Cherry Pie

Ingredients

Crust
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1/2 cup very cold water, plus an additional tablespoon if needed

Filling
4 cups fresh or frozen tart cherries
1 to 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (I used 1 cup and it seemed fine but not overly sweet)
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 tablespoon almond extract (optional)
1 1/2 tablespoons butter, to dot
1 tablespoon granulated sugar, to sprinkle

Directions

Crust
In the bottom of a large bowl, combine the flour, salt and sugar. Work the butter into the flour with your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles a coarse meal and the largest bits of butter are the size of tiny peas. Add 1/2 cup cold water and stir until large clumps form. Use your hands to knead the dough together, right in the bottom of the bowl. If necessary to bring the dough together, you can add the last tablespoon of water.

Wrap dough in a sheet of plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour, or up to 48 hours, or you can quick-firm this in the freezer for 15 minutes. Longer than 2 days, it’s best to freeze it until needed.

Divide the dough in half.  On a floured counter, roll each piece of dough out into a 12 to 13-inch circle (or anything close). Fold dough gently in quarters without creasing and transfer to a 9-inch standard (not deep-dish) pie plate. Unfold dough and trim overhang to about 1/2-inch. Fold overhang under edge of pie crust. Return to fridge until ready to fill.

Filling
Place cherries in medium saucepan and place over heat. Cover. After the cherries lose considerable juice, which may take a few minutes, remove from heat. In a small bowl, mix the sugar and cornstarch together. Pour this mixture into the hot cherries and mix well. Add the almond extract, if desired, and mix. Return the mixture to the stove and cook over low heat until thickened, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and let cool. If the filling is too thick, add a little water, too thin, add a little more cornstarch.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Pour cooled cherry mixture into the crust. Dot with butter.  I had to google what it means to dot with butter because I didn’t understand if I was painting the crust with butter or what was happening with this so-called dotting.  Apparently it just means to put little pieces of butter on top of your filling before you add the top crust.  Weird.  Moisten edge of bottom crust. Place top crust on and flute the edge of the pie. Make a slit in the middle of the crust for steam to escape. Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and place on a rack to cool.

Green bean casserole

Kurt, if you're reading this I think it's time you upgrade us to get rid of all these weird formatting issues.  We can't have an ugly blog--that's just embarrassing. And if you're not reading this, then please start.

Ingredients

2 cups fried shallots or onions

2 tablespoons olive or canola oil

Kosher salt

1 1/2 pounds white button mushrooms, rinsed and spun in a salad spinner

2 teaspoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons lemon juice from 1 lemon

2 cups low sodium chicken stock

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 tablespoons butter

2 cloves garlic, finely minced or grated on a microplane grater

1/4 cup flour

Freshly ground black pepper

2 pounds green beans, ends trimmed and cut into 2 inch segments

Directions

Roughly chop mushrooms into pieces approximately 1/8th to 1/4-inches large. Set aside. Combine soy sauce, lemon juice, chicken stock, and heavy cream in 1 quart liquid measure or medium bowl.

Add 2 tablespoons olive or canola oil and butter to 12-inch non-stick skillet. Heat over high heat until butter is melted and foaming subsides. Add mushrooms to skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is evaporated and mushrooms begin to sizzle, 6 to 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium high. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly until light golden blond, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisking constantly, add stock and cream mixture. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until mixture achieves a texture between pancake batter and heavy cream, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Bring 1 gallon of water and 1/4 cup kosher salt to boil over high heat. Add green beans to water and boil until tender but still bright green, about 5 minutes. Drain through colander set over sink and immediately transfer to a bowl of cold water or rinse under cold water until completely cooled. Drain green beans and set aside.

Combine green beans, mushroom sauce, and 1 cup fried shallots. Transfer to 9 by 13-inch rectangular casserole or 10 by 14-inch oval casserole. Bake until hot and bubbly, 15 to 20 minutes. Top with remaining cup fried shallots and serve.

Chocolate Pecan Pie

I made this pie during the Thanksgiving festivities for the first time and I was worried about ruining a classic, but it turned out to be a pretty amazing pie.  I mean how can you go wrong adding chocolate to anything, especially with pecans, but I couldn't believe how delicious it was!

Ingredients

Crust
1 1/4 cups (155 grams) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons (6 grams) granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon (3 grams) fine sea or table salt
1 stick (4 ounces or 115 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1/4 cup (60 ml) very cold water, plus an additional tablespoon if needed

Filling

2 cups (about 7 ounces) pecans

3 large eggs

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

2/3 cup light corn syrup

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

3 tablespoons bourbon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

Directions

Crust

In the bottom of a large bowl, combine the flour, salt and sugar. Work the butter into the flour with your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles a coarse meal and the largest bits of butter are the size of tiny peas. Add 1/4 cup cold water and stir until large clumps form. Use your hands to knead the dough together, right in the bottom of the bowl. If necessary to bring the dough together, you can add the last tablespoon of water.

Wrap dough in a sheet of plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour, or up to 48 hours, or you can quick-firm this in the freezer for 15 minutes. Longer than 2 days, it’s best to freeze it until needed.

On a floured counter, roll the dough out into a 12 to 13-inch circle (or anything close). Fold dough gently in quarters without creasing and transfer to a 9-inch standard (not deep-dish) pie plate. Unfold dough and trim overhang to about 1/2-inch. Fold overhang under edge of pie crust and crimp decoratively. Return to fridge until ready to fill.

Filling

Preheat the oven to 375°. On a rimmed baking sheet, toast the pecans for about 8 minutes, or until fragrant; coarsely chop. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the brown sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, melted butter, bourbon and salt until blended. Stir in the pecans and chocolate chips until evenly distributed.

Pour the filling into the pie shell. Bake on the bottom shelf of the oven for about 55 minutes, or until the center of the pie is set. Tent the crust with foil halfway through the baking time if the edge is browning too quickly. Transfer the pie to a rack and let cool for at least 1 hour before serving.

Cooking Beans in the Crock Pot

I realize that I'm the only crazy person out there who takes my beans seriously enough to cook them myself instead of just buying canned beans but I'm posting this anyway.  I cook them in the crock pot and then freeze some for later because that's the kind of nerd I am.  It started in Ghana (well fine, it started in Honduras, but I wasn't the person on bean cooking duty back in those days) because canned beans were hard to find and really expensive, and now I somehow can't go back because they're just better and it somehow seems like cheating.

Ingredients
Any amount of dried beans and whatever kind you like—I just usually do one bag of them if it fits (If you're cooking kidney beans though, boil them for 10 minutes before cooking. This apparently neutralizes some toxin in there.)
1 teaspoon salt at the beginning and then another teaspoon per pound of beans at the end (depending on how salty you like them)
3-4 cloves peeled garlic and big chunks/slices of onion (1/4 of an onion)

Directions
When you cook them in the crock pot, pre-soaking them isn't as important, which is good because that overnight soak is usually what does me in because I don't plan that far in advance and can't seem to find two consecutive days where I can soak overnight and then proceed to cook them for a really long time. Anyway they say they're easier on your stomach if you do soak them, so if you're the kind of person who can soak them overnight and cook them the next day, then go for it. 

Soak: Rinse the beans under cool, running water and remove any shriveled beans. Transfer them to a bowl and cover with several inches of clean water. Let sit overnight (in the fridge). Drain before cooking.

Crock pot: Put them in the crock pot on low and fill it with enough water to cover the beans by at least 2 inches.  Add the onion and garlic at the beginning of cooking (if you just leave the cloves whole and the onion in big pieces, you can just scoop them out when you're done). I also add a teaspoon of salt at the beginning of cooking — a little salt added at the beginning of cooking actually helps keep the beans intact, so I know that this would be considered blasphemous in Honduras, but I've started doing it because my beans always explode and it seems to work.

Cook on low - it usually takes 6-8 hours, but start checking them around 5 hours and then every half hour or so until they're soft.

Best cheesecake ever

One Thanksgiving in Ghana, we were desperate for some American dessert but were having trouble getting the right ingredients for anything Thanksgivingy so I finally came up with this recipe to meet all of our weird requirements.  Anyway, I made it and it was such a hit that everyone I knew requested it for every single farewell party, Friday night movie night, birthday, and pretty much anything that could possibly require celebration in the form of a cheesecake.  So I thought I'd share the recipe because it is actually pretty amazing.

Ingredients

Crust:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
6 tablespoons cold butter
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling:
5 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup whipping cream

Directions
In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, pecans and lemon peel, cut in butter until crumbly. Combine egg yolk and vanilla; stir into flour mixture. Press onto the bottom of a greased 10-in. springform pan. Bake at 400 degrees F for 8-11 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.
Fill a 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish with 8 cups water; place on lowest oven rack. Reduce heat to 325 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually beat in sugar. Add the flour, vanilla and salt. Combine eggs and egg yolks; add to cream cheese mixture just until combined. Beat in cream just until combined. Pour over crust.

Bake on middle rack at 325 degrees F for 70-75 minutes or until center is almost set (top of cheesecake will crack, don't be scared). Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen. Cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight (or for at least 4-5 hours). 

Cast iron rules

I'm trying to get over my fear of cast iron pans and saw this article and wanted to share it with all of you and with my future self once I finally start using mine.  I actually bought a pan so that's the first step, right?

Rules for a successful lifelong relationship with your cast iron

1) Season it when you get it. Even pre-seasoned cast iron can do with some extra protection. To season your pan, heat it up on the stovetop until its smoking hot, then rub a little oil into it and let it cool. Repeat this process a few times and you're good to go.

2) Clean it after each use. Clean your pan thoroughly after each use by washing it with soap and water and scrubbing out any gunk or debris from the bottom. I use the scrubby side of a sponge for this.

3) Re-season it. Rinse out any excess soap with water, then place the skillet over a burner set to high heat. When most of the water inside the skillet has dried out, add a half teaspoon of a neutral oil like vegetable, canola, flaxseed, or shortening. Rub it around with a paper towel. Continue heating the pan until it just starts to smoke then give it one more good rub. Let it cool and you're done.

4) Fry and Sear in it. The best way to keep your seasoning maintained? Just use your pan a lot! The more you fry, sear, or bake in it, the better that seasoning will become.

5) Don't let it stay wet. Water is the natural enemy of iron and letting even a drop of water sit in your pan when you put it away can lead to a rust spot. Not the end of the world, but rust will require a little scrubbing and reseasoning. I always dry out my pan with a paper towel and coat it with a tiny amount of oil before storage.

Here's the full article I got this from with all of the myths about cast iron.

Next step: USE cast iron pan.  It's been 3 months since I bought mine at the Amish market (it only seemed fitting - if you're going to get one anywhere other than inheriting it from someone, you can't pass up an Amish market cast iron pan, right?) and I think this just may be the month I start using it.

Eggplant Parmesan

Hi everyone,

The blog is officially back in action so get ready.  If you bake breaded eggplant, it doesn't even taste like eggplant and gets all crispy and delicious I swear.  So try it even if you don't like eggplant.

Ingredients:
3 eggplants - peel and thinly slice
4 cups Panko or Italian bread crumbs
6 cups spaghetti sauce
16 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Dip eggplant slices in egg, then in bread crumbs. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes on each side.
3. In a 9x13 inch baking dish spread spaghetti sauce to cover the bottom. Place a layer of eggplant slices in the sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Repeat with remaining ingredients, ending with the cheeses.
4. Bake for 35 minutes, or until golden brown.