Pumpkin Pie from Scratch

My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving because it is about spending time with family and friends without the comercialism that has grown up around almost every other holiday, and (from a food blogger, even one as sproadic as I am) the central place that dinner plays in Thanksgiving cannot be forgotten.

Thanksgiving dinner for me invovles a balancing act between the traditional flavors of my childhood and my desire to eliminate processed/canned foods from my diet.  So no Campbell's Classic Green Bean Casserole or Canned Cranberries for me.  Actually, I must admit, my starting point is not that low.  Growing up, my dad always made fresh cranberry sauce, and green bean casserole was not a frequent visitor to our thanksgiving table.  But there are always ways to improve.

The biggest culprit for using processed/canned food in my childhood Thanksgiving dinner is probably one of my favorites to eat.  Pumpkin pie. The crust was frozen, the filling was canned, and the milk evaporated (canned).  Sure it is quick and easy, but for someone who enjoy cooking, quick and easy are not the adjectives that make one's mouth start to water, and with only a little extra prep work and a bit of extra time, you can make a pie that is environmentally friendly*, and supports local agriculture**. Most importantly, though, it will be flavorful and nuanced in a way that could never be achieved with a can, and is easy to make.

* If environmentally friendly products are used
** If ingredients were purchased from local farms.

Recipe For Butter Pie Crust (From Land o' Lakes Recipe)

• 1 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup cold unsalted butter
• 2 to 2.5 tablespoons ice-cold water

Combine flour and salt in large bowl; cut in butter with pastry blender or fork until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in enough water with fork just until flour is moistened.

Shape into ball. Flatten slightly. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate 20-30 minutes.

For 1-crust pie, roll out 1 ball of dough into a 12-in circle, between two sheets of lightly floured parchement paper (helps prevent sticking to rolling pin). Fold into quarters. Place dough into 9-inch pie pan; unfold dough, pressing firmly against bottom and sides. Trim crust to 1/2 inch from edge of pan. Crimp or flute edge.

Chill in refridgerator for 15 - 30 mintues.

Recipe for Homemade Pumpkin Puree (adapted from the pioneerwoman.com)

• 2 whole Small Sugar Pumpkins

Cut the pumpkins in half. With a spoon or a scoop, scrape out the seeds and pulp from the center. You don't have to be too thorough with this. Recut pumpkins into quarters.

Place pumpkin pieces on a baking sheet (face down) and roast in a 350°F oven for 45 minutes, or until pumpkin is fork-tender. They should be nice and light golden brown when done. Allow to cool slightly, then peel off the skin from the pumpkin pieces until you have a big pile of the stuff.

Puree the pumpkin until smooth. If it looks too dry, add in a few tablespoons of water during the pulsing to give it the needed moisture. Strain pumpkin puree in cheesecloth for a couple of hours to get rid of excess moisture.

Excess pumpkin puree can be stored in the freezer, by spooning 1 cupful of pumpkin into each plastic storage bag. Seal the bag with just a tiny bit of an opening remaining, then use your hands to flatten out the pumpkin inside the bag and push out the air.

Pumpkin segments ready for roasting

Recipe for Pumpkin Pie (adapted from cookingforengineers.com)

• 1 Butter Pie Crust (see recipe above)
• 3 cups Homemade Pumpkin Puree (see recipe above)
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Prebake the pie crust at 425°F for 8 to 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk pumpkin and spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt) together over medium heat in a medium sauce pan. When the pumpkin begins to cook, whisk in the brown sugar. Once the mixture is fully blended, scrape the sides of the saucepan down and whisk again. Add milk and cream and continue to whisk. Once the mixture begins to bubble and splutter, remove from heat.

Blend the eggs to form a nice creamy consistency (about two seconds in a blender). Add a small amount of the hot pumpkin mix, while mixing by hand, then add remaining pumkin and whisk vigorously for creating a smooth filling can be done with hand blender.

Pour the pumpkin pie filling into the prebaked crust. If you used a deep dish pie crust, this should fit perfectly. I used a "normal" pie crust, so there was about a cup of filling left over, which can be made into pumpkin custards by filling ramekins. Bake at 350°F for 45-60 minutes or until center of pie is jiggly when pie is rotated gently.

Remove from heat and let cool on a cooling rack for at least one hour. The center will fully set without over cooking the outer edges by removing the pie early. Refrigerate and serve cold, warmed up, or at room temperature.

Pumpkin pie in the oven, ready for baking