something you can't get (canned pumpkin, pecans, condensed milk, proper canned mushroom soup) and there will always be things (sweet potatoes, cranberries) you have to adjust to the palates you find in the culture before you and there will always be things (stove top stuffing, crisco, velveeta) you'd never allow in your kitchen anyway, even if you were in the US. and so you improvise.

on the thursday before my thanksgiving, i picked up my turkey and then had a small nervous breakdown which you can read about here. but in the end, despite the issues i had with it, it turned out perfectly and was probably the best tasting, moistest (is that a word?) turkey we've ever had and so totally worth the small fortune that i had to pay for it. and no one even noticed the big spot i had cut out of the skin on the breast, they were so impressed with the sheer size of the bird (more than 10 kilos!) that they didn't even see it.

i learned something interesting about my smeg stove. the turkey, as i said, was more than 10 kilos and although it fit, there wasn't a lot of extra room in there. and i think that after three and a half hours, the warm air oven, which is what i always use, didn't like that. i suspect it didn't have enough ability to circulate the air as it would have liked because the turkey was taking up so much of the space. so my oven went out. i discovered it when i went to take the turkey out and let it rest anyway, but i was pretty concerned (what with sweet potatoes, honey-glazed root veggies and corn pudding to go in) when i saw that the clock had gone dark. at first, i thought it had blown a fuse. the stove is on its own fuse, but i could see that it hadn't blown and the second, smaller oven was still working. it was just the big main oven. but i removed the turkey and left the door open for a few minutes, allowing it to air out. and the clock came blinking back on after about 5 minutes or so, so i could reset it and go on with the cooking of the other things. husband was standing by, ready to run to borrow the neighbors' ovens, but once it came back on, it was fine. but it's not exactly reassuring that such a wonderful oven (with a retail price of 27,000DKK (or more than $5,000) - tho' we got a much better deal on it than that) cut out when the going got tough, especially as it's only just over a year old.

i thought i'd share one of the recipes i improvised, a pumpkin pie with walnut brown sugar topping from the november 2009 issue of bon appetit. since we don't have canned pumpkin here, i baked down a whole pumpkin on wednesday evening, then put the big chunks of flesh in my colander to drain overnight. pumpkin has a lot of water in it and if you don't drain it, your pie won't be the right consistency. the next day, i whizzed it all up in my blender so it was a smooth purée and refrigerated it until it was time to use it.  the original recipe called for only 1 cup of pumpkin, but it didn't look like enough, so i used two cups. i also used 4 eggs rather than 2 because mine were small. i think it made it more of a smooth, custard consistency. the original recipe is here, my modifications are as follows:

pumpkin pie with walnut brown sugar topping

Topping:

• 1/2 cup walnut pieces
• 1/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch of fine sea salt

Crust:

• 1 12-inch round Pie Crust

For filling:

• 1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (i'm not that fond of cloves, so i actually left them out)
• 2 cups canned pure pumpkin
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

i used a pie crust that my mom said was one of my grandma's favorites - already there, i improvised because the recipe called for shortening and i substituted lard.

grandma's favorite pie crust

(from her blue cookbook - it says in my mom's handwriting)

1 1/2 C flour

1/2 C shortening (i used lard)

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

ice water

i used my food processor (i'm all about easy) and added 3 tablespoons of ice water in order to bring it together. then i pressed it into a disc and refrigerated for an hour. i rolled it out and pre-baked it for 20 minutes before filling it with the filling. i always use a cookie cutter to make leaves or pumpkins since i'm rubbish at making those pretty pie crust edges.

even tho' i had doubled the amount of pumpkin and eggs, the filling fit perfectly into my pie tin and it was definitely the favorite of the two pumpkin pies i made. this is the other one. what's interesting is that from tasting the batter, i thought the caramel pumpkin pie would be the best, but i think the walnut and brown sugar on top of this one made it unbeatable.

and now i'd better go improvise some dinner around here. :-)

Christmas traditions: Sugar Cookies

Surely one of the chief pleasures of Christmas is the nostalgia bit:  doing the same old things you've always done.  Although every year brings unavoidable changes, there is something so comforting about established rituals -- particularly when they stretch back all the way to one's childhood. When it comes to holiday baking, I have three sentimental favorites that I must make or it just doesn't feel like Christmas.  Gingerbread men.  English toffee.  Sugar Cookies.

Sugar cookies were the first Christmas cookie that I remember "helping" to make.  Unlike the more complicated roll-out butter cookies, we always used a recipe that was child-friendly.  Even smallish children could roll the dough into balls, press them down with a sugared bottom of a glass, and then decorate them lavishly with colored sprinkles or pecan halves.  They were delicious to eat, too.  So delicious, in fact, that we always left them out for Santa.  (I was so surprised when I moved to England and learned that English Santas get mince pies and sherry . . . instead of sugar cookies and milk!)

But even though my love for this sugar cookie recipe is a true love, and even though our relationship spans back nearly 40 years, I do still like to flirt.  Not often, you understand, but very occasionally. 

Last week I needed to make cookies for my daughter's Christmas Fayre (sic), and I was tempted to stray by one of my most beguiling baking books:  The Pastry Queen, by Rebecca Rather.  My mother gave me this cookbook, and such was my love for it, that I insisted on making a specific pilgrimage to Fredricksburg, Texas, just to visit Rebecca's Rather Sweet Bakery and Cafe.  When I am feeling homesick for Texas, or when I want a really over-the-top delicious recipe, I tend to reach for this favorite.

The name -- Sugar Saucers -- caught my eye.  Cookies are fairly rare at an English bake sale, and I knew that an oversized version would be popular with the kids.  VFM (or, value for money) as my husband always says.  Also, I couldn't help but be wonder if Rather -- a baking goddess -- had a better sugar cookie recipe than the one I've been making all of these years.

Sugar Saucers
Ingredients:
4 ounces softened, unsalted butter
4 ounces vegetable oil (sunflower or canola)
4 ounces granulated sugar
4 ounces powdered (or icing) sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups plain flour  (13 ounces is about right; I needed slightly more flour than two measured cups)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350F/175 C.  If you aren't using silicone mats, you will need to grease your cookie sheets.

Using a mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy.  Then, adding one ingredient at a time, add the oil, granulated sugar, powdered sugar, egg and vanilla -- beating well, until each ingredient has been incorporated.  Stir in the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda and salt) all at once -- either using a wooden spoon or your mixer on a low speed.

The dough will be very soft, and you will need to refrigerate it for approximately an hour -- or freeze it for 15 minutes, if you are in a hurry.

When the dough has chilled, you can form balls -- depending on how large you want the cookies to be.  A walnut sized ball of dough will give you a medium-sized cookie.  Don't put more than 8 balls on a cookie sheet, as they will spread quite a bit.  Rather recommends pressing the dough balls down with your fingers or palm, but I used a smooth-bottomed glass -- covered in sugar.  Sprinkle the tops generously with sugar -- either granulated, or a colored decorator kind. 

Baking times will vary a lot, depending (again) on the size of the cookie.  Begin with 10 minutes, and then start checking every minute or so.  My large cookies needed about 15 minutes -- but they will still be a light, creamy color.  You should let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes or so before removing to a wire rack.  (This recipe will freeze well, should there be any left after 24 hours.)

I've made two batches now, and the first batch was slightly chewy -- while the second batch was delicate and crisp.  A minute or two of baking time will make a difference, but both batches were absolutely scrumptious. 

But are sugar saucers better than my own beloved sugar cookie recipe?
Yesterday, I decided that I should perform a proper taste test.  I made a batch of each kind of sugar cookie, and I invited a few tasters over for afternoon tea. 

After careful, considered munching, the verdict:  both equally good.  I won't stop making my sugar cookies, but there is always room for new traditions.

Pecan Tassies

Thanksgiving is a holiday that I’ve tended to be a guest for, rather than the chief cook and hostess. In addition to my many other blessings, I’m always grateful that I don’t have to be in charge of getting the turkey just right: done, but not dry. For the last couple of years, a local friend (and fellow American) has generously included my family in their family’s feast. I bring a dish or two, usually a dessert within my cooking comfort zone. But other than these Thanksgivings, I can’t recall any but the ones spent at my parents’ home. Did I roast a turkey during the years we lived in Trinidad? Strangely, my mind is a complete blank. The childhood rituals are the ones that stick in my memory.

When I was a child, we always celebrated the holiday with my three grandparents – who liked to eat at around 1 pm or 2 pm. My mother had to get up early to wrestle with the turkey, always hoping that it had thawed completely. My paternal grandmother was in charge of the cornbread dressing and the giblet gravy, and I usually helped cut up the fruit (apples, oranges, pineapples, grapes, bananas and maraschino cherries) for the obligatory fruit salad, but everything else fell to my mother’s competent hands.

These were the important elements for me: turkey, rolls and pumpkin pie. I didn’t like cranberry sauce or sweet potatoes until I was an adult, and I can still do without them. I was fairly neutral about the dressing; which was never called stuffing, as we didn’t put it inside the bird. We always had green vegetables, too, and mashed potatoes – but that was everyday stuff. I did like the relish tray, which was carrot sticks, sweet gherkins, black olives and celery stuffed with cream cheese and walnuts. But the essential foods, the ones that I really looked forward to, were the soft buttery rolls that my mother made from scratch, a piece of spicy pumpkin pie with whipped cream, and a turkey sandwich (made with a homemade roll) for left-overs.

My grandfather had what was called a “sweet tooth,” and he liked to have his dessert as soon as the plates were cleared. We always had pumpkin pie and fruit salad, and usually an angel food cake for one of my grandmothers. There was almost always a pecan pie. When I was a child, we had Italian Cream Cake and sometimes a mincemeat pie. In order to take best advantage of this selection, it really was preferable to go for a long walk after the turkey dinner . . . and then have a dessert course. Of course, in those days, we had all day to eat. The only other obligation was the Aggie/Longhorn football game* - a ritual known to Texans, if not anyone else. The day would start off cold and hollow-stomached, and end up warm, cozy and completely satiated.

Without extended family, without my native home, without the day off, without football even, I do sometimes wonder if there is any reason to keep celebrating this most American of all holidays. And yet, I can’t give up this beloved ritual.

This year, as a grateful Thanksgiving guest, I’m bringing pecan tassies to the communal table. Tassies are a Southern specialty – and basically they are a miniature pecan pie, with a unique cream cheese/butter crust. As far as I’m concerned, they solve the pecan or pumpkin pie debate. Pecan pie is so rich and stickily sweet that you probably aren’t going to have stomach room for both . . . but a tassie is practically bite-sized. If you don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, these are also great for Christmas – or any other occasion, actually.

Pecan Tassies

Ingredients for
Pastry:
8 ounces butter
8 ounces cream cheese
a dash of salt
2 1/4 cup flour

Method for
Pastry:
Using a mixer or food processor, blend together the butter and cream cheese.  Then add the flour and salt, and mix until thoroughly blended.  Form the dough into a ball and refrigerate until chilled -- at least half an hour.
When the dough is ready, grease two large mini muffin (or small tart) pans. 
Take a small ball of dough and press it into each tin -- making sure that it adequately covers the sides and bottom of the tin without being too thick.  (This isn't difficult, but it's a bit fiddly and takes a while.  If you have a competent child, get him or her to help.)
When you have completed this process, add the pecan filling.

Ingredients for
Filling:
2 large eggs, lightly beaten,
1/2 ounce of melted butter
12 ounces of light brown sugar, packed
8 ounces of chopped pecans (or walnuts)

Method for
Filling:
Mix together the eggs, butter and sugar with a strong metal whisk.  Then add chopped nuts, and stir until evenly incorporated.
Fill the individual uncooked pastry tarts with this mixture, just below the top.  Don't get them too full, or they will overflow when they cook.
Bake in a pre-heated 375F/180C oven for approximately 15 minutes.  My tarts actually took 18 minutes, but start checking at 15.  They should be lightly golden brown.
If stored in a tin, with waxed paper, they will keep well for several days . . . assuming they don't get gobbled up.

Happy Thanksgiving!

countdown to thanksgiving!

although the danes have not at all caught on to the joys of thanksgiving as the kick-off to the holiday season, i do my part, year after year, in my little corner of denmark, to introduce people to it. i think i always loved it best. it is really what starts the countdown towards christmas. when i lived in the US, i would go get my christmas tree the day after thanksgiving and put it up on saturday, so we could enjoy it for nearly a whole month! i love getting out the ornaments, nestled in their bits of tissue paper, feeling like they're presents in and of themselves, as i remember each one. oh, but i'm getting a bit ahead of myself here....back to thanksgiving.

this year will be no different. we've invited 21 people to partake in our thanksgiving, which will be next saturday, not on real thanksgiving, since the silly danes don't realize it's a holiday. sigh. so my plans and preparations are already underway. i've ordered extra veggies from the folks who bring my organic box (21 people will eat a lot of mashed potatoes), i bought a whole tray of eggs from a lovely old lady who has chickens, i've stocked up on butter and most important of all, i went to my butcher and ordered a fresh turkey big enough to feed 21 people. i pick it up on thursday afternoon and that's when i will put it immediately into its brine. because brining the turkey is the very best way to make what is potentially dry and boring into something luscious and succulent. of course, i learned this from nigella (who else helps us making things luscious and succulent?). it's in her nigella christmas cookbook (one which i highly recommend, tho' if you have feast, you already have many of the recipes).

here's what you do (the photo above is from last year's turkey, mine will go in on thursday afternoon and be roasted on saturday):

brined turkey

approx. 6 liters of water

1 large orange or two smaller, quartered, with the peel left on (i can see above that i took the picture before i added those)

1 250g packet of maldon sea salt (or other quality, flaky salt or 125g ordinary table salt)

1 bouquet garni (i use thyme, rosemary, sage (sage is perfect with turkey)bay leaf)

1 cinnamon stick

1 tablespoon caraway seeds

4 cloves

2 tablespoons allspice (whole)

2 tablespoons mixed peppercorns

4 star anise

2 tablespoons white mustard seeds

200g sugar

2 onions (unpeeled), quartered

1 6cm piece of ginger (unpeeled), but into slices

4 tablespoons maple syrup

4 tablespoons runny honey

a big handful of parsley

mix this up in a pot or bucket large enough to hold your turkey and then submerge your turkey into the brine. if it's not enough water to cover it, add some more water, then set it in a cool place for at least 24 hours and up to 2 days before roasting it. mine goes outside in my husband's workshop, which is only heated when he's working out there, so it's cool enough and doesn't take up valuable room in my refrigerator.

when it's time to roast the turkey, you remove it from the brine and wipe it dry at least an hour before you intend to begin roasting it. nigella bastes with a mixture of goose fat and maple syrup. i don't tend to go the trouble to find goose fat (tho' i know it's delicious) so i use butter. melt the butter and maple syrup together and baste the turkey (and stuff it if you're so inclined) before putting it into the oven. baste it periodically while it's roasting. the amount of time it needs depends, of course, on the size of your turkey and in all honesty, i refer to the butterball website to calculate the time my turkey needs. i also use a meat thermometer as our turkeys here in denmark don't come with one of those trusty little pop-up thingies on them to tell us when it's done. remember your turkey will need a bit longer if you stuff it, but i always stuff mine - and i think that stuffing that's been inside the turkey is the best!

i tend to make a very traditional, simple stuffing like my mom makes, with cubed up leftover bread (i'll save it all week in my big mixing bowl, so it's nice and dry by saturday), the giblets (which i cook with an onion and carrot and parsley, reserving the liquid to wet the bread cubes), plenty of sage, salt and pepper. it acquires its flavor from being inside the turkey, so it doesn't need anything fancy.

last year's pie, before i put pretty little cutout pumpkins along the edge to prettify the crust.

and yes, that is a gin & tonic right beside it (hendrick's gin, of course).

i am a bit of a traditionalist where thanksgiving is concerned. i think you have to have mashed potatoes, stuffing, a good gravy, sweet potatoes, green beans, a corn dish, cranberries and pumpkin pie. i remember being horrified when someone one year suggested lasagna for thanksgiving, because that just wasn't in my purview, tradition-wise. but i'm not afraid to give these traditional dishes a twist.

this year, epicurious has a pretty nifty little thanksgiving menu generator, where you tell it exactly how traditional you want to be and it pops out a suggested menu. here's the one it gave me, when i told it i wanted traditional with a twist:

of these, i think i'm going to go for the cider glazed roasted root vegetables and the persimmon cranberry sauce. i might make my favorite green bean recipe rather than the traditional green beans with mushroom soup and those french's onions (which i can't get here anyway, tho' danish ristetløg are close) that my mom always makes. i'm also going to find a way to use some beautiful, ruby red pomegranates. and this year, i might make a salad, just to have something lighter on the table to balance all of the heavy things. but i will make a traditional pumpkin pie, i just can't stray from that. and like my mom, i'll undoubtedly make an apple pie too.

* * *

favorite green beans

300g bacon, cut into small pieces and fried 'til crispy

1 medium onion, diced and sautéed

500g  green beans (preferably fresh, but i have been known to use frozen in a pinch), cleaned and cut in half.

100g salty (or smoked) almonds, chopped roughly

sauté your bacon until crispy, remove it and place it on kitchen towel to soak up the extra fat. sauté the onions in the bacon fat. give the green beans 3-5 minutes in salted boiling water, taking care not to let them lose their bright green color. tip the bacon back in with the onions and add the boiled, drained green beans. stir and let the beans cook a bit more. just before serving, add the almonds and stir them through.

i make this recipe quite often. you can actually use asparagus or even brussels sprouts instead of green beans, but that's because bacon makes anything taste great.

* * *

of course, i have to find ways of incorporating local ingredients and the local palate into the menu, in order to recognize the reality of where i live (for example, there's no canned pumpkin here, so i'll cook up a pumpkin for my pie this week). one way in which i'll incorporate a danish twist to the thanksgiving tradition is in making a batch or two of homemade schnapps. you do it by buying a plain, unflavored schnapps (brondums is the kind i'll get) and adding something yummy and letting it soak. i'll make a horseradish one to go with the cranberry one from last year. different ingredients need different amounts of time to soak in the alcohol. and the horseradish is best if it only has 2-3 days in the alcohol before serving. the cranberry, i made last year and now it's a pretty pink and tastes just lightly of cranberries. it'll be perfect for toasts during the meal.

although i love making this meal, i'll undoubtedly get all stressed out around noon on saturday, in a total panic that i'll never have it all ready in time for the guests to arrive at 4 p.m. it doesn't help that danes have an annoying habit of arriving early, rather than fashionably late (what is that?), but it will all come together. i think back to my mom, who i don't recall ever showing any sign of stress about the thanksgiving meal. and i remember once when my uncle showed up with five unexpected extra guests. mom just calmly said, "go down the basement and get another leaf for the table, will you, julie? and set some extra plates." but other than that, she was completely unfazed. it was truly impressive. and i wish i could have a bit more of that. but even still, it's my favorite day of the year and i look forward to sharing it with friends and family - a little bit of the traditions of home, adapted to my country of choice. and everyone thinking, for a few hours, about the things they're thankful for. that's the best part. well, that and the brined turkey.

Pancetta: essential ingredient

During the summer, my teenaged daughter decided to become a vegetarian. Added to her other antisocial eating preferences – no butter; no cheese; no food that “touches” – this was really a food prohibition too far. I love to cook, yes, but I only make ONE dinner.

One of my friends joked that I should waft some bacon under her nose. Good advice, actually, as anecdotal evidence suggests that bacon has been the breaking-point of more than one would-be vegetarian. (In the end, a visit to her Texas grandparents vanquished the veggie phase. The tofu stir-fries just couldn’t compete against grilled steak and chicken fajitas.)

Frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised to discover that she was sneaking bacon all along . . . it truly is one of THE mouth-watering food smells.

Since I’ve moved to England, where the grocery stores benefit so much from European imports, I’ve become enamored of the Italian version of bacon: pancetta. My grocery store sells it in a two-pack of 75 grams each, and it has become one of my refrigerator staples. I’ve found that it is the onion of the meat world in the sense that it is the starting-point for so many favorite dishes. Instead of eating a large serving of meat, we treat it more like a condiment. A three ounce handful of pancetta adds lots of flavor at a small cost in terms of pounds (money AND calories). The pancetta I use doesn’t yield a lot of run-off fat, unlike regular streaky bacon, but you can easily drain it once it has crisped up.

Possibilities are endless, but here a couple of ideas: both of them meals which I have eaten this week.

When the cupboard is mostly bare, and I don’t have a lot of time, I make a cheap and health(ier) version of spaghetti carbonara. First, I sauté a small diced onion with a 75 gram package of pancetta and a tablespoon of olive oil. When the pancetta is turning brown, and the onions are becoming translucent, I pour in a couple of ounces of white wine – whatever is left in the frig. At this point, I start boiling some spaghetti – which should take approximately 10 minutes. (These quantities are meant for two people – or one extraordinary hungry or greedy person. Multiply as needed.) While the pancetta/onion mixture is bubbling away, and the spaghetti is cooking, I grate a large handful of parmesan cheese. Then, as follows: drain the cooked spaghetti, toss it with the pancetta sauce, mix in the parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper. The whole procedure takes about 15 minutes – not bad at all for a bowl of superior comfort food.

If you are avoiding carbohydrates, as I occasionally do, pancetta is the transformative ingredient for a quick spinach salad. For this dish, I like to sauté the pancetta with a small amount of olive oil and a diced purple onion. When the onion is soft and the meat is crisp, I add a good dribble of balsamic vinegar – about a tablespoon, if you want a more precise measurement. Turn the heat down to the lowest simmer, and stir to thicken. This absolutely delicious mixture then becomes a warm dressing for a bed of spinach. Toss while warm, and serve, with a generous grinding of salt and pepper. Sometimes I elaborate on this theme and add all sorts of good things: chopped tomatoes, avocadoes, hard-boiled egg and pine nuts. However, if I am serving this salad as a side dish, I tend to just add the pine nuts.

Milk, bread, eggs and onions may be the classic staples, but pancetta is definitely one of the essential ingredients in my kitchen.