Apple Crisp

Apparently living off fried rice (no matter how many variations) is not conducive to food blog updating. But in between the quick bites there are some thought out dishes. So here's to my first update in 6 months. Oh massive fail.

The apple crisp was something made out of necessity. I had planned on making a French apple tart for a gathering, but ended up scratching the idea because I was too busy that day (nothing important, just had to attend my graduation ^^). But I had already peeled a bunch of apples and they were just sitting in the fridge looking sad. They weren't spectacular eating apples, so I thought I would transform them into something more delicious.

I usually use raw apples for crisps, but cooking them gives them more flavor, not to mention the butter-brown sugar mixture makes a great sauce. As for the cute ramekin - $1 at Michael's. Finally Valentine's Day has some use.

Apple Crisp

Filling:
6 medium apples (crisp, not mealy apples), peeled, cored, and cut in big chunks
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
handful raisins

Topping:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
1/2 cup butter, melted

For Filling:Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add in apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, and raisins. Cook until apples are slightly softened, about 4-5 minutes. Add in vanilla. Spoon into an 8x8 dish or into individual ramekins.

For Topping: Combine flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and melted butter together. Spread over top of the filling.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes for the 8x8 and for 30 minutes for the ramekins.

Because I Can...

Saturday lunch for the family - chicken pot pie - because I think I can make it better than Marie Callender's. I had leftover pie crust from making apple pie earlier that week, so I made mine with just a top crust. You can use puff pastry for the crust as well, and change the filling to suit your taste. Feel free to add in herbs (rosemary and thyme are very nice), different vegetables and meats (though if you use something other than chicken it wouldn't really be a chicken pot pie).

Chicken Pot Pie

1 pound chicken breast, skinless, boneless, cubed (I used chicken tenders)
1 large onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 1/2 cup frozen mixed vegetables (peas, green beans, corn, carrots)
1 clove garlic
Salt and pepper
Garlic powder

1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 can chicken broth (low-sodium)
1 cup milk or water

1 recipe for single pie crust, rolled out to fit a 9" pie dish

Heat up oil in a large saute pan. Season cubed chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Brown chicken, then remove to a separate dish (the chicken wouldn't be cooked all the way through). In the same pan, add more oil if needed, and cook onion, garlic, carrot and celery until softened. Add in mixed vegetables, and season with salt and pepper.

In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Sprinkle flour over melted butter and whisk until smooth. Cook for 3-4 minutes until it looks like pale gold paste. This will cook out the raw flour taste. Add in chicken broth and water or milk, and whisk to incorporate. Simmer over medium low heat until thickened. Add in the chicken and sauteed vegetables. Check for seasoning, adding more salt and pepper as desired.

Pour filling into a 9" pie dish and cover with rolled crust. Fold the excess dough under the lip of the dish to seal. Brush the top with beaten egg and cut 2 or 3 slits on top to allow steam to escape. Bake in a preheated 425 degrees oven for 30-35 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the filling bubbly.

Something Greek

Bouts of laziness and other distractions have led me to being MIA for a while, but now I'm back, and glad for it ^^

Before Christmas (a very long time ago I know, I told you I've been MIA), Justin threw a holiday party. It was a lovely affair, a gathering of friends as intimate as family, celebrating the festivities with laughter, games, and the occassional voodoo mistletoe. It was raining that day, I remember, and when I woke up in the morning, I looked forward to being in the cheery warmth of the kitchen. I made a large batch of chocolate chip cookies, decorated with red and green M&M's, and some white chocolate cranberry cookies for Sandy. They're one of my favorite flavors, but Sandy has never tried them. I hope she liked them.

I remember back in high school when I tried to make baklava, and bought puff pastry instead of phyllo dough. That was an interesting night...I've been wanting to work with phyllo for a while, but it's one of those things that seemed a little too fussy for everyday eats. So Justin's party gave me the occasion to make these cute little phyllo triangles, spanakopita.

Traditional Greek spanakopita consists of phyllo dough wrapped around a filling of spinach and feta cheese, baked until golden brown. The sheets of phyllo are brushed with butter, and when baked, puff up to create delicate crunchy layers, juxtaposing with the creamy filling. It's a long process only because each triangle has to be wrapped individually, but each step is very simple in itself. The phyllo dough needs to be handled carefully to prevent it from drying out and cracking. Here are some tips on how to work with phyllo.

Spanakopita

1 package phyllo dough, thawed overnight in the refrigerator

1 onion, diced
2 (10 ounces) package frozen spinach, thawed, drained dry, and chopped
3 cloves garlic
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1/3 cup parsley, chopped
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
8 ounces feta cheese (plain or flavored)
1 large egg, beaten
salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil

To make the filling:
Heat olive oil in a large saute pan. Add in onion and garlic and cook until softened. Add in the drained spinach and green onions. Salt and pepper according to taste (be careful with the salt, since the feta is salty). Turn the heat off and stir in egg, ricotta cheese, feta cheese, and parsley. Allow filling to cool before proceeding.

Assembly:
Unwrap the phyllo dough from packaging and place flat. Cover with a damp towel (this prevents the dough from drying out and cracking). The thawed phyllo dough should be soft and pliable. There are several ways to fold the phyllo triangles, depending on preferred thickness of the phyllo layer and the overall size of the triangles. Since I was making appetizer-sized ones, I used the following process:
Remove one sheet of phyllo from underneath the damp towel (taking care to cover the rest), and place on work surface, short size facing you. Cut the sheet in half width-wise (cut is parallel to the short side of the sheet). These 2 half-sheets will each make 1 phyllo triangle. Taking 1 half-sheet, brush the lower half with butter and fold the top half over, creating 2 layers. Place a spoonful of filling at one end, about a 1/2 inch from the edge, then fold the dough up like a flag. It's hard to explain in words, so here's a diagram. When you reach the end, brush with a bit of butter to seal the edges. Repeat with the remaining phyllo dough.

Fold


Fold some more, brush edge with butter


Done!

Place seam-side down on a baking tray and brush the top with butter. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees oven for 25-30 minutes, until golden. Serve warm or at room temperature. Don't stack them until they've cooled completely or they will turn soggy. I promise it's worth the work and it looks so much more complicated than it really is ^^

Warning: NOT for weight-cutters

Bright Sables

Sables are tender, rich shortbread cookies popular in France. Dorie Greenspan provides a master recipe in her book Baking From My Home to Yours that makes the basic buttery sable. It's a wonderful base to add other flavors to. Be creative, have fun.

Sables
makes about 50 cookies

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 large egg yolks
2 cups all-purpose flour

Beat butter until smooth and very creamy. Add d the sugars and salt and beat until well blended, about 1 minute. The mixture should be smooth and silky, not fluffy and airy. Add in the egg yolks and beat until homogenous.

Turn off the mixer and pour in the flour. Pulse the mixture until the flour is moist and incorporated into the dough. Work the dough as little as possible. You're looking for a soft, moist, clumpy (rather than smooth) dough. It should feel like play-doh when you pinch it. Scrap the dough onto a smooth work surface, gather it into a ball and divide it in half. Shape each piece into a smooth log about 9 inches long and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate the logs for at least 3 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Slice the chilled dough logs into 1/3-inch thick cookies. Place the rounds on a parchment-lined baking sheet with an inch of space between each. Bake for 17-20 minutes, rotating the baking sheet at the halfway point. The cookies should be light brown on the bottom, light golden on the edges, and pale on top. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest before moving them to a rack to cool to room temperature.

Options:

• For decorative purposes, you can brush the logs with egg yolk (before cutting) and roll them in clear or colored decorating sugar
• Play around with the flavors - I used lemon zest and crushed rose petals (rub the lemon zest with the sugar before beating with the butter)
  

peace for you

Dorie Greenspan called these cookies the brainchild of French chef Pierre Herme, declaring it to be as important a culinary breakthrough as Tollhouse cookies. They are chocolate sables, dark with cocoa and flecked with bittersweet chocolate. The surprising and lingering aftertaste as the flavor travels to the back of the tongue is that of salt. Pierre Herme uses fleur de sel, a moist delicate French sea salt. Have you noticed that salt makes sweets taste sweeter and chocolate chocolatier?

When the recipe was published in her first cookbook, it was called Korova cookies. In her new book it is presented under a new name. Her neighbor, upon trying them, was convinced that a daily dose of these cookies is all that is needed to bring lasting planetary peace and happiness. So they were dubbed World Peace Cookies.



World Peace Cookies
Makes about 36 cookies

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 stick plus 3 tbsp (11 tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp fleur de sel or 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped into little chips

Sift flour, cocoa, and baking soda together.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably with a paddle attachment, or a hand mixer and a large bowl, beat butter until soft and creamy. Add in brown and white sugar, salt and vanilla, and beat for 2 minutes more, scraping down the bowl occasionally. Pour in the dry ingredients and cover bowl with a towel. Pulse the mixer at low speed about 5 times, a second or two each time. If there's still a lot of flour on the surface of the dough, pulse a few times more; if not, remove the towel. Mix at low speed for about 30 seconds more, just until the flour disappears into the dough. It is important to work the dough as little as possible. Toss in the chocolate bits and mix until just combined. (The dough will seem very dry at first, but keep incorporating the dry ingredients into the butter mixture - I did this part by hand with a spatula - and it will eventually come together)

Turn the dough out on a work surface, gather it together and divide in half. Working with one half at a time, shape dough into logs that are 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Using a sharp knife, slice the dough into rounds that are 1/2 inch thick (I found this to be too thick, I cut mine 1/3 inch thick). If the dough crack when you cut them, just press the pieces back together on the baking sheet. Arrange the rounds on the baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch between each.

Bake the cookies for 12 minutes. They wouldn't look done nor will they look firm, but as they cool they'll harden a bit. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack and allow them to rest until just warm. They're best served at this point or at room temperature.

new flavors, basic recipe

I had planned on baking Dorie Greenspan's "Best Chocolate Chip Cookies" the other night. Her recipe made almost 4 dozen, so I was going to halve it and modify it to also make some white chocolate cranberry cookies with pistachios. It was late and I had stuff on my mind, so somehow I added in 2 eggs instead of 1 large egg as required. Past experience told me that if I continue with the recipe I'm going to end up with puffy cookies, which I hate. But I was hoping that since the eggs were so small, they would only really be...1 1/2 large eggs. I went ahead and baked off 1 or 2 to try. Nope, puffy and cakey. No good. The dough tastes great though, so I think I'm going to freeze it and use it in cookie dough ice cream later on. Or eat it straight when The Small One comes over. Shhh...


Fast forward to this morning. I decided to use my tried and true basic cookie recipe since I was baking for my friend, and didn't want to mess up again. I've used the recipe for chocolate chunk cookies, chocolate walnut, white chocolate cranberry, etc. I was making white chocolate cranberry cookies with pistachios today. The pistachios I bought were shelled and raw, so I toasted them slightly in a dry pan, and tossed them in.


Nom nom nom...lucky I gave most of these away

Pumpkin Harvest Muffins

The weather is finally nippy, the wind carrying winter's snappy chill. I like walking down the street with my coat pulled tight around me, with the sound of crunching leaves beneath my feet. The trees, now barren of once-brilliant foliage, wave their branching forms, both desolate and hauntingly beautiful. The sun engages in a game of hide-and-go-seek, peeking out once in a while to cast its glow over the otherwise darkened days.

I like baking in pajamas and fuzzy slippers, with Regina Spektor and Jason Mraz playing in the background. I surround myself with the flavors of the season and the smell of warming spices. There's pumpkin and cranberries, figs and walnuts, cinnamon and ginger and cloves and nutmeg. It is time to celebrate.

Pumpkin Harvest Muffins
Makes 12-14 muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup unsweetened pumpkin puree
1/4 cup milk+ 1/4 tsp lemon juice (or 1/4 cup buttermilk)
3-4 dried figs, chopped
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup frozen cranberries, chopped

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.

Beat butter until soft, and add in both sugars. Continue beating until light and smooth. Add the eggs one by one, waiting until the previous one has completely incorporated before adding the next. Add in vanilla, pumpkin puree, and milk. Slowly add in the dry ingredients, mixing only until the dry bits disappear. Using a spatula, fold in figs, walnuts, and cranberries. The batter will be stiff.


Spoon batter into lined muffin cups, an ice cream scope will come in handy. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until a knife come out of the center clean. Transfer to a cooling rack.

Serve warm from the oven or at room temperature, or split and toast them, plain or with butter and jam.