Herbal Thanksgiving

Materials:

• Pot with cover
• Pan (optional, to toast seeds and nuts)
• Knife
• Cutting board

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of wild rice
• 6 cups of water
• ½ cup of toasted seeds (pumpkin, chia and/or sunflower)
• 2 cups of toasted nuts (cashews, pistachios and/or almonds)
• 1 cup of dried fruit (raisins, cranberries or whatever you have handy)
• 8-10 astragalus root slices
• 2 handfuls of chopped herbs (like fennel, rosemary or parsley)
• Dried herbs to taste (such as 1 bay leaf or ½ star anise pod)
• Salt to taste

Directions:

1. Fill the pot with rice, water, astragalus sticks and dried herbs. Star anise pods and bay leaves are very strong flavors, if you do end up using these it is better to go light and use the whole herb.
2. Cook on medium, and allow the mixture to simmer until the water is cooked out. Should take 20-30 minutes.
3. During this time, chop the nuts and toast them along with the seeds and a couple pinches of salt.
4. Lightly chop your fresh herbs of choice.
5. Once the rice is done cooking, remove the astragalus root pieces.
6. Place the rice in a serving tray with salt to taste. Toss and garnish with the nuts, seeds, dried fruits and freshly chopped herbs.

Materials:

Rolling pin

Counter space

2-3 mixing bowls

2-3 baking sheets

Parchment paper (recommended for quick cleanup when rolling out the dough)

Metal spatula

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 ½ teaspoon salt

2 ½ tablespoons turmeric powder

¼ teaspoon ginger powder

2 sticks unsalted butter

1 cup of buttermilk

¼ cup heavy cream

Directions:

1. Line rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

2. Mix all the dry ingredients in a non-metallic bowl.

3. Grate the butter with a box cheese grater. Put this aside in the freezer for at least a ½ hour before putting into the flour mixture.

4. Add 1 cup buttermilk and ¼ cup heavy cream together.

5. Toss gently all ingredients including the dry, wet and butter shavings.

6. Roll out mixture (it’s going to be a bit coarse at first) using a floured surface. Now smear the butter flecks into the flour mixture.

7. Roll it out five times. Roll dough into 12 x 9 inch rectangle with a short side parallel to edge of counter. Starting at bottom of dough, fold into thirds like a business letter, using a bench scraper or metal spatula to release dough from counter. Press top of dough firmly to seal folds. Turn dough 90 degrees clockwise. Repeat rolling into 12 x 9 inch rectangles, folding into thirds, for a total of 5 times. Use a good firm rolling pin press for this process.

8. After the last set of folds, roll dough into a squared shape about 1 inch thick. Transfer dough to prepared sheet, cover with plastic wrap (or parchment paper), and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

9. Heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

10. Transfer chilled dough to lightly floured surface.

11. Using sharp knife, cut into 1 x 1 inch squares.

12. Place them an inch apart on your prepared baking sheets.

13. You can at this point use some melted butter to brush the tops of the squares.

14. Bake until tops are brown for about 7-10 minutes, rotate sheets, and bake another 7-10 minutes.

15. Transfer to wire racks to cool for 15 minutes, outside the oven.

16. Now your golden biscuits are ready to be served! If you’re serving them within two days we would not suggest refrigeration. You should end up with 40-50 1X1 inch bite size squares, with 3-6 bites being a proper dose of herbal goodness for each guest.

Materials:

9 inch pie pan

Blender and/or whisks

Two large mixing bowls

Juicer or garlic press (to juice ginger, which is optional)

Ingredients: 

Pie:

1 ¾ cups of cooked and mashed pumpkin

1 ½ cups of evaporated milk

2/3 cups of brown sugar

2 tablespoons sugar

2 large eggs

9 inch frozen pie crust

½ teaspoon of salt

1 ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon

½ teaspoon of dried ginger

¼ teaspoon of nutmeg

½ teaspoon of cardamom

2 tablespoons of reishi powder

1 thumb of freshly juiced ginger rhizome (optional)

Toppings:

1/3 cup of packed brown sugar

1/3 cup chopped pecans

1 tablespoon of butter (at room temperature)

Whipped cream for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Mix together the pumpkin, spices, reishi powder, ginger juice, milk, sugars and salt until smooth.

3. Beat the eggs separately, and then add them to the mix. You can use a blender if you’re having any trouble.

4. Pour into your pie crust, bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350 and bake for 30-45 minutes longer.

5. Just before the pie is done baking, create the topping. Mix together the butter, pecans and brown sugar. Then, once the pie is done, spread around the pie’s outer circle, like a wreath, leaving the center empty. Then bake for another 10 minutes.

6. You can make sure the pie is finished by sticking a fork in the center. If it comes out clean, the pie is done cooking.

7. If you’d like the pie to be chilled, place in the fridge for four hours. Then add a dollop of whipped cream to each slice you serve. If you’re making whipped cream from scratch (by using heavy cream) you can add in ¼ tsp of ginger juice and a teaspoon of vanilla extra for extra flavor.