Mini Apple Pie Tarts

Melissa Ranglack in Accounting....here you go!*

I made this on a whim. I have quarts and quarts of apple pie preserves and I need to use them up before fall! (Well I don't have to use them up...but it's a little ridiculous how much my mom and I canned this fall...and I need the cabinet space!)

makes 12 apple pie tarts

Crust (slightly adapted from Martha Stewart):
1 1/4 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick cold butter, cut in cubes
1 1/2 T ice water
1 1/2 T vodka (if you're not keen on using vodka, just sub ice water, but it really ups the flaky factor and the alcohol cooks out!)

Filling:
Use your favorite. I used apple pie preserves, but this one from the NY Times looks great, too. Or this appleberry pie...

Topping: 
1/2 c four
1/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c oats
pinch salt
1/2 stick cold butter

Crust:
In a food processor, pulse flour, salt, butter and combine well. Pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, add ice water and vodka, pulse just until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed. Do not overmix. If the dough isn't holding together well when squeezed, add a splash more water or vodka. Don't wash the food processor...you still need to make the topping. 

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface, roll dough out, using knife or dough scraper cut 5x5 inch squares and press into muffin tin. The edges will look rough - but that is just fine. Re-roll the scraps and repeat. The number of tart shells you get depends entirely on how thick you roll the dough - I aimed for 1/4 inch (I made this recipe 2x and got 12 tarts the first time and 11 the second time). Freeze tart shells for at least 1 hour before filling and baking. 

Topping:
Combine all ingredients in food processor, pulse until thoroughly mixed. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove tart shells from freezer, spoon in filling, top with desired amount of crumble topping. Place in oven, lower temp to 375 and bake for 20-30 min. Keep an eye on the topping, if it is browning too quickly, tent with foil for remaining time. enjoy! (I've had one for breakfast the last 3 days...these do a body good!)

*you can make these into 'hand pies' if you wish, however you won't get 12, probably more like 6 large hand pies. Just roll out the dough, cut into a 6x6 square or use a large round cookie cutter, fill with filling, fold over, seal and crimp with fork, cut a slit in the top, freeze for 1 hour or so, brush with egg wash and bake as directed above. 

My Healthy Mac n' Cheese

The great thing about this recipe is that you can adjust the cheese sauce to suite your taste. I prefer a moderately cheesy mac n' cheese, but feel free to double or even triple the cheese sauce if you like yours very cheesy. 

Filling:
2 T olive oil
1 1/2 c diced onion
1 tsp salt
3 c diced cabbage
1 c diced carrot
2 c diced broccoli
2 c diced, packed kale
4-6 cloves minced garlic (depending on your taste)
3/4 lb rotini pasta

Cheese sauce: (if you like a very cheesy mac n' cheese, double or even triple it!)
1 1/2 T butter
1 T olive oil
3 T flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 T half n' half or heavy cream or whole milk
1 c milk
1 c cottage cheese (I used 2%)
2 c cheese (I used a mixture of extra sharp cheddar and mozzerella)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, or to taste
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp black pepper

Topping:
1 c bread crumbs, seasoned or unseasoned, either one works

Do things in the following order and you'll have dinner ready in under 40 min:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

1. Put pasta water on to boil, add 1 T salt
2. Pour oil in to pan (med heat) for sauteing veggies; dice onion and cabbage, when oil is hot add to pan along with salt
3. Continue to dice carrot, broccoli, kale and garlic
4. When onion and cabbage are lightly brown and wilted, add broccoli and carrot. Stir well, if mixture begins to brown too quickly or sticks to pan, add a couple tablespoons of water, when broccoli/carrot are lightly browned, add kale and garlic, cook for 2 min., stir well and remove from heat. The residual heat from the pan will lightly cook them. 
5. When pasta water boils, add pasta, stir, set timer - rotini usually takes about 11 min. Cook and drain, set aside. Noodles should be al dente
6. For cheese sauce, place butter and olive oil in a heavy skillet over med/low heat. When butter has melted, add flour and salt and whisk well (see pic). You are making a roux, so cooking the flour for a couple minutes is essential
7. Add milk and half n' half to flour mixture in a slow, steady stream, whisk well ensuring there are no lumps. Whisk in cottage cheese
8. When mixture begins to thicken a bit, add cheese and spices. The cheese sauce is done when it thickens and thoroughly coats the back of a spoon.  You want it to be thick enough that it will adhere to the noodles
9. Combine cheese sauce, noodles and veggies in a large bowl, stir to incorporate and place in an oiled 9 x 13 pan, or 14 inch cast iron skillet.
10. Top with bread crumbs (I put a large slice of bread in the blender and chopped it up like that, but if you have seasoned bread crumbs, they would be delicious)
11. Bake approx. 15-20 min until top is nicely browned. enjoy!

Roux example (step 6 above)

Step 9 above

(I topped mine with a fried egg and ate it for breakfast.....yum)

Best Chocolate Chip Cookie EVER

Perhaps you've already heard about the best kept secret (make the dough today, and bake it 3-5 days later!) for creating the perfect chocolate chip cookie. If so, then please excuse my late entry to the game. I usually only post recipes that I've created or re-created, but I didn't mess with this one. So here it is.

This is by far, the most delicious chocolate chip cookie that I've ever had. 

Hands

down.

Now what are you waiting for? 

Get baking...

Warm Potato Salad with Feta

The original recipe uses goat cheese, which is so delicious and tart - but a little more expensive and harder to find than feta. Both are great. Use whatever you prefer. 

Warm Potato Salad with Feta

2 lbs new potatoes, 1/2 inch dice (approx. 5-6 c)

1 red pepper, diced*

1 c feta cheese

1 c white beans (if using canned, rinse well)

1/2 T minced garlic

2 T white wine vinegar

2 T lemon juice

1 T dried parsley

1 1/2 tsp grainy mustard

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 c plus 2 T olive oil

3/4 c (or whatever you prefer) toasted walnuts (opt.)

Steam diced potatoes in about 2 inches of water for 15 min, or until done, but still firm and not mushy, in the meantime, dice the pepper and garlic. In a jar, combine garlic, vinegar, lemon juice, parsley, mustard, pepper and oil. Shake or whisk well. When potatoes are done, add feta and pepper, stir well, add dressing and top with optional toasted walnuts. Serve warm.

*I've made this with steamed broccoli and think it would be great with steamed green beans or asparagus as well, use whatever veggie you have on hand.

My Chocolate Cream Pie

I've been eyeing this recipe in my binder for a couple months now, and the thought of using 9 egg yolks all in one recipe was a little disconcerting...so I adapted it and made it my way. Consider yourself warned: this is a very rich dish...so use little plates when serving!

Enjoy.

My Chocolate Cream Pie 

Adapted from Saveur

Crust:
8 oz. graham crackers
1 stick melted butter

Filling:
3 c milk (I used 1%)
1/2 c heavy cream
2/3 c sugar
1/4 c cornstarch
7 egg yolks
2 whole eggs
1 stick butter (cut up 1" pieces)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
8 oz semisweet chocolate chips
2 oz unsweetened chocolate

Topping:
2 c heavy cream (this can vary, depending on how thick you want the top layer to be)
1 tsp vanilla
2 T sugar

For the crust:
Preheat oven 350 deg. Combine graham crackers in blender, blend until crushed, add melted butter, stir and press into 9" pie plate. Bake for approx. 15 min or until nice and brown. Cool the crust.

For the Filling:
Combine milk and heavy cream in heavy duty sauce pan over med heat. Whisk constantly to ensure the mixture does not burn. When it just begins to simmer, remove from heat. In a large separate bowl combine sugar and cornstarch, whisk, add egg yolks and eggs, whisk until smooth. Add this egg mixture very slowly into the hot milk/cream mixture. You want to temper the egg mixture and be sure not to scramble the eggs. There is a very thorough demo on tempering here. Once all the eggs have been added, return the saucepan to the stove, cook over med heat, stirring often until bubbles rise to surface and mixture is very thick. Remove pan from heat and add chocolate, butter and vanilla. Whisk until chocolate and butter are melted and incorporated. Cool.

For the topping:
beat cream, vanilla and sugar until stiff peaks form.

When crust and filling are cool, dump chocolate filling into crust, smooth the filling and top with whip cream. This pie is best if it has been chilled for a couple hours before serving, but who really can wait that long...I say dig in as soon as you get it into the dish. Enjoy.

Homemade Enchilada Sauce

This is so easy and delicious...you'll never buy enchilada sauce again!

Enchilada Sauce

2 T olive oil
1 c diced onion
1 1/2 T garlic, more or less depending on your taste
1 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder

1 quart drained tomatoes (diced, whole, or crushed, - they all work just fine)
2 T canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (more = more spicy, less = less spicy; adjust to your taste, 2 T will make a medium sauce)

In a heavy skillet, saute onion until soft, add salt and garlic and saute for 1 - 2 min longer, add spices, tomatoes, chipotle peppers and bring to a medium simmer. Cook on med for approx. 15 - 20 min. Adjust simmer time depending on how thick you like the sauce - cook longer for a thicker sauce. 

Use immersion or regular blender to puree ingredients. Sauce will last 10 days in fridge. I haven't frozen it, but I imagine that wouldn't be a problem. Yields 3 1/2 c. 

My Polenta Pie

Sidenote: I have been cooking lately, but you'd never know it if judged by the lack of posts on my blog lately. During these short and dreary days I don't get home in time to cook when there is still some natural daylight remaining. And taking food pictures is so much better when the sun is shining through the windows vs. relying on overhead kitchen lights. Alas, I'm posting these pictures anyway because this recipe is just so darn good that I can't delay any longer. I hope you agree...

My Polenta Pie (Inspired by Moosewood Cookbook)

Polenta Crust
1 1/2 c cornmeal

1 1/4 c cold water

1/4 c heavy cream

1 tsp salt

2 c boiling water

2 T canola oil

Veggie Filling

10 c chopped veggies (onion, corn, broccoli, cabbage all work well)

1 c black beans, drained

10 oz enchilada sauce

3/4 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin

2 c cheddar cheese, grated

Place oil in 10 inch cast iron skillet in oven, then turn oven on to 425 deg. Preheat with pan inside oven for 10-15 min to get oil very hot.

Mix cornmeal, cold water, heavy cream, and salt in bowl, stir. Bring 2 c water to a rolling boil, and add cornmeal mixture, whisking quickly. Lower to med heat and simmer until cornmeal is thick. You'll know it's ready when running a whisk through it gets a little difficult. This should take 10-15 min. Carefully take skillet out of oven, and pour in hot polenta, wear oven mitts if possible because the oil will splatter a bit. Smooth polenta out and bake for 15 min. - or until set.

While polenta is baking, gather all the veggies you can find in your fridge (I used onion, red cabbage, frozen corn, broccoli, and carrot) and saute in olive oil. You'll need about 8 c of cooked veggies, so you should start out with about 10 c - but this depends on what veggies you choose, some will cook down more than others. 

When veggies are good n' sauteed (10ish min), add beans, enchilada sauce, spices and cook  2-3 min to incorporate ingredients. Remove from heat.

When polenta is set, remove from oven and turn the oven to broil. Layer 1 c cheese on crust, spread all the veggies on top of cheese, and top with remaining cup of cheese. 

Carefully place skillet on the middle rack in oven and broil for approx. 5 min or until cheese is nice and bubbly. 

(Finished Polenta Pie)

(Polenta Crust - baked)

(Veggie Filling)