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Polenta will retain heat for a long time. If the polenta has cooled too much, reheat it slightly over medium heat, stirring until warm.

To serve, spoon the polenta onto a platter, arrange the quail on top, and drizzle the jus over the birds and around the polenta.

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Quince Paste

We get our quince from the ranch we live on. There are two trees, and once our landlords have taken their fill for jams and fruit leather, we get the leftovers. (The trees are so productive that we easily have enough quince to last through the fall.)

Quince looks like a bumpy yellow cross between an apple and a pear. Inside, its seeds resemble an apple’s, but don’t be fooled: the flesh is extremely astringent and can’t be eaten raw. But once you start to cook a quince, something magical happens. The flesh transforms from white to light pink to a beautiful translucent red and gives off a unique floral, fruity scent.

Quince paste is often paired with hard, salty cheeses like Manchego, but at the Bakery we use it more in desserts like stollen or panforte. You can also fold it into rice pudding or just cut it into small pieces, toss it in sugar, and serve it as dessert on its own.

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INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon rice bran oil or canola oil

1 vanilla bean

1 cup dry white wine

1 cup orange juice

1 cinnamon stick

6 quinces, peeled, cored, and quartered

Sugar

Makes eighty 1-inch squares

Line an 8 by 10-inch baking sheet with parchment paper. Brush the paper with the oil.

Split the vanilla bean lengthwise with a paring knife, scrape out the pulp with the back of the knife, and put the pulp and the pod into a large pot. Add 1 cup water and the wine, orange juice, and cinnamon stick. Add the quince and cook over high heat until tender, about 15 minutes.

Remove and discard the vanilla bean and the cinnamon stick. Purée the quince, with the cooking liquid, in a food processor or blender. Weigh the resulting purée and put it back in the pot. Add an equal amount of sugar to the quince purée in a one-to-one ratio—as in 1 pound sugar for every 1 pound purée.

Cook the quince purée over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the paste is very thick and the quince has turned from a light pink to a translucent burnt orange, 45 minutes to 1 hour. (Be careful—the mixture will bubble and spurt like a volcano and can leave nasty burns. We recommend wearing a long-sleeved shirt and an oven mitt.) Spread the paste onto the prepared baking sheet and refrigerate it until the paste is firm, about 2 hours.

Once the paste has set, invert the pan over a cutting board lined with plastic wrap and lift off the parchment. Cut the paste into 1-inch squares or into your desired shapes. Store the paste in an airtight container in the refrigerator; it’ll keep for months.

Photographs by Sara Remington

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Pumpkin Bread

Baked daily all fall, this is one of our favorite seasonal breads. We serve it on our bread plate and use it to make French toast for brunch—and since the bread itself is actually shaped like a pumpkin, it’s a nice gift and looks great on display. If your spices have been sitting on the shelf for a while, buy fresh whole spices and grind them right before using them—it’ll make a difference. Michelle uses organic canned pumpkin instead of fresh for this recipe, since fresh pumpkins tend to have different moisture levels that can affect the end result. She strains the pumpkin purée overnight to get rid of extra moisture. The result is a much more concentrated pumpkin flavor.

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INGREDIENTS

1 pound canned pumpkin purée

10 whole allspice berries

4 whole cloves

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

2 teaspoons ground ginger

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

4 ¾ cups bread flour, plus extra for dusting

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon powdered milk

1 egg

½ cup plus 3 tablespoons (packed) light or dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon fine sea salt

¼ cup unsalted butter, softened