Classic 11-Ingredient Bread Stuffing

Stuffings, technically "dressings" but I like to call them stuffings so it doesn't sound like we're talking salads, are a great way to experiment with flavor at Thanksgiving. I've already shared recipes for Rye Bread Stuffing and Southwestern Cornbread Stuffing, and last year I had Italian Stuffing and Oregon Stuffing--all variations on the same theme.

But sometimes you just want something basic and classic like this dish. I pared down the ingredients to the minimum for a satisfying traditional Thanksgiving sausage and bread stuffing. With fewer ingredients, it becomes more important to choose good ones to maximize flavor, such as the sourdough bread and breakfast sausage with sage I used here.

Using this recipe, you could customize the dish with additional ingredients: toss in some nuts, dried fruit or other vegetables. Switch up the bread. Omit the sausage or use a different meat like bacon or prosciutto.

Classic 11-Ingredient Bread Stuffing

1 1/2 lb. sourdough bread loaf, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 lb. bulk breakfast sausage with sage
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 sweet onion, diced
3 celery ribs, diced
2 tbsp. chopped fresh sage
1 tsp. dried thyme
Salt and pepper
2 cups chicken broth
2 eggs, lightly beaten

1. Preheat oven to 300 F. Divide bread cubes between two baking sheets. Bake in oven for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool and dry.

2. Preheat oven to 400 F.

3. Brown sausage in a large frying pan over medium heat. Remove from pan and set aside on paper towels. Wipe out pan and place over medium heat. Melt butter and sauté onion and celery until soft. Stir in sage and thyme and season with salt and pepper. Cook another minute. Remove from pan.

4. In a large bowl, combine dried bread cubes, cooked sausage and cooked vegetables. Add chicken broth and eggs. Stir to combine. Pour mixture into a 9 x 13 baking dish. Bake for 40 minutes, stirring after 20 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned on top.

Apple Custard Pie with Gingersnap Crust

I love apple pie. I also love pumpkin pie. If I had to make just one for Thanksgiving, it would be hard to choose. Here's my attempt at having it both ways: an apple pie with the texture of pumpkin pie. Intrigued?

This apple custard pie takes the technique of pumpkin pie but substitutes apple puree for the pumpkin. To make it even more interesting, instead of a traditional crust, I used gingersnap cookie crumbs.

I love the texture of this pie. It's like eating pumpkin pie but with the brighter taste of apple. Plus the ground apple retains just a bit of crispness.

For the pie technique, I relied on America's Test Kitchen's recipe for pumpkin pie, which I've made before (and loved). The apple puree is pretty much like making applesauce except without any added sugar or spices.

Apple Custard Pie with Gingersnap Crust
Technique partially adapted from Pumpkin Pie, America's Test Kitchen

4 large Granny Smith apples (use 5 if they are smaller), about 2 pounds, peeled, cored, quarted and chopped into 1/4-inch thick pieces
1/2 recipe gingersnap cookies
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
2/3 cup whole milk
2/3 cup heavy cream
4 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.

2. Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add apples and 1/3 cup water. Cover and cook until the mixture boils. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until the apples are very soft, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a food processor and puree until very smooth. Transfer mixture back to saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until mixture is thickened (it should be as thick as pumpkin puree). You should have about 2 cups (16 oz.) of puree (don't fret if you have a little less). Set aside.

3. Break the gingersnap cookies into large chunks. Pulse in a food processor until ground to crumbs (there should be no large chunks). Transfer to a bowl. Add the melted butter and stir with a fork until combined. Transfer the mixture to a pie plate. Using your fingers, press the buttered crumbs into the bottom and sides pan. Be sure there are no thick spots, especially where the bottom meets the side. (Note: some recipes instruct you to bake the prepared crumb crust before filling it. I did not do this, as I didn't want the crust to get too crisp. If you choose to bake it, see this article on crumb crusts).

4. Combine apple puree, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt in a large saucepan over medium heat. Once the mixture begins to sputter, cook, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes. Add the milk and heavy cream and cook until the mixture simmers.

5. Add the eggs to a food processor and turn on. With the machine running, add half the hot apple mixture through the feed tube. Process for about 30 seconds then transfer the apple-egg mixture to the pot with the remaining apple mixture and stir to combine. Pour the hot mixture into the prepared cookie crust. Bake until the filling is puffed and dried out on top, about 25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack then refrigerate. Serve chilled.

Thanksgiving Greens Gratins

As a way to squeeze another vegetable side on your Thanksgiving table, gratins (pronounced GRAH-tun or gruh-TAN) with greens are a great way to go. The two I'm sharing today follow the same basic formula: start with cooked greens (kale or Swiss chard specifically), mix with sautéed onion and mornay sauce (i.e. bechàmel with cheese melted into it), top with bread crumbs and bake.

A defining feature of a gratin is a brown crust. Since these are topped with bread crumbs, I like to finish the dish with a quick jolt under the broiler. Alternatively, you could use shredded cheese.

Kale-Swiss Gratin

1 bunch of kale (I used lacinato kale, but any type would work), leaves separated from stems (stems reserved)
2 tsp. plus 1 tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated pecorino romano cheese
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
5 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 cup whole milk
1/2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
Dash of ground nutmeg
3/4 cup shredded emmentaler cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 F with rack in the upper third of the oven.

2. Chop the kale leaves into pieces about 1 1/2- to 2-inches wide. Cut half of the kale stems into 1/2-inch dice (it will be used below), keep remaining stems for something else or discard. Bring a large saucepan with two quarts of salted water to boil. Cook the kale leaves in the boiling water until tender, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from water and set aside to cool. Squeeze leaves to remove excess moisture and set aside in a large bowl.

3. Melt 2 tsp. butter in a small frying pan over medium-low heat. Add panko crumbs, stir to coat with butter and toast in the pan, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool then combine in a small bowl with the grated pecorino romano cheese.

4. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large frying plan. Add onion and sauté until softened, about 8 minutes. Add garlic, season with salt and pepper and cook another couple minutes. Remove from pan add to large bowl with the cooked greens.

5. In the large frying pan over medium heat, add the remaining 1 tbsp. butter. When melted, add the flour and whisk to combine. Cook, whisking constantly, until lightly browned, about a minute or two. Add the milk, mustard and nutmeg, whisk to combine and cook until the mixture bubbles and thickens. Reduce heat to medium-low and add the shredded cheese. Whisk until the cheese is melted and the sauce is smooth.

6. Pour cheese sauce over cooked vegetables in the large bowl and stir to combine. Transfer to a buttered 9 x 9 baking dish. Spread the toasted panko mixture evenly over the top. Bake in the hot oven about 15 to 20 minutes until the mixture bubbles. If the crumb topping hasn't browned, turn on the oven broiler and broil until browned (watch closely, as it won't take long, probably less than a minute). Remove from oven and allow to cool a bit before serving warm.

Swiss Chard Gratin
Adapted from Alice Waters' Swiss Chard Gratin, The Wednesday Chef

Note: The original recipe did not contain cheese.

1 bunch of chard
Salt

1 cup fresh breadcrumbs*

2 tbsp. plus 2 tsp. unsalted butter 

2 tablespoons butter

1 yellow onion, diced 

Salt

2 teaspoons flour

1/2 cup milk

A few strokes of freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 cup shredded gruyere cheese

1. Cut the chard leaves from the stems and chop the leaves into pieces about 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide. Cut half of the stems into dice. Bring a large saucepan with 2 quarts of salted water to boil. Add the chard leaves to the pot and cook until tender, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove leaves from pot, allow to cool a bit, then squeeze leaves to remove excess moisture. Set aside in a large bowl.

2. Preheat oven to 350 F. Melt 2 tsp. of butter. Combine fresh breadcrumbs with melted butter, spread on a baking sheet, and toast in the oven until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool until ready to use. Leave oven on.

3. Heat a large sauté pan or frying pan over medium heat. Add 1 1/2 tbsp. of butter. When butter is melted, add onion and cook for about 5 minutes. Add diced chard stems, season with salt, and cook until onion and chard are softened, about 3 to 5 more minutes. Sprinkle with flour and stir to combine. Add milk and nutmeg and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the cheese and stir to combine as the cheese melts.

4. Lightly butter a 9 X 9 baking dish. Spread cooked mixture evenly in dish. Cut remaining 1/2 tbsp. of butter into bits and spread across the top of the mixture. Then sprinkle the toasted fresh breadcrumbs evenly over the top. Bake until the gratin is bubbling and lightly browned on top, about 20 to 30 minutes.

*To make fresh breadcrumbs, cut the crust from bread, tear bread into large pieces and pulse in a food processor until you've achieved the desired crumb size.

The Feed: November 12, 2013

The Feed is my weekly round up of interesting food-related stories from newspapers, magazines, blogs and websites.

Great week for the Washington Post! Normally I don't include more than one or two stories from a single publication, but the Post really had a banner week.

Washington Post: “Cook smarter. You’ll be happier in the kitchen,” by Bonnie S. Benwick.

Cooking doesn’t have to be complicated. But people like me who cook a lot probably take it for granted that for many, walking into the kitchen to prepare a meal from scratch, even from a recipe, can be a daunting task. Bonnie Benwick offers tips that can help the novices and even the pros maneuver their kitchens in a smarter, more efficient manner. Bonnie’s first tip is a really good one: read through a recipe with a critical eye. She says, “…nobody likes the surprise of a stop in the action to soak beans or pickle something.” So true. I’ve been stopped dead in my tracks a few times by a “chill overnight” instruction for a dish I’m hoping to have ready in a few hours. Skipping that step generally results in disaster. Another gem I employ a lot: “There’s no need to chop everything beforehand if the first ingredients need to marinate or cook/bake for a while; those minutes can be used to prep what’s next on the list.”

Washington Post: “ScratchDC vs. scratch cooking: Does convenience come with a hidden cost?,” by Tim Carman.

Seems lots of people are getting back into the habit of really cooking again, but it can be hard to balance a full-time or more job with making dinner for an hour or more on the same day. In comes ScratchDC to the rescue, a company that delivers to your home prepared kits of pre-measured ingredients with recipes so that you can make dinners like Chicken Cacciatore Over Farfalle and Eggplant & Chickpea Coconut Curry Over Rice. Basically, they’re removing the time and guesswork involved in grocery shopping, prep and measurement (this fun video explains how it works). Carman took it upon himself to compare a ScratchDC-prepared meal with an actual cooked-from-scratch meal, as well as one prepared from convenience food (i.e. pre-prepped foods from the grocery store). I won’t give away his results, but they weren’t what I was expecting. 

Washington Post: “Unearthed: GMO common ground: Where supporters and opponents agree,” by Tamar Haspel.

Continuing her Unearthed column examining different sides on key food debates (her last column, also on genetically modified organisms or GMO, appeared during a week I didn’t publish The Feed), Haspel asks supporters and opponents to list both benefits and problems with GMO in attempt to find common ground on this hottest of hot contemporary food debates.

Washington Post: “Spirits: The taste of apples, distilled,” by M. Carrie Allan.

Perfectly timed for the arrival of fall’s true chill, Carrie Allan writes about apple brandy, touching on the history of apples’ role in alcoholic beverages with a particular focus on Laird & Company, the longstanding company famous for its apple-based spirits, particularly applejack. Allan also offers a recipe for a the “Modernized Scotchem,” an updated take on a classic apple cocktail made with sharp and sweet mustard.

Washington Post: “Going Out Guide: Cookbook author Hank Shaw talks ducks, geese ahead of Range dinners,” by Tim Carman.

I know I mentioned Tim Carman above, but I couldn’t take a pass on including his interview with Hunter Angler Gardener Cook blogger Hank Shaw where they talked about cooking duck. Shaw was in town last week, cooking at Range to promote his new cookbook, Duck, Duck, Goose.

Buzzfeed: “The Easiest Thanksgiving That Anyone Can Make,” by Christine Byrne.

“So you’ve never cooked Thanksgiving before?” That’s the question that begins this clever post that provides simple instructions with many helpful visuals for making a simple 5-recipe Thanksgiving dinner. Byrne cuts a few corners, fine for a novice cook (like pre-made pie crust), but I definitely wouldn’t recommend making mashed potatoes with a hand mixer (use a potato masher—the mashed potatoes should have some texture). I love that she included Brussels sprouts.

Time: “7 Foods That Won’t Be the Same If Trans Fats Are Banned,” by Alexandra Sifferlin.

A lot has been said this past week about the FDA’s proposal to eliminate trans fat. Sifferlin’s story looks at the consequences, not for our health, which would almost certainly be positive, but how it might affect a handful of popular foods.

CNN Eatocracy: “Always in season: salt and pepper,” by America’s Test Kitchen.

Salt n pepa’s here! Sorry, couldn’t resist. No, not the female rap trio from the late ‘80s, but good ol’ salt and pepper. America’s Test Kitchen shares a great list of common varieties of these two most popular seasonings and their uses.

New York Times Magazine: “The Great Old-Fashioned Debate,” by Rosie Schapp.

It’s probably not as “important” as the GMO food debate mentioned above, but nonetheless, arguments about the proper styling of an Old Fashioned cocktail can get just as heated. With vintage cocktails having made a popular resurgence, the minimalist original version of the Old Fashioned is holding sway these days. But Schapp has a soft spot for the muddled fruit version--the first style she learned to make. Reminds me of how I feel about chardonnay. Sure the unoaked variety is all the rage these days but dang if I don't prefer the big, buttery, oaky traditional California style. 

Wall Street Journal: “Some Food Companies Ditch 'Natural' Label,” by Mike Esterl.

Despite strong sales for foods labelled "natural," many companies are ditching the adjective amid false-advertising lawsuits. A lack of a clear definition and disagreement over whether foods containing processed ingredients may be labelled natural has also eroded its popularity. I completely support this. Sure "natural" sounds good, but without a clear definition, you really don't know what you're getting from a "natural" product versus one without such a label (unnatural, perhaps? who knows).

Rye Bread Stuffing

Last week, for those looking for an adventurous Thanksgiving stuffing, I offered my recipe for Southwestern Cornbread Stuffing. For something more traditional, but by no means plain, I offer this rye bread version.

This is a great stuffing for those who like their mixture loaded with savory herbs and spices, and the rye bread provides a lot of flavor here. When using a fresh loaf of bread, a good first step is to dry the bread cubes out in the oven. Alternatively, you can leave bread out over night to dry.

Rye Bread Stuffing

1 loaf rye bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/4 lb. bacon, cut into 1/4-inch lardons
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored and diced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 cup chopped fresh sage
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley
1 large egg, beaten
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1. Dry the bread cubes: Preheat oven to 350 F. Spread the bread cubes in an even layer on a baking sheet. Bake in the oven about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool (they will dry out more as they cool, be sure not to cover them).

2. Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until browned. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate. Discard the rendered bacon fat. Add butter to the pan. When melted, add the onion and apple. Season with salt and pepper and cook until softened, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add garlic, thyme, sage and parsley and cook another couple minutes until the mixture is fragrant with garlic.

3. Combine the bread cubes, bacon and cooked onion mixture in large bowl. Add the beaten egg and chicken broth and mix until combined. Transfer mixture to a 9 x 13 baking dish. Allow to sit on the counter for about 5 minutes, then bake in the oven (at 350 F) for 40 to 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

Fresh Take on Green Bean Casserole

Fans of classic green bean casserole look away now. You're not going to like what I have to say about the drab, sodium-laden dish that graces far too many Thanksgiving tables every year.

I think the idea of cooking green beans with mushrooms and onions to produce a mixture of soft and crisp textures is wonderful. I just don't think the way most people do it--i.e. with canned cream of mushroom soup, canned green beans and canned fried onions (remarkable that you can get this canned) is the way to go.

With this recipe, I sought to reinvent classic green bean casserole with fresh ingredients and lots of flavor, while being true to the original recipe's principal ingredients: mushrooms, onions and, of course, green beans. I also made the recipe with no cans, everything is fresh, which improves the nutritional profile of dish considerably, especially the sodium, even though I made it with added bacon and cheese (more on that later).

Instead of cream of mushroom soup, I used mushrooms, specifically creminis, which I sautéed. I also used fresh green beans instead of canned (or frozen), which provide a brighter color and better texture. Substituting sautéed onions for the fried onions does mean a loss of crispiness. To compensate, I added a finishing coating of toasted panko. Additional flavor boosts came from the hickory-smoked bacon and the gruyere cheese, which I melted into a béchamel sauce, not too dissimilar from how you make a mornay cheese sauce for mac & cheese. A little white wine and a dash of nutmeg give the sauce a refined flavor.

Amazingly, despite being made with bacon and cheese, my dish has less than half the sodium content of the traditional version made with canned ingredients. Using a recipe calculator, I estimated that the Campbell's recipe if made with regular cream of mushroom soup, Green Giant brand canned green beans and French's french-fried onions, contains about 6,016 mg of sodium, or 1,003 grams per serving. Given that the recommended daily allowance is 2,300 mg for a healthy person, you're looking at nearly half of your daily sodium intake for a single serving. If you're on a low-sodium diet of 1,500 mg max, it's two-thirds of your daily intake.

In contrast, my dish has about 2,400 grams, or about 400 grams per serving. While I wouldn't describe that as "low salt," it's less than half the sodium content of the version made with canned ingredients. Obviously, there's still a good number of calories here, 274 per serving, to be specific.

Green Bean Casserole with Bacon and Mushrooms

1/2 lb. hickory-smoked bacon, cut into 1/4-inch strips
1 sweet onion, diced
Seasoned salt, to taste
8 oz. cremini mushrooms, stems removed and caps thinly sliced
2 lb. green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 1/4-inch pieces
3 tbsp. plus 2 tsp. unsalted butter
3 tbsp. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup dry white wine (I used sauvignon blanc)
1 cup milk (skim is fine)
Dash of ground nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Pinch of cayenne pepper
4 oz. gruyere cheese, shredded
1/2 cup panko crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Heat a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add bacon and cook until browned and its fat has rendered. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon. Remove bacon fat in excess of 1 tablespoon (reserve the bacon fat). Add onion, season with salt and cook until softened. Remove from pan. Add a tablespoon of reserved bacon fat back to the pan. Sauté the sliced mushrooms until browned. Remove from pan and set aside in a large bowl with the cooked bacon and onion.

3. Meanwhile, bring a medium saucepan of water to boil. Add the green beans and cook for 3 minutes. Remove the beans transfer to to an ice water bath. When cooled, add to the bowl with the bacon, onion and mushrooms.

4. In a large frying pan, melt butter over medium heat and add flour. Cook, whisking constantly, until lightly browned. Add white wine and whisk to combine. Add milk, season with nutmeg, salt, freshly ground black pepper and cayenne pepper and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add the shredded gruyere cheese and stir with a whisk until melted and combined.

5. While the sauce cooks, heat remaining 2 tsp. butter in a small frying pan over medium-low heat. Add panko, stir to coat with butter and toast lightly on low heat until (do not brown the crumbs).

6. Pour the cheese sauce over the cooked beans, bacon, onion and mushrooms and stir to combine. Transfer to a 9 x 13 baking dish. Spread the toasted panko evenly on top. Bake until heated through and the mixture bubbles a bit, about 20 minutes. If the panko topping isn't browned, heat the oven broiler and broil the casserole for about 30-45 seconds until lightly browned (watch carefully to prevent burning).

Bourbon-Caramel Pumpkin Tart

If you want to go all out, and I mean really all out with a pumpkin dessert this year, skip the pumpkin pie and make this incredible Bourbon-Caramel Pumpkin Tart recipe from Fine Cooking. The dessert is gorgeous and tastes just as good as it looks. No one will miss the pie.

I won't lie: it's definitely more work than pumpkin pie, but worth it. There are four separate components to make: the tart shell, which is like pie crust but with a little cornmeal that gives it great texture; the pumpkin filling, which is like pumpkin cheesecake; the bourbon-flavored caramel topping; and the candied pumpkin seed topping.


Bourbon-Caramel Pumpkin Tart
Adapted from Bourbon-Caramel Pumpkin Tart, Fine Cooking

Pumpkin seeds:

1 tsp. vegetable oil
1/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
1 1/2 tsp. light corn syrup
3/4 tsp. sugar

Tart crust:

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
6 tbsp. fine cornmeal
1 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
8 tbsp. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 tbsp. ice water, plus more if needed

Bourbon-caramel sauce:

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup bourbon

Filling:

4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. canned pumpkin purée
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. grated nutmeg
Pinch of kosher salt
1/2 cup half-and-half

Make the pumpkin seeds:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment and brush with oil.

3. Combine pumpkin seeds, corn syrup and sugar in a small bowl. Spread evenly on the lined baking sheet. Bake about 5 minutes, stirring halfway through. Transfer to a plate and, when cooled, break up into small clusters.

Make the tart shell:

1. Add the flour, cornmeal, sugar and salt to a food processor and pulse until combined. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.

2. Combine the egg, egg yolk and 1 tbsp. of ice water in a small bowl. Add the egg mixture to the processor and pulse until the mixture just comes together, adding additional ice water if necessary. Form the dough into a round and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

3. Turn dough out onto a floured work surface. Roll the dough out into a 13-inch circle. Carefully transfer the dough to a 9-inch springform pan. Gently press the dough into the bottom and sides of the pan, being careful not to stretch it. Trim any excess dough so the that the dough comes up to about 1/2 inch below the rim of the pan. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes up to 24 hours.

4. Preheat oven to 350 F with rack in the bottom third of the oven.

5. Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork at 1-inch intervals. Line the top of the dough with a piece of aluminum foil and fill with dried beans, pie weights or spare change (spare change makes great pie weights and doesn't result in ruined beans). Bake until the sides are firm, about 15 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and pie weights and bake the crust for another 10 minutes until the bottom is firm (note: I actually forgot to put it back in the oven for the second bake and it turned out fine). Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes.

Make the caramel sauce:

1. Combine brown sugar, butter and salt in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently until the sugar melts and begins to darken around the edges, about 5 minutes. Carefully whisk in the cream (it will sputter a bit) and simmer, whisking frequently, until the mixture is smooth and thick enough that the whisk leaves the bottom of the pan visible, about 7 to 9 minutes. Add the bourbon and continue simmering, whisking occasionally, until the whisk leaves the bottom of the pan visible again, another 2 minutes. Transfer caramel mixture to a heatproof glass measuring cup.

2. Pour 1/3 cup of the caramel over the bottom of the cooled tart shell. Use a spatula to spread the sauce evenly. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes to set the caramel.

Make the filling and bake:

1. Add the cream cheese and brown sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes (alternatively, add to a large bowl and beat with a hand mixer). Add the egg and egg yolk and beat until well combined. Add the pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt and beat until thoroughly combined. Reduce beater speed to low and add the half-n-half.

2. Slowly pour the filling into the prepared tart shell. Bake until the filling has puffed slightly and its surface looks dry, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on a rack until the filling is completely cooled and firm, about an hour.

Finished tart

Finish:

1. Warm the remaining caramel sauce in the microwave in 20-second bursts until pourable. Drizzle caramel over the pumpkin custard and spread it evenly with a spatula. Drop the pumpkin seeds onto the sauce around the edge of the tart shell. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, up to 1 day.

2. Run a thin knife around the edge of the springform pan and release the pan. Transfer tart to a serving plate and serve chilled.