This girl can cook!

Sweet Pastry Dough

2009-11-16T04:24:00.000-08:00

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 large egg yolk

1 tablespoon ice water

In a food processor, combine the flour, salt, sugar, and butter. Pulse until coarse. In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolk and ice water. With the processor running, add the yolk mixture to the flour and butter until a ball forms. Remove the dough, wrap it in plastic, flatten to a disk, and chill for 1 hour.

Roll the dough out on a lightly floured sufrace and place it in a tart pan with a removable bottom. Chill before baking.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Remove the tart pan from the fridge, prick the crust all over with a fork, line the shell with foil, and fill with dried beans. Bake for 17 minutes, remove the foil and beans, and continue baking for another 6 minutes. Cool completely before filling.

Apricot Tart

sweet pastry dough tart shell

2-3 apricots
2 egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts

Peel the apricots, slice, and arrange in the bottom of a blind-baked tart shell.

Combine the egg yolks, cream, sugar, and flour. Pour over the apricots and sprinkle with the hazelnuts. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 35 minutes.

When you tast this one, you can still sense the heaviness left behind. It's the shadow under the sweet, the question on the tip of your tongue.

* from Jodi Picoult

Handle With Care

Pumpkin Pancakes

2009-11-11T12:05:00.000-08:00

This is such a cheater recipe!

Make your favorite pancake batter.

mix in:
2/3 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. vanilla

yep, it's that easy!

I have no pretty plate photos because they were gone that fast!

Chocolate Raspberry Souffle

2009-11-10T10:33:00.000-08:00

1 pint raspberries, pureed and strained

8 eggs, separated
4 ounces sugar
3 ounces all-purpose flour
8 ounces good-quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 ounces Chambord liqueur - I would omit this
2 tablespoons melted butter

Sugar for dusting remekins

Heat the raspberry puree to lukewarm in a heavy saucepan. Whisk the egg youlks with 3 ounces of sugar in a large mixing bowl; whisk in the flour and raspberry puree, and return the mixture to the saucepan.

Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard is thick. Do not allow it to boil. Remove from heat, and stir in the chocolate until it is completely melted. Mix in the liqueur. Cover the base mixture with plastic to prevent a skin from forming.

Meanwhile, butter six ramekins and dust with sugar. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks with the remaining ounce of sugar. Fold the egg whites into the chocolate.

Spoon the mixture into the ramekins, just 1/4 inch shy of the rim. Bake immediately. The souffles are done when they are well risen, golden brown on top, with edges that appear dry - about 20 minutes.

But do not be surprised if, whenyou remove them from the oven, they sink under the weight of their own promise.

* from Jodi Picoult

Handle With Care

Sparkling Candy Corn Cookies

2009-10-30T11:08:00.000-07:00

SPARKLING CANDY CORN COOKIES

These bite-sized treats resemble candy corn and have a hint of orange flavor.
Preparation time: 45 min (I didn't keep track but I don't think it was this long)
Baking time: 7 min
Yield: 15 dozen miniature cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Orange paste or gel food color
Yellow paste or gel food color
(I used liquid food color and added about 1T flour while mixing in the coloring)

1/2 cup sugar

Line bottom and sides of 9x5-inch loaf pan with waxed paper or plastic food wrap. Set aside.

Combine butter and 1 cup sugar in large bowl; beat at medium speed until creamy. Add egg, orange juice, orange zest and salt. Continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed to low; add flour and baking soda. Beat until well mixed.

Divide dough into thirds. Press one-third of white dough evenly onto bottom of prepared pan. Place another one-third of dough back into bowl. Add small amount of orange food color; mix until color is well blended. Press orange dough evenly over white dough in pan. Place remaining one-third of dough into another medium bowl. Add small amount of yellow food color; mix until color is well blended. Press yellow dough evenly over orange dough in pan. Cover with plastic food wrap; refrigerate until firm (at least 2 hours or overnight).

Place 1/2 cup sugar in large bowl; set aside.

Heat oven to 375°F.

Invert loaf pan to remove dough. Peel off waxed paper/plastic wrap. Place layered dough onto cutting surface. Cut loaf crosswise into 1/4-inch slices using sharp knife, trimming edges to make even, if necessary (I didn't trim the edges...those were my samples!).

Cut each slice into 6 wedges.

(oops I did 7 in this photo, but you get the idea)

Place 1-inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are very lightly browned (only took 5 min for my oven, so CHECK). Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets. Immediately place warm cookies in bowl with sugar; roll in sugar to coat. Place cookies onto cooling rack. Cool completely.

I liked the look of the sparkling sugar, but it made the cookie a little too sweet for my taste.

Store in loosely covered container.

CHOCOLATE VARIATION:

Chocolate Candy Corn: Prepare dough as directed except stir 1 (1-ounce) square melted semi-sweet baking chocolate into one-third of white dough (I substituted 1oz. of semi-sweet chocolate chips). Tint one-third of dough orange and one-third yellow. Place chocolate dough into prepared pan; layer with orange and yellow dough. Cut and bake as directed.

* recipe from here

Creme Patisserie

2009-10-30T10:25:00.000-07:00

2 cups whole milk

6 egg yolks at room temperature

5 ounces sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup cornstartch

Bring the milk just to a boil in a nonreactive saucepan. In a stainless steel bowl, wisk the egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch. Temper* the yolk mixture with milk. Put the milk and yolk mixture back on the heat, wisking constantly. When the mixture starts to thicken, whisk faster until it boils, them remove from heat. Add vanilla and pour into a stainless steel bowl. If you like at this point you could add some lemon or orange zest for a little flavor other than vanilla. Sprinkle with a bit of sugar, and place plastic wrap directly on top of the creme. Put in fridge and chill before serving.

This can be used as a filling for fruit tarts, napoleons, cream puffs, eclairs, et cetera.

* from Jodi Picoult

Handle With Care

*temper - slowly add hot liquid in small amounts

Homemade Apple Pie Filling

2009-10-22T19:13:00.000-07:00

After our annual outing to Oak Glen, we came home with a HUGE box of apples. 50 pounds worth. After the initial excitement I started feeling faint. What to do? Could we really eat all those apples? Were they going to be any good?

To quickly use up a large quantity I decided to try canning (first time ever!) and canned 12 quarts of apple pie filling. I found the original recipe here. But thought (before tasting) it needed a little extra "kick". You can find my tweaks in red!

Canned Apple Pie Filling
Sauce for 7 qts.

Fill a large pot with 10 cups cold water.

In a large mixing bowl combine the following:

4 1/2 c. sugar (could be reduced to 3 1/2 cups if you don't like super sweet pie)
1 c. cornstarch
3 tsp. cinnamon (after tasting could be increased to 4tsp)
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. salt

Slowly add to pot of cold water, whisking to prevent clumping. Mix well. Heat and bring to a boil whisking frequently. This will look cloudy until cooked, then it will look clear and glossy. Cook until slightly thickened.

Add:

3 Tbs. lemon juice and mix thoroughly.

You will need a little over 1lb of apples per quart jar for the filling.

Sterilize all canning jars and lids.

Peel, core and slice apples. Place into a large bowl with cold water and about a tablespoon of lemon juice until all apples are peeled. Fill jars with apples wiggling the jar so they fill with apples (if there aren't enough apples, after processing you will be left with several inches of juice in the bottom of the jar with the apples "floating" on top instead of a nice full jar of filling). After the jars are filled pour the sauce over the top leaving about one inch of space on top.

Wipe down all jar rims then process in a hot water bath for 25 minutes.

Allow to cool. Give as gifts, or enjoy yourself!

Taco Soup

2009-10-11T19:10:00.000-07:00

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds ground beef

1 onion, chopped

1 (10.75 oz.) can tomato puree

1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce

1 cup water

1 cup beef broth

1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 (15 oz.) can whole kernel corn, drained

1 can mild green chiles

1 package taco seasoning mix

salt, pepper & garlic powder to taste

DIRECTIONS

In a medium stock pot brown beef and onion, drain grease if needed. Season.

Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, beef broth, beans, corn and taco seasoning. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add chiles cook until heated thru.

Top with cheese, corn chips, sour cream, cilantro, avocado, olives and lime juice.

French Onion Soup

2009-10-06T20:55:00.000-07:00

INGREDIENTS

2 onions quartered, then thinly sliced

1/4 cup butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 (14.5oz) cans beef broth

2 cups water

6 slices French bread, toasted

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

In a medium sauce pan saute onions in butter until soft, approximately 20 minutes. Stir in flour and gradually add broth and water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, toast French bread slices.

Pour soup mixture into oven proof bowls. Top with toasted bread and sprinkle with Parmesan and Swiss cheese.

Bake for 10 minutes.

Makes 6 small servings

This was super quick and easy. Definitely not a "restaurant" soup but a tasty dinner just the same.

Crepes

2009-10-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

Crepes

1 1/2 C milk

1 C flour

2 eggs

2 egg whites

1Tbs + 1tsp veg. oil

1/2 tsp salt

Combine all wet ingredients in a blender, mix well. Add flour and mix again. Let sit for a minute or two. Pre heat a small non-stick skillet on medium high heat. I like to wipe mine down with a paper towel with just a tiny bit of oil before I start. Pour crepe batter into pan tipping and tilting to cover just the bottom of the pan in a thin layer of batter. Cook until top begins to look somewhat dry with some air bubbles - maybe a minute or two. Using a very flexible rubber spatula work around edge and flip. Cook for another minute. Crepe should be a very lightly browned. Really beige...

Eat immediately while hot & fresh! Fill with sweetened cream cheese, fruit, warmed jam or jelly for breakfast and brunch and top with powdered sugar or whip cream. Or fill with cheese, chicken etc. for lunch or dinner and top with a hollandaise or cream sauce.

*makes about 12....I usually double this and will have a little left over

Sweet Butter Waffles, take 2

2009-09-08T10:46:00.000-07:00

I have been told the waffle link wasn't working, probably because I am a dope and the recipe is in my "private" recipe box.

Here it is - hope you didn't end up with cereal for breakfast one morning when you were wanting waffles!

Enjoy!!

Recipe Details
Makes: 2-4 waffles
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 min. each waffle

Ingredients
1 egg, room temp. & seperated
1c. flour
1tsp. baking powder
1/8tsp. salt
2T sugar
2/3c. milk, room temp.
6T butter, melted and cooled

Directions
Beat egg white until stiff, set aside.
Mix together dry ingredients, set aside.
Combine egg yolk, milk and butter.
Add to dry ingredients until just blended.
Fold in egg white.
Do not over mix!

Footnote
I usually double or triple this recipe. A triple batch makes 5 full (4 small squares) waffles on my iron which we devour!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

2009-09-08T10:36:00.000-07:00

We had gotten tired of our old oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe and wanted to try something new. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com (one of my favorite places to browse for recipes) and it has become our new family favorite. If you aren't a fan of chocolate use about half the chocolate chips. A super yummy cookie, crisp, but soft and not too sweet!

INGREDIENTS
1 cup shortening
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
In a large bowl cream shortening, brown sugar and granulated sugar. Add eggs and mix thoroughly.
Combine the baking soda, salt and flour and stir into creamed mixture
Add oatmeal and chocolate chips and stir until well blended.
Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.

They come out perfect every time. I use my small Pampered Chef cookie scooper, but if we want a giant cookie I use the large scooper.

Cowboy Salsa.....

2009-08-29T09:38:00.000-07:00

In my efforts to avoid the heat I have been blog browsing and came across this blog - Creative Chicks at Play.
Lots of cute and creative stuff.
I just had to try their recipe for Cowboy Salsa!
I would say it was a HUGE hit since it is almost gone two days later!

Just peachy.....

2009-08-28T16:12:00.001-07:00

Every summer we have the opportunity to order peaches in bulk from the grower thru our church. Last year I ordered 1 lug (25lbs). They were gone in a flash. Between snacks and our favorite summer dessert (peaches, sour cream, brown sugar) there weren't any left to freeze or can. So this year I ordered 2 lugs. That is right 50 pounds of peaches. What to do? Search the internet of course! I came across this delicious recipe for a peach crisp.

My family loves it, hope yours does too!

yummy fresh peaches!

Katie is a pro at peeling.....

finished crisp ready for a bowl of vanilla ice cream!

Spicy Peanut Sesame Noodles

2009-08-27T09:54:00.000-07:00

The last time I was craving Chinese food I dug around on the internet until I discovered this tasty recipe from epcurious.com.

We all loved it so much I have made it a bunch of times!

blend ingredients for yummy sauce

(I only use 1/4 tsp. of the red pepper and it is plenty hot for me)

cook the pasta
(I just used spaghetti, since that's what was in the cupboard)

toast the sesame seeds

toss the chopped peppers and scallions with the sauce and pasta

sprinkle on some sesame seeds and enjoy

Dinner in the time it takes for pasta to cook!

Super tasty, warm, room temperature or cold from the fridge!!!

A new endeavor.....

2009-08-20T09:24:00.000-07:00

As I was cleaning up my mess this morning after making my favorite sweet butter waffles , I listened to my husband telling me what a great cook he thinks I am {blush}.

I am not half bad. I can follow a recipe. I can figure out substitutions. I can double or cut in half accordingly.

I, however, am not a chef. I do not come up with exotic creative concoctions. I cook what my family will eat. As the kids have gotten older, we eat less macaroni & cheese and more foods adults enjoy. Teenagers will even eat sushi voluntarily. Imagine!

Figuring I don't have enough to do I started another blog to devote just to food pictures, recipes and experiments, of which there probably won't be many.

Sit back, share & enjoy!