Cranberry Chiffon Pie

Have you ever had a recipe immediately capture your interest? This pie recipe called to me as soon as I saw it. The color was gorgeous and I've always wanted to cook with fresh cranberries. I'd never made a chiffon or worked with gelatin before. I needed to make it immediately. So I did.

 It was a bit messy and labor intensive but it has such a fun flavor and texture. 

It looked like I murdered someone in my kitchen....

 My day's work in the kitchen! Pie and Bread.

 I like making pies because you can make them look pretty in no time at all. After decorating three cupcakes I get bored. My perfectionism and cake frosting don't get along that well. But pies, pies are where it's at right now.

Cranberry Chiffon Pie

(from Saveur Magazine)

Ingredients:
Dough for 1 pie
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1⅔ cups sugar
⅓ cup unsweetened cranberry juice
½ tsp. Kosher salt
1 tbsp. cranberry liqueur
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
2 tsp. unflavored powdered gelatin
1 egg, separated, plus 1 egg white
½ cup milk
½ cup heavy cream
Directions:
1. Bake dough according to directions.
2. Bring 1½ cups cranberries, ½ cup sugar, plus cranberry juice and salt to a simmer in a 2-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cranberries burst and soften, 8–10 minutes. Let cool slightly, then transfer to a blender with cranberry liqueur and lemon juice; purée until smooth. Pass through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl, pressing on and discarding solids; chill.
3. Combine gelatin and 3 tbsp. ice-cold water in a bowl; let sit to soften gelatin, about 5 minutes. Beat ⅓ cup sugar with egg yolk and milk in a 2-qt. saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until thick, 8–10 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in gelatin and cranberry mixtures until smooth. Transfer custard to a bowl and place a layer of plastic wrap directly over the surface to prevent a skin from forming; chill until just beginning to set at edges, about 30 minutes.
4. Whisk egg whites in a bowl until stiff peaks form. Stir ¼ of the whites into chilled custard; using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the remaining whites to combine. Pour filling over dough; using a rubber spatula, spread into an even layer. Chill, uncovered, until set, about 1 hour.
5. Spread ⅓ cup sugar on a plate. Boil remaining ½ cup sugar with ½ cup water in a 2-qt. saucepan until sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in remaining cranberries. Using a slotted spoon, transfer cranberries to plate; roll in sugar and scatter over top of pie. Whip cream in a bowl until stiff peaks form; using a spoon, dollop cream in center of pie.

Official Bun Toaster

My little brother has been in town for a few days so the Mother Unit decided to pop up this weekend to visit the two of us. It was the perfect excuse for a dinner party. Appetizers away! We went with the standard cheese and cracker set up (2 cheese, 1 meat): Cabot Cheddar, Cranberry Wensleydale, summer sausage, and various crackers. The Dork picked out some garlic hummus so I whipped up some of my delicious homemade pita chips. We had the Cranberry Wensleydale on New Years and it was delicious so when I saw it at the store I scooped some up. The boys decimated half of the dishes before I could get a (horrible) picture, there was a lot more to start with!

Hooty Who?!

The ingredient list sounded delicious: cranberries, white chocolate chips, oatmeal, pecans....and then I got to the name and it sealed the deal: Cranberry Hootycreeks. HOOTYCREEKS! I love it. Even the internet doesn't know how they got that name. When I presented them to Mr. Lawyer he said "hooty who?!" They are delicious and I just know that they'll be even better tomorrow (as all oatmeal-based cookies are). I did have to substitute regular chocolate chips for the white chips but it was still delicious.

Cranberry Hootycreeks

(adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 cup and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 butter, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, beat together 1/2 cup softened butter, 1 egg and 1 teaspoon of vanilla until fluffy.
3. Add all dry ingredients, and mix together by hand until well blended.
4. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets.
5. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until edges start to brown. Cool on baking sheets, or remove to cool on wire racks.

HOOTYCREEK!

Wine and Cheese

Every year in grad school I had a wine and cheese party with my roommates. The house changed, the roommates changed and if I put one together for this year it would be the 5th annual wine and cheese party! Maybe for my birthday, nothing better than cheese on your birthday! One of the dishes that Nyk made was this delicious baked brie. It was so popular that the following year after she graduated we decided to make it in her memory. I have also just made it for no real reason other than to eat a round of brie for a week. Delicious. This photo is from the 4th Annual Wine and Cheese Party, we tried to make a little puff pastry wine glass to decorate it with...it kind of worked. I'm sad I don't have a picture of the cheese oozing out.

Holiday Brie en Croute

(adapted from Pepperidge Farm)

Ingredients:
1 egg
1 tbsp. water
All-purpose flour
1/2 of a 17.3-ounce package of puff pastry

1/2 cup apricot preserves
1/3 cup dried cranberry
1/4 cup toasted sliced almond
1 (13- to 16-ounce) Brie cheese round
Crackers for serving
Directions:
1. Heat the oven to 400°F. Beat the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork.
2. Sprinkle the flour on the work surface. Unfold the pastry sheet on the work surface. Roll the pastry sheet into a 14-inch square. Spread the preserves on the pastry to within 2 inches of the edge. Sprinkle with the cranberries and almonds. 

3. Place the cheese in the center of the pastry. Fold the pastry up over the cheese to cover. Trim the excess pastry and press to seal. Brush the seam with the egg mixture. Place seam-side down onto a baking sheet. Decorate with the pastry scraps, if desired. Brush with the egg mixture.
4. Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Let stand for 45 minutes. Serve with the crackers.

The spread!

Holy Guinea Pig Kitchen Success!

Tonight’s meal was full of experiments and everything game out yummy! Three experimental recipes, three successes! Mr. Lawyer made a cumber dill pasta salad last night and we let it sit and marinate alllll night and allll day. I wasn’t sure it was going to be enough to fill us up so I began thinking this salad sounds like summer time….what else reminds me of summer? Why burgers of course! And I just happened to have some ground turkey in the freezer. But what about the buns? Well I could whip up some of those too! So I started my morning trying out this sweet dinner roll recipe.

Sweet Dinner Rolls 

(adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients: 
1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees)
1/2 cup warm milk
1 egg
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 package active dry yeast
2 tablespoon melted butter for brushing
Directions:
1. Heat up the water, add one tablespoon of the sugar and the yeast. Let it sit for 10 minutes.
2. In the meantime, warm up the milk, mix in your egg and butter.
3. At this point I put my yeast mix and milk mix in my sweeeeet food processor and slowly mixed in the remaining sugar, salt and flour.
4. Cover and let rise one hour.
5. Roll out the dough in to whatever shape you wish. The original recipe made crescent rolls, I made round slider rolls and some clover leaf rolls. For the round rolls put 7 to 9 balls in a pie pan, barely touching. For the clover leaf cut the dough into little pieces and place three pieces into each muffin cup. Cover and let rise a second time.
6. Bake at 400 for 10 to 15 minutes.
7. Brush on melted butter.

Mine came out a little dense which was perfect for slider rolls but just okay if you were doing a dinner roll. The original recipe uses a bread machine to mix the dough and take care of the rising so that might be it. They were a big hit with the boy. The recipe says that you can freeze them and reheat them at 350 for 5 to 10 minutes.

Next up: Turkey Burgers! The original recipe called for goat cheese and sun dried tomatoes but since we are a poor young couple living in the city we did not have those ingredients in our kitchen. However since I stocked up on essentials at Wegmans (♥!) before coming back to Philly, I did have Cabot Hunter Sharp Cheddar Cheese and dried cranberries on hand. Yes, Cabot Cheese is an essential that must always be in my kitchen. Also, I had to switch out the Panko bread crumbs for normal Italian ones which is a shame because I love Panko crumbs. I was skeptical about this recipe (like cooking them in wine) but they were amazing! I did add the red pepper flakes and used cracked black pepper but they weren’t spicy at all (except one bite that I got). Mr. Lawyer nearly devoured the whole plate (“How many more are there?”) and described them as “Sweet and Savory”. The sweetness of the cranberries worked really well with the sweetness of the rolls. I’m not sure what the wine did but as the boy said “It’s delicious, just do everything the same again!” I will definitely be keeping this recipe especially since I didn’t have to add ketchup which I always do with burgers!

Turkey Burger Sliders 

(adapted from allrecipes.com) 

Ingredients:
1 pound ground turkey
1/3 cup sharp cheddar (Shredded)
1/4 cup cranberries
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
1/4 cup olive oil (I used much less)
1/2 cup white wine
Directions:
1. Mix together everything (Turkey through Red Pepper Flakes) except the Olive Oil and Wine. I like the “Claw” method of mixing and using my hand like a creepy raptor claw because all of my many food magazines inform me that over mixing the burger meat will make it tough and this method will avoid it. Really it’s just fun to pretend to be a raptor in the kitchen.
2. Make burgers 3 inches in diameters for sliders. The many food magazines also tell me to make a thumb print indentation in the middle of the patty to ensure even cooking time. Not as fun as the claw.
3. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat (I used much less than the suggested ¼ cup, just gave the pan a good coating). Once it’s hot throw in your burgers. Cook them 2-3 minutes on each side.
4. Pour the wine over the patties, cover, and cook for 5 more minutes.
5. Remove the sliders and place on a paper towel and then eat them!

Kevin’s Cucumber and Dill Pasta Salad 

(adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
2 cups macaroni
2 cups cucumber - peeled, seeded and chopped
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1 cup low-fat sour cream
1/2 cup skim milk
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill weed (We used dried)
1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
Chopped onion, to taste
Directions: 
1. Cook pasta in boiling salted water until al dente. Drain, and rinse in cold water. Transfer noodles to a large bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together sour cream, milk, dill, vinegar, and salt and pepper. Set dressing aside.
3. Mix cucumbers and tomatoes into the pasta. Pour in dressing, and mix thoroughly. Cover, and refrigerate at least 1 hour and preferably overnight. Stir just before serving.

I know Kevin added onion (which the original recipe did not call for) and he increased the amount of dill and pepper. We were using dried dill so we started with 1 teaspoon (in accordance to the 1:3 fresh/dried herb ratio, oh how I love my food magazines!) but ended up around 2 teaspoons.