Savory Pumpkin Hand Pies

Refinery 29 featured these little guys of ours and they are just so good I wanted to make sure you saw the recipe so here it is again:


The Foodie: Tara of Heirloom L.A.
The Perfect Pie: Pumpkin Hand Pies with Maple & Sage
"I love to accompany these hand pies with an arugula salad for an entrée or brunch, or on their own as a party treat!"

Ingredients
Makes 12 Hand Pies
3 lbs of your favorite pie dough recipe rolled into 1/4 to 1/8 inch sheets and cut into 2-2.5 inch squares
1 butternut squash split lengthwise and deseeded, or 2 softball size Kuri/Kabucha squash split in half and deseeded
1 red onion, sliced
5 cloves peeled garlic, chopped
8 oz unsalted Butter
1 cup chopped fresh sage leaves
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Egg wash: 2 egg yolks, 4 tbsp heavy cream
About 1/2 cup turbinado or raw sugar 
12 pretty sage leaves, whole

For the Filling:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees (375 convection). Drizzle Pumpkins/Squash with 1 cup olive oil, salt and pepper, and assemble cut side down on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet to roast. Rotating the pan every 15-20 minutes, roast pumpkins until soft to the touch and outer skin is dark. The more you roast, the more the natural sugars will caramelize so allow at least 45-50 minutes. When done, remove from oven and allow to rest 25 minutes or until cool enough to touch with your hands.

Meanwhile, sauté onions and garlic in medium pan over medium heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil to caramelize. When the onions and garlic are translucent, add the butter and cook to lightly browned butter. Add the chopped sage, allowing the sage to cook in the brown butter 30-45 seconds infusing the flavor. Add maple syrup and simmer 20 seconds, set aside to cool. 

In a large mixing bowl, scoop out the flesh from the pumpkin scraping directly against the skin of the pumpkins and combine with Maple Brown Butter and Sage Sauce. Smash to combine with a whisk or the back of a wooden spoon. Pumpkin smash should resemble chunky mashed sweet potatoes. Season to taste.

Cover and refrigerate pumpkin filling at least 25-30 minutes.

For the Hand Pies:
Line up 12 of the pie cutouts evenly on a parchment or aluminum foil-lined baking sheet. Place at least 2 tablespoons of filling in the center of each cutout. Cover the cutouts with the remaining 12 cutouts and press all edges to securely lock in the pumpkin filling. Make 2 small parallel slits on the top about 1/4 inch apart in any direction. This will allow for the steam to release as well as give a pretty look to the pie. Place pies in the freezer to cool completely and harden.

To Bake Hand Pies:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Remove pies from the freezer and immediately brush with egg wash, lay 1 sage leaf directly in between the slits and egg wash over the sage. Sprinkle lightly with the sugar. Repeat for all hand pies. Bake in oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool at least 10-15 minutes prior to serving. 

Casa de Perrin Event at Malibu Rocky Oaks

Hello gorgeous venue. This is Malibu Rocky Oaks where we have cooked at for several weddings and yes, Hangover 3 was filmed here I have been told. Up high in the rolling hills of Malibu, with unadulterated views, it's truly breathtaking.

This is a heliopad on site where our friends and the hosts of this event, Casa de Perrin set up a bar for this event with Revelry Event Designers to mimic the sunset with hues of pink, gold, and amber glassware, and it is here where appetizers were served.

Among the six appetizers, this was a Trout Terrine with a bright pink Beet Pickled Quail Egg.

Flowers were by Celio Design, pictured here beside our Clam Fritters with Saffron Bur Blanc and Cook Pigs Bacon.

Dominique Pruitt performed during cocktail hour where these Potato Croquettes with Local Crab Salad and Harissa Aioli were passed around.

As one would expect with Casa de Perrin, the table design was a gorgeous echo of the landscape.

For the Amuse-Bouche we served a Wild Venison Tenderloin with Crispy Kale, Homegrown Blueberries, and Celery Root Puree.

Pretty place cards were designed by Anne Robin Calligraphy who also designed labels for our own House Wine served at this dinner. We made a Passionfruit Vinaigrette from the bounty of passion fruits overflowing in our garden for the salad course featured here.

All sixty guests were gifted with a leather bound catalogue of Casa de Perrin's offerings which was designed by Pitbulls and Posies. The next course served was Gnocchi with Crispy Cook Pigs Pork Belly, English Pea Salsa Verde, Favas, and Lima Beans.

And for the last course we served Jidori Chicken Roulade with Pole Beans, Pepper Romesco, and Roasted Carrots.

Photos: Paige Jones

And to complete the evening, a dessert table where we featured single serving Spice Cabinet Cakes (here and here it is full size as a birthday cake), Apple Hand Pies, Dark Chocolate Shortbread Sandwiches and Pumpkin Mousse Fools with Graham Crackle.

Read more on this majestic evening as featured on Green Wedding Shoes and 100 Layer Cake.

Hello 2014

We are all caps now baby. Our food truck rolls out from holiday hiatus with our new branding at Silverlake Wine Mondays from 5-9 and Tuesdays at Everson Royce from 5-8.

Our website and new blog (!) are up next, my fingers and head are buzzing to upload it all. Oh I can not even wait to show you!

Until then, let's eat! And don't forget both Silverlake Wine and Everson Royce conduct $12 tastings for three flights of wine each of the days our truck is parked out front, and you can bring your plates inside… or take them to go!

But there are plenty of other things to order, the menu changes each week.

Photos: Jennifer Emerling

See you for dinner!

Our Top 5 Favorite Developments of 2013

ONE.

When we heard that The Challenger's Boys and Girls Club  was looking for a restaurant to host the final day of their Manhood Program so that the young men could apply what they had learned about table manners over dinner, we jumped all over it. I'm pretty sure that we badgered them to use The Salon as their venue because at that time they didn't particularly know us (see the dinner here) and we really wanted to change that. Since then we have regularly been going to their space in South Central to teach cooking and nutrition classes. We continue to be inspired by the work and the mission of what The Challenger's provides for children who don't catch many breaks, and we feel very honored to be a part of their team now.  

TWO.

This year we took to formulating close ties with several small humane ranchers who work sustainably and with great integrity. It's expensive to raise meat this way, but it is an investment in our health and our conscience and our environment. We are anxious to continue our work to raise attention of why supporting these types of ranchers is so critical to our food system. See more here and here and here.

THREE.

Every Monday for the majority of this year, my friend Caleb (featured here) has been coming to our kitchen to water plants, walk one of our dogs (the only one that likes to walk), and offering up team support in general (he says this a lot: "Good job, Matt!"). He brightens our day when he walks in because he just has the kind of big personality that says Hello! until you say Hello! back. He's gaining a lot from working here and so are we by having him.

FOUR.

Our team is tight. The above photo does not represent all of us, just some of us (we have 27 employees now). We have all worked especially hard this year to create a cohesive operation that is respectful of each other and ambitious to keep improving in all aspects of our business. I am so freaking proud of our team.

FIVE.

Um…... The New York Times. That felt good, real good. Thanks everyone for helping to make 2013 our best year yet. We are so excited to cook for you in 2014! Happy New Year!!!

Brunch Buffet

Whenever Bri of Design Love Fest asks us to cook for one of her events we know that there is always some kind of a theme and design direction which is exciting for us to incorporate into the style of food we create.

Bri just moved her studio downtown to The Unique Space so she hosted her Blog Shop Class there for the first time a couple of weeks ago. The Unique Space is a building downtown that has been coverted into a bunch of modern loft studios with many creative, girly accents throughout. We used this theme to guide us.

Although Blogshop took place downstairs in the expansive lobby of The Unique Space, lunch was set up in Bri's studio upstairs which was perfect, completely light and airy with our buffet in one corner and a little bohemian sitting area in the other.

Matt made individual Cobb Salads with Chicken Roulade, Humbolt Fog Cheese, Marinated Cherry Tomatoes, Egg Salad, House Cured Bacon, Watermelon Radishes and the typical greens you see in a more traditional Cobb. We had our Ranch Dressing on the side. Remember when we featured the recipe here?

Our Mixed Grain Beet Salad is always a vibrant edition to any buffet, especially since it is completely vegan and gluten-free and delicious. Whole Roasted Alaskan Salmon was presented with various accompaniments like whole grain mustard, creamy herb sauce and house made beet cream cheese.

On the left is a Seasonal Vegetable Tartine which is a popular item we serve on our For Truck. This one had a candied fennel béchamel, crispy kale, roasted dijon endive, and roasted purple cauliflower and parmesan.

On the right is our Savory Pumpkin and Sage Hand Pie. Recipe to come.

Photos: Angela Koehler

And to end, a little sweet bite of Lemon Polenta Bread Pudding on Shortbread with Raspberry Jam and Meringue.

Blue Heron Farm

What the heck, is it spring with these organic strawberries all over this inside out cake? Nope, it's nearly Christmas and we've been getting beautifully ripe organic strawberries from down south in Fallbrook at a farm that is also a Bed and Breakfast. Say what? It's called Blue Heron Farm and looks gorgeous. I've never been but it will be on my short list for 2014. For now, I am happy to enjoy their sweet strawberries.

Happy Holidays One and All

Drop-Off Holiday Menu

Photo; Jennifer Emerling

We can take one thing off your list this Holiday Season when you order from our Holiday Menu that comes with easy reheat instructions. Come pick it up at our place (and enjoy a glass of hot cider) on December 24th but we need your orders in by Friday Dec 20th at noon.

Mise en Place

Sometimes the Mise en Place (French for "putting in place")is as pretty as the dish itself. Here is a dinner Matt made in The Salon for the staff holiday party of our friend Joy. Can you guess what each tray was used for?

Pig Food Salad

Photo: Jennifer Emerling

This dish is so hearty and cozy, and best part… easy! I had to share it. For our dinner with Cook Pigs Ranch (see it here) we wanted to serve dishes that played on what the pigs eat at this ranch so we were staying true to their diet for our ingredients. However, this is a base that you can play around with, add some persimmons or pomegranates for color and juiciness or sub in cilantro instead of basil, that kind of thing. 

This is great to make ahead and keep in the refrigerator for packed lunches. It's really filling so this and a salad (and ok, some pork loin) can be a lovely meal.

BARLEY "PIG FOOD" SALAD
As a side for 6-8 people 

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups cooked barley, farro or Israeli Cous Cous
2 cups toasted macadamia nuts
1/2 cup lemon juice
3 bunches fresh basil leaves sliced, about 2 cups
1 clove garlic, peeled
2 cups extra virgin olive oil
*optional* 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese 
1 lb soft greens such as arugula, spinach, mache or endive frisee
salt and pepper to taste

MACADAMIA NUT PESTO:

• in a blender or mortar and pestle, crush and blend garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and 1 pinch salt and pepper until smooth.

• add basil, parmesan cheese (if using), and half of the macadamia nuts, then pulse until nuts are just coarse and the mix moves freely within the vessel. Add a little olive oil if the mix gets stuck.

FOR THE SALAD:

• just before serving, use a large mixing bowl to toss the cooked grains with the salad greens to fully incorporate. Then season with salt and pepper to taste.

• pour pesto dressing over the grains mixture and toss to combine.

• transfer salad to a serving bowl and chop the remaining macadamia nuts to use as garnish

• if making ahead, wrap well and just before serving, lightly toss with some lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil to refresh.