First Days of Fall: Pumpkin Spice French Toast

Believe it or not I have never had a pumpkin spice latte. Gasp. Where have I been? I know. While I love pumpkin and spices I’ve never really found the idea of coffee with pumpkin and spices too appetizing. Coffee and pumpkin pie? Yes. Coffee and pumpkin bread? Yes. Pumpkin pie in my coffee. No. See what I mean? Or maybe I just have no idea what a pumpkin spice latte is like - a distinct possibility. I digress. My point is that now that it is officially fall, seasonal pumpkin flavor is out in full force. From the ubiquitous latte to yogurt, m&m’s, cheerios, cinnamon rolls, beer,  donuts, ice cream and everything in between, I’ve been seeing orange everywhere. I’ve also been trying to make healthier breakfasts for the kids.  They are pretty good eaters so it’s not too hard, but they are kids. They don’t worry about calories or carbs (thank goodness) and they love eggo waffles, chocolate chip pancakes, lots of beige stuff and sugar, sugar, sugar! Who can blame them? Not me. But I do try to offset this by adding vegetables to their muffins, solid sources of protein to their morning meals in the form of eggs, peanut butter and yogurt and by serving them whole grains whenever possible. I’m not fanatical about this kind of thing, but I try.

Pumpkin french toast is such an easy way to get my seasonal pumpkin fix while also providing my kids with a (somewhat) healthy breakfast that they love. I cut it into sticks for the kids and give them their own little cups of syrup to dip them in. I’m super-stingy with the syrup but they haven’t caught onto that yet. Parenting, like most things, is all about managing expectations.

Soldiers for the wee ones.

I happen to think this breakfast would be a perfect match for some Irish weather and a cup of tea or coffee. Did you know that while pumpkins do grow in Ireland there are very few pumpkin growers in the entire country? According to the Irish Times, in 2014 there were only 11 commercial pumpkin growers in the whole country. Maybe in our next lives Paul and I can move there and become pumpkin farmers!

Yogurt, almonds and cinnamon for me. 

Pumpkin French Toast

Serves 4

4 pieces whole wheat bread (best if stale but fresh works too)

3 large eggs

1-2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

¼ cup milk

¾ cup pumpkin puree

1 tablespoon coconut sugar or brown sugar lightly packed

a pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Butter for the pan

Maple syrup for serving

Mix the eggs, spice, milk, pumpkin, sugar, salt and vanilla in a large bowl and whisk to combine.

Coat griddle or pan with butter and heat over medium high heat.

Add pieces of bread one by one to bowl containing the pumpkin mixture and coat thoroughly, until fully saturated.

Place bread on hot griddle or pan and cook until bottom of slices begin to brown, a couple of minutes.  

Flip and cook for a couple of minutes on the other side or until both sides are golden brown and french toast is springy to the touch.  

Serve warm with butter and maple syrup.

Sticky fingers, funny face. 

Family Dinner: Fish

The Barry dinner table: All cleaned up for a photo. This is where it all goes down. 

I’m determined to have family dinner with real, home cooked food most nights. I’ve read a lot of articles lately that describe family dinner as a thing of the past and downplay its importance. It’s probably true that family time doesn’t have to be around the table but still, family dinner is important to me. I grew up eating both breakfast and dinner with my family and I want to do the same now that I have a family of my own. My son already expects it. The other day when he walked in and I was upstairs instead of in the kitchen he gave me a funny look and said “You’re not cooking dinner?” Of course, all kinds of thoughts started racing through my mind. Mostly, what am I teaching him about gender roles that he always expects me to be cooking when he gets home?  But also, isn’t it nice that he expects a home-cooked meal every single evening? Isn’t it nice that dinner is part of his daily routine? That he loves to drag his little sister to the table shouting “Dinnertime!!!”?  So I resolved to be mindful of what I’m teaching my kids about gender roles but not to stop cooking. Also, for the sake of honesty, my little guy does ask me “if we are having friends over” whenever he sees me cleaning.

Long Grove Irish Days. The free Irish dance lessons were a huge hit with my tiny Irish dancers. 

Now that I'm back at work, fish is my weeknight weapon. It’s so hard to cook a proper meal (and wait for a proper meal to cook) at the end of a long day when everyone is tired and hungry.  But fish cooks in minutes and the whole family, thankfully, LOVES it.

When we were in Ireland, I noticed that a lot of people don’t eat fish or shellfish despite the natural abundance of seafood in the region. I thought this was quite odd and probably just my (mis)perception of things. But recently I read that, for the last few centuries, the Irish have indeed eaten well below the European average of seafood.  This is thought to be due to the association of seafood with religious fasting. In addition, Ireland has historically had a primarily cattle based economy and seafood, especially shellfish, was associated with being poor. Of course all this is changing now as so many of us are growing to appreciate the natural bounty of the region and Irish chefs continue to embrace and popularize local food products. Lucky for me, because I intend to keep seafood on my regular weeknight rotation and am always looking for new recipes.

I made this one up with the help of Arctic char on sale at my local Whole Foods, my garden and my sweet baby who slept for even longer than the 20 minutes it took me to throw this one together.

Arctic Char with Almond Gremolata

Feeds 2 adults and 2 hungry toddlers or 3 adults; A slightly larger filet would easily feed 4 adults

For Gremolata:

A handful of roasted, salted almonds (or whatever nuts you have on hand, pecans, pistachios or walnuts would all work well)

½ shallot, diced finely

1 handful of Italian flat leaf parsley

1 handful of basil leaves

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (I used a new high quality EVOO that I just bought from the Olive Tap, right next to Paddy’s on the Square. They have such a nice store, check out next time you are in Long Grove.)

Juice and zest of one lemon

Salt and pepper to taste

For Fish:

1 Arctic char filet (about 1lb)

Salt and pepper to taste

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

Prepare the gremolata by dicing the shallot finely, chopping the nuts and herbs to your desired coarseness/fineness and placing in a small bowl.  Add lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Stir and set aside.  

For the fish, heat a large skillet or saute pan to medium high and add vegetable oil until smoking. Season the filet generously with salt and pepper and place it in the hot pan skin side down for 2-3 minutes until crispy and golden on the bottom.  Flip the filet and cook about 2 minutes more until fish is cooked through, taking care not to overcook the fish. I try to make sure the internal temperature of the thickest part of the filet does not go over 145F but this comes down to personal preference. I always eat the thickest part because my husband prefers his cooked just a little bit more.

Someone found a mirror. 

We ate this so fast I didn’t even take a photo - which is why I chose to post more photos of Irish Days instead (which was SO MUCH FUN!). Too bad because Paul even commented on how pretty it was.  If you would like a visual, I know I always do, it looks something like this, which was actually my inspiration for the dish. 

Sour Cherry Slab Pie

My kids associate cherries with their Grandpa Paddy because he always has some in his kitchen or brings some when he comes over for dinner.  He's willing to pay the premium when, at the very beginning of cherry season, none of the stores have them on sale.  And he buys them right up until we stop seeing them at the market here in Chicago. Maybe it's just my father-in-law, but I have the distinct impression that the Irish love cherries. For one thing, cherries grow in Ireland, which, like the area where we live, is plagued with a short or non-existent growing season for many types of fruit. Sour cherries appear in our farmer’s market one week and seem to be gone the next.  Just like garlic scapes, they are one of summer’s special and fleeting gifts that I like to stock up on and squirrel away for the rest of the year.

This year I bought a whole bunch of sour cherries and froze them all. Since they are great for baking I didn’t even feel bad about not being prepared to do something with them as soon as I brought them home. I hate that feeling - too much pressure. You do not need to be pressured by your produce.

A week or so later, my brother and his girlfriend were visiting so I thought a pie was in order. I think I can safely say that a few years ago I hadn’t even heard of slab pie. I definitely didn’t grow up with them. But lately, I’ve been seeing them everywhere. Pie is great because technically, it’s baking, but it’s also a lot more like cooking than other kinds of baking. You can play a little fast and loose with amounts and really, you should, since it all depends on how sweet and juicy your fruit is, how deep your pie pan is, what type of crust(s) you are using. Slab pie is just like any other pie except that the ratio of crust-to-fruit favors the crust-lover in you. You can feed a crowd with one and skip the plates, as a slab can easily be eaten out of hand.  Below is the recipe I used. I’m a believer.

My brother and Isla (looking as if she knows he's about to do or say something funny). 

Sour Cherry Slab Pie

Enough for one slab pie baked on a quarter sheet pan (about 9” by 13”).  

Serves 10-12.

One recipe of your favorite pie dough – enough for a double crust pie.  I use this one. Or store-bought pie crusts.

5 cups sour cherries, pitted (fresh or frozen; if frozen, defrost and drain first)

1 cup of sugar

1/6 - 1/4 cup cornstarch

Juice of half a lemon

Pinch or two of salt

One egg, beaten with a tablespoon of water

Coarse sugar for sprinkling

I used cherries from the farmer’s market that I had previously pitted and frozen (Whole Foods also carries frozen cherries so you can make this any time of year, just reduce the sugar if you can only find sweet cherries).  I let them defrost in the refrigerator overnight and took them out to drain in a colander while I worked with the dough.

I got my cherries from a grower in Michigan who gave me the best tip. Place cherries in a bowl of ice water for at least 40 minutes before pitting them.  When they are very, very cold, they are much easier to pit. I implore you to try this.  Staring down a huge pile of cherries that need pitting can be daunting.  An ice water bath makes prepping them so much quicker and easier. 

Roll out pie dough for the bottom crust on a lightly floured surface. Try to work quickly so that everything stays cold.  Don’t worry about it looking perfect.  Overworked dough will be tough instead of flaky so just do the best you can.  Rolling the dough between two pieces of wax paper or plastic wrap makes things easier, less messy, and it prevents the incorporation of too much extra flour from your work surface that can also impact taste and texture of the dough.  Once the dough is rolled out in a rectangle that fits the sheet pan, transfer it either straight to the pan or line the pan with parchment paper (I didn’t bother lining mine) and then place the dough in, pushing it down into the corners and up the sides of the pan.  Leave the dough-lined pan in the freezer while you finishing preparing the filling.

Place your drained cherries in a large bowl and add the sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch and salt.  Mix to combine and set aside. 

Roll out the top crust to about 1/8 inch thickness and cut into strips.

Pull your sheet pan out, pour your filling in and working quickly add the strips in a lattice pattern to the top.  As you can see, mine came out looking “rustic” so I’m obviously not the expert in how to make a lattice crust.  If you want yours to look flawless, there are tons of tutorials with great photos on the web. For the record, I still thought mine was a beauty and my family was kind enough not to diss my latticework.

Now, put the whole pie back in the freezer for 20 minutes and preheat your oven to 375F.  Once your oven is hot and your pie is nice and cold, take it out of the freezer, brush the crust with egg wash, sprinkle with coarse sugar and place on a larger sheet pan (to catch any bubbling juices that may overflow) and bake for about 45 minutes (start checking at 40 minutes).  Remove from the oven when the filling is bubbling and the crust is nice and golden brown.    

My egg-washed pie entering the oven.