Legendary singer Tony Bennett was on the Leonard Lopate Show recently to talk about the lessons he's learned over the course of his incredible, long career in music. He also shared some of his favorite things!

Jack Black was on the Leonard Lopate Show recently to discuss his starring role as a mortician in the black comedy, "Bernie." He also talked about "Rize of the Fenix," the most recent album by his band Tenacious D. He also told us about his amazing-sounding comfort food. Find out what else Jack Black is a fan of!

The author of The Bonfire of the Vanities and the new novel Back to Blood sings a little, praises Michael Lewis, and cringes at the word issues. Listen to his conversation about The Bonfire of the Vanities, our November Book Club pick.

Bourbon and Brown Butter Pumpkin Pie

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 3/4 cups pumpkin puree
3 large eggs
1/2 cup half and half
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons Bourbon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
Pinch ground clove
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 9-inch fully baked pie crust

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Melt the butter in a small pan over medium heat. Once melted and the white solids have begun to rise the top, swirl the pan every 30 seconds or so. Stay close to the pan - the butter can go from browned to burnt very quickly. The butter will begin to brown after about 4 to 5 minutes, it will smell nutty and look dark golden. Once it hits that color, and the furious bubbling dies down somewhat, it’s ready. Remove from the heat. Allow the browned butter to cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together the browned butter, pumpkin puree, cream, eggs, sugar, brandy, spices, and salt. Pour mixture into the cooled pie shell.

Transfer pie to a large baking sheet. Bake until crust is golden and center jiggles just slightly when shaken, 50 to 60 minutes. Cool completely before serving.

Yield: 8 servings.

The 2012 National Book Award winners were announced today, and both have been on the show to talk about their books! Louise Erdrich won for her novel The Round House, and Katherine Boo won for her masterful portrait of life in the slums of Mumbai, India, Behind the Beautiful Forevers.

And R. A. Dickey, Mets' knuckleballer won the Cy Young Award as the best pitcher in the National League.

For the gnocchi:

2 cups buttercup squash purée (yielded from 2 to 3 pounds buttercup squash)
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (then more if needed)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 450ºF.
Cut squash in half length-­wise and scoop out seeds. Salt squash and place skin side down on a baking sheet. Cover the bottom of the baking sheet with water. Cover squash with aluminum foil and bake until tender, about 45 minutes. Let cool. Scoop out the flesh into a strainer. Squeeze out excess moisture in batches (but not completely dry). Measure out 2 cups of squeezed squash and pass through a food mill into a large bowl.

In a small bowl whisk the egg. Mix the egg with the squash. Mix in the flour, cheese, and salt until the dough just comes together. Form into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and place in the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes.

Place dough on a heavily floured surface. Divide the dough into eighths. Roll out one segment into a snake about 1/2 inch thick, working from the middle out applying even pressure. If the snake won’t roll wipe excess flour from the workspace and roll using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking. Cut into gnocchi about 3/4 inch long. Transfer to a well floured baking sheet using the edge of a chef’s knife or flat spatula. Repeat with remaining dough and place in the freezer until hard, about 1 hour.

To finish:
1 small butternut squash, peeled and diced into 1/3 inch dice to render about 3 cups
8 tablespoons butter
1/2 pound mixed wild mushrooms, cleaned and sliced 1/8 inch thick
4 sage leaves, julienne
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Toast the pine nuts until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Heat a large sauté pan very hot, add 2 tablespoons butter. When butter is melted and browning add the squash. Sauté until golden and tender, about 6 minutes. Set aside.

To the same pan, add 2 tablespoons more butter and sauté the mushrooms over high heat until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

Place the remaining 4 tablespoons butter in a large sauté pan, add the cooked squash and mushrooms to the pan. Add sage and pine nuts and set aside. Reheat the pumpkins and tops in oven.

Bring a large pot (12 quart) of lightly salted water to a vigorous boil. Cook gnocchi until they all float to the top and then cook one additional minute. Drain gnocchi in a colander reserving 4 ounces of the cooking liquid. Add cooking liquid to the pan with the squash and mushrooms and bring to a boil over high heat to form a creamy sauce. Add drained gnocchi and parsley, season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Serves 4

2 cups buttercup squash purée (yielded from 2 to 3 pounds buttercup squash)
1 small leek, white and light green parts only, split lengthwise, sliced and washed
½ small onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups vegetable stock or water

Preheat oven to 450ºF.

Cut squash in half length-wise and scoop out seeds.

Salt squash and place skin side down on a baking sheet.

Cover the bottom of the baking sheet with water. Cover squash with aluminum foil and bake until tender, about 45 minutes. Let cool. Scoop out the flesh into a strainer. Squeeze out excess moisture in batches (but not completely dry). Measure out 2 cups of squeezed squash and pass through a food mill into a large bowl.

In a 2-quart pot heat olive oil over low heat. Add the remaining vegetables, salt and cook until tender, about 7 minutes. Add the stock, bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Add squash and carefully purée in a blender or food processor. Adjust seasoning.

Serves 4

2 pounds acorn squash
4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 teaspoon freshly ground coriander seed
1tablespoon sherry vinegar
2 tablespoons hazelnut oil
2 cups parsley leaves, washed and dried
1/2 cup chopped, peeled hazelnuts
1/2 cup small-­diced black forest ham

Preheat oven to 450ºF.

Break off the stem of the squash and cut in half from top to bottom with a heavy knife. Remove the seeds and cut each half into 4 wedges.

In a large sauté pan melt the butter on high heat until bubbly, add the squash and move pan around to lightly brown. After 2 minutes, place in oven and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from oven, flip the squash and return to oven to finish cooking, about 8 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven, drizzle with syrup, sprinkle with coriander, and return to oven for 1 minute. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

Place hazelnuts in a sauté pan, place in oven and toast until lightly browned, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Place vinegar in a bowl and whisk in oil, season. In another bowl, mix together the parsley, nuts, and ham, toss with the vinaigrette.

Arrange 2 wedges of the squash per plate, on their side, creating an oval. Place salad in the center and serve.

Film historian Walter Murch was on the Leonard Lopate Show recently to talk about translating the work of anti-totalitarian WWII journalist and writer Curzio Malaparte. He also told us about his love of particle physics and English muffins! Find out what else Walter Murch is up to these days.

Producer Michael Leonhart was on the Leonard Lopate Show, along with Steely Dan co-founder Donald Fagen, to talk about working on Fagen's latest album. He also told us what he's been reading, watching and eating recently!

Neurologist and psychiatrist Oliver Sacks was on the Leonard Lopate Show recently to talk about hallucinations, how they're caused, and why we experience them so vividly. He also told us he's a fan of ferns. Find out what else Dr. Sacks is a fan of!

This pudding makes a great winter holiday dessert with its jewel-like red and cream colors. The light fluffiness of the sweet rice pudding pairs nicely with the barberry’s full-bodied wild flavor with hints of cranberry. You can prepare this ahead of time, keeping it in the refrigerator and taking it out an hour before serving.

Serves 4 to 6

Rice Pudding

1⁄2 cup short-grain or sushi rice
3 1⁄2 cups whole milk
7 tablespoons heavy cream
1⁄2 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Barberry Coulis

11⁄2 cups ripe barberries
1 cup sugar

Custard

1 cup whole milk
1⁄2 cup heavy cream
1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large egg yolks
1⁄4 cup sugar

1. To make the rice pudding, preheat the oven to 300°F.

2. Rinse the rice by submerging it in a bowl of cold water, swishing it around, and draining. Repeat twice.

3. In a large ovenproof saucepan, heat the milk and cream, stirring in the sugar, salt, and vanilla. As the mixture begins to simmer, add the rice. Cover the pan and transfer to the oven for 1 hour until the rice is cooked and has absorbed the liquid. Remove the lid and set aside to cool.

4. To make the barberry coulis, in a medium saucepan combine the barberries and sugar with ¾ cup water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, or until softened and the liquid is a jewel-like red color. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Pass through a food mill or strainer to remove the black seeds. Be sure to press through as much of the pulp as possible so that the coulis is nice and thick.

5. To make the custard, heat the milk, cream, and vanilla in a medium saucepan over medium heat until nearly boiling. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until well combined. Slowly pour half of the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture, whisking to combine, and then pour everything back into the saucepan. Stir with a wooden spoon over medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes, or until thickened. Do not boil or the mixture will curdle. Remove from the heat, pour into a heatproof bowl, and cool completely in the refrigerator.

6. Mix the custard with the rice. Spoon half of the mixture into 4 to 6 individual serving dishes (such as ramekins or martini glasses), add a dollop of barberry coulis, and top with the remaining pudding. Serve immediately or refrigerate overnight.

From Foraged Flavor: Finding Fabulous Ingredients in Your Backyard or Farmer's Market, with 88 Recipes by Tama Matsuoka Wong, Eddy Leroux and Daniel Boulud

This easy-peasy side dish was inspired by the classic soy-sesame combination in Asian home-style cooking. Serve with hot steamed rice and roast pork or grilled fish.

Serves 4 as a small side dish

1⁄4 cup sesame seeds
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 ounces (5 cups) tender chickweed greens
1 tablespoon light soy sauce or tamari
1 teaspoon sugar
Pinch of red pepper flakes
Pinch of salt

1. In a small pan (cast iron is great), spread out the sesame seeds and toast over medium-low heat for 2 minutes, or until about half of them pop and turn a light golden brown. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.

2. In a medium skillet, heat the sesame oil, onion, and garlic for about 2 minutes, or until soft. Add the chickweed and cook for 3 minutes, or until soft. Remove from the heat.

3. Mix in the soy sauce, sugar, red pepper flakes, salt, and sesame seeds. Serve warm or at room temperature.

From Foraged Flavor: Finding Fabulous Ingredients in Your Backyard or Farmer's Market, with 88 Recipes by Tama Matsuoka Wong, Eddy Leroux and Daniel Boulud

Russell Means starred as Chingachgook alongside Daniel Day-Lewis' Hawkeye in "The Last of the Mohicans." He also voiced Chief Powhatan in the 1995 animated film "Pocahontas" – and he had an advantage, in that he was a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.  He was also the first director of the American Indian Movement.  He just died at the age of 72.  And you can hear his interview from 1995 with Leonard for his memoir, Where White Men Fear to Tread.

Grandmother’s Fried Tomatoes with Gravy (as written in “At Grandmother’s Table,” edited by Ellen Perry Berkeley)
The recipe and story behind it are written by my aunt, Jane Jacobs. The recipe has been in our family since the 1840’s. It is served as the main course of the meal. Note that fully ripened tomatoes are used.

6 bacon strips, or 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 fully ripened tomatoes
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
1 ½ to 2 cups milk

Fry the bacon, then remove it from the pan and set it aside. (If you’re using vegetable oil, omit the bacon and heat the oil now)

Slice the tomatoes thick and dredge each slice in salted flour.

Fry each slice in the fat or oil into the flour is nicely browned. The slices will break up somewhat, and small bits of tomatoes and flour will collect in the pan.

Place the fried slices in a serving bowl, straining the fat and juice from the bowl back into the pan. When all the tomatoes are fried and in the serving bowl, add flour to the hot pan, stirring constantly to blend the flour with the fat, juice, and residual bits of tomatoes. Then, still stirring, gradually add milk to make a thick (but not stiff) gravy. Pour the gravy over the tomatoes in the serving bowl. If you’re using bacon, pile the crisp bacon on the top.

 This recipe serves 2 people.

Submitted by Jane Henderson

Senator George McGovern remained true to his liberal Democratic roots, nurtured in South Dakota, throughout his long life.  He just died at the age of 90 in South Dakota, near where he’d spent his formative years.  He won the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 1972 as an opponent of the Vietnam War.  Though he lost to Richard Nixon, he continued to uphold progressive causes – and opposed with equal vehemence the American invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.  He spoke to Leonard Lopate several times and you can hear his conversations with Leonard from 1996 and 2005.

Three Sisters” Posole
Recipe by Juanell Boyd Devloped for Master Gardeners of Middlesex County, NJ

Makes about 6 quarts

Background Information:Posole is a Native American soup or stew made with field corn that has been soaked in an alkaline solution to make the corn more digestable and nutritious. The treated corn is also called nixtamal or hominy. When ground, the meal from the treated corn is called masa (or grits) and is used to make tortillas or tamales (or grits), depending on the fineness of the grind. Traditionally, lye made from wood ash was used to treat the corn. However, this recipe uses food grade slaked lime or pickling lime (calcium hydroxide) which can be purchased where canning and pickling supplies are sold. The directions that I followed indicated that the hulls from the kernels of corn would separate after the soaking process. With the Aztec Blue Corn from the Master Gardener Three Sisters Garden Plot, that did not happen, but it tasted fine and looked rather more interesting with the hulls on, and of course, the hulls add fiber, so I made the posole with the hulls still on the kernels. Posole is traditionally made with pork, but I also found recipes using lamb or chicken. The use of all of the “three sisters” (corn, beans, and squash) is my adaptation of this dish. This dish is vegetarian friendly, as vegetable broth or chicken broth can be used interchangeably, and corn and beans are “complimentary” proteins in a vegetarian diet. The squash contributes vitamin A and the peppers contribute vitamins A and C. I make my own chicken broth using chicken backs, so there is usually a lot of fat to skim off. I usually freeze some of the chicken fat and use it in place of oil for sauteing for a more intense chicken flavor when I make a soup or stew using the chicken broth. I have a great recipe for vegetable broth using roasted vegetables and dried porcini mushrooms. For the vegetarians in the crowd, I’m going to use the vegetable broth and olive oil for sautéing when I make this for the Master Gardener potluck. I was concerned that the squash or pumpkin might stick to the bottom of the pot, or if stirred frequently to keep it from sticking, it would fall apart, so I roasted it separately for addition to the posole just before serving. Adding the raw squash for the last half hour or so of cooking might also work, but I haven’t tried it, and besides, I really prefer the flavor of roasted squash. It also occurred to me that oven cooking rather than stove-top cooking for the last hour might also solve the problem of keeping the squash intact, and eliminate the step of roasting the squash, but I haven’t tried it. As another alternative for the squash, a pumpkin-shaped squash can be baked and the hot posole can be put into the baked squash for serving. For the Master Gardening Pot Luck, I will use the shelled beans from the Three Sisters garden. As they were not dry when harvested, I blanched and froze them and will not pre-cook them for the posole. There are several varieties, but not a very large quantity, so for the first try, I used dried cannelini beans.

The author of Cloud Atlas (and The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, Black Swan Green, among others) talked about his favorite words and a few of his favorite authors.

Serves 6 to 8

This incredibly hearty winter soup falls somewhere between a soup and a stew.

The texture and flavor are amazing—it’s filled with chunky vegetables, pasta, beans, and spinach. Pesto and Parmesan swirled in at the end make it even better. I serve it in big shallow bowls with garlic bruschetta on top.