three bowls

This dish was based on a misunderstanding.

A few weeks ago, I was brainstorming some seasonal ice cream flavors while cooking at Carolyn and Will’s. Will suggested using a bay and pumpkin combo, which he had seen in a recipe for a savory pumpkin tart infused with bay leaf in Jerry Traunfeld’s The Herbfarm Cookbook.

A couple weeks later, we all had the chance to try that very flavor combination in the sweet form at Traunfeld’s Poppy.

So when Will asked me to bring a dessert to Thanksgiving, and referenced The Herbfarm recipe again, my brain latched on to that. I missed that he was actually suggesting I go with a sage-pumpkin combo.

Oops. Well, I certainly aim to please, so was sorry I missed that tidbit. I think what I wound up doing, though, turned out well enough to make up for it.

So first, the pie. I did a lot of searching on Epicurious and finally decided on this recipe for Pumpkin Pecan Pie with Whiskey Sauce. It got a lot of really great reviews, and I liked the way the pie, made in an 8-inch springform pan, looked in the picture that accompanied the recipe. (With all the cooking frenzy, I didn't get to the Whiskey Sauce part, but the reviews mainly really recommend it as well.)

Carolyn and Will have been chastising me for using canned pumpkin. Since I am easily peer-pressured into making my cooking as complicated as possible, I decided I better start the pumpkin puree from scratch.

This turned out to be a LOT of effort for not a whole heck of a lot of pumpkin. I had to still use a couple of tablespoons of canned puree, risking (and, when I admitted it, eventually receiving) further chastisement.

I had some slight concerns when making the pie filling, as the pumpkin mixture seemed exceptionally sweet. I dialed back the sweeteners in and added a little extra salt to the pecan topping in order to try to mitigate the sweetness, but the finished syrup was still also pretty darn sweet. I started to get a little nervous as I poured everything into the shell.

Now, I could have used this pie-making opportunity as a chance to improve my pastry dough technique but I didn’t. When it comes to pie dough, I just can’t be bothered, which is odd, because I can otherwise always be bothered.

Canned pumpkin aside (which was really just because it hadn’t yet risen to conscious thought that the home cook can start from a whole pumpkin), I am normally eager to do as much from scratch as possible in every recipe.

Someday, I imagine I’ll be part of some snobbish cooking sect that’s all like “You cook with whole molecules? I guess if you like processed food. I only use fresh quarks.”

But there’s still a good chance I’ll be piling those quarks into a Trader Joe’s Pie Crust like I did with this pie because...eh. Can’t be bothered.

So it all went into a storebought crust, and into the oven...for...almost...two...hours...

(Cat also waiting patiently for pie.  Or maybe warming himself by the oven, it's really a mystery that can't ever be solved.)

Despite the storebought crust, two tablespoons of canned pumpkin puree, and slightly-worrying uncooked filling sweetness, the end result was one deeeeeee-licious pie.

(Purty!)

I am realizing I am a contrast lover in my favorite foods. Mixing pecan and pumpkin pie makes you realize how much better each pie’s natural texture is contrasted against the other. Honestly, after eating this, the custardy-ness of a regular pumpkin pie probably won’t do it for me anymore. That was a gateway pie, but now I’ve moved onto this pie equivalent of a speedball.

And as to the Sweet Bay Ice Cream I served with it...Even though it was her dessert at Poppy that used a similar flavor combo, I actually didn’t set out to use a Dana Cree recipe. But as I was google searching for The Herbfarm recipe Will mentioned, I happened upon this recipe of hers on her old blog, so figured I’d give it a shot.

There is a gospel of fresh herbs with many chefs, so I was surprised that she used dry bay leaves. Once I tried the results, I realized ice cream might be one dish that is better served by dry, at least for my tastes.

I’ve made a fresh mint and fresh thyme ice cream, and both of them wound up tasting vegetal. I got more of the note of the fresh leaves breaking down than the actual essential flavor oils they released.

Whereas when the moisture has already been removed with a dry herb, then that cooked-green taste (which, let’s face it, can taste a little rotted) isn’t an issue. I think I might re-do the thyme ice cream with dried and see if that tastes more pleasant.

And while I love to make weird ice creams, my dirty secret is that I usually just like to eat pretty...um...I guess you could say vanilla flavors. I’m more of a freak-in-the-streets, lady-with-my-own-eats kinda ice cream gal. So usually when I make something unusual like this Sweet Bay Ice Cream, I’ll have a couple of bites, but not love it.

But I really loved it with the pie. I’m feeling really challenged trying to explain how bay comes across in a sweet recipe. I keep feeling like imagine the flavor of a eucalyptus cough drop, but take away all the harsh and menthol elements, and then add that to the clean, straight-line taste of a good dairy ice cream. On top of the rich and sweet pie, it was just a lovely combo.

So all in all, while this dish came across because I am a bad listener, ultimately I feel it’s a winner winner, turkey dinner.