Chocolate Pecan Pie

The ultimate dessert for Thanksgiving and Christmas - CHOCOLATE PECAN PIE! This is superbly yummy, easy and looks so pretty, too!

Ok, I wanted 2013 to end with a big bang and I also wanted to welcome 2014 with something big, therefore I have decided to write this delicious recipe as my final post for the year. I love nuts and chocolate, so it is but appropriate to make a dessert that has both - CHOCOLATE PECAN PIE!

I honestly don't know if there's anything else that sounds as yummy as that combination! I leave that judgment to you so without further ado, here's a super-scrumptious dessert that is the fitting end to what has been a truly wonderful year for blogging! Thank you so much dear readers for your continued support and loyalty to our blog. I wouldn't still be blogging if not for your amazing help and encouragement. I hope you enjoyed all the posts of 2013 as much as I enjoyed writing each and everyone of them.

Looking forward to 2014 and beyond!







For the crust:

Ingredients

1/4 cup Pecans
1 cup All-purpose Flour
1/2 cup brown Sugar
1/2 Salt*
1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
6 Tablespoons unsalted Butter, sliced into 6 parts

*Preferably sea salt, if you can find it.

Handy tool: Food processor

Procedure
                   
Preheat the oven to 350F. Place the pecans on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for about 8-10 minutes or until nicely browned.  You can also dry-fry (roast) the pecans on the stove top using a small skillet. Just be careful not to burn it.

Grease or butter a 9-inch pie pan/plate.

In a food processor, mix the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and the toasted pecans until coarse. Add the butter and pulse until everything is combined.

Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared pie plate, patting the dough along the sides of the pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Allow to cool.

For the Pie Filling:

Ingredients

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted Butter, melted
1/2 cup brown Sugar
3/4 teaspoon Salt*
2 Eggs, room temperature
3/4-1 teaspoon pure Vanilla extract (optional)
2 cups Pecans
5 ounces, dark eating chocolate (60-70 % Cocoa), coarsely chopped

*preferably Sea Salt, if you can find it.

Procedure

In a bowl, mix the melted butter, sugar and salt. Add the eggs, vanilla extract (if using) pecans and the chopped chocolate and quickly stir to combine.

Pour the mixture into the cooled crust. You can opt to re-arrange the pecans in a pattern like I did but if you're in a hurry, this is unnecessary. You can just dump all in the crust.

Bake for 25 minutes. Cool completely before slicing. Please enjoy!

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Turkey with Peas and Creamed Corn

After cooking that 20-lb Turkey, you can imagine how much left-over we had, after all we are a tiny family of 4 - two adults and two small kids whose appetites aren't that great yet, unless of course it's sweets then they do eat like adults. Savory food on the other hand, they have their favorites and their not-so-much-their-kind-of-food-group. Hence, since we would be eating Turkey for quite awhile I had to make sure the recipe was not just edible, but truly palatable, too - something that even the pickiest eaters would love. I know my kids love pasta and any creamy sauce with it. They love corn and are not averse to peas - hence, all these process of elimination gave birth to this quick and easy Turkey with Peas and Creamed Corn recipe.

Left-over Turkey Hash

Now that Christmas Days is past and done, perhaps you are once again left with too much Turkey. While you probably already have a few staple recipes that you use for these left-over pieces, it certainly doesn't hurt to add more to your repertoire especially something that's so easy to make and that packs in a lot of flavor.

Cranberry Upside Down Cake

Love cranberries! So glad to make anything with them 'cause I love the freshness and tartness that they impart to any dish that you use them in. Great to discover as well that you can make them into an upside down cake....wonderful... now my favorite upside down cake. The pineapple has truly met its match! Enjoy this beautiful and delicious cake that's wonderful as a dessert dish for the holidays!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon double-acting baking powder
1/2 teaspooon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoon butter and 1 stick butter (room temp)
6 Tablespoons sugar plus extra 1/2 cup sugar (separate each sugar)
1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
2 1/3 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen (if frozen, do not thaw)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup whole or 2 % milk



Procedure

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 

Grease a round cake pan with a little oil or use a non-stick spray. Set it aside.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Set it aside.

Melt 6 tablespoons of the butter and sugar on medium heat in a small saucepan. Continue to stir until the mixture comes to the boil. Pour this evenly over the bottom of the cake pan and and top with the cranberries, smoothing the layer and pressing it down gently with your fingertips.  Sprinkle the nuts. Distribute them evenly. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer beat the remaining stick of butter on medium speed until smooth. Add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and continue to beat until pale and creamy, about 3 minutes. Pour in the vanilla extract and then add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition and scraping down the bowl as needed. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add half of the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear into the batter. Mix in the milk, then the rest of the dry ingredients. Batter will be thick.

Spoon the batter over the cranberries and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. I did not use a baking sheet but found out later that the cranberry sauce bubbled over. Perhaps next time, I will place the round pan onto a sheet before baking.

Bake in a preheated oven for 45-55 minutes, or until the cake is golden and a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let the cake cool down for about 15-20 minutes before you remove them from the pan. Run a blunt knife between the sides of the pan and the cake. Carefully turn the cake out onto a serving platter. If any of the berries stick to the pan - as they might - just scrape them off with a knife and return them to the cake.

This reminds me of a cobbler and so like a cobbler this is perfect with vanilla ice cream or sweetened whipped cream! Better if serve warm or at least room temp and on the day it is made.

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This recipe was adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Cranberry Upside Down Cake.

Banana Eggnog and Chocolate Loaf Cake

For us the holidays are not complete without Eggnog. I have never had this drink until I came to the US and immediately fell-in-love with it. I feel like I am drinking custard sauce when I have it and that's why I love it. And yes, I have even used it as custard on cakes and definitely as creamer on my coffee. Even though I have had it for years, I have never attempted cooking or baking with it. I thought 2013 would be the year to make something with eggnog. I didn't have to think hard as to what I wanted to use it for. I already planned to use up some browned spotty bananas for a cake and decided to add some eggnog to the mix. The eggnog taste is quite subtle on the batter itself  hence I decided to add some eggnog glaze. Of course to make it even more scrumptious, I threw in some choco chips! Anything is good with chocolate, right?