Apple Pie

Crust:

2 2/3 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 lb butter (2 sticks) 

Mix with hands, Add:

3 oz vodka (or use water)

3 oz ice cold water

Divide into 2 disks, cover with plastic wrap and refridgerate until ready to use. 

Filling: 

Peel, core and slice apples

Toss with sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon. 

Assemble pie and bake on 450 for 10 minutes.

Reduce to 375 and bake for another 30 minutes

Finally mix 1 egg yolk with about 1 tsp sour cream and brush the top, bake for another 20 minutes until  perfectly browned. 

Let cool and enjoy! 

Clam Pizza (something different!)

Clam pizza:

Toppings: Grated mozarella cheese

Clam mixture: 

Finely chopped onion, green pepper.

Chopped parsley

Grated garlic

Red pepper flakes

Salt & Pepper

Squeeze of lemon juice

1 can of clams, strained from juices

Olive oil

Extra lemon for garnish and serving


Pizza dough

Cornmeal

Roll out the dough (my homemade pizza dough in this case), coat the crust area with cornmeal (use a little water to make it stick and be careful not to spill too much on the parchment or pan as it will burn so shake the rest off)

Cover the base of the pizza with cheese

Mix the clam ingredients together and spoon over the whole pizza, except the crust area, make it nice and even and bake!

Garnish with lemon wedges and serve.

Enjoy! ;-) 

Mini Cherry Pies

If pies are the new cupcake then these mini cherry pies can rival any cupcakes in the cuteness category and they're 100% home-made and so delicious!

Start with the Pate Brisee, I had leftover from the other day's apple marzipan galette, Pie dough is easily made ahead of time, frozen and left to thaw in the fridge overnight for convenient use.

Martha Stewart's recipe is one of my favourites, however I've altered it slightly below:

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small cubes

1/4 cup ice water, plus more if needed

1 tsp lemon juice (mixed into the ice water)

Directions

In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour and salt; pulse to combine. Add butter, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some larger pieces remaining, about 10 seconds. (To mix by hand, combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, then cut in butter with a pastry blender or use tips of fingers to rub the butter and flour together, working quickly as not to warm up the ingredients .)

With machine running, add (lemony) ice water through feed tube in a slow, steady stream, just until dough holds together without being wet or sticky. Do not process more than 30 seconds. Test by squeezing a small amount of dough together; if it is still too crumbly, add a bit more water, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Turn out dough onto a clean work surface. Shape into flattened disk. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight. The dough can be frozen for up to 1 month; thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.

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With the last of the season cherries I picked up the rest was easy, pitting was the most fun using the cool technique I learned recently and used on my cherry dumplings here.

I think this is probably one of the most useful and exciting tips I've ever learned because before this I would avoid cherries, using a parring knife to peel the flesh around the pit was not fun at all!

 I double the recipe of pie dough above and make 2 flattened disks to refrigerate then I make pie filling using 2 bags of cherries as directed below:

Doubling the pie dough pastry should make about 12 mini (covered) pies with some cherry filling leftover.
OR you can make about 24 open face  tart like pies (like here)  with all the filling.


An alternate and easier design to do for covered pies is something like this 





Cherry pie filling:

-2 bags of cherries (about 80 cherries, or 2 lbs of cherries)

Remove stems, wash, and using a paring knife cut an X in the bottom of each one.

Doing this assembly style is best. Wash, then begin cutting them and moving them into another bowl.

Once finished all, use a chopstick to push through the top of the cherry (where the stem was) to remove the seed/pit. Once pitted add them to a heavy bottomed saucepan.

Add:
- 1/2 cup sugar
- Juice of half a lemon
- 2 tbsp water

Bring to a boil and cook on medium low for about 15 minutes.

Mix together in a small bowl the following ingredients:

- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp ice water

Bring the cherry filling to a boil again and quickly mix in the cornstarch mixture.

Stir the cornstach mixture into the cherries and you'll see it thicken immediately.  Remove from heat and place the filling in another bowl to cool. Place a sheet of plastic wrap on top of the cherries to avoid a seal forming on the top.

Allow to cool completely then refrigerate until ready to use.

Ok so these little pies were made right in the cupcake pan.. no greasing or anything required. Just cut the dough and put it straight in.

The filling should be cool of course and you can begin your assembly creating any type of design you like. Here I made three different designs ...

Use some eggwash to create a nice sheen on the little pies before baking..

Bake between at 375 for 30 mins or so until the pastry is crispy and golden browned where it touches the pan.

Chicken & Dumplings

Chicken and Dumplings

Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence

Ingredients

Chicken and Stock:

• 1 (3 to 31/2 pound) whole organic chicken
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 sprigs thyme
• 4 to 5 black peppercorns
• 1 head garlic, split through the equator
• 2 tablespoons salt

Directions

Buttermilk-Chive Dumplings:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup chopped chives
• 3/4 to 1 cup buttermilk

Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 cup frozen pearl onions
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• Freshly ground black pepper, for garnish
• Chopped chives, for garnish

For the stock:

Place the chicken and all stock ingredients in a large Dutch oven and cover with water. Set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 1 hour until the chicken is tender. Skim the surface of fat and scum as it cooks.

When done remove the chicken to a cutting board. Strain the stock and shred the meat into big pieces - the stock will be used for the sauce and the chicken will be folded into it.

For the dumplings:

Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a small bowl, using a whisk, lightly beat the eggs, chives and buttermilk together; pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently fold. Mix just until the dough comes together; the batter should be thick and cake-like.

To prepare sauce: In a Dutch oven, over medium heat, add the butter and oil. Add the carrot, celery, garlic, and bay leaves and saute until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the flour to make a roux. Continue to stir and cook for 2 minutes to coat the flour and remove the starchy taste. Slowly pour in the chicken stock, 1 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. Add frozen peas and pearl onions.

Let sauce simmer until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 15 minutes. Stir in heavy cream.

Fold the reserved shredded chicken into the sauce and bring up to a simmer. Using 2 spoons, carefully drop heaping tablespoonfuls of the dumpling batter into the hot mixture. The dumplings should cover the top of the sauce, but should not be touching or crowded. Let the dumplings poach for 10 to 15 minutes until they are firm and puffy. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Season with freshly cracked black pepper and garnish with chopped chives before serving.

Chicken pot pie

What do you do when you have a whole chicken and lots of peas? Well I was in the mood for chicken pot pie!

When I realized I didn't have any butter at home (from all the baking over the weekend) so I had to run to the store to get some. As soon as I set foot outside I realized "chicken pot pie" was a bad idea. It is one of the hottest days of the summer so far!

The chicken was already roasted the night before (lots of salt and lemon for a flavourful tender chicken) took all the meat off the bones and reserved the liquids from the pan in the same container for the meat to soak it up in the fridge, yum!

With fresh peas I shelled them and blanched for a few moments (as soon as they float) I threw them into an ice bath and then put them in the fridge for the next day.

All the vegetables like carrots, celery, onion, small chunks of potato and a few cloves of garlic got boiled in a stock until tender then it was time to make the roux... butter and flour in the pot and milk added to that, some black pepper and a bit of salt in the end.

Veggies and chicken got layered in the casserole, cream sauce was poured over and the oven was preheating on 375-400.

The pastry was made before hand (as soon as I got home with my butter!)

Chopped butter into small cubes and worked it into the flour then some cold milk brought it all together and the dough was shaped into a disk and refrigerated.

At this point it was ready for use so I rolled it out and draped it over the casserole/pan, poked a few holes in it and did an egg wash over.

Baked until it was bubbly and the crust was flaky and browned.