crawfish pies

Well, it’s time for my annual post to this website (sorry!) I’ll do some repenting starting on Wednesday, but until then, it is time to feast on a Louisiana classic in honor of Mardi Gras. This is actually taken from an etouffee recipe that I decided to make into pies, thinking I was all crafty, and then I later discovered that crawfish pie filling is pretty much etouffee anyway. So here’s a twofer recipe. You may be tempted just to make the etouffee, which is completely delicious in itself, but taking it to the level of handheld piedom is so worth the extra effort. Individual Crawfish Pies Adapted from Anita Stafford's crawfish etouffee recipe, most appropriately found in the Covington, Louisiana Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church "Cooking with Trinity" Cookbook

Filling

• 1 cup butter


• 1 teaspoon olive oil


• 1 cup flour (use only ½ cup if making just a batch of etouffee)


• 2 large onions, finely diced


• 4 large ribs of celery, finely diced


• 1 large bell pepper, finely diced


• 5 (or more) cloves of garlic, minced


• 5 shallots, minced


• 3 tablespoons tomato paste


• 1/4 cup dry sherry or vermouth (this is optional – just use what you like)


• 1/2 cup white wine


• 1 cup savory stock (chicken, fish, or beef)


• 2 lbs crawfish tails (small shrimp will work if you can’t find crawfish up in the Union)


• ½ cup minced parsley


• 2 whole bay leaves


• 1 tsp thyme


• A few dashes of Tabasco or Louisiana Hot Sauce


• 2-3 teaspoons Creole seasoning (or to taste)


• Salt, to taste


• Black pepper, to taste

1. In a 5+ quart pot, melt butter and oil together over medium low heat (you may want to do it a little hotter if you’re comfortable making a roux). Add flour and stir constantly until it reaches a dark peanut butter or copper color, and then cook just a little longer.


2. Add minced vegetables and tomato paste and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the veggies are soft.


3. Add booze and allow to cook down for a minute or two. Then add stock, crawfish, parsley, bay leaves, thyme, hot sauce, Creole seasoning, salt, and pepper. If you use a Creole seasoning that doesn’t contain salt, add salt separately to taste. If you use Tony Chachere’s or some other salted seasoning, omit the plain salt and add the seasoning until it’s as salty as you want it.


4. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.


5. For pies: Evaluate consistency, and continue cooking down if it looks too thin to use as a pie filling. If your mixture actually seems watery (this can happen if your seafood contains a lot of water), simply make a mini-roux in a separate pan using several tablespoons of butter and flour in a 1:1 ratio and add to the mixture until thick. For etouffee: the consistency should be like gravy so use extra roux or extra stock as needed to achieve this. Serve over rice.

Butter Pie Crust Courtesy of Kittencal from food.com

• 3 cups cake flour


• 3 cups all purpose flour


• 2 tablespoons sugar


• 2 teaspoons salt


• 2 cups butter, very cold


• 2 eggs, separated


• 14 tablespoons ice water


• 2 teaspoons vinegar

1. Mix flours, sugar, and salt.


2. Combine dry mixture with cold butter using a pastry cutter or food processor until the largest butter chunks are about the size of small peas.


3. Whisk together the egg yolks, water, and vinegar.


4. Stir wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until moistened and dough holds together (but don’t overdo it or your dough will be tough).


5. Divide the dough into four parts and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before using.

Pie Making:

1. Divide dough into 16 balls and roll each into a 6-8 inch circle.


2. Place crawfish filling onto half of each circle, leaving a 1 inch border around the edge.


3. Mix egg whites with a splash of milk or water and dab around the border. Then fold top of pie over crawfish, and press around the edge with the tines of a fork to seal.


4. Brush egg white mixture over pies.


5. Make a few slits in the top of the pies and bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.

Note: Any simple flour and shortening recipe or a store bought crust will do. I just liked this recipe because I’m more likely to have these ingredients on hand. Laissez les bon temps rouler!

a moroccan feast

One of my culinary resolutions for 2011 was to cook an international meal each month. This was inspired by an International Wine and Cheese/Dinner Party that Larry and I threw for New Year's Eve.

For January, we chose the country of Morocco. I don't want to waste a lot of breath running my mouth trying to describe this meal, because the Chicken Tagine is one of the best recipes Larry and I have ever made. (You can read a summary of the meal over here.) Seriously, go make this now. It's extremely flavorful, the chicken thighs are tender, and the flavors are probably different than what usually ends up on your dinner table every night. I can't say enough good things about this meal.

To accompany it, I made Kesra (Moroccan bread) - which was soft and delicious and the easiest yeast bread recipe I've ever made (baking a loaf of bread each month was also one of my culinary resolutions - so this meal killed two birds with one delicious stone).

Enough from me - get cooking!

Chicken Tagine with Apricots and Almonds
Adapted from Gourmet/Epicurious

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
• pinch of cayenne
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 3 tablespoons plus 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
• 1/2 cup dried Mediterranean apricots, cut into halves or quarters
• 1/3 cup slivered almonds

• Couscous

Stir together the spices (first eight ingredients), plus 1 teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons oil in a large bowl. Add chicken and turn to coat well.

Heat butter and 1 tablespoon oil in base of a large skillet (or tagine if you happen to have one!), uncovered, over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then brown the chicken, turning over once - about 8-12 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate.

Add onion and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt to skillet and cook, uncovered, stirring frequently, until soft, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes. Add chicken and 1/2 cup chicken broth to skillet. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.

While chicken cooks, bring honey, remaining cup chicken broth, cinnamon stick, and apricots to a boil in a saucepan. reduce heat and simmer, uncovered until apricots are very tender (add more chicken broth if necessary). Once apricots are tender, simmer until liquid is reduced to a glaze, 10 to 15 minutes.

While apricots cook, heat remaining 1/4 cup oil in a small skillet over moderate heat and cook almonds, stirring occasionally, until just golden, about 2 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.

Ten minutes before chicken is done, discard the cinnamon stick and add apricot mixtures to skillet. Cook the couscous according to package directions.

Serve chicken over couscous with almonds sprinkled on top.

Kesra (Moroccan bread)
Adapted from Kitchen Chick/Kitty Morse

• 1/4 ounce active dry yeast (one packet)
• 1/4 cup warm water (105-115 degrees F, for the yeast)
• 1-2 cups warm water (for the dough)
• 1 teaspoon sugar

• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cornmeal, plus 1 tablespoon cornmeal for dusting
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons sesame seeds

(Note: I made this recipe by hand, but it could also be made using a mixer with a dough hook.)

In a small bowl, mix the yeast with 1/4 cup warm water. Stir in the sugar, and set aside until mixture starts to bubble (about 10-15 minutes).

In a large bowl, sift together flour, 1/3 cup cornmeal, and salt. Make a well in the center, and pour in the yeast mixture and melted butter. Gradually add in the remaining warm water as needed to form a smooth and elastic dough. (Note: The original recipe called for up to 2 cups water - which is way too much. I used about 1 1/3 cups.) Knead well until the dough is smooth and elastic to the touch.

Grease two baking sheets and dust them with the 1 tablespoon cornmeal. Separate dough into two balls of equal size and set each ball on a backing sheet. Press them into circles 8-inches in diameter. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon sesame seeds over each loaf, gently pressing them into the dough. Cover the dough with a towel and set aside in a warm place until doubled (about 1 1/2 hours).

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Prick the top of each kesra with a fork. Bake for 10 minutes at 425 degrees, then lower the temperature to 375 and bake for an additional 15 minutes (or until crusty and golden).

a truly great lasagna

Lasagna.

Cheese, pasta, sauce.

Who doesn't like it? Then again, who's had truly great lasagna? *

I'm not really a lasagna person. That's not to say I don't like lasagna - after all, it can't be bad for the reasons mentioned above: cheese, pasta, sauce. However, I often find it's too heavy and that it lacks something to make it truly special. Most lasagnas I've tasted all taste the same. Lasagnas also make me think of something you'd package up and take to neighbors. So-and-so had a baby? Break out the jarred Ragu and make them a lasagna.

Then I tried Smitten Kitchen's recipe for mushroom lasagna and OH - this spin on lasagna has totally changed my opinion. There's no red sauce or meat in here, and surprisingly, very little cheese. (It does make up for that by using 4 cups of whole milk and a stick of butter!) I find that most fancy pasta recipes I see require large quantities cheese like gruyere or fontina which are both expensive and not always available in my admittedly pitiful local grocery store. This recipe uses plain old grated parmesan, and being the parmesan junkie that I am, I always have several containers at the ready in my fridge. The cream sauce and mushroom combination is fantastic and rich, without being too heavy. Serve this lasagna with a salad and some wine and you will be very very happy.

My other gripe with lasagna? It's a pain in the ass to make. The noodles sticking together...argh! This recipe does take some time and dirty up a lot of pots, but as described on Smitten Kitchen, it is "completely and totally worth it."



Mushroom Lasagna
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen (who slightly adapted it from Ina Garten)

• Salt
• Olive oil
• 16 dried lasagna noodles
• 1 large clove garlic, minced or pressed
• 4 cups whole milk
• 1 stick butter plus an extra 3 tablespoons for cooking the mushrooms
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds mushrooms (I used a pound of baby bellas/cremini and a half pound of white mushrooms)
• 1 cup grated parmesan

Bring a large pot of water to boil with salt and splash of olive oil, and cook lasagna noodles according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.

Bring the milk and garlic to a simmer in a saucepan and set aside. In a second saucepan, melt 1 stick butter, then add the flour and cook over low heat for one minute, whisking constantly. Pour in the hot milk, a little at a time at first, stirring until combined. Add the rest of the hot milk, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and the pepper. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly for 3-5 minutes or until thick, and set aside.

Trim the mushroom stems and slice mushrooms 1/4-inch thick (or buy pre-sliced mushrooms and save time!). Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and 3 tablespoons butter in a large frying/saute pan. Add mushrooms and sprinkle with salt and cook over medium heat until the mushrooms release their juices and are tender - about 6 minutes. (If your fry pan is not big enough you can cook the mushrooms in batches as specified in the original recipe - but I found it worked fine to cook them all at once.)

Note: At this point, you have cooked the noodles, made the sauce, and prepared the mushrooms and you are ready to assemble the lasagna. The recipe called for an 8x12 pan, which I had and used, however, I had to trim about an inch off the ends of all the lasagna noodles, so next time I will probably make this in a 9x13 pan.

Spread some of the sauce in the bottom of a baking dish (see note above). Arrange 4 lasagna noodles on top of the sauce, overlapping slightly. Add more sauce on top of the noodles (about 1/4 of what remains), 1/3 of the mushrooms, and 1/4 cup grated parmesan. Repeat two more times then top with a final layer of noodles, your remaining sauce and the last 1/4 cup of parmesan.

Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until the top is browned and the sauce is bubbly.

Allow to sit for a few minutes (it will be HOT) and enjoy! (Or perhaps wrap it up and take it to your friends who just had a baby!)


You may have noticed an extreme lack of posting on Vicious Dishes lately and I'm the only one without a good excuse. Sarah and Abby welcomed baby girls into their families earlier this year, and Sara is due to give birth any day now!

Sara, if we didn't live 1,100 miles apart, I'd be stopping by this week with this lasagna...(and a bottle of wine to celebrate)!

* I have had several truly great lasagnas. My mom makes a white lasagna with sausage that is to die for. I had an unbelievable lasagna at Tupelo Honey Cafe in Asheville, North Carolina a few years ago. (If you ever have a chance to get to Asheville it is truly a delicious town!) And the third truly great lasagna? This very recipe!

beer & chocolate

Beer and chocolate are two of my favorite things. But what happens when you put them together...in a CAKE? (And also throw in a little whiskey and some Baileys?)

You get Irish Car Bomb CAKE!

Now, I know the name of this cake is rather distasteful, but this cake is named after an American beer cocktail, not a Irish form of domestic terrorism. If you've spent any time in a bar, you're familiar with this drink.  It's delicious, but it will also **** you up!

If you're not familiar with this drink, it goes like this: Take 3/4 of a pint of Guinness. Into the Guinness, drop a shot glass full of Baileys Irish Cream and Jameson Irish Whiskey. Now chug!

Somehow, the booze and the beer combine to form something that tastes like chocolate milk. Have several and they also combine to form something that will give you a terrific headache the next day. It's pretty much the greatest drink ever.

So when I saw a recipe for the Car Bomb in CAKE form, I had to try it! I feared it might be a bit of a gimmick (three types of alcohol in one cake?) - but it was fantastic. The cake itself was moist and chocolatey (and I have high standards for chocolate cake!) and the sweet Irish cream frosting perfectly complemented the bittersweet chocolate ganache.

I will definitely be looking for more reasons to make this cake again. Also - Baileys Frosting - why didn't I come up with such a thing? It's fantastic, and would be a delicious on just about any chocolate cake...or straight up off the spoon!

Irish Car Bomb Cake
Adapted from The Biscuit Pusher who adapted it from Smitten Kitchen

For the cake:

• 1 cup Guinness (or other stout beer)
• 1 cup butter
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup sour cream

For the ganache filling:

• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I used Ghiradelli 70% cacao)
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1-2 teaspoons Irish whiskey (Confession: I didn't have any Jameson, so I just poured in a dash of bourbon! I was afraid it would be too boozy, but next time I will definitely use the full amount of Jameson.)

For the Bailey's frosting:

• 5 cups powdered sugar
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 5 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 8-inch round cake pans with non-stick cooking spray.

In a saucepan, combine beer and butter and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Cool slightly.

In a bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt to blend.

In another large bowl, beat eggs and sour cream with an electric mixer to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat to combine. Add flour mixture and beat on slow speed until combined. Pour the batter into the two prepared cake pans and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 300 degrees and bake for an additional 15 minutes (until done in the center). Remove cake from oven and allow to cool on a rack.

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To make the filling, chop the chocolate and transfer to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream in a saucepan until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let sit for one minute, then stir until smooth. Add the butter and whiskey. Set aside while you are making the frosting.

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To make the frosting, whip the butter in a bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Slowly add the powdered sugar while mixing, and then add the Baileys and whip until combined. (The consistency can be adjusted by adding more powdered sugar or Baileys/milk, if necessary.)

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To assemble the cake, place a dollop of the ganache on your serving platter to secure the cake. Place the bottom layer of the cake on the platter and spread the ganache filling over the top. Place the second cake layer on top. Use a knife to smooth any filling that has squeezed out between the layers. Frost the entire cake with the Baileys frosting. (Tip: The texture of the frosting was like spreading play-doh, and the cake didn't look very nice after I had frosted it. I then used an offset spatula dipped in hot water to smooth the frosting.)

vicious fishes

So, Larry and I have been eating a pescetarian diet the past few weeks - and I just realized that there are no seafood recipes on Vicious Dishes. I'm starting off with a good one - easy, delicious, summery, and definitely good enough to serve to company.

Larry and I both love seafood, but don't eat it as often as we should because of lack of availability - I'm sorry to say, but buying fish at our local grocery store would be a recipe for food poisoning. But over the weekend, we were heading home from a hike, and stopped at Wegmans (which has an excellent fish market) to stock up on fresh tuna steaks and salmon fillets.

I love salmon, but often find that it is a "safe" choice on many restaurant menus - meaning it's somewhat bland and lacks flavor and sophistication. Not so with these salmon cakes which are summery and delicious and creamy. They don't dry out while cooking and go quite well with a tomato salad.

Summer Salmon Cakes
Adapted from Gourmet Magazine
2 servings

• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons chopped chives
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 pound skinless salmon fillet, chopped
• 8 Ritz or saltine crackers, crushed
• 1 1/2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Whisk together mayonnaise, lemon juice, chives, mustard, cayenne, salt, and pepper.

Add salmon, crackers, and zucchini, and mix well.

Form mixture into 4 (3-inch) patties. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat until hot, then cook salmon cakes for 3 minutes on each side.

the icing on the cake

Vicious Dishes' own Sara had a birthday last week, and the fact that she (along with the other Vicious Dishes - Sarah and Abby) was in town visiting from Louisiana, meant that I was going to seize the opportunity to make her a birthday cake! I set about searching the internet for a new and unusual cake recipe, but came to the realization that the perfect recipe was already in my own recipe binder.

As far as I know, there is nothing Italian about Italian Cream Cake. What I do know is that it's delicious! This recipe came from my mother - it is one of my favorite cakes that she makes (and she makes a lot of good cakes!).

Two things about this recipe - one, it came from Cooking Light, but you'd never know it! And two, it has a slight hint of coconut (from coconut extract), but even several of my anti-coconut friends have loved this cake.

And the icing on the cake? Cream cheese frosting! (And of course having all four of us - who live in four separate states - together for an evening of wine, gabbing, and stuffing face with cake!)

Italian Cream Cake
Adapted from Cooking Light

• ½ cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon coconut extract
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 6 egg whites

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Coat bottoms of 3 (9-inch) round cake pans with cooking spray (do not coat sides of pans). Line bottoms of cake pans with wax paper. Coat wax paper with cooking spray, dust with flour, and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer at medium speed until butter is creamy; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Combine 2 cups flour and baking soda; stir well. Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix in coconut extract and vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form (do not overbeat). Fold egg whites into batter and pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 23 minutes. Cool cakes in pans 5 minutes on wire racks. Loosen cake layers from sides of pans using a narrow metal spatula, and turn out onto wire racks. Peel off wax paper and cool completely.

Place one cake layer on a serving plate and spread with cream cheese icing; top with second cake layer and spread with more icing. Add third cake layer and secure layers with a few toothpicks. Spread remaining icing over cake.

Cream Cheese Icing

• 1 ½ tablespoons butter, softened
• 12 ounces Neufchatel cheese
• 1 ½ pounds powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Beat butter and cream cheese at high speed until fluffy. Gradually add sugar. Add vanilla extract. Beat at low speed until blended.

in search of the perfect mac and cheese

It's always amazed me that it's so difficult to find a great recipe for such a universally-loved food as Mac and Cheese. I've tried MANY recipes, and while I can't say any of them tasted bad, I haven't found The One. I've mentioned this to several friends, who seem to have the same problem.

I even found a recipe earlier this year that claimed the resulting Mac and Cheese was better than sex. Well. How could I NOT try that recipe? Let's just say, that recipe, ahem, failed to perform.

I then printed out all the suggested recipes in The Bitten Word's Ultimate Mac and Cheese Guide - I haven't tried all of them, but still the perfect recipe evades me. (Side note: Nutmeg belongs in Pumpkin Pie, NOT Mac and Cheese. Any Mac and Cheese recipe including nutmeg is automatically disqualified. I'm looking at you Martha Stewart!)

Perfect Mac and Cheese recipe - where are you?

Then I stumbled across a blog called Homesick Texan. Other than a few layovers in Dallas and Houston, I've never been to Texas, but still, it makes me think Tex Mex and BBQ and, well, I knew I was going to like this blog.

Not only that, she had a mouth-watering recipe for Mac and Cheese. It was different than the other recipes I'd tried - no making a roux, NO NUTMEG, no cheese product (shudder) and well...is it the perfect Mac and Cheese recipe? It's hard to say, but this is pretty damn close.

Just in case you need any more convincing...4 Reasons You Will Love This Recipe:

1. You don't have to boil the pasta ahead of time.
2. It's cooked in a cast iron skillet.
3. Chipotles in Adobo!
4. BACON!!!

Chipotle Mac and Cheese with Bacon
Slightly adapted from Homesick Texan via the NY Times

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 cups dry pasta (I used ziti, but you could use penne, or the traditional elbow macaroni)
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup cream (or substitute another cup of milk)
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1 chipotle chile in adobo
• 1 teaspoon mustard powder
• 1 garlic clove, pressed or minced
• pinch of cumin
• salt and pepper (to taste)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
• 1 1/2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese, divided
• 4 pieces cooked bacon, crumbled
• 1/4 cup crumbled cotija cheese (optional - I couldn't find this in my grocery store, but would love to try it!)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a cast-iron skillet (original recipe calls for a 9-inch skillet, I only had a 10 1/2-inch and it turned out fine) with the butter. Add the dry pasta.

Use a blender or an immersion blender to mix together the milk, cream, cottage cheese, chipotle, mustard powder, garlic, cumin, and salt and pepper until smooth. Pour mixture over dry pasta and stir until sauce is evenly distributed.

Stir in 1 cup of cheddar and 1 cup of monterey jack. Cover the pan with foil and bake 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, remove the foil and stir the mac and cheese a few times. Top with remaining 1/2 cup of cheddar and 1/2 cup of monterey jack. Sprinkle with chopped bacon and cook for another 25 minutes uncovered or until brown and bubbling.

Remove from oven and sprinkle with cotija cheese (if you have it). Edited to add: I made this a second time with the cotija cheese, and preferred this recipe without it. While the cotija is delicious on its own (it tastes like feta, but has the texture of grated parmesan) I felt it made this recipe too salty.

Note: I am usually skeptical of Mac and Cheese recipes that include cottage cheese - the so-called better than sex recipe had cottage cheese in it and the texture was weird. However, pureeing it in the blender as this recipe calls for is perfect and there are no texture issues.


P.S. That's a black tomato in the salad - in case you were wondering about the unusual color.

the three deadly C's

Carbs. Cheese. Cream.

All in one recipe - in the form of potatoes, bleu cheese, and heavy cream - oh yes!

This recipe is to die for. Seriously, it's like scalloped potatoes IN A PIE. Soaked in cream and doused with cheese! Make it now - for breakfast, for brunch, for dinner, for company, just make it!

Bleu Cheese and Red Potato Tart
Slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen via Gourmet Magazine

• pre-made pie dough (if you want to make your own crust, see Smitten Kitchen)
• 1 pound small red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 pound bleu cheese, crumbled (about 3/4 cup)
• 1/2 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 1/2 tablespoon fresh thyme, finely chopped
• salt

In a medium saucepan, cover potato slices with water by two inches. Simmer, uncovered, until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain. Pat potato slices dry with a towel.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Press the pie dough into a 9-inch tart pan and trim any overhanging dough from the edges. (You could probably make this in a pie pan too, but it looked so pretty as tart, that I highly recommend using the tart pan.)

Arrange potato slices, overlapping slightly, in concentric circles on top of the pie crust in the tart pan. Sprinkle bleu cheese over potatoes. Whisk cream and egg yolk together and pour into tart shell, then sprinkle tart with herbs and salt.

Bake tart at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes, until bubbling and golden brown.

A few notes:
On herbs: When I sprinkled the full tablespoon of herbs over the tart, it seemed like a lot and I thought it might be overpowering. It wasn't - it was perfect.

On bleu cheese: I love bleu cheese. Some people don't. That being said, this wasn't overpoweringly bleu cheesy - it was perfect.

Also, per Smitten Kitchen - the filling will remain soft and custard like after baking - it will not firm up like a quiche.

fresh squeezed

I love strawberry lemonade. Love it. I can make myself sick off of it whenever I see it on a restaurant menu and order a glass. And then another. And another. But why have I waited this long to make my own lemonade? I finally checked it off my To Do list earlier this summer. And then I checked it off again. And again. And again. Then I made it with peaches. As far as I'm concerned, there should be a pitcher of this stuff in my refrigerator at all times throughout the summer.


This recipe is for all the new or pregnant mamas out there who are laying off the booze this summer. It's an easy and refreshing recipe - I recommend making it during baby's nap. When baby wakes up, the two of you can go out and sit on the porch and you can enjoy a nice cold glass of lemonade with a happy baby on your lap. (Isn't that how it works? There's no baby crying, no diapers to change - just a quiet afternoon on the porch with mother and child and maybe a good book...right?!)

Also, I doubled Emeril's original recipe - there's no sense in going to the trouble to squeeze lemons if you only make enough lemonade to last an afternoon. I put it in a glass drink dispenser, but if you don't have one, I'd recommend mixing it all up in a big pasta pot and then pouring it into several pitchers. Make a lot of this stuff and you will be happy.

Strawberry (or Peach) Lemonade
Adapted from Emeril Lagasse
8-12 servings

• 4 cups water
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons grated lemon peel
• 2 cups fresh lemon juice (10-12 lemons depending on size and juiciness)
• 2 pints fresh strawberries, hulled and halved (or 2 16-ounce cans of peaches plus syrup)
• 4 cups cold water

Bring 4 cups of water and the sugar to a boil in a saucepan.  Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves.  Add the lemon peel and lemon juice, stir, and remove from heat. Let cool completely, then strain into a drink dispenser.

Puree the strawberries using a blender or immersion blender and add them to the drink dispenser with the lemon juice. Add additional 4 cups of water and stir well to combine. Refrigerate until chilled.

Note: If you're serving this for a party, add some whole strawberries (or peach slices) and lemon slices to make it look fancy.

Happy squeezing!

for the love of squarsh: the ubiquitous zucchini post

Every summer, food blogs are filled with posts about "how to use up zucchini."  Now, I think that good ol' zucchini bread is a treat, not a way to use up an over-abundant vegetable.  In fact, I have bags of shredded zucchini in my freezer, so I can make this treat year-round. However, I will admit that the plethora of summer squash can get a little overwhelming at times.  It's a good thing I have a vegetable-loving dog!

My favorite zucchini recipe is of course, Blueberry Zucchini Bread - one of the recipes that started this blog. However, when I asked Larry if he had any requests for zucchini recipes this week, he asked for regular zucchini bread and squash pie - just like his mom used to make.

Larry's mom makes squash pie (or as she pronounces it, squarsh pie) - and if you've never had it, I suggest you try it - it tastes like custard!  After he requested squarsh pie, he worried "but you don't have Mom's recipe" and I promised that with a little googling I could figure it out.

As for the zucchini bread, I realize that everyone has their favorite recipe, but I had a bottle of buttermilk in my fridge that I needed to use up, so a little more googling, and I had found this recipe.  I'm a firm believer that buttermilk makes every recipe better.

Neither of these recipes are fancy or complicated - really, they are simple (confession: I even used pre-made pie dough) summer staples, just like mom used to make.

Squarsh Pie
Adapted from Just Jane

• 1 cup zucchini pulp (see below)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon butter

• pre-made pie dough

To make zucchini pulp:  Peel a large (or 2 medium) zucchini.  Cut it into chunks and boil in water until tender. Drain well.  Puree in a food processor.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Press pie dough into a pie pan and form crust.  Blend pulp, sugar, evaporated milk, flour, eggs, vanilla, and salt in food processor.  Pour filling into pie shell and top with butter cut into chunks.  Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

Buttermilk Zucchini Bread

Adapted from Caviar and Codfish

Makes one loaf

• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups grated zucchini (about 1 large or 2 small)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground clove

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a loaf pan.  Combine buttermilk, oil, and sugar in a medium bowl and mix with an electric mixer until light-colored and fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla and mix.  Fold in the zucchini.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, powder, salt, cinnamon, and clove.  Stir to combine and then mix everything with the wet mixture until just combined.

Pour batter into a loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 70 minutes or until the top is firm and a toothpick comes out clean.