Corn, tomato, and cheese pie

A friend recently sent me a link to a terrific blog, titled "nothing-in-the-house," which is fully devoted to (and dare I say 'inspired by??') the art of pie baking. Well, reading the blog has completely reignited my somewhat expired love/passion/obsession with pie baking. It's been really fun, actually, rediscovering my interest and getting excited about making pies again!

So I've been dreaming all week of making a pie...meanwhile the weather has begun to feel like fall, making it an even more perfect time for baking (and eating) pie. I'd seen the recipe for a tomato corn pie on the smitten kitchen blog earlier in the year and been intrigued. And so with my new found inspiration I looked up that recipe, adapted it a bit, and made my own version.




Well, the pie turned out so well! We shared it with our 2 sisters and there is not a crumb left of the pie.

The original recipe that peaked my interest can be found here. However, I altered the recipe quite a bit and so I've written my version of the pie recipe below. I hope that you will be inspired and try baking this, or perhaps another type of pie.




Ingredients:

For the crust:
1 cup whole wheat flour (I used bread flour b/c that's what I had but I'll bet pastry would be better)
1 cup white pastry flour
sea salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup buttermilk
A little over 1/4 cup olive oil
Water as needed

For the filling:
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
Corn from 2 cobs, coursely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped
3 tablespoons fresh basil
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup goat cheese
1/4 cup mild cheddar cheese, grated
salt to taste
paper to taste

For the crust:

Prebake oven to 375 degrees.

Mix together the flours, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add the olive oil, followed by the buttermilk, and mix into flour. Slowly add water while stirring, until the mixture forms a nice ball that is not too sticky. If you add too much water, just add a little extra flour to the mix. Divide the dough into 2 equally sized balls. Wrap one ball of dough in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for later. Roll out the other ball on a lightly floured surface until it measures a 12 inch circle. Carefully drape the rolled out dough over your rolling pin and transfer it to a 12 inch pie dish. Place lightly oiled aluminum foil over the crust, and pie weights or dried beans on top of the foil. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes. Remove the weights and foil, lower the heat to 350 degrees, and then bake the dough for another 10 minutes. Remove the dish with the bottom crust from the oven and allow to cool. Raise the oven temperature to 400 degrees.

Layer the filling ingredients in the your bottom crust:

First, empty the contents of the can of tomatoes in the dish. Next, sprinkle the chives and basil on top of the tomatoes and sprinkle salt and pepper on top of the herbs. Follow this with the coarsely chopped corn, and then spread the ricotta and goat cheeses on top of the corn. Finally, sprinkle on the grated cheddar cheese. Roll your second ball of dough into a 12 inch circle and pinch into place as the top crust. Cut 3 or 4 slits in the top dough layer for ventilation. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the dough is brown, the filling is bubbling, and the smells emanating from your kitchen are causing your tummy to growl and your mouth to water.

How to kill a lobster

We recently drove up to Vermont and Maine for a much needed vacation. Of course, we performed the requisite food touring-- visited four amazing bakeries, 2 local farms, including this one, and ate our fair share of woopie pies, which appear to be a New England staple.

But our food tour would not have been complete if we had not also explored the local lobster scene. Our first night of lobster consumption took place at an amazing dive of a place, Beal's Lobster Peer, and I would recommend it to anyone who happens to fine themself near Bar Harbor. This is a no frills type of joint-it's all about the lobster. As the name implies, it's located right on a peer and you can only imagine that the lobsters that you will soon be happily chowing on were perhaps only a few days ago crawling on the floors of the ocean of which you have an amazing view as you enjoy dinner. Anyways, at this restaurant, you walk in and are immediately faced with a long line of hungry people in front of which stands an open tank that is full of live lobster. Once you make your way to the front of the line, you give your order (soft or hard shelled lobster were the basic choices in our case), the person taking your order then quickly picks up a lobster, places it in a mesh bag with a tag that presumably contains your order information, and at that point, say a prayer for Jimmy the lobster because his destiny has been fully determined. Indeed, soon after your order is placed the lobster is submerged in a large metal tub of boiling hot water--rest in peace, dear lobster friend. About 10 minutes later, one of the kind employees of Beal's calls your number and you pick up your tray containing the whole boiled lobster, butter sauce for dipping, and whatever sides you've chosen (corn and the cob, scallops, and fries in our case). Then remember to get napkins because the eating part is a messy operation. Admittedly I only had a few bites of lobster that night. It was delicious though. The meat was chewy, tender, sweet, and so flavorful that it was truly remarkable that the only cooking performed was a short submersion in boiling water.

After that first night of lobster eating we were feeling pretty comfortable with lobster consumption--confident enough, in fact, to try cooking some on our own. We stopped in Portland Maine and bought 4 lobsters at a harbor-side store. For 10 dollars, a kind employee packed our live lobsters on ice and sea kelp in a styrophome cooler.





We then made the 5 hour drive from Maine to Conneticut. The experience of riding with the 4 lobsters in the back of our car is worth mentioning; since every 20 minutes or so of the drive I very cautiously peeked back at the cooler, which was surprisingly quiet and still. Each time I took this peek I experienced a strange mixture of fear, sadness, and excitement.

It was only when we arrived that we began to feel very nervous about the execution that was about to take place-we had to do the killing ourselves this time. After some research we determined that there are 3 schools of thought on methods for killing a lobster: 1.) use a knife to rapidly slice through the body, so that the death is short and sweet 2.) plunge into boiling water, as done at Beal's-this is the quick and dirty method, or 3.) place the lobster in cool salt water on the stove top and slowly raise the heat until the water is boiling, thus sensetising the lobster to the heat. The males amongst of were adament that the first option was the superior of the three. As such, excecutor number 1 took a large knife and sliced through the body of the lobster. Well, let me tell you--this did not go as planned.



The lobster continued to squirm after the first cut, then after the second, the third, and then fourth. So much for a fast and humane death for that lobster. Finally, still unsure as to whether the lobster was dead or not, we plunged that first poor lobster's broken body into boiling water. We went with option 3 for the remaining lobsters: we submerged each in salt water, slowly raised the temperature until the water was boiling, let the water boil for 5 minutes, and then left them to simmer in the water for an additional 15. I do think that this is the best option for killing a lobster--we didn't hear a peep out of the lobsters.

I am very glad that I did this, that I cooked my own lobster. Having said that, I don't know that I will ever do it again. The entire experience is extremely carnal and I do think that, at the end of the day, I am more of a vegetarian at heart.

Chocolate chocolate biscotti...Why work when there's chocolate?

At 3:00 today I found myself falling asleep on my computer as I attempted to research the top air polluting industries in the state of North Carolina. I know, sounds riveting, but sometimes the computer glare gets the better of me.

Well, I woke myself up with a bit of internet food gazing, which mainly involves visiting some of my favorite food blogs. Such browsing roughly equates to a small dose of food porn, and on this day it turned into an even larger distraction because I couldn't keep myself from trying out one of the recipes.

I stumbled upon a recipe for chocolate biscotti here, on David Lebovitz's blog. Seriously, how was I to resist the temptation after seeing his picture of the product? Now, he calls these cookies "chocolate biscotti," but I personally think that the more appropriate title for them is "Chocolate chocolate biscotti," since they're made with cocoa plus chocolate chips. Then, I'd add a third chocolate to the title if I opted to dip the baked product in melted chocolate, which he appears to have done, judging from the photo that he posted.

Up until today, I'd always used Mark Bittman's recipe from How to Cook Everything to bake biscotti. Lebovitz's recipe is different from Bittman's, mainly in that it doesn't call for butter. Instead, the liquid ingredients consist of only egg, and vanilla and almond extracts. Normally I love the flavor of butter in anything, but this recipe is great because lack of butter allows you to focus on the CHOCOLATE. These are very rich, damn good, and go straight to a chocolate-lovers heart. Well worth the distraction, I'd say.

Here's a picture of my biscotti, and you can find the recipe on David Lebovitz's blog.

Un-iced chocolate yogurt cupcakes

I must confess that I never imagined that I would be involved in the planning of a baby shower. It's not just the aging thing that got to me; that is, the realisation that suddenly it's socially acceptable (and some might say, "expected") that friends of mine are pregnant-with-child. No, it was more the cutesy, pink-or-blue, gender-specific, plan-a-game, circle around the queen and watch her open presents idea that turned me off (so much so that I've been known to schedule trips out of town in order to avoid attending showers). But all of a sudden, here I am...voluntarily helping to organize a shower.

Well, okay, I honestly haven't done a whole lot for the event thus far. I told everyone when I was available (I promise, I have no plans to have a sudden out-of-town family emergency!)and immediately afterwards side-stepped the task of game-planning. But when an email came through requesting that someone bake cupcakes for the event, I volunteered myself not more than 5 minutes later. And when faced with a task, one should perform it well, right? And to do it well requires some rehearsing, yes? Well, I think so anyways. So I've pulled up my sleeves and begun experimenting.

My first attempt at cupcakes turned out not so bad. Actually, it turned out pretty damn well if I do say so myself--so much so that I am excited to share the recipe on here!
Once again, I was inspired by a recipe posted on the smitten kitchen blog. She calls the product "chocolate yogurt snackcakes," but I prefer to call them "uniced cupcakes" (really this is so that I can convince myself that I am, in fact, rehearsing for the shower cupcakes). Whatever you want to call them, I think that we'd all agree that they are tasty! The cakes are moist and fluffy, and sure to cure a chocolate craving. I think that they'd be great topped with cream cheese icing. Or maybe a chocolate ganache. I'll report back if I discover something good. Right now we're eating them plain and that's tasty too.


Makes 12 cupcake-sized cakes

7 ounces (200 grams) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup (125 ml) vegetable oil
1/2 cup (125 ml) plain, whole-milk yogurt
1 cup (200 grams) sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 cups (200 grams) flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper cupcake liners or lightly butter the pan.

2. In a heatproof bowl set over simmering water, melt the chocolate with 1/4 cup of the oil. Once melted and smooth, remove from the heat.

3. In another bowl, mix the remaining 1/4 cup oil with yogurt, sugar, eggs and vanilla and almond extracts.

*Note: I used greek yogurt, because that's what I had and it came out really nicely! Also, I substituted about 1/3 cup of brown sugar for regular sugar.

4. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the yogurt mixture. Stir lightly a couple times, then add the melted chocolate and stir until just smooth.

*Note: Here, I tasted the batter and the cakes were chocolatey enough for me! So I added about 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder.

5. Divide the batter among the muffin cups and bake for 20 to 25 minutes (took me 25+ minutes, but my cupcakes were rather large) or until they feel barely set in the middle and a tester or toothpick comes out clean.

6. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack before serving.

No-knead bread

Okay, I admit it. I have long been intimidated by the idea of bread baking. Perhaps my fears can be traced back to childhood. I have memories of my mother and sister making bread in our family kitchen-flour flying everywhere, the entire room being taken over by the task. This was no short-term job either; I remember my mom and sister devoting several hours of the day to the process. And when the bread finally came out... Well, the finished product was okay, but I couldn't help thinking, "Why not spend a few bucks, buy a perfectly okay loaf from the grocery store, save yourself the time and the trouble, and move on with your day?"

Nonetheless the craft of bread baking has maintained a certain mystique. The idea of creating something so potentially delicious from not much more than flour and water, the magic of using yeast to make the simple ingredients combine into a leavened, doughy, form... not to mention my idealized notion of creating that perfect, warm, fresh-out-of-the-oven, crispy-crusted and moist-centered loaf... that's what kept bread making in the back of my head.

And that is why the words "No knead bread" caught by eye on a recent visit to a food blog. Turns out this recipe has been hailed as a miracle, or if not a miracle, than at least pure baking genius. Writers claim that the recipe is so simple that a 4-year old can follow the instructions and yet so good that its product rivals any artisan bread that you might purchase from a well-respected professional bakery. You can find the original NY Times article in which food-writer Mark Bittman describes the bread: here, and the blog post that originally caught my eye is: here.

After reading these praises I thought, "hmm...even I might be able to do that." I was not disappointed (i.e. I did it! I did it! I baked good bread!). I highly recommend that you try this recipe. Trust me, if nothing else, it's a great way to boost one's confidence in the kitchen and impress your friends and family! You can find the recipe for this bread at the links above. Below I have written some comments and tips.

Comments:

When I first read this recipe, I ran around trying to find the appropriate pot in which to bake the bread. We do not own an 8-quart pot with a cover that is oven friendly. Finally, I found pot that was approximately the right size, placed a metal pot from another pot on top, baked away, and it seemed to work just fine. My mother also suggested that I could have tried using aluminum foil as a cover. I might try this next time.

The first time I baked this bread, I made the mistake of not completely pre-heating the pot. I probably stuck it in the oven 15 minutes prior to baking instead of the prescribed "at least 30 minutes before." The result was that the finished bread stuck to the bottom of the pot. I was able to scrape most the bread off, but it was still disappointing to have this otherwise near-perfection bread stuck to the pot.

This bread does not keep well after the first day. I recommend planning to eat it almost immediately after baking. We didn't finish ours and it molded after a day or 2 of sitting out. This bread is so delicious though that I imagine many won't have the problem of left-overs!

Strawberry rhubarb pie

I don't have any pictures to post, nor will I be writing a specific recipe here. However, I am very excited to share some recent discoveries in the world of pie baking!



First, a bit of history: A little over a year ago I developed a pie-baking obsession. The spree began after I watched the movie Waitress. Admittedly, the movie isn't anything amazing (though still worth watching for a light and relaxing evening). In it, though, the main character prepares these beautiful and creative (in terms of name and ingredient) pies! I was completely inspired. Pies provide a basic template with which I can experience and represent the seasons, as well as my mood. And thus it began.



Fast forward to today. I'm still working on perfecting my pie crust, and my pies in general. I've made some amazing discoveries with regard to pie shells, but I'll leave notes on those for another day. What I want to share with you today are my exciting strawberry rhubarb pie filling discoveries.



I have made 2 strawberry rhubarb pies thus far this season. The first one, while delicious, was a soppy mess. I'd estimate that the filling was 1 part fruit to 2 parts liquid and after slicing it resembled more of a wet cobbler than a pie. The second one was beautifully solid! I attribute the success of the second to the following steps:

1.) I prebaked the crust. Specifically, I preheated the oven to 375, placed the crust dough in the pan, placed foil and pie weights on top of the dough, and then baked for 15 minutes. After, I removed the weights, glazed the bottom and sides of the crust with a beaten egg, and sprinkled 2 tablespoons of oats on top of the glaze. I then baked for another 20 minutes.

2.) For the filling, I strained the strawberries, after slicing them, very well. Then, I mixed my filling spices, strawberries, and rhubarb with 4 tablespoons of tapioca plus 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and allowed this to sit for about 20 minutes. Then--and this I think is the most important step I think--I cooked the mixture on the stove top (medium high heat) for about 5 minutes. This allowed the mixture to thicken up. I removed the mixture from the stove after it resembled a loose jam.

3.) Finally, I assembled the pie (topped with streusal this time!) and baked at 350 for another 30 minutes or so, until the crust was beautifully browned.

I wish I'd taken a picture of the final product to share. We gobbled it up though, and believe me, it was tasty and, importantly, not runny!

Salted Rosemary Flatbread

I'm obsessed with this recipe, which I found on my favorite food blog: www.smittenkitchen.com. Really, the recipe is genius, pure genius. Delicious, easy, and did I mention delicious? It's essentially a pizza dough recipe topped with olive oil, rosemary and salt. The bread makes a wonderful accompaniment to a tapas style dinner. We've been enjoying it with hummus (we'll have to share that recipe with you in another post), cheese, and spring vegetable salads.

Here's the recipe as published on the smittenkitchen blog (which the blog author adapted from Jim Lahey's Pizza Bianca recipe, which was published on marthastewart.com), with just a few extra suggestions and modifications.

Salted Rosemary Flatbread, a.k.a. Jim Lahey's Pizza Bianca

3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon instant dry yeast
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Fresh Rosemary

1. Combine flour, 1/2 tsp salt, sugar, and yeast in a bowl and mix*. Slowly add about 1 cup cold water. Mix until a smooth dough-ball is formed.

[In the published recipe, she says to do all of this in a bowl using an electric mixer. I prefer to perform the mixing by hand.Therefore, I have found that a slightly stickier dough is better than a more rubbery one, and so it might be necessary to add slightly more water.]

2. Form a ball from the dough place on a floured surface and knead for ~10 minutes until smooth.

3. Place dough in an oiled bowl and allow it to rest 2 to 4 hours until it has doubled in size. Split the dough into halves and form each into a log. Place each on a floured surface and allow to rest until each doubles in size, again at least 1 hour.

(Note: Each time I have made this, I've skipped the second rise and it's worked out just fine!)

4. Put dough on a lightly floured baker's peel. Dimple dough by pressing it down with your fingertips. Work the dough outward toward the edges of the peel until you reach your desired size and thickness, about 1/4 inch. (you can also roll out the dough). Drizzle with remaining olive oil, rosemary and sprinkle with remaining salt.

5. Place a baking stone/pizza stone in the oven. Set oven to HOT (500 or so degrees). Slide pizza onto baking stone with the baker's peel. Bake until the bubbles range from golden to deep brown in color, 10 to 12 minutes.

*Note: Sometimes I add the rosemary to the mix at this point, along with the salt, sugar and flour, rather than sprinkling it on top at the end.