Things are getting repetitious, I know, but this is yet another Cook’s Illustrated Recipe.  Those people know what they’re doing.  I can’t help but reference their cookbooks anytime I embark on a new project.  This wasn’t even a new project, really.  I just needed a crumble recipe for the top of my apple pie.  And thank GOD!  Otherwise, my pie would have been short about half of the apples and all of the flavor.  I did make a few tweaks, and would probably make more the next time around.  It could definitely use more cinnamon, some nutmeg and cloves. . . . So, without further ado, here’s the recipe. . . Oh, what was that?  You wanted to see what the pie looks like?  Oh, well, okay. . .

Now, let’s make some pie. . .

Dutch Apple Pie

1 single crust pie dough

Streusel                                                                                                                                                                         

1 c. all-purpose flour
1/3 c. granulated sugar
1/3 c. packed light brown sugar
1 T. yellow cornmeal (makes this streussel AWESOME – don’t leave it out)
6 T. unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Filling
2 T. unsalted butter
2 1/2 pounds (5 to 7) firm tart apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4″ slices
2 pounds (4 to 6) firm sweet apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4″ slices
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. salt
1 c. golden raisins
1/2 c. heavy cream

I have to say, before we begin that I left out the raisins, so I swapped and used more sweet apples, less tart. . . and it wasn’t very sweet at all. So, you may want to use even MORE sweet apples if you leave out the raisins. . . or maybe you could just use the raisins like the recipe says. . . that would be a novel idea.

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375. Line the chilled crust with a double layer of aluminum foil and fill with pie weights (or dried beans – whatever’s handy). Bake until the pie dough looks dry and is light in color, 25 – 30 minutes. Transfer the pie plate to a wire rack and remove the foil and pie weights (or beans). Adjust the oven rack to the lowest position.
2. For the Streussel: Mix the flour, sugars and cornmeal together in a medium bowl, then drizzle with the melted butter. Stir the streussel with a fork until roughly combined.
3. For the filling: Melt the butter in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Stir in the apples, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples have softened, about five minutes. Stir in the raisins (or not) and continue to cook, covered, until some of the apples have begun to break down, about 7 minutes longer.
4. Drain the apples thoroughly through a colander, reserving the juice. Combine the drained juice and cream in a small saucepan and cook over medium-high heat until very thick and reduced by half, about three minutes.
5. Spread the apples inthe baked pie crust and drizzle with the cream mixture. Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the top. Place the pie in the oven and bake until the crust and streusel have browned, about 25 minutes. Let the pie cool on a wire rack until the filling has set, about 2 hours. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Now, would you like to see what it looks like after the pretty photos are done?  Before I decide to skip the morning ritual of Grape Nuts and indulge in apple pie and vanilla ice cream, just because it’s Thursday?

It all started when I decided that I needed to come up with my own recipe.  You would think that I would have learned after the casserole debacle that I’m not all that great with concocting recipes. . . but no.  So, I had this GREAT idea.  Right?  That’s how they always start.  I love things that pretend to be Mexican hot chocolate.  I sometimes wonder what actual Mexican hot chocolate tastes like. . .   But, you know, the things that pretend to be are all favorites of mine. . . I love the combination of dark chocolate, a little pepper, a little cinnamon.  Coincidentally, I still had some Tobasco chocolate in my freezer from my last trip to Avery Island.  FYI, this chocolate is GOOD. . . and spicy.  So, I figured that I could make my favorite chocolate cookie recipe, add bits of Tabasco chocolate, and roll it in a cinnamon sugar mixture and call it a day.  It probably would have been fine if I stopped there. . . but no.  How can you call a cookie a hot chocolate cookie if it doesn’t have marshmallows in it, right?  So, in went some mini marshmallows.  Sigh.  If you discount the fact that I had to use the huge metal BBQ spatula to get them off of the pan, these are decent cookies and worth the effort.  You know, if you leave off that one little detail.  . .  But, seriously. . . look how yummy they look before they made it into the oven. . .  like little bits of cookie heaven.

So, here’s my suggestion, make the cookies, leave off the marshmallows?  That seems so wrong. . . I wonder what it would have been like with marshmallow cream swirled in.  Does anyone know what happens when you bake marshmallow cream????

Hot Chocolate Cookies

1/2  cup  unsweetened cocoa powder (this is an absurd amount, I know)

In a mixing bowl combine flour and cocoa; set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat the butter or margarine with an electric mixer on medium to high speed about 30 seconds or until softened. Add sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Beat until well combined. Add egg and vanilla. Beat well. Gradually beat in the flour mixture.  Add Tabasco chocolate and marshmallows (ha). 

Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in cinnamon and sugar and place on ungreased baking sheet.  Bake in 350°F oven about 10 minutes or until done. Remove to wire rack; cool.

Be forewarned, with this much cocoa, these cookies will have you bouncing off of the walls, in a good way.

Molasses Spice Cookies

1/2 c. plus 1/3 c. granulated sugar
2 1/4 c. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
12 T. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 c. packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c. light or dark molasses ( I used dark)

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375°.  Spread 1/2 c. of the sugar into a shallow dish for rolling.  In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, spices, pepper and salt together. 

It should smell like Christmas already.

In a large bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar, and remaining 1/3 c. of granulated sugar together with an electric mixer (or with a wire whisk if you don’t feel like hauling out the mixer) on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 6 minutes.  Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla until combined, about 30 seconds.  Beat in the molasses until incorporated, about 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl and beaters as needed.

Reduce the mixture speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds (the dough will be soft).  Working with 2 T. (I preferred less.) of dough at a time, roll the dough into balls with wet hands, then roll in the sugar to coat.  Lay the balls on the baking sheets, spaced about two inches apart.

Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, until the edges are set and beginning to brown but the centers are still soft and puffy, 10 – 12 minutes, rotating each baking sheet halfway through baking.  (The cookies will look raw between the cracks and seem underdone.)  Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then serve warm or transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

These are so easy, and so delicious, and I happened to have all of the ingredients at home already.  What a bonus.  Home baked cookies on a Thursday morning with little to no fuss. . . and last night’s casserole sitting in the fridge. . . I shouldn’t have to cook again for another month or so!  Now, go out and find your favorite cookie recipe and share here (or come to the cookie swap and share there).  Cookie sharing is always more fun in real life. . . Don’t you want to taste these cookies in person???

Recently, I have been flipping through one of the most entertaining works of non-fiction known to Shelly.  I have determined after much deliberation that I will allow myself to create a total of three items from this book, A is for Apron.  Already owning (and never using three), I feel that it would be wasteful to create any more than three new aprons.  I have always realized their usefulness (and cuteness!) but never really bother to don one, probably mostly out of laziness. . . that and I don’t mind making a colossal mess if I am going to cook.  That being said, as I was perusing the A book and enlarging patterns, I was very close to deciding that my aprons don’t need pockets.  I can understand why an individual would want a pocket on, say, a gardening apron. . . but in the kitchen?  It’s not like I’m going to stick an egg in the pocket and gallivant around whilst stirring up other ingredients.  But then, last night, I put on an apron to start cooking (a recipe which I promise to share in a moment), and I realized WHY aprons have pockets!

This is so you have somewhere to place your camera while you’re cooking.  That way, it’s much easier to snap photos, every step of the way.  Isn’t that exciting?  So, of course, all of my new aprons – which I swear that I AM going to make will have pockets. . . nice deep pockets, so my camera doesn’t tumble out. 

Now, let’s get to cooking, shall we?  I have to say, this is the first recipe that I’ve “made up” ever in my life – unless you count some neon yellow rice thing that I made in the dorm once. . . which I’d really rather you all forget about.  I often cook things without recipes, but it’s always something that I’m quite familiar with and have made many times before.  Well, yesterday, I had a hankering for something new, and an idea in my head of what I was looking for.  I wanted it to

A)  be a casserole
B) have ground meat in it and
C) have potatoes – sort of like a Spanish Tortilla but without all of the frying

After a little deliberation and a lot of unsuccessful searches on the internet, I came up with a game plan.  I would slice the potatoes and boil them for a tad, only to start their cooking.  Then, I would make a chili-like mixture.  And I would create a cheese sauce. . . and then layer everything together and bake it.  Voilà!  So easy, right?  Of course, that’s the theory. . . It wasn’t until everything was said and done that I realized I had simply created a less greasy / more yummy version of chili cheese fries.  I have no idea why it didn’t occur to me that this casserole would taste like that. . . so it’s not that original, but it was really freaking good.  Now, here’s the recipe, so you can make some too! 

Casserole de Shelly

4 baking potatoes
1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef
1 small onion
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 packet taco seasoning mix
1 can Mexican Rotel
1 bunch of cilantro
2 T. butter
2 T. flour
1 c. milk
3 c. cheese – I used a mixture of Chedder, Colby, and Pepper Jack

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Put a large pot of water on to boil.  Peel the potatoes and slice them into 1/4 inch slices.  Dump them all into a pot and let them cook for a while.  I cooked mine too long. . . so your guess is as good as mine.  In a skillet, cook the ground meat and drain the grease.  Add the onion and garlic and cook for about ten minutes, until wilted.  While all of this is going on, because you’re super organized, you can start the cheese sauce.  I began by making a light roux.  Of course, I really was making this up as you can see here.  It didn’t even occur to me at the time that I was supposed to melt the butter in the pot before I dumped the flour in.  I thought for a second that I was going to have to chunk this and start over, but it actually worked out okay.  So, right, to make the cheese sauce. . . Melt 2 T. butter in a medium saucepan and add 2 T. flour.  Continue stirring, carefully, as the roux begins to cook.  Because it’s a cheese sauce, I wanted to keep it a light colored roux.  Once it’s done, add 1 cup of milk and stir until thickened.  After the milk/roux mixture has thickened, you can turn off the heat, and add the cheese, stirring until all of the cheese is melted.  This mixture was a little thicker than I cared for, so I opened the can of Rotel, and drained the liquid from the tomatoes into the cheese sauce.  After this is made, you can set it aside until it’s time to layer the casserole. 

Okay now, where are we?  The potatoes are cooking; the meat is cooking with onions and garlic; the cheese sauce is made, and the oven is warm.  All we have left is to finish up the meat sauce, layer everything and bake.  So, to finish up the meat, all you need to do is add the taco seasoning, add the Rotel, stir it all around and dump in a ton of chopped cilantro.  The cilantro really makes a difference in the casserole as a whole. . . it adds such a fresh flavor.  I don’t think I’d ever make this without it.  And look how pretty it looks!  Okay, okay.  I’m rambling.  It looks like everything is now ready to be assembled.  Yay!  That might mean that dinner will be done sometime before it’s time to go to bed. . .

I really took the easy route with assembly.  I didn’t at all feeling like it would matter one way or the other, so I drained the potatoes (which were by now cooked completely through) and dumped them into the bottom of the casserole dish – in this case, a 9 x 13 pan.  Then I poured the meat mixture on. . . and then I topped everything with the cheese sauce, so it looked something like this.  Then, I tossed it into the oven, set the timer for a thirty minutes, washed what appeared to be a mountain of dirty dishes, and took the quickest shower in the world, being sure to wash all of the important parts (and all of the not so important parts. . . what exactly is not important really, when it comes to showering?) and was done just in time to pull dinner out of the oven.  I was clean; the kitchen was clean; and I had a ton of casserole to eat.  And it was only 8:00.  It doesn’t get much better than that.  And, in the process, I learned what apron pockets are for. . . it was an amazing night, really, when you think about it.

But, you see, this is about more than just the sign. . . this is about a legacy, about history, about our culture in Louisiana. . .

Okay, maybe it’s not about all of that, but it is about one DAMN good sandwich. . ..

I don’t have a recipe. . . don’t really have much else to say except to praise the wonder that is Rays Pege.  I was going to say that this joint offers the best food in North Louisiana, but then I realized that’s not much of a compliment when you consider it.  But, I do feel safe saying that the roast beef poboy that I order when I go is the best in the state.  I know this because after my first visit, I went home to Podunk, Louisiana, craving roast beef poboys and tried more than I could count on my fingers and toes at restaurants, gas stations, burger joints. . . and was disappointed every time.  The fries are pretty freaking awesome too.  Sigh. . . This is definitely worth a six hour drive. . . And, if you remember your tripod and show up at night, you might even snag an awesome photo of a vintage neon sign. 

Home made fries

1 potato  (or more, depending on how hungry you are)

oil

cast iron (or other heavy) pot

Heat oil in the pot.  Chop the potato.  Fry it.  Sprinkle it with Tony Cachere’s. 

This is so simple.  Why do we forget sometimes how much better home made food is?

A little bit of some history for you here. . . I originally started watching Tyler’s Ultimate because I love how they shoot the video of his dishes.  They always end up looking like mana from heaven, glowing ethereally out of the television and into my heart.  After buying the house, we had family over for lunch.  Knowing that my cajun cooking, decent as it is, is no comparison for my grandma’s or my Aunt Dot’s, I decided to cook spaghetti instead.  Instead of choosing between our two tried and trues, I decided to attempt ULTIMATE SPAGHETTI and MEATBALLS.  Daunting, no?  It was actually much easier than I imagined it to be and super tasty too.  Now on my eighth or so batch (in five months), I’ve tweaked it a bit and can’t imagine my life without this handy go to recipe.  We’ve already hauled it around to family reunions, frozen batches for Alex’s mom, and eaten so much of it that you would think that we’d never want to eat spaghetti again.  Even now, as I’m typing this, I’m wondering if it isn’t too soon to make another batch.  It has been about three days since we finished off this last one. . .

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Behold, the mighty lemon!

This post is filled with all sorts of yummy lemon flavored foods.  Doesn’t that make you happy?

Lemon squares

Recipe taken from William-Sonoma’s “Essentials of Baking” p.151.

I make these often for friends and coworkers and they are always a hit.  I know that Stacie isn’t a big fan of the often overly complicated recipes in this cookbook, but I’ve have to vouch for this recipe.  The most complicated part for me is separating the egg yolks without making a mess.  I’ve separated probably hundreds of eggs in my life and yet still I can’t manage to do it neatly.

On to the baking!

For the crust:

3/4 cups flour

1/4 cup confectioners’ (powdered) sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pea-sized pieces (I do this roughly with a fork and knife)

For the filling:

3 large whole eggs

3 large egg yolks

1 tsp of lemon zest

3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (5-6 lemons) – The recipe calls for Meyer lemons, but I prefer regular cheapies which are more sour.

1 cup granulated (the kind you put in your coffee) sugar

6 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into pieces (best to use room temp butter)

Equipment:

double boiler (or you can use a heat resistant bowl over a small pot)

glass 8-inch square baking pan

baking thermometer

Instructions:

To make the crust (this is the cavewoman version of the original instructions)-

1) mix the flour, sugar and salt together in the glass pan

2) mix in the butter, and using your hands, mash all the ingredients together and mush them into the pan and at least one inch up the sides of the pan.  Don’t worry if the butter and dry ingredients don’t mix smoothly.  In fact, the rough mixture will result in a flaky crust.

3) bake the crust for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees.  Take out and set aside when done.

To make the filling-

1) Fill the bottom pot of the double boiler (or your little pot) with 2 inches of water and boil.  Put top pot of double boiler or bowl on top.

2) In the top pot/bowl, whisk together eggs, egg yolks, lemon juice, and granulated sugar until sugar dissolves.

3) Add butter and stir until the butter melts and the mixture gets to 160 degrees.  About 10 minutes.

4) Take off the heat, add zest,  and let cool for about 10-15 minutes.  Then pour mixture through a mesh sieve into baked crust.

5) Bake for 13-17 minutes at 325 degrees.

6) Let cool for about 30 minutes and then put in fridge for at least 3 hours to set.  Dust with powdered sugar if desired.

I like to cut mine into little squares and put them in cupcake baking cups to give to friends and coworkers.

This one was more trapezoidal than square, but still delicious.

Here, you can see that I got over-enthusiastic about getting the squares out of the pan.

Lemon chiffon cake

I made this cake at the same dinner where I served Beef pie with Guinness and Mushrooms.

The original recipe is found at the link below, but make sure to read the comments as they offer many helpful suggestions.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Lemon-Chiffon-Cake-2207

So purty!

And fluffy and delish!

Hey!  Remember when I made all those lemon cupcakes?

Yeah, me too. <—Click on that for link to amazing post about amazing and beautiful lemon cupcakes.

Did you miss last week’s post on 2-lemon chicken?  Shame on you!

Click here now, you philistine!

Mr.Happy-Lemon-Face wishes you all the best of luck in your lemon adventures.

As I was slowly backing out of the driveway yesterday, Alex yelled at me to stop.  This action not being atypical, I looked up to see whether I was about to hit a) the fence or b) the house.  You can not imagine my confusion, when I realized that I was close to hitting neither.  He suddenly jumped out of the car and ran to the front porch.  The UPS man, who only yesterday destroyed our mailbox, had delivered another package.  A surprise package.  For me.  How exciting!

Alex, bless his heart, had ordered me a Toddy!    I can now easily create cold brewed coffee to my heart’s content.  So, here is the recipe:

Cold Brew Coffee

• 1 pound coffee
• 9 cups water

Combine, and let sit for 12 hours.  Then strain.  What awaits you is a heavenly coffee concentrate.

Of course, you don’t really need a Toddy to do this, it just makes the whole process a bit easier. . .   You can see here where Casey made it without one. . . and it looks just as heavenly (if a bit messier).

Doesn’t that look delicious?  Well, not really, but trust me it was very good and the whole thing was made in only one pot!

I first had this when Shelly made it for me a few weeks ago.  I loved it so much, I made it once for myself and then again for some friends.  Mmmm, meat!

This dish was topped off with a lovely pastry puff (store-bought, don’t worry), but I forgot to take a picture of it before my friends and I devoured the entire thing.  Beef pie may not seem like your first choice for a summer meal, but this hearty meal was perfect for my little dinner party of three friends, great conversation, and 2 bottles of wine.

The original recipe can be found at http://www.dailyunadventuresincooking.com/2010/03/guinness-and-beef-pie-recipe.html which adapted it from an Epicurious.com recipe.

I, of course, made my own changes.

Beef pie with Guinness (and mushrooms!)

Equipment:

1 pot with lid that can be put into the oven

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons (or as much as you need) flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 pounds stewing meat (this usually comes pre-cut, but I cut it into even smaller pieces – about 1 square inch cubed)*

2 tablespoons (or as much as you need) vegetable oil

1 large onion, chopped into 1/2 inch square pieces (or however large you like your onions chopped)

1/2 pound of mushrooms, sliced or chopped – I prefer to pick out the tiny ones because they look so cute. (Mushrooms are completely optional)

3 garlic gloves, roughly chopped (do not use that stuff that comes in those jars – be a big kid and chop your own garlic and save the planet another stupid container in the landfill)

1 cup (or the whole bottle) room temperature Guinness (I only used one cup when I made this, but next time I’m just throwing the whole bottle in and adding more meat)

1 cup beef stock/broth (thanks, Emeril!)

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

several sprigs of fresh thyme (adds a nice flavor, but not totally necessary if you’d rather not spend the $)

1 package of store-bought puff pastry (I used Pepperidge Farm puff pastry sheets) – Make sure to thaw it for at least 40 minutes before it is needed.

1 room temp egg, beaten

*quick note:  Please consider buying grass fed beef for this recipe.  Not only is it better for the cow, the environment, and your own health (no antibiotics, etc.), but the taste is far superior to whatever awful meat comes out of those beat up cows from big industry agriculture.  I bought one pound of grass fed at the farmer’s market for $6/lb and another pound at Wholefoods for $4.99/lb.  That may seem like a lot to some of you, but you really should look into why it is that big industry beef is so cheap.

Isn’t it fun when your friends lecture you?  On to the cooking!

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Heat your pot on the stove at medium-high heat and add vegetable oil.

Mix flour, salt, and pepper in bowl and lightly coat each cube of beef with mixture then add to pot to brown the meat.  You’ll probably have to do this in batches so remove browned pieces to a clean bowl or plate.

Once all the meat is browned and removed to your clean plate, add onions, garlic, a little water, and splash of the beer to the pot.  Cook the onions until they are translucent and soft, making sure to scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon.

(If you are using mushrooms, then add them here and cook until they release their juices and shrink up a bit.)

Add the rest of the beer, beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, and thyme.  Add beef and bring pot to a simmer.

Cover with lid and put in oven for 1 and 1/2 hours.

About 40 minute before the beef is done, take the pastry puff out of the freezer to thaw.  I took mine out of the packaging too.  If using the Pepperidge farm pastry, you will only need one of the sheets.  Do not try to unfold it until it has thawed.

When the beef is done, take the pot out of the oven and set aside.  Crank the oven up to 425.

Unfold the pastry and put it on top of the beef/beer mixture.  I cut my pastry into a circle shape to fit the pot, but do whatever you like.

Brush the pastry with the beaten egg.  I don’t have a pastry brush (how is this possible?), so I used a paper towel.  Worked fine.

Put pot back into oven without the lid for another 20-25 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!

Also, the meat, but not so much the pastry, reheats nicely the next day.

Here is my glorious mixture before I added the pastry sheet.