The New Recipe Challenge: Pumpkin Meringue Pie

The most beautiful pie in the world

Look at this pie. It's like, the most beautiful thing in the world. Just read the caption; it says it right there. This pic is not mine. It is not the pie I made. I am a mere mortal, incapable of creating such a heavenly pie. Here is mine. 

My photography skills are fierce, eh? The secret: have 2 Old Fashions, use unnatural light only and work with your phone camera. Ok back to the pie.

I brought this to a Christmas dinner that some friends were hosting. I ran out of time, so I whipped up the meringue and placed in a ziplock bag at home. After dinner I piped the topping and browned under the broiler in my friends' kitchen. Not sure if the meringue lost volume in the transportation, but I got nowhere near the height shown in the recipe's image. Jeez Louise, I forgot how much I love meringue though. I'm realizing that anything with egg whites is an instant win in my book. Meringue, marshmallows, egg white drinks, egg white omelets... Just kidding about the omelets. I mean, they're ok and all. Anyway- PIE! I was talking about pie. The pumpkin portion was fantastic, a little sweeter and darker than a typical pumpkin pie. The meringue was amazing against the custard-like filling. 

The dessert was a success with the rest of the dinner guests as well. One asked for the recipe, another went back for a large second helping, and James started raving and didn't stop until two days later. 

Some modifications I did: I don't care for (american) cinnamon, so I used only half a teaspoon and added a tablespoon of cardamom instead. I have no 8" spring form pan so I just used my regular 9.5" pie pan. (I also used my go-to pie crust recipe, from Joy of Cooking.) This meant no "deep dish" presentation, and surprisingly, the pumpkin filling part of the pie took perhaps an additional 15 minutes to cook. 

Repeat Factor: Absolutely will make this again. 

Next Time: Cut the sugar in the meringue and work on incorporating an additional flavor into it instead? Maybe the cardamom can go here. Or fresh ginger?

Deep Dish Pumpkin Meringue Pie

the New Recipe Challenge: Chocolate-Caramel Pecan Tart

Ah holidays; yes! My favorite excuse to overeat sugar! I made this tart for a Thanksgiving dinner. While pumpkin pie is normally my go-to, the friend that had invited me had already called dibs on creating the most awesomest of all holiday pies. Seemed a perfect time to venture out into the great unknown. Tarts. And now, with no further adieu, Chocolate-Caramel Pecan Tart.

Verdict: DELICIOUSNESS IN SMOKY NUT FORM
Smoky nuts, salty hint, flakey crust- this is nowhere near the cloying goo of a typical pecan pie. 

I had no tart pan with removable bottom, but just threw the crust into a spring-form cake pan. At first I was dismayed to find that my crust shrank in considerably from the edges, but really, turned out to be no big thing. So don't worry about what kind of baking pan you use. 
The bit about cooking the corn syrup for 8-10 minutes... complete lie. Just watch it carefully- it turns fast. Luckily, Mama was on hand and coached me through most. Including a bit where she stopped me from scraping gritty bits of sugar back down to the goey mass. Apparently that is a big no-no in candy making, and I narrowly escaped turning my batch into a gruesome crystalline mess. Or something. 
Next Time: I doubled the salt as well- and I probably could have used even more. Other than that- I'm not changing a thing. 
Repeat factor: Very high. 

On the Hunt

Every time I’ve tried blackberries while living in California, be it from the store, or a farmer’s market, they’ve been, not what I’ve expected. They’re sour, and not sweet. The blackberries here are a serious disappointment. I’ve stopped buying them. I’ve resorted to asking people to send them, or transport them, over state lines from Oregon, in order to again taste the sweet goodness that is an Oregon blackberry. Needless to say, it’s been awhile since I’ve eaten a tasty blackberry.

Recently, my sister came to visit me from the Portland area. She told me she was bringing some with her. I was so excited. When she arrived I first hugged her. Immediately after, I looked to see where she kept my blackberries, I was like a dog panting for its treat. She started to explain, “I brought them with me…” I stopped her, “Don’t say BUUUUT!” She continued with a grimace, “But...” “Nooooooooo.” “... they didn’t make it.” Being such a gentle delicious fruit busting with flavor, they couldn’t survive the long hot car ride. I was bummed. I’m sad to say, I’ve had no luck in procuring the elusive Oregon blackberry.

Paris flaunts in it my face that he and Natalie went for a little stroll and happened upon blackberries, and not knowing what to do with them, posted the above photo on facebook to ask for suggestions. I know exactly what you can do with those blackberries, Parrrriiiissss.

I decided last night, that if I can’t eat blackberries, then I’ll have pumpkin pie instead! Smooth, creamy, one-of-my-favorite-pies ever! This recipe calls for grated fresh ginger, and some candied yams in addition to pumpkin puree. So good that I’ve been stealing bites from the fridge all day long. I probably won’t be hungry for dinner, I’m an adult now, I’ll eat pumpkin pie instead!

Cutiepies

With dreams of my very own bakery dancing in my head, I made mini-tarts this weekend. I’m calling them cutiepies! Paris had made these amazing looking mini blueberry pies, so I wanted to make minis too. I knew exactly what I’d make, I went right for a recipe I got from a Food and Wine magazine. A Food and Wine magazine that I picked up after visiting Portland, because Noel and James get Food and Wine, so I’m scoping it out to see whether or not it’ll be the next one I order.
Recipe for free form tarts:

Pastry

2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ sticks cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
½ cup ice water

Filling

Use whatever fruit you want, cut it up of course, the magazine suggested mango, and it’s absolutely the best fruit in these tarts, amazingly yummy! They also suggest pineapple and berries, use your imagination! I also like the way bananas taste after they’ve been baked, they have their own natural sweetness.

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Sugar, for sprinkling
Crème fraiche or vanilla ice cream, or whipped cream, for serving. But these suckers taste amazing the next day as is as a breakfast treat.

Now that you’ve got everything together, Do This:

1. Make the Pastry- In a food processor, pulse the flour and salt. Add the butter and pulse until it’s the size of small peas. Sprinkle the ice water over the mixture and pulse until it comes together. Transfer pastry to work surface and knead a few times until it comes together. Divide in half and flatten into disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for an hour, can be made a day ahead.

2. Preheat oven to 400. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. On lightly floured surface roll out a disk to 1/8 inch thick. Cut out rounds that are 5 inches in diameter, can make 4 per disk. Place on baking sheet. Repeat with second disk. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.

3. Arrange the fruit on dough rounds. Bring the pastry edges up and around the fruit, pinching firmly to form pleated edges around fruit. Refrigerate 10 minutes more.

4. Brush tarts with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. Bake 35 minutes, until pastry is browned and fruit is bubbling. Cool on wire rack.

-If you want to make them super tiny like I did…I made them 3 inch rounds, and decreased the temperature of the oven to 350 for the first 15 minutes, after that, I rotated the pan and turned the oven up to the standard 400 for the rest of the time, still cooking them for a total of 35 minutes. I made some with tops too, just remember to make holes in the top crust. Enjoy!

March is for Macaroons

Not a surprise this is another America's Test Kitchen recipe. They give great results.

I like to make cookies! I've never made these kind before, and the recipe was interesting. It was the first time I used Almond Flour; and the second time since receiving my new standing mixer for Christmas that I used it. It's a lot of fun and when the recipe calls for mixer slowly, I have to resist the urge to go faster and faster! I only needed to make a half portion of the butter-cream filling. Upon tasting it, all I could taste was butter, and not in a good way. When I used it to fill the moist cookies, it all had the same flavor. It just wasn't right. So I decided to add a little orange extract, and it was just thing to lighten up the cookie! Now these buggers are in my house and every time I start snacking on one, I think TEA TIME!, and brew a cup of tea to have with the second one! Yummy!

Molasses Cookies, A Holiday Preview

Yum. The best part about these simple molasses cookies is the 3 tablespoons of dark rum added to the powdered sugar for the glaze. Really good, and gives them a little kick. Just use rum instead of water or milk in the glaze. Like I do in my cereal.


*pics taken with our new Canon camera!

Have mixer, will bake.

With the holidays fast approaching, I'm daydreaming of all the delicious recipes I've been stockpiling. I FREAK out come the end of the year, getting preoccupied with making sugary sweets, frothy eggnog and all sorts of roasted spicy things. It gets a little insane at times, until before I know it, Tara and I are trying to shape home made marshmallows out of cookie presses, surrounded by champagne or trying to force people to try our eggnog meringue. Getting into the spirit of things, Tara and I have begun compiling a list of all goodies we will be attempting (and possibly even failing at a few, but who cares when it involves ingredients like these.) Here's my check list so far- all from recipe sites that I really enjoy- lots of other great non-sugar related recipes on most all of them:

Dulce de Leche Marshmallows from: The Spiced Life
My marshmallow love knows no bounds. I've killed hand mixers on batches of them, experimented with espresso and cocoa mixes and am now ready to move on to the next.

Buckeyes from: Smitten Kitchen
I have made a home made peanutbutter cup thing in past years, but now I'm looking forward to trying these. They look a bit more sophisticated, but that may just be the beautiful photography that Smitten Kitchen consistently provides.

Cherry-limade Bars from: Cheeky Kitchen
The lemon bar is a CLASSIC. My cookie book's page that holds this recipe is neatly annotated by my mother's hand but is gummed down by layers of sugar and lemon. I'm not quite sure I can get behind the maraschino cherries and food coloring called for in this version, but it opens up some great possiblities that I never imagined. Layered lemon bars? Holiday colors? Yes. YES

Salted Gingersnap & Hazelnut Bark from: Bitchin Camero
I LOVE how grown up this looks. Like, Harry and David good. Like, I ordered this from some catalog just for you this Christmas. But wait, I actually made it! This is what I imagine the conversation will go like when I gift my friends sweet packets of this salted chocolate confection. Oh, and I also love how freaking EASY it sounds to make. But I leave that part out of my imaginary conversations.



French Bread Pudding from: Epicurious
Tara and I are also going to be doing a bread pudding- however, most recipes I have been looking at call for chocolate, french toast, sweet breads, caramel and other extras when all I really want is plain good bread, eggs, cream and sugar. This recipe looks simple enough to satisfy those cravings, with dried cherries to add some tartness.


Burnt Sugar Lollipops from: Fig & Kindle
These rustic candies look so unassuming. I imagine all the better to appreciate all the differing degrees of caramelization. I can see these wrapped up in stiff cellophane and brown bows.


Hooray for the holidays! Time to dust off those rolling pins and start stocking up on refined sugars. YES. What are YOU guys making for Thanksgiving/Christmas/whatever?

Yes, I would like some Basil

The little farmers market by our house happens every Wednesday and Sunday. I have time enough on Wednesdays on my way home from work to pick up some good eats. Heirloom tomato season is coming to an end, so I wanted to make sure I ate some, today! I also picked up some apples and chard and green beans and of course basil, to go with my tomatoes.

Yum, yum!

And then I made this while Moni was making pasta with lots of veggies.

And I made this super easy tart, that my friend Alejandra, the chef, whipped up for us one day. We already had the pastry crust in our freezer. It's super easy and quick. Thaw crust, peel apples, toss with sugar. Put apples in heaping mound in middle of thawed crust, brush with egg whites and sprinkle the top with more sugar. Cook in oven at 350 til golden brown.

I was like, "lets make whip cream". And he was like, "NO! Let's make ice cream, banana ice cream!" I was like, "you can't just whip it up like that, you need a recipe." And he was like, "No, you don't." And he was right. And it was good! The End...or is it?

Chow time

There's this website I like to look at, www.chow.com. I've watched this post in particular a few times, about making the perfect chocolate chip cookie. They look amazing! I think a lot of the people and recipes featured are San Francisco based. Take a peek...they have all kinds of other recipes on the site too :)

A Baker's Dozen!

My friend Abby and I went to take this class on decorating cupcakes. Feast your eyes upon these babies!

Sainthhood

The cupcake urge is still strong with me. Checked out Saint Cupcake the other day (here in P-town) and have been enjoying them immensly. Not quite Butter Lane good, but pretty freaking awesome. So awesome, in fact, that I ate two that belonged to some strangers once, and Monico got embarrassed and pretended he didn't know me.

Side note- just got this app, and can't figure out how to do links or tags... Uh...




Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

You win some, you lose some.

Finished an otherwise excellent dinner tonight with a scoop of bacon ice cream with the Jocy & the Luis. Let's just say: some things are better off without a liberal dose of bacon grease. Many hours later and my gut is still feeling it.
Tapalaya verdict: Stick with the pulled pork and the steak specials and steer clear of any dairy/pork combos.

Getting eggy

Last Sunday I took a break from my waffle journey and made some french toast instead. It turned out to be not too far really from my forays into waffles, as I was determined to make the eggiest french toast ever. I read up on some recipes, and decided to sort of try this recipe of Baked French Toast, off of Epicurious.com. Reviews and descriptions of the recipe described it as an extremely rich, custurdy, bread pudding sort of thing, but I wanted bread fried in eggs (who doesn't!) and I also wanted to amp up the spice, and cut down on the sugar (smother the bread in marmelade? really?) Anyway, with some sausages and fruit it turned out perfect: eggy spicy bread brightened up with citrus.


Halfway depleted pan of bread marinating in eggs. I added lots of orange zest and let the bread sit for half an hour in the mixture, turning the pieces occasionally to get them good and soppy.



I think my recipe went something sort of like this:
5 Pieces of a hearty rustic white bread (I used Grand Central's Como)
1 1/3 cup milk (approx)
3 egg yolks
1 egg with white
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 Tb cardamom
orange zest from 1.5 large oranges

Topping:
orange slices
maple syrup
fresh ginger

Mix all the liquid and spices. Cut bread in half and spread in deep dish and allow to soak in liquid for half an hour. I was worried I didn't have enough liquid and added some more milk (hence my "approx" above.) Turn bread slices occasionally to keep soaking. Fry up in butter.

I sliced up the oranges and grated tons of fresh ginger into them and let them sit for a while too. I added just a tiny bit of maple syrup to try to justify this as a breakfast, but it totally wasn't needed. The oranges on top of the bread added some extra nice sweet, spicy juiciness to the whole mess. Oh, and of course, you can just fry up those unused egg whites for some scrambled eggs. Lucky you; egg whites are a healthy choice! har har har

I like to bake!

Moni's birthday was yesterday, so we wanted to make some dessert. We've been wanting to make some new foods. I love the feeling of this time of year, and of course, the delicious comfort food that comes with the changing of the seasons. What a better way to start off than with peaches, peaches and peaches!!! Oh yeah, and almonds!



Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 cups almonds sliced for crust, and also 1/2 cup for topping
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar, plus 1 tbs for topping
1 1/2 sticks of butter, softened
6 cups frozen peaches, thawed and drained
1/2 cup peach jam
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon lemon juice
13x9 inch pan, tin foil liner, greased
375 degree oven

Crust: Mix all the dry ingredients, then add the butter and cut into mixture ala pie crust (pea sized chucks). Save about a 1/2 cup of the mixture for the topping, and press the rest evenly into the bottom of the pan. Bake until golden. About 15 min.

Cut peaches into small chunks, mix with jam. Cook in high heat skillet until thickened. Off heat stir in lemon zest and juice and a pinch of salt. Spread peach mixture over crust.

Strussel topping: Mix the reserved topping and 1 tbs brown sugar. Pinch into pea-sized chunks. Spread over peaches. To finish spread remaining sliced almonds over the strussel!

Bake it for 20 mins or til golden and awesome!!!



Ohhh la la...We made our own whip cream and added frozen blueberries, very delicious additions!! Yum Yum in our tummies!