Sibling Pie Baking for Thanksgiving... Banana Cream Pie

This is the first year I decided to make a homemade pie for Thanksgiving... um... O.K. I take that back, I've tried before and failed miserably, so this year was my mission to make the first EDIBLE HOMEMADE Thanksgiving pie... And since I was doing all the hard work I decided to make MY favorite... Banana Cream Pie. Clearly I don't consider myself much of a baker, but if you're going to do it you might as well do it all the way meaning everything from scratch -- NO BOXES. Now the important part to mention here is, I probably gained the baker's courage because I was attempting this in my brother's kitchen with all his fancy equipment (or at least baking gadgets and gizmos I don't have), while he was working on the pie crust. My brother Christos is a chef and loves to bake, so I figured if I had any doubts or questions no problem, I was in the right kitchen.

I used a recipe from the Food Network, not realizing 24 egg yolks meant I was baking 3 pies, not just one. As I was already midway my brother said to me, "You know this isn't for one pie right?" I replied, "Um, no why, how many is it for?" Yet it truly was easy enough to make, and it comes out so good people will be flocking over to try it so better to have more than less.

So here goes a step by step process with some tips, and should you like to print out the actual recipe click on the Food Network link above.


First Step:
Mix 8 cups of Milk with one whole, split vanilla bean, or a table spoon of vanilla extract, and 1/4 teaspoon salt over medium heat whisking every so often waiting for it to boil. When it has boiled leave for an extra minute and mix.


                                                                 
Second Step:
As the milk is getting ready to boil, whisk the 24 egg yolks and 2 2/3 cups sugar together until it becomes thick and pale yellow, then gradually add the 1 cup cornstarch.
TIP: When Measuring powders (corn starch, flour, sugar, etc.) use a dry measuring cup as seen on the right, whereas when measuring liquids use a wet measuring cup).  

 Third Step:
When the milk mixture is ready take off heat and add half of it slowly to the yolk mixture while whisking.


                                                                   



















                                                                    

Fourth Step:
Pour the yolk-milk mixture back into the saucepan with the rest of the milk mixture and cook, whisking frequently and until the mixture boils. Then reduce heat to medium-low and cook for another 7 minutes. Mixture should become thick like a custard.






















Fifth Step:
By the time the custard has set, you should already have 6 tablespoons of unsalted butter cut, and 5 big or 6 regular size ripe bananas cut. Then fold both into the custard.
TIP#1: I cut 5 bananas and smashed the sixth, while also smashing the ends of the bananas using a fork. This gives the custard more of a banana flavor while also having some cut pieces. 

TIP#2 If you don't have RIPE bananas like I didn't, you can put them in a brown paper bag over night and that should help, or in my case since it didn't help, the recipe still works wonderfully and tastes delicious.

 Finished Product for Pie Filling:
Once the pie filling is complete add it to your pie shell and refrigerate it over night, or for at least seven hours. When ready to serve add the fresh whipped cream, which is simply combining confectionery powder and heavy cream in a beater on low to medium speed. Voila! Magnifique!









Pie Crust:

This is my brother Christos' pie crust recipe for five 9' inch round pie tins (I know... I know... can't be a recipe for one, only 3 or 5). The ingredients are as listed, but you can watch the videos below to see how makes it which isn't as hard as I thought.

2 lbs. Flour
1 lb. Unsalted Butter
5-8 Ounces Water (depending on humidity)
1/4 cup Granulated Sugar

 This is the pie crust prior to cooking. Before attempting to roll it out, it is important to let it sit out at room temperature for 5-10 minutes (it will make it much easier to roll and stretch).

Once it is ready to cook, pre-heat the oven to 350F on bake. Line the pie crust with parchment paper and fill it with pie weights which could be rice or beans. It takes approximately 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes before removing pie weights. Once weights are taken off, poke bottom of pie crust with fork a few times and return to oven and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes until the crust is golden. Which looks perfectly like the picture to the right.


The other plus about making more than one pie for Thanksgiving is you get to dig in before the big dinner... I mean after all that work who really wants to wait. So I can tell you full of confidence and pride that I have made the first completely homemade Thanksgiving pie that tastes absolutely DELICIOUS! Thank you Christos for the moral support and help, and I think we have a new tradition yet again. Happy Thanksgiving everyone... Enjoy the day with family and friends full of great food and merriment!

From Thanksgiving to Christmas: All Purpose Holiday Recipes

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. In my household it's a day of complete relaxation: eating a great homemade meal with no schedule or timeline, and doing so very comfortably with the people I love most. It's great to have big holiday get-togethers with 10 to 30 family members, but there is something so intimate, honest and loving with a small gathering whether that's two, four or six. This Thanksgiving couldn't have gone better from waking up and having a great breakfast of Manchego Cheese with Fig Spread and toasted French Baguette, while watching the Macy's Day Parade with my mom, husband and Gigi, to then prepping the food with the rest of my immediate family of cooks, my brother and grandfather -- and the five of us getting to gobble it all up on our own time savoring the moments.

(From Left) Hubby Charles, Mom Val,
Pappou Jimmy, Bro Christos & JoJo

Thanksgiving is the one holiday where there is five cooks in the kitchen all at once. Since we're a family of foodies, restaurateurs, culinary students and cooks we can never cook the same thing year after year. Somehow we always change it up a bit to see what we like, or slightly modify classics to experiment with, and basically get creative to always try improving main dishes. This year was no different.


My two plates were brussel sprouts and maple glazed carrots, while my husband was in charge of smashed potatoes. My brother stepped in for an emergency gravy, and made an apple walnut pie in advance. My pappou came with his famous stuffing and my mother stole the show with the big bad turkey.


Since Thanksgiving came and went and most of us don't want to hear one more thing about an abundant turkey dinner, I thought I would improvise some of the recipes from Thanksgiving that could be made as is, or slightly modified for a wonderful Christmas dinner.



I'll start with the recipe for the greatest golden, juicy turkey that could also be used for a Christmas Goose or Duck. Thanks to Michael Symon and his clever idea to use Cheesecloth to keep in the juices as opposed to constantly basting or using foil for a cover. I was watching The Chew on ABC and saw Symon boiling a side of broth with all the fixings in it, and then putting the cheesecloth in it to simmer for 20 minutes, once done covering the turkey with the cheesecloth (watch the link above to see exactly what we did).

Symon was right on with his herb choices, we also used a bunch of fresh oregano and thyme in the cavity of the turkey that we additionally boiled in the stock for the cheesecloth. In addition to the fresh herbs and lemon, we also stuffed the cavity of the turkey with a Mirepoix of carrots, onions and celery, while also distributing that all around the turkey in the pan, which helps create a great broth to use for making gravy and soup. Other than following the directions from the link above, I would suggest adding the left-over boiled broth that the cheesecloth was in on top of the turkey. The results are really astounding how wonderfully golden and juicy the turkey came out. Just as important as preparing the turkey is letting it rest for 30 minutes prior to cutting it.


For those who like to eat Turkey on Christmas this is a great recipe because you can switch out different herbs like using rosemary or sage, while making a different gravy and then you have a different main entree from one holiday to the next. For those who get sick of turkey after Thanksgiving (me included), try roasting duck or goose. 

Pancetta, chestnuts, golden raisins
and fresh thyme simmering before
the brussel sprouts are added.

As for side dishes, this year I created my favorite recipe for holiday brussel sprouts. Usually I like my brussel sprouts roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper -- perfectly simple and delicious -- but for Thanksgiving I wanted to add some pizazz. So I boiled the brussel sprouts in salted water for 4 minutes and then took them out. I sauteed chopped up pancetta in olive oil, then added chopped roasted chestnuts, golden raisins and fresh thyme mixing it up with the brussel sprouts. You could saute them, but since I had too many to fit in a pan I tossed everything in a roasting pan and shredded a little Manchego cheese on top. They broiled for a few minutes and got nice and crispy. 

If you want to change to a different veggie for Christmas, you could use the same recipe but with asparagus, broccolini or broccoli rabe. You could also switch out chestnuts for pecans or golden raisins for cranberries or dried cherries.


We also had sweet glazed carrots that were delicious, and smashed creamy potatoes with minced chives and scallions. Of course my all time favorite Thanksgiving dish, my pappou's stuffing. It's a bread stuffing with a little smoky bacon flavor. Very straightforward -- no nuts or meat or veggies -- but absolutely scrumptious. I haven't tasted a better stuffing yet, and it is so addictive. I don't know the recipe quite yet -- it's still pappou's secret -- but I plan on getting it sometime soon to start practicing.


Now to the wine!!! Courtesy of the big V, aka, Mommy Val, we enjoyed two wonderful bottles of Caymus Special Collection Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. It's a fantastic wine, and especially nice for Thanksgiving with its full body yet subtle fruit and rustic notes.