Breakfast Quinoa

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!  I hope you all had a wonderful and treat-filled holiday season.  If you are like me, and LOVE to eat, then you are probably also feeling a little more rolly-polly that you did in early December--I know I am. So much good food (and drink) over the past month has made me need to rethink some of my eating habits.  Now, I'm not going to go all boring on you with plain brown rice and grilled chicken breasts every night, but I've been on a little bit of a search for something as good as it is healthy.  So, when I came across the Food Lovers' Cleanse by Bon Appetit magazine, I was thrilled.  I'm not sure I'm going to go whole hog on the cleanse, but let me tell you, there are some fantastic recipes in there.

I'm only 3 days into it, but I've found the most fantastic breakfast that I need to share it.  It's a breakfast quinoa with cinnamon, blackberries and toasted pecans. I've adjusted the recipe a little from the magazine, mainly because I couldn't get my hands on some of the ingredients.  But my version of it is below.

If you aren't familiar with quinoa, it's actually pronounced KEEN-wah.  It's a seed from South America that is packed with protein (and is considered a complete protein, since it contains all of the required amino acids--a little nutrition trivia for you). There are two varieties, a red and a white, but I've only seen the white in the grocery store.  It cooks up nice and soft and sort of similar to couscous in texture, although it is a little hardier.  Quinoa also has a natural coating of saponins, which taste like soap, and need to be rinsed off in several changes of water before using (although, I've found a brand that is sold pre-rinsed, so check out the packages before you buy).

This dish is a nice warm breakfast alternative to oatmeal, and has more protein to it, so you'll be fuller throughout the morning.  It also warms up well the next day, so make a bigger batch if you really like it.  As far as substitutions go, you could use real milk instead of almond (or any other milk, really), and I would think almonds or walnuts could be good too.  Blueberries or apples could work as well.  So give whatever you have on hand a try.  Hope you enjoy...and here's to a happy and healthy 2011!

Warm Breakfast Quinoa
Printable recipe

1 cup Vanilla-flavored Almond milk
1 cup water
1 cup organic quinoa, (note: rinse quinoa)
2 cups frozen blackberries, thawed (fresh would be better, but they are super-expensive right now, and I couldn't justify paying $7 for 2 cups...)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted (see below)
4 tsp honey

Combine almond milk, water and quinoa in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer 15 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed. Turn off heat; let stand covered 5 minutes. Stir in blackberries and cinnamon; transfer to four bowls and top with pecans. Drizzle 1 teaspoon honey.


To toast pecans, put in a dry pan over medium heat for 3-5 minutes until fragrant.

Salad dressing...

With the holiday eating season upon us, I though I would throw in a little healthy blog in here to counter balance the shear amount of tasty treats I'm going to be eating in the next few weeks!  So, I decided upon salad dressing.  Why salad dressing?  Well, I think that it is the easiest way to make or break a salad.  Nothing turns me off of a salad more (aside from wilty lettuce) than gross, thick fatty salad dressing.  I've been through my fair share of store-bought dressing that has tons of MSG and preservatives, and all sorts of ingredients that have more than 15 letters in them.  

I had always wanted to make my own dressing, but I had always relied on the special bottles that had all the measurements on the side, built-in-mixer-things and "stay fresh" lids.  I always ended up making like 5 times as much as I needed and most of it would go bad. 

 

What really amazed me was how a little Grey Poupon jar helped it all change.  All you need to make great salad dressing at home is a small (8 oz or so) jar.  It's the perfect size to make dressing in-I was always making what seemed like a gallon of it.  I actually use an old mustard jar that is square, it helps me out with the "measuring".  The best part about these jars is I always seem to have one on hand, they're free, clean up nicely in the dishwasher and if you break it, well, it's replaceable!

So, after all this talk of salad dressing, I'm not even going to give you a recipe.  What my whole goal is for this blog is to give you a start on how to make your own dressings, with only a few little ratios to remember, some hints, and let you go to it!  I should admit here, that I figured a lot of this stuff out with the help of Jamie Oliver and his "Cook with Jamie" cookbook.  But I've found that nearly every recipe I've come across, has a similar foundation for building dressings.

• 3:1. By that I mean your ratio of Oil to Vinegar (or another acid).  It doesn't matter what oil you use, or what vinegar or acid you use.  You could use olive oil and red wine vinegar like I did here or even Balsamic or white wine vinegar. Or skip vinegar all together and use lemon juice.  Go Asian style and use canola oil with a little sesame oil (it's a little stronger flavor, so you need to cut the sesame oil with something neutral like canola) and rice vinegar.

• Emulsify.  Sounds complicated but isn't.  A little Dijon mustard goes a long way in preventing the dressing from separating.  I just use a little scoop (like for the above amounts, 1/4-1/2 of a dessert spoon).  For a creamier dressing add sour cream or yogurt.

• A little sweet.  Now, don't go adding scoops and scoops of sugar!  I add about the same amount of honey as I do the mustard.  It rounds out the flavors a bit and takes a little of the bite out of the acid.

• Season.  All you need now is a little salt and pepper.  I couldn't even begin to tell you how much to add.  For the amount above, a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper.  If you have a favorite spice blend, add a few pinches here, too. Fresh herbs, garlic, anything goes...

• Shakey shakey. No fancy blenders or food processors here, shake away (just be sure your lid is on securely).

 

• Taste for seasoning.  Take a leaf of lettuce (or your finger) and test it.  Does it need more salt/pepper?  Is the vinegar too much/not enough?   Just add whatever you think it is lacking and go from there.

• Dress the salad.  Sounds simple and obvious, but this is the most important. Have you ever had a salad that was just swimming in dressing or had been sitting in the dressing for an hour or so?  Yuck.  The key in this is not to drown the salad.  It's best to dress the entire salad at once in a large serving bowl.  Just a light coating is all you need.  Pour a little over, toss gently with your fingers (or salad hands, which are my favorite). And serve.

So don't be afraid to make up your own combination of flavors/seasonings/ingredients.  You've got a basic ratio to start out with, and just run from there.  It is just so simple and delicious, you'll never want to buy another bottle again.

Spinach Soufflé

It's time again for my Daring Cooks' Challenge (which I missed last month).  This is my 3rd one and I think the most challenging in terms of blogging and photographing.

Dave and Linda from Monkeyshines in the Kitchen chose Soufflés as our November 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge! Dave and Linda provided two of their own delicious recipes plus a sinfully decadent chocolate soufflé recipe adapted from Gordon Ramsay’s recipe found at the BBC Good Food website.


I chose to make the Spinach (well actually it was watercress, but spinach was easier for me to acquire) Soufflé.  Now, I have always been intimidated by the thought of soufflés.  They were this "gourmet" super time consuming dish that should be left to the professionals.  But the only truly difficult thing about this dish was taking the photos for the blog!


Before I began my soufflé adventure, I watched this video by Julia Child, it's about 20-25 minutes long.  Amazing.  She has a way of breaking things down in such a way that it no longer seems like a daunting task.  After watching this, I was no longer afraid of the soufflé.  I highly recommend you watching this episode of The French Chef before starting out.  Any recipe notes I could give you would be straight from this episode anyway.

So without any further ado, here is the recipe...


Spinach Soufflé
printable version

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp  butter plus additional for the soufflé dish
3½ Tbsp plain (all purpose) flour
1 cup milk
½ cup parmesan cheese, finely grated plus additional for the soufflé dish
1 cup finely chopped spinach

4 large eggs, separated
½ tsp prepared mustard
¼ tsp cream of tartar*
Salt and pepper to taste
* If you can’t find cream of tartar, a dash (~ ½ tsp) of lemon juice can be substituted

Directions:

1. Butter the soufflé dish(es) thoroughly, then grate a small amount of cheese in each dish and tap so that the sides are evenly coated with the cheese. Place the dish(es) in the refrigerator until needed (according to some sites, this helps the soufflé climb). 

2. Preheat the oven to moderate 350º F 

3. Wash and chop the spinach if you haven’t already.

4. In a medium sized saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat, then stir in the flour to make a roux. Cook 1 minute, then add the milk, a little at a time, and stir until just thickened, about 1 minute. Add the cheese and stir until it’s just melted. Remove from heat then add the spinach, mustard, salt and pepper.

Roux

5. In a larger pan, bring water to a gentle simmer. Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl set just over this water until pale and slightly foamy – about 6 minutes. 

6. Mix the egg yolks into the spinach sauce.
7. Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until they form stiff peaks yet are still glossy.

8. Fold the egg whites into the sauce in 3 additions so that it’s evenly mixed, but you don’t lose too much volume.

9. Remove the soufflé dish from the refrigerator and spoon the mix into it. Use a spatula to even the tops of the soufflés and wipe off any spills.

10. Bake 25 minutes for small dishes or 40 minutes if using a large soufflé dish, then serve immediately with a nice green salad and a glass of wine.

Apple Butter

It's time again for my next Daring Cooks' Challenge-one that I was very excited to try.  It was all about food preservation and how to get the most out of in-season produce. One of the options was to make apple butter.  Now, apple butter is one of those things that I've heard about, tasted only a few times and have never actually made. 

Apple butter also reminds me of my days in high school in Ohio.  When I was in high school, one of the neighboring towns held an Apple Butter Festival every October.  It was one of those old-fashioned, participants-dressing-in-19th-century-clothes, everyone-drinking-hot-apple-cider and sitting-on-hay-bales sort of fest.  The big difference there was that their apple butter was made in big black cauldrons over an open flame, churned mainly by ladies in aprons and bonnets, but they did give everyone a chance to churn the butter.

That was also when I realized there is no actual butter in apple butter.  It's just a consistency thing.  Basically, it's just a spiced and thickened apple sauce. It can be used for many different things.  The most basic is as a spread on toast or a bagel or whatever you'd like.  But you can also use it as a condiment with pork chops, as part of a marinade or in an apple quick bread.

Now, there probably won't be a big black cauldron over a fire in my kitchen in the near future, especially since we're renting right now.  All we've got here is an electric stove and an immersion blender, so that's how I'm going to roll with this.  I do have some notes though about this recipe.

• If you want to be a little more "authentic" about it, you can use the whole apple: core, peel and all that goodness.  Just chop the apples into eighths before softening them.  Once softened, put them in a food mill and mill away (I don't have one, so hence all the peeling and coring).  Add sugars and spices and continue with the rest of step 2.
• This recipe is suitable for canning.  I've never canned before, so I'm just going to freeze or give away what I can't use immediately.  But if you can can, more power to you!  I'll have a canning blog sometime in the future, once I have the equipment and have it figured out.
• I can't recommend which type of apples to use.  I just used the ones I bought from a lady selling them on the side of the road.  Seemed to work out pretty well.  But, from what I understand, if you use a sweet apple like Golden Delicious, you won't need to use as much sugar, tart apples like Granny Smith will require more sugar.

The September 2010 Daring Cooks’ challenge was hosted by John of Eat4Fun. John chose to challenge The Daring Cooks to learn about food preservation, mainly in the form of canning and freezing. He challenged everyone to make a recipe and preserve it. John’s source for food preservation information was from The National Center for Home Food Preservation.

Apple Butter

5 lbs Apples, peeled, cored and cut into eighths
1 C apple juice or cider
1 C sugar
1/2 C brown sugar
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves

1. Combine apples and juice (or cider) in 8-quart pot. Cook slowly and stir occasionally to prevent sticking. Cook until apples are very soft and falling apart.  At this point, you have some pretty tasty apple sauce.  If you want to stop here, you can, but if you continue on, you will be rewarded with tastiness...
2. With a potato masher, mash the soft apples.  Add the sugar and spice (and everything nice).  At this point I used a stick blender to blend to a smoother consistency.  If you would like it a little chunkier, by all means skip this step, but make sure to stir in all the spices well.
3. Bring to a simmer and turn down the heat to keep it at a slow simmer.  Cover with a splatter screen or use 2 wooden spoons to support the lid open.  It is important to let the water evaporate to thicken the butter. Simmer for at least 2 hours, until it is thick and stays mounded on a spoon when it is scooped out.
4. Let it cool a little, then put into the desired storage container or containers.  It will keep for up to 2 weeks in the fridge or up to a year in the freezer.  I would recommend using smaller containers if you don't think you will use up everything in a larger one fast enough.

Yields about 5 cups.

Currant Clafouti

I'm not sure how many of you have read the book Julie and Julia, but to summarize, it's about a woman (named Julie) who cooks everything in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking cookbook.  But ever since reading that book (which was WAY better than the movie BTW), I've had this craving to make clafouti, which Julie raves about in the book.  Now, a clafouti is basically some fruit in a baking dish with a batter poured over it.  As it cooks the batter turns to this silky, flan-y, custard-y texture that goes so well with any fruit, really.  But, I guess to officially be called a Clafouti, it is made with whole cherries (pits included).  If it's made with other fruit it's called a flaugnarde.  But, since I hadn't heard that term until I was reading about clafoutis on Wikipedia, I'm still going to call this clafouti.

I decided to do a little twist on this and use red currants in stead of cherries.  There are TONS of currants out right now at the market in town and they are dirt cheap!  I haven't done any cooking with currants before, and I figured there was no time like the present to try something new that is in season (and cheap if I screw it up).  I needed to make a few adjustments to the original recipe which called for 3 cups of cherries.  I had planned to just substitute currants for the cherries, but after I started spreading the currants on, I realized using 3 cups was way too much.  I only used about 2-2 1/2 cups, but I feel even that was too much.  The currants have a lot more water in them than cherries, and that made this dish a little soggy.  I think it would be better off with 1 1/2 cups; I made that change in the recipe below. 

I think this dish would be amazing with other fruit.  I've made it before with cherries, plums, and pears.  Adding a little cinnamon is great with the plums and pears.  You could probably use whatever is in season and it would work out well.

Currant Clafouti
Adapted from Julia Child's Clafouti
Serves 6-8

1 1/4 c milk
2/3 c sugar, divided
3 eggs
1 T vanilla
1/8 t salt
1/2 cup flour
1-1 1/2 cups red currants

powdered sugar (for dusting)

Preheat oven to 350F

In a blender, blend together the milk, 1/3 c sugar, vanilla, salt and flour.  Pour a 1/4" layer of batter into a buttered 7 or 8 cup lightly buttered oven-safe baking dish.  Place in the oven until a film of batter sets in the pan, about 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat and spread the currants over the batter.  Sprinkle on the remaining 1/3c of sugar and pour over the rest of the batter.

Bake at 350F for 45 minutes to an hour.  The clafouti is done when puffed and brown and a knife stuck in the center comes out clean.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve warm.

Click here for a printable recipe

Spiced Nuts

So after my nut butter post, I found myself with plenty of nuts left over and wondering what to do with them all.  I looked through my cookbook library, and found an old favorite that I couldn't believe I had forgotten about.  Now I love the mixed nuts you can get in the can at the store, don't get me wrong. But this is a big step-up from those.  The cayenne gives it a little heat, and the rosemary gives it a little freshness.  The brown sugar balances it all out.  It makes a quick and easy party snack...I've even given away small jars as gifts.

Some recipe notes: The more types of nuts you use, the better; I only used 3 types this time, and I wish I had included more (but that's what I had on hand, and didn't feel like making the trip to the store).  If you can't find unsalted nuts, salted are fine, just omit the salt in the recipe or this will be waaaaaaaayyyyy too salty.  These are awesome served warm, but that isn't necessary, they are pretty dang good at room temperature, too.

The Union Square Café Bar Nuts
from Nigella Bites by Nigella Lawson
for printable recipe click here

18 ounces assorted unsalted nuts, including peeled peanuts, cashews, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans and whole, unpeeled almonds (about 2 1/4 c)
2 Tbsp coarsely chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp dark brown sugar
2 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350F

Toss the nuts in a large bowl to combine and spread them out on a baking sheet.  Toast in the oven till they become light golden brown, about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the rosemary, cayenne, sugar, salt, and melted butter.

Thoroughly toss the toasted nuts in the spiced butter and serve warm.

Asian Noodle Salad with Cashew Butter--My first Daring Cooks' Challenge

The July 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and use the nut butter in a recipe. Their sources include Better with Nut Butter by Cooking Light Magazine, Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, and Food Network online.

I just joined the Daring Kitchen (see the link to the left) recently and this is my first experience with their challenges.  Basically what they do is a monthly challenge recipe that all members have to make and then blog about if they are bloggers.  It isn't a competition, but more like a way to experiment with new dishes/ideas that are a little bit out of the ordinary, things that most people wouldn't think to make on a daily basis and share experiences.  It's a monthly challenge, so be on the lookout on the 14th of each month for my monthly challenge post (I do realize I'm a day late, I misread the directions).

The first key ingredient in nut butters (aside from the nuts themselves) is a really good blender or a food processor to grind the nuts up to a spreadable consistency (Thanks to my neighbor Marie for the use of her--I don't have a good one, yet).  They'll turn grainy and pasty first, but then will eventually (after 2-4 minutes) smooth out to a creamy consistency.  I like my butters a little more chunky, so that's just a matter of blending for a shorter amount of time.

Some other things to keep in mind:

• You may need to add a little oil as well, but do so in small (1 tsp) increments so you don't end up with an oily mess.  You can use the corresponding oil, or something with neutral flavor like canola oil.
• Nut butters can be made out of any nut, raw or roasted, salted or unsalted.  If you do use salted, make sure you account for it in your recipe, you don't want to have yourself a salt bomb instead of a creamy sauce.
• You can roast the nuts yourself for 10 minutes in a 350F oven.  Just lay them out on a baking sheet in a single layer.
• You'll get half the yield of butter as volume of nuts. So 1 cup of nuts will make 1/2 c of butter
• I could go on and on, but click here for even more information on nut butters.

For this dish, you can customize it by adding your own favorite vegetables like shredded cabbage, bean sprouts or slivered carrots (I left out the cucumber mainly because I forgot to buy it at the store).  You can also omit or substitute the shrimp with the protein of your choice.  I used packaged, roasted and salted cashews, and that worked well.

Asian Noodle Salad with Cashew Dressing
Click here for a printable recipe 

Yield: 4 servings


Cashew Butter:
1 cup (240 ml) cashews*
Cashew Dressing:
½ inch (1 cm) slice of fresh ginger, chopped
8 cloves garlic, more or less to taste, chopped
½ cup (120 ml) cashew butter
¼ cup (60 ml) soy sauce
3 Tablespoons (45 ml) sugar
3 Tablespoons (45 ml) vinegar
3 Tablespoons (45 ml) toasted sesame oil
¼ cup plus 1 Tablespoon (75 ml) water
Hot sauce to taste (optional)

Noodle Salad:
1/2 pound (225 g) linguine or thin rice noodles
1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil
1/2 pound (225 g) small or medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 large red bell pepper, cored and seeded, cut into thin strips
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, sliced
1/4 cup (60 ml) sliced green onions
1/4 cup (60 ml) chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon (15 ml) chopped cashews (optional garnish)
Lime wedges (optional)

1. Make cashew butter: Grind cashews in food processor for about 2 minutes until smooth. (*Or start with ½ cup (120 ml) prepared cashew butter.)
2. Prepare cashew dressing: Combine ginger, garlic, cashew butter, soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, sesame oil, and water in food processor or blender. Process/blend until smooth. Be sure to process long enough to puree the ginger and garlic. The dressing should be pourable, about the same thickness as cream. Adjust consistency – thinner or thicker -- to your liking by adding more water or cashew butter. Taste and add your favorite hot sauce if desired. (If the cashew butter was unsalted, you may want to add salt to taste.) Makes about 1 ½ cups (360 ml) dressing. Store any leftover dressing in the refrigerator.
3. Prepare noodles according to package instructions in salted water. Rinse and drain noodles. Set aside.
4. Heat oil in large non-stick pan over medium heat. Add shrimp to the pan and sauté for about 3 to 4 minutes or until opaque throughout. Alternately, cook shrimp in boiling water for about 2 to 3 minutes or until done.
5. Slice basil into thin ribbons. Combine noodles, bell pepper, cucumber, onions, and basil in a large bowl. Add about ½ cup (120 ml) cashew dressing; toss gently to coat. Add more cashew dressing as desired, using as much or as little as you’d like. Scatter shrimp on top. Squeeze fresh lime juice over salad or serve with lime wedges. Sprinkle with chopped cashews if desired.

Strawberries Marinated in Balsamic Vinegar

So, it's been a while...I've been away and haven't had a chance to get back to blogging.  I'm actually really surprised how much I've missed it.  I've enjoyed posting my recipes and pics, and I really hope you all have enjoyed my posts, too!

The strawberries right now are insane...in season, they are so sweet and fresh and cheap.  Plus they are everywhere.  Whenever I think of strawberries I think summer!  So I've gone searching for a good summertime strawberry recipe and I've found one.  Strawberries marinated with balsamic vinegar with marscarpone cheese is one of my favorites.

Now, strawberries and balsamic vinegar, when I first heard that combination, sounded more than a little off-putting to me.  If it does to you too, hang with me, because it is awesome!  This is one of my stand-by desserts that is great if you want something that is fresh and light-tasting, and truly easy to make.  It would work great for dinner parties, because everything can be made ahead of time (and since you have to marinate the strawberries for a while, you should make it early) and just assemble it table-side.  Or you can make a presentation of it and deliver to your guests and bathe in their praise:).  But most importantly, enjoy it and share with those you love!

A couple of notes on this recipe...Although I have given quantities of the ingredients, they are just to give a general idea of how much to use, I honestly can't remember the last time I measured anything out when I make this, it just seems to work.  Also, it does call for a vanilla pod, but since those tend to be a little spendy, just a splash or 2 of vanilla extract works as well.  Fresh, super-ripe strawberries work the best, I haven't tried frozen ones, but I think that the texture once they are thawed won't be right, so I'm going to have to recommend against it.

Strawberries Marinated in Balsamic Vinegar
From Jamie Oliver's The Return of the Naked Chef
Serves 4

1-ish lbs of strawberries, hulled
~5 tbsp sugar, to taste
10 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 vanilla pod
14 oz mascarpone cheese
4 or 5 leaves of fresh mint or basil, finely sliced


Place strawberries in a bowl and scatter generously with the sugar followed by the balsamic vinegar.  Stir around and allow to marinate for up to 2 hours.

Score the vanilla pod length-wise and remove the seeds by running a knife along the inside, scraping the seeds away.  Mix the seeds with the mascarpone cheese and sweeten to taste with a little sugar.

 

Place a scoop of marscapone on a dish, cover with strawberries and balsamic juice, and finish with a sprinkle of mint or basil.

Puffed Apple Pancakes

This recipe is one of my favorite breakfast recipes ever for many reasons.  First, it tastes awesome, which is key.  The second is it's just so dang pretty as it comes out of the oven, all puffy and golden yumminess, that I feel like a kitchen genius every time I make it.  And last, but definitely not least, is that it is super easy.  Once I discovered this recipe I've made it pretty much every weekend since.  It is the staple Saturday morning breakfast for my husband and me every week.

My husband had to work this past Saturday, but did it stop me from making it?  Nope (sorry you missed out, Babe).  I biked on over to my friend Ashley's house and we made a little brunch ourselves with it.  I was so excited to share it with a new friend and she was excited about making it for her husband when he gets back.  That is what cooking is about to me, sharing the love.  And now I get to share it with all of you!

Just some quick notes about this recipe...It serves 4, but since it's just my husband and me, I always make half a recipe and it turns out great (the pictures here are also of a half-recipe).  You can use whatever kind of apple you have on hand.  I've used Gala, Pink Lady, Honey Crunch and Granny Smith (I think I used Ida Red in this recipe, but the sticker was in German so I'm not sure) they all work just as well.  I also just discovered when I was making this yesterday that it says to peel the apples first--totally missed that all the times I've made this recipe (which is A LOT).  So I guess what I'm saying, is that you don't actually have to peel them (although I think that it would make slicing it up a little neater). 

Puffed Apple Pancakes
    Adapted from Bon Appetit's Fast, Easy, Fresh Cookbook
    Click here for printable version

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
12 ounces Golden Delicious apples (about 2), peeled, cored, thinly sliced

1 cup whole milk
4 large eggs
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2/3 cup all purpose flour

3 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar

Preheat oven to 425°F.   While oven is heating, place butter in 13"x9" glass baking dish (if you're making a half-recipe, 8"x8" or a round baker works well, too).  Place dish in oven until butter melts, about 5 minutes.  Remove dish from oven.  Place apple slices in overlapping rows atop melted butter in baking dish.  Return to oven and bake until apples begin to soften slightly and butter is bubbling and beginning to brown around edges of dish, about 10 minutes (I also do this while the oven is still pre-heating, although it usually takes a bit longer).

Meanwhile, whisk milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon in large bowl until well blended.  Add flour and whisk until batter is smooth.

Pour batter over apples in dish and sprinkle with brown sugar.  Bake pancake until puffed and brown, about 20 minutes.  Gather family around to admire your puffy golden creation and dig in while it's still warm!

This is awesome with just a drizzle of real maple syrup or you can sprinkle with powdered sugar.  I think next time I may fry up some bacon or breakfast sausages, too!

Mmm...Blueberry Pie

My husband's grandmother is famous for her pies. Every time we go to visit, there is always at least one (usually three) waiting for us when we get there. I haven't had a chance to make a pie along with her to learn her secret, but I did ask her once how she made the crust. She's a very modest lady, and her reply was "oh, it's nothing special, you just mix it all together until it looks right". Her recipe is so much a part of her, she needs no recipe, and the "looking right" part is what I really want to understand.

I think I may have found a crust recipe that rivals that of my grandmother-in-law. It's a little unorthodox, but I've tried it and it works like a champ, so I'm sold. The secret ingredient is...vodka. I'm not sure why it works, something to do with the alcohol to water ratio in the vodka allowing for the optimal amount of gluten formation in the dough. The alcohol does evaporate in the oven, so don't worry about your pie crust tasting like booze (I also tried some dough raw, and even then I could barely taste the vodka).
So all this talk about crust, I haven't even mentioned the filling. Grandma-in-law always has at least a blueberry, cherry and a chocolate pie waiting for us upon our arrival. So when I found this recipe for blueberry pie, this was just calling my name. It is almost as good as hers...

Blueberry Pie
From Cook's Illustrated All-Time Best Recipes

Pie Dough (for one 9" double crust pie)
2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour (plus extra for work surface)
1 tsp table salt
2 Tbsp sugar
12 Tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut int0 1/4" slices
1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces
1/4 cup cold vodka
1/4 cup cold water

Process 1 1/2 c flour, salt and sugar in food processor until combined, about two 1-second pulses. Add butter and shortening and process until homogeneous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 15 seconds (dough will resemble cottage cheese curds and there should be no uncoated flour). Scrape bowl with rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade. Add remaining cup of flour and pulse until mixture is even distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4-6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into medium bowl (I actually don't have a food processor right now, so just used a dough blender thing and hand mixed the dough together. It worked well, but my arm was sore the next day).

Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. With rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together. Divide dough into 2 even balls and flatten each into 4" disk. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.

The Rest of the Pie
Also from Cooks Illustrated

1 recipe of the pie dough
6 cups (about 30 oz) fresh blueberries (if you want to use frozen ones, just cook half of them over med-high heat in step 2 without mashing until they are reduced to 1 1/4 cups, 12-15 minutes)
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and grated on large holes of a box grater
2 tsp grated zest and 2 tsp juice from 1 lemon
3/4 cups (5 1/4 oz) sugar
2 Tbsp instant tapioca, ground in a spice grinder (or 5 tsp pearl tapioca)
Pinch table salt
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1/4" pieces
1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 tsp water

Remove 1 disk of dough from the refrigerator and roll out on generously floured work surface to 12" circle about 1/8" thick. Roll dough loosely around rolling pin and unroll into pie plate, leaving at least 1" overhang on each side. Working around circumference, ease dough with one hand while pressing into plate bottom with other hand. Leave dough that overhangs in place; refrigerate while preparing filling until dough is firm, about 30 minutes.

Adjust oven rack to lowest position, place rimmed baking sheet on oven rack, and heat oven to 400 degrees. Place 3 cups berries in medium sauce pan and set over medium heat. Using potato masher, mash berries several times to release juices. Continue to cook, stirring frequently and mashing occasionally, until about half of the berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to 1 1/2 cups, about 8 minutes. Let cool slightly.

Place grated apple in clean kitchen towel and wring dry. Transfer apple to large bowl. Add cooked berries, remaining 3 cups uncooked berries, lemon zest, juice, sugar, tapioca and salt; toss to combine. Transfer mixture to dough-lined pie plate and scatter butter pieces over filling.

Roll out second disk of dough on generously floured (up to 1/4 cup) work surface to 11" circle. Using 1 1/4" round biscuit cutter (or a shot glass like I did, because, hey, there's vodka in the dough and I don't have a biscuit cutter), cut round from center of dough. Cut another 6 rounds from dough, 1 1/2" from edge of center hole and equally spaced around the center hole (this is much easier than trying to do a lattice top). This will allow the steam to vent from the filling as it bakes. Roll dough loosely around rolling pin and unroll over pie, leaving at least 1/2" overhang on each side.
Using kitchen shears, trim bottom layer of overhanging dough, leaving 1/2"overhang. Fold dough underitself so that edge of fold is flush with outer rim of pie plate. Flute edges using thumb and forefinger or press with tines of fork fork to seal top crust to bottom. Brush top and edges of pie with egg mixture. If dough is very soft, chill in freezer for 10 minutes.
Place pie on heated baking sheet and bake 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue to bake until juices bubble anc crust is deep golden brown, 30-40 minutes longer. transfer pie to wire rack; cool to room temperature, at least 4 hours. Cut into wedges and serve.