Pics or it didn't happen!

This week I've prepared apple pork pie with caramelized onion crust. Need I say more?!

Well, yes.

It is made of savory win.

(recipe)

pre- my oven

post- my oven

The consensus from the people who ate them at the potluck was that they were sweeter than savory and they couldn't taste the pork very much. The apple juices, sage and other spices pooled at the bottom though so actually the end of the pie-lets was the best part. A couple of the RA's asked for the recipe, even! I am very pleased with myself (again), but seriously they are the best people to cook for. Its a little cook's ego trip. They are always so complimentary and think that I put in time (sometimes I do, sometimes I lie) and are always very appreciative of that time. Residents, dinner guests, and ex-boyfriends are not nearly as polite or happy to eat my food.

I want to try making a thinner crust, and making them smaller. If they were smaller they'd be phenomenal hors d'oeuvres. Needs more sage in the future, and I need to invest in a food processor or blender, a rolling pin, and some allspice, not necessarily in that order. I wonder if its worth buying it all beforfe I move away?

Smoke and Snow

Today it looks like this

I'm really surprised it stayed white so long.

Just saying...

So I made this

mmm.... seafood recipe from a Midwestern newspaper. WAIT.

Yeah, ok so my stove is kinda dirty. WANNA FIGHT ABOUT IT??

Smoky Tomato and Seafood Soup
(adapted from Chicago Tribune's 'Good Eating'
4 ripe plum tomatoes or 1 can, 8 oz diced fire-roasted tomatoes, undrained
2 tbs olive oil
2 large shallots, chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded, chopped, or 1 bottles roasted red pepper, diced
3 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 can, 15oz vegetable broth
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/8 cup tomato paste
1 tsp salt to taste
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 (15 count) raw peeled, deveined shrimp
1/4 pound of bay scallops

In original recipe, but not used in this instance:
1/2 pound of clams
1 small leek
1/2 pound boneless skinless fish fillet, such as tilapia, pollock or snapper, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces

1. If using fresh tomatoes, set broil to high, halve the tomatoes and arrange on a foil sheet in the broiler. Broil 10-12 minutes occasionally turning. Let cool, peel, and chop coarsely, colleting all the juices.
2. Heat the oil in a dutch oven or deep saucepan. Cook shallots (and leek, if using) until soft, about 4 minutes. Stir in the red pepper and garlic; cook 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, broth, water, wine tomato paste, salt and paprika.
3. Add clams; cook 3 minutes. Add shrimp and fish; cook 2 minutes. Add scallops and cook 1 minute or until all the fish is opaque but still tender.
4. Serve in large deep bowls with a dollop of sour cream, or garlic mayonnaise in the center. garnish with parsley.

Enjoy and stay warm!

WHOOPIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE pies

How do bakers get over boys?

Me? I bake all the things that remind me of them and try to make a completely new memory for it. I got the chance to do that the other day when Rory came over with a mission. A mission to bake.

So we baked motherfucking PUMPKIN WHOOPIE PIES WITH MAPLE CREAM CHEESE FILLING. BIG FAT ONES. (recipe)

Who needs boys when I can be fat?

Anyway. Classes began yesterday. So far I have attended all of them. I feel pretty good about my Thursday classes. I'm waffling on that computer science class though. What's the point now anyway?

I'm over boys; lets move on to men finally please.

Burgers in Winter

Today I was bored. So I made a chicken curry burger. Wanna know what's hard to do without a meat grinder? Make ground chicken. You have to mince the raw chicken and then crush it with the flat of your blade. It takes about 25 minutes to "grind" a normal sized chicken breast.

Worth it?

OMG GENIUS

*salivate*

VERY MUCH SO YES.

Here's how to make the burger.

I also have curried mayonnaise as a dressing. For that I just added a strong dash of paprika and a 1/2 tsp thai red curry paste to 3 tbsp Hellmann's Mayo. In addition the burger is garnished with iceberg lettuce and Newman's Own Pineapple Salsa (medium). The taste is super lean but in the future I am adding more curry powder to the chicken mixture. I only made one patty, even though the recipe called for 4, but reducing the amounts must not have worked out. I'm just gonna eyeball it in the future.

It was also made in an oven set to broil, NOT on the grill. I dont' know how well the chicken mixture will stand up to an open grill, since it was not firm at all and I had to use a pan in my oven for it.

P.S. If you have the time to prepare the meat, I cannot communicate how AMAZING this burger tastes. Try it!

Locked in... with brownies

As an RA, I sometimes get assigned a really really shitty shift. Usually I can plan out this shitty shift and put it on a day that I wouldn't mind having it on. Aparently though, if you exercise your right to come back early from break, you are auto-assigned the worst shift possible. This happened to me.

I had planned to spend most of the day miserable, until my friend Liberty, also an RA, IMed me. She got my attention by talking about baking, and the next thing I knew she had come over and we were making some heavenly cream cheese brownies.

YEAHHHHHHH

Oh, they were tasty

Here's the recipe!

Grilled Brownies (don't worry, we didn't grill them. I don't even know why they're called this.)

They turned out fluffy and cake-y, which, if you know me, is not my ideal brownie. I like them dense and fudge-y. But after I got over that, I found them a pleasant, tasty surprise. Try it!

100 Things I should have said in 2008

Cross post!