The Pie Saga Reaches it's Dramatic End

You thought I forgot about the cherry pie, didn't you? Well I did not! I know I didn't fulfill my promise of making cherry pie when I said I would and for that I apologize, but wasn't the suspense wonderful? I really should have made it sooner. It's sooooo pretty! Do not be dismayed by the lattice crust either, I will be walking you through the steps and if I can do it, you can do it! 

❤️❤️PIE❤️❤️

 

Ingredients: 

Crust: 

2 C all purpose flour

1t salt

1 1/2 sticks butter, chilled and cubed

4-5 T apple Brandy 

Filling: 

2-3 21oz cans of prepared pie filling

Instructions:

Crust:

1. Combine dry ingredients well in a bowl. 

2. Cut in butter until thoroughly incorporated or the size of peas. 

3. Sprinkle 4T Brandy across the butter flour mixture and lift with a fork to allow the Brandy to mix in. If the dough is still very crumbly sprinkle another Tablespoon of Brandy over it and work it into the dough. When you can form a ball out of it without having it fall apart stop working it. 

4. Divide dough in half and form into disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least an hour or over night. 

Don't forget your coffee if this is a morning project. 
 

5. Preheat oven to 450* F. Dust a clean work surface with flour and roll dough from the center to the edges into a circle about 10-11 inches across. 

6. Gently roll pie crust over your rolling pin as you remove it from the work surface. Gently unroll pie crust into pie pan. 

7. Lift the edges of the dough until the crust sits completely touching all of the corners in the pie pan and overlaps the lip. Patch any tears with a bit from the edge. Dust with flour or brush with egg wash to prevent crust from becoming soggy. 

8. Repeat rolling process with second half of dough then fill pie. Cut second crust into 1/2 inch strips. 

9. Lay first piece of lattice across one edge of the pie then lay a piece straight down the center perpendicular to the first.

10. Fold left side of first lattice piece up and lay the third piece about 3/4 inch away from the second piece and lay first piece straight across again. Repeat process on the right side. 

11. Lay strips five and six 3/4 inch away from strips three and four then gently fold back strips three and four. Place strip seven about 3/4 inch away from strip one and replace strips three and four over it. 

There's even pieces of three children in this shot! They were so excited!
 

12. Fold back strips two, five, and six and place strip eight 3/4 inch from strip seven then straighten folded strips. 

13. Repeat process for strips nine and ten then gently crimp edges. 

I trimmed the crust close to the edge of the plate so it would be easier to work with

14. Brush crust with egg wash and sprinkle with white sugar or decorators sugar. 

15. Bake at 450* for 10 minutes then cover outer rim of pie shell with either a pie shield or aluminum foil to prevent it from burning and reduce heat to 350* F and bake another 40 min or until golden brown. 

I don't have a fancy pie shield so foil is my friend. 

I hope you have a great time making and eating your own pies!! 

 

Honey Ginger Chicken Stir-Fry

Guys, this is one of my favorites. It's a quick easy go to when we have been out and about in the afternoon and all my people are hungry. I particularly like this dish because it freezes well and reheats even better than the first day. 

Ingredients: 

3 T sesame oil divided

2 chicken breasts sliced into strips

1 softball sized onion chopped thinly 

2 cups bite sized broccoli florets

1/2 t ground ginger

1/2 t dried lemon peel

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 T honey

2 T corn starch

1. Preheat your wok and 1 T sesame oil over high heat. Chop your onion and when oil is fragrant add onion. Stir fry 3-4 minutes until translucent. Remove to separate bowl. 

2. Make sure broccoli florets are bite sized. Heat 1T sesame oil in wok and stir fry broccoli 1-2 minutes then add 1T soy sauce to steam broccoli another minute. 

Remove to onion bowl

3. Coat chicken in spices. Heat 1T sesame oil in wok and add chicken. Stir fry until no longer pink then add broccoli and onions back to the wok. Mix together remaining soy sauce, honey, and corn starch until no lumps remain. 

4. Add soy sauce mixture to wok and stir constantly until sauce thickens and clings to mead and veggies. 

5. Serve over short grain rice

This onion is enormous and quite potent. It made my eyes burn so I'm thrilled that it was a quick chop job! 

I bought pre-cut broccoli in a bag and it worked out really well. I Onlu needed to chop a couple florets in half before they were ready for the wok. 

There it is, the chicken, frying away all seasoned and making everyone's mouth water. 

You can see how beautifully translucent the onions are as well as the lightly soy sauce coated broccoli. I couldhappily eat   just this for dinner and I can neither confirm nor deny whether or not I have in the past. 

The sauce is perfectly thickened and clinging to the chicken and veggies! 

Don't forget the rice!! If you don't have a swanky rice cooker like mine you'll need to cook it on the stove top while you're prepping everything else. 

This is usually where I have a plated dish and I talk about how delicious it is but today the family (including myself) was so hungry that I completely forgot to take one. 

Just s heads up, I made the dough for my cherry pie this afternoon. The pies is the truth! 

Comfort Food Japanese Style

Do you have a favorite meal that just makes you feel happy as soon as you think about eating it? As an American standard comfort foods are Pizza, Mac n Cheese, Chicken Soup, Cookies and Ice Cream, and so on. I promise I love all of those things, but today I just needed Japanese breakfast. I'm sure once you give it a try you'll decide that it's comfort food for you too. 

Eggs and Rice❤️

Ingredients:

1/2 C cooked short grain rice

1t sesame oil

1 egg

1t Natto

1 pinch Dried fish flakes (optional)

Bell peppers or veggie of your choice

Bulldog sauce

Kewpie mayonnaise

Instructions:

1. Preheat your frying pan over medium low heat and add sesame oil. When oil is fragrant add your egg. 

2. Remove sauce packets and plastic from natto package and defrost in microwave for 40sec. Mix contents of sauce packets into natto. 

3. Flip your egg and add your veggies to your frying pan. 

4. Put cooked rice into your bowl and top with furikake and fish flakes. Pour some bulldog sauce and some kewpie mayo over your rice. 

5. Remove egg from frying pan to bowl and stir. Place some natto next to the egg and scoop veggies into your bowl. 

6. Eat!! 
 

So you're probably wondering where to get all these exotic ingredients. Short answer is your local Asian market. Just make a list, take it with you and find the first person who works there to guide you to all of your tasty ingredients. I promise they're very common. 

Bulldog Sauce on the left is like Japan's answer to America's ketchup and it's versatility will blow you away. Kewpie mayonnaise is slightly different from what you're used to but it's worth a try and you may even discover that it's amazing on a BLT. 

Next, and totally valid, question is what on earth is Natto, right? Well, this is Natto. Fermented soy beans. They are beautiful, and sticky, and full of iron, and they act as a blood thinner as well so don't eat two packages at one time. Space it out, your body and your mouth will thank you. 

Furikake is like seasoning for rice. It comes in a wide variety of flavors but today I used the black sesame and sugar flavor. Fish flakes come in MANY different textures. My personal favorite is this one here that curls in delicate ultra thin beauty as soon as it's placed on steaming food. Yum! 
 

Can you smell the fragrant sesame oil and gently spicy bell pepper frying away with the egg? It's really one of my favorite smells ever. 

Enjoy your big delicious bowl of comfort food immediately. Seriously, do not let it get cold and eat all of it. The egg yolk and the natto mix into the rice with the mayo and create this creamy savory bliss that is incomparable. I hope you enjoy this meal as much as I do! 
 
 

 

Half a Head of Cabbage.....

What a strange title! It was absolutely the elephant in my fridge though.  I know you have something like that too. I also needed to go grocery shopping but had zero intention of exposing myself to double coupon senior discount day at the grocery store so I was stuck trying to figure out what to do with my elephant, I mean, cabbage......

After scrounging in the pantry I found some canned goods and I remembered some leftover frozen ground beef and the last onion in the drawer. Telling myself this would all work out just fine I set to cooking and created a super tasty Beefy Cabbage Stew. 

Ingredients:

1T olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1-1 1/2 lbs ground beef

1 head of garlic, minced

2-3 carrots

1 24oz can diced tomatoes

1 10oz can sweet corn, drained

1/2t salt

1/2 t ground black pepper

1/2 t celery salt

1-2 hand fulls dry parsley.  

1/8 t chili flakes or to taste 

1T basil

1/4 t Rosemary, crushed

1 bay leaf

2 C water

Directions:

1. In a large soup pot heat 1 T olive oil. Chop onion, peel and chop carrots, and dice garlic. When the pot is hot add onion and sauté until translucent. 

2. Add ground beef to pot and brown. While beef is browning chop the cabbage into bite sized chunks. If your beef is  very fatty drain off the fat. 

3. Add everything else to the pot and bring to a boil over high heat, taste test and adjust spices to your liking, reduce heat and simmer 20-30 minutes or until carrots are tender. 

4. Serve with crusty bread like sourdough or French bread. 

These are the canned goods I mentioned. Highly economical and just as yummy. The giant cup of coffee is mandatory. 
 

When buying spices I prefer to get as much in bulk as I can particularly for things like parsley, basil, and oregano. I am not compensated by McCormic or Tone's 

This was so good that the kids asked for seconds and the best part is that it freezes well and reheats beautifully if you have any left. 

Ps. 

I haven't forgotten about the cherry pie. It's still on my list, now where is my child labor?

 

 

 

Curry on the run

The pie is a lie..... I may get around to it next week. Maybe. It's been such an exciting week getting to spend quality time with a tremendous group of ladies. There was a ton of cooking done and I got lots of new recipe ideas to try out so keep an eye on the page! 

Tonight though, tonight was a hectic rush to figure out how to feed the people, five of them to be exact, with one steak, one onion, one extra large yellow squash and a cabinet full of wonderful spices. I know, you're thinking, "Well, that sounds like a stir fry to me!" And you would be right to think that's where this was going but I took a left at the soy sauce and just couldn't resist adding all the curry basics. Isn't it beautiful? 

Ingredients: 

One 1pound to 1 1/2 pound steak cut into thin strips

One softball sized onion sliced thinly

One pound of yellow squash cut into 1" cubes

1T sesame oil

1/2 t ginger

2t tumeric

2t cumin

1T garlic

1/2 t chili powder

1/4 t black pepper

1T corn starch

1/4c soy sauce

1. Heat your wok over medium-high heat with sesame oil before you add your onion. When sesame oil is fragrant add onion and stir until slightly soft. Remove from wok to a separate bowl. 

2. Stir fry squash 3-5 minutes, in batches if necessary, and add to onion bowl. 

3. Add more sesame oil if necessary and stir fry beef in batches until just browned on the outside. 

4. Add all veggies back to the wok with the beef, 2T soy sauce, and all of the spices. Turn heat to medium and simmer 5-10 minutes or until squash is tender. 

5.Mix remaining soy sauce with cornstarch and quickly stir into curry. Stir constantly until sauce thickens then remove from heat and serve with rice. 

This onion was bigger than my fist

I forgot to get a picture of the enormous yellow squash before I cut it up but this shows a good size to cut it to. 

I cut the steak to about the same size as the squash so they'd cook evenly. 

It is so so so important to preheat your wok! 

The beef really is just getting a sear on the outside at this point

Here they are! The magical spices!

I'm full from dinner but that looks amazing enough to eat again.

I was informed by Sprite that our Japanese friends serve their curry this way. It's so pretty! 

This recipe is super flexible and nearly fool proof. Popular additions to the sauce  include chicken, pork loin, fish (goes in during the summer phase), broccoli, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, etc...... You get the picture, it's an almost anything goes kind of meal which is perfect for a crazy night when you just need something easy or for that first cool weekend in fall. I hope you have fun experimenting!

 

Leftover Oatmeal? Let's Make Pancakes!

Still no pie..... What's up with that? I guess the reward of flaky crust and sweet filling isn't motivating enough when my sweet girls keep making brownies. Maybe after church I'll get some child labor involved and have them make the pie…

No matter, it's breakfast time and I had what looked like a mountain of stiff, congealed, chewy leftover oatmeal in the fridge. Absolutely not appetizing. Blech!  Luckily I also had all the makings for pancakes and some hungry people.

So without further ado, here we go!

Cinnamon Oatmeal Pancakes

1 1/2 cups leftover oatmeal

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1 t vanilla

3 T oil or butter

1 T baking powder

1/2 T cinnamon

1/8 t salt

1 C all purpose flour

1 T sugar (optional) 

Spray oil for cooking

1. Combine oatmeal, milk, eggs, vanilla, and oil in a bowl using a potato masher to break up the oatmeal if it's cold. 

2. Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk or sift together. 

3. Preheat pan over medium high heat

4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until just mixed (it's gonna be a little thick, that's ok!! )

5. Wait 5 min. 

6. Coat pan with spray oil, ladle out some batter ( 1/4c - 1/3c) into frying pan and cook until edges are dry and center is bubbly

7. Flip pancake and cook until center is done 

These pancakes are dense and filling in spite of the eggs and the baking powder. I served them up with blueberry syrup and they were absolutely heavenly! 

Here it is, gross rubbery congealed oatmeal and some milk. I doctor my oatmeal pretty heavily with butter, sugar, and a little salt while I'm cooking it so I had to take that into account when creating this recipe. If you have unsweetened, oil/ butter free oatmeal use the sugar and oil amounts in the ingredients list. I dialed my oil back some and skipped the sugar. 

Eggs for added protein

A completely non-endorsed plug for McCormic vanilla because it's corn free and GMO free ❤️ I get the big bottle because I use it constantly. 

I had to switch from spoon to potato masher because the oatmeal was not breaking up. Thank God it worked or I'd be posting a failed experiment LOL!

Dry ingredients in, and mix until combined

There it is, all mixed up and ready to sit there so the double acting baking powder can get to work. 

I don't like waiting either but, seriously, it's just 5 minutes, grab a coffee and by the time you're done with that it'll be ready. 

This is what it looks like when it's ready to flip! 

The golden brown crust is just lovely. 

Finished product complete with blueberry syrup for dipping. This is the smallest most impatient person's plate, therefore it was the first one filled. He was s very happy little guy! 

Happy eating!!!

Pie? Nope, Egg Rolls!

Did I say something yesterday about cherry pie? I meant egg rolls. Delicious, crispy, light, cabbage, pork, and carrot filled egg rolls. That's what I really meant to say I was making today. Don't get me wrong, I may still make the pie today but I got up at 4:30am with a burning desire to create and consume egg rolls. Probably because I have had all the supplies for a whole day and they've been taunting me. Also because I was out of easy things to throw in a bento box for Tora's lunch. He works so hard! Anyway, on to the recipe!

Before I got started I did a quick search for an egg roll recipe that I could skim over and alter as I saw fit. This one: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/14704/best-egg-rolls/ is really quite good and you're welcome to use it if you'd like. It's the basis of my (super tasty) egg roll recipe and I couldn't have gotten here without it.  So, Thank you Allrecipes.com for your contribution.

Here's my ingredient list
1/2 head of shredded cabbage
4 large carrots shredded
1/2 large red onion diced
3 green onions chopped
1 lb ground pork
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp granulated garlic
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 T soy sauce
2 T mirin (Asian market find)
1 package egg roll wrappers
Water to seal the edges
Fry oil

1. Prep all the veggies and put them in a large mixing bowl. Reserve the green onions for the pork.

2. Combine green onions, pork, ginger, garlic, and black pepper and cook until no longer pink. Add soy sauce and mirin, reduce heat to medium, and simmer. Stir occasionally. Cook until all liquid is absorbed into the meat and set aside.

3. Heat oil in deep fryer over medium high heat

4. Mix pork into veggies then assemble egg rolls while oil is heating by placing 2-3 T of filling in the center of an egg roll wrapper, use a brush to dampen edges of egg roll wrapper, then fold corner closest to you over filling, then fold each of the sides toward the center, and roll forward until completely sealed.

5. When oil is heated to 350*F slide egg rolls in and fry for about 4-5 minutes flipping frequently until golden brown. Carefully remove egg rolls and drain over paper towels. Serve warm with your favorite dipping sauce.

All the chopped cabbage and onion. My bowl looks like it might be too small

Shredded carrots are so pretty, and see that grater? It's the best! All metal so I can run it through the dishwasher without worrying about plastic wearing out. 

Look at all the different colors! Savory pork, sweet carrots, spicy onions, and crunchy cabbage just waiting to be rolled up! 

It's so important to get all the edges wet so that the egg roll doesn't fall apart in the fryer. 

First one in! Check out my set up for draining. There's a cookie sheet with paper towel and a cooling rack on top. I kinda felt like a genius when I put that together. 

The very first finished product after cooling. I may be odd but I like my egg rolls with spicy mustard. You eat yours with whatever you like best. These delicious little fried treats can even be eaten on the run as my children are prone to doing LOL! I hope you enjoy this recipe!!

I'm back!

WOW! I took a really long break from blogging! More than 4 years between my last post and this one. So much has happened, so many delicious meals have been created and have gone undocumented... that's actually really really sad since I have made a few things that I now can't reproduce.

No matter! I shall forge forward with a new season of cooking and a new purpose to my decision to share. I've started cooking in bulk using the OnceAMonthMom.com website's fantastic meal plans so my desire here is to share my cooking adventures with you. I'll make sure I include links to my favorite recipes but you'll need to go ahead and get a membership to access all the recipes offered by OAMM's amazing team of menu planners.

In addition to my OAMM cooking adventure I'll also be posting my favorite seasonal recipes as well as my own creations. Those recipes will have either links to the original recipe or if I've modified it at all complete ingredients and instructions from my very own self.

I do believe I'll start with something summery and wonderful like a cherry pie. Check back tomorrow for the new recipe!