The following is the ingredient list we settled on:
6 tablespoons butter
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Superstorm Sandy French Onion Soup
When Hurricane Sandy came through we found out we had Monday off of work fairly early on Sunday afternoon. Elliot and I decided a crock pot dish would be perfect on a potentially super nasty day so we went on a search for recipes. The final decision was French Onion soup.
The following is the ingredient list we settled on:
The following is the ingredient list we settled on:
Autumn Apple Cobbler
After 2 loaves of bread, a pork and apple pie, and many raw apples in lunches I still had a silly amount of apples left. The gang was coming over to carve pumpkins and watch Halloween movies so I decided to use another few in an apple cobbler.
I grabbed this recipe and got started.
This recipe was very quick and easy. The only hang up was the baking time. I pulled it out at about 48 minutes because it was starting to smell burnt. It was very brown on top but it did not have a burnt taste. Next time I will start the timer at 45 minutes and go from there. All in all though it was a tasty dish that wasn't too sweet and I got to use another handful of apples!
I grabbed this recipe and got started.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Generously grease a 2-quart baking dish.
- Arrange apple slices (I used Golden Delicious) in an even layer in the baking dish. In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 cup sugar, cinnamon, and 1/2 cup pecans. Sprinkle mixture over apples.
- In a medium bowl, mix together flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl whisk together egg, evaporated milk, and melted butter. Pour milk mixture into flour mixture all at once, and stir until smooth. Pour mixture over apples, and sprinkle top with 1/4 cup pecans.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 55 minutes.
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| Just before it went in the oven! |
This recipe was very quick and easy. The only hang up was the baking time. I pulled it out at about 48 minutes because it was starting to smell burnt. It was very brown on top but it did not have a burnt taste. Next time I will start the timer at 45 minutes and go from there. All in all though it was a tasty dish that wasn't too sweet and I got to use another handful of apples!
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Pork and Apple Pie
As the quest to use my half bushel of apples continues...
Jo Anna knew I was having trouble using up all my fruit, so she sent me this article. I decided to aim high and go for the pork and apple pie with a cheddar sage crust. It just sounded delicious and I thought it was time to test a form of pie crust again.
Crust
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons dried sage, finely crumbled
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
3 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, finely grated
6 to 8 tablespoons ice water
Filling
1 1/2 pounds (about 3 large) firm-sweet apples (such as Braeburn, Honey Crisp, Pink Lady), unpeeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch thick wedges
1 1/2 pounds (about 3 large) firm-tart apples (such as Granny Smith, Rome or Winesap), unpeeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch thick wedges
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small onion, very finely chopped
2 pounds ground pork (preferably 15 percent to 17 percent fat)
1 tablespoon firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
3 1/2 tablespoons plain breadcrumbs
1 egg blended with 1 tablespoon water
Fresh sage leaves for garnish
This looks like a ton of ingredients but it is mostly spices, so don't be afraid. I cooked down the apples and made the crust the night before and then finished it off the next day. (I used Rome and Nittany apples)
This crust went surprisingly well for me. I did not have sharp cheddar so I used a cheddar jack blend and it tasted fine. As I did this part the night before, the dough was in the fridge for a long time. I had a tough time rolling it out because it was so chilled. Next time I will let it sit for a few before attempting that. But I did manage to roll out both pieces and get them in the dish successfully!
The crust was what I was worried about so after that I had no problems. The only issue I ran into was finding ground pork! I went to three stores and became convinced it doesn't really exist so I bought plain pork sausage that was not in casings. It tasted fine but was maybe a bit too seasoned with all the spices the recipe called for. I guess next time I find a butcher...
Jo Anna knew I was having trouble using up all my fruit, so she sent me this article. I decided to aim high and go for the pork and apple pie with a cheddar sage crust. It just sounded delicious and I thought it was time to test a form of pie crust again.
Crust
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons dried sage, finely crumbled
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
3 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, finely grated
6 to 8 tablespoons ice water
Filling
1 1/2 pounds (about 3 large) firm-sweet apples (such as Braeburn, Honey Crisp, Pink Lady), unpeeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch thick wedges
1 1/2 pounds (about 3 large) firm-tart apples (such as Granny Smith, Rome or Winesap), unpeeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch thick wedges
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small onion, very finely chopped
2 pounds ground pork (preferably 15 percent to 17 percent fat)
1 tablespoon firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
3 1/2 tablespoons plain breadcrumbs
1 egg blended with 1 tablespoon water
Fresh sage leaves for garnish
This looks like a ton of ingredients but it is mostly spices, so don't be afraid. I cooked down the apples and made the crust the night before and then finished it off the next day. (I used Rome and Nittany apples)
This crust went surprisingly well for me. I did not have sharp cheddar so I used a cheddar jack blend and it tasted fine. As I did this part the night before, the dough was in the fridge for a long time. I had a tough time rolling it out because it was so chilled. Next time I will let it sit for a few before attempting that. But I did manage to roll out both pieces and get them in the dish successfully!
The crust was what I was worried about so after that I had no problems. The only issue I ran into was finding ground pork! I went to three stores and became convinced it doesn't really exist so I bought plain pork sausage that was not in casings. It tasted fine but was maybe a bit too seasoned with all the spices the recipe called for. I guess next time I find a butcher...
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| I had left over meat and apples even though this dish is super deep |
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| Before going into the oven. Isn't it cute? |
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| Finished product! |
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Failure to Success! Tomato, Bacon, and Cheese Quiche
So tonight I was sitting here thinking about how I’m hungry and how I’ve been so lazy lately that I had almost nothing to eat. I could go with chips and salsa, a bean and cheese taco, the last tiny bit of hummus. A sad state for a girl who used to have a stocked fridge and cook regularly. Then I realized I had eggs! And old tomatoes! And goat cheese! Something could be made of this. So I decided to whip up a quick dinner…by making a tart from scratch.
I found this recipe for Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart and got to work.
I didn’t have any of the herbs recommended but I did have dill and figured that could work. Then I realized that my goat cheese was rotten…I’ve been known to stretch the expiration on a bottle of milk (as long as it tastes ok of course), but weird smelling goat cheese? No thanks. This was going to require some improvisation.
The only other cheese I had was bean and cheese taco cheese my mom gave me, so it was probably Longhorn. I figured tomatoes could go with this pretty well. And bacon would also be a nice addition. This resulted in what I would say is a pretty tasty dinner, and in reality I’m pretty sure it was just a quiche but I’m not sure what the difference is between that and a tart.
Someday I would like to try the actual goat cheese tomato tart I was planning on because it sounds freaking delicious, but that will have to wait for another day.
Tomato, Bacon, and Cheese Quiche
Crust
1 ½ Cups All Purpose Flour
½ tsp. Salt
6 T Butter cut into cubes
4 T Chilled solid vegetable shortening cut into cubes
4 T ice water
Combine everything except water in a bowl and cut it together with pastry cutter or forks (You can definitely do this in a food processor but I don’t have one big enough). Add water until it sticks together and you can form a ball. Flatten ball into a disk in wax paper and chill. (I put it in the freezer for about 10 min and it rolled out pretty well. It could stand to chill a little while longer though.) Roll out the crust and place in a tart tin, fold the excess over to double up the edges. I had a 9 inch tin but I’m sure any size would work. Prick the bottom with a fork to prevent it from bubbling up. Bake at 400 for 25 min until lightly golden.
I use this crust recipe for almost any quiche I make. I don't remember where I got it, and I'm not a huge crust person and I like this one quite a bit and it's easy to make.
Tomato Filling
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| Layered Tomatoes |
3 Tbs Dijon Mustard
2-3 Sliced Tomatoes
2 pieces cooked crunchy bacon
3 Eggs
2 Tbs Half and Half
Cheddar Cheese
Salt and Pepper
After taking the crust out of the oven reduce the heat to 350. Spread enough Dijon over the bottom of the crust to coat it in a thin layer, it may not take a full 3 tablespoons. Layer the tomatoes, overlapping slightly until the crust is covered, sprinkle with salt and pepper and crumble the bacon over the top. In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, half and half, salt and pepper and cheese and pour over the tomatoes. Bake for 25-30 min until it is set and doesn’t wobble much in the center.
Let the quiche rest about ten minutes and serve!
This dish would probably work for any meal: breakfast, lunch, dinner, brunch…whatever. For dinner it would have been nice to have a salad on the side too.
I was worried about this at first, I’ve never winged it on a tart/quiche but it ended up being delicious. I would definitely use cheddar rather than what I had on-hand to make it a little more flavorful.
Also - I don’t mind making crust and waiting for things to bake so I think it’s a pretty easy dinner. It does take some time though. Between making the crust, baking everything, and eating, you'll want to allow at least an hour if not a little more. Happy baking!
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| This is not the prettiest pic, but I promise it's yummy |
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Apple Bread
cooking spray
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Prepare 2 loaf pans (8 1/2x4 1/2-inch loaf pans) with cooking spray.
- Mix flour, baking soda, salt, walnuts, and apples in a large bowl. Whisk oil, sugar, eggs, and cinnamon together in a small bowl; add to flour mixture and mix until just moistened. Evenly divide mixture between prepared loaf pans.
- Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 90 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.
The Rome apples we picked were so huge that to get 3 cups I only had to use one Rome and then one medium sized Nittany. The bread was really moist and delicious, even in the 'muffin bar' form. I will definitely make this recipe again. I will also be posting more apple tastiness as I only used 2 apples out of a 1/2 bushel to make this...
Magic Birthday Bars
My roommate's birthday was late in September and he did not have a specific request for his cake. At some point recently I saw an episode of Giada at Home where she made these double layer cookie/brownie bars and I decided to try them out. She had adapted this recipe from her own friend's recipe, and I made a few changes myself.
For the brownie layer: In a large bowl, blend together the brownie mix, vegetable oil, 1/4 cup water, espresso powder and eggs. Using a hand mixer, beat for 1 minute on medium speed. Pour the batter into one of the prepared pans. Sprinkle with the coconut and bake until a toothpick inserted about 1 inch from the edge of the baking dish comes out clean, 25 to 27 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool for 1 hour.
Using the excess parchment paper as handles, lift the brownie layer from the pan. Run a thin spatula underneath to loosen it from the parchment paper. Keep the oven on.
For the cookie layer: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars in a large bowl until fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and egg. Add the flour mixture and beat until a dough forms. Stir in the chocolate chips. Using your fingers, press the dough evenly into the bottom of the other prepared baking dish, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Bake until light golden, 14 to 16 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes.
Sprinkle the walnuts over the crust.
For the caramel: In a medium, heavy saucepan, combine the caramel candies, 2 tablespoons water and vanilla over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the candies have melted and the mixture is smooth, about 10 minutes. Pour the caramel evenly over the cookie layer. Working quickly, place the brownie layer on top of the caramel. Gently press the brownie layer into the caramel. Refrigerate for 1 hour until the caramel has set. Allow the layers to come to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Cut into 24 bars and store airtight in a plastic container. As usual I was not patient enough about letting these cool before pouring the caramel so they were a bit oozey. They eventualy hardened up though and were really super tasty.
Brownie Layer:
- One 21-ounce box brownie mix, such as Duncan Hines Chewy Fudge
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut
Cookie Layer:
- 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 1/4 cups chopped walnuts
I really liked this cookie recipe. It worked really well in the baking pan and if doubled I think you could make a large cookie cake with it, no problem.
Caramel:
- Three 9.5-ounce bags soft caramel candies (about 90 caramels), such as Kraft Classic
- Caramels, unwrapped
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
I actually used fewer candies than this and it worked out fine. (Maybe 50 candies?)
Directions
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray two 13 by 9-inch glass or ceramic baking dishes with cooking spray. Line each dish with a 15-inch-square piece of parchment paper, allowing the excess to overhang the sides. Spray the parchment with cooking spray. At the time I did not have 2 9x13 dishes so I used a mostly equal sized but oval shaped ceramic dish and a 9x9 brownie pan. I knew I would have to trim the edges of the oval to make it match the square but I figured that was more for me to nibble :)
For the brownie layer: In a large bowl, blend together the brownie mix, vegetable oil, 1/4 cup water, espresso powder and eggs. Using a hand mixer, beat for 1 minute on medium speed. Pour the batter into one of the prepared pans. Sprinkle with the coconut and bake until a toothpick inserted about 1 inch from the edge of the baking dish comes out clean, 25 to 27 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool for 1 hour.
Using the excess parchment paper as handles, lift the brownie layer from the pan. Run a thin spatula underneath to loosen it from the parchment paper. Keep the oven on.
For the cookie layer: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars in a large bowl until fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and egg. Add the flour mixture and beat until a dough forms. Stir in the chocolate chips. Using your fingers, press the dough evenly into the bottom of the other prepared baking dish, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Bake until light golden, 14 to 16 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes.
Sprinkle the walnuts over the crust.
For the caramel: In a medium, heavy saucepan, combine the caramel candies, 2 tablespoons water and vanilla over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the candies have melted and the mixture is smooth, about 10 minutes. Pour the caramel evenly over the cookie layer. Working quickly, place the brownie layer on top of the caramel. Gently press the brownie layer into the caramel. Refrigerate for 1 hour until the caramel has set. Allow the layers to come to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Cut into 24 bars and store airtight in a plastic container. As usual I was not patient enough about letting these cool before pouring the caramel so they were a bit oozey. They eventualy hardened up though and were really super tasty.
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| Happy Birthday! |
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Chocolate and Beer...yummmm
It's been a while, I haven't really been cooking much worth blogging about unless you think salad makes for some thrilling blog material. I also made a completely failed attemt at "chocolate pudding cake" similar to I think Ashley's failed attempt at some kind of crock pot cake. Basically, never trust a recipe that tells you to pour water on top of batter and bake it.
The other day though, mom asked me to make my aunt Martha a birthday cake.
The cookbook Heavenly Cakes was my first stop. But those cakes are somewhat fussy, and I wanted a pretty easy chocolate cake, just different than the ol' standard. So I turned to the Bon Appetit Desserts cookbook I got last Christmas. It hasn't failed me yet and provided a recipe that combines two of my favorite things: chocolate and beer!
Chocolate Stout Cake turned out to be delicious. The cake part was really moist and light and you'd hardly notice the beer except for that something in the background that tasted a little different than the usual cake. It calls for stout but I used what I had handy which was New Belgium 1554 which is technically a black ale. But the beer is dark, toasty, and tastes like it would go with chocolate so I went for it. The good thing about this is it will be interesting to see how the flavor changes depending on what beer you use. So obviously I will have to make this cake more often and test it out.
My version of the recipe is 1/2 of what the original recipe calls for. It would have been a huge cake; as it is, the 1/2 version was pretty damn tasty and rich enough.
The other day though, mom asked me to make my aunt Martha a birthday cake.
The cookbook Heavenly Cakes was my first stop. But those cakes are somewhat fussy, and I wanted a pretty easy chocolate cake, just different than the ol' standard. So I turned to the Bon Appetit Desserts cookbook I got last Christmas. It hasn't failed me yet and provided a recipe that combines two of my favorite things: chocolate and beer!
Chocolate Stout Cake turned out to be delicious. The cake part was really moist and light and you'd hardly notice the beer except for that something in the background that tasted a little different than the usual cake. It calls for stout but I used what I had handy which was New Belgium 1554 which is technically a black ale. But the beer is dark, toasty, and tastes like it would go with chocolate so I went for it. The good thing about this is it will be interesting to see how the flavor changes depending on what beer you use. So obviously I will have to make this cake more often and test it out.
My version of the recipe is 1/2 of what the original recipe calls for. It would have been a huge cake; as it is, the 1/2 version was pretty damn tasty and rich enough.
Icing
Bring cream to a simmer and then add the chocolate, stir until it’s all melted and smooth. Put the mixture in a bowl in the fridge and stir frequently until it’s a spreadable mixture. Probably 1-2 hrs before you need it to ice the cake.
Cake
1 Cup stout beer
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| Chop, melt, stir and voila! |
1 Cup heavy whipping cream
½ lb. bitter or semi-sweet choc. (I used Ghirardelli 60%)Bring cream to a simmer and then add the chocolate, stir until it’s all melted and smooth. Put the mixture in a bowl in the fridge and stir frequently until it’s a spreadable mixture. Probably 1-2 hrs before you need it to ice the cake.
Cake
1 Cup stout beer
1 Cup unsalted butter cut into cubes
¾ Cup unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa
2 Cups Flour
2 Cups Sugar
1 ½ Tsp Baking Soda
½ Tsp. Salt
2 Large Eggs
½ + ½ of a third cup sour cream – (since measuring cups don’t have a spot for a ½ of a third cup I had to
eyeball it. Sorry for lack of better measuring)
Preheat oven to 350, prepare two 8 in. round cake pans
with baking spray
Bring the beer and butter to a simmer in a saucepan, add
cocoa and stir until it’s smooth.
Stir together dry ingredients in one bowl and the eggs
and sour cream in another. Add the
beer/chocolate mixture to the eggs and sour cream. Add that to the dry ingredients and stir
until everything is completely combined but not overmixed.
 |
| Look at those beauties rise! |
Divide batter between two pans and bake for about 35
min. Cool for about 10 min, release
cakes from pans and completely cool before icing.
And then you have a finished cake that tastes delicious, looks sort of impressive and is super easy. It pretty much uses things I think most people would have in their pantry or are easy to find at any grocery store. And if I forgot to mention, chocolate cake is my favorite food ever. Hooray!
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| Happy Birthday Martha! |
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Banana Cupcakes with Nutella Buttercream
As previously stated Nutella is one of my top 5 favorite ingredients, and for like 2 years now I have been claiming I want to create some form of a banana Nutella cupcake. Well, tomorrow is my last day of work with my little babies (I'm moving on up to the 2 year olds haha) so I thought I would bake my lovely ladies something special.
I found the following recipe for a banana cupcake as a starting point, but as usual things did not go quite as planned...
I doubled the recipe so mine looked like this:
Cake:
3 1/2 c flour
1 tbsp + 1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 c butter
1 c white sugar
4 eggs
1 pouch banana applesauce (ok, things get weird I will explain...)
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 c milk
4 large bananas
Buttercream:
1 1/3 c butter
1 tsp vanilla
4 1/2 c confectioner's sugar
2 tbsp hazelnut flavored coffee creamer (um, yeah..)
6 oz Nutella
Preheat oven to 350 and place liners in your pans. I have one normal size cupcake tin and one 6 count giant muffin tin, so I came out with 12 + 6 cupcakes.
Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in small bowl. Cream together butter and sugar until fluuffy. Add eggs one at a time. (This is about when I realized I only had 4 eggs. I know you can use applesauce and bananas both as egg substitutes, and because it was already a banana flavored cupcake I decided I could use one of the banana applesauce fruit crushers I take in my lunch. (yes, I realize that applesauce in a pouch is for 5 year olds so they don't need a spoon and still get fruit...but I need fruit, too!)) Add the vanilla with the last egg and beat well. Add flour mixture and milk alternately mixing until just incorporated. Fold in chopped bananas. Pour into pans and bake for about 20 minutes. (The bigger cupcakes needed about 5 extra minutes)
To make the buttercream, beat 1 1/3 c butter until smooth and glossy. Add vanilla and confectioner's sugar until there are no lumps. Then I added the Nutella. I am guessing on the amount because I just kept adding spoon fulls until I felt it tasted right. The original recipe has no Nutella and calls for 1/4 c heavy cream to be added once you've beaten it smooth. The Nutella made things quite thick and as I had no heavy cream....I decided hazelnut flavored coffee creamer would be juuuust fine. I added enough to thin out the icing. I won't lie, this stuff is amazingly delicious.
The cupcakes aren't very sweet which is great because the buttercream is decadent. Next time I think I would add one more banana, just for some extra flavor. All in all though, I call this a HUGE success!!
I found the following recipe for a banana cupcake as a starting point, but as usual things did not go quite as planned...
I doubled the recipe so mine looked like this:
Cake:
3 1/2 c flour
1 tbsp + 1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 c butter
1 c white sugar
4 eggs
1 pouch banana applesauce (ok, things get weird I will explain...)
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 c milk
4 large bananas
Buttercream:
1 1/3 c butter
1 tsp vanilla
4 1/2 c confectioner's sugar
2 tbsp hazelnut flavored coffee creamer (um, yeah..)
6 oz Nutella
Preheat oven to 350 and place liners in your pans. I have one normal size cupcake tin and one 6 count giant muffin tin, so I came out with 12 + 6 cupcakes.
Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in small bowl. Cream together butter and sugar until fluuffy. Add eggs one at a time. (This is about when I realized I only had 4 eggs. I know you can use applesauce and bananas both as egg substitutes, and because it was already a banana flavored cupcake I decided I could use one of the banana applesauce fruit crushers I take in my lunch. (yes, I realize that applesauce in a pouch is for 5 year olds so they don't need a spoon and still get fruit...but I need fruit, too!)) Add the vanilla with the last egg and beat well. Add flour mixture and milk alternately mixing until just incorporated. Fold in chopped bananas. Pour into pans and bake for about 20 minutes. (The bigger cupcakes needed about 5 extra minutes)
To make the buttercream, beat 1 1/3 c butter until smooth and glossy. Add vanilla and confectioner's sugar until there are no lumps. Then I added the Nutella. I am guessing on the amount because I just kept adding spoon fulls until I felt it tasted right. The original recipe has no Nutella and calls for 1/4 c heavy cream to be added once you've beaten it smooth. The Nutella made things quite thick and as I had no heavy cream....I decided hazelnut flavored coffee creamer would be juuuust fine. I added enough to thin out the icing. I won't lie, this stuff is amazingly delicious.
Dill-icious Chicken Salad
First of all, sorry for the slack! Not sure what we have been doing for the entire month of August, but apparently it was not cooking tasty things and telling you all about it...
Now, for my weekend trip to the zoo! Living outside of DC means there are a million and one awesome things to do, and most of them are free! A few friends and I decided to hit up the National Zoo on Sunday and take a picnic with us. I was in charge of menu planning of course, so I settled on chicken salad croissants, bacon ranch pasta salad, chips, sodas, and a bizarre crockpot (mis?)adventure cake. (Maybe that deserves it's own post...) I cheated on the pasta salad and used a box to save me some time, but the chicken salad was a little different from my normal recipe and it really turned out great!
(Note: I always try to cook to my friends' tastes. One of my buddies coming to the zoo haaaates celery, so I left it out of this recipe. I added in the pecans for our crunch factor)
3 poached chicken breasts (I just used water and some salt to poach in)
Silly amount of fresh dill, finely chopped (what constitutes a silly amount? I bought one of the little plastic boxes of fresh dill from the grocery store and used it all. Probably 2 heaping tbsp once chopped?)
6 green onions, thinly sliced
1 c. mayo
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
1/2 c. pecan halves
kosher salt and black pepper to taste
Roughly chop the chicken (I leave pretty big chunks because that's how I like my chicken salad, but obviously you can make it how you prefer) and toss in a bowl with dill and green onions. In small bowl whisk mayo, lemon juice, and mustard together. Slowly fold it into the chicken so everything gets coated nicely. Salt and pepper to taste. Add in the pecans and boom! You're done.
If you don't like dill and pecans you will 100% hate this salad. I personally love dill so I found this super tasty. We served it on butter croissants from Trader Joes with some lettuce and tomato and a small spread of Dijon. Everybody loved it--certainly made for a great day at the zoo!
Now, for my weekend trip to the zoo! Living outside of DC means there are a million and one awesome things to do, and most of them are free! A few friends and I decided to hit up the National Zoo on Sunday and take a picnic with us. I was in charge of menu planning of course, so I settled on chicken salad croissants, bacon ranch pasta salad, chips, sodas, and a bizarre crockpot (mis?)adventure cake. (Maybe that deserves it's own post...) I cheated on the pasta salad and used a box to save me some time, but the chicken salad was a little different from my normal recipe and it really turned out great!
(Note: I always try to cook to my friends' tastes. One of my buddies coming to the zoo haaaates celery, so I left it out of this recipe. I added in the pecans for our crunch factor)
3 poached chicken breasts (I just used water and some salt to poach in)
Silly amount of fresh dill, finely chopped (what constitutes a silly amount? I bought one of the little plastic boxes of fresh dill from the grocery store and used it all. Probably 2 heaping tbsp once chopped?)
6 green onions, thinly sliced
1 c. mayo
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
1/2 c. pecan halves
kosher salt and black pepper to taste
Roughly chop the chicken (I leave pretty big chunks because that's how I like my chicken salad, but obviously you can make it how you prefer) and toss in a bowl with dill and green onions. In small bowl whisk mayo, lemon juice, and mustard together. Slowly fold it into the chicken so everything gets coated nicely. Salt and pepper to taste. Add in the pecans and boom! You're done.
If you don't like dill and pecans you will 100% hate this salad. I personally love dill so I found this super tasty. We served it on butter croissants from Trader Joes with some lettuce and tomato and a small spread of Dijon. Everybody loved it--certainly made for a great day at the zoo!
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Viva la flan!
So ever since the epic fail, flan has been on the brain. I watched Jo's mom make hers at the beach a couple weeks ago (the recipe I originally botched) and picked up a few tips to avoid failure. I was feeling more confident for round two.
Then at work last week we had a pot luck. I work with ladies from all over the world, and one of my Peruvian mommas brought her flan. I quizzed her on her recipe and technique and found there were a lot of differences. Shirley bakes her flan in a bundt pan and uses 2 cans of evaporated milk in addition to the sweetened condensed milk (instead of regular milk.) She also makes her caramel straight in the bundt pan...
I decided to stick to Yolanda's caramel method, use Shirley's recipe, and bake it in an angel food cake pan because that seemed a safer bet than a scalloped bundt pan...
Then at work last week we had a pot luck. I work with ladies from all over the world, and one of my Peruvian mommas brought her flan. I quizzed her on her recipe and technique and found there were a lot of differences. Shirley bakes her flan in a bundt pan and uses 2 cans of evaporated milk in addition to the sweetened condensed milk (instead of regular milk.) She also makes her caramel straight in the bundt pan...
I decided to stick to Yolanda's caramel method, use Shirley's recipe, and bake it in an angel food cake pan because that seemed a safer bet than a scalloped bundt pan...
I put my cup of sugar in a sauce pan with 1/3 cup water and cranked up the heat. I got it bubbling and let it go, swirling it around the pan every now and then.
I'm going to overload you with pictures of this because let's be honest, it was my biggest struggle....
 |
| Here we go with the bubbles... |
 |
| Are we getting a little darker?! |
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| Drum roll please....we got caramel!!! |
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| Not too shabby, hmm? |
Friday, August 3, 2012
Shrimps and more Shrimps!
Back from vacation and shrimp feasting on the lovely coast of South Carolina! Ashley joined me and the fam for a delightful week of relaxing and beaching. With her she brought Grandma's recipe for shrimp and grits! I have never actually had shrimp and grits and I'm just now learning to enjoy shrimp at all so it was a new experience for me. Frankly, it was way easier to make than I was expecting and super delicious.
We start with 3 pounds of fresh shrimp for 6 adults - it was questionable if that was enough, I certainly was full but some people wished there had been more. With me, Ash, and my mom we peeled and de-veined all of the shrimp. I can't say this is an enjoyable job, but it wasn't nearly as terrible as I was expecting. And I got to use the shrimp de-veining tool we found in the kitchen of the condo! (You can save the shells and tails and make a shrimp stock which was used later in the week for a sauce to top a crab/fish dish. Very flavorful.)
The shrimp get mixed up with salt, pepper, about 6 cloves of garlic, and some thyme (the original recipe calls for parsley but we had to work with what was in the kitchen) and then placed in a glass baking dish. After about 20 min in a 400 degree oven they were cooked perfectly.
As for the grits, the local Food Lion had quite limited options so we ended up using 5-minute grits. Ashley was not excited about this and apparently my suggestion to use the yellow grits was ridiculous, so 5-minute grits it was. Ash dressed them up with almost a stick of butter and lots of salt. I don't know what non-instant grits taste like but these were certianly good. We mounded up the grits in a bowl and served the shrimp right on top. I'd say it was a very successful dinner and I thoroughly enjoyed my first shrimp and grits!
I think I'm a shrimp convert - It is way easy to cook and make flavorful, and I probably ate more of it on this vacation than I ever have before. The shrimp and grits dinner was pulled together between crazy golf cart rides and perhaps a couple too many beers and it still managed to be good. And don't think the shrimp stopped there, we had a big shrimp boil a couple nights later!
It's tough coming back to reality after an extremely enjoyable vacation at the beach with some of my favorite people. It made for good memories and a chance to cook for my family with one of my best friends, which doesn't happen often enough.
P.S. I apologize for the lack of pictures, for whatever reason the only one I have is of Ashley whisking grits and none of the final product. So I will leave you all with this gem:
We start with 3 pounds of fresh shrimp for 6 adults - it was questionable if that was enough, I certainly was full but some people wished there had been more. With me, Ash, and my mom we peeled and de-veined all of the shrimp. I can't say this is an enjoyable job, but it wasn't nearly as terrible as I was expecting. And I got to use the shrimp de-veining tool we found in the kitchen of the condo! (You can save the shells and tails and make a shrimp stock which was used later in the week for a sauce to top a crab/fish dish. Very flavorful.)
The shrimp get mixed up with salt, pepper, about 6 cloves of garlic, and some thyme (the original recipe calls for parsley but we had to work with what was in the kitchen) and then placed in a glass baking dish. After about 20 min in a 400 degree oven they were cooked perfectly.
As for the grits, the local Food Lion had quite limited options so we ended up using 5-minute grits. Ashley was not excited about this and apparently my suggestion to use the yellow grits was ridiculous, so 5-minute grits it was. Ash dressed them up with almost a stick of butter and lots of salt. I don't know what non-instant grits taste like but these were certianly good. We mounded up the grits in a bowl and served the shrimp right on top. I'd say it was a very successful dinner and I thoroughly enjoyed my first shrimp and grits!
I think I'm a shrimp convert - It is way easy to cook and make flavorful, and I probably ate more of it on this vacation than I ever have before. The shrimp and grits dinner was pulled together between crazy golf cart rides and perhaps a couple too many beers and it still managed to be good. And don't think the shrimp stopped there, we had a big shrimp boil a couple nights later!
It's tough coming back to reality after an extremely enjoyable vacation at the beach with some of my favorite people. It made for good memories and a chance to cook for my family with one of my best friends, which doesn't happen often enough.
P.S. I apologize for the lack of pictures, for whatever reason the only one I have is of Ashley whisking grits and none of the final product. So I will leave you all with this gem:
As AMAZING as this photo is...Little has a pic of the shrimps right as they went into the oven...
Friday, July 20, 2012
Epic Flan Failure.
Flan. I love flan. I went to Puerto Rico for spring break one year and it didn't matter if we were eating at a shack on the beach or a fine dining place, I ordered flan. Because I was doing a Mexican-ish theme for our bbq I figured what better time to try flan. Especially when Jo Anna's mom has a recipe for me...
Yolanda's Flan
Caramel Sauce:
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
Custard
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 can regular milk (use the condensed milk can as a measure)
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
For caramel, bring sugar and water to a boil, reduce heat and cook until it turns a golden brown. Pour into a deep pie dish. Beat custard ingredients together and pour over caramel.
Holy crap step one nearly killed me. I get my sauce pan, measure out the water and then add the sugar. I stirred it up so that everything was mostly dissolved and then cranked up the heat. When I had a good boil going I turned it down and let it cook. Mistake number one of oh so many: constant stirring. I assumed sugar burns easily and you don't want that, so I whisked and whisked. Lesson learned: this results in a grainy sugar mess. I can't even tell you how long this stuff cooked. At about 15 minutes I finally text Jo Anna for help. She said don't stir and start over. I said OK. (turns out as soon as you take it off the heat the sugar hardens into an impenetrable rock. I had to boil water in the pan AGAIN just to dissolve the sugar so I could wash the damn thing...)
Caramel: Take 2. I decided maybe I need a shallower pan for this, so I switched to a skillet, added water, sugar, turned up the heat. Jo Anna said don't touch it, so I stared at it. At this point I will mention my good friend Elliot was in the kitchen with me. He was rather amused by this whole process but now that we had such a challenge on our hands he became very invested. Our sugar water boiled, we turned down the heat and we stared. And stared. Jo said 5-10 minutes it should turn brown. 15 minutes later....
I think we made simple syrup. We got about as dark as champagne and nothing more. We lost a little faith in Jo Ann and turned to google...She had sent me an article on AllRecipes.com to help and I swear we followed everything correctly with the wet sugar method, soooo when Elliot found a YouTube video of Gordon Ramsay showing me how to make caramel in the dry style, we decided to go for it.
Caramel: Take 3. Back in the skillet. (That's what Gordon used...) 1 cup of sugar. High heat. Fancy swirl around the pan and wait. And wait. And wait until...ah ha! The sugar started to melt and turn brown finally. I think it cooked a little fast and there was a lot of yelling and rewinding Gordon's video and taking things off heat and putting it back on the heat but in the end we had a potentially slightly over done caramel. I dumped it in the pie dish and said 'Thank God.'
Mistake number 2: immediately pouring in the custard filling. As least I think this was a mistake as the caramel is like over 300 degrees and the custard clearly has eggs and stuff that will cook immediately. There was a lot of hissing and splashing and it looked like a marbled cheese cake...opps.
Mistake number 3: I TOTALLY forgot that the recipe says to put your pie dish in a water bath (a deep roasting pan works great) that covers the bottom half of the dish into a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes. Truthfully, it was not until Thursday night when I was putting away some dishes and I saw my roasting pan that I dramatically gasped and said "SHIT! I forgot to bake the flan in a water bath!!" What can I say, the caramel really threw me off...
Mistake number 4: Forgetting you wanted to leave the flan in the oven for an extra 90 seconds after the timer went off. 4 minutes later...."SHIT! FLAN!!" I think it got a little burny....
In the end it got eaten. It tasted a bit like burned sugar, but maybe in a good way like burnt marshmallow? I think the custard was also a bit overdone...probably has to do with the lack of a water bath and the trip into scorching caramel...
So, I learned a LOT of lessons here, and I'm getting ready to spend some time with Yolanda herself so maybe she can straighten me out...I will get this right. Forget pie. I want to conquer flan!!
Yolanda's Flan
Caramel Sauce:
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
Custard
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 can regular milk (use the condensed milk can as a measure)
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
For caramel, bring sugar and water to a boil, reduce heat and cook until it turns a golden brown. Pour into a deep pie dish. Beat custard ingredients together and pour over caramel.
Holy crap step one nearly killed me. I get my sauce pan, measure out the water and then add the sugar. I stirred it up so that everything was mostly dissolved and then cranked up the heat. When I had a good boil going I turned it down and let it cook. Mistake number one of oh so many: constant stirring. I assumed sugar burns easily and you don't want that, so I whisked and whisked. Lesson learned: this results in a grainy sugar mess. I can't even tell you how long this stuff cooked. At about 15 minutes I finally text Jo Anna for help. She said don't stir and start over. I said OK. (turns out as soon as you take it off the heat the sugar hardens into an impenetrable rock. I had to boil water in the pan AGAIN just to dissolve the sugar so I could wash the damn thing...)
I think we made simple syrup. We got about as dark as champagne and nothing more. We lost a little faith in Jo Ann and turned to google...She had sent me an article on AllRecipes.com to help and I swear we followed everything correctly with the wet sugar method, soooo when Elliot found a YouTube video of Gordon Ramsay showing me how to make caramel in the dry style, we decided to go for it.
Caramel: Take 3. Back in the skillet. (That's what Gordon used...) 1 cup of sugar. High heat. Fancy swirl around the pan and wait. And wait. And wait until...ah ha! The sugar started to melt and turn brown finally. I think it cooked a little fast and there was a lot of yelling and rewinding Gordon's video and taking things off heat and putting it back on the heat but in the end we had a potentially slightly over done caramel. I dumped it in the pie dish and said 'Thank God.'
Mistake number 3: I TOTALLY forgot that the recipe says to put your pie dish in a water bath (a deep roasting pan works great) that covers the bottom half of the dish into a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes. Truthfully, it was not until Thursday night when I was putting away some dishes and I saw my roasting pan that I dramatically gasped and said "SHIT! I forgot to bake the flan in a water bath!!" What can I say, the caramel really threw me off...
Mistake number 4: Forgetting you wanted to leave the flan in the oven for an extra 90 seconds after the timer went off. 4 minutes later...."SHIT! FLAN!!" I think it got a little burny....
In the end it got eaten. It tasted a bit like burned sugar, but maybe in a good way like burnt marshmallow? I think the custard was also a bit overdone...probably has to do with the lack of a water bath and the trip into scorching caramel...
So, I learned a LOT of lessons here, and I'm getting ready to spend some time with Yolanda herself so maybe she can straighten me out...I will get this right. Forget pie. I want to conquer flan!!
Monday, July 16, 2012
Summer Time Fiesta!
We've hit the middle of the summer so my roommate and I decided to have a BBQ and invite everybody over for a night. Since I am the head chef in these parts I decided I was bored with basic burgers, hot dogs, mac salad, etc. and chose instead to go Mexican!
The plan was chips, mango salsa and queso dip for munchies, lime marinated chicken fajitas and sangria for dinner, and flan for dessert. The first 3 recipes are here, but the flan failure deserves its own post...
Pineapple-Mango Salsa
1/3 whole, fresh pineapple
2 fresh mangoes
3 tomatoes
3/4 white onion
fistful of fresh cilantro (minced in the food processor)
1 fresh jalapeno
dash of cayenne
juice of 3 key limes
salt and pepper to taste
chop it all up and let it sit over night. You can make it as mild or as spicy as you want. This one had a kick but wasn't mouth burning by any means.
Little Crank's White Sangria
Double bottle Barefoot pino (I have to plug this wine, it's my fave to use for this plus its cheap)
1/4 cup sugar
1 bag frozen strawberries
1 bag frozen peaches
(You can use whatever fresh or frozen fruit you want, this wine seems to really pull in the flavors of whatever is in it)
I mixed it up and let it sit over night to develop flavor as well. I also made pureed pineapple ice cubes to serve in the sangria. This is an overly simple recipe, but to me, it tastes the best.
Lime Chicken Fajitas (recipe adapted from this one)
chicken breasts (I cooked 5 lbs. These were the biggest chicken breasts I've ever seen...)
1/8 cup cider vinegar (just realized recipe calls for red wine but I know this time I used cider...)
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp sugar
1/2 salt
pepper to taste
cilantro
All of these measurements are 'ish amounts.' Because I was cooking so much meat I had three skillets going and just eyeballed each of these ingredients into each skillet based on how much chicken there was. (I also omitted the onions and the tomato that this recipe calls for, and I cooked the chicken breasts whole and sliced them just before serving)
Once you saute up the chicken you add in these ingredients and let it simmer on low for about 20 minutes. I added the cilantro while everything was simmering just to add a bit more flavor.
Because I was making this into fajitas and not tacos, I sauteed some red and yellow bell peppers and onions to go with it. I also had the mango salsa, shredded mexican cheese, sour cream, and fresh jalapenos out to build your own fajitas. They really were quite delicious.
The plan was chips, mango salsa and queso dip for munchies, lime marinated chicken fajitas and sangria for dinner, and flan for dessert. The first 3 recipes are here, but the flan failure deserves its own post...
Pineapple-Mango Salsa
1/3 whole, fresh pineapple
2 fresh mangoes
3 tomatoes
3/4 white onion
fistful of fresh cilantro (minced in the food processor)
1 fresh jalapeno
dash of cayenne
juice of 3 key limes
salt and pepper to taste
chop it all up and let it sit over night. You can make it as mild or as spicy as you want. This one had a kick but wasn't mouth burning by any means.
Little Crank's White Sangria
Double bottle Barefoot pino (I have to plug this wine, it's my fave to use for this plus its cheap)
1/4 cup sugar
1 bag frozen strawberries
1 bag frozen peaches
(You can use whatever fresh or frozen fruit you want, this wine seems to really pull in the flavors of whatever is in it)
I mixed it up and let it sit over night to develop flavor as well. I also made pureed pineapple ice cubes to serve in the sangria. This is an overly simple recipe, but to me, it tastes the best.
Lime Chicken Fajitas (recipe adapted from this one)chicken breasts (I cooked 5 lbs. These were the biggest chicken breasts I've ever seen...)
1/8 cup cider vinegar (just realized recipe calls for red wine but I know this time I used cider...)
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp sugar
1/2 salt
pepper to taste
cilantro
All of these measurements are 'ish amounts.' Because I was cooking so much meat I had three skillets going and just eyeballed each of these ingredients into each skillet based on how much chicken there was. (I also omitted the onions and the tomato that this recipe calls for, and I cooked the chicken breasts whole and sliced them just before serving)
Once you saute up the chicken you add in these ingredients and let it simmer on low for about 20 minutes. I added the cilantro while everything was simmering just to add a bit more flavor.
Because I was making this into fajitas and not tacos, I sauteed some red and yellow bell peppers and onions to go with it. I also had the mango salsa, shredded mexican cheese, sour cream, and fresh jalapenos out to build your own fajitas. They really were quite delicious.
The food's not there yet obviously, but that's the fajita bar set up!
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Peanut Noodle Salad
I’ve always been a fan of pre-packaged food which sounds weird but it all goes back to the ol’ childhood. If Mom and Dad had an event to go to it was one of the few times I could get a frozen dinner or a Happy Meal and it was awesome! I’m pretty sure nothing was more exciting than eating dinner from a plastic tray. Home cooked meals were the standard and those frozen dinners were a special treat. (This is how I remember it at least; perhaps the parents know a different story)
Now that I’m on my own I still cook most of my own food because I can’t rationalize the expense of buying pre-made things that often taste better when I just make it myself. But the other day I was at Trader Joe’s and was sucked in by the plastic boxes full of salads and sandwiches and pizzas and I had to have one. This happens when you get off work at 8 and the prospect of whipping up a meal when you get home sounds a little like being an overachiever. So I went home with some Thai noodle salad and happily munched away and basked in the lazy satisfaction of doing nothing to earn it.
I’ve always actually wanted to make my own peanut noodle salad but could never find a recipe that tempted me. But after my Trader Joe’s take-home meal I decided I could do better and went on a search. So I found this recipe for Thai peanut dressing and figured it was worth a try. It was a success! It is more of a warm/room temp salad of sorts. And it was great to take for leftovers. It makes quite a bit of noodles and it tastes good cold.
I made a few adjustments: Halved the recipe of sauce and I still had plenty for almost a whole package of noodles, upped the lime juice, and left out the cilantro and just added it to the noodles at the end. (I also think you’re supposed to use rice noodles but I had to work with what the neighborhood store was willing to provide.)
Thai Peanut Noodles
Dressing:
¼ C Peanut Butter
1 Lime juiced and zested
1 ¼ tsp. Sesame Oil
½ T Rice Wine Vinegar
1 T Soy Sauce
1 ½ T Honey
¼ C Vegetable Oil
2 tsp. Chili Garlic Sauce (or Sriracha)
Salt
Grated Ginger – I used powdered b/c I forgot to buy the real deal and it turned out ok
Bean Sprouts
Napa Cabbage thinly sliced
Green onions, thinly sliced green and white parts
Carrots julienned
Red Pepper julienned
Cilantro to taste
Lime to taste
Toasted Peanuts
Soba Noodles
Chicken
Garlic
Lime
For the dressing just combine and whisk everything together. I would increase the amount of chili garlic sauce for my taste. There was a pleasant heat to it but I wanted more, certainly adjust to your own taste. If it’s too thick you can thin it out with some water.
Chop up the chicken and stir fry in a pan with some minced garlic, lime, salt, and pepper.
Remove chicken and throw in the veggies and white parts of the green onion. I stir fried for maybe just a couple minutes; everything was still pretty crisp it just took some of the raw edge off the veggies, wilted the cabbage slightly and warmed it up.
Cook noodles per package instructions
Combine the noodles, dressing, veggies, and chicken. Toss in the green parts of the onion, cilantro and toasted peanuts. I also added a squeeze of lime over my serving.
I hope you like it! ~ Jo
I hope you like it! ~ Jo
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Apple Chutney (with Pork Chops?)
Going along with Jo Anna's 'using up fruit in the fridge' theme, I needed inspiration for the giant bag of green apples sitting in my produce drawer. I took one for lunch every day last week and still had a solid 10 apples...
Lucky for me, the Barefoot Contessa's Back to Basics rerun that was playing in the background featured a green apple chutney! I made some changes to her recipe, but it was a great spring board.
6 green apples
1 cup yellow onion
2 Tbsp fresh ginger
2 oranges worth fresh squeezed juice (ish 1 cup)
1 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cider vinegar (I was generous with the vinegar)
1 tsp whole mustard seed
1/4 tsp garlic
solid dusting of cayenne pepper
Chop, squeeze, dump everything into a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until most of the liquid is gone.
I added the garlic and omitted the raisins from the original recipe. I also used the cayenne powder instead of red pepper flakes. I let the pan simmer for about an hour and then brought it back up to a boil to finish off some of the liquid.
I think it came out great--it's sweet but with a definite kick from the cayenne. I love pork chops and apples together so that is the plan for this chutney...
Lucky for me, the Barefoot Contessa's Back to Basics rerun that was playing in the background featured a green apple chutney! I made some changes to her recipe, but it was a great spring board.
6 green apples
1 cup yellow onion
2 Tbsp fresh ginger
2 oranges worth fresh squeezed juice (ish 1 cup)
1 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cider vinegar (I was generous with the vinegar)
1 tsp whole mustard seed
1/4 tsp garlic
solid dusting of cayenne pepper
Chop, squeeze, dump everything into a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until most of the liquid is gone.
I added the garlic and omitted the raisins from the original recipe. I also used the cayenne powder instead of red pepper flakes. I let the pan simmer for about an hour and then brought it back up to a boil to finish off some of the liquid.
I think it came out great--it's sweet but with a definite kick from the cayenne. I love pork chops and apples together so that is the plan for this chutney...
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Little Crank's Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Don't judge. Pie crusts are my kryptonite. Even store bought crusts foil me. I have burned edges (even though Mom taught me to foil them), I have pricked bottoms when I don't need to (turns out you only do that when you're baking an empty shell), I have had edges collapse (people can't seem to find a valid explanation for this...). I love pie and I love quiche so this is truly something I must master. Let's try again.
Tonight I decided to tackle two things: practice my pie crusts and work with rhubarb for the first time. I found a basic recipe for strawberry rhubarb pie but decided to make the dough before I went to the store. I threw about 1 1/4 cups flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt into my food processor, added 1/2 cup cold Crisco and pulsed it until I had crumbies. I had my ice water ready to go and added a tablespoon at a time until the dough pulled together (about 3). I got the dough into a ball, wrapped it in plastic, and put it in the fridge.
Then I remembered I have a beautiful, green, deep dish I never get to use that would be so cute filled with pie. Obviously this will require more dough than normal. Batch two. Go.
Dry ingredients in. Crisco in. Fail number one: too much food processor!!! My dough shot past crumbies into a cookie dough consistency. I decided more flour would help. It did and I was able to get things back on track. (Or so I thought...)
The dough was chilling and I went to the store. I found fresh rhubarb and strawberries. Like I said I had never worked with rhubarb before, so naturally I text the Big Crank. She confirmed that all I needed to do was peel it, cut the ends, and chop it up. She failed to mention that peeling rhubarb splatters a very deep, red, juice. My sink looked like a murder scene before I had my 2 cups...I also needed 2 cups chopped strawberries. Knowing my dish was a deep one I added about 1/4 cup more of both rhubarb and strawberry.
I followed the recipe other than that change and once the filling was mixed it was time to deal with the crust. I have granite counter tops so I just tossed some flour down and brought out the dough. I got my rolling pin out and started to roll out a circle. Fail number two: trying to pick up the rolled out dough to put in the dish. It crumbled to pieces! Never fear, I rolled it all together and hand mashed it into the bottom of the dish. This means it was a little too thick and a little too shallow for the amount of filling I made. Meh.
In goes the filling. Crumb topping on top. Into the oven. 50 minutes later...
It was a bit sloppy (my ever loving momma suggested it be called a crumble instead of a pie after I text her a pic...) but man was it TASTY!!!
I have NOT conquered the pie crust yet. But I think this was a good step in the right direction.
Tonight I decided to tackle two things: practice my pie crusts and work with rhubarb for the first time. I found a basic recipe for strawberry rhubarb pie but decided to make the dough before I went to the store. I threw about 1 1/4 cups flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt into my food processor, added 1/2 cup cold Crisco and pulsed it until I had crumbies. I had my ice water ready to go and added a tablespoon at a time until the dough pulled together (about 3). I got the dough into a ball, wrapped it in plastic, and put it in the fridge.
Then I remembered I have a beautiful, green, deep dish I never get to use that would be so cute filled with pie. Obviously this will require more dough than normal. Batch two. Go.
Dry ingredients in. Crisco in. Fail number one: too much food processor!!! My dough shot past crumbies into a cookie dough consistency. I decided more flour would help. It did and I was able to get things back on track. (Or so I thought...)
The dough was chilling and I went to the store. I found fresh rhubarb and strawberries. Like I said I had never worked with rhubarb before, so naturally I text the Big Crank. She confirmed that all I needed to do was peel it, cut the ends, and chop it up. She failed to mention that peeling rhubarb splatters a very deep, red, juice. My sink looked like a murder scene before I had my 2 cups...I also needed 2 cups chopped strawberries. Knowing my dish was a deep one I added about 1/4 cup more of both rhubarb and strawberry.
I followed the recipe other than that change and once the filling was mixed it was time to deal with the crust. I have granite counter tops so I just tossed some flour down and brought out the dough. I got my rolling pin out and started to roll out a circle. Fail number two: trying to pick up the rolled out dough to put in the dish. It crumbled to pieces! Never fear, I rolled it all together and hand mashed it into the bottom of the dish. This means it was a little too thick and a little too shallow for the amount of filling I made. Meh.
In goes the filling. Crumb topping on top. Into the oven. 50 minutes later...
It was a bit sloppy (my ever loving momma suggested it be called a crumble instead of a pie after I text her a pic...) but man was it TASTY!!!
I have NOT conquered the pie crust yet. But I think this was a good step in the right direction.
Biggie's Strawberry Peach Tart
I randomly decided to also make a strawberry dessert the other day. I always buy strawberries because they look pretty and smell so delicious and then I almost never eat them. I don't know why, I'm weird about fruit. This time though I was thinking I'd do something with those strawberries rather than waste them and I almost always have baking ingredients, so I found this recipe: Rustic Strawberry Tart and adapted slightly.
For the crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour (about 4 1/2 ounces)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 Tbs sugar
4 tablespoons chilled butter
3 1/2 tablespoons ice water
For the filling:
2 cups sliced strawberries/peaches
Scant 1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon corn starch
pinch salt
I always make dough the old fashioned way - mix the flour, salt, and sugar; cut the butter in with a pastry cutter, mix in water until it's damp enough to clump and then take over with your hands to form a dough. Divide dough into two balls and roll into approx 8-inch rounds. Place on a cookie sheet and mound the filling in the middle leaving about a 2-inch edge of crust. Fold the crusts up over the filling, swipe it with some beaten egg white and sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake 40 min in a 350 oven.
I had peaches lying around that were starting to look old so I threw them in, I'm guessing this recipe can be adjusted to use whatever fruit you have lying around.
I also added sugar to the crust, I felt like a dessert crust needed it, I now realize that pie crust almost never has sugar...tasted good to me though! I also didn't realize that the original recipe only calls for three Tbs of butter to actually go into the crust, so it all went in and I didn't find it to be anything but delicious and extra buttery.
My work friends thought this was tasty and I agree but I would add some spice, maybe cinnamon to the mix to jazz it up a bit next time. But overall, a success for my first "rustic" tart. I'm a big fan of the free form crust, it made for what I think was a very pretty little fruit tart. The crust was buttery and tender, the fruit was super ripe and sweet and very simple to make.
So the Little crank has been having trouble with pie crust lately - I almost always make only butter crust. I just read it tends to be slightly less flaky but can be easier to handle - maybe that's why I've had success. Thank you Epicurious. I also like butter. I usually roll out on wax paper which allows you to pick up the whole thing at once, flip over, flop into the pie tin. You can also roll between two sheets of wax paper - this prevents the rolling pin from sticking and breaking up the dough during the rolling process.
So I've got the crust down, but I think still looking for a more exciting filling or mix of fruit. But it was pretty and yummy so a good mid-week treat!
For the crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour (about 4 1/2 ounces)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 Tbs sugar
4 tablespoons chilled butter
3 1/2 tablespoons ice water
For the filling:
2 cups sliced strawberries/peaches
Scant 1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon corn starch
pinch salt
I always make dough the old fashioned way - mix the flour, salt, and sugar; cut the butter in with a pastry cutter, mix in water until it's damp enough to clump and then take over with your hands to form a dough. Divide dough into two balls and roll into approx 8-inch rounds. Place on a cookie sheet and mound the filling in the middle leaving about a 2-inch edge of crust. Fold the crusts up over the filling, swipe it with some beaten egg white and sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake 40 min in a 350 oven.
I had peaches lying around that were starting to look old so I threw them in, I'm guessing this recipe can be adjusted to use whatever fruit you have lying around.
I also added sugar to the crust, I felt like a dessert crust needed it, I now realize that pie crust almost never has sugar...tasted good to me though! I also didn't realize that the original recipe only calls for three Tbs of butter to actually go into the crust, so it all went in and I didn't find it to be anything but delicious and extra buttery.
My work friends thought this was tasty and I agree but I would add some spice, maybe cinnamon to the mix to jazz it up a bit next time. But overall, a success for my first "rustic" tart. I'm a big fan of the free form crust, it made for what I think was a very pretty little fruit tart. The crust was buttery and tender, the fruit was super ripe and sweet and very simple to make.
So the Little crank has been having trouble with pie crust lately - I almost always make only butter crust. I just read it tends to be slightly less flaky but can be easier to handle - maybe that's why I've had success. Thank you Epicurious. I also like butter. I usually roll out on wax paper which allows you to pick up the whole thing at once, flip over, flop into the pie tin. You can also roll between two sheets of wax paper - this prevents the rolling pin from sticking and breaking up the dough during the rolling process.
So I've got the crust down, but I think still looking for a more exciting filling or mix of fruit. But it was pretty and yummy so a good mid-week treat!
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