I love pie

I decided at some point last night while I was near sleep that I needed to bake pies for tomorrow. I didn't have the ingredients for these pies, but needed to bake them nonetheless. Which meant that I needed to make a trip to the grocery store tonight at some point. FYI - 8pm the day before Thanksgiving is not a bad time to hit your local grocery store. My local Shop n' Save was really not that busy at all, which is totally what I was hoping for by waiting forgetting to go earlier.

And now, as I write this, I have one pie in the oven and one in the fridge waiting for the oven.

One of my favorite pies and one I am somewhat known for in the family is a Coconut Buttermilk Pie. The recipe was in the local paper several years ago, although I've tweaked it a bit to fit my own tastes. It very much resembles the original recipe, I just tend to double or triple the coconut content and always ALWAYS use real butter.


Coconut Buttermilk Pie (pre-baking)*

I know you're dying for the recipe, right?

Old Fashioned Buttermilk Pie

• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick) melted & cooled slightly
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 4 heaping tbsp flour
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 tsp vanilla (I always use real vanilla, too. None of that extract stuff)
• 2-3 cups coconut (depending on how much you like it - the original recipe only calls for 1 cup)
• 1 unbaked deep dish pie crust (I use the Pet Ritz ones I find in the freezer section)

Oven: Preheated to 350ºF
I've already told you to melt your butter in a separate bowl. In a large bowl, beat the eggs until smooth. Then stir in your sugar and flour until it's blended. Then add the buttermilk, vanilla, & butter. Fold in coconut.
Once you've got that all mixed together, pour into the pie crust. I also like to sprinkle a little coconut on top to give it a little extra oomph. Bake for about 40 minutes, it's done when the filling isn't too jiggly and the crust is golden brown. The recipe says "serve warm", which I agree is super good, but it is just as delicious at room temperature or even cold out of the fridge (especially with a tall glass of milk. YUM.)


Caramel Apple Pie*

The Caramel Apple Pie is equally as delicious, maybe even more so now that I am all kinds of addicted to fruit, but I don't make it as often because it usually requires more work - it requires 6 cups of sliced apples! But this time I cheated and used the ones that were already sliced. It made life much easier. The original recipe is here and I pretty much follow it to the letter. Except, y'know, sometimes I add extra pecans. But for ease of baking, here is what I do:

• One frozen deep dish pie crust & 1 refrigerated pie crust (for the top - you could use 2 of these and eliminate the frozen one if you have an actual pie pan, which I do not).
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 6 cups thinly sliced apples - I used granny smith - they're so yummy in baking!
• 1/2 cup caramel ice cream topping
• 1/3-1/2 cup chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven and cookie sheet to 400º F.
2. Stir together the sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon. Toss with the apples in a mixing bowl.
3. Pour the mixture into the first unbaked pie shell then drizzle the caramel topping over the top. Sprinkle with pecans. Place the second pie shell over this and flute the edges. Cut slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape then place on preheated cookie sheet.
4. Bake 45-50 minutes, until golden brown. Cool for 1 hour before slicing. Top with whipped topping, if desired.

I found with this pie this time I had a lot of apples for one pie. But hey, I still put them all in the crust and baked that bad boy.

I'll never be the next great chef since I never make up my own recipes, but I do seem to know how to pick great recipes by looking at the ingredients and occasionally tweaking the ingredients.

Originally posted over on my blog because I didn't intend it to be a post about cooking until I was halfway done writing it. So I decided to cross post here, too. 

*I know you can't really tell much by the pictures, but I can almost guarantee that I'll take more tomorrow once both pies have been dug into at the different events I'll be attending.

The Best Stuffing Ever

The first thing I should tell you is that I have a huge crush on Michael Chiarello. He can do no wrong in my book. He could probably cook a recipe that consisted of only mayonnaise, peanut butter and chocolate (three things I loathe) and I would eat it, cause, you know, Michael said so. What I am trying to say is, I love his recipes. I trust him. He has never steered me wrong. However, I have tweaked this recipe just a bit. Well, ok, I changed the main component of the recipe. But the rest is all Michael.

The second thing I should tell you is that although I am posting a recipe for stuffing, it should in no way be taken as a diss to my good buddy, dressin'. Stuffing is NOT the same as dressin'. I am from the south. Cornbread dressin' can't be replaced. That is why I cook this dish AND cornbread dressin' for Thanksgiving. They are two totally different things. More work? Yes. Worth it? Absosmurfly. A little bit country, a little bit rock 'n roll. Trust me on this...you should try this recipe. But if you are from the south, do NOT let it replace your grandma's dressin'.

So, the recipe is for Panettone Stuffing. For those of you who aren't Italian, here is the Wiki definition of Panettone: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panettone It is basically a super expensive Italian version of fruitcake, except it tastes good.

If you want to make this recipe with Panettone, go for it. You should just know that you might have to take out a second mortgage on your home in order to pay for the loaf of Panettone and your final product will taste much sweeter than my version. Now you know.

Here is what you need for my version:

2 lb. loaf of sourdough bread, cubed (if you wanna make the panettone version, use 1 panettone instead)
1 stick sweet butter
2 bunches of fresh sage, leaves minced
1/2 cup dried apricots, diced
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup cranberries (or raisins if you prefer)
1 1/2 cups minced yellow onion
1 cup minced carrot
1 cup minced celery
1/2 cup minced fennel
Up to 2 cups chicken, turkey or vegetable stock
2 eggs optional (use if you prefer a firmer stuffing)
salt and pepper


Here is what you do:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Place your cubed bread into a large bowl. Melt half of the butter in a saucepan over medium heat and continue to cook until light brown, about 5 minutes. (This is an important step. The brown butter is vital to this recipe, in my opinion)

Take off the heat and add half of the sage. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the sage butter over the bread and toss gently but swiftly. Spread out onto 2 cookie sheets and place in oven until light brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and place back into bowl.

An up close and personal shot of the finished croutons. See all that brown butter? Yum.


Meanwhile, place the dried fruit in a large bowl; add bowling water to cover them and set aside for at least 10 minutes. this will plump and soften the fruit for cooking. Drain fruit once plumped.

This is the fruit soaking.

Here it is, all plumped and drained.

Raise the oven temperature to 375 degrees F.

Melt the remaining butter and add onion, carrot, celery and fennel. Saute on medium-low heat until soft.

Add dried fruit and remaining sage.

Toss into cooled croutons. Gently toss and add broth to moisten; add more broth if you like a softer stuffing. Stir in beaten eggs now, if using. (I don't.) Adjust salt and pepper to your liking. Turn out into an oven-proof casserole.

Before Cooking

Bake uncovered until golden brown on top, about 40 minutes.

Finished Product

Try to restrain yourself from eating it all before you make it to the Thanksgiving table.

Enjoy!

Pork Tenderloin - I did it!

I've not had a lot of luck cooking pork as I always dry it out.

I started with a plain 1.75 lb boneless pork tenderloin and covered it with olive oil, salt and pepper, and garlic.



I put that in a 325° oven with quartered red potatoes, diced apples, and onion wedges seasoned with salt and pepper and olive oil.





I cooked that for about an hour, then poured some apple maple BBQ sauce over the pork.





It roasted for another 15 minutes, then I covered it with foil and let it sit for about 10 and served.



It was eaten up in like 5 minutes! It was tender and tasty, not dry at all.




Jinja Out

Hummus: quite possibly the world's perfect food

Okay, maybe Hummus isn't perfect, but it has got to be really close!  It's healthy, delicious, filling, and can be adapted to almost any taste preference.  

Since the grand event surrounding our rooster Basil and the meal we made out of him, I haven't been doing a whole lot of cooking.  At least nothing noteworthy.  Add to that a three day trip out of town, and here I am, finally getting back into the kitchen.

Overall, dinner last night wasn't a big to do.   It was in fact, just right for everyday; some simple grilled meats (chicken, lamb, and fish) and a huge salad.  But we did have guests (we nearly always do!) so I made some hummus for an appetizer.  This was my first attempt at home made hummus and it turned out wonderfully.  It wasn't exactly what I was expecting, or hoping for, when I started out, but it really was delicious and enjoyed by all.  

A key ingredient in hummus is tahini, or sesame paste.  I didn't have any on hand, but I did have a full bag of fresh sesame seeds.  Again, I've never made tahini before, but hey, why not give it a shot as well?  Tahini can be omitted if necessary (just add a little sesame oil in it's place), so I decided to try making it.  Really, it was quite simple.  In searching for some simple instructions on how to make tahini, I came across a couple of sources that indicated the sesame seeds should be soaked for a full day!  Apparently, the simpler instructions, like the recipes I worked from, are actually for tahini dip.  But for a basic hummus, it is a perfectly suitable substitute to prepared tahini.  I used my own adaptation of various general instructions.

The hummus recipe itself came from David Lebovitz.  His is a recipe adapted from a cookbook of recipes from the Cabbagetown Cafe in Ithaca, New York, where he was once a chef.  I loved the simplicity of the recipe and truly enjoyed the result.  My only change may be a little less garlic.  Though, the slightly over-strong garlic in my hummus was likely due to cook error and not the recipe!

Here are the ingredients you'll need:

Hummus

3 large cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon coarse salt
3/4 cup (180g) tahini (sesame paste)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup (80ml) freshly-squeezed lemon juice
2 cups (350g) drained canned chickpeas, (reserve the liquid)
1 cup (15g) gently-packed parsley leaves, preferably flat-leaf
1/8 teaspoon chile powder
6 tablespoons (or more) of chickpea liquid

Here's my method of preparation.

If you don't have tahini on hand, you can substitute the following:

1/2 c. sesame seeds

2-6 Tbs olive oil

In a coffee grinder or spice mill, grind the sesame seeds to a fine powder.  In a small bowl, combine grounds sesame seeds and 2 Tbs. oil.  Mix with a fork.  Continue adding oil 1 Tbs at a time until you've formed a thick paste, about the consistency of peanut butter.

In a blender, combine garlic, salt, tahini, olive oil, and lemon juice until garlic is completely chopped.  

Add the chickpeas, chili powder, and chickpea liquid, and blend until smooth.  Add more liquid as needed to achieve a moderately thick paste.  I like mine just slightly thinner than peanut butter.  I added the parsley at the same time as the chickpeas and chili powder, but found that the parsley was too finely pureed at the end.  I would recommend adding the parsley last and blending until it is well chopped.  Be sure to stop blending occasionally and scrape the inside of the blender.

Serve immediately, or chill slightly.  Hollow out a small well in the center of the hummus and pour in a table spoon or so of olive oil.  I served mine with sesame crackers from Trader Joe's and white corn tortilla chips.

*If you use fresh chickpeas instead of canned, you'll need one cup of dried chickpeas to make two cups of cooked.

Mom's Recipe Box - Christmas Cookies Part 1 - UPDATED

This is a trip down memory lane.... my mom died in 1979, I still miss her. I have her recipe boxes and this year, in prep for the holidays, I decided to go thru them and find some old favorites. With the economy doing what its doing, I'm going to give gifts of cookies and spiced nuts. And basically, I prefer consumable gifts (the ones you don't have to dust).

Here's one of the cookies I'll be making:

Pecan Fingers

Cream:
1 cup butter (can you belive it says "or oleo"?) - melted worked the best
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp water

After blended, stir in 1/4 tsp salt, 2 c flour, 2 c finely grated / ground pecans (I'm gonna throw them in the food processor, but I used to grind them in the hand cranked nut grinder... for hours).

Chill 1-2 hrs. Form into small balls, then roll to form "fingers". Place on greased cookie sheet.

I did find that the dough was too stiff to form into nice fingers.... so I put the bowl in the microwave to take the chill off and make the dough more pliable. Worked like a charm! I made all the fingers at once (10 dozen..) and just let them sit in the fridge as I baked one tray at a time.

Bake at 250 for 1 hr. Roll in powdered sugar while still warm. After they cooled completely, I rolled them in powdered sugar again to really get them coated.

And they came out perfect! Just like mom used to make.

A funny PS: When I read thru this after posting, I had put "sit in 1/4 tsp salt, 2 c flour" --- um, I don't think so!

A healthier version of Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread

Many years ago (okay, maybe 5 years ago), I found an amazing recipe for pumpkin bread at allrecipes.com. The recipe as written is fantastic, but since then I have tweaked it a bit to make a healthier, but still delicious, version. 

So, I present to you my version of the Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread: 

Ingredients:

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 cup unsweetened applesauce*
2/3 cup water
2 - 2.5 cups white sugar*
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 c. chopped pecans (optional)*

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans.

In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, applesauce, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Make sure your spices are as evenly distributed as possible. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.

Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Enjoy. The loaves also freeze quite well - I rarely need 3 loaves and usually wind up freezing at least one of them until the others are gone. Then again, this is so delicious that you might wind up eating all 3 loaves at one time anyway. :) 

The original recipe (about 8 slices/loaf) has 264 calories & 1o grams of fat per serving, while the modifications I made (without the pecans) bring it down to about 150 calories & 1 gram of fat per serving. 

*These are the ingredient modifications I've made. I always replace the oil with applesauce and recently cut back on the amount of sugar. The 2 cups works well, but I think I'll try 2.5 next time to make it a little sweeter. Also, I love pecans in just about any kind of bread, so I tend to just toss them in willy nilly when I can. 

Roasted Chicken and vegetables with zucchini rice bake

This past weekend, we engaged in an entirely unusual activity-- unusual for us anyway.  On Saturday afternoon, we harvested (a nice way of saying "killed") our rooster Basil, cleaned, prepared, and cooked him up.  If you're dying to know all about the experience, and, just why I would want to do such a thing, you can read about it HERE on my personal blog.

For this post, though, I'll stick to the recipes.

I'll first say that Basil the Rooster was a small bird, maybe the size of a game hen, but not quite as meaty.  He was very tasty though!  I roasted the chicken whole with autumn vegetables and fresh herbs, and served it along side a baked casserole of zucchini and rice smothered in parmesan cheese.  With chicken that we raised and zucchini we grew in our garden, it was a delicious, hearty, and very local feast!

Herb Roasted Chicken and Vegetables*

1 whole chicken (mine was about 2 lbs.)

3 large cloves garlic

1/2 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped

1 very large carrot, chopped (at least 1 cup)

1/2 small butternut squash, cut to 1 inch cubes (1 1/2 cups)

1 medium red onion, cut in 2 inch chunks

fresh basil and oregano

dried herbs to taste (thyme, sage, etc.)

3-5 bay leaves

olive oil

coarse salt

black peppercorns, ground

Prepare the chicken by rinsing in cool water and patting dry with a clean paper towel.  Rub the cavity with salt.

Slice the garlic lengthwise and combine with chopped yellow onion in a small bowl.  Toss with a small amount of olive oil to coat then and stuff the cavity.   Pin the cavity closed with a bamboo skewer or long toothpick to keep the onion & garlic inside.

Place the chicken in a 9" x 11" baking dish and arrange the roasting vegetables around the bird.  Drizzle the outside of the bird and the vegetables with olive oil (about 2 generous tablespoons)  to coat.  Using the fresh basil and oregano sprigs, stuff the crevices between the wings and legs.  Do the same with the bay leaves.  Sprinkle dried herbs, salt, and pepper on the outside of the bird and pat or rub gently.

Finally, tie the legs together with twine to keep the herbs tightly touching the chicken and prevent the delicate inner leg from getting dried out.

Roast in a preheated 425 degree oven until juices run clear when pierced with a knife (45 minutes to one hour, depending on the size of the bird.)

*Use whatever autumn vegetable mix you prefer; I used what I had on hand.  I was wishing I'd had some eggplant!

Baked Zucchini and Rice Casserole

2 cups cooked jasmine rice

1 large zucchini, shredded

2 Tbs butter, sliced thinly

1/4 cup half & half or cream

3/4 cup diced onions

2 cloves garlic, minced

salt & pepper

6 oz. shredded parmesan cheese

Cook your rice according to package directions.  Combine rice, onions and garlic, and layer the mixture in the bottom of a round 2 quart ceramic casserole dish.  Place the slices of butter on top of the rice in a single layer.  Drizzle half of the 1/2 & 1/2 or cream over the butter.  Layer the shredded zucchini over the rice, and drizzle with remaining 1/2 & 1/2.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Top with shredded parmesan cheese and bake for about 40 minutes or until cheese is melted and nicely browned on top.  Let cool for about 5 minutes prior to serving to allow cheese to set.

Together these dishes served 6 people adequately, even though the chicken was pretty small.  A larger bird would yield more meat and be a more filling meal.

All in all, our homegrown meal was a hit and well worth the effort!  (Not that I'm anxious to do it again real soon...)