Rum Pumpkin Pie with Salted Vanilla Caramel

Wow, I've been lazy this past week. I go through phases where I'm so busy I can't even see straight and then there are times like this...when I sit in the same spot for so long that my butt falls asleep. I'm trying to learn to appreciate these times rather than be frustrated with the fact that I'm not frustrated for once. What can I say? I'm a glutton for punishment and sometimes an emotional masochist.

This week I did not manage to clean out the black peppercorns I spilled in my purse a few weeks ago, but I did manage to perfect the rum pumpkin pie I'd been messing around with. It's a tough job, all that pie eating. And it's all for you my friends, all for you.

I had never seen a Rum Pumpkin Pie before. The idea for this delicious twist on a Thanksgiving favorite came, once again, from my friend T.J., who grew up eating these in New Jersey. I used Meyer's Dark Rum and I think the vanilla-ish, slightly tropical flavor of the rum really compliments the chai spices I use in my typical pumpkin pie. I like to roast fresh Sugar Pumpkins when they are available, but in a pie, it really doesn't make much of a difference if you are using fresh or canned, as long as you are using the highest quality that you can find. In any case, I find that the pie turns out the best when all of the excess moisture has been removed from the pumpkin. Not all canned pumpkin is created equally. Some organic pumpkin and also fresh roasted pumpkin will contain more water and definetley need to be drained. The easiest way to do this is to line a fine mesh sieve or colander with cheese cloth, dump your pumpkin in, and allow it to drain, covered and refrigerated, overnight.

Serve this with whipped cream and salted vanilla caramel. Watch the boys swoon.

Rum Pumpkin Pie
oven 325

makes 1 deep dish pie

1/3 recipe Perfect Pie Crust

Line a deep dish pie shell with rolled out crust. Crimp edges, and put it in the freezer until it's very cold, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle very lightly with flour and line with cheesecloth. Fill with pie weights, beans, or whatever else you might use to blind bake a pie shell. Bake at 350 until golden brown on the edges, about 15 minutes. Remove cheesecloth and weights, and pierce the bottom of th shell with a fork. Return to the oven for about 5 more minutes. Cool shell completley.

2 cups pumpkin, measured after it's drained of excess moisture
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup dark rum
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 eggs
2 yolks
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp fresh nutmeg
3/4 tsp cardamom
1/8 tsp allspice
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp salt

Mix all ingredients until well blended. Pour into prepared pie shell, smooth top with an offset spatula if neccessary. Bake the pie until it's just set and still slightly wobbly in the middle, about 1 hour. Be careful not to overbake and let the pie souffle....which will result in a cracked pie. Serve cold with slighly sweetened whipped cream and salted vanilla caramel.

Salted Vanilla Caramel

2 cups sugar
2 Tbsp corn syrup
1 vanilla bean, scraped
2 Tbsp water
2 oz butter
1 1/3 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp vsanilla extract
2 tsp sea salt

Combine the sugar, corn syrup, vanilla bean (seeds ands pod) and water. Mix until it resembles a sandy consistency. Brush down the sides of the pot with a wet pastry brush. Cook over medium high heat and do not stir until sugar begins to caramelize. Allow to darken to a medium dark amber. Turn down the heat and add butter and heavy cream all at once. BE CAREFUL and STAND BACK because this mixture will splatter and then seize. When it calms down, stir with a whisk until smooth. Add vanilla and salt and stir until dissolved. Strain and cool.

Food 4 Kids Backpack Program

For the most part, I grew up here in San Diego. My parents were super young, with 3 little girls by the time my mom was 27. We were poor, but didn't know any different, so I never realized it until later in life, and luckily, my sisters and I didn't care either. There was so much love in our lives, it didn't matter. We had a huge garden in the backyard with the biggest compost bin you've never seen and our brown eggs came from our own chickens that were running around amidst the corn, cucumbers, and tomatoes. My dad would go fishing on the beach and bring home dinner in the form of Corvina or Halibut. Because we had a lime tree, Dad made limeade instead of lemonade, and built us a little wooden playhouse with a window for us to sell it out of for 25 cents a cup. We made a killing, but to this day, I still can't drink limeade. Those were truly the good old days.

Unfortunatley, not everyone's story is so romantic. Until recently we never heard much about the issue of hunger in America. The economy has been hard on all of us this year, but it has been hardest on those who were already struggling, more than some of us will ever know. Charitable donations are down, and hunger in San Diego County is up. Those of us who love food and view it as a pleasure are so fortunate to be in that position. The least we can do is try to ensure the children of our community don’t – quite literally - go hungry.

The San Diego Food Bank’s Food 4 Kids Backpack Program was launched in 2007 to provide food to get chronically hungry elementary school students through the weekend. Every Friday, participating children receive a backpack with child friendly items such as peanut butter, pop-top canned goods, cereal, juice boxes, fruit cups, raisins, pudding cups, granola bars, shelf-stable milk and macaroni and cheese tucked inside.

The children receive free or reduced cost meals while school is in session, but do not have food available on the weekends or school holidays for themselves and their siblings. Food 4 Kids provides food directly to the children, without requiring their parents to receive a referral to a local food pantry, pick up food at the pantry or prepare it at home.

With this goal in mind, San Diego’s food bloggers and other members of the local community are coming together to raise funds for the San Diego Food Bank’s Food 4 Kids Backpack Program. A little goes a long way - the program costs approximately $7.00 per week per child to fund, and a donation of $250.00 will fund a backpack for a child for the entire 36 week school year. Giving whatever you can afford will help to ensure this program continues to provide a much needed service.

As an added incentive, several food bloggers will be hosting prizes to be awarded in a drawing at our live food and backpack drive at our booth at the Little Italy Mercato on December 12, 2009. We will also be collecting non-perishable, child-friendly food items and backpacks. Come and meet your favorite food bloggers, drop off your donations and celebrate the Holidays at the Mercato!

My contibution to the raffle will be: a gift cetificate to U.S. Wellness Meats (a grassfed meat company out of Missouri), a handmade Svarowski Crystal necklace and earring set made by my fabulous mother, a gift certificate to Blind Lady Ale House, giftcards to both Leucadia Pizzeria and The 3rd Corner Wine Shop and Bistro, and hopefully a few more things that I'm still in the process of negotiating.

So, what's the next step?

*Donate online at the firstgiving.com website.
*Spread the word to your friends, family and coworkers.
*Donate a plain, medium sized backpack (no logos please, and keep it gender neutral). If you'd like to fill the backpack, there is a great need for school supplies, toothbrushes and toothpaste, and child friendly, nutritious snacks (such as granola bars,juice boxes, applesauce, etc.)
•Then bring all your backpacks to the Little Italy Mercato at Date and India Sts. on Dec. 12, along with any non-perishable food you'd like to donate to the Food Bank.

Thank you in advance, and Happy Holidays!

Apple Butterscotch Sticky Buns

Oy.

I mean that. And sometimes I feel like I can't say it enough. I don't even know what it means, or if it really means anything at all. But I feel like it totally sums up the way I've been feeling lately. Oy.

Hah! I was right, well kinda. I just looked it up on dictionary.com, and the definition is as follows:

interjection

(used to express dismay, pain, annoyance, grief, etc.)

Also, oi.



Yep. That sounds about right-ish. The dismay, annoyance, etc. part anyway. Sometimes I look back on different parts of my 28 years and like to laugh a little at how wise I've thought I was in different situations. I'm hoping that this time in my life will soon be one of those funny memories. As a pretty well seasoned impulsive decision maker, for the first time in my life I've decided not to make any decisions, and I think that this is what's driving me mad. At the root of this decision not to decide lies the simple fact that ihavenoideawhatiwant. Ahhhhhhhhhh!

That felt good.

I guess I should explain what I'm talking about. I'm bored. I'm busy. I want to make money doing what I love. I want to be able to express myself, but feel stifled here. I'm a control freak, a planner only when it's convenient for me, in an extremely selfish space in my head. I'm also a do-er. Generally, if I want to do something, I make it happen. But lately rather than doing anything, I just think about how I don't know what to do. It takes up a lot of time, this indecision, you'd be surprised. Mostly I like to fill the indecisive moments with pandora radio, re-runs of trashy reality television, and making dough.

Dough speaks to me. It says "Quit your whining about life and sit down. I'll tell YOU when I'M ready."

I think this is where my affinity towards dough comes from. Especially yeasted doughs. You can't really rush them. Your time doesn't matter to the yeast. The flavor will develop in it's own time, damn it, and if you try to rush it, you could be sorry later.

That said, it's pretty obvious that in times like this the only rational thing to do is make Apple Butterscotch Sticky Buns.

These are a little messy, and a little time consuming too, but if like me, you need something to keep your mind off of your mind, these are the perfect distraction. They're also delicious and make for great woe-is-me snacking.

Before I get started with the recipe I'd like to say a word about butterscotch. When I close my eyes and think about the flavor of butterscotch, I taste the buttery, brown sugary, artificial vanilla sweetness of the bright mustard yellow, cellophane-wrapped hard candy that comes from the bulk candy section of the grocery store. To own the title of butterscotch, no other flavor will do. One might be surprised at how many recipes I tried to achieve this artificial flavor, using nothing artificial. But I think I got it. Except mine's a little better.

Apple Butterscotch Sticky Buns
oven 375
makes 12 buns


1 recipe brioche dough (recipe follow)
1 recipe spiced cinnamon sugar (recipe follows)
1 recipe butterscotch sticky bun butter (recipe follows)
2 granny smith apples, chopped and caramelized in a little sugar
1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans
2 tbsp milk or cream

Prepare a 9x13 baking dish. I prefer glass for no particular reason. Smear the butterscotch butter evenly on the bottom of the pan, Sprinkle caramelized apples and pecans over the top of it. Set aside.

Roll dough on a well floured surface into a 14" x 12" rectangle. Brush the dough with the milk or cream and sprinkle evenly with the spiced sugar mix. Roll up from the long side, brushing off any excess flour as you go. Push in the ends so that the whole log is of even thickness. For ease of slicing throw it in the freezer for about 5 minutes. Slice into 12 even buns and lay cut side down in your prepared pan. Wrap loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place (75 to 85 degrees) until doubled in size. This should take about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Bake about 10 minutes before opening the oven. If, at this point you feel that they are getting too dark too quickly, you can cover them loosely with foil. Bake an additional 20 minutes. Allow the buns to cool about 5 minute in the pan before inverting them onto a serving plate or clean cutting board.

Brioche Dough (Note: This is a 2 day recipe, don't try to rush it.)
from The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum

Dough Starter: (Sponge)
2 Tbsp (1 oz) water, room temperature
1 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp instant yeast
1/2 cup (2.5 oz)unbleached all purpose flour
1 large egg

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and whisk by hand for about 3 minutes, to incorporate air. The result should be the consistency of a thick, sticky batter. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside.

Measure out the ingredients for the flour mixture:

1 cup + 1 1/2 Tbsp (5.5 oz.) unbleached all purpose flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1 1/4 tsp instant yeast
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs, cold
1 stick (4 oz)unsalted butter, very soft

In a small bowl,whisk the flour, yeast, and sugar. Then whisk in the salt (this keeps the yeast from coming into direct contact with the salt, which would kill it). Sprinkle this over the top of the sponge, cover tightly with plastic wrap and let it sit for about 2 hours.

Scrape the dough into the bowl of a mixer, and add the cold eggs. Using the dough hook attachment, mix on low until the flour is moistened. Turn it up to medium and continue mixing for 2 minutes. Turn off the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and continue on medium speed for about 5 minutes or until the dough is smooth, shiny, and sticky. It will not pull away from the bowl completely. Add the butter one tablespoon at a time, waiting until each addition is completely incorporated before adding the next. The dough will be incredibly sticky, but don't be tempted to add more flour. It will firm up when it's chilled.

Scrape the dough into a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Chill the dough for about an hour, or until firm. When chilled, scrape the dough onto a VERY lightly floured surface and deflate into a rough rectangle using the palms of your floured hands. Brush off any excess flour with a pastry brush and give the dough a business letter fold. Rotate the dough 90 degrees so that the closed side is facing your left. Give it a second business letter fold and round the corners. Wrap loosely but securely in plastic wrap, then place in a large freezer bag and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or up to 2 days...

Spice Sugar Mix

1/2 cup brown sugar
4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cardamom
2 tsp orange zest
1/4 tsp nutmeg
pinch salt

Combine all ingredients.

Butterscotch Sticky Bun Butter

3 1/2 sticks (14 oz) salted butter
2 cups (1#) packed dark brown sugar
1 vanilla bean, scraped
1/4 cup bourbon
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup Lyle's golden syrup or corn syrup

Using the paddle attachment, in the bowl of a stand mixer beat butter, vanilla bean and sugar until creamy. In another bowl combine all ingredients. With the mixer on medium speed. slowly add the wet ingredients to the butter mixture. Beat until creamy and slightly emulsified. This can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.