What Thanksgiving Means To Me...

Most of us could agree that Thanksgiving is all about food; and most of us would be correct in this analysis. Food and feasting were at the very heart of the original Thanksgiving celebrations. The Pilgrims that came to Plymouth were very lucky to find friendship with Native American's, and were it not for the help of the tribes out fore fathers and mothers never would have survived. As the years moved on the traditions changed and now many people do many different things unique sometimes to each own's families. Most lucky people, though, still gather together with their loved ones and eat and enjoy good food and happiness. Being a man who loves food, I of course look forward to any occasion where much is made and eating much is encouraged. However, I discovered this year that things changed. Now I don't look forward as much to the eating, as to the preparing of a family meal.

Last year at Thanksgiving I went to my grandmother's house to prepare a few deserts. Something happened then and there that had never happened before. With the guide of the masters, and recipe from youtube.com, I made my first successful pie crust. I did not do it entirely by hand, as some people prefer, I used a food processor; the result of which launched my desire to expand my cooking prowess to new heights.

Until last year, I had attempted twice to make pie crust on my own. This was about five years ago, and let's just leave it at that. Pillsbury ready made pie crust got a lot of my money from that point on. Thanks to Ina Garten, and youtube, though, now I know how to make my own dough and am much the happier for it.

This lead me to realize as I went to my grandmother's again this year to make pies, that I generally, now, look much more to spending time with her, in her kitchen, trying new things and broadening both our horizons.

For our Thanksgiving feast, my grandmother and I prepared: Tortiere filled turnovers (the puff pastry for which I made myself); Mile-High Apple Pie; Chocolate Pecan Pie; and Cream Pie. (Pies shown below)


I look forward to the time spent making these things so much that when the day comes to sit down and eat, I think more about how much fun I had in their making and baking then what I am actually eating.

Prior to Wednesday, the day that I actually did the baking with my grandmother, I was asked by my friend and co-worker, Dee, to come to her house and bake some deserts for her family. It was also great fun to work with Dee, who does not have the patience to do the kind of baking I enjoy. So on Sunday before Thanksgiving I went to Dee's house in Londonderry. I came with my marble, my mixer, my food processor and several pounds of flour and butter. On Sunday, together we made: 14 pounds of pie dough and 4 pounds of puff pastry. With which we made: 2 pecan pies (one for another co-worker who paid me to make it, the other for our at-work Thanksgiving); 1 Mile-High Apple Pie, also for work; a chocolate fudge tart for work, which my boss offered to buy one from me for Christmas; 2 Chocolate Cheesecakes, and 1 Pumpkin Pie.


The work was grueling at times, but the pay off was when my co-workers devoured my deserts the next day, and when Dee text-messaged me on Thanksgiving to let me know that the deserts were a huge hit with her family.

So I guess what Thanksgiving really means to me is spending time with people I care about and love, and making something sweet to put a smile on everyones' faces, and perhaps and inch or two on their waists.

I learned long ago to treasure the time you have with the ones you love, for one year they are with you, and the next they may be gone.

Happily Holidays from your Nurse-Chef!

Le Tarte Tatin

Thanks, largely in part, to Netflix, I was able to watch many episodes of "The French Chef" from Julia's glory days. I have to admit there are some things she did on her show that I would never even fathom attempting; the thought of lining a loaf pan with pork fat to make pate' makes my stomach turn...blech! However, as most would agree, her desert demonstrations were simply divine.

One desert, in particular, stuck with me immediately: Upside down apple tart, or Le Tarte Tatin. It is a beautiful desert of apples arranged in a heavy skillet (not a non-stick pan, something that can go in the oven under high temp.)

First you grease your pan with enough butter to stop a human heart, I'm serious, use almost a stick of butter. What is left over from that stick should be melted to assist with layering the apples. After the bottom and sides of the pan are greased pour in a 1/2 - 1 cup of sugar and makes sure it spreads all around the bottom of the pan.

Now you can arrange the apples. It is HIGHLY advised that when making this dish you select a very firm apple like Cortland, Mutsu, or Golden Delicious. If you desire to mix a few kinds of apples together, by all means do so. Peel, core, and slice your apples so they are all approximately the same size. The amount of apples you use depends entirely on how big your pan is. My cast-iron skillet is about 10 inches so I typically use between 10 and 15 apples to make the desert.

Arrange the apples in the bottom of the pan to make a nice pattern, just as you might do for an upside down cake. Once the first, or bottom-most layer is in place, sprinkle in some more sugar and melted butter, then dump the remainder of the apples in the pan. Don't worry if you have a pile of apples in the pan as they will cook down. When all the apples are in the pan and arranged sprinkle in some more sugar and melted butter. Lastly, cover the pan with a pie crust. You want the crust to just fit into the pan, if it is larger than the overall diameter of your pan, cut it down to size. Poke some holes in the crust to vent, just like you would with a standard pie.

To begin the cooking of this wonder, set your oven to 425 degrees. While it is preheating put the skillet on the burner over the highest heat you can make. This starts the caramelization of the butter and the sugar, which will, once completed, hopefully, hold the whole thing together.

When the juices in the pan sound like they are bubbling put the pan in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes, or until the pie crust looks golden brown, and completely baked. Once that is completed carefully take the pan out of the oven and put it back on the burner on high heat for about 5-10 minutes to ensure the caramelization has completed enough to bind and hold the apples in the shape of the pan.

Allow to cool a bit and then carefully un-mold onto a serving dish or platter. If it all un-molds perfectly then you are done and can enjoy this dish as a finale to any hearty meal. If it un-molds into a mess then your work is not finished, but all is not lost.

If it should make a mess once out of the pan...as it indeed did for Julia during the filming of The French Chef...simply, and carefully arrange the apples on the crust, on, or in an oven safe dish, cover with some powdered sugar, and put it under the broiler set to medium heat and watch it closely to ensure the apples don't burn. Once it looks set, carefully remove from the oven and let cool.

I enjoyed making this tart for my friends a few weeks ago, and then again this week as part of their Thanksgiving Feast. Though I did not get to partake in the second tart, which is pictured above, I am told it tasted marvelous.

In the coming days, I hope to do the same with pears!

Thank you again, Julia. Even after your passing from this world your teaching lives on!

Forty-Five and Counting...

This marks my 45th blog entry. I am glad that I have had this much to say about what I've been up to, however, to my four readers, I must apologize for my lack of updates since the summer.

This year has been a big one for me. I am venturing outside of what I know and trying to learn to do new things. I have been lucky to count many successes, but a few of the failures were very hard felt.

I had never baked my grandmother a birthday cake before. My attempt was a valiant one; yellow cake with layers of rich chocolate butter-cream, and frosted with chocolate and pink roses with pink dots. It was beautiful, I was very proud of my work and was thrilled to do it for my grandmother. However, when we cut into it, the moist cake had dried and become crumbly. It was a shadow of it's potential, and it made me feel awful.

However, you pick yourself up and move on. A few months later it was my grandfather's turn. I thought, "Okay, a chance to redeem myself. He wants a chocolate cake, and I can do that!" I ruined 3 cakes before giving up.

I still don't know what I did wrong with that recipe. I followed to the letter, and I've made it plenty of times before. One exploded, one imploded, and the last one caved in on itself. We ended up buying a cake from Tripoli's, and I seemed to be doomed to never again bake a cake to my usual perfection.

These things are common in the life of anyone who strives to succeed at something. You cannot achieve success without trudging through some failures. Of course I seemed to think myself above and beyond such disasters; when clearly there are many more yet to come.

That being said I am sorry to the four of you and myself for not keeping up the writing. I've done so much in the last few months that I am proud of. The puff pastry...God that stuff is good. And I made so much with it...I tried quiche with it, and Torte Milanese, and French pork puffs for Thanksgiving, and the list, much like the "beat" goes on.

Coming soon: Le Tarte Tatin!

A Season in Review...

This has been a most interesting summer. I experienced a great many firsts in my efforts to expand my knowledge of food, including the first birthday cake I ever baked for my grandmother. It looked beautiful but it tasted horrible; an epic let down to say the least.

However, this weekend, I reached a new height is pastry-making. Puff Pastry. I've actually spent the time and effort to make my own puff pastry from scratch. It was time consuming, and labor-intensive but the payoff was an exquisite flakey and delicious pastry that put a smile on everyone's face.

Stay tuned for a Thanksgiving update and pictures of the deserts I'm planning for the holiday...