OMG March 14th is Pie Day!

The “pie” does not win points on looks (neither do pictures taken at night from the iPhone) but it tastes so yum!

I was already using the oven and decided to throw a dessert together. However, I am pretty lazy and decided not to make a dough. Therefore, I decided to mash up a load of graham crackers to make the crust.

Once again, I apologize for the way it looks. Not very pretty, but oh the yum….!

Apple Graham Cracker “Pie” Dessert

6 crisp apples, cut into half inch squares
1 box of graham crackers, crushed/blendered
1/2 stick of butter, melted
1/2 cup of brown suger
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
2 teaspoons of brandy
pinch of salt

Mash up a box of graham crackers. I mashed and blended around 20 of them to fill and top the 9 inch pie pan. Once it is blended, mix the half stick of melted butter into the graham cracker mash. Press the graham crackers into the pie pan. I used about a third of the crackers for the crust. The rest is used for the topping.

Put into the oven at 400 degrees F for 10-15 minutes till the crust gets a little more crisp.

Peel and cut the 6 apples to half inch squares. I use 3 braeburn and 3 granny smith apples. Mix the brown sugar, brandy, and cinnamon with the apples and throw in a pinch of salt. The crust should be ready and probably should be cooled but I was lazy and just poured the apple filling into it. Coat the apples with the rest of the graham crackers.

I wrapped the edge of the pan with some foil to keep the circumference of the crust from getting too burnt. Place into the oven at 400 degrees F for 45 minutes.

Slice that and take a bite with some vanilla icecream. Messy crunchy yum!

For me, being on serious overtime means surviving on catering and never, ever, ever getting to cook. But never fear, for the time after a movie is done (called “unemployment”, or as I prefer “extended vacation”) means lots of cooking and experimenting with new recipes! Now, so far some have been, uh, lackluster. I’m looking at you, rock hard homemade rice crackers. But others have been lovely. Like these nice Prosciutto, Dijon, and Gruyere Puffs:

Om nom nom.

Now, I gleefully stole this recipe from the lovely blog Joy the Baker. I strayed from her recipe in a few minor ways, but the changes are so slight that I’ll just put a little link here to her instead. Ze Puffs! Credit where credit is due! These mofos are soft, flavorful, and so very easy to make. Seriously. If you’ve ever used Play-doh or assembled a sandwich, you’re good to go.

My changes are as follows: I am not terribly fond of the double roll style of pastry that she used, so I just did a single roll. The double roll stuff tends to fall apart as I eat it, so I stuck with a more compact formation. The picture makes the finished rolls look huge, but they’re really quite small, less than palm sized. As a result, I went with less of the filling than the original recipe called for, fearing that the flavor would be too intense. And boy am I glad I did. I went about half on the Prosciutto and Gruyere, and used a little less than a tablespoon of Dijon. The dijon can be a little overwhelming, so use less if you’re not crazy about it.

Oh man are these good! I forsee an entire summer of rolled puff pasty awesomes and delights! Spinach and mushroom! Olive tapenade! Who knows what else!

On tap for this summer’s food blogging assuming I get off my lazy ass and do it:

- Cookbook reviews, including “The Japanese Kitchen”!
- Restaurant reviews, like Shinsengumi Ramen and La Provence!
- Tips, tricks, and product reviews, none of which come to mind at the moment!
- My favorite Southern dishes, aka, a thinly veiled excuse to eat tasty things when I go home this summer!
- Recipes, assuming I can get the rice crackers to come out right this time!

I’ll see you mofos later.

=

Here’s a little recipe in honor of the 4th of July and our founding fathers.

In Philadelphia, there’s a restaurant called the City Tavern. Way back during the revolutionary era, this tavern served as an offsite meeting/dining place to our First Continental Congress, and was considered by John Adams as “the most genteel tavern in America”. True story. Now, in all honesty, the original building burned to the ground and a replica was re-built over its ashes. But with all the servers walking around in costumes and an 18th century food, who would know? The menu itself is graced with recipes like George Washington’s Draft Beer, Martha Washington’s Chocolate Mousse Cake, and of course Thomas Jefferson’s Sweet Potato Biscuits. They are all based on the original recipes, updated with more modern ingredients (like shortening instead of lard).

These biscuits are definitely richer and less fluffy than a traditional southern biscuit. I found the inside to be softer and doughier thanks to the sweet potato. But they are some serious yum served warm with a pad of butter and a drizzle of honey.

Thomas Jefferson’s Sweet Potato Biscuits
makes about 2 dozen biscuits

5 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup solid frozen vegetable shortening (i used room temp… i don’t think it makes much difference)
2 cups roasted, mashed, and cooled sweet potatoes
1 cup heavy cream (plus more if needed)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, ginger, and allspice. Add the shortening and cut in with 2 knives or hands until crumbly. In another bowl combine sweet potatoes, cream and pecans. Make well in dry ingredients and add potato-cream mixture. Mix to combine. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out the dough to 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut out with a 2-inch floured biscuit cutter. Place biscuits 1-inch apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 5 minutes, then turn down temperature to 375 and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm or let cool on a wire rack until room temperature.

Added bonus, the dough freezes well. Place the cut biscuits in layers with sheets of wax paper inside a freezer bag. They last for several months and you can pull out what you need, defrost in the fridge, and bake up to go with dinner! YUM!

You will need:

-4 cups old fashioned oats (not the instant or quick cooking kind), also called rolled oats
-1 cup nuts (I used almonds and walnuts here)
-1 cup dried fruit (I used a mixed berry blend from Trader Joes)
-1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
-1/4 cup honey
-1/4 cup sugar
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Step The First:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Take the oil, sugar, honey, and vanilla extract and put it in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Heat gently, stirring occasionally until the sugar and honey dissolve.

Step the Second:

Take the oats and nuts, put them in a large ovensafe glass pan or baking sheet, and mix them all around.

Step the Third:

Take your nice melty sugary mixture and pour it over the oats and nuts. Action shot!

Mix that all up until the oats and nuts are evenly coated.

Step the (pictureless) Fourth:

Stick that mofo in the oven and set the timer for 15 minutes. Go play Mario Kart. Come back, stir. Repeat for another 15 minutes. After that, if the granola is nice and goldeny, take it out, if not, another 15 minutes.

Step the Last:

Spread out some wax paper or foil on a counter and pour the granola onto that. Let cool until touching it doesn’t burn you ALIVE, then mix in the dried fruit. Allow to cool completely, break up any large chunks, and store in an airtight container. Then eat it!

The awesome thing about granola is you can adjust it to your tastes. Need it more sweet than this recipe? Up the sugar content. I hate both maple syrup and coconut flakes (granola staples), so I’ve left them out. You like them? Add them back in! A few granola flavor ideas:

- pumpkin seeds and cherries
- cashews, raspberries, and chocolate
- pecans, apples, and blueberries

Variety is the spice of life. Now go make some. Do eeeet!

P.S. – A note about honey

If at all humanly, physically, and spiritually possible, get yourself to a farmers market to buy honey. I thought I hated honey because I’d only ever had the SueBee stuff from the grocery store. The farmers market stuff tastes so much more awesome and generally they’ll give you a taste before you buy. In a pinch Whole Foods carries some decent honeys. Also, check out different varieties. It’s listed on the label, like Orange Blossom or Wildflower, depending on what the bees collected the pollen from. My personal favorite is Sage honey. Mmmmmmm….