Every family has its own particular cast of characters. You know, the people comedians joke about when they say “wow, can you imagine what it’s like at their Thanksgiving dinner?”
Well, we have ours too, although not along the lines the jokes are about. Our family loves getting together, we enjoy each other’s company, mostly think along the same lines socially and politically, think its okay for a few of us to go into a different room to watch football and generally consider it a very good, festive day.
Our cast of characters has to do with the food. There are kosher, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarians and nut-free among us.
That could make planning dinner a challenge for some, but I love figuring out solutions to all of these culinary matters.
Here’s my answer to the dairy-free thing: Coconut Milk Pumpkin Pie. The crust is not gluten free, but if you need one, try this.
Dairy-free Pumpkin Pie
1-3/4 cups mashed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix) (one 15 ounce can)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1-1/2 cups coconut milk
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 9-inch unbaked dairy-free pie crust
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Beat the pumpkin, sugar and brown sugar with a whisk or electric beater set at medium for a minute or until well blended. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the coconut milk until well blended. Add the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt and beat ingredients for a minute or until well blended. Pour into the pie crust. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 45 minutes or until set. Remove from the oven and let cool.
Makes one pie serving 8 people
Dairy-free Pie Crust
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
8 tablespoons cold Earth Balance Buttery Spread
4 tablespoons cold shortening
4-5 tablespoons water or juice, approximately
Combine the flour, salt and lemon peel, if used, in a large bowl. Cut the Spread and shortening into chunks and add to the flour mixture. Work the fat into the flour mixture using your fingers or a pastry blender until the ingredients resemble crumbs. (If using a food processor, give the ingredients several quick, short pulses, until the mixture resembles coarse meal.) Add the liquid, using only enough to gather pastry into a ball of dough. Cut the dough in half and flatten each half to make a disk shape. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it stand at least 30 minutes. Makes enough for a one crust pie or two bottom crust only pies