The essence of Thanksgiving: the pumpkin pie. The spicy aroma filling the kitchen while it's baking, the cinnamon, ginger, and cloves seeming to signal upcoming joy directly to the brain, bypassing the senses altogether. The compact solid texture that somehow yields so satisfyingly on the tongue. I can think of few other foods that better fit the definition of food porn. But, as I found out, it's not always that easy to find such a heavenly creation. My autumnal search for 'græskartærte' led only to bemused bakery workers who unfortunately had no such thing, but how interesting it sounded! And to make one's own is equally challenging. Where does one find a can of pumpkin, apparently a bit of a precious commodity in Denmark. And the pie crust...how do I, an avowedly lazy cook, conjure up such a creation? But last night, it finally happened. The crust was made, the filling sorted out, and the whole thing baked. And the wait? Oh, so worth it! 
As I am a very lazy cook, the recipe is almost startlingly easy: just follow the instructions on the back of the box of pie crust mix, and the instructions on the back of the can of pumpkin (substituting vanilla flavored dessert cream for the evaporated milk, which seems to be as hard to find as the pumpkin). Then, eat dinner while the pie is cooling, in the meanwhile both asking and being asked repeatedly 'is it ready yet?' After dinner, place the pie to best effect and take photos. Then eat a slice, with much more whipped cream than is seemly to photograph, and with all the moans, groans, and exclamations which such a dish merits. Afterwards, have another slice, and then perhaps another. If your dinner companion, like mine, has never had pumpkin pie before, consider it an added bonus, and silently praise your selflessness in bringing culture to those who have not.
Pumpkin Pie Q & A:How should this be eaten? In large quantities, with whipped cream. May also be accompanied by vanilla ice cream.
What drink should be served with this? Coffee, tea (preferably spiced), mulled wine, or a glass of milk. May also be enjoyed without a beverage.
What time of year is best for this? Any, but it's a traditional autumnal dessert.
Is this vegetarian? What about vegan? It's vegetarian. To make vegan, substitute soy milk for dessert cream, and use a vegan-friendly pie crust (as I did here). Serve with soy ice cream.
So does this mean you're turning your blog into Kimananda's Kitchen of Fortune? That's a great idea, but frankly one that involves way too much cooking.
17 kommentarer:
YUM! You did a great job. What did Thor think of it? We had a European join our family (he married my aunt) and at the first Thanksgiving get-together he was amazed. Pumpkin pie was his favorite thing by far. Being English though he liked the custard/cream stuff that they put over all pies and cakes.
I like to eat my pumpkin pie with only water to drink. I don't like to dull the flavor sensations at all and any flavored beverage would screw it all up. Yes, food porn it is :)
Oh and wouldn't regular boxed milk work too instead of evaporated milk? All milk came in boxes when we lived in Germany. It freaked me out. Anyway, regular milk works when you are making soup but I am not sure about the pie. Tell me what you think.
Those pictures will haunt me all day.....
Daphnewood, thank you...my goal is to haunt my friends. ;-) Thor quite liked the pie as well. We had it without any beverage, in the spirit of unadulterated flavor, as you suggest.
And, I didn't use regular milk because I thought it would be too thin...the vanilla dessert thing is really thick, and it worked great. As for boxed milk, I'm not sure that they have it here, or if they do, it's not very popular. It was quite common in Portugal.
Windscreen fly, me too...but the pie, alas, is gone!
Maddy, maple syrup sounds like a great idea...it was amazing, and more than a big disgusting, how much white sugar went into that pie. Syrup would have given it a twist, and made it a bit healthier as well. And, alas, the pie is gone...but I'll save you a slice the next time I make one! :-)
Looks like you've done an absolutely delicious job. :)
Ahem, this has absolutely nothing to do with the subject, but Article on Information Overload
;-))))
That is the funniest link ever. I won't tell you how long it took me to get it. ;-)
HMMMM That really looks like Food Porn! That looks so perfect :)
Erin, thank you!
Ms. Mood, I think it does too. I notice a large proportion of food porn involves chocolate, and I'm doing my part to break from that stereotype.
Blue, you're so right. I believe the term you're looking for is 'pureeing'. ;-)
Is the world getting smaller? I'm not sure...I believe there have been expats for ages...at least since Hemingway and Joyce. :-)
Kim, you have some AWESOME blogs linked here! Where do you find these great people? I should have never looked because I won't get any work done today from all the blog reading.
Found another funny link:
(-;
Daphnewood, some of it was just random, and some of it was from a day when I went through the lists of the two people I linked to at that time who had the longest lists...and lots of those people I now link to because they're so cool.
Ms. Black Scorpio, that was very cute! :-)
Mr. American, glad I could help. ;-)
I really used to love coming here Kimananda -- now I will have to be very cautious about visiting. ;-)
Pumpkin Pie? Beautiful pictures of Pumpkin Pie?? Are you sure you don't want to rename this confection Pumpkin Porn Pie?
And I have no ingredients to make it and I want it so badly I can almost taste it...oh yum yum..what have you done to me?
I will now eat all evening and nothing will do the trick because the palate screams out for pumpkin pie. Ay yi yi y!!
I am never going to denmark, as Pumpkin Pie is hard to procure there.
Oh, I never did get the moonshine. Apparently, it requires a lot of shady dealings to get ahold of some, and by the time my landlady's contacts could get to any I'd already settled for a blend of scotch and Bailey's Irish Cream.
Mary, see it as revenge for the carne de porco alentejano references over at your place. ;-)
Jout, I made a pumpkin pie once from real pumpkins, I think. I seem to recall that if you scoop out the insides of the pumpkin, and boil the shit out of them, and then drain and puree what's left, you then get the same thing as if you had just opened a can of the stuff. Both taste equally good.
Morose, let me rephrase. You can get pumpkin pie, once you know where to get the pumkin. The catch is that a can of pumpkin (the size for two pies) is 40 kronor, which is about $6.50, which seems a bit excessive to me.
And too bad about the moonshine, as I'd love to hear about your experiences while 'shined up. But your solution sounds like it probably tasted much better.
i like the imitation of a food blog and i have to confess, i have never eaten pumpkin pie. They just don't make it in greece!
But i will!
What a nice looking pie! Where in Copenhagen did you find the can of pumpkin?
Chloe, I encourage you to try it...but I shouldn't really. Because once you try it, there's no going back! It fits nicely into the list of all time classic desserts made with vegetables (such as carrot cake or zucchini bread).
Kelly, thanks for stopping by. I ordered the pumpkin from, I think somewhere in Slagelse, actually. http://www.dialife.dk/shop/product_info.php?products_id=440. It was good to have the pie, but I'm not doing it again unless and until I find it somewhere for cheaper! I've heard of people finding it at Americana (near Kultorvet), but I didn't see it when I went looking for it there.
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