Corduroy Orange

With Thanksgiving quick approaching, I’m starting to think about my menu for the day. All in attendance will help with the food, of course, bringing a dish that their families think essential for a Thanksgiving feast. But come the end of the meal, it’s essential that there’s more than enough pie to go around. One pie for every two people is the ideal ratio, I think; though if the feast gets quite large, I’d settle for a pie per three.

The advantage to having so many pies is that every individual has a different idea of which pies are need-to-have, which are nice-to-have, and which are worth ignoring. For instance, I can’t imagine a Thanksgiving without a pecan pie; whereas my sister can’t imagine taking a bite of one.

The first four pies that I make (or sign up a volunteer to make) are easy to determine: pumpkin or sweet potato, pecan, apple, and grasshopper. Beyond that, cherry would probably sneak in for number five. I’m open to lots of other pies to fill in any additional spots, but the one that I will never invite to dinner is mincemeat. I’ve never had a mincepeat pie that I have enjoyed, though every time I happen across one, I’ll take a sliver to see if this one is any better than the rest that I’ve sampled.

I’m curious, though, as to what anyone else has to say about which pies are essential and which are less than welcome.

And for anyone who is interested about the grasshopper pie, you should have started harvesting your insects in July, when they were plentiful. You’ll be hard pressed to find any still breathing at this point. Just kidding. It’s creme de menthe and marshmallow in a chocolate cookie crust, and it’s delectable. Here’s the recipe for it, courtesy my mother. Don’t pay attention to any of her blasphemous talk of purchasing a pre-made chocolate cookie crust. I don’t believe she actually means it, and to my knowledge she’s never actually followed that advice. Certainly not when she’s cooking for me, anyway!

Grasshopper Pie

Chocolate crust (you can buy these in the grocery store)

If you want to make one, check your Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. It has the recipe. I usually bake mine for 8 minutes at 375 degrees. This book says not to so take your pick.

Grasshopper Filling:

• 32 large marshmallows or 3 cups miniature marshmallows
• ½ cup milk
• ¼ cup green crème de menthe
• 3 Tablespoons white crème de cacao
• 1 ½ cups chilled whipping cream

Heat marshmallows and milk over medium heat, stirring constantly, just until marshmallows melt. Chill until thickened; blend in liqueurs.

Beat the cream until stiff. Be sure the marshmallow mixture is cooled or it will melt the cream. Fold the marshmallow mixture into the whipped cream.

Pour this into the crust. If desired, sprinkle with grated semi-sweet chocolate. Chill at least 3 hours or until set. Serve with additional whipped cream, if desired. [trust me, it's desired...]

Corduroy–

Our mother (in-law) is coming to visit soon and she’s just been diagnosed as having a wheat allergy.  We’re trying to compose a general menu for what we’ll be eating while she’s here, and are coming to a stumbling block for breakfasts.  Beyond the standard eggs, bacon and fruit, I’m having a hard time coming up with variety for breakfast.

Our sister (in-law) may be coming as well, and she is lactose intolerant.  So, wheat- and dairy-free options would be nice, if you have any suggestions.

Gadzooks!  I’d neve really thought about how few traditional breakfasts don’t have wheat in them!  Nonetheless, you should be able to come up with several possibilities.

Omelettes are basically within the realm of eggs, so you may have thought of them already.  I kind of prefer them to eggs over easy as a way of welcoming guests, as they’re a bit more elegant.

I sometimes make a lasagna-ish dish that substitutes very thinly sliced potatoes for the noodles.  While I usually serve that as dinner, it would make a nice savory breakfast casserole.  Simply slice the potatoes as thinly as possible.  Layer in a greased baking dish, add a filling (I like some fresh baby spinach and some lightly sauteed mushrooms; cheese is optional) and add another layer of potatoes.  Salt and pepper each layer of potatoes as they go in the pan, and finish with a final layer of potatoes on top.  Bake at 350 F for about 30-40 minutes or until the casserole is cooked through.

For a wheat-free quiche, try making a pie crust out of chickpea flour.  It won’t have the same texture as a crust made with wheat flour, but it should be passable.  Of course, this option includes dairy in it.

Rice pudding usually has some milk in it, too; but it would make a nice breakfast dish.  You could also go for oatmeal, I think–oats aren’t wheat, last I checked.

Yet another wheat-free but dairy-inclusive option would be smoothies.

I’m sure other options exist beyond these few, though they aren’t coming to mind immediately.  So, i’m going to throw the question open to the small portion of internet users who read this page: any ideas for tasty dairy- and/or wheat- free breakfasts that would make good food for company?

When it comes to most foods, admittedly, I’m a food snob. Not that I require my meals to consist of eight courses composed of the bestest of ingredients flown in from around the globe; but rather that I require my meals to be created from honest ingredients, well crafted, and consist of actual food (not processed food products).

My tendency toward snobbery is even more pronounced when it comes to tomato soup. I grew up eating a delicious pureed soup made from fresh tomatoes from my parents’ garden. When, on occasion, as a young child I was offered a bowl of Campbell’s tomato soup, I was convinced that the stuff in the dish in front of me couldn’t possibly be what it claimed to be, because it just didn’t taste good and had completely the wrong consistency: all watery with no texture to it.

So, of course, I now make my own tomato soup so that I can enjoy the delicacy the way it was meant to be eaten: from peak season tomatoes handled with care. It’s basically my mom’s recipe with a few of my own changes made to it.

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If you read the PIttsburgh Post-Gazette this morning, maybe you saw a little piece in the Food section about cookie night at the Frick Park Lawn Bowling Club.  As promised, here are some of the recipes that wouldn’t fit into the newspaper:

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Alright, so this isn’t so much of a post as a pointer at a year-old post—but once again this year I made a strawberry-rhubarb pie with oregano in a curry crust and once again it was fantastic.  Time is running out on both the strawberry season and the rhubarb season, so I highly encourage everyone to try this one ASAP!

It’s strawberry season in southwestern PA, and after just plucking them out of the quart and eating them raw, shortcake is one of my favorite treatments of this fruit.

I made the shortcake according to a standard biscuit recipe (3 cups flour, 3/4 tsp salt, 1.5 tablespoons baking powder, a stick of butter, and a cup plus two tablespoons milk/cream mixed together) with a few alterations: I added the zest of an orange, a square half inch of grated dark chocolate, a teaspoon or so of sugar, shake of cinnamon, a bit of nutmeg, and a pinch of cloves into the dry ingredients.

I rolled the biscuit dough out, trimmed the edges, then sliced it down into twelve large biscuits. The scraps from trimming the edges were enough to shape into two more biscuits. After I transferred the biscuits to an ungreased baking sheet, brushed their tops with cream to help the browning process, and sprinkled them with coarse turbinado sugar for decoration and a bit of sweetness, I baked them in a 450F oven for 15 minutes.

Once the biscuits had cooled slightly, I split them and spooned several strawberries onto the bottom half, followed by a small dollop of whipped cream.  This extra bit of cream helps out with the crucial cream: biscuit ration on the final few bites, and it also helps keep the top in place for presentation (instead of having it slide off to the side).  I spooned more berries around the edges and topped the biscuit with a full dollop of cream and a strawberry on top.

The results? Tasty.

Martha says

I forgot to pick up my pies from the PTA fundraiser and now they’re at the food bank. What am I going to do for Easter dessert?

Hmmm…. that is a bit of a quandary, especially if you were counting on that course having been taken care of for you already. You can’t really get away with serving a plate of cookies at a formal meal; and you probably have a fairly extensive menu of savory dishes that you’ll need to make. Which means, you’re looking for a tasty, attractive dessert that can hold its own at a formal table but can be made with minimal time and effort.  Lucky for you, I’ve got a couple of ideas.
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I was going to make muffins, but as I was mixing my dry ingredients, i was inspired to try something new, and I was extremely pleased with the results. High in fiber, fruit, and whole grains, this cake is evidence that healthful eating need not mean poor taste.

I could also go off on a rant here about how processed “diet foods”, “health foods”, and artificial sweeteners claim best nutrition based on an analysis of caloric values and current dietary fads but in fact often have but a tenuous connection to actual ingredients, and how the chemicals included in such foods interact with our bodies in ways that scientists still do not fully understand; you’re probably more interested in the recipe.
Cranberry Oatmeal Coffee Cake

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 Tablespoon plus one teaspoon baking powder
• 1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (mixed cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/3 cup butter, melted and let cool slightly
• 2 cups cranberries (fresh or frozen)

Combine dry ingredients thoroughly. Mix together eggs, milk, and melted butter. Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix until just combined. Fold cranberries into batter. Pour into greased 9 x 9 square baking pan. Optional: top with streusel topping. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out dry. Oven temperature: 350 F for dark pan; 375 F for glass or light-colored pan.

Note: recipe was tested using a dark pan. Baking times may vary slightly for lighter pans, so monitor the situation as estimated finish time approaches.

I went to a vegetarian potluck dinner the other day and as my contribution took a pot of vegan chili. The host of the event told me as I was leaving that he’d like to have the recipe. I assured him that there was no recipe for it–it’s more of a method, and he said he understood but would like a description of the method just the same.

My secret for making a successful stew begins with potatoes. If you begin by cooking the spuds, you can get a very nice caramelization going on in the bottom of the pan that’s a fantastic flavor base to build from. Also, the starch from the potatoes will thicken the stew as it cooks, so you don’t have to worry about adding a starchy flavor in the form of a cornstarch slurry or a flour-based whitewash to thicken it at the end. Also, the lack of flour makes it a great dish for persons unable to digest wheat gluten. (more…)

Crostini is a northern Italian appetizer consisting of toasted bread topped with any variety of toppings. This particular crostini is something that I made twice over the holidays but neglected both times to photograph. Let me assure you, though, that they are as easy to prepare as they are succulently delicious.

Avocado & Smoked Salmon Crostini with Dill & Caper Cream Cheese

Slice bread thinly. Ideally, you’ll be using a foccacia loaf; but a baguette will work okay, too. Any way about it, try to size your bread slices to the approximate size of an avocado slice. Arrange the bread on a cookie sheet and toast in the oven for about 8-10 minutes at 375F, but keep an eye on the bread as it approaches the time mark because ovens vary in how they heat things, and if yours is running just a bit hot, that can make a difference in how toasty your bread is—especially if you’ve sliced it very thin. (likewise, if your oven is running cool or your bread is a bit thicker, you may find it takes just a couple of minutes longer).

While the bread is toasting, prepare the cream cheese. Whip 1 (8 oz) block of cream cheese with 1 tablespoon each dill and capers. Add about 1/4 cup sour cream to thin the consistency a bit, if you like. This will make it easier to pipe onto the crostini when they’re finished, but will also make it less likely that your piped topping will hold its exact shape.

When the bread is toasted, remove from the oven and let cool. Top each piece with a slice of avocado and a thin piece of smoked salmon, then pipe a thin line of cream cheese on the top. If you don’t have a pastry bag, put the topping into a plastic bag and snip off one corner of the bag and use it to apply the cream cheese topping. This is really the easiest way to apply the cream cheese; but if you don’t want to use a pastry bag, you could just as easily spread a thin layer onto the toast and then put the avocado and salmon on top of that.

Slice the avocado as close to service as possible so that it doesn’t turn brown. keep cold until service. If desired, finish by putting a caper or three atop each piped topping.