Egg Muffins

I'm trying to make and freeze as many snacks and meals as I can before baby girl comes. It's been hard for me to eat as much as I need to gain weight in the third trimester, and since I know you have to eat even more as a nursing mother, I figured if I had some snacks ready, I'd be more apt to eat.

This little creation came out differently than I'd expected. I thought I would make my typical kiku, just in a muffin tin, but they puffed up so cutely, I had to call them egg muffins. The recipe is simple, and they're packed with protein, fat, nutrients, and taste. It's a perfect on-the-go breakfast or mid-day snack. Feel free to substitute bacon and/or mushrooms with kale, spinach, or leeks.

Ingredients
1 dozen eggs
1 lb bacon, browned and diced
1 lb mushrooms (portobella are filled with vitamin D), sauteed in butter or EVOO
1/2 t garlic powder or 2 cloves fresh garlic, sauteed
salt and pepper to taste
grated parmesan for the topping

Method
Combine all ingredients except Parmesan.
Put 1/3 cup of mixture in each muffin pan. (I used silicone and didn't have to grease or put cups in)
Sprinkle with Parmesan.
Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, until tops are browned and a toothpick comes out clean.
If freezing, let cool completely on wire rack, and then put in a freezer bag or container.

Baked Custard

And you thought I was done for the day. Nope, here's another one of my favorites. It's adapted from my mother's old Joy of Cooking book from the 1970s. The book has no binding left, the pages are everywhere, and I started getting sick of looking in the index for the page number for baked custard. (Yes, a bookmark would be nice, wouldn't it?) It's a recipe that needs more press anyway, so I thought I'd share.

I love eggs, especially the yolks. I love milk, but only the raw stuff. They are the bulk of my diet in various forms (kiku, kefir, yogurt, cheese, omelets, egg salad, egg drop soup, and the ever popular soft boiled egg). They are both so good for you. This baked custard has been my go-to dessert in late pregnancy as I try to maximize my nutrients and enjoy my food. I look forward to my little ramekin every night! The best part? The recipe is so easy and uses what you have on hand. Can't beat that.

Ingredients
2 cups of milk

• If you use raw milk, supposedly the custard will be runnier unless you heat it to 160 degrees. I have never done that, and still have a great consistency.

1/4 cup maple syrup

• honey or sugar may also be used, but maple syrup yields a flan-like flavor

pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla (homemade is easy!)
sprinkle of nutmeg if you wish

2 whole eggs and 2 egg yolks
OR 4 egg yolks
OR 2 eggs

The more whites to yolks, the stiffer the custard. I like using 2 eggs and 2 yolks. Save the whites for macaroons.


Method
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
2. Blend milk, salt, maple syrup together. Add eggs. Blend well. I use my KitchenAid stand mixer.
3. Pour into individual ramekins (4 or 5 will do the trick).
4. Fill 9x13 dish with 1-2" of water.
5. Place ramekins in the dish.
6. Sprinkle nutmeg on each of the cups.
7. Bake for 20-50 minutes. If using raw milk, it will be more like 50. If using pasteurized milk, it will be closer to 20. A toothpick will be your best gauge of doneness.
8. Remove ramekins from dish and cool before refrigerating.
9. Eat for breakfast, snack or dessert!

My favorite Sourdough Pancakes

I've been away a long time. I know. Is anyone out there still?? I can't promise this post means more recipes or research or anything. It just means I like pancakes...and my midwife told me to try to gain a little more weight in these last few weeks. Hence, a pancake post. 
 
I've been realizing how much I like to come back to my recipe index and follow the instructions there for my favorite meals, even if they're almost the same as the recipes in my books. It just feels better. Kinda like those really comfy fleece pants I've been living in for the last 9 months. So, here is my version of King Arthur's Sourdough Pancakes. KA wants you to make waffles with the batter, but the waffle maker is so hard to clean, it makes me want to rip out my eyelashes. You can be the judge.

Light, tangy, a little chewy - these are not IHOP pancakes that taste like mini cakes. But they're good. And filling. And since they're sourdough, they digest more readily than the pancakes you'd make in the morning, so you can go for that walk or run you've been putting off without feeling like you have a brick in your stomach.

This recipe is really quite easy if you have a sourdough starter. If you don't, post that in the comments and I'll send you some. I'm that confident that everyone needs to try this recipe!


Caveats - Unless you have a large griddle, you may be flipping pancakes for awhile. (Maybe everyone else has a griddle except us?) And, you're probably going to use far more butter than you're comfortable with. If so, just read this while you're waiting for those pancakes to brown up!

Ingredients:

Overnight sponge

• 2 cups flour (I've had equal success with whole wheat and all-purpose)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 cups buttermilk (I don't use buttermilk that often, so I have the powder, and add 2 T, and 2 c water - you could also try 2 c water and 2 T lemon juice)
• 1 cup sourdough starter from the fridge (not fed)

Batter

• all of the overnight sponge
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup melted butter (brought back to room temp)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• fillings: chocolate chips, apples, bananas, blueberries, strawberries - whatever you have around the house!

And lots of butter to cook with!

1. Before you go to bed, add the ingredients from the overnight sponge together. Don't worry about lumps. They should disappear. Leave out at room temperature. If you're worried about creatures, cover. I tend not to...

The mixture will be nice and bubbly by morning:

2. When you wake up, preheat your griddle or cast iron pan. Then, get your butter melted and cooled a bit. You don't want to cook the eggs in the butter when you combine them! Beat them in a small bowl, and then add to the sponge. Don't stir the sponge too much. They should fold right in.

3. I like to sprinkle the salt and baking soda on top and then gently fold them in. I've had bad experiences with baking soda. It's not fun to bite through a clump of baking soda in your pancake.

4. Make sure your griddle is the right temperature. I use my cast iron pan and heat it to medium low. Then, I don't touch it. Playing around with it with drive you batty. You want it to be hot enough for butter to sizzle when you add it to the pan, but not so hot that the butter burns. Experiment.

5. I have a small kitchen (OK, fine. I have a big kitchen and too many gadgets) and so no room for a griddle. Sometimes, I wish I did though. It's a bit tedious to scoop out the pancakes one at a time, but luckily Mark is a late sleeper, so by the time he gets up, all he sees is a few dozen pancakes and misses out on the 2 hours it took to cook them one by one. Maybe you could write a blog post while you wait?

6. There were really no instructions in #5. Hmm. I put down a spot of butter before I cook each cake. I use 1/2 cup of batter and pour it slowly into the center of the pan. With the first one, I figure out how long it's taking for each side to be done - usually about 3 minutes. The bubbles are your best indicators. See them in the upper right hand corner??

Right before I flip, I put the fillings on. I like to give the pancake time to rise before I pile on the goodies. Flip. 

Here's how I like my pancakes to look after they've been flipped. And please be nice. Pancakes are not so photogenic when the natural light isn't there:

Three more minutes. Pancake in warming dish.

7. Enjoy with copious amounts of butter and maple syrup.

Roman Egg Drop Soup, or Stracciatella

Ready? I've got a recipe that is sure to knock your socks off. It's 4 ingredients, not including a dash of salt and pepper, you've likely got them all at your house, and it takes about 5 minutes to prepare....

It's Roman Egg Drop Soup. It's delicious. I eat it whenever Mark is out of town, or for lunch, or even for breakfast. It hardly needs a recipe, but I'll humor you. I love this soup because it's so nourishing, easy, and pretty frugal. It's probably not something I'd serve to guests, but it's been perfect on a winter's day.

For one serving
1.5 cup chicken stock

1 egg, beaten

1 T parmesan cheese

pinch of fresh parsley, dried, or oregano

salt and pepper to taste

Method

Boil stock. Meanwhile, beat egg and add herb and cheese.

When stock is boiling, start stirring vigorously, then add egg in a thin stream. You don't want poached egg soup (or maybe you do...) so make sure you're whisking! Remove from heat. Season. Eat.

Sourdough Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

I don't know why I have such difficulty with photos. It's not my forte. These muffins were beautiful - great crumb, dotted with chocolate chunks, high top, sturdy body.  It's hard to tell, but hopefully you won't hold it against the muffin. It's my fault. They taste heavenly - light, fluffy, and just the right amount of sweetness. You'd hardly know they were made from whole wheat flour.

So what gives? Two posts in one day? Well, after making these, I knew I had to share.  I made them for a few reasons: I've been waking up in the middle of the night starving, and Mark enjoys a good midday snack, and I had 1 cup of sourdough starter that I had to discard, so I figured I'd hit all these points in a good muffin. There's no refined sugar in here, the flour is whole wheat, and the sourdough starter helps with digestion. What's not to love? I couldn't hold this recipe back from you. If you don't have a sourdough starter and you live close, give me a shout and I'll gladly give you some of mine...even if you don't live close and you're a faithful (or lukewarm) reader, I'll mail some. I obtained my starter from a blogging friend I've never met in Virginia - the one whose recipe I've adapted below, actually - so I am happy to pass on the love.

Sourdough Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
Adapted from Vehement Flame's recipe

1/2 c butter

scant 1/2 c honey

2 eggs

2 c whole wheat flour

1 ts baking powder

1/2 ts baking soda

1 ts sea salt

1 ts cinnamon

1 T vanilla

1 c fed and rested starter

3 mashed bananas

1/2 - 1 cup of chocolate chips (I just cut up some dark chocolate squares I had)

 

Cream together butter and honey. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Blend in vanilla. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and cinnamon. Add to wet. Mix together starter and bananas. Add to wet. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes, or until toothpick in center comes out dry. Don't overbake though! Let cool and then slather with butter and enjoy!

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken pot pie is one of those cold-weather comfort foods. I grew up on frozen pot pies from Shaw's, and I will unabashedly admit that I loved them. I may have even bought a few in our first year of marriage. For less than $5, we had several servings of what tasted like homemade pot pie. Once I got on my real food kick though, I had no room left for the frozen pot pies. I did adopt my aunt Anne's delicious recipe. She made a huge pot pie casserole for Christmas Eve one year, and I was hooked. The ingredients include a can of evaporated milk which I don't normally buy, so I made some substitutions and now....

Oh yes. This is it. I normally don't cook on Sundays (or I try not to, at least!), but this was quite simple. My mom gave me a rotisserie chicken yesterday, so I picked off about two cups of meat for the pie, and am currently simmering the carcass for stock. I had four sad little carrots in a bag at the bottom of the fridge. There was an onion hanging around somewhere, and a mostly gone bag of frozen peas. And we can't forget the frozen pie crust from Thanksgiving with Mark's parents in October. (I knew I shouldn't throw away scraps!) I had everything I needed, including an excuse to use up some of my pleasantly soured milk. It took less than a half hour to prep and clean, which is a miracle for me. I'll definitely be making this more often.

Serves 3
I highly recommend you double this recipe! I would have, but I had to work with the amount of chicken and veggies that I had.

Ingredients
1 onion, chopped
1.5 cups chicken stock
splash of milk (3 Tbsp maybe?)
shaking of whole wheat flour (3 Tbsp maybe?)
2 T butter
sprinkle of paprika
dash of garlic powder
pinch of dried mustard
salt and pepper to taste

2 cups chicken meat, shredded, cubed or diced
4 carrots, cut into thin rounds
1 cup (or less) peas

1 pre-made or homemade pie crust

Method
Preheat oven to 350.
1. Saute onion in butter about 10 minutes, or until translucent.
2. Add flour and saute another two minutes.
3. Add stock and bring to a boil.
4. Simmer until sauce begins to thicken.
5. Add milk and spices, stirring often, until it reaches desired thickness. Remove from heat.
6. Mix together chicken, carrots, and peas in small casserole dish.
7. Pour sauce over chicken mixture and combine.
8. Season to taste.
9. Roll out crust and lay over top of pie.
10. Bake on a cookie sheet lined with tinfoil (to catch drippings) until crust is golden brown and sides are bubbling, about 35-50 minutes, depending on your oven and the size/depth of your casserole dish.

Bon Appetite!

Hearty Sandwich Bread

I've written before about how Mark is a huge sandwich fan. I can't seem to break him of his desire for deli meat and hearty sandwich bread, but worse things have happened. I'm saving money by making homemade bread, and I feel better knowing the ingredients, process and hands that made it. Because Mark works late and leaves early, I've been trying to help him by making his lunches at night. I noticed the bread was so soft after the first two-three days of baking, it was so soft that it wasn't holding up to a big turkey sandwich without tearing! Softness isn't bad for a dinner bread, or even a piece of toast, but it was problematic for the sandwiches. So, I found a recipe on allrecipes.com, and basically butchered it until it resembled a loaf that had the taste, consistency, and ingredients we both liked.

I've been baking loaves on Sunday afternoons, which means we often each French toast on either Saturday or Sunday to use up any last pieces of the prior week's loaf. I even made chocolate bread pudding with a stale heel one week! This is a very easy, low-maintenance loaf if you have a bread machine. It makes a smaller loaf than my other recipe, which works well for us, because we only need about 10 slices - 4 sandwiches for Mark, and 2 pieces for me on the mornings I have eggs.


Ingredients

3/4 cup water

1 tablespoon butter, softened

1 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons of any mixture of the following: sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, flax seeds, millet, quinoa, amaranth, or cornmeal (I use whatever I have on hand!)
2 cups white whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon milk, water, yogurt, buttermilk, or olive oil

2 T honey

1 1/2 tablespoons SAF yeast

1 T vital wheat gluten (to help with the rise)

Add water, butter, milk, and honey to bread machine. Then spoon the flour over the liquid mixture. Add seeds, gluten, and yeast. (I like to add my salt when the fruit and nut cycle beeps so that it doesn't interfere with the yeast action, but most recipes say to just add it with the flour.) Choose bread dough cycle. Mine runs about 90 minutes.

When dough is complete, punch down and transfer to baking pan, stick in a warm oven (or warm room) and let rise til doubled in size. Bake at 350 for about 25-30 minutes. I use my meat thermometer to make sure the internal temperature is 190 degrees - otherwise I end up with gummy bread. This makes great toast, and Mark loves his turkey and avocado sandwich on this bread.

Chicken Caccitore

Mark and I are both Italian, but Mark likes Italian-American food far more than I do. I don't mind a good pizza a few times a month, and I'll take fresh food fruit and veggies from Italy above all else, but I'll pass on pasta ten times out of ten. Usually, I make a pot of homemade meatballs and sauce and eat it plain while Mark polishes off a half pound of pasta himself. Tonight's meal was no exception.  However, what I liked about this dish was that it only took about an hour from start to finish, and I didn't have to bust out the crock pot. It was a nice change of pace to have chicken and tomato sauce instead of beef. I adapted recipes from Joy of Cooking, my dad, and Food Network.

Serves: 4 - 6

4 split bone-in chicken breasts OR 1 whole chicken, cut up

dredged in 1/2 cup of flour seasoned with a sprinkling of red pepper and garlic powder, or plain

browned in 1/3 cup of olive oil over medium heat in a large stock pot (you may need to do this in batches)

Once chicken is done, set aside on a plate. Add to olive oil:

4 mashed, chopped garlic cloves and 1 cup sliced mushrooms

When mushrooms are brown and flavorful, add:


1 cup of white wine and cook til reduced by half

Then, add and stir:

1 28-ounce can of crushed or whole tomatoes
2 T tomato paste (I forgot it, but I wish I had added it for a thicker sauce)
3/4 c beef or chicken stock

1/2 teaspoon each of salt, pepper, thyme, marjoram, basil, and oregano
1 bay leaf

Put chicken back in the pot and simmer covered until chicken is cooked. I am very bad at telling when things are done, so my meat thermometer has been a lifesaver. You want the internal temperature to reach 165 degrees for poultry.

Let sauce sit for 5-10 minutes after turning off heat to thicken up a bit. Serve chicken and sauce over pasta, if you so desire. Fresh parmesan cheese is wonderful on top!

Homemade Extracts

The front jar is newly made anise star extract, and the jar in the background is an in-progress jar of vanilla extract.

Most of us have good intentions. I was all set to participate the Nourishing Gift carnival. I was so excited about it!! I had my ideas, my extracts brewing, and a ream of blank labels ready to be printed. And then Swine Flu got in the way and I had to move out of my flu infested home for a week, leaving the jars to themselves. I still managed to divide some of the above extracts into these 2 ounce clear glass jars from Mountain Rose Herbs ($1.30 each) and print out my labels, so let's try to imagine...



These jars of Madagascar vanilla bean extract and anise extract...

 in mini woven baskets, with some raffia, and a mini-recipe book (about 2" x 4") with different ways the recipient can use the extracts. I plan to include my Pizzelle recipe, this kasha chocolate chip cookie recipe, instructions for making chai tea, and a few others that I have yet to determine! Can you picture it? It'll be great when it's done, I promise.


I used to spend a lot of money on vanilla extract, especially after I had the real stuff, and not just an imitation jar from Big Y. I have no idea how I realized I could make my own, but after the first batch, I was hooked. It's deceptively simple, and deliciously good. If you're interested in brewing your own extract to save money, or to give as gifts, here is all you need to brew your very own homemade extracts. Experiment with vanilla beans, cinnamon sticks and anise pods.

The ingredients
6 vanilla beans OR 1/2 cup star anise pods OR 6 cinnamon sticks (I buy mine from Mountain Rose Herbs)
1.5 cups of vodka (or cognac, or rum, or Armagnac - though vodka lets the beans shine the most)
1 quart sized mason jar with a tight fitting lid
Time

The Method
1 Slice the beans lengthwise, splitting them almost in half, but leave one inch connected at the end. If making anise or cinnamon, skip to step 2.

2 Put beans or pods in jar. Cover with the vodka.
3 Shake the bottle once in awhile. I tend to forget this step until I go under the counter to get my food processor, which is stored in front of the jars. Keep in a dark, cool place for several months. My first batch took about 10 weeks to mellow. The batches I have going now had only 2/3 the amount of beans I should have put in, so they are still fairly strong but should be ready in time for Christmas.

These last for awhile! You can top it off with vodka every time you use a little if you don't mind a slight alcohol flavor, or alternatively, once you're done with the beans, add a fresh cup or so of vodka and it should mellow even quicker than the first batch.

You can reuse those beans one more time! Take the beans out after 6 months and put them in a cup of sugar per bean to make tasty vanilla sugar for baking!

Stay tuned for pictures of the final product.


Future Extracts

Here are a few links for extracts I'm in the process of making (so I can't exactly vouch for flavor!):
Lemon Extract
Orange Extract

Hazelnut Extract

Homemade Smartfood...or, When Cheese Takes Over Your Life

I still have not admitted to myself that I have cravings, other than of the warm, comfy bed kind. (The 2 cups of pineapple I eat a day just count as normal daily fruit intake, right?) Today, however, I was forced to reckon with the power of cheese. I went through my day and found myself eating cheddar cheese and cashews, cheddar cheese and apple, and fresh pecorino (sheep's cheese) on my popcorn. I'm contemplating getting my lazy butt off the kitchen chair, closing the baked macaroni and cheese recipe windows, and heading to the supermarket to get the last 8 ounces of colby that I need to whip up a batch of Martha's finest Mac and Cheese. And it was then, after licking the last drop of pecorino off my fingers, I had a sinking feeling I've been lying to myself. I do have cravings, and it is everything cheese. That's OK though. Worse cravings have happened.

Some of you may not want to add brie to your turkey sandwich (that was last week's overkill - 3x a day). Maybe making boxed Annie's Shells and Cheese and dumping in copious amounts of butter and Parmesan cheese isn't your thing either. Heck, you might not even want gruyere on your eggs! But, who doesn't feel all warm and fuzzy when they think about that childhood goodness called Smartfood? Mmmm.

It's so easy, it's almost embarrassing posting a recipe. But I will, because maybe you didn't know how easy it was. Maybe it's like one of those stupid logic worksheets your teachers used to give you. You know, the ones you'd look at for a whole 45 minutes wondering what the heck the clues meant.

i i i i i i i i i i OR Head | Ache OR DES
s s s s s s s s s s DES


And then when you found out they stood for tennis, and splitting headache, and despair, you got all mad because you should have known that yourself. Yeah, well homemade Smartfood might be kind of like that. You take a large pot with a handle. Put it on the burner and heat over medium high. Melt 1 - 2 T of coconut oil. Pour in enough popcorn to cover the bottom of the pot. Grab the lid, cover the pot, and let it sit for a minute while you melt your butter and get out the cheese. (I think Parmesan would work well too - or a combination. I just had fresh Pecorino on hand.) Then, gently shake the pot back and forth over the flame. You'll start to hear popping. After a few minutes, the popping will slow down. Take the pot off the heat or you'll end up with nasty burnt popcorn. Pour several tablespoons of melted butter over the popcorn, shake on some salt, and then add about 1/4 cup of cheese or whatever amount suits your fancy. Mix it up with a wooden spoon or your clean hands and enjoy!

I'm off to have some pineapple now...

World's Best Chili

I was getting nervous for a few weeks. I could barely open the fridge without gagging. All I wanted was sourdough bread with goat cheese. Now I think about that combination and...Yeah. I'm currently eating oatmeal every morning, a turkey, brie, and apple sandwich with honey mustard for lunch, and something like guacamole with chips for dinner. I'll throw in an egg occasionally, or a piece of fish. And I always start my day with cantaloupe or grapefruit. I eat an apple and peanut butter for a snack around 4pm. That's literally been my diet for two weeks straight. Last night broke the mold though.

I'd been wanting to make homemade raviolis for a long time, and I finally felt like I could stomach a vegetable other than a red onion, so I asked my neighbor upstairs if she'd like to help me make some butternut squash ravioli. We used Emerill's recipe and it turned out FABulous. I wish I had a pasta roller, because the pasta was a bit thick, but the filling was to die for. In fact, I have a cup of squash puree left in my fridge, and I am going to add the rest of the filling ingredients and eat it plain for dinner. Yumm. I branched out and ate a salad last night too! I've been enjoying my mom's 1970s copy of the Joy of Cooking, and I found their Caesar Salad recipe to be intriguing - scary actually. You don't mix the dressing in advance. You just sprinkly some dried mustard, anchovies, oil, and an egg on top of the Romaine and then toss. That freaked me out, but it ended up being amazing. I'll post my tweaks soon. Without further ado, here's the recipe that brought me to the blog, despite a dirty kitchen floor and loads of cleaning...

You may know that I have a chili recipe on the site. It's for working moms, lazy cooks, and busy days. But now, I have a CHILI recipe. It's a little more time consuming, and requires a few more ingredients. However, this is the real deal. It's so much the real deal that I was eating it luke warm as I added ingredients to the crock pot. Mark invited some buddies over for football tomorrow and I'm considering telling the guests we just decided to order Domino's Pizza instead. They probably have, after all, undiscerning palates. Plus, I might just want it all for myself...

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons bacon grease
• 1 cup diced bell pepper
  
• 1/2 t of minced dried and reconstituted chipotle peppers
• 2 yellow onions, diced (about 2 cups)
• 5 cloves of garlic, mashed (with mortar and pestle if possible
  
• 2 pounds ground beef
  
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
  
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  
• 1 teaspoon chili powder (or more according to taste)
  
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
  
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1 32 ounce can of crushed tomatoes
  
• 1 can tomato paste
• 3.5 cups chicken or beef stock
• 2.5 cups of cooked pinto beans
• 1 teaspoon raw sugar
  

• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, sour cream, avocado slices, or crushed tortilla chips for garnish
  

Brown beef in 1 T bacon grease, unless your beef has enough of its own fat to get juicy. Add all seasonings from onion powder to salt.

Transfer to slow cooker. Add broth, tomato paste, and crushed tomatoes.

In same pan as beef, saute onions and peppers in 1 T butter and 1 T bacon grease. Add to slow cooker. Add beans, dried peppers and sugar.

Cook on high 4-6 hours or low 8 hours. It's best to make this the night before you plan to serve it to let the flavors meld, but its not necessary.

I'll be serving it with cornbread and biscuits tomorrow!

Mile High Apple Pie

What is fall if not baseball playoffs, colorful leaves, and apple pie? If you're a Sox fan and still in mourning, go out and enjoy some fall foliage, pick a peck of apples, and make this pie. After missing the miserable Sox game on Sunday so we could go apple picking, Mark asked if I would make him his very own apple pie with our bounty. He has been working so hard lately, I wanted to do something extra special. When I found this recipe on Joy of Baking's website, I absolutely fell in love. It's like nothing I've ever had before. I've taken liberally from their directions, but have made a few changes as well.

But pies are time consuming, you say? Too many dishes? Can never quite master that pie crust? Hmmm...I agree on all counts. But still, it's worth it. I promise. So grab your favorite cd, spend a day up to your elbows in dishes and apple peels, dancing around the kitchen, and prepare yourself for the most delicious pie you've ever had. And don't feel guilty when you eat it for breakfast the next morning either.

Here are the tools you'll need:
1 9" pie plate
a food processor (or electric mixer)
a colander and a bowl that will fit over the bowl
a rolling pin
tin foil
baking sheet or pizza stone

Ingredients:

Pie Crust
2 1/2 cups of flour (if you use WW, reduce to 2 1/4)
1 teaspoon salt
2 T sugar
1 c chilled butter, cut into pieces
1/2 c ice water

Apple Filling
8 cups of thinly sliced apples (I used a variety of Macoun, Empire, Golden Delicious)
1/2 c raw sugar (brown sugar may be subbed for part or whole)
2 T lemon juice
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t salt
2 T butter
1 T arrowroot powder or flour

To make the pie crust:
Pulse flour, salt, and sugar until just combined. Add the butter and pulse until the butter pieces are about the size of peas. Slowly pour the water into the food processor spout until dough comes together. If you don't use all 1/2 c, don't worry. The whole wheat pastry flour I used soaked up the water very quickly, and I needed the whole amount. Do NOT overprocess!

Form dough into a ball. Divide it in half, flattening each half into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about one hour before using.

After the dough has chilled sufficiently, remove one portion of the dough from the fridge and place it on a lightly floured surface. Roll the pastry in a circle, flipping over frequently to prevent sticking, and rolling out from the center. Place in the pie pan, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Remove the second disk of dough and roll it into circle. I used a knife to cut into thin strips and make lattice. You can just put the whole thing on top of the pie if you'd like. Either way, lay the dough onto a flat surface, cover with plastic wrap, and put back in fridge. You can cut it at the end.

Apple Filling:

I'd have all your apples peeled, cored, and ready before you start the dough. It works best, timing wise. In a large bowl combine the sliced apples, sugars, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Let the apples macerate at room temperature for about two hours to get them soft. Then, place the apples and their juices in a colander that is placed over a large bowl (to capture the juices). Let the apples drain for about 15 minutes or until you have at least 1/2 cup of juice. Boil the juice and 2 T of butter over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Take a few spoonfuls of the juice mixture and add the arrowroot to make a paste. Then, add the paste back to the juice and bring to a boil again. If you add the flour or arrowroot directly, it will be lumpy.

Transfer the drained apples slices to a large bowl. Then pour the reduced syrup over the apples and toss to combine. Pour the apples and their syrup into the chilled pie crust. Moisten the edges of the pie shell with a little water and then place the top crust over the apples. Tuck any excess pastry under the bottom crust and then crimp the edges using your fingers or a fork. Make five 2-inch slits from the center of the pie out towards the edge of the pie to allow the steam to escape, or make some lattice work. I even had a little extra dough and made a heart. Cover the pie with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill the pastry while you preheat the oven.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Place the oven rack at the lowest level and place a baking stone or baking sheet on the rack before preheating the oven. Place a piece of aluminum foil on the stone (or pan) to catch any apple juices.

Set the pie on the stone or pan and bake for about 45 to 55 minutes or until the juices start to bubble through the slits and the apples feel tender (not mushy) when a toothpick or sharp knife is inserted through one of the slits. Make sure to cover the edges of the pie with a foil ring to prevent over browning after about 30 minutes.

Oven Baked "Fried" Chicken

Mark said that I made the "best dinner of my life" tonight, so I had to share. I can't take credit for the recipe, nor will I repost it here. However, I will say that it was easy, frugal, nutritious and DELICIOUS! You can find the recipe at A Good Appetite.

On the menu:
Oven Baked "Fried" Chicken

• We used split chicken breasts with the bone in. I've been experiencing some pretty nasty food aversions during my first trimester, so Mark's been doing the food shopping and I am grateful. I normally wouldn't buy Roche Bros. chicken, but it was $.89 a pound and it tasted really good so I'm not stressing too much.
  

Green beans sauteed in garlic, olive oil, and butter

Kale and caramelized onions

Gluten-free corn muffins

• I modified this by quartering the recipe and making 6 muffins instead of skillet bread. I also subbed butter for the oil.

I highly recommend heading over to A Good Appetite for this recipe!

Easy Chicken Pad Thai

Can I sneak a post in, even though I'm technically on "break"? I think you'll forgive me, because this recipe is just too good and easy. Do you like pad thai? Do you only eat it at reputable (or not-so-reputable Thai restaurants) because it's just too complicated to make? Or do you buy the Thai Kitchen all-in-a-box pad thai? Well, I'm here to tell you that a tasty pad thai doesn't have to break the bank, or your back, if you want to make it at home. Is it totally authentic? No, it's not. I can't seem to find tamarind anywhere, so I've given up, but Mark doesn't know the difference, and we like it all the same. It takes about 30 minutes to make, and this recipe serves up 4 servings. Sorry no pics, but Mark said this was the best one yet, so I just had to share!

Here's what you'll need:

Sauce:
4 T fish sauce
4 T rice vinegar
2-3 T raw or thick honey
2 T ketchup (homemade was really good here, as it's thick and not super sweet)

2 chicken breasts, cut up into cubes OR 1 lb shrimp OR combo of both
peanut or sesame oil
rice noodles (8oz worked well for us - half of a standard package)
3 eggs (farm fresh with big yolks made a difference this time!)
5 cloves of garlic, mashed with mortar and pestle, or minced
a few scallions or onion tops

Garnish:
1/4 - 1/2 cup cilantro
juice of 1 lime

Bring some water to a boil. Add noodles for 5 minutes. Drain, and rinse with cool water. Set aside.

Saute chicken in oil on medium heat. When almost cooked through, add scallions and garlic.

Meanwhile, mix sauce ingredients and set aside.

When chicken is set, I pushed it to the side of my large cast iron skillet and scrambled up the eggs. If your pan isn't large enough, you can dirty another pan, or put the chicken in a dish while you scramble.

Add sauce and noodles, cooking on low. You'll want a big pasta fork to distribute the sauce evenly. Add lime and cilantro, and you're done! I also like to add peanuts, or some steamed bean sprouts if we have them on hand.

Beer Bread

Did you know you could make bread with beer? And that it's easy? Delicious, too?! Mark has been scouting around for something edible these days, and since I've been writing more than cooking, he's been stuck with blue tortilla chips from his graduation party, and some nasty fire-roasted tomato salsa. I wanted to make him some muffins, but I figured the Coconut Oatmeal Pie would breakfast for a few days, so I went with sandwich bread instead. (The boy loves him some turkey and cheese!) This bread was done, start to finish, in an hour. It's not optimal, because it's not soaked or sprouted, but it was good and fast, and with a husband who thinks bread should be at every meal, sometimes you just gotta improvise!

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup bread flour
1 T baking powder (fresh!)
1 t sugar
1 t salt
12 ounces beer
1/2 cup finely grated cheddar cheese (optional)
2 T fresh dill, chopped

Preheat oven to 375
Mix all ingredients except beer.
Add beer slowly, stirring just to combine. It will be a very thick batter!
Bake for 45 minutes.

Enjoy!

Sloppy Joes

I have never had a sloppy joe before tonight. I hate the word sloppy, and I never knew anyone named Joe that particularly interested me. Before tonight. I'm trying to minimize my time in the kitchen so I can maximize my writing blocks. Additionally, I have only a handful of paychecks left before the summer and frugality is suddenly the top virtue on my list. Using what's on hand for meals is an easy way to save money. Since Mark's graduation party left us with 6 pounds of ground beef, I figured I might want to say hello to Sloppy Joe!

I found a recipe online, and had dinner ready in ten minutes. Seriously. It was that fast. And, I am now a sloppy joe fan. Though I don't think I will ever eat anyone else's joes. It just doesn't feel right.

1 pound preferably grass-fed ground beef (ours was seasoned with my grill mix of smoked paprika, oregano, basil, sea salt and rosemary)

1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
3/4 c ketchup
1 t mustard
1/2 t garlic salt (or minced garlic)
1/2 t molasses
1 t sugar

Brown beef, onion, and green pepper. Our beef is naturally lean so I didn't drain any fat, but you may want to.

Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to combine.

Cook for about 5 minutes.

Add to bun, or eat plain with some potato salad!

Shrimpy Sunday

Mark did it. He graduated. I'm so proud, and he's so relieved. Life will be a bit different now that he's not on campus for most of his meals. It means my little hiatus from cooking is history, which is fine, especially considering the changing seasons. I love using spring and summer produce to create light, simple meals. Sometimes though, we just don't have much on hand. After making potato salad, cole slaw, burgers, and guacamole for Mark's grad party yesterday, the last thing I wanted to do was cook tonight. Mark was in the mood for pasta, which is a good thing - minimal prep. We had some random frozen ingredients for nights like this, and I put the dish together in about fifteen minutes. Not only was it easy and filling, but it was packed with nutrition.

I mentioned before, I'm working on a piece about the Michael Pollen lecture, and I know he'd cringe at this paragraph. He's a big proponent of eating food, not nutrients. I totally agree with him - we can be obsessed with the latest superfood or nutrient. I've been steering away from including a nutritional breakdown of my recipes for some time now, but depending on where you are on your real food journey, you may really like knowing what you're eating. So this snapshot is for those people (hi, Mom!):

**Shrimp are an excellent source of selenium, a nutrient touted for its cancer-preventing qualities. In addition to selenium, shrimp provide a good source of protein, vitamin D and B12, and omega-3s. I decided to add lots of garlic (known for their anti-fungal, antiviral properties), sun-dried tomatoes (go vitamin C and iron!), and spinach (vitamins K, A, and folate).**

To throw together your own shrimpy pasta, start with:

1/2 pound of your favorite pasta (we use 100% whole wheat)
1/4 c olive oil
1/4 c white wine
4 large garlic cloves, sliced thinly
1 cup tighty packed spinach, chopped (I used frozen and thawed it in a strainer with some water)
20 cooked medium shrimp (again, went with the frozen here and defrosted under water)
handful of sundried tomatoes, reconstituted in boiling water for ten minutes and sliced thinly
freshly grated parmesan cheese
ribboned fresh basil


Cook pasta according to directions on box.
Add olive oil and garlic cloves to large skillet and cook several minutes over medium low flame.
Add wine, shrimp, spinach, and tomatoes.
Simmer til sauce is reduced by about half.
Turn off heat, add pasta, and stir to combine.
Add cheese and basil if desired.

Grass-Fed Roast Beef

Disclaimer: Beef is very unphotogenic, I've decided. So please, forgive the picture but don't forgo the recipe!

I wasn't going to post for the Simple and Nourishing Carnival. In fact, I wasn't even going to cook the roast that I had defrosted, and when I did decide to, I had low expectations. Despite my enthusiasm for grass-fed beef, I haven't done a very good job cooking it. I was beginning to wonder if I even wanted to buy another cow next year. (We bought a slaughtered grass-finished cow from a farmer in Vermont.) Grass-fed beef definitely cooks differently, and in this case, just what "different" means is elusive. But I figured the health benefits outweighed the hassle of learning to cook it properly, so I persisted.

Literally, this meal was an afterthought. Our roasts take a few days to thaw in the fridge, so I took it out on the assumption I'd be geared up and ready to cook it at the end of the week. Four days later, I knew I better do something with that bloody hunk of meat before Mark called PETA. So, I poked some holes in it, and threw together a quick marinade of

1/4 c olive oil
1/4 c soy sauce
3 mashed and sliced garlic cloves
1/4 c apple cider vinegar
1 T salt

I put the meat in a corningware pan with a fitted lid, poured over the marinade, and added enough water so that it covered the meat. It was a brine/marinade hybrid. I read about it somewhere...

Fast forward 24 hours. I was tired today, and I had to go BACK to work for an Open House at 6pm. The last thing I wanted to do was cook a roast, especially one that seemed doomed from the day it left the freezer. I think I was avoiding the whole thing because roasts have been high maintenance lately since I'm always trying a new way of cooking them, which requires hours of ::pointless:: research. So today, I used the same method as last time, but decided to cook it longer. (Mark didn't appreciate the tartar we had last time.)
Method

• Preheat oven to 500 F.
• Place roast in cast iron skillet and place in oven.
• Cook about 3-5 minutes per side, flipping gently as each side browns. I use my hands. Is that bad?
  
• Once roast is browned (about 20 minutes), lower heat to 300 F.
• Using an electric oven thermometer, monitor the temperature of the beef. (If you don't own one of these, you need to buy one ASAP. They are so handy for bread baking, yogurt making, and meat cooking!)
• Once the internal temperature reaches 150 F, take the roast out. It took mine about 45 minutes. If it starts to brown even further, feel free to tent it or turn the heat down another 50 degrees. The last thing you want is a dried out hunk of beef with a tough exterior.
  
• If you haven't already, tent the meat with tinfoil. Let it cool for about 20 minutes before you cut it so the juices can redistribute. I had to jet to work tonight directly after the meat came out of the oven, so it just chilled on the counter for a few hours. It was still lovely.
• When the internal temperature is around 145 degrees, or you've waited at least 20 minutes, slice THINLY! I can't stress this enough. The thinner it is, the better. I wish I had an electric knife, though the cat doesn't. He enjoys the hunks of leftover meat butts. Just kidding.
  
• If you're ambitious, reheat the cast iron skillet that should have lots of good fatty juices, and add as much chicken stock as you'd like. (Start with just a half cup.) Bring to a boil and simmer til slightly thick. I pour this right over the beef in the container it will be stored in to keep it nice and moist.
  

Mark will be eating these slices for lunch, in a roast beef sandwich. I munch on them for a snack, or dinner with sourdough bread, a mixture of mayonnaise and ketchup (thousand island-ish), and lots of sauerkraut. The enzymes in the sauerkraut help with digestibility of the meat. Adding raw cheese, and grilling the sandwich in some butter is to-die-for if you can do dairy. I'm definitely missing that!

So, there we have it. Simple AND nourishing! For more simple and nourishing ideas, visit The Nourishing Gourmet's Simple and Nourishing Carnival.

Garlicky Spinach and Bean Soup

I said I wasn't going to post anymore tonight. I have a kitchen to clean and veggie burgers to package and the Biggest Loser to watch. But I can't help it. Plus, I really wanted to participate in this week's Real Food Wednesday at Cheeseslave! Check out her site for more great posts. This recipe practically feels like a sin not to share it. Quick, easy, nutritious, and satisfying - what else is there??

I had some leftover sprouted beans from my veggie burgers, and the last cup of seafood stock in the fridge was getting dangerously close to an expiration date. So, I whipped up a recipe I heard on NPR's Food podcast. Chefs were given $10 to feed four people a tasty, filling dinner. Chef Jose Andres shared garbanzos con espinacas, or for those of you that failed high school Spanish, chickpeas with spinach. His recipe is a little fancier than mine, and takes a bit longer, but check it out if you're in the mood for some Spanish food! I simplified the recipe, and ended up with something that cost minimal $$, but was big on flavor. Enjoy!

Ingredients
1-2 cups chickpeas, sprouted and steamed, canned, or soaked and cooked
2 cups stock or water
6 garlic cloves, peeled and whole
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup bread, crusts removed (I used frozen breadcrumbs from this sprouted wheat bread)
1 tablespoon paprika or sweet paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1-2 cups spinach, washed and cleaned
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

• Combine chickpeas and stock. Bring to a boil.
• Lower heat and simmer while you do the next step.

• Brown garlic in olive oil. Remove from the pan and set aside.
• Add the bread to olive oil and brown. Turn off heat.
• Put garlic back in pan, and add spices.
• Using a mortar and pestle or the back of a sturdy spoon, mash garlic and bread to form a paste as best you can.
• Add to simmering chickpeas.
• Add spinach and cook til wilted.
• Season to taste!

Note: This will get thicker the longer it sits. My second helping was much more like a stew than the first!

Veggie Burgers

We bought a cow this winter, so the idea of me making veggie burgers is almost comical. However, Ricki over at Diet, Dessert, and Dogs has impressed me with the simple, easy-to-make and adapt recipes she posts. This one caught my eye, and here I am, up to my elbows in vegetable pulp, licking the sides of my food processor. (Don't worry - I took out the blade first.)

I followed her recipe pretty closely, with the exception of the herbs and spices. I didn't have anything but dill on hand, so I added in 1 t smoked paprika, upped the salt to 1 t, gave the mixture a good shake of cayenne, and threw in a shallot for good measure. I had some homemade bread crumbs in the freezer and sprouted a mixture of garbanzo and pinto beans just for the occasion. For the vegetables, I used a few leaves of kale, 1 onion, 3 carrots, 1 small leek, and a handful of our cooked pepper and onion omelet mixture. Tonight's sort of a lazy food night, but if it wasn't, I'd pretty these bad boys up with five minute buns, chopped or caramelized onions, ketchup, and maybe throw on some sweet potato fries. Head over there for yourself! While you're at it, check out her cookbook, Sweet Freedom, coming out soon! It looks fantastic. I can't wait to get a copy myself.