Banana-Coconut Cream Pi

Happy belated Pi Day! We celebrated March 14 with a banana-coconut (banananut? cocoban?) pie. The pie combines two great flavors, with slices of bananas covered in a coconut custard, and then topped with whipped cream and toasted flaked coconut.  The recipe is here.

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Happy 2012

Key lime meringue pie is a great way to start the new year. After all butter and chocolate of the holidays, this tart pie with a cloud of toasted meringue on top cuts through all the richness.


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Thanksgiving Just Desserts

After the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and squash, there's not always a lot of room for dessert on Thanksgiving. Still, I usually make three or four pies and cakes so we can have choices. But this year, thinking more is better, and having more people over, I made seven desserts. Yes, seven--it's not like I made 19 pies or anything. From front to back, we had classic apple pie, raspberry key lime tart, pumpkin chiffon pie, carrot cake, chocolate-cranberry-pecan pie, apple crumble cake, and mocha buttercrunch pie. Possibly it was too much ... but I don't think so. One day later, and there's not too much left.
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Apple Crumb Pie

It's hard to believe that October is almost over, and this is my first apple pie of the season. There are so many kinds of apple pie (tarts, tortes, tatins), and I feel it's my duty to investigate them all. The things I do. I picked this recipe when I wanted pie and a voice chimed in for something cobblery (the sugary, crunchy topping, I think.). The base recipe is from Martha, but I added lots of ginger (to the topping and filling), used dried cranberries instead of raisins, and used a springform pan instead of a pie plate, which seems to have disappeared (and wouldn't have been deep enough anyhow.)


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Strawberry Fields

SwimmerGirl and I went strawberry picking last weekend at a farm about an hour away. The weather wasn't beautiful--but it wasn't 9,000 degrees either, a nice change. In the end, and despite my plans to have less, we picked over 11 lbs of strawberries. They're just so sweet and perfectly ripe right now--it was hard stopping when we did. Surprisingly, 11 lbs of strawberries isn't that hard to use up. On that first day we made strawberry shortcakes for lunch, strawberry daiquiris to drink, and a big strawberry-lime pie for dinner (yes, that was dinner.) A couple of days later, I made a big strawberry-blueberry soufflé, which was light and creamy and very easy to make.











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Non-Traditional Easter

We don't have any hard and fast Easter meal traditions, and this year we went even further from any kind of norm--in a very tasty way. For brunch, I made my version of a Spanish piperrada and patatas bravas with a smoked paprika aioli. For dinner, we had pizza three ways: BBQ chicken Cobb salad, basil-Alfredo, and cheese with peppers and fresh tomatoes and lots of basil. Dessert was a creamy key lime pie.


Piperrada: Grilled bread topped with crisped jambon, soft scrambled eggs, and sautéed onions, roasted peppers and garlic with a dash of sherry vinegar.



Patatas bravas: Crispy potatoes topped with a garlicky smoked paprika aioli.



Above - Alfredo sauce, fresh basil, and parmesan. Below: BBQ sauce topped with chicken, bacon, Cambazola, fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, and avocado (added after baking).



Just a slice of key lime pie: Creamy and tart with lots of fresh lime juice and zest.



And Forgotten Cookies, or meringues with lots of mini chocolate chips and pecans, because I had egg whites left over from the pie. They somehow came out perfectly despite the growing humidity of the day.

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Chicken Pot Pi

Yesterday was National Pi Day, and to celebrate, I made a chicken pot pie. While the days are slowly warming up here, the nights still have a bit of chill to them and something warm and comforting like pot pie was just right. The recipe is loosely based on the traditional one in Fine Cooking. I used chicken breasts, shallots, carrots, red peppers, potatoes, and asparagus (I didn't have any peas handy, but I've never loved them in pot pie.) The longest part of the process was waiting for the chicken to defrost in the microwave. But while waiting, I made the pastry in the food processor and then tossed it in the freezer while I assembled the rest. Once in the oven, the pot pie filled the house with the scent of roasting chicken, butter, and aromatic vegetables. I almost burned my tongue when I started to eat because it smelled and looked so good, and I didn't want to wait any longer. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Thanksgiving 2010

Happy Thanksgiving! Our table was very full and happy this year, with lots of family, friends and food. The main meal is pretty traditional, including roast turkey, Mom's famous stuffing, mountains of mashed potatoes, roasted butternut squash, and homemade cranberry-orange sauce. However, my focus was on making the desserts. We had four desserts this year--and sadly, now only slivers of these remain.

Cheddar-apple pie, with lots of cheddar cheese mixed into the crust

 

Salted caramel banana pudding tart

 

Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting

 

Pumpkin chiffon pie

Apple Pie Bars

The idea behind this recipe is that a traditional round apple pie is hard to divide among groups of larger than, say, eight people. So this recipe is baked in a 9x13 pan, with top and bottom crusts and some breadcrumbs scattered on the bottom to absorb some of the juices. The bars can then be cut into 16 to 20 good-sized pieces. And they taste and slice even better the next day. When I make this again, I'll mix the apples and cinnamon sugar together before they go into the crust and will use fewer breadcrumbs. These bars are good for dessert, but they also make very good breakfasts on the go. Ahem. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Peach-Raspberry Pie

Peach season is here, and one of my favorite ways to use them is in pie. This recipe is loosely based on a deep-dish cobbler from chef Rick Bayless. My filling uses about 3 lbs of fresh peaches and a generous handful of raspberries, along with sugar, ginger, and a little cornstarch to thicken. Just a slice ... - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Mother's Day

To all the mothers out there--and most especially my mom-- I want to wish you a very happy Mother's Day! This year I made dinner for my mom, taking advantage of the best of spring flavors. We had spice-rubbed grilled chicken, cornmeal-crusted tofu, asparagus, tomato salad with arugula, and rosemary roasted potatoes. For dessert, we had a tart and creamy key lime pie, along with juicy strawberries dipped in sour cream and brown sugar (one of my mom's--and my--favorites.)

Kt's Key Lime Pie

1 graham cracker pie crust (9-10 crushed graham crackers, melted butter, sugar)

14 oz sweetened condensed milk

1/2-3/4 c fresh lime juice, depending on how tart you like it

zest of 1-2 limes

4 egg yolks

3/4 c heavy whipping cream

2 Tbs sugar

1-2 tsp vanilla

lime zest

chocolate shavings

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, mix together the sweetened condensed milk, lime juice and zest, and egg yolks until smooth. Pour into the graham cracker crust -- it won't reach all the way to the top.

Bake for 20-25 min., til only the very middle jiggles slightly. Let cool for 15 min., and then chill for at least an hour. Then beat together the whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla til fairly stiff and spread evenly on top of the chilled pie. Top with additional lime zest and chocolate shavings.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! We had 10 people at our table for Thanksgiving this year--and, of course, enough food for many, many more. I'm only just recovering from the food coma that was Thursday, though a long walk around the zoo today helped. We cover the traditionals at our holiday meal--there are no theme Thanksgivings around here--and it was all very, very good. We had turkey with gravy, apple-pecan stuffing, mashed potatoes, butternut squash, asparagus, cranberry-0range sauce, and more. Not surprisingly, dessert was my focus, and with four (yes, 4) options, I think we covered all the bases. The above picture is of a caramel-apple cheesecake tart, a great recipe I found at Annie's Eats, that essentially combined pecan pie, apple pie, and a cheesecake all in one. The sides: mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy The big three: turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing Broad beans, olives, asparagus with a lemon vinaigrette, cranberry sauce, gravy Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and pecans Homemade toasted coconut-macaroon ice cream with dark chocolate chunks, made with the effort and inspiration of SwimmerGirl The final round-up: (from the top) carrot cake, caramel-apple cheesecake tart, and pumpkin chiffon pie

Triple Raspberry Pie

I'm not sure if it's possible, when picking berries, to not pick too many, but so far we aren't complaining. We picked nearly 10 lbs of black, red, and purple raspberries today, mostly the black raspberries, which were both plentiful and very juicy. Black raspberries happen to be a favorite of my berry-picking partner, so that worked well. The red raspberries, the most popular (and easiest to get to), were fairly picked over, but we persevered. The purple ones were new to us, and not especially unusual in flavor, but they were big and pretty and purple, so we picked some anyhow. Lunch today was late, so dinner tonight ended up as triple berry pie, with vanilla ice cream on the side. Once again, no one complained. We let the pie sit for about 30 min. after it came out of the oven before diving in, but really longer is preferable, so it has time to set up more.

Triple Raspberry Pie

Filling:

6 c raspberries (we used black, red, and purple)

1/2 c granulated sugar

1/2 c brown sugar 1/4 tsp nutmeg (I used garam masala, as the nutmeg appears to have disappeared)

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1-2 tsp vanilla

3-4 Tbs cornstarch

Crust:

2 1/4 c flour

1 1/2 Tbs granulated sugar

1 tsp salt

1/2 c unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces

1 tsp vanilla

1/2-3/4 c cold water

Starting with the crust, mix the flour, sugar, and salt together in a food processor. Then add in the cold butter and pulse til it's in pea-sized pieces. Add the vanilla, and then slowly add the water, tablespoon by tablespoon, to the processor while pulsing until the mixture just starts to come together. Pour it out onto the counter and knead gently to bring it together. Divide the dough in half, wrap each half in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 30 min.

Meanwhile, mix together in a large bowl the granulated and brown sugars, nutmeg, ginger, vanilla, and cornstarch. Then add the berries and toss the mixture together gently. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

When the dough is cold, roll one half out to fit the bottom of the pie pan with a little overhang. Pour in the berry mixture, and then top with the second crust, crimping the edges together with your fingers. Using a knife, cut air vents in the top crust so the steam can escape. Optional: brush the top crust with milk and then sprinkle with 1 Tbs granulated sugar. Place the pie on a foil-lined cookie sheet and bake for 20 min. Then turn the heat down to 350 degrees for another 50-60 min., or until the top is golden brown and the berries are bubbling. Let cool completely before eating (or eat warm, with less perfect-looking slices). Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, if somewhat belatedly! Sometimes it takes a while getting back from the festivities--it's a long drive home, you know. My mom and I cooked up a storm. And with family visiting from the north, there were plenty of people to help eat it all. Once again I made maybe too many desserts--four for eight people--but they were all so good. And long gone, alas. Life is short, eat dessert first Carrot cake, with cream cheese icing and pecans Apple crostata Pumpkin chiffon pie Chocolate-mint semifreddo, studded with teeny tiny peppermint patties that taste like mini thin mint cookies. SwimmerGirl and I made this one, which was cool and creamy and refreshing. The main event A mountain of mashed potatoes; Mom's famous stuffing with cranberries, apples, pecans, and other good stuff; and cranberry-orange sauce Homemade applesauce, gravy, and a Cabernet sauvignon cranberry sauce Mashed buttercup squash with butter and brown sugar And of course, the roast beast, a very tasty 15 lb. turkey Many hours before the main feast Breakfast included an apple coffeecake drizzled with a maple glaze a strata made with three cheese, challah, and shallots and lots of fresh fruit