Thanksgiving

Background: It's nice to have lots and lots of folks around for a large Thanksgiving feast. But sometimes, when there's a fractured toe involved that makes grocery procurement difficult, it's nice to do a more intimate and small scale dinner.    The items that finally made the cut this year:

Apps:

Shrimp cocktail with cilantro chutney aioli

Cranberry pecan sourdough bread with rosemary butter 

Cornbread with chipotle apricot preserves

(Had tried making an artichoke soup but was a failure so I didn't serve it...)

Sides:

Garlic and scallion roasted asparagus

Modern Esquites--chili lime corn with queso fresco (which of course, I forgot to put out...)

Chestnut and leek cornbread stuffing (used Trader Joe's cornbread stuffing mix for this part...would use it again, but not use the season packet...and/or would cut it down)

Mashed potatoes (http://theoceanwaves.blogspot.com/2011/11/new-method-of-mashed-potatoesintrigued.html)

Truffled mashed potatoes

Main:

Slow roasted salmon with tarragon, thyme, and cumin grapefruit sauce

Dessert:

Pumpkin flan (would make again)  http://theoceanwaves.blogspot.com/2011/11/next-up-pumpkin-caramel-flan.html

French apple tart (would not make filling again) http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/French-Apple-Tart-363307

Pie crust from Moosewood (would make again)

Next up: pumpkin caramel flan

I love flan.  I love Pumpkin.  I love Michelle Bernstein.  What isn't there to love about this recipe?

Pumpkin Caramel Flan
Michelle Bernstein, Michy’s
Makes two 9-inch flans or 16 individual ramekins
For the caramel
1 cup sugar
½ cup water
For the flan
14-ounces sweetened condensed milk
14 ounces whole milk
6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
8 ounces pumpkin puree
5 large eggs
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spices
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
To serve
1 cup whipping cream

1. Preheat oven to 300°F. In a small pan, combine the sugar and water and cook over medium high heat without stirring until it turns dark golden brown. Pour directly into your pie plates or ramekins.
2. Combine the flan ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Strain directly over the caramel into the pie plates or ramekins, filling it to the top.
3. Put a towel on the bottom of a roasting pan (to keep the molds from sliding around) and place the flan molds on the towel. Pour boiling water into the roasting pan until it comes up about ½ the height of the pie plate or ramekins, being careful not to get any water into the flan. If baking large pies, bake for about an hour, until the flan is just set and jiggles a little when shaken delicately. If baking ramekins, bake for about 25-30 minutes—the center should still have a wobble.
4. Cool completely at room temperature, then remove molds from the water and refrigerate until cold, about two hours. Run a sharp knife around the rim of the mold, place a plate on top of the mold and invert, giving a sharp shake.
5. Whip cream to soft peaks, and serve flan with a dollop of whipped cream.