Pies!!!

History:
I love apple pie, and do not know what I have not been making them... So this is my quest for the perfect apple pie.
Clark likes cherry pie so I have made that as well.
We have two parts to our pies.... crust and filling. I like this crust. Sturdy... tasty.... good. I've done two different fillings for the apple so far... #1 was good, #2 better.

Crust:
2 sticks of butter diced up
343 grams of flour (AP works well... I have mixed in some cake)
5 tablespoons of water
1/8 cup shortening

Fold in the fats with the flour. Use your hands and really roll it in together. Add the water and mix until a ball. Divide into two parts one bigger then the other. Make into a rectangle and then wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Filling:
2 granny smith
3 fuji or other sweet apple
2 ounces apple cider
1 lemon juiced
159 grams of sugar
28 grams of corn starch
salt
cinnamon
allspice
nutmeg

Cut up the apples however you want. I like to have extremely thin cuts. Mix everything together... I do this by hand and ensure everything is coated.

Pie:
Grease the bottom of the pan. Roll out the larger half and cover the bottom of the pan with it. Brush the inside with milk or beaten egg. This puts a protective covering on the dough so it will not become soggy. Put your filling in. Roll out the smaller dough and put on top. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes then 375 for 30-40 minutes.

Enjoy. I found that this is better chilled...

My new favorite pizza

Yeah, I like to make pizza. I made the dough from memory and didn't measure any ingredients. This made for a very thick, soft crust. As I was getting ingredients for the toppings an idea struck me and I decided to do something completely different. It turned out pretty good and is now my new favorite pizza.
So what's on it? Minced pork, caramelized apples, and goat cheese with garlic butter. Damn tasty. Here goes.
You need:
~1 lb boneless pork chops
1 apple, skinned and diced
1 lemon
goat cheese
butter and garlic
to season the pork:
cayenne pepper
chili powder
ground ginger
onion powder
ground nutmeg
thyme
ground rosemary
salt
You can check out the original pizza post for the dough recipe.

Diced up the pork, mix the spices well and season. Don't be shy. Fry the pork up in a pan. Done.
To caramelize the apples:
There are several ways. Here's one. Dice em up. Squeeze the juice from 1/2 a lemon over them to keep them from oxidizing. Squeeze the other half into a pan. Pour a bunch of sugar in the pan. Turn the heat up to med-high to high. Once it starts to caramelize, toss in the apple pieces. Mix them around for a minute or two and transfer into a bowl. Viola. Caramelized apples.
While doing everything else, you should have some butter with a lot of chopped up garlic warming on the stove. Don't get it too hot. Just warm enough that the garlic infuses into the butter.
Toss out your dough. Throw the pork and apples on it. Break up a bunch of goat cheese on it. Pour the garlic butter all over it. Bake. Eat. mmmmmmm

Clark's Asian-ish kinda style Pork Chops!!

Hey! Remember me? Check it out. Anita got us a camera. Thanks, Anita!
So this is one of my favorite recipes and I actually made it up myself. This was one of those 'just make something out of the ingredients currently in the house' recipes, and it turned out great. It's also really simple and quick. I actually went for a run, took and shower, and cooked this meal in less than an hour.

You need:
Boneless pork chops (or whatever kind you want)
I never measure so let's say
3 parts soy sauce
2 parts apple cider vinegar
1 part sesame oil
a lot of minced ginger
a little minced garlic
crushed red pepper
brown sugar (or honey)

Mix together and marinate the pork chops in it for at least 4 hrs. I usually let it marinate overnight. You can grill them in about 8 minutes. Baste after turning. Or cook them in a pan. Delicious.
I made fried rice and some potatoes with it since it was quick and that's what I had. Do what you will.

Our Saturday Cookout

History:
So yes, Clark and I have not been cooking that much. And it does make us sad, but Clark was off this past weekend, the girls were coming up, and the weather is nice. So why not cook out and invite people over? This is a joint cooking adventure [like most are], and so I'll try to write up what I was in charge of.

Kabobs
I've been waiting to post this recipe for so long and now I'm doing it when it's hidden among a bunch of other stuff and I'm adding it in about 2 months after when we actually did it. Gee, I'm sure everyone will appreciate this. This is one of my favorite recipes. The flavor on these things is fantastic.
You need:
on the skewer
a couple lbs of meat. It should be made with lamb, but Anita won't let me live my life the way I want to and lamb is kind of expensive, so I always use beef. I generally by a large cut and cut it into somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 inch cubes.
red pepper, green pepper, yellow pepper, chopped
cherry tomatoes
red onion, chopped
anything else you want on the skewers

Marinade
1 onion, thinly sliced
fresh mint, parsley, ~1/2 cup each and tbsp thyme
juice of 2 lemons
cumin
paprika
pinch of chili flakes
garlic

Combine the marinade ingredients and marinate the meat overnight. If using wood skewers, make sure and soak them in water for several hours (just do it in the morning when you get up) to keep them from burning on the grill.
Remove the meat from the marinade. Skewer it with your veggies. Grill. Eat.
Hamburgers
*see previous post*

Roasted Red Pepper and Garlic Hummus
*see previous post*

Roasted Corn and Pablano Salsa

Roast the 3sh ears of corn and 2-3 pablano peppers on a grill. Chop up and put with one onion, 5-7 tomatoes, salt, pepper, tablespoonish of sugar, and 1/2 lime juice. Chill until ready to eat. Enjoy... this really is good, and makes great nachos days later.

Raita
I don't know that this is a true raita, but that's what I'm calling it. Very simple, delicious yogurt sauce you can use to cut the heat on some spicy food, or just to add some flavor. Make it up at least an hour before serving.
You need:
about 1 cup of yogurt
1 cucumber, small dice
1 onion, small dice
a little salt and white pepper
pinch of paprika
mint and parsley, chopped

Mix all the ingredients together and chill for at least 1 hour. Goes great with the kabobs and the flatbread recipe

Coffee Ice Cream

*See previous post on ice cream*

Chocolate Pie

*See previous post*

A Jake/Reinhart/Clark Loaf of Bread

Stuffed Tomatoes

Guess what. These are awesome.
You need:
about 5 tomatoes. The vine ripe ones do really well. I wouldn't use roma as you kind of need the round shape, although I guess you could cut them long ways.
Fresh oregano, basil, and parsley
breadcrumbs
garlic
olive oil

Slice the tomatoes in half along the equator. Scoop out the seeds and insides and place in a roasting pan.
Add minced garlic to the bottom of each. Chop and add fresh herbs. Fill the rest of the way with breadcrumbs. Add a pinch of salt and pepper, drizzle with oil and bake on 350 for about 30-40 min. You're done.
Goes great with fresh bread.


Sweet Potatoes Chips

Use a mandolin or food processor with attachment to finely slice up a couple of peeled sweet potatoes. Fry until crispy, s/p. Enjoy.

Lemon Bars with Meringue [TK]
This was my highlight of the night. The presentation was awesome... I should have torched on the table.... Great taste, I think Clark and Jenny ate about 1/2 between themselves. I really enjoyed making this.

Crust:
5.25 onces of butter (10.5 tablespoons)
1/4 cup of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
1.75 cups of ap flour

Cream the butter and sugar with the vanilla. Slowly add the flour... this should form a mass, but not be a sticky dough. Roll into a rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap and then chill for at least 30 minutes. Use a rolling pin, and roll it out to fall into a probably 9 x 6 baking dish... TK calls for 12 x 16... whatever size dish you have because the filling will go in this. Keep the dough on parchment paper when you put it in the dish. Chill again, and then bake at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes... at about 5 minutes poke the dough with a fork to let the steam out so it does not puff up.

Filling:
1 cup fresh lemon juice [add squeeze this... it is worth it for the extra flavor]
6 large eggs
6 large egg yolks
1.25 cups of sugar
4.5 ounces (9 tablespoons) of butter

Combine everything, but the butter, in a double boiler and cook until thick. Add the butter in parts off the heat until it is all in. Strain the curd into the crust. Place a oil-sprayed parchment paper on top, and then wrap in plastic wrap. Put in the freezer for many hours [until at least frozen]. I did this the night before.

Prior to serving cut the edges with the crust off to ensure the presentation is spot on.

Meringue:
1.25 cups of sugar and 2.3 tablespoons of sugar
1/4 cup of water
3 large egg whites

Combine the 1.25 cups of sugar and water in a pot and heat until boiling. Whip the egg whites until foaming, then add the 2.3 tablespoons of sugar, and continue until you have soft peaks. While mixing slowly add the simple syrup and continue to whip until the bowl is cool and stiff peaks are formed. Place this in a gallon bag like we do our eclairs to pipette onto the lemon bars. Do little rows of spirals.

And now pictures (thanks anita for getting us a camera again):


The Finished Product!

Raisin Bran Muffins [KA]

History:
Cards rotation.... I am there around 6-6:15 am.... and I like my breakfast. Apparently, though, I am pregnant, because all week I was getting nauseous after eating a bit of breakfast.... so I have been eating at the hospital. I wanted to make some muffins that would last the week, give me something to snack on. Avid readers know my traditional muffins.... so I wanted to break out the King Arthur cookbook and see what they had going on in the muffin department, and found these.

Ingredients:
1 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/4 cup molasses [I used honey]
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup wheat bran
1/2 cup oats
1.5 t cinnamon
0.5 t salt
1.25 cups whole wheat flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 cup raisins

What to do:

Combine the milk, oil, eggs, molasses, brown sugar. Then add the bran and oats and let them soak for about 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 425. Whisk in the rest of the dry. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Enjoy.

PS- The KA book does have a break down of fat, sugar, etc... if anyone wants that info let me know.

Ropa Vieja

History:
As Clark said on top there is not much cooking going on. I made some muffins last week... nothing new. I wanted to do this recipe awhile ago, but we had been eating so much beef I decided to hold off. This is another traditional Cuban recipe with a bit of variation.

Cook time: 3 hours
Difficulty: Easy

Why three hours? You are going to tenderize the meat. Take about 1.5-2 pounds of flank steak and boil in water flavored with s/p and maybe some chicken stock for about 2 hours. This is just like making a stew... we are breaking down the collagen in the meat to make it tender. Ideally, you are going to do this until you can shred the meat into noodle-like ribbons with your hands or some forks.

Saute 1 onion, 1/2 green pepper, and garlic in some oil. Toss in the meat, and some tomatoes. I ended up using 1 can of diced tomatoes and some tomato paste. I have a recipe that says use tomato sauce, but I feel like that is a bit over powering. I like canned with a some paste, and smooth out the sauce with white wine. Let this simmer for about 15-20 minutes until everything combines, and the flavors mix. Put this over rice and enjoy.