Roasted Vegetable Pies

Image via marthastewart.com/recipes

I was inspired by Martha's recipe for Savory Autumn Leaf Pies when I set out to make my individual roasted vegetable pies. I used my own pie crust recipe instead and ended up making up my own filling too because I'm pregnant and I didn't feel like eating cooked swiss chard. They turned out super yummy and even the batch of pie crust that Nigel helped with (translation: got mixed way too much in the food processor) turned out flaky!

I also changed the method of stacking two dough shapes on top of each other to cutting one circle shape out of the crust and folding it to seal a half circle shape. This was a lot faster and easier for me than trying to match up and seal two separate pie dough pieces.

*Note, this recipe is for 24 miniature pies. I was making them for a party, but if you don't need as much just cut it in half.

2 recipes butter pie crust
2 medium sized golden yukon potatoes, diced very small
2 carrots, peeled and diced very small
2 celery stalk diced very small
1 small acorn squash, peeled and diced very small
1/2 onion diced very small
1 head of garlic, root chopped off to expose each clove for roasting
olive oil
salt pepper
dill

Butter Pie Crust

2 1/2 cups flour
1 TBL sugar
1 tsp salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, very cold and diced
1 cup ice water

mix first 4 ingredients in food processor until lumpy but still floury. Add about 1/4 cup of water and pulse four or five more times. Dump the dough into a wide bowl. Using a rubber spatula scrape the dough together, adding cold water as needed to just barely glue it all together. You probably won't need to use the whole cup.

Divide in half and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using.

Roasted Vegetable Pie Filling

spread potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, and acorn squash on baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Stir to coat. Add garlic head in the corner so it doesn't get its peels mixed in with the other vegetables and make sure it gets its own coating of olive oil, salt and pepper. Sprinkle everything lightly with dill.

Roast at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes, stirring once in the middle. Squeeze garlic cloves from the peels and toss with other vegetables.

Make egg wash using 1 egg and 2 TBLs heavy cream. This helps seal the pies and makes a beautiful brown finish on the crust. It's not necessary though.

Roll out pie crust and use a 4 inch cookie cutter to cut out shape of choice. I started using a pumpkin, then switched to a leaf, and they were just too hard for me to seal and maintain the charm of the shape. I ended up using a scalloped edged circle that worked great for folding in half instead of stacking two shapes on top of each other and pressing to seal.

PLace 1 TBL vegetable filling in center of circle. Use egg wash on half of the perimeter to then fold in half and seal. The pie ends up being a half circle shape and it was cute because it had the little scalloped edges still. Place pies on baking dish and brush lightly with egg wash. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes before cooking.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 25-30 minutes. Crust should be golden brown all over. Serve warm.

Yields 24 YUMMY savory pies.

Mushroom Dinner Crepes

I don't have a picture, but I want to remember how I made tonight's simple and delicious dinner.

1/2 an onion, diced
about a 1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup butter
2 chicken breasts, diced
1 cup fresh green beans
1 cup chicken broth
fresh chives, chopped
crepes
cream cheese

Simmer onions and mushrooms in the butter on low heat for 20 minutes. Turn the heat up to medium high and add green beans for a minute or 2, then the chicken. Cook for about 5 minutes, then turn the heat up to high. Gradually add the chicken broth, scraping the delicious brown bits off the bottom of the pan and letting the sauce reduce. Add chives and remove from heat.

Spread cream cheese on each crepe and add mushroom chicken filling.

This was a last minute dinner inspired by things I had in my fridge. We all really liked it.

BLT Salad with Creamy Vinaigrette

{Image courtesy of Con Paulos via Real Simple Magazine}

This was from Micah's 32nd birthday menu. I found it in the May 2010 Real Simple magazine and didn't change a thing. I love the creamy vinaigrette dressing.

Romaine Salad with Tomatoes and Bacon

• 4 slices bacon
• 1 head romaine lettuce, cut into strips (6 cups)
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• 4 scallions, sliced
• 4 to 6 tablespoons Creamy Parmesan Dressing
• or bottled Caesar dressing

Directions

1. In a skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Break into pieces when cool.
2. In a large bowl, toss the lettuce, tomatoes, scallions, and bacon with the dressing.

Creamy Parmesan Dressing

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• kosher salt and black pepper

Directions

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, Parmesan, sour cream, vinegar, 2 tablespoons water, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper.
   

These are really really good.

We had these for breakfast this morning. I love them! I love buttermilk pancakes and this is the best buttermilk pancake recipe I've ever tried. Recipe and image courtesy of smitten kitchen.

I didn't sprinkle them with powdered sugar but I did add blueberries. This recipe made a lot of pancakes. I guess mine are closer to 3.5 inch pancakes. So yummy. Maple syrup. Melted butter.

Best Buttermilk Pancakes
Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Original Classics Cookbook

Yield: Martha says this makes 9 6-inch pancakes; I got about 16 4-inch ones, which are closer to the size I like

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, or slightly less table salt
3 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus 1 tablespoon extra for brushing griddle (I’ve made these pancakes with and without the butter mixed in, and can say with confidence they work either way. They’re just richer with it, of course.)

1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen and thawed (optional)

1. Preheat an electric griddle to 375°F, or place a griddle pan or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl. Add the eggs, buttermilk, and 4 tablespoons melted butter, and whisk to combine. The batter should have small to medium lumps.

2. Test the griddle by sprinkling a few drops of water on it. If the water bounces and spatters, the griddle is hot enough. Using a pastry brush, brush the remaining 1/2 teaspoon butter onto the griddle. Wipe off the excess with a folded paper towel.

3. Using a 4-oz. ladle, about 1/2 cup (for a 6-inch pancake), pour the batter in pools 2 inches apart. If you wish to make blueberry pancakes, arrange a handful over the cooking pancake, pressing them in slightly. When the pancakes have bubbles on top and are slightly dry around the edges, about 2 1/2 minutes, flip over. If any batter oozes or blueberries roll out, push them back under with your spatula. Cook until golden on bottom, about 1 minute.

4. Repeat with the remaining batter. You can keep the finished pancakes on a heat-proof plate in the oven at 175°F. Serve warm.

Ratatouille's Ratatouille

I enjoy following Smitten Kitchen. I've only ever tried one of her recipes. Her pie crust recipe. It is now my pie crust recipe. It's all butter (no shortening or lard) and that's the kind of pie crust recipe I can believe in.

I was really happy today to find this recipe for Ratatouille's ratatouille because I've always wanted to make it that way. She posted it 3 years ago from today. I haven't made this recipe yet, but I'm going to tomorrow after I pick up my local organic vegetable share and also buy a mandolin because I'm sure I don't have a knife sharp enough to slice vegetables 1/16 of an inch thin.

I know that I will be using something besides goat cheese. After finding too many fermented goat's milk bottles in Nigel's crib when we though he was allergic to dairy I just can't eat the stuff any more. Tastes like fermented baby bottle. And also I want to serve it with risotto if I have the energy to stand in front of the stove for that long. I'll let you know how it goes.

Ratatouille’s Ratatouille

As envisioned by Smitten Kitchen

1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
1 cup tomato puree (such as Pomi)
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 small eggplant (my store sells these “Italian Eggplant” that are less than half the size of regular ones; it worked perfectly)
1 smallish zucchini
1 smallish yellow squash
1 longish red bell pepper
Few sprigs fresh thyme
Salt and pepper
Few tablespoons soft goat cheese, for serving

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Pour tomato puree into bottom of an oval baking dish, approximately 10 inches across the long way. Drop the sliced garlic cloves and chopped onion into the sauce, stir in one tablespoon of the olive oil and season the sauce generously with salt and pepper.

Trim the ends off the eggplant, zucchini and yellow squash. As carefully as you can, trim the ends off the red pepper and remove the core, leaving the edges intact, like a tube.

On a mandolin, adjustable-blade slicer or with a very sharp knife, cut the eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash and red pepper into very thin slices, approximately 1/16-inch thick.

Atop the tomato sauce, arrange slices of prepared vegetables concentrically from the outer edge to the inside of the baking dish, overlapping so just a smidgen of each flat surface is visible, alternating vegetables. You may have a handful leftover that do not fit.

Drizzle the remaining tablespoon olive oil over the vegetables and season them generously with salt and pepper. Remove the leaves from the thyme sprigs with your fingertips, running them down the stem. Sprinkle the fresh thyme over the dish.

Cover dish with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit inside. (Tricky, I know, but the hardest thing about this.)

Bake for approximately 45 to 55 minutes, until vegetables have released their liquid and are clearly cooked, but with some structure left so they are not totally limp. They should not be brown at the edges, and you should see that the tomato sauce is bubbling up around them.

Serve with a dab of soft goat cheese on top, alone, or with some crusty French bread, atop polenta, couscous, or your choice of grain.

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp and Pineapple

1 lb. thick cut bacon, cut in half
1 pineapple, cut into bite sized pieces
1 lb. shrimp, tails removed

This picture shows pineapple wrapped in bacon, no shrimp. I don't think you have to use toothpicks to keep it together as it bakes. If the bacon overlaps and you place that side down the fat seals it shut.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wrap each shrimp around a piece of pineapple then wrap the bacon around those. Lay them seem side down on an elevated cooking rack placed on a cookie sheet, or you can use a broiler pan. Lining the bottom layer with tin foil makes for easy clean up.

Bake in 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes, checking each 5 minutes after that.

They don't last long :)

Pepper Jelly with Cream Cheese

This isn't a picture of what we had at Micah's birthday party, but it communicates the general idea. This is something I grew up eating at special occasions. It's sweet and spicy and has cream cheese in it.

Growing up my mom would just put the brick of cream cheese on a plate and pour the slightly warmed pepper jelly over the top. Callie and I once experimented by whipping them together. We've also put it on individual crackers as pictured above. If they don't get eaten they get soggy. The whipped together method makes it so there's only one ratio of cream cheese to the sweet spiciness, which I didn't really like. And it turns out hot pink and I just can't get in to serving hot pink things.

What I think I'll do next is spread the cream cheese out on the serving plate and evenly pour the jelly on top. That way it's not pink. It doesn't get soggy. And you can still choose how much of each goes on each cracker.

Ingredients:

Cream Cheese
Pepper Jelly (it comes in a lot of different colors and levels of spice.)
Wheat Thins or other crackers.

Assemble and eat. It does help to warm the jelly in the microwave for a bit before spreading over the top. It's less chunky.

The end.

German Potato Salad

This recipe calls for canola oil. I used extra virgin olive oil instead because I can't think of a reason you should ever use canola oil instead of olive oil in a dressing like this...

Also, a funny thing happened the last time I made this. I accidentally put a lemon shallot vinaigrette on the potatoes instead of the delicious rendered bacon fat apple cider vinaigrette. I had a lot of dressings going on and it was at the last minute and I may have been frantic enough. It tasted fine, but this way is much better.


Ingredients

* 3 pounds new potatoes
* 1 yellow onion, quartered
* 1/2 pound bacon, diced
* 1 large red onion, diced
* 3/4 cup cider vinegar
* 1 tablespoon mustard seeds
* 1/4 cup canola oil
* Salt and freshly ground pepper
* 8 green onions, thinly sliced
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions

Preheat the grill to high. Place potatoes in a large pot with the onion and cover with cold water. Cook, on the grates of the grill, or on a burner, until tender. Drain, discard the onion, and cut the potatoes into cubes when cool enough to handle. Place the potatoes in a large bowl and cover to keep warm.

Place a large saute pan on the grates of the grill. Add the bacon and cook until crisp. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Add the onions to the rendered bacon fat and cook until soft, about 3 to 4 minutes. Carefully add the vinegar and mustard seeds and cook for 2 more minutes. Whisk in the canola oil and season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Add the hot dressing to the potatoes and toss gently to coat. Fold in the green onions and parsley. Season again with salt and pepper, to taste.

Baked Brie with Honey Walnut Sauce

This is really really delicious. It's pretty easy too. I usually serve it with sliced pears and assorted crackers and a spoon for scooping up the honey, butter, garlic sauce.

No picture. Just imagine how good it looks...

Pastry-Wrapped Brie

* 1 sheet frozen puff pastry (half of 12 oz. pkg), thawed
* 2 4-ounce wedges Brie, each about 6½ inches long by 1½ inches wide
* 1 egg beaten to blend (for glaze)

Honey Walnut Sauce

* ¼ cup butter
* 3 tablespoons honey
* 1¼ teaspoons minced garlic
* 2 Tablespoons chopped walnuts
* 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out puff pastry sheet on lightly floured surface to 12-inch square. Cut diagonally through pastry sheet to form 2 triangles. Place 1 brie wedge in center of each triangle, with tip of cheese wedge facing toward 90-degree angle of triangle. Pull up edges of pastry gently to wrap the cheese. Pinch edges together to seal. Press with fork to seal seams completely. Transfer pastry wrapped Brie to a baking sheet, seam side up. Brush pastry with egg glaze. (Brie can be prepared up to 6 hours ahead of time and placed in refrigerator) Bake Brie until pastry is golden, about 18 minutes.

While Brie is baking, combine butter, honey and garlic in small saucepan over low heat. Stir until butter melts. Divide sauce between two plates. Sprinkle sauce with walnuts and parsley, dividing equally.

Place pastry-wrapped Brie on top of sauce on plates and serve.

Grilled Marinated Flank Steak

This recipe is from the 2008 Summer Grilling & Entertaining edition of Cooks Illustrated. I love this publication. I always use a lot of the recipes and they explain how and why they came up with it.

In this article I learned that using a bottle of Italian dressing as a marinade for steak is bad because the acid in the vinegar ruins the texture of the meat. This marinade is just as flavorful, if not more, and the steak was very, very tender. And I'm new to grilling.

I couldn't believe how flavorful this steak was. It really didn't need any steak sauce or other embellishment. You could make up your own rub recipe using a different fresh herb very easily.

I used the food processor to make the rub starting with the garlic, shallots, herbs, then olive oil.

Grilled Marinated Flank Steak

1 whole flank steak, about 2 lbs.
2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

Garlic-Shallot-Rosemary Wet Paste Marinade
6 TBLS olive oil
6 medium garlic cloves, minced (2 TBLS)
1 medium shallot, minced (about 3 TBLS)
2 TBLS minced fresh rosemary leaves

Puree all ingredients in blender until smooth, scraping down blender jar as needed.

1. Prick steak using dinner fork about 20 times on each side. Rub both sides of steak evenly with salt and then with paste. Cover with plastic wrap an refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
2. Heat grill to high heat.
   
3. using paper towels, wipe paste off steak; season both sides with pepper. Grill steak directly over heat until well browned, 4 to 6 minutes. Using tongs, flip steak; grill until second side is well browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Using paring knife make a small cut into thickest part of meat; if meat is slightly less done than desired, transfer steak to cutting board (Meat will continue to cook as it rests). If steak is significantly underdone, position so that thinner side is over cooler side of the grill and thicker side is over hot side; continue to cook until thickest part is slightly less done than desired, then transfer steak to cutting board.
   
4. Loosely tent steak with foil; let rest 5 to 10 minutes. Using sharp chef's knife or carving knife, slice steak about 1/4 inch thick against grain and on bias. Serve immediately.

Fish Tacos...a skeptic no more!

It's true, I've always been skeptical of fish tacos. I just didn't buy it. However, I have been eating more fish over the past couple of years, and "making fish tacos" has been on my mental "to do" list for a while now. I finally went for it when my favorite cooking magazine featured a recipe for fish tacos this month. Tim and I made them on Friday night and loved them. Like LOVED them. I think I could eat them for every meal for three days and still love them. Tilapia is a very mild fish and there are so many flavors going on in these tacos, that you might be able to trick people into thinking it isn't fish.

Fish Tacos with Cabbage and Lime
(from Everyday Food Mag)



1 pound boneless, skinless tilapia fillets, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/4 cup sour cream
1 lime, half finely zested and juiced, half cut into wedges
Hot sauce, such as Tabasco
12 corn tortillas
1/2 small head red cabbage, thinly sliced
1 cup fresh cilantro
1 small white onion, finely chopped

Directions

1. Heat broiler, with rack in highest position. Pat fish dry with paper towels and gently coat with oil on a rimmed baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper. Broil until fish is browned on top and flesh is opaque throughout, 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine sour cream, lime zest and juice, and a few dashes hot sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Toast corn tortillas over a kitchen burner using tongs or wrap in parchment-lined foil and heat in oven, 5 minutes. Divide fish evenly among tortillas and top with cabbage, cilantro, and onion. Serve with lime sour cream and lime wedges.

Cami's notes: I forgot to add the onion...oops. I grilled the tilapia then shredded it, which made it nice and crispy on the outside. I used small flour tortillas because Tim isn't a huge fan of corn tortillas and I decided to be nice. We also grilled the tortillas quickly. I had avocado and some canned pineapple in the fridge, so I combined them to make a salsa-type thingy. Very yummy.

Micah's 32nd Birthday Celebration

I didn't take a picture! Not a single one. But I did make a felt party garland like the one pictured here. It was very festive.

Image courtesy of The Purl Bee

We decided to have a dinner party sans children to celebrate Micah's birthday. We kept it intimate-big. There ended up being about 30 of us for a full adults only sit down dinner. I've been excited to make a record of the menu and share the recipes here.

Here's what you can expect to read about soon:

Appetizers:
Baked Brie with Honey Glaze
"Cheeses of the World"
Pepper Jelly Cracker Spread
Fruit with Heath Bar Fruit Dip
Bacon Wrapped Pineapple and Shrimp

Dinner:
Grilled Marinated Flank Steak
Grilled Brats
German Potato Salad
Watercress Beet Salad
BLT Creamy Vinaigrette Salad
Roasted Carrots
Sour Dough Toast

Dessert: Home Made Pie and Ice Cream!
Cherry Pie - Micah's favorite
Blueberry Pie - My favortie
Key Lime Pie - A new family favorite
Cheesecake (not home made, from Costco)

Lettuce Wraps

This is Micah and Carlie really excited as we're about to eat our lettuce wraps and cream cheese wontons.

I never really thought about making these myself. I thought you could only get them at PF Chang's. I found a few different recipes online and combined them. I'm really happy to have another go to meal. It was really simple and really tasty. This is what I came up with.


Chicken Lettuce Wraps

• 1 1/2 Tablespoon Rice Vinegar
• 1 1/2 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Ground Red Pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon Ground Ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Sesame Oil
• 3 Tablespoons and 2 teaspoons Soy Sauce, Divided
• 3 Tablespoons Canola Oil
  
• 2 Chicken Breasts, Diced Small
  
• 1 cup Diced Onion
• 3 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 2 cans water chestnuts, diced
  
• Iceburg Lettuce, washed, dried, and separated into leaves
  

Mix together rice vinegar, brown sugar, ground red pepper, ground ginger, sesame oil, and 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, making sure to dissolve brown sugar. Set aside.

Heat oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add diced chicken and brown (about 4 to 5 minutes). Remove chicken from oil. Add onions and garlic to pan and remaining soy sauce (2 tsp.) to pan; brown. When onions and garlic are brown and tender, add stir fry sauce, browned chicken and waterchestnuts. Saute mixture for a few minutes and remove from heat.

Easy dipping Sauce:
2 TBLS rice vinegar
1 TBL soy sauce
small spoonful of sugar

Spoon chicken mixture into individual lettuce leaves. Serve with easy dipping sauce, Sriracha hot sauce, and crunchy rice noodles.

Blueberry Muffins with Topping

This was one of the first recipes I learned how to make as a young girl. I was so good at making them that I was dubbed the official blueberry muffin maker. Really my secret has always been doubling the amount of blueberries and using butter instead of shortening. I don't know if that's enough change from the original Better Homes and Garden cookbook that it came from to call it my own recipe, but I did create the recipe for the topping after falling in love with that boxed Betty Crocker or Duncan Heines version of blueberry muffins with topping.

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1.2 tsp. salt
1/4 butter, between fridge and room temperature
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 cups blueberries

Mix ingredients in order - just until blended.

TOPPING
1 1/2 TBLS butter, softened
3 TBLS flour
3 TBLS sugar

Mix with a fork until crumbly. Sprinkle generously on top of muffin batter in muffin tins.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Makes one dozen.

Pork Chops

Yes. Pork chops. The way my mom makes them. I was once made fun of for saying that I had eaten pork chops for dinner because that's what Homer Simpson eats for dinner and he's white trash. That wasn't a very good friend and that person had never had these pork chops.

They're delicious.

3 TBLS olove oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 TBLS fresh dill (or 1 TBLS-ish dried) (Also, don't mind my picture. It has rosemary on the pork. It's from a google image search.)
2 medium onions, sliced
1 cup chicken broth/stock
4 thick cut pork loin chops (I use the ones from Costco.)

Sautee onions in the oil on low for about 20 minutes. Scoot them to the edges. Season the pork with salt, pepper, and dill and brown on both sides.

Add broth to the pan. Cover. Reduce heat and simmer 35-40 minutes.

Remove the meat leaving the juices and onions in the pan. Mix 1/2 cup sour cream with 1 TBLS flour, a dash of salt, pepper and dill in a small bowl. Add to simmering drippings and bring to a boil again until thickened.

Molten Chocolate Cake

This recipe is SO easy and SO rewarding. Andi t's the kind of recipe that you will always have the ingredients for. As long as you always have chocolate and heavy whipping cream at your house, which I do.

I didn't have any baking chocolate so I used 1 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips because I doubled the recipe.

I used 1 custard cup as the recipe states and did the rest in ramekins. The ramekins did much better for dumping upside down and baking to the perfect texture.

I also always whip in 1/2 tsp. vanilla with the cream and sugar.

I found this recipe on Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen.

Here it is.

• 4 pieces (squares) Semi-sweet Baking Chocolate
• ½ cups Butter
• 1 cup Powdered Sugar
• 2 whole Eggs
• 2 whole Egg Yolks
• 6 Tablespoons Flour
• 2 cups Real Whipping Cream (seriously It's So Much Better!!!)
• 2 Tablespoons Sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Spray 4 custard cups with Pam and place on cookie sheet.

Microwave chocolate and butter in large bowl on high for about 1 minute, until butter is melted. whisk until chocolate is also melted.

Stir in sugar until well blended. Whisk in eggs and egg yolks. Stir in flour.

Divide between cups.

Bake 13-14 minutes until sides are firm and center is soft. Let stand 1 minute.

Combine sugar and heavy cream and whip until stiff.

Invert cakes on dishes and top with whipped cream.