Ahhh, Thanksgiving break. It always presents something of a dilemma for me. I'm torn between grandiose plans for finishing all my homework for the rest of the semester in a marathon of writing and studying, and (what usually wins out) catching up on good movies, sleep, time with friends and especially family, and of course lots of food. And since Thanksgiving can't really happen without pumpkin pie, here's a tasty looking recipe from our friends at Marmiton (the original is found here; below is my translation):
Now, quite often in French recipes one comes across ingredients that are difficult to find in Provo. This is when Google becomes your best kitchen tool. With a little creativity and the help of other gourmands, you can make just about anything you need to. Take poudre d'amande for example; you need 100g for this recipe, just under a cup. You may not be able to find it at your usual grocery store (maybe I just haven't looked hard enough), but this discussion board has some great ideas for making do without.
And of course you can't have French cooking without alcohol. A little rum here, a little wine there, make many recipes seemingly out of reach. I recently found this extremely helpful website that provides manageable (and non-alcoholic) substitutes for most wines and liqueurs that you'll encounter in any recipe. For the rum called for in this recipe, you have a choice of vanilla, pineapple juice, grape juice, or apple juice. While none of these may exactly replicate rum, it's better than not eating French food at all.
Ingrédients (for 6-8 people) :
- 250 g pie crust
- 500 g pumpkin
- 150 g sugar
- 50 g almonds
- 6 eggs
- 1 vanilla bean (or 1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract)
- 100 g poudre d'amande
- 60 g butter
- 6 cl cream
- 1 tablespoon rum (see above for substitute)
- salt and pepper
Préparation :
Spread out the pie crust in a pie pan 22 cm in diameter. Poke a couple holes in the bottom with a fork and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Mince the almonds toast them briefly over the stove.
Bring the cream to a boil, turn off the heat, and add the vanilla.
Peel the pumpkin and cut the flesh in pieces. Steam it for 20 min and let it cool.
Spread dry beans along the bottom of the pie crust and bake for 20 minutes.
Mash the pumpkin. In a bowl, mix 2 whole eggs and 4 egg yolks, as well as the sugar.
Add the pumpkin, the poudre d'amandes, the cooled cream, softened butter, your chosen rum substitute, a pinch of salt and a little pepper. Mix it up.
Remove the dried beans from the pie crust. Sprinkle the toasted almonds over the crust, then add the pumpkin mix and bake for 15 minutes.
Enjoy, and Happy Thanksgiving!
