Taco Salad

And thus another week begins which means another recipe for Project Pastry Queen!  This week Amanda chose Ground Beef Gorditas and, as you can probably tell from the picture above, I didn’t have the time to a) find masa dough and b) pan fry and then also deep fry the gorditas.  It did give me the chance, however, to try a new little technique for taco shell bowls that I’d been wanting to try that involved healthier baking instead of deep-frying.

I remember once standing in the middle of the grocery store having a minor disagreement with The Boyfriend: I had grown up with packaged taco seasoning and wanted to buy some for the tacos we were having that night; he insisted that I could probably make seasoning myself that was better tasting and, likely healthier, since it wouldn’t have all the sodium and other random chemicals found in that stuff.  I appreciate his confidence in me, but at that point in time I was sure nothing I attempted to create was going to taste as good as what I was familiar with.  I’ve since become more confident in myself as a cook, and this recipe was just the one I needed to figure out exactly what was needed in good taco meat seasoning (and I even added a little to it myself!).  Since I was making more of a taco salad, I left the tomato sauce out of the meat recipe–there’s nothing worse than soupy salad, but other than that, I think this is a winner for taco seasoning and I’m pleased to say that I won’t be buying the packaged kind ever again!

Taco Salad
Adapted from The Pastry Queen
Serves 2-3

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped yellow onion
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce

• 1 medium sized flour tortilla per person (I used Mission brand “Homestyle” tortillas)
• 1 head romaine lettuce
• 1 chopped tomato
• shredded cheese
• salsa
• 1 sliced avocado
• any other toppings you usually enjoy (sour cream, olives, queso fresco, etc etc)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. In a large skillet, saute the beef and onion until browned, approx 10 minutes
3. In the meantime, brush tortillas with water and microwave in a stack for 1 minute.  Drape each tortilla over an upside-down oven-safe cereal bowl and press it so that it molds to the shape of the bowl.  Place bowls on a baking sheet and bake in oven for 10 minutes, until stiff.  Pull sheet out of oven, let cool for a few minutes, then take the molded tortillas off the bowls and let the inside dry out for a few minutes.
4. Drain off the fat from the ground beef, then add the garlic, salt, cumin, chili powder, pepper, and hot sauce to the beef, cook for another 5 minutes.
5. Assemble the taco salad by first putting lettuce into the tortilla bowl, then topping with meat and other toppings of your choice.  Enjoy!

Rosemary Potato Pizza

This pizza has been haunting me for months and months–it combines so many of my favorite things, how am I supposed to resist it??  This is definitely a meal idea you want to keep on hand because it’s fast, delicious, and uses ingredients that you’ll likely already have (and if not, it’s just a quick run to Trader Joe’s).  I’m not sure which part I like best–the rosemary (my favorite herb), the mozzarella (which is light and not too much), the creamy potatoes or the crispy chewy crust.

This was also the first time I tried a secret trick to get a crispy pizza crust without a pizza stone…and wouldn’t ya know, it worked!  By putting the baking sheet into the oven ahead of time, while the oven is heating up, it helps the bottom of the crust crisp up while the top bakes normally–it was perfect!  I admit I didn’t make the crust dough myself, but I think sometimes it’s more important to get healthy, stress-free food into you than making EVERYthing handmade and, besides, Trader Joe’s refrigerated pizza dough is delicious!

Rosemary Potato Pizza
Adapted from Stone Soup via Elephantine

• refrigerated pre-made pizza crust (Trader Joe’s suggested – you’ll find it near the pre-made salads, it should make about 3 decent sized pizzas or 4 slightly smaller pizzas)
• 1 small-medium red potato per pizza
• 1 sprig rosemary per pizza
• 1-2 small balls of fresh mozzarella (the kind floating in water)
• olive oil for drizzling
• salt for sprinkling

1. Preheat the oven to 450 and place a lightly oiled baking sheet in oven as it warms
2. Divide the dough into the number of pizzas you want and gently stretch dough into thin rounds, leave on counter workspace while you prepare the other ingredients
3. Slice the potatoes extremely thinly (this is another job the mandolin slicer came in very handy for) and slice the mozzarella balls as thinly as they can go, likely 1/8″ – 1/4″ thick.
4. Once the oven is preheated, using oven mitts, take the hot baking sheet out of the oven and place on a safe surface.  Transfer the dough rounds to the hot baking sheet (you may have to bake in batches) and brush olive oil over the raw dough.  Arrange the potato slices in a single layer, slightly overlapping, sprinkle rosemary leaves over the pizza, arrange the mozzarella bits and drizzle with a second round of olive oil.
5. Put sheet with pizzas back into oven and bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese and crust are just starting to brown.
6. Sprinkle with salt to taste.  Enjoy hot out of the oven!

Homemade Fruit Leather

Fall in Southern California is a little hard to find sometimes, but I certainly found it while camping in Sequoia National Park this weekend!  It was just cool enough that I needed to wear a jacket while hiking and there were hints of snow on the mountain tops.  The trees there are mostly conifers, which meant we didn’t get beautiful orange and red Fall foliage, but it did smell just like Christmas was around the corner and that was good enough for me!

While preparing for the camping trip, I was considering different snacks to bring for the hike: homemade granola?  just hope that fruit stayed intact in our backpacks?  and then I came across homemade fruit leather on Pinterest and I was sold (especially because the Boyfriend was out of town and he LOVES fruit leather and I knew he’d love the surprise).

This recipe can be made to accommodate almost any fruit you can think of.  I was headed for strawberries but went with raspberries because they were on sale at the grocery store and my brain has already started thinking up crazy cool combinations (cinnamon-peach-blueberry would be fantastic!)  I must admit, I thought these were the sweetest raspberries I’d ever tasted and thus decided to forego the sugar…which turned out to be a poor decision because it meant that these leathers were EXTREMELY tart (I think I may have used extra lemon juice on accident as well…).  That said, plenty of people loved them, so it really will have to be up to your own judgement how sweet you want to make these–just taste the puree before drying and know that sweetness is concentrated once the leather is dry.  These are super simple to make and, while it SEEMS like they would be time consuming, it’s really hands-off for the most part, so I’m sticking by my “these are super easy” statement.

I can say for sure that these certainly didn’t take as long to dry as other people suggested, which surprised me a little, but I think if you just keep a close eye on it, you’ll be fine.  I just stacked the strips in a plastic baggie and threw them in my backpack and they didn’t stick together at all–no powder coating needed AND no sticky fingers after eating, so I was pretty delighted with how they turned out. 

Happy Hiking!  (or Happy School Lunches…or Happy Quick Snack Break at the Office…)

Homemade Cinnamon-Vanilla Raspberry Fruit Leather
Adapted from Tasty Kitchen
yields one 12″ x 16″ pan

• 2 cups raspberries (or other chopped fruit)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 0 – 1/4 cup sugar (depending on your sweet tooth)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (adjust according to taste)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (adjust according to taste)
• vegetable oil

1. Heat oven to lowest temperature setting possible.  My lowest setting is 180 degrees, so I just set the dial to about a 1/4″ short of the lowest temperature and hoped it would work (it did).
2. Add fruit, water, and lemon juice to saucepan and stew for 10-15 minutes until softened.
3. Add cinnamon and vanilla extract and let simmer for 5 more minutes.
4. Using a stick blender or a food processor, blend fruit until smooth and let cool for a few minutes while you prepare the pan.
5. Using a 12″x16″ rimmed baking sheet, line it with parchment paper (I used Martha Wrap, which I thought was perfect for the job) and brush prepared pan with a layer of vegetable oil.
6. Pour the fruit puree through a sieve (it is definitely necessary for raspberries–those little seeds are tough!) over the prepared pan and spread it evenly over the pan with an offset spatula.  It’s like frosting a cake, only easier–the only goal is to make sure that you have a very thin, very even layer of fruit puree.  A bit of liquid separated out of the puree when I sieved it into the pan, but I was able to gently incorporated it back in with my offset spatula before spreading the layer even again.
7. Carefully put the pan in the oven and walk away–it’s going to be in there for a number of hours.  Know that if you’re impatient and you poke it to see how it’s coming along, you’re likely to poke a hole in the leather, so I tested it by tilting up a corner of the parchment paper and seeing if the puree ran off the paper towards the center.
8. I think my leather was in the oven for about 4-5 hours, but don’t quote me on that–all ovens are different and you really just need to keep an eye on things.  Many people who made fruit leather said they actually left the leather in their ovens on low all night, so I’m not sure why my oven was so fast.  About half way through the process I pulled out the leather and found it was getting a bit crispy and brittle on the edges.  Generously brush the leather with water and stick it back in the oven–this trick honestly works like a charm.  There was not a brittle edge to be found when I took the leather out for a second time, just chewy goodness!
9. As I was about to go to bed, I decided the leather was done on top and that the underside was just a little sticky, but that all it needed was air-drying.  I carefully flipped the whole sheet of fruit leather over upside down and put it back in the pan, turned off the oven and put the leather back in to rest and dry in the oven so that it wasn’t taking up counter space.
10. When you wake up in the morning, voila!  Homemade fruit roll-ups that you won’t cringe at when you put it in a lunchbox.  I used a pizza cutter to cut mine into strips with no problems.  Enjoy!

Cupcake-Style Cinnamon Rolls

I’m not sure if there is a cuter idea out there than cinnamon rolls baked as if they were cupcakes and I’ve been dying to try this from the moment I saw them on Pinterest!  While I love a big gooey messy cinnamon roll that you have to eat with a fork and knife just as much as the next person, there was something so quaint and wonderful by being able to peel the wrapper off just like a cupcake and eat it out of my hand.  I would imagine these being great for brunches or breakfasts with kids around so you can just hand them a roll and send them on their way.

They’re certainly not for the completely novice baker, as they have a lot of steps involved, but if they weren’t doable, I wouldn’t be posting it for you try, so get in that kitchen!

The best part about these rolls is that you don’t have to wake up at 4:00 in the morning in order to have fresh-baked cinnamon buns in the morning–I’ve included instructions for par-baking, which means baking the rolls just until they’re set, but not golden brown and perfect yet.  Then you can just throw them into the freezer until you’re ready for them, move them to the fridge the night before, and then just pop in the oven the next morning for ten minutes.  Only 10 minutes to an amazing, cinnamon-y, sweet, delicious breakfast!

Buns:

• 1 cup warm milk
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour or regular flour (bread flour makes for a lighter cinnamon roll)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 pkg yeast (1/4 ounce)

Filling:

• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup butter, softened

Icing:

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

1. Microwave milk for 30-40 seconds in the microwave (you want milk to be about 110 degrees). Dissolve yeast in warm milk in a large bowl.
2. Add sugar, butter, salt, eggs, and flour; mix well.
3. Knead dough into a large ball, using your hands dusted lightly with flour. Put in a bowl sprayed with cooking spray and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place about 1 hour or until dough has doubled in size; line 2 cupcake tins with cupcake liners and lightly spray the cupcake liners with baking spray.
4. In a small bowl, thoroughly combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
5. Sprinkle flour on the surface you’re going to roll the dough on.  Roll dough into a 16×21 inch rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Spread dough with 1/3 cup softened butter (if your butter isn’t soft enough at this point, put it in a bowl and smear it around in the bowl with a wooden spoon until you can whip the spoon around through the butter) (other note: I used an offset spatula for spreading the butter and it was the PERFECT tool for the job).
6. Sprinkle buttered dough evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough starting with the longer side and cut into 24 evenly sized rolls–to ensure even slices I just keep dividing each portion in halves or thirds (if you’re just doing normal rolls and not cupcake-style, cutting into 12 pieces is preferable)
7. You’ll likely need to un-roll and re-roll the buns to fit in each of the cupcake lined spots.  Or, if you’re not in the mood for the cupcake-style, arrange the rolls in a lightly greased 9×13 inch glass baking dish.
8. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes; in the meantime preheat oven to 350 degrees.
9. If serving immediately, bake the cinnamon rolls for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.  If par-baking the cinnamon rolls to freeze for a later date, bake for 10 minutes until mostly baked but not browned.  Pull the buns out and let them cool completely before wrapping them tightly in saran wrap and tin foil and putting in the freezer.  The night before serving the rolls, unwrap them and put them in the fridge overnight to defrost.  The next morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for approximately 10 minutes until soft and golden brown.
10. While in the oven, beat together cream cheese, butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on while they are still warm so that the frosting melts into the roll.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

I can’t lie, I considered skipping this week’s Project Pastry Queen assignment.  I have a go-to recipe for Butternut Squash soup that I created myself and I just can’t bear to leave it behind.  That said, I’m glad I gave this one a try because it certainly gave my normal recipe a run for its money!

I had just come back from a weekend trip away so I wasn’t particularly looking forward to standing over a hot stove, but  it’s soup so it’s a cinch to throw together and let simmer while you take a disco nap in the hopes that you can sort of maybe catch up on the rest you didn’t catch up on over the weekend because you were having too much fun.  I don’t know why I always think soup is a long complicated process so I shouldn’t hesitate in the future.

This soup is a great recipe to keep for a cool Fall evening–the spices will warm you right up!

Note: 1 1/2 lbs of butternut squash is a relatively small squash compared to what I normally see at the grocery store.  Either make sure to get one that’s close (I had to do a 2 pounder), make a double batch of soup, or save the extra squash for something else, like Butternut Squash Risotto (my first recipe on the blog ever!)

Curried Butternut Squash Soup
adapted from The Pastry Queen, by Rebecca Rather
serves 4 to 6

• 2 Tbs unsalted butter or olive oil
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1 large carrot, peeled and sliced
• 1 1/2 lbs butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed
• 1 medium russet potato, peeled and cubed
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 Tbs curry powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Greek yogurt, for garnish

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and carrot and saute over medium heat for about 3 minutes, or until the onions begin to soften.
2. Add the squash potato, ginger, cinnamon, curry powder, and salt;  Saute for 2 minutes.
3. Add the stock, milk, cream, honey, and paprika and bring the soup to a boil.
4. Decrease the heat, cover the pot, and simmer the soup over low heat for about 45 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft.
5. Puree the soup with a stick blender (what? you don’t have one yet?!) until smooth.
6. Add black pepper and additional salt to taste.  If the soup seems too thick, add more milk or chicken stock.
7. Serve hot with a dollop of Greek yogurt on top–it adds a wonderful tangy flavor!

Bourbon Bacon Brownies

I really don’t know if much can be said about these brownies.  Bacon + Bourbon + Brownies = Mad Deliciousness.  They speak for themselves!

While I love a good BLT just as much as the next person, I have to admit that I’m not fully on the bacon train that has chugged through the foodie world (and, thankfully, seems to be on its way out), but this just seemed like a no brainer.  The brownies are soft and fudgy, the nuts are soaked in bourbon, and the bacon is a great crunchy contrast to the brownie texture.

I’ll be spending my weekend at the Hicksville Trailer Park Palace (really) for my good friend’s birthday and I think these fit the bill exactly for properly themed food.  That said, these will be great for any sort of ‘manly’ event, too–bourbon and bacon makes any fancy dessert more Y-chromosome friendly!

Bourbon Bacon Brownies
adapted from Baking Illustrated and SlashFood
Makes one 8″ x 8″ pan, approx 16 brownies

• 1/2 a package of bacon
• bourbon, at least a 1/4 cup
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 5 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 8 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into quarters
• 3 tbsp. cocoa powder
• 3 large eggs
• 1¼ cups sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

1. Place an oven rack in lower-middle position and preheat the oven to 400° F.  Line an 8-inch square baking dish with foil and spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray; set aside, line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.
2. Set pecans in a small bowl and cover with bourbon, about 1/4 cup, set aside to soak.
3. Arrange the bacon on the tin-foiled covered rimmed baking sheet and pop into the oven at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.  When you take it out of the oven, transfer it to a plate lined with 3 or 4 layers of paper towels and blot dry.  The bacon will turn crispy as it cools.  Stack the bacon and slice into 1/4″ wide slices.
   
4. In a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter, stirring occasionally until smooth.  Whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth.  Set aside to cool.
5. In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt; whisk until combined, about 15 seconds.  Whisk in the warm chocolate mixture until incorporated.
6. Add the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing in gently.
7. Spoon the nuts out of the bourbon and fold nuts into batter (save bourbon for later).
   
8. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread with a spatula to make an even layer; sprinkle bacon slices evenly all over the top of the brownie batter.
   
9. Bake until slightly puffed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a small amount of sticky crumbs clinging to it, 35-40 minutes.
10. Pour reserved bourbon evenly over the top of the hot brownies.  It will soak into the brownies and spread deliciousness all over.
11. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature, about 2 hours.  DIG IN!

Queso Blanco Dip

I know Los Angeles is supposed to be one of the best places in the States to get Mexican food, but I have to admit: my favorite Mexican restaurant ever is back in Georgia.  Frontera Mex-Mex holds so many memories of family, friends and teachers for me (The Boyfriend ate a 2 pound monster burrito there last Christmas so that he could get a free t-shirt for me.  If that’s not love, I don’t know what is) but if it wasn’t for the food, none of us would keep going back as often as we did.  One of the most popular items on the menu was their cheese dip, which was white and creamy, went perfectly with their salsa, and had jalapenos in it upon request.  Many an evening I spent trying to recreate this recipe, one which involved me, just diagnosed with bronchitis, going out into the freezing windy icy middle-of-nowhere Pennsylvania winter to the Walmart close to campus to go get cheese.  That’s how amazing this stuff is: you risk death just to taste it.  The only problem is, it was practically impossible to recreate.  I tried fancy Mexican cheeses like queso fresca, because it looked white like what they had at Frontera and it was Mexican, so how could it go wrong?  Turns out queso fresca doesn’t actually melt, so that trip turned out to be a bust, only one of many busts to come.

In the end, I finally went home to Georgia for Christmas and just ASKED the staff at Frontera what was in their cheese dip.  Would you believe the greatest cheese dip in all the world from the greatest Mexican restaurant in all the world (okay, that fact is admittedly debatable) is actually made from plain old white American cheese!?  I got over that shocker of a fact quickly and just headed to the nearest store.  Note: you’ll have to go to the deli to get the white American cheese; my deli lady just sliced it into normal sandwich slices (so she could weigh it properly) and I just finely diced it when I got home instead of shredding it.

Upon tasting, I nearly passed out in front of the stove.  This was it!  And now if only I can get Frontera to ship over a burrito al carbon, I’d be a happy happy girl.  (I’m also going to be a fat girl soon–this weekend I’ve been requested to make my other, more famous and more unhealthy queso dip recipe, the one that involves Velveeta.  This recipe will make it on the blog eventually but I’ll let you work on burning off the calories in this one first, okay?)

Queso Blanco
Serves a group of about 4
Adapted from Annie’s Eats and Confessions of a Foodie Bride

• 1 tbsp. canola or vegetable oil
• 1 jalapeño pepper, finely chopped
• 12 oz white American cheese, shredded or chopped
• 4 oz Monterey jack cheese, shredded
• 1/4-3/4 cup milk
• 1 tomato, seeded and finely diced

1. Heat oil in pan and saute the jalapeno pepper over medium heat until softened.  CAUTION: have windows open or a fan on when you do this.  I was coughing and choking from the spicy vapors in the air and then The Boyfriend rang the doorbell and I opened the door and he started immediately choking too.
2. Turn the heat down to medium-low and add the cheeses and 1/4 cup milk to the pan.
3. Stir with a wooden spoon until almost fully melted, then add the tomato and continue stirring.
4. Add milk until you’ve reached the desired texture.  I remember the cheese dip being pretty fluid, so I kept adding milk, but once I’d added a bit too much, it lost the creamy cheese flavor, so don’t add more than an extra half cup or so.
5. Garnish with tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, and raw jalapeno, if you dare; watch it disappear in almost no time! (especially since it’s football season, right?)

Caesar Salad Pizzas

I’ve been looking forward to this recipe ever since I first opened the Pastry Queen cookbook, so I knew that it would be a winner–Caesar salad, is my favorite after all.  I’ve attempted to make salad dressing myself before and, while it ended up okay, I wasn’t going to stop buying my favorite dressing (Annie’s Lite Herb Balsamic, if you were curious) in favor of my own.  I know now that whenever I need a Caesar dressing, it will without a doubt be homemade!  I thought the dressing was fantastic and, for the first time, I got to use the little drip hole tube in my food processor specifically for making salad dressing (I kept screeching at the Boyfriend to come watch this miracle tool in action).  I’m a bit of a Caesar salad purist, so I left off the tomatoes Rebecca suggests and, of course, the pizza crust was more than enough to substitute for croutons.  In a bit of a Southerner moment, I realized I had no coarse cornmeal in my kitchen and substituted grits instead, which worked fine.

The crust is good, if not a little thick for the amount of salad and I think going forward I would enjoy making a big salad and a half recipe of crust to cut up for breadsticks to accompany.  In the end, though, a great dinner!

As always, you can find my fellow Pastry Queen-ers versions of the recipe here; be sure to check them out!

Caesar Salad Pizzas
Yields four 8″ pizzas
Adapted from The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rathers

Crust

• 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water (110 degrees)
• 2 oz active dry yeast (what’s usually available at the store is a strip of 1/4 oz packets)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus additional for brushing on crusts
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 4 to 5 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup coarse cornmeal
• 1 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese

Dressing

• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 large eggs, beaten (or 1/2 cup pasteurized egg product)
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese

• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 large head romaine lettuce, chopped
• Freshly shaved Parmesan cheese

1. Combine the lukewarm water, yeast, olive oil, and honey in a large mixing bowl.  Add 3 cups of all purpose flour, salt, and crushed red pepper and stir till well combined.  Add 1 additional cup of flour to the dough and stir in until combined.
2. Turn contents of bowl onto a floured surface and knead dough until smooth and elastic (about 10-15 turns).  Place in large oiled bowl and cover and let rest at room temperature for 30-40 minutes.
3. Generously coat 2 baking sheets with olive oil.  Sprinkle the sheets with cornmeal.  Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
4. Divide the dough into quarters.  Roll each piece into a ball, place the dough balls on a clean baking sheet, cover with a damp towel and let rest for 10-15 minutes longer.
5. Using a floured rolling pin, flatten each dough ball into an 8 inch circle.  Brush each dough round with olive oil and sprinkle each with 1 1/4 cup of cheese.  Transfer the crusts onto the prepared baking sheets and bake for 10-15 minutes until browned and crisp.
6. While the crusts are baking, pull out the food processor and turn it on.  With it running, toss in the garlic cloves first, and once the cloves are as chopped as they can be (just a few seconds), then add the eggs, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and mustard.  Wait a few seconds for it to fully combine and then either pour the olive oil in a slow steady stream through the open the feed tube, or find the empty cylinder with the small hole in the bottom and fill it up with olive oil.  It will take care of the slow steady stream for you!
7. Toss the chopped lettuce with the salad dressing while the crusts cool for just a minute or two and then top the crusts with a big pile of salad.  Sprinkle with salt and fresh ground pepper. Yum!

James and the Giant Bourbon Honey Peach Pie

When I saw KCRW & LACMA were holding a pie contest, I was interested.  When I saw that there was a category just for pies inspired by Tim Burton, I was hooked.  I instantly started churning out ideas and sketching them out on scraps of paper….Jack the Pumpkin King Pumpkin Pie, Sweeney Todd “Meat” Pie, the Queen of Hearts’ Strawberry Tarts….the possibilities were endless!  I couldn’t have asked for a more inspiring and creative special category and I was disappointed to find out we could only enter one pie per category.  So instead of disguising my cast-off Tim Burton creations to be suitable for other categories (fruit, nut, savory, or cream/chiffon), I decided to focus all my creative and baking energy to making one really great pie: James and the Giant Peach Pie.

I felt, despite the fact that the judges were a total all-star panel, that pumpkin and strawberry and meat pies are so subjective to a judge’s mood on any given day…but that no one can actually turn down a really good peach pie, no matter what their mood.  Since it was for Tim Burton, I knew I had to go all out on themeing the pie and if there’s one thing I love it’s a challenge that combines baking and crafting.  In “James and the Giant Peach,” the characters live inside a peach floating across the English Channel, at one point being pulled by a large flock of birds.  So I went to the co-op, found the largest peach in the bin, and proudly carried it home, knowing it would be my centerpiece.  I held up the line at FedEx-Kinko’s while the guy at the desk and I printed out the characters in a few different sizes for me to experiment with (and mirror images of them, so no matter what side you looked at the pie from, you wouldn’t be staring at the white back of paper).  And I dashed through the craft store, wondering if I really needed a pair of needle nose pliers and wire cutters to pull off this project (I did).  The final result was a “giant” peach, the cast of characters merrily perched on top, being pulled by birds through waves of the English Channel pie crust.

There were some hurdles to jump first, though.  I admit, though I love making pies, I normally have no patience for pie crust and just use frozen crust from the store (it could be because I make most of my pies around Thanksgiving when I have other things to worry about, like if I remembered the cranberries for the stuffing).  These pies had to be 100% homemade and, truthfully, I’m glad for it, because the process reminded me that crust really is so simple to throw together that I should take the time to do it more often.  The other hurdle was that in order to pull off my design element, I needed a little stand to hold the peach up at crust level and I didn’t know a single pizza store that still used those plastic stands to keep the box from drooping into the cheese.  Imagine my delight when the hero boyfriend called from a conference he was at in San Fransisco to say that he had triumphantly found and saved two pizza box stands and he would be home on Friday with them!

So with all challenges behind me and nothing left to do but bake a pie, I plunged ahead, making the crust on Saturday night and the pie early on Sunday morning, hoping it would cool off enough before having to bring it to LACMA for judging.  And when all that was said and done….

I placed first in the Tim Burton category!  My very first blue ribbon!  I was so nervous seeing my pie up on the judges’ table, but after my name was called, I was absolutely jumping for joy and so proud of what I had accomplished.  The boyfriend had been hiding inside the pie tent so that he could have first dibs at tasting some of the 250 pies entered in the contest, but came out to celebrate with me and join in my first paparazzi moment (after 3 years in LA, it’s about time, eh?).  I’m so grateful to all the friends who showed their support either by coming to the event or just offering moral fortitude for my first baking contest–it certainly paid off!  And now, dear readers, I pass the recipe on to you to share with your family and friends.  Award Winning Bourbon Honey Peach Pie, submitted for your pie-eating pleasure:

Bourbon Honey Peach Pie
adapted from Gourmet, July 2009 via Sassy Radish
crust adapted from Cook’s Illustrated

Pie Crust (enough for 2 crusts, a top and bottom)

• 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 1/2 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening , cut into 4 pieces
• 4 tablespoons vodka , cold
• 4 tablespoons ice water

Filling

• 3 lb ripe peaches
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• heaping 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• heaping 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tbsp bourbon
• 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste (or extract)
• 2 tablespoons water
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 1 egg white
• sugar for sprinkling

1. Process 1 1/2 cups flour, salt, and sugar together in food processor until combined, about 2 one-second pulses.
2. Add butter and shortening and process until homogenous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 10 seconds (dough will resemble cottage cheese curds with some very small pieces of butter remaining, but there should be no uncoated flour). Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl with rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade.
3. Add remaining 1 cup flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into medium bowl.
4. Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. With rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together. Flatten dough into 4-inch disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.
5. Place a foil lined baking sheet on the middle rack in your oven and preheat to 425 degrees.  This will ensure ,when you put the pie in the oven to bake on the already hot sheet, that the butter and shortening will melt and coat the flour faster, before the peach juices get to the flour.  If the butter and shortening melt first, you’ll get a flaky crust.  If the peach juices get to the crust first, you’ll get nothing but a soggy crust.  If you have been chilling your dough overnight, pull it out now so that it can soften.
6. You can choose to peel the peaches or not.  If you do want to peel them, blanching them will make the process a lot easier.  I personally just didn’t want to take the time to peel them and the pie was, obviously, fine.
7. Slice the peaches into 8 pieces per fruit, tossing them in a bowl as you go.
8. Pour the lemon juice over the peaches slices.
9. In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.  Pour the mixture over the peach slices and toss the peaches until evenly coated.
10. Bring 1/2 cup sugar, honey, vanilla, and bourbon and water to a boil in a 1 1/2- to 2-qt heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved.  Boil without stirring, swirling pan occasionally so the mixture darkens in color evenly, until dark amber, about 5 minutes. (Tricked you!  You’re basically making vanilla honey caramel here!  But we’re not going all the way to caramel, instead we’re just cooking the sugar long enough to deepen the flavors and give it a hint of caramel flavor.)
    
11. Remove from heat and add butter, swirling pan until butter is melted. Pour over fruit and toss the peaches until evenly coated.
12. Sprinkle a generous amount of flour on top of the first dough round and roll out 1 piece of dough into a 13-inch round on a generously floured surface.  Gently roll the dough around the rolling pin and then unroll it into the pie plate, gently lifting the edges and settling it into the plate (at this point it is suggested that you chill the pie plate and crust while you roll out the other crust but truthfully, I was rushing and forgot and it was fine).  Roll out the second pie crust using the same flouring methods.
13. Spoon (or dump) the peaches into the pie crusted plate and lay the second rolled out crust on top.  Trim the overhand so there’s just about a 1/2 inch left.  Going around the edge, you’ll seal the juices in best if you fold the edge of the crust underneath itself before crimping or decorating it.  Cut a hole about 2″ wide in the center of the top pie crust for steam to vent out.
14. Brush the crust with the egg white and then sprinkle with sugar.  Both will make the crust shiny and delicious!
15. Bake pie on hot baking sheet 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F. Continue to bake until crust is golden-brown and filling is bubbling, about 50 minutes more–tent tin foil over the top of the pie if the crust starts to brown too much. Cool pie to room temperature, 3 to 4 hours.

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Corn Flake Balls

Even though school always starts in August, it never really felt like school until September rolled around.  So now that the kids have definitely been in school for a little while and are into the swing of things, I can’t think of an easier, more delicious snack to whip up for them for their lunch boxes or for after they get home off the big yellow bus.  But I’m a 25 year old girl and, even though I don’t carry a lunch box or ride a big yellow bus, I still will gobble these up like a 5 year old, given the chance.

I don’t know exactly where the recipe came from, but I do remember my mom suddenly making these one day when I was young, saying that she remembered eating them at school when she was a little girl.  Let me tell you, after Mom started making these, I don’t remember Rice Krispie Treats ever making an appearance in the house again.  I dare you to take one bite of these and then tell me if you ever desire a RKT again in the same way that you will desire these.  Why?  One is mostly air and has no flavor save for a little vanilla from the marshmallow.  The other is dense and chewy and full of flavor.

They take 10 minutes to make so just go for it and then you get back to me on those RTK permanently disappearing from your brain, okay?

Peanut Butter Marshmallow Corn Flake Balls
(If anyone can think of a better name for these, tell me.  I’m open to suggestions!)
Makes about 16-20 depending on how big you make them

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 bag mini marshmallows
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 6 cups corn flakes

1. Melt the butter in a large stock pot over medium heat
2. Dump the marshmallows in and stir with a big wooden spoon until completely melted with no lumps
3. Add the peanut butter and stir until completely incorporated to the marshmallow
4. Turn off the burner and add the corn flakes.  Stir until flakes are evenly coated with marshmallow-peanut butter mixture.  Don’t worry about being too gentle and not crushing the corn flakes.  It’s okay if they get crushed and most will stay surprisingly whole (see picture above and I was actually pretty rough in the stirring process).  Be sure there are no pockets of goopy mixture left (I thought I was done stirring and then accidentally came across a few pockets in the pot).
5. Lay out a sheet of wax paper and butter your hands up.  Taking small handfuls of the mixture out of the pot, roll them up in your hands approximately golf ball sized or a little larger if you prefer.  Be sure to firmly squish them into the ball shape–again, this is no time to be gentle.  The harder you squish them, the chewier they will be later and that is ALWAYS my goal in this matter.  This is a great step to let the kids help with; I have strong memories of Mom mixing the ingredients together and then me and my sister helping to roll the balls up.  Be careful with little hands in the hot mixture.  Most of it will have cooled, but sometimes you just hit a hot spot.  You can avoid this by using a spoon to pull up portions of the mixture so that they can test it or blow on it to cool instead of grabbing a handful of hot stuff.
6. Let the balls cool before eating (although I can never resist eating a few still warm).  These also freeze wonderfully so make a huge batch and throw them in the freezer for treats.  They are, of course, hard on the jaw right out of the freezer, but once the outside softens up a little, they’re still super crispy on the inside, which is fun, but a mess.