Showing posts with label apples. Show all posts
Showing posts with label apples. Show all posts
Apple Sweet Potato Bake : An Easter Treat
4/4/10 : Apple Sweet Potato Bake
Meal details: Since it was Easter Sunday, I only did the side dish part of the meal and the ham was taken care of by my Papa. The side dish I chose to do was an apple and sweet potato type of casserole and was flavored with warm spices, such as nutmeg and allspice.
Defining moments: First time for me cooking with sweet potatoes and first time combining sweet potatoes and apples. Interesting combination, don't you think?
Recipe sources: I found this recipe on the Taste of Home website. Check it out here.
What I learned: This was a very easy dish to put together, so easy that I cannot think of anything to write here. I'm glad I chose a simple recipe being it Easter and all!
Any modifications? Yes. I didn't use as much brown sugar as the recipe called for. I thought the 3/4 cup was overkill so I used about a 1/2 cup.
A little side note. . . I prepared the sweet potatoes by peeling them, cutting lengthwise, and baking them for about 40 minutes in a 350 degree oven. I then cut them in 1/4 slices and added them to the casserole dish.
How it tasted? It was well received by the entire 'Easter Parade.' :D The sweetness of the sweet potatoes went well with the spices and the tender Northern Spy apples I used. Very delicious!
How about a 2nd time? Absolutely!
Meal details: Since it was Easter Sunday, I only did the side dish part of the meal and the ham was taken care of by my Papa. The side dish I chose to do was an apple and sweet potato type of casserole and was flavored with warm spices, such as nutmeg and allspice.
Defining moments: First time for me cooking with sweet potatoes and first time combining sweet potatoes and apples. Interesting combination, don't you think?
Recipe sources: I found this recipe on the Taste of Home website. Check it out here.
What I learned: This was a very easy dish to put together, so easy that I cannot think of anything to write here. I'm glad I chose a simple recipe being it Easter and all!
Any modifications? Yes. I didn't use as much brown sugar as the recipe called for. I thought the 3/4 cup was overkill so I used about a 1/2 cup.
A little side note. . . I prepared the sweet potatoes by peeling them, cutting lengthwise, and baking them for about 40 minutes in a 350 degree oven. I then cut them in 1/4 slices and added them to the casserole dish.
How it tasted? It was well received by the entire 'Easter Parade.' :D The sweetness of the sweet potatoes went well with the spices and the tender Northern Spy apples I used. Very delicious!
How about a 2nd time? Absolutely!
The Man with the Orange Clogs' Empanada
2/21/10: Empanadas and Easy Fruit Salad
Meal details: For the main course I made empanadas with a bacon, chorizo sausage, bell pepper, onion, and cheese filling. But these weren't your typical half moon shaped empanadas, these were of the full scale variety. And for a side dish I made a fruit salad that had pineapple, apple, oranges, bananas, and something a little different: stove-top pudding. Hmm. . . Interesting, huh?
Defining moments: It's kind of funny but this is my first time making stove-top pudding using a mix. :) I only helped stir the pot before! And this is the first time for empanadas.
Recipe sources: The empanada recipe is from Mario Batali, the host of Molto Mario and numerous other cooking shows. He is known for his exceptional knowledge of Italian cooking and of course everyone knows his scooter and orange clogs! You might remember him from the show, Mario Eats Italy. I haven't seen the show in years but that was one of the most interesting (and funny!) cooking related programs I've seen. I chose this recipe because I am part of the Food Network Chef Cooking Challenge that is being hosted by the writer of the I Thank My Mother blog. When I was searching for a Batali recipe I learned that Mario had (or does, not too sure) a show on PBS about his road trip in the great country of Spain. It is called Spain: On the Road Again. Boy, I would like to watch that!
The empanada recipe requires pizza dough and I made my own using a recipe from the 2500 Recipes from Everyday to Extraordinary cookbook. I discovered earlier while making my Le Hog Pizza that this is one great recipe!
The fruit salad recipe came from the October 2006 issue of Home Cooking Magazine. Here is the recipe for those whole are interested:
Easy Fruit Salad
What I learned: I learned what an empanada is. :) Yeah, that's always important. I sort of had a good idea of what it is but I get kind of confuse with all those calzone-type dishes. So what is it exactly? An empanada is a stuffed bread or pastry and comes from the Spanish word empanar, which means to wrap. In Spain, an empanada is usually a large circle that is cut into wedges, but in Portugal and Mexico, the empanadas are made in semi-circular shapes like the one seen here.
Did I learn anything else? None of the recipes I did this week were really foreign to me. I mean, the empanada recipe was very close to the way I prepare my BBQ Chicken Pizza; the only difference was adding another crust on top of the filling. And the fruit salad was really easy to do. So not many new techniques or ingredients this week.
Any modifications? Yes, I made modifications to both recipes. For the empanadas, I didn't roll out the dough in a circle, I just stretched the dough out to the shape of a cookie sheet. And by the way, there is a typo in the recipe. Where it says to roll out into a thin round, they mean a 14" round, not a 1/4 round. Yeah, it kind of confused me a bit! And I also substituted bacon for the pancetta and added a Monterey Jack cheese mix to the filling because my family can't have pizza without the cheese!
And for the fruit salad. I used two Clementine oranges instead of the canned mandarin oranges. And to reach the necessary amount of juice, I added some orange juice from the carton.
How it tasted? Super! Everyone enjoyed the empanadas immensely. The fruit salad was loved by some and was "OK," for others. It mainly was caused by the addition of bananas. Some don't like bananas mixed with other flavors, but for some, like me, they love it that way. So it was a sort of hit and miss recipe for this family.
How about a 2nd time? Yes, I will do both recipes again but will take away the bananas from the salad and just add more apples or oranges.
Meal details: For the main course I made empanadas with a bacon, chorizo sausage, bell pepper, onion, and cheese filling. But these weren't your typical half moon shaped empanadas, these were of the full scale variety. And for a side dish I made a fruit salad that had pineapple, apple, oranges, bananas, and something a little different: stove-top pudding. Hmm. . . Interesting, huh?
Defining moments: It's kind of funny but this is my first time making stove-top pudding using a mix. :) I only helped stir the pot before! And this is the first time for empanadas.
Recipe sources: The empanada recipe is from Mario Batali, the host of Molto Mario and numerous other cooking shows. He is known for his exceptional knowledge of Italian cooking and of course everyone knows his scooter and orange clogs! You might remember him from the show, Mario Eats Italy. I haven't seen the show in years but that was one of the most interesting (and funny!) cooking related programs I've seen. I chose this recipe because I am part of the Food Network Chef Cooking Challenge that is being hosted by the writer of the I Thank My Mother blog. When I was searching for a Batali recipe I learned that Mario had (or does, not too sure) a show on PBS about his road trip in the great country of Spain. It is called Spain: On the Road Again. Boy, I would like to watch that!
The empanada recipe requires pizza dough and I made my own using a recipe from the 2500 Recipes from Everyday to Extraordinary cookbook. I discovered earlier while making my Le Hog Pizza that this is one great recipe!
The fruit salad recipe came from the October 2006 issue of Home Cooking Magazine. Here is the recipe for those whole are interested:
Easy Fruit Salad
- 1 (3 1/2-ounce) package cook-and-serve vanilla pudding
- 1 can pineapple tidbits
- 1 apple chopped
- 1 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges
- 3 bananas
What I learned: I learned what an empanada is. :) Yeah, that's always important. I sort of had a good idea of what it is but I get kind of confuse with all those calzone-type dishes. So what is it exactly? An empanada is a stuffed bread or pastry and comes from the Spanish word empanar, which means to wrap. In Spain, an empanada is usually a large circle that is cut into wedges, but in Portugal and Mexico, the empanadas are made in semi-circular shapes like the one seen here.
Did I learn anything else? None of the recipes I did this week were really foreign to me. I mean, the empanada recipe was very close to the way I prepare my BBQ Chicken Pizza; the only difference was adding another crust on top of the filling. And the fruit salad was really easy to do. So not many new techniques or ingredients this week.
Any modifications? Yes, I made modifications to both recipes. For the empanadas, I didn't roll out the dough in a circle, I just stretched the dough out to the shape of a cookie sheet. And by the way, there is a typo in the recipe. Where it says to roll out into a thin round, they mean a 14" round, not a 1/4 round. Yeah, it kind of confused me a bit! And I also substituted bacon for the pancetta and added a Monterey Jack cheese mix to the filling because my family can't have pizza without the cheese!
And for the fruit salad. I used two Clementine oranges instead of the canned mandarin oranges. And to reach the necessary amount of juice, I added some orange juice from the carton.
How it tasted? Super! Everyone enjoyed the empanadas immensely. The fruit salad was loved by some and was "OK," for others. It mainly was caused by the addition of bananas. Some don't like bananas mixed with other flavors, but for some, like me, they love it that way. So it was a sort of hit and miss recipe for this family.
How about a 2nd time? Yes, I will do both recipes again but will take away the bananas from the salad and just add more apples or oranges.
Oliver's "Twist" on Apple Pie
2/14/10: Cheesy Stuffed Meatballs and Appleberry Pie
Meal details: For the main course I made meatballs stuffed with mozzarella cheese to be served on top of spaghetti. And for dessert I made two apple pies, one with blueberries and orange added.
Defining moments: First time for me to make meatballs, an apple pie with additional fruit, and an apple pie made with frozen apples. Frozen apples? Learn more about me freezing Gravenstein apples here.
Recipe sources: The meatball recipe came from the cookbook, Ciao Italia - Five Ingredient Favorites by Mary Ann Esposito, the host of the Ciao Italia t.v. show. The appleberry pie recipe came from Jamie Oliver's website. Jamie Oliver is the host of The Naked Chef, Jamie's Kitchen, and Jamie at Home on the Food Network channel. I chose this appleberry pie because I am part of the FNCCC (Food Network Chef Cooking Challenge), being hosted by the writer of the I Thank My Mother blog.
I don't often see Jamie on Food Network now, and I only watched one episode of Jamie at Home. So he is one of the few chefs from Food Network that I haven't watched much!
What I learned: Hmm. . . Let me think. First off, I learned that I should take a shopping cart to the freezer when gathering the ingredients. :) You should have seen the load of freezer containers I brought up for this meal! A package of ground beef, two quarts of spaghetti sauce, three quarts of frozen apples, a quart of blueberries. . . What an armload.
Secondly, I learned that moving the ground beef to the fridge on Friday morning gives just the right amount of thawing time. I had no problem forming the meatballs.
Another thing I learned is that these pies love to spill their juices over during the baking process. I needed to place cookie sheets on the bottom rack to catch the falling juices from the two 'geysers' on the second level. :) And once the collected juices started to steam and later smoke. . . Well, you can guess the rest. Exhaust fan on full blast!
Any modifications? I made one modification to the meatball recipe. Instead of using the recommended ground chuck and sirloin, I used all ground chuck. Sirloin is a bit too expensive so that's why I made the change.
And I also made some changes to the pie recipe. To better explain what I did, here is my ingredient list: (Note: I am including cup equivalents to the gram weights and American lingo to the British lingo.)
For the pastry:
For the filling:
The appleberry pie and Gravenstein pie were both very tasty. The appleberry pie kind of surprised me because the major flavor is orange. I thought the blueberries would be the primary fruit in this pie, but it was that one orange I used! Go figure. I'm not a big orange fan so I was kind of disappointed by this. I'm glad I only used one orange instead of the suggested two, or boy, that would have been a very orange-y pie for sure. Next time I think I will either eliminate the orange altogether or just add orange juice. But for those who do like orange, go for a whole orange here.
The appleberry pie had a good amount of juice on the bottom, but from what I can tell from the recipe's picture, this is normal. It didn't affect the 'mucho' crust at all. The crust for this pie was flaky.
The Gravenstein pie was surprisingly good. The frozen apple slices I used held up well and had a good texture. Initially, I thought this pie would have applesauce for a filling; thank goodness I was wrong. The crust was less flaky than the appleberry pie but was more tender. So the addition of shortening and subtraction of butter did make a difference. Gosh, Alton Brown was right. ;)
How about a 2nd time? Yes, to both recipes. But maybe next time I'll add onions to the meatballs (I love onions, hehe) and omit the orange from the pie.
As you can see, there is a bit of juice on the bottom of the pie.
Meal details: For the main course I made meatballs stuffed with mozzarella cheese to be served on top of spaghetti. And for dessert I made two apple pies, one with blueberries and orange added.
Defining moments: First time for me to make meatballs, an apple pie with additional fruit, and an apple pie made with frozen apples. Frozen apples? Learn more about me freezing Gravenstein apples here.
Recipe sources: The meatball recipe came from the cookbook, Ciao Italia - Five Ingredient Favorites by Mary Ann Esposito, the host of the Ciao Italia t.v. show. The appleberry pie recipe came from Jamie Oliver's website. Jamie Oliver is the host of The Naked Chef, Jamie's Kitchen, and Jamie at Home on the Food Network channel. I chose this appleberry pie because I am part of the FNCCC (Food Network Chef Cooking Challenge), being hosted by the writer of the I Thank My Mother blog.
I don't often see Jamie on Food Network now, and I only watched one episode of Jamie at Home. So he is one of the few chefs from Food Network that I haven't watched much!
What I learned: Hmm. . . Let me think. First off, I learned that I should take a shopping cart to the freezer when gathering the ingredients. :) You should have seen the load of freezer containers I brought up for this meal! A package of ground beef, two quarts of spaghetti sauce, three quarts of frozen apples, a quart of blueberries. . . What an armload.
Secondly, I learned that moving the ground beef to the fridge on Friday morning gives just the right amount of thawing time. I had no problem forming the meatballs.
Another thing I learned is that these pies love to spill their juices over during the baking process. I needed to place cookie sheets on the bottom rack to catch the falling juices from the two 'geysers' on the second level. :) And once the collected juices started to steam and later smoke. . . Well, you can guess the rest. Exhaust fan on full blast!
Any modifications? I made one modification to the meatball recipe. Instead of using the recommended ground chuck and sirloin, I used all ground chuck. Sirloin is a bit too expensive so that's why I made the change.
And I also made some changes to the pie recipe. To better explain what I did, here is my ingredient list: (Note: I am including cup equivalents to the gram weights and American lingo to the British lingo.)
For the pastry:
- 500g plain flour, plus extra for dusting (4 cups All-Purpose flour)
- 100g icing sugar (3/4 cup powdered sugar)
- a pinch of salt
- 250g unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes (2 sticks) -- For the Gravenstein apple pie I made, I used half butter and half shortening. Wanted to try out this ratio because Alton Brown mentioned it on Good Eats last year.
- 2 large eggs
- a splash of milk
For the filling:
- 10 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and halved, 3 sliced -- I used Calville Blanc variety of apple for the appleberry pie and Gravenstein apples for the 100% apple pie. I didn't prepare the apples like he states here, I sliced all the apples. Why? The apples I chose don't cook down as much as Granny Smith and my family is used to slices.
- juice and zest of 2 oranges -- I used one orange.
- 7 heaped tablespoons caster sugar (granulated sugar) -- I used 5 tablespoons.
- 400g huckleberries or blueberries (2 3/4 cup) -- I used blueberries.
- 1 heaped tablespoon plain flour (All-Purpose flour)
- 1 large egg
- A small handful of demerara sugar -- I didn't use this sugar, never seen it before. I read from an internet source that this sugar is used in sweetening tea and coffee.
The appleberry pie and Gravenstein pie were both very tasty. The appleberry pie kind of surprised me because the major flavor is orange. I thought the blueberries would be the primary fruit in this pie, but it was that one orange I used! Go figure. I'm not a big orange fan so I was kind of disappointed by this. I'm glad I only used one orange instead of the suggested two, or boy, that would have been a very orange-y pie for sure. Next time I think I will either eliminate the orange altogether or just add orange juice. But for those who do like orange, go for a whole orange here.
The appleberry pie had a good amount of juice on the bottom, but from what I can tell from the recipe's picture, this is normal. It didn't affect the 'mucho' crust at all. The crust for this pie was flaky.
The Gravenstein pie was surprisingly good. The frozen apple slices I used held up well and had a good texture. Initially, I thought this pie would have applesauce for a filling; thank goodness I was wrong. The crust was less flaky than the appleberry pie but was more tender. So the addition of shortening and subtraction of butter did make a difference. Gosh, Alton Brown was right. ;)
How about a 2nd time? Yes, to both recipes. But maybe next time I'll add onions to the meatballs (I love onions, hehe) and omit the orange from the pie.
As you can see, there is a bit of juice on the bottom of the pie.
Apples Matter -- Canning Homemade Applesauce
1/22/10: Canning Applesauce
During the week, Annemarie made some applesauce meatloaf (applesauce makes the BEST meatloaf, don't you know) and I discovered that we were out of our homemade canned applesauce. Uh oh! So on Friday I was ready to stockpile.
I chose to use a combination of our Jonathan and Northern Spy varieties. We kept them in the cooler since Fall and they are still very crisp and easy to peel! Yay! I also decided to make a few pints of apple butter because, well. . . I just love that stuff. :)
Some Notes for Rebekah: I used the baking and electric beater method for the apples. The oven temperature hovered around 350F and it took about three and a half hours to bake. No problem with that because I didn't have to keep a close eye on them! I used two of the steamer trays (a large and small) and I kept on refilling them as time went on. I used the hot water bath to can and they need 20 minutes in the bath. I filled them up leaving 1/2" headspace. I made about 9 and 1/2 quarts of sauce and about 4 pints of apple butter. All of them sealed. I used the apple butter recipe (one recipe only) found on simplyrecipe.com and I omitted the cloves and lemon and used only 1 cup of sugar.
I tried the apple sauce and I can honestly say that the Jonathan and Northern Spy work wonderfully together. There is never a need to add a teaspoon of sugar when these two come along!
My sister Catherine sent me these pics via email and left a note along with them. It read, "Sweat and tears were put into each and every one of these jars." :) Aw, that's sweet. Usually you will find those two evident during the canning process but because it is January I was glad to have a warm, sauna-like kitchen this time!
During the week, Annemarie made some applesauce meatloaf (applesauce makes the BEST meatloaf, don't you know) and I discovered that we were out of our homemade canned applesauce. Uh oh! So on Friday I was ready to stockpile.
I chose to use a combination of our Jonathan and Northern Spy varieties. We kept them in the cooler since Fall and they are still very crisp and easy to peel! Yay! I also decided to make a few pints of apple butter because, well. . . I just love that stuff. :)
Some Notes for Rebekah: I used the baking and electric beater method for the apples. The oven temperature hovered around 350F and it took about three and a half hours to bake. No problem with that because I didn't have to keep a close eye on them! I used two of the steamer trays (a large and small) and I kept on refilling them as time went on. I used the hot water bath to can and they need 20 minutes in the bath. I filled them up leaving 1/2" headspace. I made about 9 and 1/2 quarts of sauce and about 4 pints of apple butter. All of them sealed. I used the apple butter recipe (one recipe only) found on simplyrecipe.com and I omitted the cloves and lemon and used only 1 cup of sugar.
I tried the apple sauce and I can honestly say that the Jonathan and Northern Spy work wonderfully together. There is never a need to add a teaspoon of sugar when these two come along!
My sister Catherine sent me these pics via email and left a note along with them. It read, "Sweat and tears were put into each and every one of these jars." :) Aw, that's sweet. Usually you will find those two evident during the canning process but because it is January I was glad to have a warm, sauna-like kitchen this time!
Not My Best Showing
11/15/09: Pizza and Apple Pie from Scratch
Meal details: For the main course I made three different types of pizzas: Broccoli and Parmesan, BBQ Chicken, and Traditional. For dessert I made two apple pies, one with Gravenstein apples and the other using apples picked from a wild apple tree growing on our farm.
Defining moments: This would be my first time making apple pie! Can you believe that one?
Recipe sources: I came up with the pizza toppings but I used a recipe created by Cat Cora for the dough. Check it out here. I chose this recipe because I am part of the Food Network Chefs Cooking Challenge that is being hosted by the writer of the I Blame My Mother blog. (Learn more about this fun challenge by visiting this page.)
For the pie now. I made the pie crust using the following recipe that came from The New Antoinette Pope School Cookbook, but I did shorten the instructions significantly.
DOUBLE PIE CRUST
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour -- sifted
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup shortening (we use butter flavored Crisco)
7 tablespoons cold milk (about)
Sift together dry ingredients and with pastry blender, cut in shortening until mixture looks like coarse meal. Add enough milk until dough appears moist but not wet. Try not to use more than 7 tablespoons unless necessary to hold dough together. Turn dough out and knead for a few seconds to hold mixture together. Handle as little as possible. Roll out using your favorite technique.
I didn't follow a recipe for the apple pie filling, I just did what Annemarie usually does. Which is...
Apple Pie Filling:
2 tablespoons flour
8 cups of apple slices *
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons butter
Directions:
Place bottom crust in pan and dust with the flour. Add the apple slices and sprinkle sugar on top, no need to mix. Dot apples with butter. That's all there is to it! No cooking whatsoever.
* I used Gravenstein and a wild apple for my pies this time. For those who are interested in making their own, I suggest using the following varieties: Northern Spy, Idared, Jonathan, and Empire.
What I learned: It was difficult for me to make six, 10" sized pizzas using Cat Cora's pizza dough recipe. There just was not enough dough to work with, and because of this I had to break out a box of pizza dough mix. So if you are going to do this recipe, expect four, 10" sized pizzas or six, 6" sized pizzas. The dough is lovely to work with by the way!
I learned something invaluable this week and that is to bake my apple pies for a longer time! I've only done one type of fruit pie before and that was peach. With a peach pie it is easy to tell when it is done because you just wait until the peach juice bubbles. But this is not so with apple pie. So I was having a hard time deciding when to grab my potholders and I ended up under baking. Oops! :( Next time I will bake them at 350 degrees for 45 minutes and no less.
Any modifications? No, I followed the pizza dough recipe exactly.
How it tasted? The pizza dough was delicious and I liked how thin I rolled it out. Everyone liked the Broccoli and Parmesan pizza the most; the BBQ Chicken came in second.
The pies were just OK namely because of me under baking them. I was really disappointed by that! The wild apple didn't impart enough flavor; won't be using them again.
How about a 2nd time? I will be using the pizza dough recipe again but will double the recipe or just make one large one.
The Broccoli and Parmesan Pizza. I simply brushed the dough with olive oil, pre-baked it for two minutes, added the vegetables and cheese, then placed it back into the oven for 20 minutes at 375.
This is the BBQ Chicken version. I pre-baked the crust for two minutes, added the BBQ sauce, chicken, and mozzarella, then placed it back into the oven.
This is the Traditional Pizza. It is larger than the others and the dough was made using a boxed mix and some of Cat Cora's dough. The toppings are store bought pizza sauce, chicken, and a Monterey Jack/Colby cheese mix.
Mr. Apple Pie, I hope our next meeting shall be more pleasant.
Meal details: For the main course I made three different types of pizzas: Broccoli and Parmesan, BBQ Chicken, and Traditional. For dessert I made two apple pies, one with Gravenstein apples and the other using apples picked from a wild apple tree growing on our farm.
Defining moments: This would be my first time making apple pie! Can you believe that one?
Recipe sources: I came up with the pizza toppings but I used a recipe created by Cat Cora for the dough. Check it out here. I chose this recipe because I am part of the Food Network Chefs Cooking Challenge that is being hosted by the writer of the I Blame My Mother blog. (Learn more about this fun challenge by visiting this page.)
For the pie now. I made the pie crust using the following recipe that came from The New Antoinette Pope School Cookbook, but I did shorten the instructions significantly.
DOUBLE PIE CRUST
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour -- sifted
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup shortening (we use butter flavored Crisco)
7 tablespoons cold milk (about)
Sift together dry ingredients and with pastry blender, cut in shortening until mixture looks like coarse meal. Add enough milk until dough appears moist but not wet. Try not to use more than 7 tablespoons unless necessary to hold dough together. Turn dough out and knead for a few seconds to hold mixture together. Handle as little as possible. Roll out using your favorite technique.
I didn't follow a recipe for the apple pie filling, I just did what Annemarie usually does. Which is...
Apple Pie Filling:
2 tablespoons flour
8 cups of apple slices *
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons butter
Directions:
Place bottom crust in pan and dust with the flour. Add the apple slices and sprinkle sugar on top, no need to mix. Dot apples with butter. That's all there is to it! No cooking whatsoever.
* I used Gravenstein and a wild apple for my pies this time. For those who are interested in making their own, I suggest using the following varieties: Northern Spy, Idared, Jonathan, and Empire.
What I learned: It was difficult for me to make six, 10" sized pizzas using Cat Cora's pizza dough recipe. There just was not enough dough to work with, and because of this I had to break out a box of pizza dough mix. So if you are going to do this recipe, expect four, 10" sized pizzas or six, 6" sized pizzas. The dough is lovely to work with by the way!
I learned something invaluable this week and that is to bake my apple pies for a longer time! I've only done one type of fruit pie before and that was peach. With a peach pie it is easy to tell when it is done because you just wait until the peach juice bubbles. But this is not so with apple pie. So I was having a hard time deciding when to grab my potholders and I ended up under baking. Oops! :( Next time I will bake them at 350 degrees for 45 minutes and no less.
Any modifications? No, I followed the pizza dough recipe exactly.
How it tasted? The pizza dough was delicious and I liked how thin I rolled it out. Everyone liked the Broccoli and Parmesan pizza the most; the BBQ Chicken came in second.
The pies were just OK namely because of me under baking them. I was really disappointed by that! The wild apple didn't impart enough flavor; won't be using them again.
How about a 2nd time? I will be using the pizza dough recipe again but will double the recipe or just make one large one.
The Broccoli and Parmesan Pizza. I simply brushed the dough with olive oil, pre-baked it for two minutes, added the vegetables and cheese, then placed it back into the oven for 20 minutes at 375.
This is the BBQ Chicken version. I pre-baked the crust for two minutes, added the BBQ sauce, chicken, and mozzarella, then placed it back into the oven.
This is the Traditional Pizza. It is larger than the others and the dough was made using a boxed mix and some of Cat Cora's dough. The toppings are store bought pizza sauce, chicken, and a Monterey Jack/Colby cheese mix.
Mr. Apple Pie, I hope our next meeting shall be more pleasant.
Fall Means Freezing and Canning--And Lots of It!
9/21/09: Freezing Tomato Puree and Gravenstein Apple Slices
On the Monday right after I made my eggplant dish, me and my sisters did another batch of tomato puree. We did it with our old faithful Squeezo machine (see my previous post here). Here is the tallying for this batch:
Right after the puree was in our stockpot and simmering away we went onto our next task: freezing Gravenstein apple slices.
Gravenstein is the BEST apple for apple pies and we wanted to make sure we'll be able to savor this delicacy during the cold winter months. (The pies are so good that my Papa said that he would choose Gravenstein pies over peach pies. Now that's saying a lot!)
We prepared the apples by coring and slicing them with our Apple Peeler, similar to the one seen here. After they went through the peeler, we cut the slices into quarters. We then mixed the slices with a powdered produce protector, a bit of sugar, and lastly, placed them in quart sized freezer bags. For some of the apples we didn't add sugar; I'll tell you which one works the best in a couple months.
Here is the full recipe for the apples:
Freezing Apples Without Sugar
Wash, peel and core apples. To prevent darkening, dissolve 1/2 teapsoon ascorbic acid powder or equivalent of finely crushed vitamin C tablets in 3 tablespoons water. Sprinkle over apples. Place apple slices in zip-closure freezer bags, lable, date and freeze. Freeze up to one year at 0 degrees F or below.
Dry Sugar Packed Apple Slices
Follow directions for "Freezing Apple Without Sugar"; mix 1/2 cup sugar to each quart apple slices. Seal and freeze for up to one year at 0 degrees F or below.
On the Monday right after I made my eggplant dish, me and my sisters did another batch of tomato puree. We did it with our old faithful Squeezo machine (see my previous post here). Here is the tallying for this batch:
- Used Super Marzano (aka Roma) tomatoes for the puree, four 5-gallon buckets in all.
- Was able to fill the large stock pot, the corn pot, and the 8-quart pot.
- Took us about two hours to do puree from start to finish.
- In the end, we managed to have 28 quarts of puree.
Right after the puree was in our stockpot and simmering away we went onto our next task: freezing Gravenstein apple slices.
Gravenstein is the BEST apple for apple pies and we wanted to make sure we'll be able to savor this delicacy during the cold winter months. (The pies are so good that my Papa said that he would choose Gravenstein pies over peach pies. Now that's saying a lot!)
We prepared the apples by coring and slicing them with our Apple Peeler, similar to the one seen here. After they went through the peeler, we cut the slices into quarters. We then mixed the slices with a powdered produce protector, a bit of sugar, and lastly, placed them in quart sized freezer bags. For some of the apples we didn't add sugar; I'll tell you which one works the best in a couple months.
Here is the full recipe for the apples:
Freezing Apples Without Sugar
Wash, peel and core apples. To prevent darkening, dissolve 1/2 teapsoon ascorbic acid powder or equivalent of finely crushed vitamin C tablets in 3 tablespoons water. Sprinkle over apples. Place apple slices in zip-closure freezer bags, lable, date and freeze. Freeze up to one year at 0 degrees F or below.
Dry Sugar Packed Apple Slices
Follow directions for "Freezing Apple Without Sugar"; mix 1/2 cup sugar to each quart apple slices. Seal and freeze for up to one year at 0 degrees F or below.
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