Warm Apple-Buttermilk Custard Pie

I can't believe we didn't get a picture of this. We never bake in our house but I happened to have an extra pie crust in the freezer since I had gotten a package of two when we made the vegetable and goat cheese tart a while back. Well, I definitely picked a winner of a recipe. This was delicious! Hard to believe it's a cooking light recipe.

Warm Apple-Buttermilk Custard Pie


The key to both a flaky piecrust and crisp streusel topping is to keep them as cold as possible before putting them into the oven.


Crust:
1/2 (15-ounce) package refrigerated pie dough (such as Pillsbury)
Cooking spray

Streusel:
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 1/2 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces

Filling:
5 cups sliced peeled Granny Smith apple (about 2 pounds)
1 cup granulated sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 3/4 cups fat-free buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325º.

To prepare crust, roll dough into a 14-inch circle; fit into a 9-inch deepdish pie plate coated with cookig spray. Fold edges under; flute. Place pie plate in refrigerator until ready to use.

To prepare streusel, lightly spoon 1/3 cup flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine 1/3 cup flour, brown sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a medium bowl; cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Place streusel in refrigerator.

To prepare the filling, heat a large nonstrick skillet coated with cookig spray over medium heat. Add sliced apple, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon; cook 10 minutes or until the apple is tender, sitrring mixture occasionally. Spoon the apple mixture into prepared crust.

Combine remaining 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, salt, and eggs, stirring with a whisk. Stir in buttermilk and vanilla. Pour over apple mixture. Bake at 325º for 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300º (do not remove pie from oven); sprinkle streusel over pie. Bake at 300º for 40 minutes or until set. Let stand 1 hour before serving.

Yield: 10 servings

CALORIES 317 (29% from fat); FAT 10.1g (sat 4.6g,mono 3g,poly 1.2g); IRON 0.8mg; CHOLESTEROL 76mg; CALCIUM 73mg; CARBOHYDRATE 52.6g; SODIUM 230mg; PROTEIN 5g; FIBER 1.3g

Cooking Light, MARCH 2003

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Last Saturday night, Matt and I went to a Saint Patty's day party. The hosts asked us to bring a dessert and I was more than happy to oblige! I knew that one of the guests was pregnant and wouldn't eat anything with chocolate, so that was my biggest challenge. Finding a dessert that was light, easy, and didn't have chocolate. After much Internet research, I found something that pleased the crowd. I used apricot jam, but I think it would taste really good with raspberry or strawberry preserves as well!

CKS Note: I used quick-cooking steel oats and my bars looked nothing like the picture, but they still tasted very good!

Fruit & Oat Bars

1 c. all-purpose flour

2-1/2 c. uncooked quick oats

1 c. packed light brown sugar

2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 c. butter, softened

1-1/2 c. fruit preserves or jam, any flavor

3/4 tsp. almond extract

Preheat oven to 375F. Beat butter in a large bowl until smooth. Add the first 6 ingredients and beat until well blended and crumbly. Reserve 1/3 of the mixture for topping. Press remaining 2/3 crumb mixture onto bottom of un-greased 13 x 9 inch baking pan. Bake 15 minutes; let cool on wire rack for 5 minutes.

Combine preserves and almond extract; spread over crust; sprinkle evenly with reserved crumb mixture. Return to oven; bake 20 to 25 minutes or until topping is golden and filling is slightly bubbly. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Yield: 2-1/2 dozen bars

Note: If using raspberry or blackberry preserves, buy the seedless variety for a smoother filling.

Birthday Dinner

Last month I was parousing through the cable channels when I came across The Food Network and saw that Rachael Ray was on. I checked out the episodes and saw one that interested me. It was called "You and Me, Babe". It sounded like an excellent date night dinner, and that's exactly what she prepared.

Matt's birthday is today (Happy birthday, honey!) and since we planned to get together with friends tonight, I thought a good gift would be to make him dinner by cooking something that is out of the ordinary for me - lots of ingredients, lots of things on the stove, etc. - but it was less complicated that I thought. It did take more than half an hour - probably forty five minutes - but my hubby was completely satisfied. I paired it with a Kelsey Wine that really brought out all the flavors of the dish.

And the dessert. Words cannot describe how much we loved it! We each had two pieces, and I think I'll be bringing it to game night one of these weeks.

I have to say that I was really nervous about making this dinner. However, it turned out so well that all the nerves went away when I saw Matt's face as he tasted the chicken. And that was my ultimate goal. :)

CKS note: I was very fortunate to run into my friend Jenny at Trader Joe's. She is a chef and teaches cooking classes, so I asked her opinion on the recipe. She reccomended using cremini mushrooms instead of portobellos and shitakes, so that's what I did, and it not only saved my sanity (having to not clean out the shitakes) but made it easier on my budget!

On the dessert I only used strawberries as blackberries are out of season.

Chicken Marvalasala and Pappardelle with Rosemary Gravy
(Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray)

Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 20 min
Level: Easy
Serves: 2 servings

Ingredients:

3/4 pound pappardelle pasta (wide ribbons, substitute fettuccine if unavailable)
Salt
4 large, thin pieces boneless skinless chicken breast cutlets
Ground black pepper
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 large cloves garlic, crushed
2 portobello mushroom caps, sliced
12 shiitakes, stemmed and sliced
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons tomato paste, look for this in a tube (it's easy to store that way)
1 1/2 cups chicken stock, eyeball it
2 tablespoons minced rosemary leaves, a couple of sprigs
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, eyeball it
2 tablespoons capers, drained
1/2 cup Marsala wine
Grated pecorino Romano cheese
A couple handfuls arugula or baby spinach leaves, thinly sliced

Directions:
Put a large pot of water on to boil for the pasta. When it comes up to a boil, salt the water, drop in the pasta, and cook to al dente.

While the pasta is working, season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat a large nonstick skillet with 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan, over medium to medium-high heat. Add the chicken to the pan and brown lightly on both sides; remove to a platter and cover with foil to hold in heat. To the same skillet, add 2 tablespoons more extra-virgin olive oil and 1 clove garlic. Cook garlic a minute or so, then remove and add the mushrooms. Let the mushrooms brown evenly and become tender, 8 to 10 minutes.

While the mushrooms work, start gravy for pasta. In a deep medium skillet melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add a clove of crushed garlic and cook a couple of minutes then remove. Whisk flour and tomato paste into garlic infused butter. Cook the flour a minute or 2 then whisk in the stock. Add rosemary and whisk in tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce. Simmer to thicken, 5 minutes. Season the sauce with salt and pepper, to your taste.

To the cooked mushrooms, add capers and Marsala and reduce a minute or so. Add 2 tablespoons butter in small bits to finish sauce and shake the pan to incorporate. Slide the chicken back into sauce and warm. Drain pasta and toss with sauce and a handful of cheese. Serve pasta alongside Chicken Marvalasala. Scatter arugula or spinach across both the chicken and pasta, to garnish.


Devilish Angel Cake with Wine Soaked Berries
(Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray)
Prep Time: 5 min
Inactive Prep Time: 20 min
Level: Easy
Serves: 4 servings (you can have seconds, on a date night)

Ingredients:
1/3 cup dry Italian red wine
3 tablespoons sugar
A few grinds black pepper
1/2 pint strawberries, sliced
1/2 pint blackberries
1 store bought angel food cake
Whipped cream, canister
Finely chopped fresh mint leaves or orange zest, for garnish

Directions:
Combine wine, sugar, and pepper in a medium bowl. Add berries and soak 20 minutes. Cut the cake into thick slices. Serve wedges doused with wine soaked berries then garnish with whipped cream and fresh mint or orange zest.

Overdue Recipes 2

Camille asked that I post the bread pudding recipe that I made before. I made it with a mix of stale french bread and stale sourdough bread that I had (I love a bit of sourdough in bread pudding...it sets off the sweetness really nicely). What a perfect way to use stale bread!

If you are using stale bread rather than fresh bread (which is the point of this pudding), make sure to have extra milk around, and let the bread sit long enough in the milk to get really moist and at least a few of the bread pieces should be a little soggy. The stale bread is going to soak up more liquid than fresh bread, and it needs more liquid and more time to do it in. I started with the recipe, but when the bread had soaked up everything and still wasn't very soft, I added more milk. (If the bread doesn't get soft and a little soggy, then the cubes will stay cubes throughout baking, and I like a pudding that's pudding-y, not cubed)

Also, I added a lot more cinnamon than the recipe called for. It might be that my cinnamon is dead and I need to get some fresh stuff, but I just go by taste anyway, rather than recipe, so, eh.
Oh, and I didn't make the sauce, cause I was out of Bourbon, but it really does make this pudding.

Bread Pudding With Bourbon Sauce

From Diana Rattray,
Your Guide to Southern Food.
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Bread pudding with bourbon sauce and raisins. Add cinnamon to this bread pudding recipe if you want, and serve with tasty bourbon sauce.

INGREDIENTS:

• 12 ounces French bread, cut in 1/2-inch chunks, about 6 cups
• 3 cups milk
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, optional
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, optional
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cups raisins
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• .
• Sauce
• 1/2 cup butter (4 ounces)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup bourbon

PREPARATION:

Place bread chunks in a large bowl; pour milk over. Stir a little to break the pieces up a little; let stand until all milk is absorbed. In another bowl, beat eggs, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together.

Stir into the bread mixture. Gently stir the raisins into the mixture. Pour into a buttered baking pan or casserole. Drizzle with the melted butter.

Bake at 350° for about 60 minutes, or until set. Cool and cut into squares.

To make sauce: In a saucepan, melt butter; add sugar and egg, whisking to blend well. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. Whisk in bourbon. Remove from heat and chill thoroughly. Whisk before serving.
Makes 1 cup.