Well, winter's here. Time to focus on dishes that keep away the chill!
I planned to prepare this pie for Thanksgiving with my family, but wound up not having enough time. My two-year-old Trevor helped me put this together earlier tonight and it turned out delicious. The sweet traditional flavor of apples is complemented by the slightly tart and juicy qualities of cranberries; the cranberries lose much of their bitter flavor and have a similar texture to cherries.
Materials:
pie plate (9 x 1 1/4 inches) - I used a "deep dish" pie plate for extra filling. If you plan to do the same, increase the flour in your pie crust by one-half to one whole cup; increase shortening to 1 cup.
large mixing bowl
stirrin' spoon
fork
measuring cups: 1/4 cup, 1/3 cup, 1 cup - A measuring cup with extra capacity, such as a 4-cup measure, can be useful for measuring out the fruit.
teaspoon
tablespoon
Ingredients:
For the pastry -
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons shortening
4 to 5 tablespoons cold water
For the fruit filling -
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup flour
3 cups sliced peeled apples - I used Rome and Gala. More flavorful seasonal options might be Braeburn, Granny Smith, and McIntosh. 3 cups is approximate to 3 medium-sized apples.
2 cups cranberries (fresh or frozen)
- Preheat your oven to 425'.
How to Make a Pie Crust:
- Mix 2 cups flour and a teaspoon of salt in your mixing bowl. Measure out your shortening, and cut it into the flour & salt blend by criscrossing two knives, until the mixture looks slightly grainy.
- Sprinkle with water, a tablespoon at a time, while mixing with a fork. Continue until all flour is moistened and the mixture has become a dough that begins to leave the side of the bowl.
* You may need extra water. I fill a mug about a third full and pour it in by small amounts until the dough forms. If your pastry seems too wet, don't worry - you can add a bit more flour to dry it out, or just see how it turns out in the oven. There's nothing wrong with a good moist pie crust.
- Flour your hands, and gather the pastry into a ball. On a lightly floured surface, split the dough in two, and flatten into circles. Lightly fold one circle and place it in the pie pan. Unfold and press the dough into the bottom of the pan and along the sides.
* If this is your first time making a pie crust, concentrate your efforts on evenly flattening the dough along the bottom. Roll the dough outwards with your thumbs from the center towards the outer rim, being sure not to stretch so thin that the dough splits, or you can see the pan through the dough. Once the dough along the bottom seems level, begin pressing it along the outer edge of the pie pan.
* Another note: I've made a handful or two of pies in my lifetime, and I have yet to make a pie with a "proper" crust. I can't seem to get the dough up and over that little lip at the edge of the pan. As long as you can get the top and bottom crust of your pies sealed, you shouldn't worry about it too much. Better to have a good 'shell' for the fillings than stretch it too thin for the sake of presentation, in my opinion.
- Leave the second portion of dough alone; that will form the top crust later.
- Wash out your bowl, or get a replacement bowl; same for your mixing and measuring utensils.
- Peel and slice 3 cups' worth of apples (3 to 4 medium-sized apples). Long, thick slices make a nice alternative texture to the cranberries' shape; diced apples will create a finer-textured pie.
Making the Filling:
- Mix 1 3/4 cups sugar and 1/4 cup flour.
- Layer apple pieces, cranberries, and sugar mixture in a repeating pattern atop your pie crust, beginning and ending with apples.
- Press the remaining dough into a flattened round and lift over the top of the pie filling. Seal top and bottom crusts together to show no gaps. Cut slits in the top crust, or perforate in several places with a fork.
- Cook for 40 or 50 minutes, until crust is lightly golden brown and juice bubbles through holes in the crust.
Cool on a counter, covered with a thick cloth to hold in moisture. After half an hour or so it should be cool enough to eat.
PRE-DESSERTS:
This pie makes an excellent follow-up to meals with the following flavors/textures...
- Squash (acorn, zucchini, pumpkin)
- Spinach (fresh or cooked)
- Walnuts
- Sharp cheeses
TASTY ADDITIONS:
- Whipped cream
- Crushed walnuts
- Sliced almonds
- Chocolate syrup, or melted chocolate topping
DRINKS:
- Milk
- Cider - We enjoyed ours with Mike's Hard Spiced Cider, cold. Warmed cider would also be great.
- Eggnog (mmmm)
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Weekender Chili!
Chili is the perfect summer meal. You only need one stovetop burner or a Crock-Pot to cook it, so it generates only a little additional heat inside the house. It can cook deliciously on its own, completely unattended, but it won't be ruined by extra attentive cooks either. It's filling, flexible, and tasty to people of all ages - my two-year-old loves it.
Here's the recipe (really more of a loose framework) for my home-cooked chili. Try it out for yourselves and let me know what you think!
Materials:
large pot, Dutch oven, or Crock-Pot
skillet
spatula
stirrin' spoon
measuring cup: 1 cup
14 - 16 oz cup or jar for mixing tomato sauce
strainer or colander, if using dried beans
Ingredients:
1 lb - 1.5 lb ground hamburger, thawed or fresh
1 medium-sized onion
1 lb (2 cups or 2 14.5 oz. cans) beans, of 2 or 3 different kinds - I use kidney, Great Northern, and small red. (Whether you use dried beans or canned beans depends on how you plan to cook the chili; see "IF YOU ARE USING A CROCK-POT" below.)
14 - 16 oz. tomato sauce (details below)
seasonings - I use generic chili seasoning packets from the local Kroger, which contain chili pepper, dried onion, dried garlic, and sugar, as well as the slightly spooky "other spices" ingredient. I also use whatever hot sauce I have on hand and, occasionally, garlic salt.
IF YOU ARE USING A CROCK-POT: Black beans may stain the inside of your Crock-Pot, so use them at your own risk. It takes longer for chili to cook in a Crock-Pot, meaning if you want chili for dinner tomorrow, you'll have to start cooking it tomorrow morning - but the ceramic liner is easier to clean than a large pot or Dutch oven. Crock-Pots are much better at cooking dried beans than standard stovetop pots, in my experience, so if you ARE NOT using a Crock-Pot, you may want to use canned beans in place of dried.
So you've decided to make chili. Dried beans take forever to cook, but they taste much better than canned beans, which tend to soak up a lot of the metallic flavor from their cans. Those beans will need to soak overnight to get softened enough to cook properly the next day.
Crock-Pot Preliminary Step One:
- Select your dried beans.
- Pour 2 cups' worth into a large pot (such as a Dutch oven or the Crock-Pot you intend to use).
- Add six to eight cups of water.
- Cover and place inside the fridge. Allow to soak for eight hours or overnight.
Crock-Pot Preliminary Step Two, to take place the next morning or afternoon:
- Remove the beans from the fridge. Dump them into the strainer or colander and rinse with cold water.
* Many recipes say you should carefully sift through the beans at this point to remove any that are broken, missing skins, or too small. I find this is an absolute waste of time and nobody ever notices that I haven't done Quality Assurance for every single bean that goes into the chili. If you're Martha Stewart, have at it, but if not, read on.
- Pour the beans into your Crock-Pot. Leave the Crock-Pot turned off.
Now we can start cooking!
- Toss the meat into the skillet, and cook until brown.
- Dice the onion.
- Add both ingredients to your beans, waiting inside the pot.
Tomato sauce:
The making of a good chili sauce depends on the ingredients you have on hand and your definition of "chili". If you like Tex-Mex, you may prefer to add some barbecue sauce; if you love tomato flavor, you can include spaghetti sauce, canned or fresh tomatoes, or ketchup; if it ain't chili unless it's spicy, you'd probably like salsa or hot sauce.
In our house we generally mix the following in a 16 oz. jar:
1/3 barbecue sauce (Baby Ray's Honey Barbecue, to be exact)
1/3 spaghetti sauce (those with added onion, green pepper, or spices add a nice kick)
1/3 salsa
Fresh or canned tomatoes are delicious but can be pricey. Salsa is a good cheap substitute, and adds a bit of spice to the mix. If you're really strapped for cash, ketchup does the trick just fine. The purpose of the sauce is to moisten the mix and give everything a "base" in which to cook, so the actual flavor of it isn't as important as the quantity and consistency.
Of course you could buy a plain ol' can of tomato sauce at the grocery store.. but where's the fun in that?
- Add the tomato sauce to the rest of the mixture.
- Add seasonings.
If you're making stovetop chili, heat the mixture on medium-high heat until it boils, then cover and reduce to simmering. Stir occasionally to check the doneness of the beans and make sure they're not burning to the bottom of the pot.
If you're using a Crock-Pot, put a lid on it, crank it on High and let it sit.
How do you know when chili is done?
There are three distinct signs:
1 - Your house smells like chili.
2 - The beans are soft enough to chew without feeling "crunchy" (basically, beans al dente).
3 - Your housemates and/or neighbors have started to sniff their way towards the simmering pot, and are trying to convince you they will die if you don't share.
A pot this size can feed three to four people for two days, easily. Enjoy!
TASTY ADDITIONS:
- Shredded cheese
- Sour cream (although some folks don't like the way it 'separates' when it gets warm)
- Saltine crackers or oyster crackers
SIDE DISHES: (recipes to follow soon!)
- Corn bread
- Cream cheese pinwheels
DESSERTS: (recipes to follow soon!)
- Sopapillas
- Ice cream - vanilla or chocolate can make a satisfying end to this meal.
DRINKS:
- Milk is good for those who like chili but can't handle the heat very well.
- Ice water
- Sweet tea
- Lemonade
Here's the recipe (really more of a loose framework) for my home-cooked chili. Try it out for yourselves and let me know what you think!
Materials:
large pot, Dutch oven, or Crock-Pot
skillet
spatula
stirrin' spoon
measuring cup: 1 cup
14 - 16 oz cup or jar for mixing tomato sauce
strainer or colander, if using dried beans
Ingredients:
1 lb - 1.5 lb ground hamburger, thawed or fresh
1 medium-sized onion
1 lb (2 cups or 2 14.5 oz. cans) beans, of 2 or 3 different kinds - I use kidney, Great Northern, and small red. (Whether you use dried beans or canned beans depends on how you plan to cook the chili; see "IF YOU ARE USING A CROCK-POT" below.)
14 - 16 oz. tomato sauce (details below)
seasonings - I use generic chili seasoning packets from the local Kroger, which contain chili pepper, dried onion, dried garlic, and sugar, as well as the slightly spooky "other spices" ingredient. I also use whatever hot sauce I have on hand and, occasionally, garlic salt.
IF YOU ARE USING A CROCK-POT: Black beans may stain the inside of your Crock-Pot, so use them at your own risk. It takes longer for chili to cook in a Crock-Pot, meaning if you want chili for dinner tomorrow, you'll have to start cooking it tomorrow morning - but the ceramic liner is easier to clean than a large pot or Dutch oven. Crock-Pots are much better at cooking dried beans than standard stovetop pots, in my experience, so if you ARE NOT using a Crock-Pot, you may want to use canned beans in place of dried.
So you've decided to make chili. Dried beans take forever to cook, but they taste much better than canned beans, which tend to soak up a lot of the metallic flavor from their cans. Those beans will need to soak overnight to get softened enough to cook properly the next day.
Crock-Pot Preliminary Step One:
- Select your dried beans.
- Pour 2 cups' worth into a large pot (such as a Dutch oven or the Crock-Pot you intend to use).
- Add six to eight cups of water.
- Cover and place inside the fridge. Allow to soak for eight hours or overnight.
Crock-Pot Preliminary Step Two, to take place the next morning or afternoon:
- Remove the beans from the fridge. Dump them into the strainer or colander and rinse with cold water.
* Many recipes say you should carefully sift through the beans at this point to remove any that are broken, missing skins, or too small. I find this is an absolute waste of time and nobody ever notices that I haven't done Quality Assurance for every single bean that goes into the chili. If you're Martha Stewart, have at it, but if not, read on.
- Pour the beans into your Crock-Pot. Leave the Crock-Pot turned off.
Now we can start cooking!
- Toss the meat into the skillet, and cook until brown.
- Dice the onion.
- Add both ingredients to your beans, waiting inside the pot.
Tomato sauce:
The making of a good chili sauce depends on the ingredients you have on hand and your definition of "chili". If you like Tex-Mex, you may prefer to add some barbecue sauce; if you love tomato flavor, you can include spaghetti sauce, canned or fresh tomatoes, or ketchup; if it ain't chili unless it's spicy, you'd probably like salsa or hot sauce.
In our house we generally mix the following in a 16 oz. jar:
1/3 barbecue sauce (Baby Ray's Honey Barbecue, to be exact)
1/3 spaghetti sauce (those with added onion, green pepper, or spices add a nice kick)
1/3 salsa
Fresh or canned tomatoes are delicious but can be pricey. Salsa is a good cheap substitute, and adds a bit of spice to the mix. If you're really strapped for cash, ketchup does the trick just fine. The purpose of the sauce is to moisten the mix and give everything a "base" in which to cook, so the actual flavor of it isn't as important as the quantity and consistency.
Of course you could buy a plain ol' can of tomato sauce at the grocery store.. but where's the fun in that?
- Add the tomato sauce to the rest of the mixture.
- Add seasonings.
If you're making stovetop chili, heat the mixture on medium-high heat until it boils, then cover and reduce to simmering. Stir occasionally to check the doneness of the beans and make sure they're not burning to the bottom of the pot.
If you're using a Crock-Pot, put a lid on it, crank it on High and let it sit.
How do you know when chili is done?
There are three distinct signs:
1 - Your house smells like chili.
2 - The beans are soft enough to chew without feeling "crunchy" (basically, beans al dente).
3 - Your housemates and/or neighbors have started to sniff their way towards the simmering pot, and are trying to convince you they will die if you don't share.
A pot this size can feed three to four people for two days, easily. Enjoy!
TASTY ADDITIONS:
- Shredded cheese
- Sour cream (although some folks don't like the way it 'separates' when it gets warm)
- Saltine crackers or oyster crackers
SIDE DISHES: (recipes to follow soon!)
- Corn bread
- Cream cheese pinwheels
DESSERTS: (recipes to follow soon!)
- Sopapillas
- Ice cream - vanilla or chocolate can make a satisfying end to this meal.
DRINKS:
- Milk is good for those who like chili but can't handle the heat very well.
- Ice water
- Sweet tea
- Lemonade
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