My Grandma's Rhubarb Pie

Grandma's Rhubarb Pie

I know I'm not the only one who thinks that her grandma made the best pies in the world.  But mine really did.  Even people from outside the family said so!  My second cousin opened a restaurant in the area several years ago and she told me all the pies she served were made by her mother, who learned how to make pies from my grandma.  People raved about those pies and would go there to eat just for the pleasure of finishing the meal with one of their homemade pies.  My grandma passed away over 20 years ago and although I don't always make the right choices at the right time, thank God I had the good sense to spend some time with her in the kitchen before it was too late.  My grandma showed me how she made her delicious, flaky pie crusts in just a fraction of the time it took other folks.  She didn't bother rolling the dough out.  She mixed flour, a  little cold milk, a bit of sugar, a pinch of salt, and some vegetable oil together in a mixing bowl and then dumped it into a pie plate.

Pie dough dumped in a pie plate

Then she would pat the dough down into the plate until she had a beautifully formed pie crust.

This method takes about five minutes, start to finish, and the crust always turns out flaky and delicious.  Whenever I'm making fruit pies, I always hold out some of the dough clumps to crumble on the top of the pie before baking.

I loved all my grandma's pies, but my favorite was her rhubarb.  It's taken me a while to be willing to share her recipe, but good food should be shared with family and friends and perhaps, in this case, maybe even a few strangers.  In the tradition of most grandma's, she never measured things out and I've had to guess and adjust the amount of ingredients.  Although my pies are very good, they don't taste quite like Grandma's.  I don't know if it's because I'm missing that emotional element that made eating my grandma's food so pleasurable, but I've resigned myself to the possibility that my pies might never be quite as good as hers.  If you give this a try, do let me know how it turns out for you!

Ingredients:
2 1/2 c (more or less) chopped rhubarb (about 1 inch or smaller pieces)
1 T fresh lemon juice
1/3 c unsalted butter, melted
1/4 t salt
dash of cinnamon
2 c sugar (I don't like my pie real sweet so I use a bit less)
1/4 (scant) c flour
1 c half and half
1 9 inch pie crust

Method:
1.  Mix all the ingredients, except crust, in a large bowl.  Do this in the order listed, mixing after each addition (salt, cinnamon, and sugar can be added all at once) so that the ingredients blend correctly and adhere nicely to the fruit.

2.  Pour filling into pie crust (sprinkle crumbs on top if you saved any out, dot with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon.)

3.  Bake at 350 for one hour.  (Check to make sure it doesn't get too brown.  If the crust is browning too quiclkly cover lightly with tin foil.)

A slice of rhubarb pie with homemade ginger ice cream

Lemongrass Bars with Coconut Shortbread Crust

My friend, Suzi, is crazy about lemon bars, so I'm always on the lookout for a good bar I can make for her. When I came across this recipe for lemongrass bars in the March issue of Bon Appetit (the same issue I found the recipe for Fish Wrapped in Savoy Cabbage) I knew I had to try them.

The hardest thing about making these bars was having to lug out my food processor so I could pulverize the lemongrass with the sugar.  But other than that, this recipe was a breeze to make and I'll definitely be making them again!  The lemongrass filling was tart and delicious and the crust had just the right amount of chewiness.  Too bad Suzi wasn't around to taste these wonderful treats, but that just means I'll be making them again soon.  My plan is to exchange a batch of these bars for an invitation to her lake cottage!

It seems every dessert recipe I share involves coconut.  What can I say?  I am without apology!!  Coconut is one of my favorite flavors; from the milky juice to the moist, flaky flesh it is so versatile! 

Ingredients:

crust:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sweetened, shredded coconut
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup plus 3 T unsalted butter, room temperature

filling:
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 lemongrass stalks, tough outer layers peeled away, bottom white part only, finely chopped
5 T fresh squeezed lemon juice
3 large eggs
1/4 cup flour
powdered sugar

Method:

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Butter 13 X 9 inch baking pan.  Mix flour, coconut, powdered sugar, and 1/2 t salt together in a large bowl.  Using an electric mixer, add in butter and beat until well blended.

2.  Press dough into bottom and up sides of pan.  Bake until golden, about 25 minutes.

3.  While dough is baking, place sugar and lemongrass in food processor and pulse until lemongrass is pulverized and mixed well with sugar.

4.  Add lemon juice and blend for 30 seconds.  Add eggs and process to blend briefly.  Add flour and a pinch of salt and process until smooth.

5.  Reduce oven temperature to 325.  Pour filling over crust and return to oven until filling is firm, about 25 minutes.

6.  Let cool.  Cut into squares and then sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Fish Wrapped in Savoy Cabbage with Caper Butter Sauce

In an effort to eat cheaper and healthier, I've been trying to make two meals a week meatless, and two meals a week with fish.  This is a recipe I've made a couple of times now and it's always been moist and tasty.  I think it's even good enough to serve to company.  And as an added bonus, it qualifies as an Emmi!

The only things that might ruin this recipe are overcooking the fish (which I have not yet done) or under cooking the cabbage (which happened to me last night.)  The flavor and texture of the fish was perfect, but the cabbage was crunchy, somewhat spoiling what would have been a perfect dinner!  Next time, I will either cook the cabbage longer, or maybe, cut out the tough stem.

Here's my version of the recipe that I found in the March issue of Bon Appetit.

Ingredients:

9 T butter, at room temperature
4 T capers
2 T minced Italian parsley
6 large Savoy cabbage leaves
6 4-oz fish fillets (Halibut, Cod, or other firm fish of your choosing)
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

Method:

1.  Mince or finely chop 2 T of the capers and then add them to a bowl along with 5 T of the butter, the parsley, and salt and pepper to taste.  Mix well and set aside.

2.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and drop in the cabbage leaves.  Let cook for 2 to 5 minutes, depending on how tough the leaves are.  You want them to be pliable enough to wrap around the fish.  Remove leaves, drain, and pat dry.

3.  Take one leaf and trim the thick part of the stem so the leaf will lie flat (or cut out and remove the stem completely.)

4.  Lay the leaf flat, stem end towards you, and place a fish fillet about an inch and a half from the bottom.  Sprinkle the fish lightly with salt and pepper.  Spread 1/6th of the caper butter on top of the fish.  Fold the bottom up, then the sides, then continue rolling until you have a nice, tight packet.  (Use a toothpick, if needed, to hold the packet shut.)

5.  Place the fish packet on a large baking sheet, seam-side down, and continue with remaining fish, cabbage, and caper butter.  Sprinkle packets with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.

6.  Melt 1 T butter in a large, non-stick skillet.  Place the packets, seam-side down, in the skillet and cook until lightly brown (2-3 minutes.)  Turn fish over and repeat.  Return fish to baking sheet.

7.  Bake fish at 350 degrees for 7 minutes or until fish is cooked through.

8.  Melt remaining butter in skillet used to brown the packets.  Add remaining capers.  Cook over medium-low heat until butter turns a nutty brown.

9.  To serve, place a packet on a plate and drizzle with brown-butter sauce. 

Caper Butter

Getting ready to roll up the packet

Packets browning in the skillet

YUM!!

Grilled Eggplant Pizza

I'm wondering why in the world it has taken me so long to try pizza on the grill?  I love to use my grill and I love pizza (if it's done right!)  Flipping through magazines yesterday morning, I came across a recipe for grilled eggplant pizza.  The recipe seemed pretty simple, calling for just pizza dough, sauce, grilled eggplant, and cheese.  I might have made things a bit more complicated by making my own dough and sauce and adding caramelized onions, but the results were amazing!  It got rave reviews from both my husband and son.  Now that I've seen how easy this is, I'll surely be making it more often!

Since my son doesn't like eggplant, I left it off the first pizza.  I used pre-sliced, fresh mozzarella cheese and found that the slices were a bit too thick to melt nicely by the time the crust was done.  So on the second pizza, I tore the mozzarella into smaller chunks and it worked out much better.  I'm thinking the next time I make this, I might try goat cheese.

A quick word about grilling the pizzas.  I found that it works best if you let the grill get very hot, but then turn the flame down under the pizza when you put it on.  My grill has four burners.  I turned all four up on high and closed the lid.  I let the grill heat up to about 300 degrees.  Then, I turned the left two burners all the way down to the lowest setting, leaving the right two burners on high, and grilled my pizza on the left side.  This method worked out great.  You will probably have to experiment with your own grill to see what works for you.

Here is my recipe for grilled eggplant pizza, with recipes for the dough and sauce given below.  Happy eating!!


Ingredients:

Pizza dough (recipe below, or use your own)
2 cups pizza sauce (recipe below, or use your own)
1 large eggplant
1/2 cup (more or less) of olive oil
kosher salt
1 cup caramelized onions
handful of fresh basil leaves
mozzarella cheese (fresh or grated)
olive oil (for brushing the dough)

Method:

1.  Wash the eggplant and then slice it into rounds, about 3/4 inch thick.  Toss with olive oil sprinkle lightly with kosher salt.

2.  Grill eggplant on hot grill just until soft and buttery, turning once.

3.  Stretch or roll pizza dough into two large oval disks.  Place each disk on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper or lightly oiled.

4.  Brush olive oil onto one side of the dough and place on grill (see above).  The dough will begin to puff almost immediately.  Close the lid and cook for a few minutes, until the underside begins to speckle with dark brown.

5.  Remove disk to baking sheet, uncooked side up.  Brush new side with olive oil.  Turn disk over and arrange sauce, caramelized onions, torn basil leaves, grilled eggplant, and cheese on pizza.

6.  Return pizza to grill.  Close lid and cook until cheese melts and underside is cooked and speckled with dark brown spots.

7.  Repeat with other disk.

Eggplant slices grilling (I also made a grilled salad - recipe another day!)

Pizza dough, ready for the grill

Pizza on the grill!

Pizza Dough Recipe

Ingredients:

1 package active dry years
1 cup warm water
pinch white sugar
2 t kosher salt
1 T olive oil
3 cups (or slightly more) all-purpose flour

Method:

1.  In large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and sprinkle in sugar.  Let proof for 10 -15 minutes, or until frothy.

2.  Mix in salt, olive oil and flour.  Mix until dough pulls away from sides of bowl.  Add more flour if too sticky.

3.  Remove dough and knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes)

4.  Return dough to well oiled bowl.  Cover with damp towel and let rise until doubled in volume (about one hour.)

5.  Punch dough down.  Cover and let rise again until doubled in volume (about one hour.)

Dough is now ready to be shaped!


Roasted Tomato Sauce Recipe

Ingredients:

2 pounds Roma tomatoes
olive oil (about 4 T total)
kosher salt
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 T fresh oregano leaves
1 T tomato paste
splash of red wine (optional)

Method:

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.  Cut tomatoes in half and toss with about 2 T olive oil.  Place, cut side up, on a large baking sheet (I lined my sheet with parchment paper to make clean up easy.)    Sprinkle with oregano and kosher salt.

3.  Roast tomatoes until wilted and browned in spots (about 50 minutes.)

4.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Then, puree in a food processor.

5.  Heat remaining 2 T olive oil in pan.  Add garlic and cook until beginning to color.  Add sauce and tomato paste.  Swirl a pour of wine around in the processor bowl to remove all the sauce and dump into the pan.  Stir and simmer for about 10 minutes.  Adjust to taste with salt and pepper and a pinch of sugar, if needed.
 


 

Beef Enchiladas: Fast, Easy and Delicious!

Last night I made some enchiladas that were so delicious, I woke up thinking about them this morning!  I found the recipe in Cook's Illustrated.  The recipe looked so easy and delicious, that I didn't feel I needed to change a thing.  The only substitution I made was using a flat iron steak instead of a top blade.  The reason for this was because after calling around to three local butchers, I wasn't able to find top blade like the recipe called for.  I decided to go with a flat iron steak and it was so tender and delicious that I won't even bother to change cuts, even if I can find top blade in the future.

Ingredients:

3 large cloves garlic, minced
3 T chili powder
2 t ground coriander
2 t ground cumin
1 t sugar
1 1/4 lb flat iron steak
1 T canola oil
2 medium onions, chopped
1 can tomato sauce (15 oz.)
1/2 cup water
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup chopped pickled jalapenos
12 corn tortillas (6-inch)

Method:

1.  Combine garlic, chili powder, coriander, cumin, sugar and 1 teaspoon salt in  a small bowl.  Pat meat dry, sprinkle with salt.  Heat oil in large pan and brown meat on both sides.  Remove meat.  Over medium heat, saute onions until soft and golden.  Stir in spice mixture and cook for 1 minute.  Add tomato sauce and water and bring to a boil.  Return meat to pot, cover, and simmer until meat is very tender, about 1 1/2 hours.

2.  Remove meat and strain sauce over a medium bowl.  Shred meat and mix with the solids strained from the sauce, 1 cup cheese, cilantro, and jalapenos.

3.  Spread some sauce in the bottom of a large baking dish.  Soften tortillas by heating in a microwave, 6 at a time, for about 45 seconds.  Place about 1/3 cup meat mixture across a tortilla and roll up tightly.  Place, seam side down, in prepared pan.  Repeat with remaining tortillas and meat.  Pour remaining sauce over top of enchiladas and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

4.  Cover with tin foil and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.  Remove tin foil and continue baking for about 5 more minutes.

The meat and sauce can be made several days ahead of time making this a great recipe for easy entertaining!  Just roll the enchiladas and place in oven shortly before your guests arrive.

Burmese Fried Noodles

Several months ago, I interviewed the owner of a local Burmese restaurant for an article I was writing for Examiner.  She shared with me her recipe for Burmese Fried Noodles and I have been making it ever since.  It's simple to make and so delicious.  My family loves it!  I would classify this recipe as an "Emmi" except that I believe Emily and Michelle would both complain about the amount of chopping involved!

This recipe is very versatile.  You can use any (or no) meat and any combination of vegetables that you have on hand.  (In the photo above, I used snow peas, red peppers, asparagus, bean sprouts and carrots.)  In my opinion, the four ingredients that MUST be used are garlic, oyster sauce, mushroom soy sauce, and Thai basil.  Other than that, mix it up!


Burmese Fried Noodles

Ingredients:

• 1 -2 Tablespoons oil
• 1 small onion, chopped into medium pieces
• 1 Tablespoon finely chopped garlic
• 3 -4 dried red chili peppers (optional)
• 1/2 lb meat (cut into bite-sized pieces) or seafood (left-over or precooked meat can also be used)
• 2 Tablespoons Oyster sauce
• 8 ounces dried Chinese noodles prepared according to package directions and drained
• 4 - 5 cups vegetables - hard vegetables, such as carrots and broccoli should be blanched first to soften
• 3 Tablespoons Mushroom flavored soy sauce (more or less to taste)
• 2 eggs
• 3 scallions, cut into 2-inch chunks
• 1/4 cup Thai basil

Method: 

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Toss in the onion, garlic, and chili peppers. Stir and cook until garlic begins to turn brown.

2. Add in meat and Oyster sauce. Sprinkle in sugar. Stir and cook for about one minute or until meat is cooked.

3. Stir in noodles, vegetables and soy sauce. Stir and cook for about two minutes (or longer if vegetables were not previously blanched)

  

4. Push everything to one side and crack both eggs into the empty side of the pan. Break the yolks and let cook until beginning to set. Use tongs to pick up the noodles and place over the eggs. Let them cook this way for a minute or so and then stir everything together.

  

5. Sprinkle scallions and basil over the top and serve.

Chickpeas with fenugreek greens



Methi Chana
(chickpeas with fenugreek leaves)

It's been a while since I've posted a new recipe but I have a good excuse for that;  I've been out of the country and only returned a few days ago.  I made a trip to Haiti to meet with some children I'd been asked to help find adoptive families for.  If you're interested in that project, check out the web site I put together at www.adoptingfromhaiti.weebly.com.

I was only gone for two weeks, but I've got to tell you.....  I couldn't stop dreaming about the things I was going to cook the second I got home!  I was really craving Indian food with all it's variety and spicy deliciousness.  As I wandered through my cookbooks the other night, I kept seeing this ingredient called "methi."  (Methi is the Hindi name for fenugreek leaves.)  I have never tasted it (that I know of) and was curious to give it a try.  So, yesterday I drove out to Taj Mahal Grocery and sure enough, they had fresh methi.  I bought a bunch of fresh and a bag of frozen and scuttled home to start cooking.



Methi (fenugreek) leaves

 I was in the mood for something healthy and tasty with a nice hit of heat to it so I decided to try methi chana, or chickpea gravy with fenugreek greens.  It was just exactly what I was in the mood for!  Turns out, methi has a slightly sour tang to it and the dish was bright, spicy, and delicious.

Ingredients:
1/2 t fenugreek seeds
1 t cumin seeds
2 cloves
1/2 inch cinnamon stick
1 T canola oil
2 bird or Thai chilies, chopped
1 t black mustard seeds
3 or 4 canned tomatoes, chopped
one bunch fresh methi, chopped (about 2 cups)
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 t garam masala
1/4 t asafoetida
1/4 t turmeric
1 t amchur (dry mango powder)
1 T chopped cilantro

Method:

1.  Dry roast the fenugreek seeds, cumin seed, cloves, and cinnamon until fragrant.  Let cool in pan and then grind or pound to a powder.

2.  Heat oil in pan over medium heat.  Add the mustard seeds and green chilies.  Once the mustard seeds have stopped popping (they will turn grey and pop, like popcorn) add in the chopped tomatoes.  Cook until tomatoes break down and soften, no more than a couple of minutes.

3.  Stir in the methi and the powdered spice blend.  Stir in 1/2 cup water and simmer gently until methi is cooked, about two or three minutes.

4.  Add in the chickpeas, amchur, turmeric, asafoetida, and garam masala.  Mix well and stir in 1 1/2 cups water.  Simmer until gravy comes together, about 5 minutes.

5.  Crush some of the chickpeas with a potato masher to thicken the sauce.  Add salt to taste and simmer about 5 more minutes.

6.  Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

I know most of my readers won't try this because the ingredient list seems daunting and unfamiliar.  But if you live in Fort Wayne, a trip to Taj Mahal Grocery will get you everything you need.  If you don't live in Fort Wayne, perhaps your town has its own Indian grocery store?  Check it out because this is a simple, healthy, delicious, and inexpensive dish to make!

fenugreek seeds

stirring the methi into the pan

crushing the chickpeas