Wednesday Fun #103 - PIE!

I just made my first pie in quite a while yesterday. The Dutch Apple one in the post below, if you're wondering. Yeah, it's a rule that when you buy 40 pounds of apples (or more, I suppose) at a local orchard, you have to make at least one apple pie. Didn't know that, did you?

Then I was reading over at Gezellig-Girl.com that she made a grape pie, something I hadn't imagined making ever, not being an especial fan of grapes. But hers looks good!

So, I'm wondering - what sorts of pie(s) do you make? Do you have a specialty? What's the oddest pie you've ever made? Any great pie stories? Do tell!

Dutch Apple Pie

Another family recipe & this one's a favorite of mine. I'll do the crust as well, but feel free to substitute your own favorite crust recipe. The one I learned from my mom isn't the flakiest or the most buttery. It is, however, about the fastest & easiest I've heard of. Enough so that I'm not ever tempted to get fancier. Also, it works well for savory dishes like quiche.

Dutch Apple Pie
(And yes, I'm half Dutch, so it totally counts!)

6 medium apples, peeled & sliced (I dunno - more or less as you'd like to fill your pie pan. You should end up somewhat level to the top.)
Combine with 1/2 c. sugar, 1 tsp. cinnamon, maybe a sprinkle of cloves & a sprinkle of nutmeg. Mix well. Arrange slices (or just dump & level) in unbaked pie crust*.

Combine 3/4 c. flour & 3/4 c. sugar. Cut in 1/4 c. butter. Include some spices like cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, if you'd like. (I like!) Sprinkle over the apple in the pie crust.

Bake at 375F for 50 minutes or until golden and tender.



*My Mom's Easy-Peasy, No-Fuss Crust
For a single bottom crust: Mix together 1 1/3 c. flour & 1 tsp. salt. Then add 1/3 c. oil & 3 Tbl. cold water & mix with fork until it sticks together. Press into a ball. Let it rest for a couple of minutes. Roll between wax paper.

For a deep dish pan or to have a top crust, too: Mix together 2 c. flour & 1 1/2 tsp. salt. Then add 1/2 c. oil & 1/4 c. cold water & mix with fork until it sticks together. Press into a ball. Let it rest for a couple of minutes. (Divide into two if top/bottom crust.) Roll between wax paper.

Wednesday Fun 102- Jax review

So if I'm reviewing TC restaurants I have to start with Jax. This is the place Pusher and I have gone for every anniversary since we found it... so I may not be a particularly unbiased judge. But since I plan on only reviewing restaurants I enjoy you won't get a lot of bashing in these posts... sorry any haters out there.

Jax is a steakhouse that lets me pretend I've escaped to a royal British lodge. Wood paneling surrounds the dining room and the servers are excellent. I've had things show up without realizing the server had been there. The steak is excellent and made to your actual request, not medium when you've ordered medium rare as seems to be the case with many restaurants.

The back garden is also a beautiful setting with a little shed with water wheel that spins in the trout stream. The prom dates in tuxes catching the trout for their meal is a fond memory. The seafood we've had has been quite tasty though we've never had the trout.

They also have a wonderful 30 foot long bar that you pass as you enter. If you sit out by the bar they have a small (and more like $15 and under price tag as opposed to the $15 and up for dining room entrees) menu with great Mac and Cheese and Steak bites. The wine list isn't huge but has a good range of stuff and some big famous wines if you want to drop the cash.

Jax is simply the best special occasion restaurant I've found in the TC.

Ranch Crackers

2 bags small oyster crackers
1 cup vegetable oil
1 double packet Hidden Valley Ranch
1 Tablespoon garlic powder
1 Tablespoon dill weed
1 Tablespoon parsley flakes

In a doubled brown paper bag, add crackers. Mix remaining ingrediants in a small bowl. Add mix to bag. Shake for 2 minutes. Wait 2 hours. Store in an ice cream bucket or similar.

Variations: Add oregano or other herbs that you think will go well with the mix.

WF #101 - Input?

So, regular readers will have noticed that last week I asked about what you liked/didn't about WF, ideas for it, etc. Our good friend ShoNuff has offered to do some restaurant reviews, so that feature will start appearing monthly, usually on the second Wednesday. Hooray! Thanks, ShoNuff!

He's also offered to do some wine reviews/food pairings if folks are interested. I think it sounds like a great idea - how 'bout y'all?

Anybody else have talents they want to share (beer reviews? food trivialist? cookbook review?)? Or have more to say on what you like or don't or would like to see as a Wednesday Fun feature? Speak up, I'd love to hear more input/ideas!

CSA Year 2 Week 14

Dear weather conditions this year,

Why have you been so nice to the kohlrabi when we haven't even gotten ANY carrots yet from our CSA? Ours at home are yummy and good-sized, but the girls keep picking them two at a time for snacks and we're starting to run out already! Also, they've figured out how to tell which ones of the rainbow mix are red/purple, so those are going fast. Can you pretty please give us some nice fat carrot producing days?

Thanks,
Bugs

Herbed Soda

I first had this served to me by a lovely, grandmotherly coworker. I believe she said she got the idea from Martha Stewart, but I might be misremembering. Anyway, this recipe is available many places online, but that's not going to stop me from putting it here.

Simple Syrup Herb Soda
Basically, you make a simple syrup, which is a one-to-one ratio between sugar and water. Let's say a cup of each. Bring that to a boil, and toss in, oh, a third of a cup or so of fresh herbs that you've crushed a bit to bring out the oils. So far basil is my favorite. I've also tried lavender (a little too floral/sweet, but I think it would be awesome if you also mixed in some lemon zest) and lemon verbena (YUM!). Anyway, turn off the heat under the water, cover, and let steep for 5-10 minutes depending on how strong you want the herb flavor to be. (I usually go 10.) Chill.

To serve the sodas, put some ice in a glass, fill about 1/5 to 1/4 with the syrup, then top off with club soda. If you want to be fancy, you could garnish with a sprig of whatever herb you used.

This is a fantastically refreshing summer beverage, and there's lots of flexibility around creating it to taste.

Wednesday Fun #100!!! - P.S. Mmmm... bacon!

Did you know that last Saturday was International Bacon Day? No? Me, neither, or you know I would have totally used that as last week's Wednesday Fun! So, go ahead and have an extra serving of bacon today, anyway!


Speaking of Wednesday Fun, I'd like us to take this 100th WF to do a little assessing/revising. I started doing these posts so that we'd have a regular reason to check back in. Our recipe posting often goes in streaks, based on theme, or having time, or just finally getting around to posting, or whatever. But unless we click over here to Recipeeps on occasion, we just might not notice there've been new recipes put up. So, I figured a regular weekly post would be a good idea.

Bearing that in mind, what do you think? I do still think we need some sort of regular post/feature/whatever, but I'm open as to what it could/should/might be. Do you enjoy the WF questions? Or links? Or polls? Are there other things you'd like to see - maybe restaurant reviews (esp for the TC area or chains, since more Recipeeples are TC-based than anywhere else), maybe trivia-type info on specific foods, maybe ????? Would you be ok with the CSA post being the regular feature for the summer months rather than WF or would you rather something more than just that? Also, how interested/willing would you be to maybe take a month, or something like the third Wed of every month, or do a restaurant review (single or series), or introduce a favorite food blog?

Let us know! Of course, I know you'll keep comments constructive and helpful, but you are still welcome to leave your comment anonymously if you'd like. Thanks so much for your input!!!

Ratatouilli

This is yummy and makes a lot. Uses one eggplant!

1 Eggplant
4 Zucchini
1-2 onions
3-4 Green Peppers
1 Jalapeno
3 cans Diced Tomatoes (Italian Style - Basil, Oregano, Garlic)
1 can small Black Olives
3-4 cloves Garlic Minced
2 T. Chicken base

Saute garlic in Olive Oil. Add rest of ingredients and simmer for 1-1.5 hours until tender. Top with Parmesan Cheese

CSA Year 2 Week 13

So, yeah, a few more tomatoes this week again. Guess I'll need to freeze 'em or make marinara sauce again (& then freeze it). Also, guess I'm going to actually have to do something with these eggplants & the ones in the frig or they'll start taking over. I've gotten a couple of ideas, from baba ganoush (sp?) to Alton Brown's Eggplant Steaks to just throw 'em on the grill. So we'll see how that all goes.