Pâte Sucrée

This is such a yummy crust recipe! Being in college I didn't have a pie pan on hand so I decided to try out a recipe that didn't involve a pie pan. "Pâte Sucrée, or sweet pastery, is a sturday dough, thanks fo its proportion of sugar and the addition of egg yolks. It's a good choice for tarts, which are most often unmolded before serving."
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 to 4 tablespoons cold heavy cream or ice water

Pulse flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor until combines. Add butter, and pulse just until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add yolks and drizzle 2 tablespoons cream evenly over mixture; pulse just until dough begins to come together, no more than 30 seconds. If dough is toodry, add remaining cream, 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse. Wrap in plastic. Refrigerate 1 hour or up to 2 days, or freeze up to 3 months (thaw in refrigerator before using).
 Citrus Variation: Add 2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest and 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest to the dry ingredients
Poppy Seed Variation: Add 2 tablespoons poppy seeds to the dry ingredients.
Chocolate Variation: Replace 1/4 cup flour with 1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder.
Cornmeal-Lemon Variation: Replece 3/4 cup flour with 3/4 cup coarse cornmeal; reduce sugar to 2 tablespoons. Add 1 teaspoon lemon zest to the dry ingredients.

You can choose a filling of your choice!
I choose a frozen berry mix I had in my freezer.

1. On a lightly floured piece of parchment, roll out dough to a 16-inch-long oval, 1/4 inch thick. Transfer dough and parchment to a rimmed baking sheet. Refrigerate or freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.

2. Thaw berries, and sprinkle with sugar, and cinnamon (optional).

3. Preheat oven to 375F. Spoon mixture over dough, leaving a 2-inch border. Dot with butter. Fold in edges, pressing gently. Refrigerate or freeze until firm, 30 minutes.

4. Whisk egg yolk with cream; brush over edges of tart. Sprinkle entire surgace of tart with remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. bake until golden, 45 to 50 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

Enjoy!

Triple-Chocolate Brownies with a Secret Ingredient

I made these brownies last night for dessert and I was pleasantly surprised, considering one thing, they have black beans in them! Instead of using all butter, a 1/4 cup of pureed beans is added, which decreases the fat content from 11g to 7g, not to mention some added fiber, according to Martha Stewart.  They are a little cakier than I normally like my brownies, but with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel syrup you can't really complain.  

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for baking pan
• 1/4 cup black beans, rinsed, drained, and pureed until completely smooth
• 3 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (1/2 cup) (next time, I think I will try milk chocolate for a less rich brownie)
• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped (1/3 cup)
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs, plus 1 large egg white
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 9-inch square baking pan and line with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides. In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine butter, bean puree, and chocolates and microwave in 30-second increments, stirring each time, until melted and smooth, about 2 minutes. Whisk in sugar, eggs and egg white, and vanilla until smooth.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Stir into chocolate mixture until just combined. Pour batter into pan; smooth top. Bake until top is cracked and a toothpick inserted in center has moist crumbs attached, about 25 minutes (center will seem undercooked but will set further as it cools). Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Using parchment, lift brownie from pan and cut into 16 squares.
   Enjoy!
   Emily

Popovers

Popovers

Makes: 12 popovers

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1. In a large bowl, mix together flour and salt; make a well in center. In another bowl, beat together eggs and milk, then pour into well. Gradually stir egg mixture into flour until batter is consistency of heavy cream yet slightly lumpy; do not overbeat. Allow batter to rest for at least 30 minutes and up to an hour.

2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees fahrenheit. Place 1 teaspoon butter in each cup of  a 12-cup muffin tin or two 6-cup popover tins. Heat in oven until butter melts, about 1 minute. Divide batter among cups, filling each about three-quarters full. Bake until popovers are puffed and golden brown, about 20 minutes. Turn out popovers and serve warm.

Super easy with really simple ingredients! They taste really good right out of the oven with butter and are also perfect to eat along with soup.

(Recipe originally from Country Living Magazine)

Pork Chops with Apples and Sage

Well, its been a very long while since I last posted, but I guess since then a lot has happened- a new baby, a trip to Canada, and just adjusting to life as a mom! We hope that this year we can keep the blog up a little better so check back often!

I made this for dinner last night. I found it on pinterest and it was so delish! 

 Mix the following in a bowl:

1 1/2 t. ground sage

1 t. minced garlic

1 t. rosemary

1/2 t. ground allspice

 (by the way, allspice is really easy to make on your own: 1t. cinnamon, 1t. ground cloves,   1 t. nutmeg)

1/2 cup flour

1 t. salt

Set aside 1 tablespoon of the mixture. Then dredge 2-4 porkchops in the remaining flour mixture, on both sides. Set aside.

Chop up 1 red apple and a medium onion.

 In a hot skillet, warm 1 tablespoon olive oil on high. Place pork chops in pan and brown on each side.

 Wipe out the pan and add another tablespoon of olive oil and on medium heat sautee the onions for about 2 minutes.

 Add the sliced apples and cook for another 3 minutes or so.

 In a bowl add 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, 1 cup apple juice and the tablespoon of flour mixture you set aside earlier. Mix thoroughly and pour into pan. Bring to a boil and simmer covered for 5 minutes, or until the pork chops are cooked through.

Enjoy!

Smoothies

Basic Smoothie:
1 6oz carton plain yogurt
1/2 cup orange juice or orange juice blend
2 T honey or sugar
1/4 t vanilla
1 cup small ice cubes or crushed ice

In a blender combine yogurt, orange juice, honey, vanilla, and ice cubes. Cover and blend until nearly smooth.

10 to try-
1. Peanut Butter-Banana (my favorite): Substitute vanilla yogurt for plain, milk for orange juice, and add half of a ripe banana and 2 T creamy peanut butter.
2. Tropical: Substitute pina colada flavored yogurt for plain and add 2 peeled kiwifruits.
3. Peach: Add 1 cup frozen peach slices, omit ice.
4. Mango: Add 1/2 cup chopped fresh or frozen mango.
5. Banana-Chocolate: Substitute vanilla yogurt for plain, milk for orange juice, and chocolate-flavored syrup for honey; add half of a ripe banana.
6. Pomegranate: Substitute pomegranate juice for orange juice.
7. orange Dreams: Substitute orange yogurt for plain and add 1/2 cup mandarin orange sections.
8. Mocha: Substitute coffee-flavored yogurt for plain, milk for orange juice, and chocolate-flavored syrup for honey.
9. Banana-Blueberry: Substitute blueberry yogurt for plain; add half a ripe banana and 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries.
10. Berry: Add 1/2 cup halved fresh strawberries or raspberries.

Apple Pie

(Martha Stewart's)
3 Tbsp. flour
1 egg yolk
1 Tbsp cream or half and half
3 lbs. apples, peeled cored and sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. butter, cut into small pieces
Coarse sanding sugar for sprinkling

Roll out dough and line a 9" pie pan with it.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Whisk together cream and egg yolk for egg wash.
Toss together the apples, flour, lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt until combined. Pour mixture into the chilled pie crust. Dot with butter.
Cover with the rolled pie dough top.  Cut slits or insert a pie bird.  You can also make a lattice top or whatever you want.  Brush with the egg wash and sprinkle with sanding sugar.  Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
Place pie on a lined rimmed baking sheet and bake on lowest rack for about 25 minutes.  Reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake until crust is golden brown and juices bubble, 60-75 minutes more.
Cool pie completely on a cooling rack. Serve with vanilla ice cream.
Enjoy!
Emily

Butternut Squash Soup

    This is a recipe I've been dying to try, but couldn't justify making in the middle of the Florida summer. Now that its September, I figured I could pull out this autumn dish and give it a try (ignoring that its 90+ degrees outside still). Josh isn't much of a fan of squash, but he loved this soup. Its delish!

(Recipe originally taken from allrecipes.com)

2 Tbsp butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
2 medium potatoes, cubed
1 medium butternut squash- peeled, seeded and cubed
32 fl. oz. chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste

1. Melt butter in pot and add vegetables. Cook for 5 minutes, until lightly browned. Add chicken stock and cover with lid. Bring to a boil, turn down heat and let simmer until vegetables are soft. Transfer soup to blender and blend until smooth. Return to pot and add salt and pepper to taste.
Enjoy! (super easy huh?)