October | 2013 | onedadskitchen

Meals with Family and Friends, Part 2 – London Broil with Creamy Horseradish Sauce

This was actually a meal we made while my family was here visiting last week and it was the one I forgot to take a picture of. I wanted to make an easy dinner that could easily feed a crowd, and my brother generously offered up a couple of London broils he had in the freezer for us to use for dinner that night. I found this very easy recipe from Food Republic that is a very basic recipe with a nice marinade and it makes a great horseradish sauce to serve alongside the beef.

London Broil with Creamy Horseradish Sauce

For the London Broil:

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons lemon juice

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup red wine

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon honey

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 to 2 1/2 pounds top round London broil or flank steak

For the Creamy Horseradish Sauce:

1/4 cup prepared horseradish

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Dash of Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup red wine

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh chives

To make the London broil, Mix together all of the ingredients except for the meat. Place the meat in a shallow dish and cover it with the marinade. Cover the meat with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours but no more than 24 hours.

Remove the meat from the refrigerator and bring it to room temperature before cooking. Preheat a grill to high, oil the grate, and set it 5 to 6 inches above the coals. If you are cooking the meat indoors, preheat the broiler to high and set a rack 5 to 6 inches below the heat source.

Remove the meat from the marinade and discard the marinade. Pat the steak dry with paper towels. Grill (or broil on a broiler pan) on each side for 6 minutes for rare or 7 to 9 minutes for medium-rare. Transfer the meat to a carving board and allow it to rest for 8 to 10 minutes. Slice the meat at a 45-degree angle across the grain and serve with the horseradish sauce.

For the horseradish sauce, Whisk all the ingredients together until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Place the sauce in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours to allow the flavors to meld. Serve in a ramekin beside the meat.

This is a very simple recipe that produces a great tasting steak. The marinade really helps to break down some of the toughness of the meat and gives it fantastic flavor. I also really liked the horseradish sauce as a side dish and it goes really well with any kind of steak or beef meal that you make. We served this with mashed potatoes and asparagus, but baked potatoes would go really well with this as well and any steamed vegetable would be an ideal side. I wish I had remembered to take a picture of this one as it was a good one that is easy to make for any night of the week.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. I still have a simple pan seared rib eye steak with a nice red wine sauce, some fall vegetable risotto, and a simple sautéed spinach among other recipes to share. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on October 18, 2013 in Beef, Cooking, Dinner, Grilling, Sauce

Tags: creamy horseradish sauce, Food Republic, grilled London broil, horseradish sauce, london broil, London broil with creamy horseradish sauce

Meals with Family and Friends, Part 1 – Parker House Rolls

17 Oct

I have been doing some special cooking over the last week since we had some family staying with us and a friend over for dinner. I didn’t make anything too fancy, but I did try a few new things. The downside for me about doing cooking like this is that I very often forget to take pictures of what I have made so I don’t have any photos to share of some of the things I have made recently. I did remember to take a couple of pictures of some of the side dishes, so I have those, but I forgot pictures of the main meals themselves so we’ll have to do without photos of them when I post those recipes. Sorry about that. Anyway, one thing I made the last week to go along with the London broil meal we made was Parker House dinner rolls. This is a variation on the original recipe that dates back to the 1800’s from the Parker House Hotel in Boston and from the Fannie Farmer cookbook of that time period. The recipe I used I actually got from Willams-Sonoma and looks more like traditional dinner rolls instead of the half-ovals that the traditional Parker House rolls look like.

Parker House Rolls

1 1/2 cups milk

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, cut into 8 pieces, plus 2 tablespoons melted butter

4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

3 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic flakes

1 teaspoon white sesame seeds

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk and the 8 tablespoons of butter. Heat until the butter is melted, about 7 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the mixture to cool to 105 degrees to 115 degrees. Add the yeast and stir until it is dissolved. Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the 4 cups of flour, the sugar and the kosher salt and beat on low-speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Add the cooled milk mixture and knead until the dough forms into a ball, about 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium-low and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the mixer bowl, oil the inside of the bowl and return the dough to the bowl. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place until it has doubled in volume, about 1 hour. Divide the dough in half.

Grease a 13-by-9-inch baking pan. on a lightly floured work surface, roll each piece of dough into a log about 12 inches long. Using a bench scraper, divide each log into 12 equal pieces. Using the cupped palm of your hand, roll and shape each piece into a taut ball.

Arrange the dough balls in the prepared baking pan so there are 4 rows of 6. Cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. in a small bowl, mix the sea salt,garlic flakes and sesame seeds.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the plastic wrap from the baking pan. Brush the tops of the rolls with the 2 tablespoons of melted butter and sprinkle the tops with the sea salt mixture. Bake the rolls in the oven until the rolls are golden and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of a roll registers 190 degrees, about 18 to 20 minutes. Invert the rolls onto a wire rack, then turn them right side up onto another rack. Let the rolls cool slightly before serving.

Wow, these rolls were good and very easy to make. They were the perfect size dinner rolls and came out nice and brown and crunchy on the top and soft and buttery in the middle. Everyone gobbled them up and I only had 3 left after the meal, just enough for Michelle, Sean and I to have for dinner the next day with our meal. The other great thing I noticed about these rolls is that they would be perfect to use as slider rolls for sliders as an appetizer, snack or meal. I will definitely be making these again as they did not take very long to do and you get a good amount out of the recipe, so you can always throw a bunch in the freezer and just re-heat them for your meal as you want them.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for some more recipes. I still have the London broil with creamy horseradish sauce, a pan-seared rib eye with red wine sauce, simple sautéed spinach, a wonderful fall vegetable risotto and more. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on October 17, 2013 in Biscuits, Breads, Cooking, Side Dishes

Tags: dinner rolls, Parker House rolls, Parker House rolls recipe, williams-sonoma

You Can Never Have Enough Chicken Recipes – Braised Chicken Thighs with Carrots, Potatoes and Thyme

16 Oct

Okay, I know I just posted a braised chicken thighs recipe the other day, but I decided to make another one for dinner on Monday anyway because we had a lot of chicken thighs on hand and because the recipe sounded too good to let go by. I found this one from Williams-Sonoma and saw that it was simple to make and looked like it would taste great so I gave it a try. What was even better about this one is that it is basically a one pot meal so you have everything together in one dish for easy preparation and clean up.

Braised Chicken Thighs with Carrots, Potatoes and Thyme

1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs, fat trimmed

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Sweet paprika

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 red onion, finely chopped

1 pound red-skinned potatoes, quartered

8 carrots, halved lengthwise and then cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon flour

1 1/3 cups chicken broth

1/3 cup dry vermouth or dry white wine

1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh thyme

Season the chicken lightly with salt and pepper and then generously with paprika. In a heavy large frying pan or skillet over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil. Add the chicken and cook until brown, about 2 minutes on each side. Transfer the chicken to a plate. Add the onion to the frying pan and stir. Add the potato quarters and the carrots. Sprinkle the vegetables with salt and pepper and saute them until the vegetables are beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the flour mix and stir the vegetables to coat them well. Gradually mix in the broth and vermouth or wine, stirring as you add the liquid. Bring the mixture to a boil and continue to stir frequently. Return the chicken to the pan and bring everything to a boil.

Cover the pan, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer until the chicken and vegetables are cooked through, stirring and turning the chicken occasionally, about 25 minutes. Mix in the thyme. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Divide the chicken and vegetables among 4 warmed plates and serve.

I did make a couple of substitutions in this recipe. i did not have any red potatoes on hand, so I used some Yukon Gold potatoes instead and I think they turned out just as well. Also, I rarely use wine or vermouth when cooking unless I think it will really make a difference, so I just used chicken broth where the recipe called for the wine and I think it turned out quite well. You can also use gluten-free flour where the flour is called for in this recipe if you want to make it a gluten-free meal. One thing to consider when trying to make gluten-free is that if you are using store-bought broth, check the ingredients to make sure there is no flour or other gluten products in the broth; many broths do use them so you want to be sure. I loved the sauce that went with the chicken in this meal and the paprika gave the chicken great flavor with a little bit of a kick to it. The whole meal was done in under 40 minutes, which made it even better.

That’s all I have for today. Check back again to see some more recipes. I promise, I am making other things this week besides braised chicken thighs. I have a couple of new recipes I am trying out tonight, so check for those in the coming days. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on October 16, 2013 in Cooking, Dinner, One Pot Meals, Poultry

Tags: braised chicken, braised chicken thighs, braised chicken thighs with carrots potatoes and thyme, chicken thighs, one pot meals, williams-sonoma

Enjoying Beer-Braised Chicken Thighs

14 Oct

I tend to make a lot of chicken thighs for dinner when we eat chicken. I like the flavor of them, they stay moist through different types of cooking over boneless chicken breasts, and frankly they are very often much cheaper than chicken breasts. A lot of times I will buy them in bulk at BJ’s Warehouse or buy a family pack at the store and freeze them so I always have them on hand for cooking. I pulled a few out last week to make this recipe, that I got from Rachel Ray. It is a very simple recipe to make some easy chicken thighs and have leftovers for another meal.

Beer-Braised Chicken Thighs

8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 link andouille sausage, casing removed and chopped, or 4 slices bacon, chopped

1 onion, chopped

2 ribs celery, chopped

1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped

2 to 3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme

1 rounded tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 (12-ounce) bottle lager beer

1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 cup chicken broth

2 tablespoons hot sauce

Scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced, for garnish

Warm baguette

Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels and season them well with salt and pepper.

Heat 1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and brown the pieces on both sides in 2 batches about 10 minutes per batch until the chicken has good brown color and the skin is crisp.

Remove the chicken to a plate and spoon out about half of the drippings. Add the andouille sausage or bacon. Brown for about 2 minutes and then add in the onion, bell pepper, garlic and thyme and cook to soften for about 10 minutes over medium heat.

Add the flour and stir constantly for 1 to 2 minutes until it is well blended with the vegetables. Pour in the beer and let the foam subside. Stir in the tomatoes, chicken broth and the hot sauce. Stir occasionally and let the sauce thicken for about 6 to 8 minutes. Place the chicken pieces back in the pot and simmer the dish until the chicken is cooked through, about 5 to 10 minutes longer. Garnish the chicken with the scallions and serve with the warm baguette.

It is a very simple meal that makes same great tasting chicken. You want to make sure you get a good crust on the chicken skin when you are cooking it first before you start in on the rest of the meal. This will give you great color and good skin when you put the chicken back in the liquid and it won’t get as soggy from the cooking. The liquid gets great flavor from a lot of sources, such as the beer, the sausage, the tomatoes and the hot sauce. I served this over some white rice and we had a nice meal in no time at all.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. I have quite a stockpile of things I have made recently, so we have some good recipes to come and I have found a bunch more I want to try in the coming weeks, so keep checking back to see what’s next. until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on October 14, 2013 in Cooking, Dinner, Poultry

Tags: beer braised chicken, beer braised chicken thighs, Cooking Channel, Rachel Ray

Great Fall Soups #2 – Classic Corn Chowder

13 Oct

We had made a couple of different soups this week that were great for dinner and lunches. Yesterday. I posted the recipe for the bean and barley soup we made. Today, it is the classic corn chowder we made for dinner one night. This recipe comes from the Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook, but I did modify it slightly to fit a little better with ingredients we had on hand and make things a little easier. While you can still get fresh corn on the cob this time of year, it is not as good as the nice local corn we see in the summertime months here in New York. We used a combination of fresh and frozen instead, even though the recipe calls for all fresh. We also used bacon instead of salt pork mainly because that is what we had on hand. I think the taste worked out just as well anyway.

Classic Corn Chowder

10 ears corn, husks and silks removed ( or three 1-pound bags frozen corn kernels)

3 ounces salt pork, rind removed, cut into two 1-inch cubes (or 3 slices bacon, diced)

1 tablespoon butter

1 large onion, chopped fine

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 cups chicken broth

12 ounces red potatoes, cut into 1/4-inch cubes

2 cups milk

1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Salt and pepper

Using a paring knife, cut the kernels from 4 ears of corn. You should have about 3 cups of kernels. Grate the kernels from the remaining 6 ears of corn on the large holes of a box grater into a bowl, then firmly scrape the pulp remaining on the cobs with the back of a butter knife or vegetable peeler. You should have about 2 cups of grated kernels and corn pulp.

Saute the salt pork in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, turning with tongs and pressing down on the pieces to render the fat, until the cubes are crisp and golden brown, about 10 minutes. If you are using bacon, saute the bacon until it is crisp and then remove it from the pot and reserve. Reduce the heat to low. Stir in the butter and onion, cover, and cook until the onion is softened, about 12 minutes. Remove the salt pork and reserve. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes. Whisking constantly, gradually add the chicken broth. Add the grated corn and the corn pulp, potatoes, milk, thyme, bay leaf and reserved salt pork or bacon and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the potatoes are almost tender, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the reserved corn kernels and heavy cream and return it to a simmer. Simmer until the corn kernels are tender and yet still slightly crunchy, about 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaf and salt pork. Stir in the parsley, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve immediately.

Since we used mostly frozen corn, here is what we did with the first step. We 2 cups of the frozen corn and about 1/4 cup of water and ran it through the food processor for about 30 seconds to create the corn pulp and juice that is used in the recipe. We then used the rest of the frozen corn kernels in place of the corn taken off the cobs. We also used the immersion blender towards the end of the cooking to blend up some of the soup itself to make it a bit smoother while still retaining much of the corn itself. I think it turned out very well and we got a bit of a thicker chowder, which I really liked. It was even better the next day for lunches.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for more recipes. I have some beer braised chicken, a London broil with horseradish sauce and some homemade Parker House rolls still to come, among many other recipes. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on October 13, 2013 in Cooking, Dinner, One Pot Meals, Soups & Stews

Tags: classic corn chowder, Cook's Illustrated classic corn chowder, Cook's Illustrated Cookbook, corn chowder

A Great Fall Soup in the Slow Cooker – Slow Cooker Bean and Barley Soup

12 Oct

With the cooler weather coming upon us now, that means more of an opportunity to make soups and make some good use of the slow cooker. We made a couple of different soups this week, and the first one allowed me to use some of the dried beans I had picked up that were on sale this past week. I had picked up bags of black beans, Great Northern beans, navy beans and lentils, so I had plenty to work with as I looked for a recipe where I could use different types in one soup. I came upon this recipe from the Food Network for a bean and barley soup in the slow cooker and it sounded perfect.

Slow-Cooker Bean and Barley Soup

1 cup dried multi-bean mix or Great Northern Beans, picked over and rinsed

1/2 cup pearl barley

3 cloves garlic, smashed

2 medium carrots, roughly chopped

2 ribs celery, roughly chopped

1/2 medium onion, roughly chopped

1 bay leaf

Kosher salt

2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning herb blend

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, crumbled if large (optional)

One 14-ounce can whole tomatoes, with juice

3 cups cleaned baby spinach leaves

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Balsamic vinegar, for drizzling

Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Put 6 cups of water, all of the beans, the barley, garlic, carrots, celery, onions, bay leaf, 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, Italian seasoning, pepper and porcini mushrooms, if using, in a slow cooker. Squeeze the tomatoes through your hands over the slow cooker to break them down, and add them with their juices. Cover the slow cooker and cook on high until the beans are tender and the soup is thick, about 8 hours.

Add the spinach and Parmesan cheese, and stir until the spinach wilts, about 5 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle the soup into warmed bowls and drizzle each serving with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

I love a hearty bean soup and this one, with the different beans in, has awesome flavor. It was nice and thick with very flavorful broth from all the vegetables. Adding the spinach and cheese towards the end is a great way to add flavor and make it even more flavorful, but if you wanted to leave them out and just have the bean and barley soup I think it would be just as good. Serve it with some nice crunchy bread and you have a great vegetarian or meatless meal. The soup itself tasted even better the next day after it has had a chance to set and the flavors have melded together even more than the first day, so it has made for some great lunches as well.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another soup recipe as I will go over the nice corn chowder that we made this week. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on October 12, 2013 in Cooking, Dinner, One Pot Meals, Slow Cooker Meals, Soups & Stews, Vegetarian

Tags: barley soup, bean and barley soup, food network, slow cooker soup recipe, slow-cooker bean and barley soup, vegetarian soup

Another Oktoberfest Recipe: Balsamic-Braised Sausages with Grapes and Watercress

11 Oct

I had seen this Oktoberfest recipe when I got the others from Williams-Sonoma and just recently got around to making this one. I did alter the idea slightly as the original recipe that I will post has this as something of a salad with a nice shallot vinaigrette. I didn’t have any watercress, or any lettuce at all as a matter of fact, in the house when I made this so I simply made the dish and served it over rice instead. I think it came out just as well and makes good use of the slow cooker for this meal.

Balsamic-Braised Sausages with Grapes and Watercress

1 1/2 pounds fresh sweet or hot Italian pork sausages

1 large shallot, finely chopped

1/2 fennel bulb, cored and finely chopped

1 celery stalk, finely chopped

5 garlic cloves, smashed

1/2 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

2/3 cup chicken stock

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons white wine

2 1/2 cups seedless red or green grapes, halved

1 bunch watercress, tough stems removed

For the Shallot Vinaigrette:

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 small shallot, minced

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/4 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat a broiler. Arrange the sausages on a rack set on a rimmed baking sheet. Broil, turning as needed, until the sausages are a golden brown all over, about 8 to 9 minutes total. Transfer the sausages to a plate.

In a slow cooker, stir together the shallot, fennel, celery, garlic, salt and several grinds of pepper. Top with the broiled sausages and add the chicken stock, balsamic vinegar and white wine. Cover and cook for 2 1/2 hours on the high setting or 5 1/2 hours on the low setting, turning the sausages halfway through if possible. The sausages should be tender and cooked through.

To make the vinaigrette, in a bowl, combine the grapes and watercress. In a small bowl, whisk together the mustard, shallot, red wine vinegar, salt and a few grinds of pepper. Whisk in the olive oil until the vinaigrette is emulsified; you will need about 1/3 cup of vinaigrette for this recipe; reserve the rest for another use. Drizzle the grapes and watercress with enough of the vinaigrette to coat lightly and toss to coat everything evenly.

Divide the sausages among warm individual plates, spoon some of the braising liquid around the sausages, and top with the grapes and watercress. Serve.

All three of us loved the flavor of the sausages and the braising liquid. This is one of the few meals where we actually didn’t have any leftovers as the sausages went quite quickly. Browning the sausages before putting them in the slow cooker makes them nice and meaty and the slow cooking makes them very tender, so it is a great combination. I really liked the flavor of the braising liquid with the shallot and fennel and the balsamic vinegar really adds a lot to the dish as well. I think this would go very nicely with the grapes and watercress, and I did make the shallot vinaigrette anyway to have as a salad dressing for another day and even put a bit on my rice with this meal for some added flavor. Sean has already asked me to make this one again, so I think it’s going to be a favorite.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe that I have tried recently. I still have a bunch that I want to try out in the coming weeks, so there is still lots of good stuff to come, including some Halloween ideas and somethings to think about as possible Thanksgiving dishes. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on October 11, 2013 in Cooking, Dinner, Pork, Salad, Sauce, Slow Cooker Meals

Tags: balsamic braised sausages in the slow cooker, balsamic braised sausages with grapes and watercress, braised pork sausages, Oktoberfest recipes, shallot vinaigrette, williams-sonoma

An Abundance of Apples Means Homemade Apple Pie

10 Oct

It is one of the classic recipes that most people love to try at home in the Fall whether it is for a holiday, a Sunday dessert or just because they love it. Of course, I am talking about apple pie. I love apple pie myself and could eat a lot more of it if I had the chance. Since this is apple season and we live in the Hudson Valley in New York, apples are everywhere right now. There are many great local orchards here where you can get fantastic apples to use for all kinds of cooking, baking and just plain eating. We had picked up some apples recently and Michelle knew right away that she wanted to make apple pie, which made Sean and me quite happy. I love the smell of the pie just cooking in the oven and the taste is always fantastic. There are many different pie dough recipes out there, so use the one you like best or use store-bought pie dough if that’s what you have time for. Michelle tried this recipe from the Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook.

Classic Apple Pie

1 recipe for double-crust pie dough or 2 store-bought pie doughs

3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest plus 1 tablespoon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

2 pounds Empire or Cortland apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1/4-inch thick

1 1/2 pounds Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1/4-inch thick

1 large egg white, lightly beaten

Roll 1 disk of pie dough into a 12-inch circle on a lightly floured counter. Loosely roll the dough around the rolling pin and gently unroll it into a 9-inch pie plate.,letting the excess hang over the edge. Ease the dough into the pie plate by gently lifting the edge of the dough with 1 hand while pressing the dough into the plate bottom with the other hand. Leave any dough that overhangs the plate in place. Wrap the dough-lined pie plate loosely in plastic wrap and refrigerate until the dough is firm, about 30 minutes. Roll the other disk of dough into a 12-inch circle on a lightly floured counter, then transfer it to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Adjust an oven rack to the lowest position, place a rimmed baking sheet on the rack and heat the oven to 500 degrees.

Mix 3/4 cup of sugar, the flour, lemon zest, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice together in a large bowl. Add the lemon juice and apples and toss until combined. Spread the apples with their juices into the dough-lined pie plate, mounding them slightly in the middle. Loosely roll the remaining dough round around the rolling pin and gently unroll it onto the filling. Trim the overhang to 1/2 inch beyond the lip of the pie plate. Pinch the edges of the top and bottom crusts firmly together. Tuck the overhang under itself; the folded edge should be flush with the edge of the plate. Crimp the dough evenly around the edge of the pie using your fingers. Cut four 2-inch slits in the top of the dough. Brush the surface with the beaten egg white and sprinkle the surface evenly with the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar.

Place the pie on the heated baking sheet, reduce the oven temperature to 425 degrees, and bake until the crust is light golden brown, about 25 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees, rotate the baking sheet, and continue to bake until the juices are bubbling and the crust is a deep golden brown, about 30 to 35 minutes longer. Let the pie cool on a wire rack to room temperature, about 4 hours, before serving.

Now I know everyone has their own pie recipe that their family has used for generations and may have their own particular way of making apple pie. If you like what you have, stick to it and use that. If you are looking for something new to try or have never made one before, this is a good recipe to try out. The pie came out perfectly with the crust a great color and cooked well on the top and bottom. Heating the baking sheet before putting the pie in helps to make sure the bottom crust is cooked. You also want to try to use a mix of apples to get a good blend of sweet and tart for great flavor. Again, use the apples you like best, but the pie experts we know seem to recommend Empires and Cortlands as the best to go with.

That’s all I have for today. Check back again for some more recipes. There’s always lots more to come, including two recipes I just made for some different soups we tried here at home, a beer braised chicken thighs recipe, sausages, and more. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

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Posted by MikeG on October 10, 2013 in Cooking, Dessert, Pie

Tags: apple pie, apple pie recipe, classic apple pie, Cook's Illustrated apple pie, Cook's Illustrated Cookbook

Let’s Go Bananas! Ultimate Banana Bread

08 Oct

Banana bread is one of my favorite snacks. I love a slice with a cup of coffee in the morning. It just seems like a great way to start the day. I have tried several recipes for banana bread before and most of them have been pretty good and tasty. I have yet to come across one that makes dry, crumbly bread that you wouldn’t want to eat. When I saw this recipe from America’s Test Kitchen for the Ultimate Banana Bread, I knew I was going to have to check it out and give it a try to see if it really lives up to all the hype.

Ultimate Banana Bread

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon table salt

6 large very ripe bananas, peeled

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled slightly

2 large eggs

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped (optional)

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl.

Place 5 bananas in a microwave-safe bowl; cover the bowl with plastic wrap and cut several steam vents in the plastic wrap with a paring knife. Microwave on high power until the bananas are soft and have released liquid, about 5 minutes. Transfer the bananas to a fine-mesh strainer placed over a medium bowl and allow them to drain, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. You should have about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of liquid.

Transfer the liquid to a medium saucepan and cook over medium-high heat until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, stir the reduced liquid into the bananas, and mash the bananas with a potato masher until they are fairly smooth. Whisk in the butter, eggs, brown sugar and vanilla.

Pour the banana mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just combined with some streaks of flour remaining. Gently fold in the walnuts, if using. Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Slice the remaining banana diagonally into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Shingle the banana slices on top of either side of the loaf, leaving about an 1 1/2 inch space down the center of the loaf to ensure an even rise. Sprinkle the granulated sugar evenly over the loaf.

Bake the loaf until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 55 to 75 minutes. Cool the bread in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then remove the loaf from the pan and continue to cool it on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Now calling it the ultimate banana bread may be bragging a little on their part, but it is a pretty darn good bread. it has some of the best banana flavor in bread that I have had in a while and I do like the bananas on top of the bread too. With the sugar they almost caramelized and candied a bit, making them quite tasty.Microwaving the bananas and getting the liquid out of them really helps to give the flavor and keeps the bread from getting too mushy with this many bananas in the recipe. Both Sean and Michelle agreed it was one of the best banana breads, so I’ll be making this one again.

That’s all for today. Check back next time for another recipe. I have a bunch of new ones to choose from, so we’ll see what comes up next. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

1 Comment

Posted by MikeG on October 8, 2013 in Breads, Cooking, Fruit

Tags: America's Test Kitchen ultimate banana bread, americas test kitchen, banana bread, ultimate banana bread

22 Recipes Everyone Should Know How to Cook – Bon Appétit

07 Oct

22 Recipes Everyone Should Know How to Cook – Bon Appétit.

This is a fantastic article from Bon Appetit that gives you some of the basic recipes that everyone should learn when working in the kitchen. These are all things that you probably make often or want to make but haven’t wanted to give it a try. Whether you are a novice cook or a seasoned one, these are great tips and recipes for basics like tomato soup, mashed potatoes, fried rice, spaghetti and meatballs and more. Check it out!