May 1st, 2012
I enjoy fruit pies, but I prefer crostatas. Crostata’s are a bit more rustic in appearance and for me provide a wealth of fruit filling.
My son is a big blueberry fan, so I decided to make this blueberry crostata for him, it barely made it out of the oven before he dug in! I make many pie crusts, all butter, all shortening, half butter, half shortening. For this crostata I chose to go with the all shortening crust, I find it flaky, compliments the blueberries and I love the color it produces. The filling is very simple, not too sweet, yet captures the flavors of the fresh blueberries.
Crust:
4 C flour
½ C sugar
1 egg with cold water
2 C of shortening – chilled
Filling:
2 ½ Pts. of fresh blueberries
½ C sugar
2 TBLS cornstarch
¼ tsp lemon zest
Assemble:
Pre-heat oven to 325
Dough
Using a food processor combine shortening, sugar and flour. Drop one egg into a volume measuring cup; add water to measure one cup. Pulse mixture until almost blended, it will appear granule and some of the mixture may appear more blended. Take two thirds of the dough, wrap in plastic wrap and store in refrigerator for two hours. The additional dough can be wrapped and stored in the freezer for another use, it would create one bottom crust of a nine inch pie.
Filling
Just prior to dough being ready to form, gently rinse blueberries and fold in sugar, cornstarch and lemon zest.
After dough is chilled, on a well floured surface, (if sticky, add more flour) roll out into a free form circle. I often have to roll this dough out twice, seeing the dough can be sticky. Transfer to pan lined with parchment paper. I use a scraper to lift and move onto pan. Slowly add the blueberry filling onto the center of the dough, it should form a peak. Next, you want to gracefully fold up the dough to create an edge. I use the parchment paper to hold onto and fold the dough towards the center. Nothing fancy, no rules, simply fold up all edges and see what you get! Lastly, brush the dough with water, it gives the crostata a subtle sheen, and lightly dust the crostata with sugar.
Bake at 325 for 40 minutes, then increase the oven to 350 degrees and back for an additional 30 minutes, the crust will appear only slightly brown, the blueberries will be tender when ready. You can always check the bottom, it will be a nice golden color when ready.
Food for Many, Enjoy!
February 27th, 2012
My son just loved these steak and cheese egg rolls, he dipped them in ketchup, but did try the creamy horseradish sauce and thought it was good too.
Filling:
16oz. thinly sliced sirloin steak
½ onion, sliced thinly
1 pepper, again, sliced thinly
1 C Gouda cheese, grated (if you do not care for the flavor of Gouda a sharp cheddar will work well)
1 C pepper jack cheese, grated
Wrappers:
6 egg roll wrappers
1 egg
Frying:
16oz. Canola or Vegtable oil for frying
Begin by adding the frying oil to a medium sized sauce pan and set temperature to medium. If you have a thermometer, set it to alert at 350 degrees, if not, it should take about 10 minutes to reach 350 degrees. A simple way to test to ensure your oil is ready for frying is to dip the end of a wooden spoon into the oil, if bubbles form to a quick rumble, it is ready.
Sauté onions, peppers, salt and pepper in two tablespoons of olive oil until tender. Remove from heat into a strainer over a bowl to eliminate any excess oil and/or liquids; I also used a spoon to push out the excess liquid.
Next, coat the same sauté pan with a small amount of olive oil and transfer steak to hot pan. Generously season with salt, pepper and garlic powder and cook thoroughly. Again, strain over bowl to remove any liquids. Combine steak with onions and peppers, both should still be hot. Gradually add in cheeses in small batches and mix together.
Now, you are ready to create your rolls. Whisk together one egg with 1/2 cup of water in a square, shallow pan, big enough to coat your egg roll wrapper. Take one wrapper, keep it flat, coat both sides with egg mixture and lay flat so one of the four corners is pointing towards you (look on the back of the egg roll package, there should be a diagram). Fill the center of the roll, pull corner over, sides over and roll until formed. The egg wash will help hold the wrapper together, so pinch any gaps to ensure a snug fit. Carefully drop one roll at a time into the hot oil, you may need to turn, fry until golden brown. I used tongs to remove egg roll, be sure to let it drain before taking it out and set on a cooling rack to drain any excess oil. I was able to wrap each roll while one was frying, if you are not able to keep that pace, just set rolls on a plate, but don’t let them touch each other, the wrappers will tear.
I served these steak and cheese eggrolls with ketchup and/or a creamy horseradish sauce.
Horseradish Sauce:
Combine 1 cup of sour cream, ½ cup of horseradish, ¼ cup of a Dijon mustard and black pepper, whisk together.
Food for Many, Enjoy!
January 10th, 2012
Who doesn’t like beans in chili? I understand, most people prefer a no-bean chili. Seeing I do like the beans, I made beans on the side to add if desired. This is a turkey chili with great flavor.
Chili Ingredients:
1 pd ground turkey, use either dark meat or 93/7 fat ratio, lean turkey makes for a flavorless chili
2 16oz. cans of crushed tomatoes
2 hot peppers diced, I selected two small peppers, a green jalapeno and a red habanero pepper
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
1/2 C olive oil
sea salt
coarse black pepper
1 C hot sauce
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 bottle of beer of your choice
1/2 c water
Serving Ingredients:
6 mini Boule bread rounds used for bowls
1 c shredded cheddar jack cheese
sour cream
Optional Beans:
1 8oz. can dark red kidney beans
1/2 yellow onion
Prepare:
In the pan that will eventually house your chili, combine, 1/4 C olive oil with onion, all peppers, sea salt, black pepper. Next, add 1/2 tsp. of chili powder, 1/2 tsp. of cumin and 1/3 C hot sauce. Let sauté on low until fragrant and onions are soft, 10 minutes or so.
While your vegetables are sautéing, put a shallow cast iron or fry pan on Low-Med, add 1/4 C olive oil, turkey, sea salt, black pepper, 1/4 tsp. chili powder, 1/4 tsp. of cumin and 1/3 c of hot sauce. Make sure you break up the turkey with a wooden spoon and stir occasionally.
Once the turkey is cooked, but still moist, add it to the chili pan. Lastly, add the crushed tomatoes, water, beer and the remaining hot sauce and combine. Let chili simmer on low for 1-1/2 hours, while stirring occasionally. This process will thicken your chili to perfection!
If you choose to offer beans on the side, simply sauté on low the thinly sliced onions in 2 tbsp. of olive oil and a pinch of salt, once soft add the drained and rinsed can of kidney beans and cook until tender, I always add the beans to my bowl of chili.
Serve:
I have big bread bowl fans in our house, so we always choose that option. Simply cut out a circle in the top of the bread round, fill with chili, top with cheese and broil for maybe three minutes, watch it though. I also have big sour cream fans in our house, so we always top off our bread bowl chil with a dollop or two. Serve with remaining bread.
Food for many, Enjoy!
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