Thai Vegetable Salad

Summer is the perfect time for easy-to-make, crispy, refreshing salads. This Thai vegetable salad is all three. It’s also extremely simple to adapt and vary to your liking, which is one of my favorite characteristics of any recipe.

And I love the cookbook this recipe came from. During my last semester of college I went on a bit of a vegetable-happy, anti-meat kick (for a variety of reasons not really interesting enough to share). So for my birthday back in February, my bacon-loving, but ever-understanding (and willing to eat tofu!) boyfriend gave me this cookbook, “200 Veggie Feasts.” It’s a conveniently sized little book FULL of beautiful, mouth-watering photos. It has a wide variety of recipes too, from breakfast and brunch foods to soups, breads, and desserts. It’s one of those cookbooks that has me drooling over the delectable items on every page and wishing I had the time to make every single recipe. Right after I first got the book I even dreamed about the haloumi cheese with pomegranate salsa and couldn’t get the crostini with pea and ricotta pesto off my mind. I’m very pleased to have added it to my small, but growing cookbook collection.

I didn’t have the Lebanese cucumber or Thai basil that the original recipe called for, but it still had the wonderful flavors of a Thai dish–a dash of spice, tangy lime, fresh basil, and peanuts, just to name a few. I used a regular cucumber and basil, omitted the additional herbs and bean sprouts (listed as optional ingredients in the recipe below), and simplified the dressing a bit, but the whole thing still tasted great. A good salad is the perfect choice for a lazy summer day, and this one is definitely a keeper.

Thai Vegetable Salad

Recipe adapted from 200 Veggie Feasts by Louise Pickford

8 oz cherry or grape tomatoes, quartered
1 cucumber, thinly sliced
1 mango, cubed or thinly sliced
4 scallions, thinly sliced
handful unsalted peanuts, roughly chopped
small handful basil leaves (about 5-7 leaves), finely sliced
small handful mint leaves, finely sliced (optional)
small handful cilantro, finely sliced (optional)
2 1/2 c. bean sprouts (optional)

Dressing
2 Tbsp chili garlic sauce (or another chili sauce you like)
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp lime juice
4 tsp  brown sugar

Make the dressing by adding all ingredients to a small bowl and whisking until combined. Taste and adjust ingredients as needed.

Prepare salad ingredients and combine in a large bowl. Toss well with dressing (or serve dressing on the side if desired) and garnish with chopped peanuts.

Coconut Cupcakes with Mango Curd Filling

Have you ever tried to construct a make-shift double boiler from a mishmash of kitchen items? Even if you don’t own a “real” double boiler, like this, in a typical kitchen it’s usually pretty easy to find a metal or glass bowl that fits nicely into a saucepan. Imagine doing that when the selection in your mishmash of kitchen items consists of exactly two small saucepans and two enormous glass bowls. And no whisk. This was the situation I found myself in last week as I prepared to make mango curd. But I’m not one to let the lack of a silly bowl stop me, so I embraced this slightly challenging situation and got creative.

From my two saucepans and two large glass bowls, I selected the smaller of the bowls and the larger saucepan. This was far from an ideal match. The bowl was about twice as big as the saucepan and a very small portion of the bowl was actually sitting in the pan, which meant that I had to boil almost a full pot of water (instead of the typical couple inches in a double boiler) in order for the water to be anywhere close to the bottom of the bowl. I also jammed a wooden spoon between the bowl and the saucepan to allow for at least a little steam to escape. So I had a giant, unstable glass bowl sitting on top of a saucepan full of boiling water. Hmm. Not ideal, and probably the craziest looking double boiler I’ve ever used, but it worked! It took a little longer for the curd to thicken, but it turned out quite nicely. And it was so delicious.

I’ve mentioned my lack of proper kitchen equipment before, usually in the context of being a poor college student with an inadequately equipped kitchen. But this isn’t quite the case anymore, as I graduated in May and have now joined the “real world.” Except I moved to the coast of California to live with my sister, brother-in-law, and three tiny nieces, so my place in the “real world” currently feels like an awesome extended vacation during which I get to go to the beach weekly, bake whenever I want, and play with my three amazing, gorgeous little nieces every single day. This makes the small inconvenience of missing kitchen supplies TOTALLY worth it.

Let me explain. My sister and her family recently moved here from Korea. And sometimes, even if the United States Army is in charge of moving your belongings, it still takes the boat more than TWO months to deliver your things. So although they left Korea at the beginning of May, the majority of their household items and furniture have still not reached their new home. This explains the mishmash of kitchen items that we’ve been dealing with. But we have the basics, which have been more than enough to enjoy many tasty dinners and baked goods. And two days from now will be a glorious day: we’re finally going to receive the shipment from Korea! I will then have access to a more well-equipped kitchen than I’ve ever had in my entire life. I can’t wait. (We will also cease to live as “floor people,” as my sister not-so-fondly refers to us. The best part about this will be having a dining room table where we can sit for meals and at last avoid the six grabby hands of two toddlers and a crawling baby.)

A couple weeks ago my sister asked me to make mango coconut cupcakes. I immediately began researching recipes and all too soon there were way too many options. Mango cakes with coconut frosting? Coconut cakes with mango frosting? Or coconut cakes with mango filling and coconut buttercream frosting? Fill them with mango curd or mango whipped cream? The combinations were endless and unfortunately they ALL sounded delicious. But I was intrigued by the idea of fruit curds–something I’d never made but seemed like an excellent cupcake filling. Fruit curd is a smooth, pure, intensely-flavored-like-chosen-fruit, pudding-like deliciousness. A fruit curd generally consists of fruit juice or puree, sugar, egg yolks, and butter. What doesn’t sound good about that?! I finally settled on coconut cupcakes filled with mango curd, which turned out to be a great choice. This mango curd is close to perfect, and it was wonderful stuffed inside these moist, dense coconut cupcakes.

I was going to frost these cupcakes with coconut buttercream frosting but I ran out of patience (and butter). Since I had a surplus of mango curd anyway, I decided to top the cupcakes with the curd as well, then sprinkle on a little coconut for a finishing touch. I really think the mango curd was the best part and I think I’m in love with fruit curd. I see many more in my future, especially as soon as I have a regular double boiler to work with.

Coconut Cupcakes with Mango Curd Filling

Cupcake recipe adapted from Une Deux Senses; Mango Curd recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Coconut Cupcakes–makes 12 cupcakes (I think this could safely be doubled to make 24)

2 large eggs
1/2 c. sugar
8 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2 tsp vanilla
1 c. flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/2 c. sweetened, flaked coconut
1/2 c. coconut milk

Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a muffin pan with 12 liners. Whisk eggs and sugar together in a large bowl until combined well. (Or, if your whisk is still on a boat in the Pacific Ocean, a fork works great too!) Add vanilla and melted butter, whisk until combined.

Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt; mix until well combined. Add coconut milk and stir until smooth. Last, fold in coconut flakes. (If you would prefer smaller pieces of coconut in the baked cupcake, chop a 1/2 cup of shredded coconut into smaller pieces before adding it to the batter.) Fill each cupcake liner about 2/3 full and bake for 12-16 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Mango Curd

1 ripe mango, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/3 c. sugar
3 Tbsp lime juice
pinch of salt
4 large egg yolks
1/4 c. unsalted butter, cubed

Add mango, sugar, lime juice, and salt to a food processor, puree until well combined. (A blender would also work in place of a food processor.) Add egg yolks and puree until combined, about 15-20 seconds.

Add puree to the bowl of a double boiler (metal or glass bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, don’t let the bottom of the bowl touch the water). Whisk puree until it thickens, about 10-15 minutes.  (If you have a thermometer, it should reach 170°F. I didn’t use a thermometer and the consistency changed pretty dramatically, so it was easy to tell when it was sufficiently thickened without knowing the temperature.) Remove the bowl from the saucepan and whisk the butter into the curd, one piece at a time. Cover curd with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

This was the perfect amount of curd to fill and top 12 cupcakes. If you are making 24 cupcakes, you will want to double this recipe. Even if you have leftover curd, I’m sure you’ll find plenty of ways to enjoy it!

Assembling the cupcakes

When the cupcakes are completely cooled, use a sharp knife to cut a circle in the top of each cake and scoop out the center. Set the top of the cake aside and reserve the crumbs from the center for snacking. Spoon mango curd into the hollowed out cupcake, then replace the top of the cake. Spoon a little more curd on top of the cupcake as “frosting,” then sprinkle with coconut flakes. Enjoy!

Goat Cheese Toasts with Walnuts and Honey

I have to apologize again. I went back to school after Thanksgiving break and promptly got eaten by the finals monsters, and I was only recently freed a few days ago when I arrived home once again for a month long vacation. I’ve been baking Christmas cookies pretty much ever since I got here, but I wanted to share this delicious recipe before I get into Christmas goodies. I categorized these goat cheese toasts as appetizers, but I really just want to put them in a category called “delicious.” They are the perfect combination of creamy melted goat cheese, crunchy salted walnuts, and warm sweet honey.

I love goat cheese. I’d never really tried it until last summer before I went to Spain, but I instantly fell in love. While I was in Spain my love grew: one of my favorite tapas was warm goat cheese drizzled with honey and sometimes nuts. (Someday I’ll do a post about Spain….someday.) While studying for finals last week I frequently found myself daydreaming about being in Spain and especially craving that goat cheese tapa again. So I decided it was time to make my own version. This is a very easy recipe that will make a great new snack to munch on while I cuddle in front of the fire with my sisters this Christmas season.

 

Goast Cheese Toasts with Walnuts and Honey

1 French bread baguette
8 oz soft fresh goat cheese
1/4 c. honey
~ handful chopped, toasted walnuts
dash of kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350°F. Cut the baguette into diagonal slices. Spread goat cheese on each slice. Arrange slices of bread in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Bake about 7-10 minutes, until the edges are golden and the cheese is soft and melty.

Meanwhile, warm the honey in a small saucepan over medium heat until, about 2 minutes. Toast the walnuts with a dash of kosher salt or sea salt in a small frying pan over medium heat–this only takes a minute or two once the pan has heated up, watch the nuts carefully, they burn easily!

Sprinkle toasts with walnuts, then drizzle with honey and enjoy enormously.

 

Apple Pie

What better week to share my apple pie recipe than Thanksgiving? I know that almost everyone has a beloved apple pie recipe. This is my family’s. It’s simple and delicious, which is all an apple pie needs to be.

Apple pie was probably the second pie I added to my list after I learned to make cherry pie so long ago. Apple pie has always been popular with my friends at school and I loved making it all during this beautiful fall. There is something so incredibly comforting about smelling an apple pie as it bakes. The smell and the taste of tender sweet apples covered in juicy, cinnamon-y goodness bubbling in a perfectly flaky crust are so familiar.

Though I do adore apple pie and fully intend on making a classic one this Thursday, I must admit that even I, the ever-resistant-to-change traditionalist when it comes to things like this, was intrigued when I saw this recipe for Cranberry-Apple Pie in the Thanksgiving issue of Cooking Light. Well, at first I wasn’t interested. At first my jaw dropped, my eyes widened, and I let out a little cry of indignation. Cranberries AND apples? together? in a pie?! Outrageous. Why would I ever change something that is already so delicious? But then some little devilishly curious part of my brain got the better of my change-hating self and I actually stopped to consider the recipe. I love apples….and I love cranberries. Maybe they WOULD make a delicious pie. But it seemed risky. I was intrigued.

But not quite intrigued enough to take the risk of making something so different for my family’s very classic annual Thanksgiving feast. I think some other tradition-loving members of my family might have something to say about it if I did :) Maybe next year I’ll feel like switching things up. Or maybe cranberry apple pie will be a project to try out on my always hungry housemates back at school. Either way, I hope you enjoy an apple pie or your own favorite Thanksgiving dessert this Thursday.

A special love apple pie I made one summer with my niece and nephew :)

Apple Pie

5 – 6 c. apples (peeled and cut into chunks or thin square-ish slices)
2/3 c. white sugar
½ tsp salt
1½ Tbsp cornstarch
½ tsp cinnamon
1 prepared pie crust (not pre-baked, see recipe below)

Preheat oven to 450º F. Mix apples with sugar, salt, cornstarch, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Pour apples into prepared crust (9 inch) and cover with a top crust. Finish the edges, cut slits in the top, and sprinkle with sugar.

Put strips of foil on the crust’s edges. Bake the pie for 15 minutes. Then turn down the oven to 350 degrees and bake 20 more minutes. Take off the foil and bake 15 more minutes. The crust will be a light golden-brown and the juices bubbling when the pie is done. (*Sometimes apple pie takes a tiny bit longer than this, but usually not more than 5-6 minutes.)

Perfect Pie Crust

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups shortening
1 egg
2 tablespoons vinegar
3 1/2 Tablespoons water

Using two knives (I use two dinner knives) or a pastry blender, cut shortening into flour and salt until you have crumbs about the size of small peas.

In a small bowl, beat the egg. Add water and vinegar to the egg.  Add this mixture all at once to the flour, salt, and shortening. Gently mix together with your hands until the dough comes together. Roll out the dough on a floured board.

Makes enough for two double crust pies.

Mississippi Mud Pie

Crumbly chocolate cookie crust. Dense chocolate cake. Topped with silky rich chocolate pudding. This is one deliciously decadent and amazingly good chocolate pie. I made this tasty treat for my very dear, chocolate-loving friend Wing for her 21st birthday. I knew I was going to make her a chocolate pie since she adores chocolate (almost more than anything else) and likes pie more than cake, but I wanted to do something more special than your typical chocolate pudding pie with a cookie crumb crust.

So I went to my good friend foodgawker and was not disappointed, I almost immediately found this recipe for Mississippi Mud Pie. Don’t be intimidated by its length. It is an undertaking and takes lots of bowls, spoons, beaters, and chocolate covered surfaces, but it’s quite doable and very much worth the effort. Taken individually, each of the three steps is very straightforward. I made the cookie crust the night before, then made the cake and pudding during a less than 2 hour midday lunch break, so that the pie was all ready to put together and serve after dinner. I like to take my time when I bake and make sure I’m doing things right, so if I could make this pie that quickly, then you certainly can too.

As I mention in the recipe directions, the flourless chocolate cake will puff up A LOT when you bake it (see picture below). I was a bit horrified when I pulled it out of the oven and worried that it wouldn’t deflate. I also couldn’t stop thinking about how much it looked like the souffle that Queen Celeste makes in a beloved book from my childhood, “Babar Learns to Cook.” I think souffle is next on my list of desserts to make. Anyway, as the cake cools it will deflate and leave plenty of room for the delicious chocolate pudding topping.

The story of this pie would not be complete without a few words about my lovely friend. I made this pie for Wing because she is one of my very best friends. For me, it was one small way of saying thank you to her for our friendship. Besides teaching me math (most memorably Calculus II over the phone one summer) and dealing with the raw meat when we cook dinner together (my germaphobic self appreciates this so much), she is insightful, smart, extremely funny, my official taste tester in the kitchen, and the best critic of any food I make. This girl has supported, comforted, and been there for me in more ways than I could ever list. Not only that, but she understands and puts up with me as well. I am so, so thankful for our friendship.

So make this pie for your best friend, for someone you love, or for someone who simply loves chocolate. I promise they will appreciate it.

P.S. Speaking of friends, all the photos in this post (except the one above) were taken by my wonderful and extremely talented friend Carrie Sloane. Thank you Carrie!

 

Mississippi Mud Pie

Recipe adapted from Bake Me Blush, where it was adapted from Baked Explorations

Crust
1 package of Oreo cookies (about 35 cookies), crushed
5 Tbsp butter, melted

Flourless Chocolate Cake
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
6 oz dark chocolate, chopped, or semi-sweet chocolate chips
1-2 Tbsp instant coffee crystals
1/4 c. strong coffee, at room temperature
1/4  tsp salt
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
1 c. sugar

Chocolate Pudding
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 c. cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
4 large egg yolks
2 1/2 c. milk
3 Tbsp butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 oz dark chocolate, chopped, or semi-sweet chocolate chips

For the crust

Preheat the oven to 300° F. Spray, grease or butter a 9-inch springform pan. (*Note: I used a 9 inch pie plate since I don’t have a springform pan with me at school, and it worked very well. Just be careful not to make the crust too thick, you will not need all of the cookie crumbs.)

Using a blender or food processor, grind the cookies until they are very small crumbs. In a medium bowl combine the cookie crumbs and melted butter, stir well.

Press the crumbs into the springform pan or pie plate. Leave about a half inch between the top of the crust and the top of the pan. Freeze the crust for 10 minutes, then bake for 10 minutes. Cool before filling.

For the Flourless Chocolate Cake

Increase oven temperature to 350° F. Melt the butter and chocolate together in a double boiler. Let cool.

Whisk together the instant coffee crystals, coffee, salt, and vanilla in a small bowl.

In a standing mixer, beat the egg yolks with 1/2 cup of the sugar. Beat until it has doubled in volume and is light, for about 4-5 minutes. Add the melted butter and chocolate, beat until combined, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Then add the coffee mixture and beat until combined, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl again.

In a clean bowl with clean beaters (*make sure everything that touches the egg whites while they are being beaten is VERY clean or soft peaks will not form), beat the egg whites until they are foamy. Increase the speed and add the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar. Beat until soft peaks form.

A cup at a time, scoop the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate using a rubber spatula. Continue adding egg whites and folding in until everything is just combined. (*At this point the batter will change to a much lighter brown color from the addition of the egg whites and will be very airy and almost foamy.) Be careful not to overmix!

Pour this batter into the cooled cookie crust and bake 36-42 minutes. (*Since I used a pie plate instead of a springform pan, I couldn’t fit all of the cake batter into my crust. Pour as much as will fit into the crust, making sure to leave an edge of crust exposed all along the top edge.)

The cake is done when it looks set but jiggles slightly when moved, it might not look fully cooked. The cake is going to puff up a lot, like a souffle! Don’t worry though, it will shrink and deflate as it cools and leave enough space for the chocolate pudding to go on top. Cool the cake completely be wrapping in plastic wrap and refrigerating at least 3 hours or overnight.

For the Chocolate Pudding

In a saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cocoa power, cornstarch, and salt. Then add the egg yolks and whisk everything together until well combined. Next slowly pour in the milk, whisking constantly until combined.

Put the saucepan over medium heat and bring it to a boil, whisking CONSTANTLY the entire time, or you will have sad burned chocolate pudding and nothing to top your lovely pie. Boil the pudding for 30 seconds (it will get thick and gloppy and start to actually look like pudding; also be careful of bursting bubbles and boiling chocolate pudding, it hurts if those land your your arms!)

Transfer the pudding to a medium bowl and add the butter, vanilla, and chocolate, whisking until everything is well combined. Whisk the pudding a bit longer to help it cool down. Let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes, then press plastic wrap onto its surface (this prevents a skin from forming) and refrigerate it for at least 3 hours.

Assembling the Pie

Stir the pudding a bit to loosen it, then pour it on top of the cake, spreading it into an even layer with a spatula. Refrigerate about 30 minutes longer (if you’re pressed for time I think you could pretty safely skip this step).

Decorate with whipped cream if you like. I thought the chocolate pudding was so pretty and chocolately on top that it didn’t need any whipped cream decoration, so I just served it on the side with each slide.

Buttermilk Squash Soup

I was a bit horrified when I signed in to my blog today and realized that it’s been over a month since I last posted. I’m very sorry for the long absence. More than anything I’m sitting here wondering how an entire month has passed so quickly. I’ve spent the last several weeks loving and savoring every leaf, apple pie, and sunny day of a beautiful fall: crunching dry leaves under my feet as I walk to class, appreciating the truly incredible range of reds, yellows, and oranges dangling from every tree I pass, carving pumpkins with friends, visiting a corn maze for the first time, picking Concord grapes in my yard with my family, making grape juice from those grapes, baking apple pie, celebrating an absurd number of friends’ fall birthdays (which meant lots of chocolate and lots of pies), and most importantly, trying to find a few moments to do that thing that I started writing this blog for in the first place: cook!

And I have done quite a bit of cooking in the last month and I’ve discovered several great new recipes. I’ve just been slacking in the writing about and sharing recipes department. But now fall is on its way out, barren trees and frost-covered grass greet me each morning, so I’m saying goodbye to my colorful autumn-kissed days and returning to my blog with a new commitment to try very hard to post regularly. Besides, Thanksgiving and the promise of one lovely school-free week are just around the corner, which seems like an excellent time to start writing about food again.

One of the highlights of my cooking endeavors this last month was this squash soup. It was inspired by the mammoth squashes that a friend gave me; I’d never seen such big squashes in my life (see photo below). They were summer squash, very similar to a zucchini, and they made a very nice soup. I imagine that butternut squash or other types of fall/winter squashes could easily be substituted into this recipe. This is also a recipe that begs for creativity, variation, and substitution. I’ve made this soup twice and each time I made subtle variations, both of which were delicious. The amounts given here are just a guideline, it really depends on your preferences. I had no idea how much my squash weighed, so I just used this recipe as a guideline and went for it, tasting every step of the way.

I added Yukon gold potatoes, which were a nice buttery addition, and mostly used rosemary, garlic, and paprika to flavor the soup. Again, tasting the soup many times is very important. So here is my rough guideline to making a delicious squash soup, one last celebration of fall.

Buttermilk Squash Soup

Recipe adapted from 101 Cookbooks

olive oil
2-3 shallots, chopped
pinch of salt
pinch or two crushed red pepper flakes to taste
1 sprig of rosemary or ~1 tsp. dried rosemary
1 1/2 lbs (approx.) yellow summer squash, chopped into ~1 inch cubes/pieces
2 medium or 3 small potatoes, chopped into ~1 inch cubes/pieces
3 cloves garlic, pressed
black pepper to taste
paprika to taste (start with 1 tsp and go from there)
3 cups vegetable stock or water
2/3 cup buttermilk

In a large pot over medium heat a splash of olive oil. Add the chopped shallots, red pepper flakes, and fresh or dried rosemary, sauteeing until the shallots are tender. Then add the squash and potatoes pieces and cook for about 5 minutes until the squash starts getting tender.

Add the pressed garlic and remove the sprig of rosemary if using fresh. Next add the vegetable stock or water. Bring this to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. While the soup is simmering, stir occasionally, taste and adjust seasonings.

When the potatoes are tender, puree the soup with an immersion blender or transfer to a regular blender and puree. Whisk in the buttermilk and taste the soup, adjusting the seasonings (I found I needed more salt and paprika at this point). Serve and enjoy!

Skillet Tamale Pie

In the middle of a busy week, I was pleasantly reminded of how great cooking is at reducing stress. One morning I woke up dazed from a restless night of strange dreams: after falling asleep reviewing how blood circulates through the heart (the result of an intense night spent studying for the GRE subject test in Biology), I dreamed about never-ending pages of confusing words and numbers that didn’t make any sense (reminiscent of my statistics textbook) that I was trying to memorize. Talk about stressful.

The next morning was dreary and gray and I felt a little down all morning. But at lunch time I had an extra hour at home before class and I decided to make a stir-fry for lunch instead of heating up leftovers like usual. It was really mostly to avoid more studying, I never thought about it improving my mood. As soon as I started peeling carrots I began to relax. Lingering worries about classes and the GRE triggered by those strange dreams drifted to the back of my mind and I concentrated only on chopping. It was very therapeutic. I relished the smells of soy sauce, freshly grated ginger, minced garlic, and rice vinegar while mixing up a sauce for my vegetables. Consciously deciding to take the time to make lunch that day, instead of trying to cram in a little reading for class, was probably one of the better decisions I made for myself all week. It was a much needed brain break from reality, something that I need to remember to do more often when things are getting a little stressful.

And this skillet tamale pie is a tasty, easy-to-make comfort food for busy times. This is a great recipe that I learned in high school when I took a class called Gourmet Cooking. It was one of my favorite classes in high school–we got to spend every class period learning food preparation techniques and cooking delicious food, so naturally I loved it. The only problem with this recipe is that I’m not crazy about the name. It’s not especially tamale-like and it’s not very pie-like. It’s actually not much like anything else, which is why I couldn’t come up with a better name. Any suggestions would be appreciated :)

Anyway, I dug out my binder of recipes from Gourmet Cooking this summer, specifically looking for this tamale pie recipe because I knew my housemates would love it. It’s another one of those dishes that fed me for several days in a row, which is always a bonus when you’re in college. It’s easy to substitute or omit ingredients; for example, the other week I made it without cilantro and I think a handful of frozen corn would be a great addition.

 

Skillet Tamale Pie

Recipe adapted from America’s Test Kitchen

Filling

1 onion, minced
2 – 2 1/2 Tbsp chili powder
2 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1 lb ground beef or turkey
1 15 oz can black beans, drained
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, minced (optional)
~ 1/2 c./one handful of frozen corn (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Topping

3/4 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. yellow cornmeal
3 Tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 c. buttermilk or regular milk
1 egg
3 Tbsp butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 450.

Heat a tablespoon or two of oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Saute the onion, chili powder, and a little salt until the onion is soft. Then add the minced garlic, stirring for just under a minute to cook the garlic before adding the next ingredients. Add the ground meat, beans, and tomatoes. Simmer for about 5 minutes.

When the meat is thoroughly cooked, stir in the cheese, cilantro, and corn if you’re using it. Season with salt and pepper.

To make the cornbread topping, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a different bowl,whisk together the buttermilk or regular milk and egg. Combine the milk and egg mixture with the flour mixture. Then stir in the melted butter.

Spread the cornbread mixture evenly over the filling (which is still in the skillet). Then bake the whole thing for 10-15 minutes, until the cornbread is done in the center.

Peanut Sauce

Peanut sauce is one of my very favorite sauces. The first time I tried it at a Thai restaurant, I was hooked. I love making peanut sauce at home, it’s so easy and makes almost any dish taste better.

I’m sorry for the long delay in posting! School has a way of suddenly becoming ridiculously busy and even though I spend the better part of some class lectures daydreaming about my next post (either that or planning what I’m going to make for dinner), it’s getting harder and harder to actually sit down and write it. But this peanut sauce is so easy and quick that even I had time to make it the other week.

I adapted the recipe from several sources and it makes a thick, delicious, spicy, and savory sauce that’s perfect for adding to a stir-fry, grilled chicken (or probably any meat for that matter), rice, or vegetables. It’s very easy to personalize, you can easily adjust the spiciness. I like making it with crunchy peanut butter because I love the crunchy texture it gives the sauce, but I think it’s work well with creamy peanut butter as well.

P.S. Also, sorry for the lack of picture of the finished sauce, I was so excited to eat it that I forgot to take a picture….oops. And the golden peanut statue is a landmark in the town of Dothan, Alabama. I visited there once when my sister Laura lived in Alabama :)

 

Peanut Sauce

1/2 cup crunchy or smooth all-natural peanut butter
3 tsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
juice of one small lime
1 1/2 – 2 tsp chili garlic sauce
2 cloves minced/crushed garlic
1/3 cup water

Whisk all ingredients together in a small sauce pan. Heat on medium until the sauce bubbles and thickens. Can be served hot or cold.

Roasted Chicken

To celebrate the first day of my last year of college I decided to roast a chicken. It was completely new territory for me. This might be a bit of a silly story to anyone who has prepared countless Thanksgiving turkeys and roasted chickens for Sunday dinners, but it was a big deal for me.

The decision to roast this chicken might have had a lot to do with the fact that it was two days past its “use by” date (since I’d bought it a week earlier and had been carefully avoiding trying to figure out how to cook it) and was taking up a huge amount of space in a fridge that suddenly had to fit five different people’s food (welcome back,  housemates!) and just a little bit to do with the fact that I wanted to celebrate classes starting up again. Either way, it ended up being a good decision.

Let’s go back to the grocery store aisle on that fateful day when my housemate and friend Wing and I decided to purchase an entire chicken. For the first time ever. After a summer of cooking and eating together nearly every day, Wing and I are very efficient grocery shoppers. We make lists and menus and plans and breeze through the store, rarely distracted and only occasionally giving in to temptations like pints of Häagen-Dazs on sale (you have to try their rum raisin ice cream, it is one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted. The combination of rum, raisins, and sweet creamy ice cream is THE BEST). But before checking out, we inevitably end up standing in front of the meat section for a long time. A very long time. I’m not sure what it is about meat that makes it so difficult for us to buy–is it the price? the wide variety of choices? or its unappealing bloody rawness? (I think it’s mostly that last one for me.) We discuss which cuts of chicken to buy (boneless? skinless? thighs or drumsticks?), whether we should go with the free-range, organic variety since it is on sale this week, and how many we should buy, since single pieces of frozen chicken tend to get lost in our black-hole of a freezer, which doesn’t do anyone much good. And that’s just for the chicken section. If we can make a chicken decision within ten minutes we usually just run away as quickly as we can, completely avoiding the red meat.

Anyway, one day as we stood in our regular place contemplating our chicken choices, something possessed me and I reached for a whole chicken. It was an organic, free-range chicken on sale for an excellent price. I couldn’t resist, even though I’d never prepared or roasted an entire bird in my life. It seemed like a time-consuming, challenging task, especially when it’s so easy to buy an already roasted and seasoned rotisserie chicken from the deli. But for some reason I decided right then that I had to roast that chicken. Why not? It can’t be THAT hard, I thought.

Unfortunately my enthusiasm for roasting a chicken pretty much died as soon as the bird was safely stored in the refrigerator. It once again seemed an insurmountable and much too time-consuming task. I half-heartedly flipped through my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook to see how to go about preparing the bird and was dismayed to see the 2 hour estimated roasting time for a 5 pound chicken. So the poor chicken sat for several more days. Until Wing pointed out to me that the use-by date was yesterday. Under the threat of soon having a rotting chicken on my hands (and in my fridge), I did what I always do at times like this: I called my mom. She is my savior in these situations, and once again she came to the rescue. We talked through the process of seasoning and roasting a chicken and I was suddenly inspired and brave enough to attempt it. It’s really pretty simple.

Once again, my status as a college student lacking exactly appropriate cooking equipment did not hinder the recipe. In my house of five college students none of us owns a roasting pan or rack. Substitution: a 9″ x 13″ cake pan and no rack. It worked quite well. I slightly adapted a recipe from my mom and relied heavily on the results of the Google search “how to roast a chicken.” I also overcame my intense dislike of handling raw meat to prepare the chicken–reaching inside to pull out the giblets and thoroughly rubbing the seasonings into the chicken with my bare hands. It really doesn’t take long to prepare the chicken, then all you have to do is roast it for a couple of hours. You can use that time to prepare side dishes or start your homework from the first day of class :)

It was all worth it, the chicken turned out really well and it was an excellent meal to share with friends. Now you too can roast a chicken.

P.S. Sorry for the delay in posting, but now that classes have started again I hope to post about once a week.

Roasted Chicken

Recipe adapted from Mr. Food Cooks Chicken

Adjust amounts depending on the size of your chicken. My chicken was close to 5 pounds and the recipe below was just right.

1 1/2 -2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 -2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 -2 tsp salt
1/2 – 1 tsp pepper
1/2 – 1 tsp seasoned salt
4 tsp vegetable oil
1 whole chicken (about 4 pounds)

Preheat the oven to 375°. In a small bowl, mix together all the spices and oil.

Place the chicken in a roasting pan (or 9″ x 13″ sheet cake pan and on a roasting rack if you have one) and rub the seasoning mixture all over the chicken until it is well coated.

Bake, uncovered, for 1 1/2 – 1 3/4 hours, or until the chicken is done (165° on a meat thermometer inserted into the breast) and the skin is crispy. This site has a table of roasting times based on weight and some other useful tips. Baste every 20-30 minutes with a pastry brush if desired. (I didn’t baste since I don’t own a pastry brush either and it still turned out quite well, with a nice crispy, flavorful skin.)

Blackberry Pie

It’s about time for another pie post. Blackberry pie is the perfect summer pie.

Last August I went blackberry picking with my mom, sister, niece, and nephew. It was a fun, prickly, and sweet adventure.  It was an hour or two drive to the wild blackberry bushes lining the sides of an old railroad track outside a tiny little town somewhere in Idaho. I sat next to my niece in the car (she was 3 and a 1/2 at the time) and she entertained us both by taking pictures with my camera the entire way there (and back). Her chosen attire for the day was also amusing: she was wearing her fancy red velvet Christmas dress with white satin bows on the front. She absolutely refused to change, despite her mother’s and grandma’s urges, but she did finally agree to add jeans to the outfit (stubbornness runs in the family).

We were all very excited when we finally got to the blackberry bushes and saw those plump little berries dangling on the massive green bushes. But it takes a bit of a fight to get those gems, you have to battle the prickly thorns that are just about everywhere. My mom, sister, nephew, and I went straight to work. My nephew especially took his job very seriously, he filled several buckets before getting tired. But my dressed-up darling little niece was a different story. After picking for a little while (and eating every berry she picked), she decided to lie down in the middle of the path (in her Christmas dress!) and start throwing rocks and banging them together while singing loudly with her tongue sticking out. Obviously the natural thing to do when one is tired. She’s such a little cutie than she can get away with almost anything. I remember laughing to myself while avoiding the prickly vines (we were all well protected with long-sleeves and jeans) and piling my buckets with as many blackberries as they could hold.

 

 

 

 

Those blackberries were SO good. I thoroughly enjoyed myself by baking them into several pies, topping my favorite goat cheese tarts with them, and snacking on them almost every day. This summer I sadly didn’t get to go blackberry picking, but I did buy some nice berries at the farmer’s market. I was craving pie before the craziness of school hits me full force in just a few days. So I enjoyed a peaceful Saturday afternoon in my happy-pie-baking-state-of-mind with my plump purple berries and a nice flaky crust. I used an almost identical recipe as the cherry pie.

Blackberry Pie

1 quart fresh blackberries (= 4 cups, but I found that about 3 cups is sufficient
2 1/2 Tbsp tapioca (OR 2 Tbsp cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water or berry juice until smooth)
2/3 – 1 cup sugar
1 prepared pie crust (not pre-baked)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and let stand 15-20 minutes while you prepare the crust.

Depending on how sweet the berries are and how sweet you like your pie, use anywhere from 2/3 cup to 1 cup of sugar. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and let them sit for 15-20 minutes while you prepare the crust.

Pour the berries into the prepared crust and cover with a top crust. Finish the edges, cut slits in the top, and sprinkle with sugar.

Place strips of foil on the crust’s edges.

Bake for 15 minutes. Then turn down the oven to 350 degrees and bake 20 more minutes. Take off the foil and bake 15 more minutes. The crust will be a light golden-brown and the juices bubbling when the pie is done.

Perfect Pie Crust

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups shortening
1 egg
2 tablespoons vinegar
3 1/2 Tablespoons water

Using two knives (I use two dinner knives) or a pastry blender, cut shortening into flour and salt until you have crumbs about the size of small peas.

In a small bowl, beat the egg. Add water and vinegar to the egg.  Add this mixture all at once to the flour, salt, and shortening. Gently mix together with your hands until the dough comes together. Roll out the dough on a floured board.

Makes enough for two double crust pies.