Boules de Noël - Chocolate wrapped peanut butter balls

Holidays are filled with family recipes. I have many favorites, but few that I actually make. This is one that I love to make. The peanut butter center has a lovely consistency, and the soft walnuts and chewy dates complement each other very well. No fancy chocolate - it melts in your fingers so you're forced to lick it off

Centre

1/2 cup icing sugar (75g)

1 cup peanut butter (250g)

1 cup finely chopped cooking dates (140g)

1 cup finely chopped walnuts (110g)

1 Tbsp butter (15g)

1 tsp vanilla

1. Mix ingredients together until uniform. 
2. Roll into small balls and put on wax or parchment paper and let set in the refrigerator. Makes about 30.

Chocolate covering

250 grams semi-sweet chocolate

1. Melt together in bain marie, allow to cool slightly, then dip balls to cover. Set on wax or parchment paper and allow to cool completely. Refrigerate to avoid sticking.

Galettes de Memère (Ginger Molasses Cookies)

Every day after school I would cross the single road that ran through my home village from the school yard to my grandmother's house - an apartment built on the top floor of an old house owned by a second cousin. She would always have a snack (une collation) for me, usually a glass of milk and some cookies. Most often, these were the cookies she made. As is common with so many grandmothers of my generation, her recipe was "a smidgeon of this" and "mix in the usual way" kind of instructions. It took me a while to figure out how to make them, and now I make them regularly, usually for special occasions.

1 cup (260g) Blackstrap molasses or Black Treacle

1 cup (200g) brown sugar
1 cup (8oz/225gr) lard or butter

3¾ cup flour (450g)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ginger powder
1 tsp salt
½ cup boiling water

1. In a mixer bowl, whip together the molasses, brown sugar and butter until it turns pale.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the baking soda, the dry ginger, salt and flour.
3. When the butter mixture starts to go pale, slow the speed to the slowest! It suddenly and unexpectedly splashes everywhere as soon as you add the the boiling water if the beaters are going too fast. 
4. Mix thoroughly, then slowly add the dry mixture until combined.
5. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
6. Roll into balls (1 oz each), set on cookie sheets and flatten slightly.
7. Cook in 350°F oven for 10 to 12 minutes.

Maple Sautéed Parsnips and Carrots

New Years dinner didn't quite take the form I'd expected. I wanted to make a Pennsylvania Dutch meal with roast pork and potatoes and sauerkraut, but didn't realize that Ben expected the pork to be cooked in the sauerkraut. So he took over and made the dish he posted a little earlier. However, before leaving for our Christmas trek to Lafontaine I'd gotten all I needed for the meal I'd planned, since we were coming back on New Year's Eve. This means I had extra ingredients Ben didn't need for the roast. This is the side-dish I came up with, which turned out pretty good.

2 Tbsps vegetable oil
1 lb carrots (about 4 large), peeled, cut into 3x¼" sticks
1 lb large parsnips, peeled, halved lengthwise, cored, cut into 3x¼" sticks
Salt, to taste
2 Tbsps (1oz/28gr) butter
1 tsp powdered rosemary (or 1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary)
1½ Tbsps maple syrup

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add carrots (if large and mature, put in carrots alone first and sauté for about 2 minutes before adding parsnips) and parsnips. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté until the vegetables are beginning to brown at the edges, about 12 minutes. 
2. Add butter, rosemary, and maple syrup. Toss over medium heat until heated through and the vegetables are glazed, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with more salt and pepper.

Traditional New Years PA Dutch Lucky Pork, Sauerkraut and Mashed Potatoes

Hey there! Ben here. Roland is letting me add this traditional Pennsylvania Dutch New Year's Day dinner to the blog. The recipe is based on my Mom's recipe, but I've added more specifics - my mom, like her mom before her, tends to give directions like "put it in a hot oven for a bit, then turn the temperature down to a warm oven till it's done." I've actually added some temperatures and times for all those "detail-oriented" people out there. It goes very well with  seared carrots and parsnips.

3 or 4lbs pork roast (pork shoulder or leg)

Salt, pepper, thyme, and vegetable oil
2 stalks of celery - cut into 2" pieces
1 apple, peeled and cut into chunks
1L jar of pickled sauerkraut
4 large potatoes - peeled and cut into chunks, or ½ lb of potatoes per person
Cream and butter (for mashed potatoes)

1. In the oven place an empty baking dish with a lid (ex. a Dutch oven) that can hold the size of your roast. Preheat the oven to 450°F for 20 to 30 minutes. 
2. Rub the pork roast all over with vegetable oil and season all sides with salt, pepper and thyme.
3. In the hot oven, sear the roast in the uncovered Dutch oven to brown on all sides, turning about 5 minutes. There are 6 sides to a roast, at 5 minutes per sides it comes to about 30 minutes.
4. Reduce heat to 325°F. 
5. Arrange the celery and apple around the roast and add enough water to cover the bottom by about a half inch. Cover and continue to roast for 30 minutes. 
6. Add the sauerkraut to cover the roast and cover with the lid again. In a separate pot, turn on the heat to boil the potatoes in salted water.
7. Continue roasting until the internal temperature of the roast is 160°F, at least another 45 minutes. 
8. For the mashed potatoes, boil them until tender then mash with cream, butter, salt and pepper to taste. 

We always served it all together - a bed of mashed potatoes and sauerkraut, and a slice of the roast leaning up against the whole thing. Roland made pan seared carrots and parsnips as a side which added a little sweetness and some beautiful colour to the dish.  

Traditions start somewhere - Tarte à la Citrouille a Papa

I just called home to ask my dad for his special pumpkin pie recipe. I always thought it was a recipe passed on from one generation to the next. My mom answered. Papa was in the bathroom and since she knew where it was written down, she'd get it for me. My sister's family was there with their little dog and so after I'd had the chance to say 'hi' and chat a bit with them, my mom came back and said she was tired so she just read the recipe out to me in English - whoa, wait a minute, why is it in English? We're a French family after all. Apparently it isn't an ancient family recipe, it's something my mom found on the back of a tin label and my dad took over making it. Like many straight men of his generation, there were only certain things a man could do in the kitchen and retain his manliness - barbeque being one of them - and pumpkin pie was ok  because he'd use pumpkins from their garden. The original recipe is apparently called "Magic Pumpkin Pie", but to me, it will always be La tarte à la citrouille de Papa:

1 pie crust recipe (TRY Pate Sablee and Pate Brisee)

2 cups (480g) pumpkin, mashed (to roast a pumpkin, 350F oven, cut in half, scoop out middle, oil cut edges, cut edges down bake for 50 minutes or until a knife easily pierces the skin. Cool, scoop out flesh, mash or puree in a blender)

1 1/3 cups (300g) sweetened condensed milk *(1)

1+1 egg, beaten

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ginger

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

1. Pre-heat the oven to 425F.
2. Refrigerate the pie crust for at least 10 minutes. 
3. Blend all the ingredients together in a bowl. No need to worry about sequencing, just slop it all together and blend until completely smooth and incorporated.
4. Brush the entire pie shell with a thin layer of egg wash, bottom and edges. The protein from the egg will seal the crust for a better crumb when cooked.
5. Don't let the egg-brushed shell sit, immediately pour the pumpkin mix into the pie shell.
6. Initially, bake for 10-12 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350F and bake another 30-35 minutes.
7. Cool, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

*(1) (I am testing out a recipe to make my own sweetened condensed milk)

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