Thankgiving recipe from Ina

This recipe sounds really good (from the Google landing page), and if I weren't traveling for the next eight hours to St. George, I'd get busy in my kitchen and make it! At first I was a little put off by the banana, but in reading the recipe, there's only one mashed banana and lots of other ingredients, so I think it's probably hardly noticed. AND, I trust Ina Garten - in fact, Ina helps me cook. I really don't like to cook, (but I DO cook). If I turn on my kitchen TV and find an episode of her show, watching her calmly make her recipes convinces me that it's not so bad - and I can get through the meal I'm preparing. She is so soothing.

From Ina Garten - Barefoot Contessa Family Style

I wrote this recipe for my entertaining series for O, Oprah’s magazine. It was inspired by a pumpkin mousse that my mother had made for years for Thanksgiving. It’s lighter and much more flavorful than that cloying old pumpkin pie. People really do go nuts for it.

For the crust:

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs (14 crackers)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:

• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• 1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
• 1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3 extra-large egg yolks
• 1 package (2 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin
• 1 ripe banana, finely mashed
• 1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1/2 cup cold heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons sugar

For the decoration:

• 1 cup (1/2 pint) cold heavy cream
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Orange zest (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter in a bowl and mix well. Pour into an 11-inch tart pan with a removable bottom and press evenly into the sides and then the bottom. Bake for 10 minutes and then cool to room temperature.

For the filling, heat the half-and-half, pumpkin, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water until hot, about 5 minutes. Whisk the egg yolks in another bowl, stir some of the hot pumpkin into the egg yolks to heat them, then pour the egg-pumpkin mixture back into the double boiler and stir well. Heat the mixture over the simmering water for another 4 to 5 minutes, until it begins to thicken, stirring constantly. You don’t want the eggs to scramble. Remove from the heat.

Dissolve the gelatin in 1/4 cup cold water. Add the dissolved gelatin, banana, and orange zest to the pumpkin mixture and mix well. Set aside to cool.

Whip the heavy cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and continue to whisk until you have firm peaks. Carefully fold the whipped cream into the pumpkin mixture and pour it into the cooled tart shell. Chill for 2 hours or overnight.

For the decoration, whip the heavy cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and vanilla and continue to whisk until you have firm peaks. Pipe or spoon the whipped cream decoratively on the tart and sprinkle, if desired, with orange zest. Serve chilled.

Serves 10.