Tony's Table: Pumpkin French Toast, Soup

NEW YORK (CBS 2) -- Tony Tantillo and Richele Benway, owner and executive chef of The Local Store, show you several pumpkin dishes.

Pumpkin Pie Brioche French Toast

1 big loaf brioche, sliced extra thick
8 eggs
1 qt milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
½ cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Whisk together the last 5 ingredients. Soak the sliced bread in the liquid then put on a baking sheet.
Bake at 375 until golden brown.
No need to fry it. Anything you can fry you can also bake

Serve with pumpkin custard topped with maple syrup whipped cream
1 3/4 cups cooked and pureed sugar pumpkins (Only use sugar pumpkins for this. Their texture is finer.)
¾ cups light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ginger powder
¼ teaspoon clove OR nutmeg
2 eggs
12oz can evaporated milk

Beat the eggs, add everything else and combine well. Let it sit in the fridge overnight. This is also the key to pumpkin pie that doesn't crack or separate from the shell. Pumpkins are absorbent. They need time to hang out with the milk and eggs. The other key is to NOT bake it until it passes the toothpick test. It should still be a bit jiggly in the center (not sloshy though) so it can continue to cook to a soft and creamy custard after you take it out of the oven.

Bake in 4 oz ramekins
If you don't have ramekins, use a glass pie plate and just scoop out the custard to serve.
Bake at 350 until done. Let it sit for at least 2 hours before serving.
Top with whip cream sweetened to taste with maple syrup.

Pumpkin, white bean, and kale soup

2 onions, chopped
½ a bulb roasted garlic
½ a medium pumpkin from the greenmarket, seeded, roasted, peeled, and cubed
1 pound small white beans, soaked for a few hours
1 bunch kale from the greenmarket (greenmarket is important on this one, it's the most tender and flavorful)
1 rind of hard cheese like parmesan
Pinch red pepper flakes
Your choice of herbs: marjoram, thyme, black pepper, lemon zest
White wine if you have it, otherwise, just water

In a big stock pot, sauté the onion. Add everything else and simmer until done.

Faccio's pork sausage and Haitian Pickly

Your choice of sausage, bake it until done
Serve with super hot pickly

1 small head green cabbage shredded super fine
2 medium carrots shredded or cut into matchsticks
1 red onion sliced paper thin
1 tablespoon whole black pepper
5 whole cloves
½ pound habanero or scotch bonnet peppers cut into strips (don't use jalapenos)
White vinegar

Put everything in a clean jar and cover with white wine vinegar. Let it hang out for at least overnight. My friend has had some for 5 months that he just keeps adding to.

Serve as you would any relish. Warn your guests that it's hot.

Baked brie with local honey and pears

1 pear, cored and chopped (not peeled)
About 6 oz brie (nothing fancy), cut into acorn sized cubes
1 tablespoon local honey
Coarsely cracked black pepper
Put everything in an oven dish and bake until melty. Serve with fresh baguette. Works nicely with diced apples too!

Sweet Corn Panna Cotta with concord grape jelly and salty popcorn

Cook the kernels of 6 ears of corn in 4 cups of milk. Strain (save the corn for chowder or a frittata, or just to eat!)
4 cups corn milk
½ cup local honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 sheets gelatin, softened in water then strained

Simmer the above ingredients until you can see the gelatin is all melted

Pour into whichever cups or dishes you're going to serve them in. Wine glasses may seem like a good idea, but they're hard to find room for in the fridge and they're very fragile.

Serve with concord grape jelly from the green market or make your own by cooking down the grapes, straining and adding pectin (no sugar). It'll be runny and delicious.

Serve also with homemade popcorn made with extra fine sea salt.