October's Witch Gathering

Thanks are in order to Candice and Becky for a Fabulous Dinner. Kudos on the costumes that made it really fun!
Pics will follow later.

In our home we sometimes cook by winging it. Unfortunately that mean we don’t really know exactly how much of everything we use which is why my recipe’s are more guidance—sorry about that. I’d say if you like a lot of flavor, add more of the ingredients. If you don’t, add less.

Curried Butternut Squash Bisque with Creme Fraiche and Toasted Pepitas (Williams-Sonoma recipe)


1 carrot, sliced
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 yellow onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, sliced
4 lbs. butternut squash, peeled and sliced
1 russet potato, peeled and sliced
1 T. curry powder
7-8 c. water
1 c. heavy cream
Salt and Pepper
Creme Fraiche, for garnish
Toasted Pepitas, for garnish


Warm 2 T. oil in large pot. Add carrot, celery, onion, and garlic and sweat on low heat for 10 mins. Add butternut squash and potato and sweat for another 5 mins. Add curry powder and sweat another 5 mins. Add water and bring to a boil. Adjust heat to med-high and continue to cook for 25-30 mins.


Using an immersion blender, or in batches in a standing blender, blend until very smooth. Place back on the stove and add heavy cream. Bring to a simmer for 5-6 mins. Adjust the seasoning. Strain through a medium sized strainer to remove any chunks left. Garnish with a few swirls of Creme Fraiche and some toasted pepitas. (I obviously didn't do the creme fraiche or pepitas).


Serves about 4.


Shrunken potatoes
Add a little olive oil, lots of crushed garlic, kosher salt, and smoked paprika (if you’ve never cooked with smoked paprika you really should add it to your repertoire mmmmmmm) to a Ziploc bag. Then place small Yukon gold or red potatoes in the bag and shake until the potatoes are coated. Put the potatoes in a casserole dish and cook uncovered until done (the time varied each time I did it due to the number of potatoes that were in the oven) at around 450F. No need to burn them like I did at the dinner. Garnish with a little more smoked paprika.

Anti vampire “stake” with chimichurri
We used skirt steak for this particular dish. Remove excess fat from the meat. Marinate skirt steak in red wine vinegar, kosher salt, smoked paprika, water, liquid smoke, and black pepper . Cook on charcoal grill to just below desired doneness (probably 6-9 minutes per side). Let the meat rest 6-8 minutes before slicing to reach desired doneness (it will continue to cook a little more) and to preserve juices.

Chimichurri sauce
Place fresh garlic, parsley, cilantro, shallots (or white onions), olive oil, kosher salt, pepper, a little fresh lemon juice in a food processor and blend. You can actually use whatever fresh herbs and seasonings you want. Let it sit in the fridge for at least 1 to 2 hours for flavors to fully develop before serving.

Double bubble toil and trouble cauldron fondue
Rub the inside of a small pot with garlic. Warm a little vegetable stock , chicken broth, or apple cider in the pot. Add a little garlic if desired. Shred or chop up cheese and add to the pot. We used gorgonzola, butterkase, and a smoked apple wood cheddar (I pretty much just found the smallest packages of each kind of cheese and used all the butterkase, and most of the gorgonzola and cheddar). Melt the cheese in the pot. Rub the inside of your fondue pot with garlic and transfer melted cheese to the fondue pot. Serve with bread, meat, vegetables or anything else that tastes really good with cheese.

Poison mushroom eye of newt (quinoa)
Rinse the quinoa multiple times in a mesh strainer. It has a coating on it you want to remove. I used a mixture or red and white quinoa. You cook it very similar to rice. I sautéed mushrooms, garlic, shallots, salt (I forgot to add the night of the party) and black pepper. More exotic mushrooms will give the dish a better flavor. The regular white mushrooms I used as filler at the party didn’t give the dish nearly as much flavor as when I experimented with more other mushrooms such as portabella, crimini, oyster (beware they stink) and another kind I can’t remember right now. You need two cups of liquid for every cup of uncooked quinoa. I found it best to use chicken broth/stock or vegetable stock instead of water (unfortunately for the batch I made for the party I ran low on both so I had to use water too). Heat the liquid in the pan with the sautéed vegetables. When it is boiling, add quinoa cover and simmer on lower heat for about 20
minutes or until all of the liquid is gone (see the package for exact cooking time). When all the liquid is absorbed, fluff with a fork. Garnish with green onion if you’d like to add a little color.

Poison apple
It works best when you use organic apples that don’t have the waxy coating on them. Find the juiciest and crispiest apples you can find. I like braeburns but the pink ladies I used this were better quality than the braeburns I found. Because I’m not all that adventurous I just used the packaged caramels. Dip the apples according to the package. Let the caramel set up. Then for added goodness dip in chocolate. Once again, I’m lazy so I use the chocolate candy melts that are already tempered and always set up nicely. I like to use a blend of milk and dark chocolate. Let the chocolate set and then enjoy

Roasted-Sweet Potato Cheesecake with Maple Cream
Notes: You can make this cheesecake up to 3 days ahead; cover and chill. Garnish with cream up to 6 hours before serving; cover and chill until serving. Prep and Cook Time: about 2 1/2 hours, plus at least 2 1/2 hours to cool and chill.

2 dark orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (1 1/4 to 1 1/2 lb. total), such as jewel or red garnet (sometimes sold as yams)
1 tablespoon melted butter
Pecan crust (recipe follows)
2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, regular or light (neufchâtel), at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
4 large eggs
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Maple cream (recipe follows)

1. Preheat oven to 375° (convection not recommended). Peel sweet potatoes and cut in half lengthwise. Place in a 9- by 13-inch baking pan and brush with melted butter. Bake until potatoes are soft when pressed, 45 to 55 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, prepare crust. Bake in same oven with potatoes until lightly browned all over, 10 to 12 minutes.

3. Scrape any charred spots off potatoes, then cut potatoes into chunks. Whirl in a food processor or mash in a bowl with lemon juice until smooth. Reserve 1 cup; save any extra for another use.

4. Reduce oven temperature to 325°. In a bowl, with a mixer on high speed, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in granulated and brown sugars, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally, until mixture is well blended and smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until blended. Add reserved sweet potato mixture, the whipping cream, sour cream, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Mix on low speed until well blended.

5. Wrap bottom of cheesecake pan with heavy-duty foil, pressing it up the sides. Pour batter over crust. Put cheesecake pan in a 12- by 15-inch roasting pan at least 2 inches deep. Set pans in oven and pour enough boiling water into roasting pan to come halfway up sides of cheesecake pan.

6. Bake until cake barely jiggles in the center when gently shaken, about 55 minutes. Remove pans from oven. Lift cheesecake pan from roasting pan and let cool completely on a rack, about 1 hour, then chill until cold, at least 1 1/2 hours, or up to 3 days (cover once cold).

7. Up to 6 hours before serving, cut around inside of pan rim to release cake; remove rim. With a pastry bag, pipe dollops of maple cream onto cake. Or serve maple cream separately, to spoon onto each wedge.

PECAN CRUST:
Whirl 1/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans in a blender until finely ground; you should have 1/4 cup. In a bowl, mix pecans, 1 1/4 cups fine graham cracker crumbs, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 5 tablespoons melted butter. Pour into a 9-inch cheesecake pan with removable rim (2 1/4 in. tall). Press mixture evenly over bottom of pan.

MAPLE CREAM:
In a bowl, with a mixer on high speed, beat 3/4 cup whipping cream until stiff peaks form. On low speed, beat in 1/4 cup maple syrup just until blended.

Yield: Makes 12 to 16 servings