Grandma's Kitchen Table

CHS Prom 2011

      It's prom time again...where did that year go?  It feels like it was just prom time a few months ago...time flies, doesn't it?  Matt and Kiernan met their dates, Reyn and Devon at Devon's house for some pre-prom photos before going out to dinner...so here we go:

  

      Reyn:  "I have no idea what I am doing. I don't know how to do this!" 

      "Well, yeah, sure, Matt...you have the easier time of this as all  you have is slide it on and there are no pins involved."  And in case you can't see the wrist corsage well enough, here's a close up:

      "Okay, let's get some photos...where do we start?"

      "Funny, folks, now for the real shots...." Matt, Reyn, Devon, and Kiernan

     "Okay, seriously, it is cold out here, let's hurry up!"

     "Just how many photos do we actually need anyway?"

      "Who wanted outside photos?  It's windy and freezing cold out here, look how choppy the water is!  April in Indiana is not the place to be taking outside prom shots!  Are we done yet?  Thumbs up if we are DONE....YEAH!"

      Okay, one last shot before they head out...Reyn and Matt...Senior Prom CHS 2011.

French Fridays with Dorie: Bistrot Paul Bert Pepper Steak

      The twenty-second recipe I made for French Fridays with Dorie, from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table cookbook, was Bistrot Paul Bert Pepper Steak found on pages 238-239. 

      This was a wonderful recipe, very easy to execute and delicious.  The steaks are quickly cooked, having first been encrusted with peppercorns.  Dorie's directions are for rare steaks, which is exactly how we like them.
      The sauce is made in the same pan and comes together while the steak rests on a warm plate.  It is all finished in a matter of 20 minutes or less.  Did I mention how lovely the sauce is?  Well, the sauce is lovely.  It has just a hint of the Cognac in the background, not overpowering at all.  This is definitely a repeat.

      Ingredient list:  peppercorns, filet mignons (Dorie also suggests using rib-eye steak as an option), canola oil, unsalted butter, Cognac, heavy cream, and salt. 

     

      If you would like to learn more about this group, you can click here. Enrollment is open, feel free to follow along officially or unofficially. The group posts weekly on Fridays.

Modern Baker: Chocolate Orange Hazelnut Tart

      The tenth recipe I made from the Sweet Tarts & Pies section (the 68th recipe overall in this book) of The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Chocolate Orange Hazelnut Tart, on pages 178-179.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us). 

      I used one-third recipe of the Nut Tart Dough for a 6" tart pan.  The ingredient list for the crust:  all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, unsalted butter, hazelnuts, and eggs.  I used one-third of the filling recipe for this 6" tart and it fit perfectly.  The ingredient list for the filling:  cream, sugar, butter, chocolate, eggs, orange zest, and dark rum, with chopped hazelnuts on the top.  The ingredient list for the chocolate drizzle:  chocolate and butter. 

      The tart was done baking in 25 minutes.  This little tart comes together quickly and packs a "wow" factor when it is all finished.  "Wow" in looks and "Wow" in taste, according to the guys who just loved the chocolatey goodness.  Definitely a hit, definitely a repeat.
      I am on a tart-making tear, let me tell you.  This 6" tart pan is just a perfect size, the slices small and nice, all of it easily eaten in a day or two so that I can move on to making something else that's new and fun.  The tarts go together particularly quickly if you have the tart dough made and stashed in the refrigerator (for up to 2 days) or in the freezer, ready to go.  Each of the dough recipes in this section makes enough dough for three of the little 6" tarts, so if you make a couple of batches of the dough, divide it up, you have six tart crust ready to roll, fill, and bake.  Piece of cake...no wait...easy as pie, that's the correct adage.  I will miss this section when we move onto the next one as I think tarts are my favorite things to bake. 

      Andrea's post here; Sara's post here.

      If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting the Breads, with the blogroll here.

Thirty Minute Thursdays: Zuppa di Pasta e Broccoli (Broccoli Soup with Pasta)

      This week forThirty Minute Thursdays, cooking our way through Giuliano Hazan's Thirty Minute Pasta book with Glennis and whoever else wants to join us, I made Zuppa di Pasta e Broccoli (Broccoli Soup with Pasta), on pages 36-37. 

      Yes, indeed, the book has a soup section.  I think he put that in there just for me.  I am surprised it has taken me four months to pick a soup from that section actually as they all look quite good.  And, well, we all know I am the Soup Queen.  This was delicious! 

      The ingredient list:  broccoli, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, beef bouillon, and pasta (he suggests ditalini or small shells). 

      The whole process is very easy and fast, so a great bowl of soup is less than 30 minutes away.  Like the rest of his recipes, very straightforward, just follow the steps and it all works. The garlic in it lends a nice little punch of flavor.  All in all, absolutely wonderful. 

      The only thing I would change next time is to increase the broth by a bit as I like broth a lot.  The photo in the book shows the soup with ditalini pasta which is little and has a hole through the center so the broth measurement probably works best for that type of pasta...I used small shells which are larger than ditalini and therefore take more of the liquid to cook the pasta (and be absorbed by it) and they also take up more space in the bowl than the ditalini.  So, if I use the little shells again next time, I will increase the broth to accommodate that.  All that said, it was perfectly delightful just the way it turned out this time, and if you are like Matt, the whole broth thing is way over-rated and he would much prefer it exactly this way.  When you make it, you get to decide!  

      If you like the looks and sounds of it, buy the book as I am a believer in encouraging people to support the authors who put together these fabulous books by buying a copy, so you won't find the recipes posted from this book here.  (Buy it, the recipes are easy, the ingredients are easy to locate, it's not pricey, and there are photos of almost all the recipes.)

Modern Baker: Pumpkin-Pecan Buttermilk Tart with Cinnamon Whipped Cream

      The ninth recipe I made from the Sweet Tarts & Pies section (the 67th recipe overall in this book) of The Modern Baker  by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Pumpkin-Pecan Buttermilk Tart with Cinnamon Whipped Cream, on page 174.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us). 

      I used one-third recipe of the Sweet Tart Dough for a 6" tart pan.  The ingredient list for the crust:  all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, unsalted butter, and eggs.  I used one-third of the filling recipe for this 6" tart and it fit perfectly.  The ingredient list for the filling:  pumpkin puree, eggs, sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, buttermilk, and pecans.  The ingredient list for the whipped cream:  heavy cream, sugar, and cinnamon.  The tart was done baking in 35 minutes.
      You might have noticed that the whipped cream is missing from the tart in the photo, but that doesn't mean that it was missing at serving time.  I wanted to take the photos in daylight and the tart was actually for serving to guests in the evening, so I didn't have the cream made at the time of the photo...I am certain you can use your imagination. 

      Mark is the big lover of pumpkin pie around here and he loves it with whipped cream or just plain.  He would have preferred not to have nuts in this, so next time I make it I will leave those off the top, easy enough to do.  For the life of me around here, I cannot figure out when the guys like nuts in things and when they don't, it's a crap shoot every single recipe. 

      The pie was delicious, reported by guests and husband alike.  I made two tarts yesterday so there was enough for Mark to have this for breakfast and some to take for lunch as well...obviously the tart was a big hit and will definitely be repeated (without the nuts).

      Phyl's post here; Abby's post here. 

      If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting the Breads, with the blogroll here.

Modern Baker: Bourbon-Scented Pecan Tart

        The eighth recipe I made from the Sweet Tarts & Pies section (the 66th recipe overall in this book) of The Modern Baker  by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Bourbon-Scented Pecan Tart, on page 175.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us). 

      I used one-third recipe of the Sweet Tart Dough for a 6" tart pan.  The ingredient list for the crust:  all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, unsalted butter, and eggs.  I used one-third of the filling recipe for this 6" tart and it fit perfectly.  The ingredient list for the filling:  pecans, dark corn syrup, sugar, unsalted butter, eggs, salt, and bourbon.  The tart was done baking in 28 minutes. 

      Originally I wasn't going to use the bourbon in this recipe as it isn't something that I have on hand in my pantry, and when I bake for the younger guys I generally leave out the alcohol, but Phyl raved about it and said that we should all definitely not leave it out, so Mark scored one of those little airline-type bottles of MM and  drizzled it in and you would not believe just how good this little tart tasted.  Absolutely delicious and delightful!
      Definitely a repeat, might even need to stock a smallish bottle of that bourbon, maybe get a really good one to up the ante a bit, for when the desire strikes to make this again.

      Phyl's post here; Abby's post here. 

      If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting the Breads, with the blogroll here.

French Fridays with Dorie: Pancetta Green Beans

      The twentieth recipe I made for French Fridays with Dorie, from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table cookbook, was Pancetta Green Beans found on page 333. 

      It isn't exactly fresh green bean season here, but I did manage to find some that were passable, and made better by Dorie's treatment of them in this recipe. 

      Usually we just like green beans steamed with barely a whisper of a pass of a teeny bit of butter on them before they hit the dinner plate, and we like the ones that are young thin and tender...oh, yes, I am fairly picky about fresh green beans.  That said, these were delightful. 

      I made two changes, I used bacon instead of pancetta as it is much friendlier on my weekly budget and I can always find good bacon whereas I can't always get really good pancetta, and I steamed the green beans rather than toss them in water and boil them.  I think the essence of what Dorie intended was still present in the finished product. 

      Delicious!  This is definitely a repeat.

      Ingredient list:  green beans, pancetta, unsalted butter, pepper, walnut oil, and salt.  If you would like to learn more about this group, you can click here. Enrollment is open, feel free to follow along officially or unofficially. The group posts weekly on Fridays.

Happy Easter!

      Happy Easter!  We've been in an Easter kind of mood around here this weekend.  It started off with a lovely bouquet of yellow tulips for me from Reyn...not sure which is prettier, the flowers or Reyn, both are gorgeous and such fun to have around.
      Reyn's family does not dye Easter eggs, Matt's family does, so Reyn came on over to help us color the eggs...Matt, Reyn, Mark, and I sat around the table coloring eggs...one is never too old to enjoy coloring eggs.  The first photo is proof that 18 year old boys are sometimes like 8 year old boys...here's a photo of Matt and Reyn holding their eggs up for a photo....
...and here's a photo taken a second later when I heard, "Oh, no, I dropped my egg!"  Some things never change.
      All Mark's siblings were at his parents' house at the same time as that only happens about once a year.  Worthy enough for a photo.  Mark, Philip, Brian, and Alan in the back; Mark's Dad Emil and his mother Dorothy in the front with Nancy and Luke.
      And Grandma and Grandpa with five of the grandkids...Matt, Alex, David, Jonathan in the back with Steven in the front.  It's definitely a guy-oriented family. 

     Easter Goodie Bags and Baskets after Mass.  Reyn was thrilled with a new cupcake cookbook...maybe we will have another guest post soon.         Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter and weekend in general.  I can't believe the boys are 18 and next year, although maybe home from college, our little nest will be empty for the most part.  Yikes, time flies.  Kids or not, there will be Easter egg coloring here again next year...it's something I look forward to each year.

Bake! Strawberry Chantilly Cake

      The fourteenth recipe that I made from Bake!  by Nick Malgieri was Strawberry Chantilly Cake, found on page 163. 

      This was my pick for the group this week.  I knew that my pick was going to fall in my birthday week, so I searched the book looking for a recipe with strawberries and whipped cream and cake...those are my favorite ingredients for my birthday cake each year.  Most of the time my first choice in birthday cakes is day old angel food cake with whipped cream and strawberries to top it off.  Yum!  This recipe seemed very close to that and I was looking forward to trying the cake that the recipe recommended. 

      You make the cake layers (in my case I made a six inch cake, half of the recipe in the book makes two six inch layers), let them cool, and frost the cake with whipped cream (I used 2/3 of the frosting recipe just to be safe and it took every bit of that).  There are strawberries and whipped cream between the layers and a few strawberries to decorate the outside, so you need about a pint of fresh strawberries.
      All of it fairly simple and not too fussy.  I'm not that great at cake decorating, but this was fairly easy and who is going to find fault when they get to eat strawberries and whipped cream? 

      Ingredient list for the Moist Yellow Cake Layers (page 124):  flour, baking powder, salt, eggs, milk, butter, sugar, and vanilla.  The ingredient list for the Sweetened Whipped Cream (page 159):  heavy whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla. 

      I made the cake the day of my birthday and we cut it and ate it in the evening.  I didn't care for it.  Seriously, the cake was a bit stiff and had too much "yellow" flavor (don't ask me what that means because I am not really sure other than I wished that I had made a white cake instead).  I took a couple of bites and Matt happily finished my piece as the guys just loved it. 

      I tried it again the next day.  So good on the second day...I think the berries/juice and whipped cream sort of settled in and called the cake home with that extra time because I really liked it all the second day...it was absolutely delicious.  I recommend making it one day and letting it sit in the refrigerator overnight and serving it the next day...really, there was such a difference in taste, it was just wonderful!  Definitely a repeat.   

      Get the book and Bake! with us, we will even let you choose recipes in rotation with us, yes, we will!

Modern Baker: Banana Walnut (Pecan) Tart

      The seventh recipe I made from the Sweet Tarts & Pies section (the 65th recipe overall in this book) of The Modern Baker  by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Banana Walnut (Pecan) Tart, on page 171.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us). 

      I used one-third recipe of the Sweet Tart Dough for a 6" tart pan.  The ingredient list for the crust:  all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, unsalted butter, and eggs.  I used one-third of the filling recipe for this 6" tart and it fit perfectly.  The ingredient list for the filling:  pecans (I used pecans rather than walnuts as we like pecans better), brown sugar, butter, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla, flour, baking powder, rum, bananas, and pecan pieces.
      Originally I wasn't all that excited about this recipe as we aren't all that fond of bananas IN things, but Phyl raved about it and he's usually right about this sort of thing, i.e. baking recipes, so I gave it a go and we were all pleasantly surprised at just how good this little tart tasted.  We didn't even put whipped cream on it...a sure sign that something can stand all on its own.  Definitely a repeat.

      Phyl's post here; Abby's post here. 

      If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting the Breads, with the blogroll here.

Thirty Minute Thursdays: Spaghetti alle Carote (Spaghetti with Carrots)

      This week for Thirty Minute Thursdays, cooking our way through Giuliano Hazan's Thirty Minute Pasta book with Glennis and whoever else wants to join us, I made Spaghetti alle Carote (Spaghetti with Carrots), on pages 88-89. 

      This recipe caught my eye because it seemed so unusual...spaghetti with carrots?  I had never seen or heard of that before and the photo in the book looked refreshing and pretty.  We all like carrots so I decided to take the recipe out for a spin.  

      The ingredient list:  carrots, parsley, butter, cream, nutmeg, salt & pepper, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and spaghetti. 

      It was good, we all enjoyed it as something different to have maybe every now and again.  There was enough leftover for a side dish another night and I only made half the recipe to begin with, so it wasn't something that was flying out of the pan like pasta dishes usually do around here with the guys, but it was tasty and they were happy to a nice size portion of it.  I think it would be great with hamburgers off the grill. 

      If you like the looks and sounds of it, buy the book as I am a believer in encouraging people to support the authors who put together these fabulous books by buying a copy, so you won't find the recipes posted from this book here.  (Buy it, the recipes are easy, the ingredients are easy to locate, it's not pricey, and there are photos of almost all the recipes.)

Bake! Chicken Empanadas

       The thirteenth recipe that I made from Bake!  by Nick Malgieri was Chicken Empanadas, found on pages 54-55.  The Quick Puff Pastry recipe is found on page 50.  These were fun (although I am the first to admit my puff pastry dough skills need a lot of fine tuning) and they were a big hit with the guys. 

      I used left over chicken from a rotisserie chicken so that was why I chose to make the chicken ones over the ground beef ones that I originally intended to make (the recipes in the book are identical except for the choice of meat).  I made the filling and parked it in the refrigerator, the dough was already in progress, and then later in the day I formed the Empanadas to bake in the oven for dinner. 

      It was all rather easy (and would be even easier if you used purchased puff pastry which I am inclined to do for the time factor alone in something like this where the fine art of puff pastry is sort of lost on guys who just see these as meat pies to be eaten in a manly manner, i.e. without pausing to admire or appreciate the fine art of puff pastry and the work/time involved).   

      Ingredient list for the Empanadas:  chicken (or you can use ground beef), potatoes, onion, bell pepper, garlic, olive oil, cumin, tomato puree, water, salt, white vinegar, capers, pimiento-stuffed green olives, and hot chili powder.  The ingredient list for the puff pastry:  butter, flour, salt, and water. 

      I baked them for the time specified and that seemed to be a correct as everything was nice and hot and nicely browned, but my edges got a little too brown...I think the camera shows them a little more brown than they actually were, but they were browner than I would have liked.  Not sure how to correct that, but it didn't really matter in the long run as Matt and Mark really enjoyed them and would like to have them again soon.  Definitely a repeat. 

      Abby and Andrea also baked these, so click on their names and see lovely Empandas with no dark edges.  And Phyl made three different kinds!

      Get the book and Bake!  with us, we will even let you choose recipes in rotation with us, yes, we will!

Tuesdays with Dorie: A Tourtely Apple Tart

       Thanks to Twitter pal Jeannette, from The Whimsical Cupcake, for her pick of A Tourtely Apple Tart, found on pages 306-307 of Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours cookbook.  Click here for the recipe. 

      I've been making a lot of pies/tarts lately for one of my other baking groups, and have fallen in love with other crusts...so, apologies to you all for defecting on the crust for this recipe, but I did not use Dorie's, I used a different one which is very very similar but which for some reason I can handle whereas I cannot seem to make Dorie's work for me...yes, I know, I know, you all love that dough and it works so well for you all and I am terribly embarrassed but I cannot get that crust to work for me, so I am admitting defeat and moving on in regards to that crust.  That confessed, I did use her filling, and it was definitely the apply filling that made this tart so delicious.
      This tart was a nice change from a regular 2-crust apple pie, but probably not a fan favorite here, meaning:  it was nice to make/eat it, but it won't replace the apple pie that everyone requests when the apple pie cravings hit.  Fun and easy to make this time for sure, so thanks, Jeannette, we enjoyed it, and I hope that your birthday weekend was everything you were hoping for in a birthday weekend!

        Next week:  Valerie from Une Gamine dans la Cuisine has chosen Cornmeal Shortbread Cookies, found on page 110. TWD blogroll found here.

Bake! Best & Easiest Carrot Cake

      The twelfth recipe that I made from Bake!  by Nick Malgieri was Best & Easiest Carrot Cake, found on pages 130-131. 

      My guys are not big cake eaters for some reason.  Cake just isn't really their thing at all.  I can bake a cake and they will have a slice and then that's pretty much it.  I have been known to give cake away to anyone who hits the front door when one is in residence.  There are two exceptions:  Pineapple Upside Down Cake and Carrot Cake.  Those two cakes are always popular and always get eaten in total. 

      Phyl picked the Best & Easiest Carrot Cake recipe for us and I have to say, it was easy and it was very very good, maybe the best I have made in fact. 

      Ingredient list for the cake:  flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, dark brown sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, carrots, and walnuts.  The ingredient list for the cream cheese frosting:  cream cheese, butter, confectioner's sugar, and vanilla.
      Could not be easier, absolutely delicious.  I used my 6" cake pans and a half recipe of the cake batter worked perfectly to make the two layers.  I used two-thirds of the recipe for the cream cheese frosting and it was also a nice amount...the guys like plenty of this kind of frosting!   Definitely a repeat.   

      Get the book and Bake! with us, we will even let you choose recipes in rotation with us, yes, we will!

Modern Baker: Bittersweet Chocolate Tart

      The sixth recipe I made from the Sweet Tarts & Pies section (the 64th recipe overall in this book) of The Modern Baker  by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Bittersweet Chocolate Tart, on pages 168-169.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us). 

      I used one-third recipe of the Press-In Cookie Dough Crust for a 6" tart pan.  The ingredient list for the crust:  all-purpose flour, sugar, vanilla, unsalted butter, and egg.  I used one-third of the filling recipe for this 6" tart and I had a little left over.  The ingredient list for the filling:  cream, corn syrup, bittersweet chocolate, butter. 

      This was the first time I had made the press-in cookie dough crust and it went well enough, tasted nicely.  I prefer the Sweet Tart Dough as I like to just roll out the crust, which takes only a minute and then place it in the pan which takes maybe another minute.  With the press in dough there is more fiddling about with it and I never think it looks as nice when I finish.  It is just a matter of personal preference, you can try it and decide for yourself.  In the photo below you can see another reason I am not fond of this dough, it is sort of crumbly, so crumbies end up on the filling, in the filling, etc. and I didn't get that nice clean cut that I usually get with the Sweet Tart Dough.  Of course, this has nothing to do with taste, so these are just minor little things.
      The filling was easy to make and pour into the crust, then into the refrigerator for an hour to set, and then back to room temperature for serving.  The book suggested serving it with chocolate shavings or powdered sugar, maybe some raspberries, or nothing at all.  We went the nothing at all route and then the guys decided they wanted whipped cream.  They loved this tart and would be happy to have it again soon.  Definitely a repeat.  

      If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting the Breads, with the blogroll here.

French Fridays with Dorie: Garlicky Crumb-Coated Broccoli

      The nineteenth recipe I made for French Fridays with Dorie, from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table cookbook, was Garlicky Crumb-Coated Broccoli, found on page 334. 

      I wasn't going to make this one, not because we don't like broccoli, but because we do.  We love broccoli.  Broccoli is a guest at our dinner table three nights a week, maybe more often than that actually.  Broccoli is something I can count on to be a hands down, no fuss, no mess healthy item that everyone will be happy to eat and I know we are all getting great nutritional benefits from it.  We might slide a teeny tiny bit of butter on it occasionally, but not always, we love it just plain steamed, still vibrantly green with just a touch of resistance when pierced with a knife. 

      Yes indeed...nothing I wanted to mess around with is what I was figuring.  Why spoil a perfectly good thing with something they might like better that has more fuss, more mess, and definitely more calories?  Butter and breadcrumbs with a bit of garlic thrown in there sounded too good to resist. 

      So I didn't.  I made it.  And it was so good!  Absolutely dangerous stuff...dangerous to eat and easy enough that it would be dangerously easy to keep making it that way all the time.  So, I did what any mother would do:  I only made enough for myself to try it out and I am not telling the guys a thing about it...it will be our little secret. 

      It's that good...if I made this and served this to them, I would be making and serving this to them this way for the rest of my life, steamed broccoli would lose favor and my feel-good attitude about serving it 3-4 times a week would be a thing of the past.  I will make this for holidays and swear on my life that it is a holiday-only dish.  Shhhh...don't tell.

      Ingredient list:  broccoli, garlic, breadcrumbs, butter, lemon, and parsley.  

     

      If you would like to learn more about this group, you can click here. Enrollment is open, feel free to follow along officially or unofficially. The group posts weekly on Fridays.

French Fridays with Dorie: Quinoa, Fruit, and Nut Salad

      The eighteenth recipe I made for French Fridays with Dorie, from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table cookbook, was Quinoa, Fruit, and Nut Salad, found on page 138.  Easy, delicious, and healthy, what more could you want in a recipe? 

      It all comes together fairly quickly as you can work on gathering up all the other ingredients in the time it takes the quinoa to cook, which is only about 20 minutes.  After it is all assembled it sits at room temperature for an hour to let the flavors come together a bit.  Definitely a repeat. 

      Ingredient list:  quinoa, dried fruit (I used cranberries, apricots, raisins, and golden raisins), nuts/seeds (I used sliced almonds, pine nuts, and sunflower seeds), fresh herbs (I used parsley), freshly squeezed lemon juice, ginger, extra virgin olive oil, salt & pepper, walnut oil, mixed salad greens, and plain yogurt.

 

      If you would like to learn more about this group, you can click here. Enrollment is open, feel free to follow along officially or unofficially. The group posts weekly on Fridays.

Modern Baker: Blueberry Crumble Pie

      The fifth recipe I made from the Sweet Tarts & Pies section (the 63rd recipe overall in this book) of The Modern Baker  by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Blueberry Crumble Pie, on pages 184-185.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us).  

      Oh, if you love blueberries, you really need to make this one!

      I used one-third recipe of the Sweet Tart Dough for a 7" pie pan.  The ingredient list for the crust:  all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, unsalted butter, and eggs.  I used one-half of the filling recipe for this 7" pie.  The ingredient list for the filling:  blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, water, nutmeg, butter.  I used one-half of the topping recipe for this 7" pie.  The ingredient list for the topping:  flour, baking powder, cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter.   The filling was easy and one-half of the recipe fit exactly into the pan perfectly, the half-recipe topping was also a perfect fit, and it baked for 40 minutes.
      After it cooled on the rack, I sliced it, added a little scoop of ice cream, and was delighted with every bite.  And, from Mark, who loves pie maybe as much as he loves cookies:  "This is excellent.  This is the best blueberry pie I have ever had in my life."  Enough said, this is going to be my new Blueberry Pie recipe from now on.  Definitely a repeat.  

      If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting the Breads, with the blogroll here.

CEiMB: Sage-Rubbed Pork Chops with Warm Apple Slaw

      The recipe chosen this week for CEiMB, using Ellie Krieger's So Easy, was Tuna Noodle Casserole, chosen by Peggy of Pantry Revisited and found on page 191 of Ellie's So Easy book.  You can find the recipe here.  I didn't make it, sorry, but we are not tuna fans here and when I polled the crew they shot it down.  I promise to make your next choice, Peggy, really, I do. 

      So instead, I made a rewind of a recipe that had been made before I joined the group:  Sage-Rubbed Pork Chops with Warm Apple Slaw, from Ellie's The Food You Crave book, pages 194-195.  You can find the recipe here. 

      Mark loves pork chops, the rest of us are rather so-so on them, but I knew he would enjoy these, and he did like them quite a lot.  The recipe is easy, the greatest amount of time is spent chopping  the apple, carrot, cabbage for the slaw and that wasn't bad at all.  The warm slaw part was delicious, tangy and nice from the cider vinegar.  Definitely a repeat for Mark, he even took leftovers in his lunch the next day. 

      Next week's assignment is Wheat Berry Salad, chosen by Leslie of Lethally Delicious, on pages 68-70 of Ellie's book So Easy.  You can find the CEiMB blogroll here.

Thirty Minute Thursdays: Fusilli con le Zucchine Giaffe e Ciliegini (Fusilli with Yellow Squash and Grape Tomatoes)

      This week for Thirty Minute Thursdays, cooking our way through Giuliano Hazan's Thirty Minute Pasta book with Glennis and whoever else wants to join us, I made Fusilli con le Zucchine Giaffe e Ciliegini (Fusilli with Yellow Squash and Grape Tomatoes), on page 83.  This was such a nice side dish.  We served it with flank steak on the grill and it seemed like the perfect accompaniment. 

      The ingredient list:  onion, yellow squash, cherry tomatoes, olive oil, thyme, pepper, and fusilli pasta.

      This is definitely going in the regular rotation.  The only thing I changed was using rotini instead of fusilli as I could not find fusilli without a special trip to another store and it just didn't seem to be something I needed to do since they are both basically the same size and shape, fusilli being only slightly more tightly wound than rotini.  It worked fine.  

      If you like the looks and sounds of it, buy the book as I am a believer in encouraging people to support the authors who put together these fabulous books by buying a copy, so you won't find the recipes posted from this book here.  (Buy it, the recipes are easy, the ingredients are easy to locate, it's not pricey, and there are photos of almost all the recipes.)

Modern Baker: Roman Almond & Pine Nut Tart

      The fourth recipe I made from the Sweet Tarts & Pies section (the 62nd recipe overall in this book) of The Modern Baker  by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Roman Almond & Pine Nut Tart, on pages 176-177.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us). 

      This is a really great tart...I was attracted to it because it had lemon in it, but I wasn't really sure what to expect with almond paste and pine nuts.  Turns out this is one very nice dessert. 

      I used one-third recipe of the Sweet Tart Dough for a 6" tart pan.  The ingredient list for the crust:  all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, unsalted butter, and eggs.  I used one-third of the filling recipe for this 6" tart.  The ingredient list for the filling:  almond paste, sugar, eggs, butter, vanilla, lemon zest, and flour.  I used one-third of the topping recipe for this 6" tart.  The ingredient list for the topping:  pignoli (pine nuts) and confectioner's sugar.  Tart crusts are so easy to roll out with this dough, it fits together in just moments.  The filling was easy and 1/3 of the recipe fit exactly into the pan perfectly.  The little pine nuts go on the top, it baked for 22 minutes and after it cooled on the rack, I unmolded it and sprinkled on the powdered sugar.
      Okay, you are waiting to hear how it tasted, right?  This is my new favorite from this book.  It is sweet but not overly so, it has a lovely taste with the almonds, lemon, pine nuts, and little sprinkling of powdered sugar.  It's hard to describe other than to say it is absolutely delicious.  In the side bar Malgieri says that tarts like these are found in many pastry shops in southern Italy...lucky patrons indeed.  Definitely a repeat.  

      If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting the Breads, with the blogroll here.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Strawberry Rhubarb Double Crisp

      Thanks to Sarah, from Teapots and Cakestands, for her pick of Strawberry Rhubarb Double Crisp, found on pages 420-421 of Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours cookbook.  Click here for the recipe.
      We are big Crisp fans here, fruit desserts are always popular with this crowd, and strawberries and rhubarb are just a match made in heaven so I knew we were going to love this recipe.  We did.  Top Five for sure.  (I can hear Nancy laughing from here as she reads this as I have about 50 Top Fives.) 

      The only thing I changed was to leave out the nuts...my guys are not big fans of nuts in fruit things. That doesn't mean you need to leave them out, though, so click on over and get the recipe and make a batch for yourself...if you can't find fresh rhubarb, a package of frozen rhubarb works just as well.  Yes, it does.  Definitely a repeat.

        Next week:  Jeanette from The Whimsical Cupcake has chosen A Tourtely Apple Tart, found on pages 306-307. TWD blogroll found here.

Modern Baker: Sour Cream Apple Pie

      The third recipe I made from the Sweet Tarts & Pies section (the 61st recipe overall in this book) of The Modern Baker  by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Sour Cream Apple Pie, on page 183.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us). 

      I used one-third recipe of the Sweet Tart Dough for a half size 7" pie plate.  The ingredient list for the crust:  all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, unsalted butter, and eggs.  I used one-half of the filling recipe for this 7" pie.  The ingredient list for the filling:  apples, butter, sugar, flour, eggs, vanilla, sour cream.  I used one-half of the topping recipe for this 7" pie.  The ingredient list for the topping:  flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and butter. 

      The recipe calls for cooking the apples before assembling the filling, so that was a first for me to do it that way and when I finished, I just wanted to eat the apples and skip the pie part because they were so delicious (I had to sample one, right?)  I proceeded to add the apples to the custard filling, however, and bake it all in the pie shell.
      The guys really liked it a lot.  I liked the cooked apples a lot.  I wasn't as wild about the custard/apple filling as I am not all that fond of fruit in custard...too much going on at once.  Which doesn't mean you aren't going to love this, because you will...you are nowhere near as finicky about food touching other food as I am.  Nowhere near.  I would make this again for the guys as it was easy, called for simple procedures and ingredients, was not at all time-consuming, and I can always make a few addtional apples for me to snitch in the process.  Definitely worth it.  

      If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting the Breads, with the blogroll here.

Modern Baker: Lemony Cheese Tart with Sour Cream Glaze

      The second recipe I made from the Sweet Tarts & Pies section (the 60th recipe overall in this book) of The Modern Baker  by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Lemony Cheese Tart with Sour Cream Glaze, on pages 172-173.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us). 

      I used one-third recipe of the Sweet Tart Dough for the 6" crust.  The ingredient list for the crust:  all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, unsalted butter, and eggs.  I used one-fourth of the filling recipe for this 6" tart.  The ingredient list for the filling:  cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest, eggs, and sour cream.  Again, one-fourth of the topping recipe for this tart.  The ingredient list for the topping:  sour cream, sugar, and vanilla.
      It all went together quickly and easily with readily available inexpensive ingredients.  The end result was delicious, sort of like a lemon cheesecake.  The recommendation was to serve it at room temperature, and that was good, but I loved it best chilled from the refrigerator.  Definitely a repeat...we all loved it.  

      If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting the Breads, with the blogroll here.

Modern Baker: Sweet Tart Dough

      The first recipe I made from the Sweet Tarts & Pies section (the 59th recipe overall in this book) of The Modern Baker  by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Sweet Tart Dough, on page 160.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us).  We will be in this section of the book from now until the end of July as there are 20 recipes in this section, roughly one per week for these next four months.

      The ingredient list for the Sweet Tart Dough:  all-purpose flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, butter, and eggs.
      The process for this was the same as for the Rich Pie Dough from the previous section...you toss all the ingredients in the food processor, whirl it around until it just begins to act like it will clump together, stop pulsing, turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap (if you are going to refrigerate it) or roll it right away.
      I always put the dough in plastic wrap and rest it in the refrigerator for an hour before rolling it to firm it up a bit as it makes rolling a bit easier.  This dough handles and rolls just beautifully, no trouble with it at all. 

      From here I will depart on what to do with the full recipe if you want to use a 6" tart pan as this pan is a new acquisition of mine and I am loving the size, shape, and ease of using it for making the tarts.  Why?  For starters it takes only 1/3 of the dough recipe and 1/4 of the filling recipe.  If you wish to have a reasonable amount of tart and not a lot left over and hanging around, this is a good size.  Since I am making quite a few tarts, both savory and sweet, for these sections of the book, I figured we could use less in volume since we were making so many of them, both in expense, and in calories.
      For the full dough recipe, there is about 15 ounces of dough, which I split into thirds, 5 ounces each.  I wrap them separately and put into the refrigerator if I'm going to use them within two days or into the freezer if it will be longer than two days.  I store them in the freezer in a container/baggie labeled with what the dough is and the size so that I don't forget what is in there as I have several types of dough that I make and have on hand.
      The three dough packages were fitted into one six inch tart pan and two seven inch pie plates (these are half the size/volume of a regular 8-9 inch pie).
      At this point, I put two into the refrigerator to firm up and use right away and one into the freezer which I will take out when I start making the pie filling for it later in the week so that it will ready to go into the oven when I finish. 

      The dough is very nice to work with and the taste is also delicious.  It is a bit sweeter than my normal  MS "It's a Good Thing" pie dough, but nicely so.  I will probably go between this recipe and the MS one as we like them both.  (Maybe if I have a really sweet filling I would use the less sweet dough for instance, and vice versa.)  This Sweet Tart Dough recipe is definitely going into the regular line up here, it's a great dough.

      If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting the Breads, with the blogroll here.

Guest Post: Reyn Cooks From Eva's Kitchen

      Matt has the most wonderful girlfriend ever, we just love her.  She's nice, kind, sweet, smart, talented, beautiful, and best of all, she is just so lovely always to Matt.  You can't ask for more than that in a girlfriend.

      Thursday night she had Matt over for dinner after he returned from Spring Break in Boston.  She and her mother had gotten a new cookbook when they were on Spring Break and she was eager to try it out.  

      Matt sent a few photos to me from his phone while they were cooking and I asked Reyn if she would like to guest post her dinner, so here's the result...I think we should give her great reviews for putting together something so photogenic and delicious!   Matt just loved it.  He was so proud of her for making everything from scratch and for making something she knew he would really like.  A big hit.

      So, in Reyn's words:  The recipe was out of Eva Longoria's new cookbook called Eva's Kitchen:  Cooking with Love for Family and Friends. I made chalupas! 

Chalupas

Makes 4 to 8 servings

-1/2 cup vegetable oil 

-8 corn tortillas

-4 cups shredded lettuce

-1 1/2 cups grates cheese

-3/4 cup sour cream

-1 large tomato, diced

-2 avocados, pitted peeled and diced

-2 cups refried beans

-2  cups cooked, shredded chicken

      To start I took 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts and put them in a baking pan. I rubbed 2 teaspoons of olive oil on top and sprinkled kosher salt and ground black pepper on top. I baked them for 35 minutes.  After taking them out, I cut them up in bite size pieces.

      I cooked the tortillas by putting olive oil in a pan (on medium temperature) and frying them for a minute of each side. I didn't have to do that, but I think the crunchy made it tastier :)

      I put the beans and chicken on the tortillas and put them in the oven at a low temperature just to keep them warm.

      Matt and my friend Chelsea, who joined us for dinner, chopped up the tomatos and grated the cheese (we bought a block of sharp white cheddar cheese) while I cut the avocado and shredded the lettuce.

      Take the tortillas out of the oven and put on whatever you please :)

 

      Sorry for such a long explanation, but I had so much fun cooking! I think I'm going to start doing it more often :)  I'm thinking about making a cake tomorrow...I might be addicted.

Thirty Minute Thursdays: Fusilli ai Porri e Cipolla Rossa (Fusilli with Leeks and Red Onions)

      This week for Thirty Minute Thursdays, cooking our way through Giuliano Hazan's Thirty Minute Pasta book with Glennis and whoever else wants to join us, I made Fusilli ai Porri e Cipolla Rossa (Fusilli with Leeks and Red Onions), on page 75.  We are an onion-loving family so when I was looking through the book this recipe stood out right away: onions and pasta, what's not to love about that? 

      Okay, first off, it is not fusilli pasta as I could not locate that this past week, I used rotini as it looks and acts the same and I can always locate it at the market.   The ingredient list:  red onion, leeks, extra-virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, Italian parsley, and freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. 

      This is as easy as sauteing onions and boiling pasta and then assembling it all.  If you like onions, this is one for you to make...it is fresh and light.  I would definitely make this one again. 

      If you like the looks and sounds of it, buy the book as I am a believer in encouraging people to support the authors who put together these fabulous books by buying a copy, so you won't find the recipes posted from this book here.  (Buy it, the recipes are easy, the ingredients are easy to locate, it's not pricey, and there are photos of almost all the recipes.)

CEiMB: Crispy Chicken Fingers with Honey-Mustard Sauce

      The recipe chosen this week for CEiMB, using Ellie Krieger's So Easy, was Crispy Chicken Fingers with Honey-Mustard Sauce, chosen by Jennifer of The Rookie Baker and found on page 200 of Ellie's The Food You Crave book.  You can also find the recipe here. 

      These were fun and easy and quite good actually, a nice bit of tender white chicken breast covered with a crispy coating.  The sauce was tangy with the mustard, which we loved as we are definitely a mustard-loving family. 

      I followed the recipe just as Ellie wrote it and was happy with the results.  I would change just one thing the next time I make this, and that is that instead of baking them on a spray-coated baking tray, I would put them on a wire rack on a baking tray and cook them that way as the tops were nice and crispy doing it on the baking sheet, but the bottoms were not, so I'm thinking doing it on a wire rack on top of the tray would give it a crispy coating all the way around the chicken. 

      This is a nice recipe for snacking while watching ballgames or for lunch or dinner, easy, fast, delicious.  Definitely a repeat. 

      Next week's assignment is Waldorf Chicken Wrap, chosen by Peggy of Pantry Revisited, on page 84 of Ellie's book So Easy.  You can find the CEiMB blogroll here.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Coffee Ice Cream Tart

      Thanks to Jessica, from Domestic Deep Thought of the Day, for her pick of Coffee Ice Cream Tart, found on pages 58-359 of Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours cookbook.  Click here for the recipe. 

      Almonds, Chocolate, Coffee...all good things in Mark's book so I decided to make a small version of this since Matt is off on spring break and Mark could not count on me to help him out with eating it...chocolate and coffee...you know how it is. 

      Three layers, crust, ice cream, drizzle...not a lot of hands-on time and effort involved, something different for now and again.  Mark isn't that much of an ice cream person, but he really enjoyed it.  I would make it again with no hesitation...and that might just happen sooner or later when Matt returns and sees that he missed out.
      Now, about the photos...the top was supposed to be a drizzled affair, but we all know that I cannot drizzle and working with chocolate just makes me crazed so when I drizzled, it sort of was messy and I had chocolate literally everywhere.  At that point I decided it was going to become a marbled look as everything was starting to melt and I figured it would just have to be good enough.  So, if I were you, I would go check out every one else's tarts this week so that you can see how cute and lovely they are really supposed to look.  I apologized to Mark and explained the situation and great husband that he is, he said, "It looks great to me and I wouldn't change a thing."  Marry someone like this, it makes life so much easier! 

      Note:  a lot of people said they had trouble with the crust being too hard/difficult to cut, etc., but I didn't find that at all, it was just fine and cut easily into nice pieces, Mark said it was easy to eat and he had no trouble with it, so not sure what that was all about.  I made 1/3 of dough in a 6" tart pan with 1/4 of the filling called for in the recipe.  That worked well, everything else the same as written in Dorie's recipe.  Definitely a repeat.

        Next week:  Sarah from Teapots and Cakestands has chosen Strawberry Rhubarb Double Crisp, found on pages 420-421. TWD blogroll found here.

Modern Baker: Chicken Pie with Biscuit Topping

      The fourteenth recipe I made from the Savory Tarts & Pies section (the 58th recipe overall in this book) of The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Chicken Pie with Biscuit Topping, on pages 152-153. (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us). This was the last recipe I made from this section, opting to skip the Shrimp & Toasted Pumpkinseed Tart as the photo in the book showed a green filling with shrimp and the guys were having none of it...actually I wasn't all that shot up about it either and after the fish pie fiasco, I decided to call it a day after I completed the chicken pie recipe so that I can move onto the sweet tarts and pie section coming up next.

      The ingredient list for the filling: chicken, onion, carrots, peas, cream, parsley, thyme, salt and pepper, and bay leaf.

      The biscuit topping ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, butter, and buttermilk.

      The photo of this in the book looks so good that I knew we were going to enjoy it, all the ingredients being popular ones at our house. The biscuit topping was absolutely delicious, Mark commented on it several times.

      The filling is made and put into the proper size pan, I used and 8x8 baking dish as that was half of the recipe, Matt being on spring break, I figured half would be more than plenty and Mark could take the leftovers in his lunch tomorrow.

      The biscuit dough comes together quickly in the food processor, patted into a square and cut into 9 equal pieces, patted into circles and put on top of the filling ingredients.

      I followed everything in the recipe with three exceptions: I used half a recipe in and 8x8 baking dish, my biscuits were not done in the time allowed so I had to bake it about 10 extra minutes (ovens are all different on timing), and since the others in the group who made this found the sauce too watery, I reduced the liquid by a third again as much before adding in the cream. That seemed to work as the result was a little sauce in the bottom, but not too much.

      Oh, this was great, and we will definitely be making this again. If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting the Breads, with the blogroll here.

Modern Baker: Curried Fish Pie

      The thirteenth recipe I made from the Savory Tarts & Pies section (the 57th recipe overall in this book) of The Modern Baker  by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Curried Fish Pie, on pages 146-147.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us).

      I used the Rich Pie Dough recipe for the tart crust.  The ingredient list for the Rich Pie Dough:  all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, butter, and eggs. 

      The ingredient list for the filling:  fish, breadcrumbs, onion, milk, curry, turmeric, cloves, golden raisins, mango chutney, almonds, sugar, vegetable oil, salt and pepper, and eggs.  I used my little 6" tart pan again, which takes 1/3 of the full Rich Pie Dough recipe and I used 1/4 of the filling ingredients. 

      Let me just say straight out that I didn't like this at all.  That's not to say the recipe is bad, just that I figured going into it I wasn't going to like it just from the sound of the ingredients, and things did not improve.  At the beginning of the year I promised myself that I was not going to make anything for any of my groups that I didn't think we would really like.  Who knows what I was thinking on this one...probably that I should expand my tastes or something.  I'm thinking this was not the place to go with that idea. 

      I looked at Phyl's post and his looks so different (click here).  You can see the fish in his and in mine it just all dissolved in the filling and I couldn't really see it.  It baked for 30 minutes and it didn't seem done, so I let it go another 10 and still it did not seem done (too wet) and finally after another 10 minutes, it still looked too wet and I figured maybe it was just supposed to be that way and would firm up.  It didn't.

      I am pretty sure that I did something wrong, there was no photo of it in the book for me to compare.  I took one bite, knew that I was not going to eat another, gave the rest of my little slice to the dogs, who seemed to really like it, and packed it in the frig for Mark to try.  He refused without even looking at it.  I'm thinking that this was my error, not the recipe's as Phyl's looked much different.  I don't think anyone else in the group made it.  A repeat?  Hardly, we are not a fish pie family apparently. 

      If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting the Breads, with the blogroll here.

Modern Baker: Ligurian Savoy Cabbage Pie

      The twelfth recipe I made from the Savory Tarts & Pies section (the 56th recipe overall in this book) of The Modern Baker  by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Ligurian Savoy Cabbage Pie, on pages 148-149.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us).

      I used the Rich Pie Dough recipe for the tart crust.  The ingredient list for the Rich Pie Dough:  all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, butter, and eggs. 

      The ingredient list for the filling:  cabbage, onions, garlic, ricotta cheese, freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, parsley, salt and pepper, and eggs. 

      I used my little 6" tart pan again, which takes 1/3 of the full Rich Pie Dough recipe and I used 1/4 of the filling ingredients which left me with just a little more than the pan could hold.

      The filling is easy to pull together, you need to steam the cabbage and then saute it with some onion and garic to reduce the water content and shrink it in size, so that takes about a half hour total. 

      It baked for 30 minutes and I let it cool for about five minutes before unmolding and slicing.  I have to say, I went into this recipe kicking and screaming and not really wanting to do it, but Mark likes cabbage and tart pastry and he thought it might be good, so in the end, I decided to make a small tart of it.  It's actually quite good.  The cheeses and cabbage and onions all work well together.  I wouldn't make it once a month or anything, but I think it would be a fine use of cabbage for St. Patrick's day like Phyl did with his, so I'm happy I took a chance and made it today.
      

      If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting the Breads, with the blogroll here.

Modern Baker: Roasted Pepper & Goat Cheese Tart

      The eleventh recipe I made from the Savory Tarts & Pies section (the 55th recipe overall in this book) of The Modern Baker  by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Roasted Pepper & Goat Cheese Tart, on pages 138-139.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us).

      I used the Rich Pie Dough recipe for the tart crust.  The ingredient list for the Rich Pie Dough:  all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, butter, and eggs. 

      The ingredient list for the filling:  roasted red peppers, garlic, olive oil, goat cheese, parsley, salt and pepper, and eggs. 

      I used my little 6" tart pan again, which takes 1/3 of the full Rich Pie Dough recipe and I used 1/4 of the filling ingredients which fit absolutely perfectly.  The filling is easy to pull together, Mark had roasted a red pepper for me on the grill last night as he was grilling dinner, so I had that part all done before I started on the tart today. 

      It baked for 30 minutes and I let it cool for about five minutes before unmolding and slicing.  This is so good!  Light, flaky, full of flavor from the roasted peppers, garlic, and goat cheese.  Good thing I made a small version or I would have eaten way too much of this.  Definitely a repeat.
   

      If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting the Breads, with the blogroll here.

Modern Baker: Corn Pudding Tart

      The tenth recipe I made from the Savory Tarts & Pies section (the 54th recipe overall in this book) of The Modern Baker  by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Corn Pudding Tart, on pages 134-135.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us).

      I used the Rich Pie Dough recipe for the tart crust.  The ingredient list for the Rich Pie Dough:  all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, butter, and eggs. 

      The ingredient list for the filling:  fresh sweet corn, butter, scallions, chives, hot chile pepper, cream, salt and pepper, and eggs. 

      Oh, I am just loving my little 6" tart pan, things go together so quickly and then I have this cute little tart in no time at all.  (Obviously it does not take much to thrill me these days.) 

      Grating the corn off the cob didn't take long, the rest is just cutting up things and mixing things and throwing them all in a bowl to mix up and pour into the tart shell.  It bakes for 30 minutes, cools a few to unmold the tart and slice it.
      It tasted wonderful, very light and creamy and the crust was flaky...melt in your mouth goodness.  If you would like additional heat you could add more hot chile pepper or red pepper flakes (suggested in the book) as it has a little kick, but not much.  I made it for dinner to serve with a grilled steak and a salad.  We had leftovers as Matt is on spring break in Boston so we are gathering bits of tarts left for lunches next week.  Not a bad deal at all.  Definitely a repeat.    

      If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting the Breads, with the blogroll here.

Modern Baker: Zuccchini & Ricotta Pie

      The ninth recipe I made from the Savory Tarts & Pies section (the 53rd recipe overall in this book) of The Modern Baker  by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Zucchini & Ricotta Pie, on page 150.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us).

      I used the Rich Pie Dough recipe for the tart crust.  The ingredient list for the Rich Pie Dough:  all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, butter, and eggs. 

      The ingredient list for the filling:  zucchini, onion, olive oil, salt, pepper, fresh marjoram (or oregano or parsley), eggs, ricotta cheese, freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. 

      The only real time consuming thing about this recipe is that you need to grate the zucchini, salt it, and let it drain for a couple of hours before you start making the rest of the filling.  The zucchini and onion also need to cook a bit on the stovetop, so that's another 20-30 minutes.  After those two steps are done, it is just a matter of combining ingredients and filling the tart shell, rolling a top crust, and baking for 30 minutes. 

      I used the 6" tart pan for this and for that you need about 1/4 of the whole recipe for the filling as that is what I made and it seemed to work well.  The result is absolutely delicious!
      I made it for lunch with a salad and Mark was happy with it.  I really liked it and was surprised at how light the filling is as for some reason, I thought it would be heavy, it's not.  The crust is nice and flaky, melts in your mouth.  Definitely a repeat.    

      If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting the Breads, with the blogroll here.

Modern Baker: Gruyere, Scallion, & Walnut Tart

     The eighth recipe I made from the Savory Tarts & Pies section (the 52nd recipe overall in this book) of The Modern Baker  by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Gruyere, Scallion, & Walnut Tart, on page 141.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us).

      I used the Rich Pie Dough recipe for the tart crust.  The ingredient list for the Rich Pie Dough:  all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, butter, and eggs. 

      The ingredient list for the filling:  Gruyere cheese, scallions, walnuts, unsalted butter, milk, cream, eggs, salt, pepper, and freshly grated nutmeg. 

      The dough rolls nicely and quickly, the filling ingredients are assembled into the tart crust, and it bakes in only 30 minutes, so it is perfect for a quick lunch or dinner as it all comes together quickly, especially if you have your tart pan and crust ready and waiting in the refrigerator.
      I was a little skeptical about the nuts in this, but they work wonderfully well and do not loose their crunchy texture, even after a couple of days in the frig and being warmed up in the microwave at school for lunch.  I made a full-size (11") tart and we had leftovers which Mark and I both took to work for lunches.  He said it warmed up very nicely in the microwave and was not soggy, etc. and I found that as well.  Definitely a repeat, the combination of flavors is wonderful.

      If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting the Breads, with the blogroll here. 

Modern Baker: Tomato & Cantal Tart

      The seventh recipe I made from the Savory Tarts & Pies section (the 51st recipe overall in this book) of The Modern Baker  by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Tomato & Cantal Tart, on pages 142-143.  (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us).

      I used the Rich Pie Dough recipe for the tart crust.  The ingredient list for the Rich Pie Dough:  all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, butter, and eggs. 

      The ingredient list for the filling:  tomatoes, Cantal cheese (sort of like a Gruyere cheese in taste), Dijon mustard, salt and pepper, olive oil, and fresh basil leaves. 

      The dough rolls nicely and quickly, the filling ingredients are just layered into the tart crust, and it bakes in only 25 minutes, so it is perfect for a quick lunch or dinner.  It tastes a lot like a tomato cheese pizza.  Definitely a hit around here, definitely making this again.
      I made a full-size (11") tart and we had leftovers which Mark took to work in his lunches.  He said it warmed up very nicely in the microwave and was not soggy, etc.  He also said he would be happy to have that for lunches again sometime...this from a guy who does not normally like leftovers all that much.  High praise indeed.  

      If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting the Breads, with the blogroll here.

Modern Baker: For Savory Pies & Tarts: Rich Pie Dough, Olive-Oil Dough, and No-Roll Flaky Dough

      The fourth recipe I made from the Savory Tarts & Pies section (the 48th recipe overall in this book) of The Modern Baker  by Nick Malgieri, was the one for Rich Pie Dough, on page 128.  The fifth recipe I made from the book (the 49th recipe overall) was for the Olive-Oil Dough on page 132, and the sixth recipe I made from the book (the 50th recipe overall) was No-Roll Flaky Dough on page 133. 

      These are the three dough recipes that NM includes in the book for savory pies and tarts.  I tried all three of them, but my official assignment was to post about the Rich Pie Dough, so I photographed that one. (We are not publishing recipes from the book, so if you like what you see, buy the book and bake along with or without us).

      The ingredient list for the Olive-Oil Dough crust dough:  all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, eggs, olive oil, and water.  This was my first experience with an olive oil dough for the crust and while it was easy to make, easy to work with, and easy to roll out, I did not care for the taste of it at all.  It seemed heavy and oily and not at all tasty.  That said, Mark liked it just fine.  I'm probably not going to make this one again as I liked the other two doughs better and it wasn't something that Mark really cared one way or the other about. 

      The ingredient list for the No-Roll Flaky Dough:   all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, unsalted butter, and cold water.  This dough tasted nicely and the main difference (besides the eggs in the Rich Pie Dough) is that the dough is just dumped into the tart pan and form-fitted to the pan without rolling it like a regular pie crust.  While the taste is fine and it was fairly easy (and great if you don't have eggs the day you need a crust), I still prefer to roll my pie/tart crusts and fit them into the pan that way.  The Rich Pie Dough crust performs so beautifully under the rolling pin that I'm not all that keen about dealing with trying to smush the dough into the pan in an even and attractive manner for the no-roll method, which takes me much longer than just rolling out the dough, so probably not making this one again either, but it did come out nicely in performance and tasted very good as well. 

      The ingredient list for the Rich Pie Dough:  all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, butter, and eggs.  All the crusts are made in the food processor, which I find quick and easy and who doesn't love to push that button and see it all come together in the space of a less than a minute?
      After it begins to come together in an almost-ball shape, the work is done, the dough is turned out onto a piece of plastic wrap.
       The wrap is pulled over it, shaped into a disk gently, and popped into the refrigerator for an hour.
       When the dough has chilled a bit, making it a little easier to handle and roll, it comes out of the refrigerator and is rolled to fit the size of the tart pan.
      After fitting it into the pan and trimming off the top to make it even and pretty, I filled the tart and baked it as directed for the recipes.
      The tart pan shown here is my new 6" size that I just got this week.  I have 11", 9", and 4.5" pans but I wanted this 6" size because that is the size that the guys will eat in one sitting as a side dish (they aren't too fond of just having a tart for dinner and nothing else so I use it as an addition to dinner rather than the main meal...they are also not fond of eating the leftovers in savory tarts that my larger pans make) and the littler pans have too much of a crust-filling ratio.  Anyway, the little 6" tart pan is lovely to work with. 

      One recipe of the Rich Pie Dough makes three of the 6" tart size doughs.  The total dough weight is just short of 15 ounces, so dividing that into thirds leaves you with just short of 5 ounces of dough for each crust.  I measured it on my scale, then wrapped each ball separately so I could just pull out the proper amount of dough for that pan.  I used one of the doughs and froze the others, marking the plastic for ease of reference as I have various doughs sitting and waiting for various things for various pan sizes.  It actually looks like I know what I am doing if you see them all sitting in the freezer ready to go. 

      All three of these doughs are extremely easy to work with and user-friendly even to the novice.  Our favorite for the tarts is the Rich Pie Dough.

      If you would like to bake along or be a part of the Modern Baker group, you will find all that, plus a tab to link to the blogs posting the Breads, with the blogroll here.

Twitter Chef Avatar Fun: Jacques Pepin's Hard Cooked Eggs in Mustard Sauce

      We are having a bit of avatar fun over at Twitter, my baking/cooking pals and I, just to shake things up a bit and confuse everyone each month as to who is who and all.  Nancy came up with the great idea of each of us picking a different chef for each month, all of us making anything we each selected to make from that chef's recipes, taking a photo of our efforts, and using that photo as our avatar for that month.  April's avatar chef is Jacques Pepin, chosen by Di. 

      The recipe I chose is from a website called The Complete Pepin Techniques and Recipes and is entitled Hard Cooked Eggs in Mustard Sauce. You can find the recipe there (it is number 37 in the index provided):  click here.

      As I was scanning the list of recipes I knew I would have no trouble choosing something to make from the list as so much of it looked great.  In the end, I decided on the hard cooked eggs recipe because it is the season of hard cooked eggs, with Easter approaching and all, and Matt still likes to dye Easter eggs, so I figured it would be nice to have a recipe ready for the onslaught of hard boiled eggs this month. 

      Besides seasonal, easy, photogenic, and delicious, I also enjoyed learning a new technique for hard cooking the eggs that he describes in the recipe...I had never done it that way before.  It works nicely, the shells slip off easily, the eggs were perfectly done, and it was easy.  I'm doing hard cooked eggs this way from now on. 

      The mustard sauce is easy and perfect with the eggs.  Ingredient list:  eggs, garlic, Dijon mustard, pepper, salt, wine vinegar, canola oil, lettuce, and chives. 

      It's simple, easy, no fancy ingredients that are hard to locate, and now I have one very tasty salad recipe to add to my list...one especially good for Easter dinner.  Go check out the site, even though Jacques Pepin is a fancy French chef, there are recipes on there that are simple, elegant, and that teach you new techniques which will make your time in the kitchen more pleasant.  The next one I am going to make is the one for Swiss Chard Stuffed Onions as I never ever know what to do with Swiss Chard. 

CEiMB: Savory Chinese Chicken Salad

      The recipe chosen this week for CEiMB, using Ellie Krieger's So Easy, was Creamed Spinach chosen by Liz of The Not So Skinny Kitchen.  You can find the recipe here. 

      The photo above is obviously not the creamed spinach that Liz chose, and apologies to Liz as we do eat spinach uncooked and even ever so slightly wilted, but creamed spinach is not a happening thing around here because no one will eat it and the guys rebel at even the smell of it, so instead I made the Savory Chinese Chicken Salad recipe from Ellie's The Food You Crave book, pages 110-111, chosen by Danica of Danica's Daily and you can find that recipe here.  (Liz, I promise to make the next recipe you choose, okay?)

      This recipe was chosen a couple of weeks ago and I didn't get it done that week, so figured I would sub it in this week.  I didn't plan on subbing in the photo, however.  The photo above is from Ellie's book because while I made this dish and did nice photos of it, my photo card split in two and the photos were lost after the salad was already eaten for lunch (fortunately I had downloaded all the other photos on that card previously and didn't lose all those).  Anyway, I hijacked Ellie's photo and want to say that mine looked pretty much like that minus the water chestnuts as I did not use those...I can only get canned ones here and they always taste like the can, very tinny, so I just don't use those. 

      The salad was easy and tasted wonderful...the dressing was something I will make time and again for salad and summer roll dipping sauce as it was very good, a little bit of heat from the Sriracha was nice.  Definitely a repeat. 

      Next week's assignment is Crispy Chicken Fingers, chosen by Jennifer of The Rookie Baker, on page 200 of Ellie's book The Food You Crave.  You can find the CEiMB blogroll here.