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11/10/1999 Archived Entry: "Rozanne Gold's Sweet Potato Puree and My Pumpkin Custard Pie"

I’ve always hated the expression "best friend." It’s too exclusionary for me. But at this stage in my life, I’d have to say Rozanne Gold is my best friend. After 22 years of close friendship, we have gone through many, many life travails together and we are now practically next door neighbors in Brooklyn. We never tire of each other’s company and seem never to run out of things to talk about. And we talk almost every morning on the phone. She and her husband, Michael Whiteman, the internationally known restaurant consultant, are about the only people I want to see when I don’t want to see anyone. They’re among the few who I would invite to dinner when I haven’t really made dinner. That’s a best friend. No?

That we are both in the food world has little to do with our friendship at this point, but it is a delight to brain storm (and gossip) with Rozanne about work. After having been a chef, a consultant, a spokesperson, and a number of other things in the food world, Rozanne is now one our most prolific cookbook writers. Six years ago she wrote “Little Meals,” named for one of the menus she created for the Rainbow Room (when it was operated by the Joe Baum-Michael Whiteman Company), then began what has become a series of four books all based on the idea of using only three ingredients.

When the first was published, Recipes 1,2,3 critics hailed it as a slap in the face to all those chefs who were piling every known ingredient onto every plate. Then came Recipes 1-2-3 Menu Cookbook: Morning, Noon, and Night: More Fabulous Food Using Only 3 Ingredients. And now, this season, Entertaining 1,2,3: More than 300 Recipes for Food and Drink Using Only 3 Ingredients has been published. As we speak, she is finishing "Healthy 1,2,3."

The following recipe happens to be pretty healthy, too, even though it comes from "Entertaining 1,2,3," the current book. It is nothing more (or less) than pureed sweet potato seasoned with orange and ginger. I made it myself and almost finished it myself. It was that good. Reheating the leftovers the next day, I decided to add a little butter, just to see if some fat would improve it. It didn’t. Of all the great recipes in "Entertaining 1,2,3," I’m offering this one because it’s a great side dish for your upcoming Thanksgiving feast. Enjoy.


Sweet Potato, Ginger, and Orange Puree
FromEntertaining 1,2,3: More than 300 Recipes for Food and Drink Using Only 3 Ingredients by Rozanne Gold (Little, Brown, 1999)

Serves 6 (makes 5 1/2 cups)

4 large sweet potatoes
2 juice oranges
2-inch piece fresh ginger

1. Scrub potatoes, but do not peel. Place in pot with cold water to cover. Bring to a full boil, then lower heat to medium. Cook for 50 minutes or until potatoes are very soft.

2. Meanwhile, grate rind of 1 orange on fine holes of box grater so that you have 1 teaspoon grated zest. Cut oranges in half and squeeze 2/3 cup juice. Set aside.

3. Drain potatoes in colander and peel under cool running water. Cut into large chunks and place in bowl of food processor.

4. Using a small sharp knife, peel ginger and mince. You should have almost 1/4 cup.

5. Add grated orange zest, orange juice, and minced ginger to food processor with potatoes. Process until very smooth. Transfer mixture to saucepan and salt to taste. Do not add pepper, as the ginger provides enough heat. Reheat gently before serving.


Here’s another recipe from my holiday pie collection. It’s the best pumpkin pie I know, if I say so myself.


Pumpkin Custard Pie
Makes 1 9-inch pie

Pastry for a 9-inch pie shell
For filling:
3 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup mashed pumpkin, canned is perfect
2 slightly rounded tablespoons finely cut preserved or candied ginger
1/4 cup cognac (use at least V.S.O.P.-level, real French cognac or substitute armagnac or dark Haitian rum, or bourbon)

To prebake the pie shell: Prick the bottom of the pastry in 8 to 10 places with the tines of a table fork. Line the shell with foil and fill with dried beans. (Warning: Do not press the beans into the shell or the foil will stick.)

Using a baking sheet to slide it onto the middle rack of the oven, bake the bean-filled shell in a preheated 425-degree oven for 10 minutes. Using the baking sheet again as a pallet, remove the shell from the oven and remove the foil liner and all the beans. Return the shell to the oven for 2 minutes longer. It's all right to let it cool if you intend to fill it later.

To prepare filling: In a medium or large mixing bowl, using a whisk, beat the eggs lightly to mix well, then gently beat in all the remaining ingredients in the order given.

To bake: Place the pastry shell on the baking sheet and fill the shell with all but 1/4 cup or so of the filling.

Place the filled shell, still on the sheet, in a 375-degree oven, then spoon the last of the filling into the shell, while it is in the oven, on the pulled-out middle rack. (If the oven was previously preheated to 425, it's perfect. Otherwise preheat to 425 because working in front of the open oven door will reduce the heat, then set it at 375.)

Bake about 30 minutes, or until a knife point inserted in the center of the pie is clean when removed. The pumpkin custard will still jiggle.

The pie can be served warm but I prefer to serve it at room temperature. Since the center often cracks as it cools, you can use that as an excuse to pipe-on rosettes of whipped cream. If a slightly cracked pie really bothers you -- makes you feel that you did something wrong -- you could also cut the pie in the kitchen and serve wedges with a big dollop of whipped cream.
Custard Variation: The filling can be baked without crust in an 8-inch terracotta casserole -- the kind from Spain you see in catalogues. It takes five minutes longer.