Caramelized Onion Flatbread

I hope everyone survived their Thanksgiving and Black Friday shopping. The extent of my shopping was going to the grocery store to buy everything I needed for a dinner party I hosted Saturday night and stock up on meat to smoke today for one last practice run. I wanted to squeeze in a post while my gingerbread is in the oven. This past week has been a blur and why I think I can do 10,000 at once is beyond me. Tuesday my gingerbread "dog" house is due so I hope on Wednesday to do a huge recap of that and all my Thanksgiving fixings. Then Friday we're off to Sealy for a BBQ contest. So my post will be light this next week.

I'm one of those people that have to have bread with every meal. Drives my hubby nuts but I take after my grandmother and breathe a big sigh when we're out of bread. Today's recipe is a wonderful change to the everyday slice of white bread with dinner. As I ate the bread with my meal my mind started to fill with inspiration for some other ideas of what to top bread with.

Caramelized Onion Flatbread

(Adapted from Southern Living October 2009 magazine)

1 large sweet onion, sliced

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 pound balery pizza dough

1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon chopped rosemary

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Saute onion in 1 tablespoon hot oil over medium-high heat 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Press dough into a 15x10 inch jelly roll pan, pressing to about 1/4 inch thickeness. Press handle of a wooden spoon into dough to make indentations at 1 inch interval; drizzle with remaining 2 tablespoons oil, and sprinkle with salt, rosemary, and caramelized onions.

Bake at 425 degrees F on lowest oven rack 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Pumpkin Souffle with Cinnamon Anglaise

I wanted to try out a new dessert for Thanksgiving and at my husband's wise words I should probably try it out before hand in case it doesn't work out. Since it's been a long time since I've done a souffle I agreed it was a good idea. I think secretly he wanted to try it ahead of time, but I'll never know. Well, good news is it worked out the bad news is it's a lot of work. It can pretty much be done the day or two ahead of time, but I would rather just make a simple pumpkin pie. This tasted really good and we really loved the Cinnamon Anglaise, I'll be using that instead of whipped cream on my pies for sure. I do encourage you to try it if you're looking for a new type of dessert to share.

Pumpkin Souffle with Cinnamon Anglaise
(Adapted from Todd English's book "The Olives Dessert Table)

8 tablespoons (1 stick)unsalted butter, plus more for pan and souffle dishes
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups milk
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger
1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus more for souffle dishes
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
9 large eggs, separated
confectioners sugar for dusting

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a small baking sheet. Spread pumpkin puree evenly over prepared baking sheet.

Bake until puree loses most of its moisture, but is not quite dry and has not formed a crust, about 25 minutes. Stir halfway through cooking time. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt and vanilla extract. Stir to combine. Cool at room temperature. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (up to 3 days).

In a small saucepan, combine milk and fresh ginger. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, and let steep for at least 30 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve; discard solids.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Butter six 10-ounce souffle dishes. Dust with granulated sugar, tapping out excess.

Prepare an ice-water bath; set aside. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt until smooth.

Gradually add in steeped milk, whisking constantly, and continue to cook until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the pumpkin mixture and the brown sugar to milk mixture; stir to combine.


Stir in egg yolks.



Transfer to a large bowl, and and place in ice-water bath to cool mixture completely.

Combine egg whites and 1/4 cup granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Beat until soft peaks form. Add remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and beat until stiff glossy peaks form.

Using a rubber spatula, fold egg whites into chilled pumpkin mixture in two stages.

Pour into prepared souffle dishes, mounding mixture slightly over the rim. Smooth surfaces of souffles with your fingertip.

Bake until tops are colored and dry to the touch, 20-25 minutes. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve immediately with cinnamon anglaise.


Cinnamon Anglaise

1 1/3 cups heavy cream

2/3 cup milk
1 to 2 cinnamon sticks
1/3 cup sugar
4 large egg yolks, room temperature
pinch of salt
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

In a small saucepan, combine cream, milk and cinnamon sticks. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, and let steep for 1 hour. Remove cinnamon sticks and discard. Add half of the sugar, and stir to combine.
Prepare an ice-water bath. In a large bowl, combine the remaining sugar, egg yolks and salt. Stir to combine.

Return cream to a boil and quickly, very quickly, pour it into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly. (Yes I know I did this backwards.)

Set aside for 3 minutes. Add vanilla and strain through a fine sieve. Discard solids.

Place bowl in the ice-water bath to cool mixture completely, stirring occasionally, 20-30 minutes. Will keep, refrigerated, in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Pumpkin Lune with Butter and Sage

I love seasonal dishes. I got one to many small pumpkins that I thought I wanted to use as decor, but I hate to waste it so I decided to cook it. I've had this recipe from Martha Stewart's show back in 2007 that I printed and have yet to try so now is good as any. I used a basic pasta dough recipe which can be found anywhere online.

Overall we really liked this. It seems fancy like something you would only get in a restaurant. So if you're looking for something different to serve at your next dinner party give this a try. It's time consuming, but it can be made in advance. I just separated layers in a tupperware with cling wrap to keep the pasta from sticking together then just boil them when you're ready. I would love to try using squash and other vegetables in this as well one day.

We leave Colorado tomorrow and I'm sad that means it's back to housework and getting ready for Thanksgiving. I have a sweet treat ready for Monday's post keeping with the pumpkin theme then I'll be back in the saddle on Wednesday's post.

Pumpkin Lune with Butter and Sage

(Adapted from chef Mario Batali's cookbook The Babbo Cookbook)

1 small sugar pumpkin, or butternut or acorn squash (about 1 pound)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for serving
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 recipe Basic Pasta Dough
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
8 fresh sage leaves
1 large Amaretti Cookie (I left this out)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut pumpkin or squash in half lengthwise, remove seeds; place on a baking sheet cut side up and drizzle with olive oil. Transfer to oven and roast until very soft, 25 to 35 minutes. Let cool; scoop out flesh from skin.

In a large bowl, combine cooled squash, cheese, nutmeg, and balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper; stir well to combine filling.

Set the rollers of a hand-cranked or electric pasta machine at their widest opening. Cut off a piece of dough about the size of a large egg, and flatten it with the palms of your hands. Keep the rest of the dough wrapped in plastic. Dust the small piece of dough lightly with flour, and run it once through the machine. Fold the dough in half, pressing it down with your fingertips, and run through the machine again. Repeat this step four or five times, dusting lightly with flour if needed, until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Now change the rollers of the pasta machine to a decreasing setting, and roll out the dough once without folding. Keep rolling the sheet through the machine on decreasing settings until you have rolled it through the last (thinnest) setting. Using a 2-inch round biscuit cutter, cut out circles of dough. Pipe or carefully spoon a rounded teaspoon filling into the center of half of the dough rounds.

Cover filling with remaining dough rounds and press edges firmly together to seal.

Bring 6 quarts water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons salt. Add pasta and cook for 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. When butter stops foaming, add 2 tablespoons pasta cooking water; whisk until emulsified.

Drain pasta and add to skillet. Add sage leaves and toss gently until pasta is coated with sauce, about 1 minute.

Divide pasta evenly between 4 plates. Serve immediately garnished with freshly grated cheese and amaretti.