For Thanksgiving this year I did not make Apple Pie. I’ve never been the biggest fan of Apple Pie. I’m actually not the biggest fan of making any kind of pie that requires two crusts (a top and a bottom). Though I consider myself a pretty adept crust maker, it’s still a laborious and nerve inducing process. I especially dread rolling out the dough and then transferring it to the pie tin. While I roll, Luke watches carefully and provides words of encouragement. Together, we flip the crust a couple times, re-flouring the surface between flips, to avoid sticking. We roll the dough up onto the rolling pin at the end to transfer it to the pie tin. We patch up the sides; the crust is never perfect. It’s always a relief when it’s in the tin. Having to do the process all over again with the top…oof.
Orange you glad this squash sandwich is for dinner?
While Hillary and I love our summertime tomato salads and fruit cobbler, cold-weather cooking is really when we hit our stride. We’re in our groove when the oven has been on 400ºF all evening or a ragù has been simmering for the last two hours. Throughout November, December, January, and February, there’s one thing in particular that pushes our culinary prowess: leftover squash.
Cherry Clafoutis is a dessert that’s easier to make than properly pronounce. My mom’s directions for making clafoutis are as follows: “pour palačinke batter over cherries and put it in the oven.” The only messy part of this recipe is pitting the cherries – a task I didn’t particularly enjoy as a 5 year old child. I realize now why my mother’s directions for clafoutis are so straight-forward. She leaves out the part where I do all the grunt work and end up covered in cherry juices.
Because Hillary and I are too structured of people to actually follow the palačinke batter + cherries advice, we use Mimi Thorisson’s recipe from A Kitchen in France. Mimi actually doesn’t pit her cherries, which is something my pre-k self would have been very happy about. If you’d rather not throw caution to the wind, try these pitting methods or pick up a special pitter.
Ingredients:
3 1/2 TBS unsalted butter, melted and cooled + extra butter for cake pan
1 LB cherries, pits removed
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped
3/4 cup + 1 TBS whole milk
4 eggs
Powdered sugar for *dusting*
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Pit the cherries either with a pitting tool or using a chopstick.
Butter a 9 inch round cake pan. Arrange the cherries in the bottom of the pan.
In a large mixing bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, salt, and vanilla bean seeds.
Whisking gently, add the milk and then eggs (one by one). Add the melted butter and whisk until the batter is nice and smooth. Pour the batter over the cherries.
Bake for 15 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 350°F and bake for another 30ish minutes.
Place the pan on a rack and let cool for at least 1 hour.
The Mimi of this wonton soup recipe is Mimi Thorisson. Her food blog Manger and two cookbooks are portrayals of idyllic life – lots of beautiful, fresh food, adorable children, even cuter dogs, and a photographer husband, capturing every single moment perfectly. It is almost suspiciously serene. But while her pictures evoke envy and a bit of skepticism, we do love to look at and cook her food.
Luke and I celebrated New Year’s Eve separately, he in Philadelphia with friends and me alone on a plane. To make up for missing each other on December 31, this past weekend we made a special meal for Chinese New Year (新年快乐!). Admittedly, this soup is so easy to make it may not warrant being called “special.” But the wontons do possess a certain je ne sai quoi. With a scattering of scallions and a swirl of sesame oil, these brainy wontons are subtlety elegant and delicious.
We enjoyed our bowls of soup reflecting on the past year and hoping that in 2017, amidst these already troubled times, we can do more good and experience more good than in 2016.
Ingredients:
1/2 – 3/4 pound peeled shrimp, coarsely chopped
1/2 – 3/4 pound ground pork (not too lean)
1 egg white
1 TBS soy sauce
1/2 TBS oyster sauce
1/2 TBS rice wine
1/2 tsp sesame oil (plus more for serving)
1 TBS grated fresh ginger
pinch of sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
pack of square wonton wrappers
2 quarts chicken stock
chives, scallions, cilantro (freshly chopped) for garnish
Directions:
Begin by making the wonton filling. Mix the shrimp and pork in a medium sized bowl. Add the egg white, soy sauce, oyster sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, ginger, sugar, salt, and pepper and mix well. Set the filling aside for 20 minutes.
Lay out a large piece of parchment paper and sprinkle with flour. Take your pile of wonton wrappers, one at a time, covering the pile with a damp towel so that they do not dry out. Add a little over 1 tsp of filling to the center of a wrapper. Wet the edges of the wrapper with water (we set out a little bowl of water and wet with our fingers) and fold in half to make a triangle, pressing down firmly. Make sure the seal is secure, you do not want any little gaps. Then, gather the 2 opposite corners of the wrapper, dot them with water, and join them together. Again, press firmly to seal. Set wrapped wonton on a lightly floured baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filing, until you have about 25-30 wontons. You will likely have leftover filing and definitely leftover wrappers. The filing keeps for 2-3 days so more wontons can be made later.
Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Season with a bit of salt and pepper, to taste. While doing this, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add the wontons and cook in batches (roughly 12 at a time). The wontons are finished when the rise to the top, about 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate as they are cooked.
Add the cooked wontons to the chicken stock and bring back to a gentle boil. To serve, ladle about 6 wontons into a bowl and top with some chicken stock. Sprinkle with chives, scallions, and/or cilantro and a few drops of sesame oil. Serve with chili oil on the side, if desired.
Citruses make the winter much more manageable. When December roles around, I’m always happily surprised to see lemon, orange, and mandarin dishes populate restaurant menus and appear on my favorite food blogs. They’re so cheerful and bright, I forget their best time is wintertime. Of all the citruses, the blood orange is an easy favorite. Tangy, sweet, and aesthetically delightful, its color adds a lovely pop to any plate. I’ve been intrigued by olive oil cake as it sounded like a dessert I could enjoy, without guilt, at all times of day. It is also incredibly easy to prepare. Our fav Melissa Clark provides the recipe for this cake. Don’t skip using good olive oil. It makes the cake more flavorful. And stock up on blood oranges! There’s no reason to be skimpy, they’re in season.
Ingredients:
butter (for greasing the pan)
3-6 blood oranges (more if you’d like to make compote)
1 cup sugar
approx. 2/3 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt
3 large eggs
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp honey (optional, for compote)
whipped cream (optional, for serving)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease a 9-by-5 inch loaf pan (we used a 9-inch round pan, 8-by-8 square pan works well also). Grate zest of 2 oranges and place in bowl with sugar. Fully incorporate the zest and sugar, using your hands to rub the ingredients to ensure even distribution.
Supreme 2-3 oranges (these you will mix into the batter, so supreme more if you like more fruit chunks). To do this, cut off the bottom and top of the orange so it can stand upright on your cutting board. Then, with a sharp knife, cut away peel and pith, following the curve of the fruit. Cut the orange into segments along its connective membrane and let fall into a bowl. Set aside.
Squeeze juice of 1-2 oranges into a measuring cup. Add yogurt or buttermilk to measuring cup until you have a little less than 1 cup of liquid. Mix and then add to bowl of sugar, whisking to fully incorporate. Whisk in eggs.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Add the dry to the wet ingredients, a bit at a time, whisking to incorporate. Switch to a spatula and then slowly add the olive oil. Fold into the batter and be mindful to incorporate before pouring in more. Fold in orange pieces. Pour batter into a pan.
Bake for 55 minutes, or until a knife/toothpick inserted into cake’s center comes out clean. Cool on rack for 5 minutes, then unmold and cool at room temperature until ready to serve. Tastes even more delicious when served with whipped cream and honey-blood orange compote.
To make compote, supreme 3 more oranges and mix with 2 tsp of honey. Let sit for 5 minutes then stir once more.
Pig n' Pie - Food recipes and adventures 