I am going to a dinner party tommorow and would like to bring a dish. The crowd will be mostly foodies looking to show off their mad cooking skills. I’d like to keep up my reputation as a good cook, and the usual hearty home-style things I cook arn’t going to cut it. I need something extra special.
These gatherings are usually vegetarian.
I’m looking to bring an appetizer, dessert, or easily shared side dish, as I don’t know what other dishes will be there and I have no idea how many people are going to show up (most likely around 8-10, but who knows?) I’d really like to use seasonal ingredients to make a very “autumn” dish. Finally, cost is a factor so the more I can rely on cheap fresh veggies and the less I rely on specially aged Bhutanese full-moon goat cheese, the better.
One of my family’s favorite fall dishes is butternut squash soup. It’s fairly easy and cheap, hearty and tasty, and a pretty color. A perfect autumn evening dish.
3 cups cooked pumpkin ( the canned works fine)
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 TBS butter
2 TBS Flour
1 TBS brown sugar
(1/8 tsps pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon and ginger)
2 TBS finely chopped dill (more or less to taste)
3/4 cup heavy cream
Mix lightly in food processor pumpkin and broth, add butter, flour, sugar and pumpkin spice. Mix lightly.
Heat on medium in a heavy sauce pan, stir in cream while heating, do not allow to boil.
Sprinkle with dill just before serving.
MEMORY OF AN AUTUMN DAY (cheesecake)
Crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
3 TBS brown sugar
1/2 tsps cinnamon
1/4 cup butter melted
Filling:
16 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsps vanilla
4 cups pared and thinly sliced apples
1/3 cup brown sugar 1/2 tsps freshly (or not) ground cinnamon
1/4 cup pecans
preheat oven to 350°F
Crust:
mix crumbs, nuts, brown sugar, spice and butter if food processor until well blended.
Press into the bottom of 9" springform pan. Bake 10 minutes.
Filling:
mix cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar in food processor til well creamed. Add eggs one at a time blending well between, then add vanilla. Pour over crust.
Combine 1/3 cup brown sugar and spice, then toss with apples. Spoon apple mixture over cream cheese layer, then sprinkle with remaining nuts.
Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes.
loosen cake from rim with metal spatula cool before removing rim.
May be garnished with whipped cream.
There’s a beginning and end, now you’ll just need a middle.
Yum, the cheesecake sounds wonderful. I forgot to mention that the dinner party will be away from home and cooking facilities there will likely be scarse, so something that can be transported in the car for twenty minutes and can be served as is or with a little heating up in the oven would be best.
