TWD: Twofer Pie for Thanksgiving
November 29, 2008 at 9:26 pm | In Tuesdays with Dorie | 6 CommentsTags: pie, Tuesdays with Dorie
Well, possibly for once, I don’t have a lot to say this week. I made this pie. I read the P&Q thread beforehand. I was a little leary of pre-baking the shell so I half pre-baked it, if that makes any sense.
I don’t have a deep dish pie plate so I had to remove some filling. It started to overflow.
I baked it. I didn’t eat it. Nuts are not my friend. In fact, I wasn’t even there when the family ate it. We had to exit Thanksgiving a little early with a sick child (he’s fine now). I head later it was OK and the crust was a little overdone. Everyone liked the brownies I made more. The brownies were Dorie’s Quintuple Chocolate Brownies. They were chosen early on in the TWD rotation. I started at the beginning of April and I missed them. I made them for a rewind before and I would suggest – STRONGLY – that you go back and make them. NOW. They are awesome. I would also humbly suggest that you use semi-sweet for the glaze. So so so good.
Thanks to Vibi of the La Casserole Carree for picking something that married so well with American Thanksgiving. The full recipe is on her site. Other pumpkin pecan pies are here.
I won’t lie. November was not my favorite month in the TWD world. The rugelach is probably the only one of these recipes I would repeat. Here’s to a yummy cookie-ful December.
Soft – SOFT! – Sugar Cookies
November 28, 2008 at 8:55 pm | In Uncategorized | 4 CommentsTags: sugar cookie
This will be a short post but I feel compelled to share. I love the idea of cut-out cookies and cookie cutters but am never a huge fan of the reality of cut-out cookies. Too hard and bland. UNTIl – until – I saw Susan’s (of She’s Becoming Doughmesstic) post about soft sugar cookies. I had heard tales of cream cheese in the dough being the answer but had never tried it. The pictures of her cookies inspired me to try and I am glad I did. If you are looking for a soft sugar cookie, these are the answer!
My older son and I decorated these (so they look nothing like Susan’s little works of art). The key is take them out before they look like they are done if you want them to stay soft. My mini-cookies took only four minutes. I made one slight alteration. I didn’t have any lemon extract but added a pinch of fresh grated nutmeg. Click here for the recipe and happy decorating!
Barefoot Bloggers: Mexican Not-Chicken Soup
November 27, 2008 at 10:49 am | In Barefoot Bloggers | 5 CommentsTags: Barefoot Bloggers, soup
For our second Barefoot Bloggers recipe in November, Judy of Judy’s Gross Eats chose Mexican Chicken Soup. Great choice! We had it for dinner on Sunday night served with avocado slices and quesadillas.** We really liked it. It is very simple but very tasty. I will definitely make it again.
I did make a couple of substitutions. I used diced instead of whole tomatoes and I didn’t puree them. I also skipped the chicken (natch) and added white beans instead. Why white beans, you ask? Because white beans were first connected to the tortilla back in the days of the…blah…blah…I made a giant pot of them over the weekend and am looking for any and every use for them. The kids better examine those PB&Js closely. You never know where an errant white bean will show up.
Thanks again, !! I will definitely make this again.
**For those of you who also follow Tuesdays with Dorie, you have been privy to my dilemma over son #2’s eating habits. Well, I tried to take a cue from Jessica Seinfeld and add a little carrot puree to his quesadilla. He immediately spotted (?)/tasted(?) the offending ingredient and refused to eat anymore until he was given a “regular” quesadilla. His dad’s assurances that it was just “special cheese” fell on deaf ears. Jessica Seinfeld – 0; Colin – 2 (he also picked the chips out of the chick pea chocolate chip cookies, leaving the dough).
TWD: time I will never get back….part 2.
November 18, 2008 at 6:35 am | In Tuesdays with Dorie | 23 CommentsTags: pudding, Tuesdays
or Who knew kuglehopf could shine in comparison?
or Free the Arborio!
This is twenty-four (24!) hours later. appetizing?
Is November over yet? I was a little apprehensive about the list of recipes this month (because I had never eaten any of these items before) but this is ridiculous. I am pretty sure I mangled the measuring for the rugelach dough. I will give that one another attempt. The kugelhopf was made correctly but received unenthusiastically. The rice pudding…liquid. I have made a lot of pumpkin pie (but not with pecans – ick). If it goes horribly awry, I give up.
I even made the pudding after reading Dorie’s post about the error in the recipe. I cooked this sucker for an hour on the stove over low heat. It thickened but apparently not enough. I guess I was thrown by the disclaimer in the recipe that it would still be thin until cooled. Well, guess what? Eighteen hours later and we are looking at rice milk and not rice pudding. What the #$*?
There were high hopes at this point. The dashing came later.
Since mine clearly did not thicken into luscious pudding and I have never had the…um…pleasure (insert eye roll here) of rice pudding previously, I really need someone to explain why I would want to make rice pudding. Ever. I am not against spending time in the kitchen, although it may seem like it from the last two posts. I make cakes, cookies, brownies, granola, bread, etc. from scratch. Thanks to TWD, I even learned to make pudding from scratch. And it was heavenly. And it did not require me to quit my job or abandon my parental duties. If you joined TWD after this recipe, run – do not walk – to your food processor and bang this one out. Worth every minute.
No contest, right?
If rice pudding is the nirvana of all desserts and perfectly deserving of an hour plus near the stove top, by all means let me know. Until then, I will be enjoying regular pudding and luxuriating in all of my newfound free time. (ha).
To see if anyone else reached a state of pudding bliss, click here. For the recipe, visit Isabelle at Les Gourmandises d’Isa.
BB: Herb Roasted Onions? Yup!
November 13, 2008 at 6:20 am | In Barefoot Bloggers | 24 CommentsTags: Barefoot Bloggers, onions
Who in their right mind when surveying all of Ina Garten’s recipes would choose a dish of onions for the Barefoot Bloggers? Me, that’s who! I know. It kind of surprised me too. I did go through a raw onion love affair in my early twenties. During a couple of college summers, I worked at a racetrack. Every day for lunch we would eat in the trainers’ cafe. And every day I would get a turkey sandwich with red onions. One of my co-workers told me that I reminded her of an old lady. Fortunately, she never commented on what must have been some serious onion breath.
That period ended and I haven’t given onions a lot of thought since. I did, however, set some criteria for choosing a recipe — 1) easy – I know this is the time of year when people start to get busy in the kitchen with other things; 2) reasonable ingredients – time for me to spend money on toys, not truffles; and 3) a recipe I would pass over at first glance. Honestly, it had never occurred to me serve onions – just onions – as a dish.
I am crying just looking at all of these…
Happily, it all worked out for me. I really liked these. The only slight change I made was to cut down on the lemon but I never use as much as recipe calls for unless the recipe is intended to be lemon flavored. We had them with marinated portobello mushrooms and couscous. I would definitely suggest making the whole recipe. The leftovers were a nice addition to a veggie wrap the next day. My mom was over for dinner. She was extremely skeptical at first but raved about them later. My husband, not a fan of onions so much, thought I should have continued passing over this one. I disagree. If you skipped it, too, I hope you give it a try. You might be surprised.
Our next official recipe is Mexican Chicken Soup. I haven’t made it yet but plan to see a vegetarian version from me.
Herb Roasted Onions from Barefoot Contessa at Home (the one below is from the Food Network. The recipe in the book has more servings. I made that one.)
Ingredients
2 red onions
1 yellow onion
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup good olive oil
1/2 tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Remove the stem end of each onion and carefully slice off the brown part of the root end, leaving the root intact. Peel the onion. Stand each onion root end up on a cutting board and cut the onion in wedges through the root. Place the wedges in a bowl.
For the dressing, combine the lemon juice, mustard, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Slowly whisk in the olive oil. Pour the dressing over the onions and toss well.
With a slotted spoon, transfer the onions to a sheet pan, reserving the vinaigrette that remains in the bowl. Bake the onions for 30 to 45 minutes, until tender and browned. Toss the onions once during cooking. Remove from the oven, and drizzle with the reserved dressing. Sprinkle with parsley, season to taste and serve warm or at room temperature.
TWD: Kugelhopf: I just didn’t get it.
November 11, 2008 at 6:40 am | In Tuesdays with Dorie | 23 CommentsTags: Bread, kugelhopf, Tuesdays with Dorie
This is politically incorrect, but, if this is what the good folks in Alsace-Lorraine choose to spend their time making…they need to get out more. This week’s Tuesday with Dorie selection was Kugelhopf. It is bread, a sweet pretty bread but bread nonetheless.
To make this bread, please clear the next 87.6 hours of your schedule. You will be busy steeping, stirring, mixing, slapping and waiting (and waiting) for it to rise (but more on the rising in a moment). What do you get for your 87.6 hours of patience and perseverance? Bread. Specifically, bread that goes stale in 3.2 minutes. So, if you can’t gobble it up in one sitting? You get toast.
In my world, toast does not take two days to make. I guess I am demanding or maybe just in possession of a monster sweet tooth. If I spend this much time on a baked good, I want to taste all of those hours and little steps. It should be more than satisfying. Did I mention that this was bread?
As you can clearly see, I do not own a specialty Kugelhopf pan (and am relieved I did not purchase one). Even with the shorter bundt pan, I did not get a good rise. My dough was doing fine until that refrigeration step. It took many hours the next day to get even a little height.
Out of the fridge…
Three hours later…
Five hours and we’re done. It’s not coming to the top. 
As for the recipe itself, I used dried cherries and skipped the confectioner’s sugar. By that point, I could tell I would be underwhelmed and would be raiding the freezer for stored cookie dough after my bread dessert. So, I did what any person in possession of a healthy sweet tooth would do. I covered it in chocolate. (I used Dorie’s milk chocolate sauce but subbed in semi-sweet. yum)
This was my introduction and farewell to kugelhopf. Don’t misunderstand. I love bread and I love sweets. This was just too middle of the road for me. Next week we continue the month of the unknown with rice pudding. My mother has already informed me that she loves rice pudding and that I will be adding drunken raisins to mine.
Click here and you will likely see a real kugelhopf that has no doubt elated some baker. For the recipe, visit Yolanda at the All Purpose Girl.
Dooonnut Muffins
November 7, 2008 at 4:29 am | In recipes | 3 CommentsTags: doughnut, muffin
Is it a doughnut? A muffin? A doughffin? A muffnut (OK, that doesn’ sound right at all).
I saw this recipe at Baking Bites and had to give it a try. The only thing I changed was to coat slightly more than just the top of the muffin with butter. Honestly, these were really good, especially right out of the oven. The recipe only makes ten which is perfect. They were good later but definitely best still warm.
TWD Revisited
November 6, 2008 at 4:23 am | In Uncategorized | 7 CommentsTags: rugelach, Tuesdays with Dorie
As promised, the pictures of the failed Rugelach from Tuesdays with Dorie.
Not so bad so far.
What the hell are these?
A candidate for Dorie’s next book cover, I think.
YWPWT: Anarchy in the UP!!!*
November 6, 2008 at 2:20 am | In You want pies with that? | 8 CommentsTags: cake, pie, You want pies with that?
*Parts of this post may not be suitable for impressionable readers. Hee hee.
That would be United Piedom, in case you were wondering. This month’s You Want Pies With That? Challenge was a fashion themed pie. And so we have Punk Rock Pie.
Let’s think about this for a minute. Did I really have any other choice? Really? Baby was in the corner on this one. We all know my artistic/decorating skills are subpar at best. I was going to come up with something to compete with these other bakers and their perfect pie crust leaves and artistic swirls of whipped cream and so on? Exactly. So, I had to go the other way. Completely. This pie doesn’t want to be pretty or delicate or glazed with a simple syrup of spring water, organic sugar and freshly grated kumquat. *%&# that! It is saggy in the middle, crumbly on the outside and sporting a (sort of) purple mohawk.
And don’t try to pigeonhole the ingredients either, suit. (we don’t need your stuffy rules, a**h&#$). Is it pie? Cake? Candy? Nothing in this pie is a classic “pie ingredient.” The crust is an unholy mixture of pretzels, honey nut cheerios and butter. Cheerios for breakfast? Maybe for the bourgoisie.
The filling is chocolate cake loaded with an assortment of leftover Halloween candy…caramels, snickers, butterfinger, Hershey bar and peanut M&Ms. It sagged in the middle under the weight and oozed out a gooey glob when cut. Perfect.
Nothing refined about this one.
I asked my tasters for an appropriate expression to go with the punk pie. This is what I got…
There are no measurements. That doesn’t fit the aesthetic here, people.
A bunch of mini pretzels, a bunch of cheerios, a few tablespoons of sugar and of melted butter. Process the pretzels, cheerios, and sugar in the food processor into fine crumbs. Stir in the melted butter. Press into the pan you are using and stick in the fridge.
Cake pie filling
1.5 cups of AP flour 1 cup sugar 1/3 c. cocoa salt baking powder 1 c. cold coffee 1 c. vegetable oil 1 tsp vanilla 2 tbsp. Cider vinegar a handful or many of assorted candy, chopped.
Preheat to 350 degrees. Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the coffee, oil, and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir to remove any lumps. Quickly stir in the cider vinegar and stir til uniform in color. Pour the batter into the refridgerated crust. Throw in the candy and bake for about 20 – 25 minutes. Be careful. I stuck a cake tester in and thought it wasn’t done but I was hitting melted butterfinger.
If you are wondering why this kind of looks like a cake (don’t judge me, man)…after consuming 18lbs of Halloween goodies, I halved this and baked it in a 6 in. springform. The recipe as written would work for a pie plate.
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