our new favorite pecan pie

i've never been much of a dessert person. fat, salt-- these are my cravings, but sugar? not so much. that said, there are some occasions that demand dessert, and christmas is definitely one of those. 

i went to georgia to visit my family a little early  this year, and since i wasn't going to be there over the 25th, we rescheduled "christmas" for a couple of days before. it was great. we had a totally low-key potluck, featuring my dad's smoked turkey, my brother's mac & cheese (mac & cheese is a requirement of all family get-togethers, no matter the occasion), aunt jane's amazing zipper peas and creamed spinach (i'll post about this soon!), and i contributed a pie. a pecan pie. because christmas cries out for pecan pie, and because i love it. 

i followed a recipe from the final issue of gourmet from november, 2009. they, of course, made their own crust, but i didn't bother because 1) i don't bake, and 2) it's christmas-- i don't want to spend it in the kitchen, i want to stay in pjs all day long and watch football with my dad! besides, the whole thing is basically corn syrup-- why not pile a little partially hydrogenated lard on top of it, eh?

the pie was amazing. aunt jane declared it the best she's ever had. dad told us a couple of times that he doesn't even like pecan pie, but that he really liked this one. he requested i make another one before i left for seattle. aunt jane wouldn't leave the house without the recipe, and was telling her neighbor about it a couple of days later. i made the pie again as soon as we arrived back home in seattle because, yeah, it's that good. 

the magic comes from the light corn syrup and light brown sugar, so it avoids the heavy, molasses-y experience that comes from their dark counterparts. add to that the best pecans you can get your hands on (hooray for georgia pecans!) and a hint of orange zest, and you've got a really spectacular pie with very little effort.

now, i have had two friends make either this pie or add orange zest to another pecan pie recipe and report mixed results. fair enough-- holidays are personal, and we all have expectations about holiday meals. i'm just saying, WE think this pie RULES. 

dad and aunt jane's favorite pecan pie

from old fashioned pean pie, gourmet, november 2009

3/4 stick butter (i used salted)

1 1/4 cups light brown sugar (i actually used a little less)

3/4 cup light corn syrup

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp grated orange zest, orange part only

1/4 tsp salt (if you are using UNsalted butter)

3 large eggs

2 cups pecans, half of them chopped

1 deep dish pie shell

preheat oven to 350 degrees.

melt butter in heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. add brown sugar and stir/whisk well until smooth.  remove from heat and add corn syrup, vanilla, orange zest, and salt (is using), stirring well to combine. allow to cool briefly (adding the eggs to hot syrup will cause them to cook). lightly beat the eggs and add to the syrup mixture, mixing to thoroughly combine. 

put pecans in pie shell and pour syrup/egg mixture over pecans. bake on a baking sheet until filling is set, 45 minutes to an hour. 

roasted peaches with hazelnuts and tarragon

looking for a light, sweet ending to your summer meals? try this roasted peach from chef jerry traunfeld's the herbal kitchen. the roasted peach with the crunchy topping is reminiscent of a peach pie, but you're spared the unbutton-the-jeans feeling that often follows dessert. still, if the devil on your shoulder prevails, serve it with vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream to make it a full dessert course. 

the tarragon is perfect in this dish, though jerry suggests using anise hyssop or green fennel seeds in its place. you can make it without the herbs, but considering what an herbal genius chef traunfeld is, you may as well give it a try!

be sure to use freestone peaches for this recipe. these are the varieties that don't cling to the pit, unlike clingstone varieties that hold on for dear life. if you try this with a clingstone, you'll end up with handfuls of  peach puree. your local peach growers/vendors should be able to tell you which is which. 

roasted peaches with hazelnuts and tarragon
from jerry traunfeld's roasted peaches filled with almond and tarragon, the herbal kitchen

*note: i tried to halve the recipe, but since it called for one egg in the batter, my batter was a little thin. i'll give you the proportions the recipe calls for rather than what i did!

6 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbps all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp coarsely chopped tarragon
3/4 cup chopped hazelnuts (i used hazels because i had them on hand, but the original recipe calls for sliced almonds)
4 large freestone peaches

preheat oven to 400 degrees. beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar in bowl with a mixer until smooth. beat in the egg and then the flour. add nuts and tarragon and stir to combine.

split the peaches and remove the pits. (my method is to run a knife all the way around, to the pit, then hold each half and give a little twist. they should just pop right off the pit.) add peaches cut-side up to a shallow baking dish just large enough to hold them so they don't fall over during cooking. fill each peach with filling mixture. (i dug out the peach cavities first, just a bit, in order to have more room for the filling.) bake 30-40 minutes or until filling is browned and crisp. serve warm. 

sources:
peaches: lyall's farm
hazelnuts: holmquist hazelnut orchards
tarragon: our garden

summer berries with cointreau and mascarpone cream

i spend plenty of time prepping for blog posts that never make the cut, either because the photos didn't turn out like i wanted, or the dish wasn't that great, or the inspiration just fizzled. this was almost left on the cutting room floor until i pulled out last night's leftover dessert to have for this afternoon's snack and realized, this one needs to get out there. 

now, i know full well that berries and cream is nothing new, but i have to go on record praising its delectability. this one mixes the strawberry-raspberry freezer jam i made a few weeks ago with the berries to give them some extra fruity sweetness, and a drizzle of cointreau for a little heady perfume. the cream is whipped with mascarpone and a squeeze of lemon juice for a slight tang. delish! 

summer berries with cointreau and  mascarpone cream

adapted from  mixed berries with mascarpone-limoncello cream, bon appetit, july 2005

8 servings

3/4 cup chilled heavy whipping cream

4 oz mascarpone cheese

3 Tbps sugar

juice from 1/2 small lemon (or to taste)

1 tsp cointreau + 2-3 tsp more (or other orange or fruit liqueur)

8 cups mixed summer berries-- i used strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries

3/4 cup berry preserves or jam-- i used our strawberry-raspberry freezer jam

beat together with an electric mixer the cream, mascarpone, sugar, lemon juice, and cointreau until soft peaks form. 

prepare berries-- wash, hull, etc. mix the blueberries and strawberries thoroughly with the jam, and carefully fold in the raspberries (if yours are as delicate as mine were). 

serve by layering berries in a bowl, glass, or parfait dish, and drizzle with a little cointreau (about as much as will fit in an everyday spoon). top with some cream, then more fruit, another cointreau drizzle (less this time), and end with cream.

sources:
organic raspberries and blueberries-- jessie's berries
organic puget summer strawberries-- sidhu farms
cream-- golden glen creamery

old-fashioned strawberry shortcake with drop biscuits

imagine eating something that, for a few minutes, makes nothing else seem to matter. 

this strawberry shortcake is AMAZING. amazing. like, make-you-forget-that-you-have-questions-about-the-meaning-of-life amazing. the drop biscuits come together like a dream and hold up perfectly while soaking in all of that syrupy strawberry juice. the berries are dark and sweet, the cream is light and dreamy-- between the berries, the juice, the biscuits, and the lightly sweetened cream, each bite actually made me whimper a little. 

but there's a catch-- you have to have the right berries. 

my parents came to visit me in portland a few years ago, and though we were wrapped in jackets and scarves, it was june berry season. we stopped by a produce market on sauvie island where we found a giant table of small and squishy strawberries that looked to me like they were almost ready for the compost pile. they had a sign that said "try me!" so we did. the look on my mother's face was, i'm sure, mirrored on my own-- "that's a strawberry? but it's SO GOOD!" they were a variety called hood, and i learned to look forward to their june arrival every year. i don't even know how to describe the flavor-- it's nothing like the jumbo, shiny, taut, shippable red fruits with the white centers that you find in the grocery. they are full of sugars and flavor, and are solid, deep red all the way through. 

we grew honeoyes this year. not a big yield, but definitely a fine berry. 

a variety i heard of for the first time this year, reported to be even better than hoods, is called shuksan. i'm a little broken hearted that i didn't get a chance to try them before they were gone. thing is, the good berries, the BEST berries, are generally an extremely short harvest, and don't last or transport well at all. you can get decent berries later in the summer, but for true transcendence, you need june-bearing varieties. when they're gone, they're gone, but thankfully, some of them freeze well. 

the variety i did manage to get my hands on this year is called rainier. we got the last flat of berries at the u-district farmers market, and the next week, all of the june-bearing berries were finished. i made a pitcher of strawberry lemonade with one pint and froze the rest. (freeze in a single layer on a cookie sheet, then move to a freezer container.) 

yesterday, i thawed some of the rainier berries and made this shortcake. best. idea. ever. 

jon rowley's old-fashioned strawberry shortcake with drop biscuits 

adapted from edible seattle, may/june 2010

serves 6

for the berries:

3 pints organic, local, june-bearing strawberries, the reddest, juiciest, sweetest you can find

1-4 Tbsp sugar  

rinse and hull the berries and chop into irregular chunks. mix the berries with a tablespoon of sugar or two and set aside to macerate for at least an hour. before serving, taste and add more sugar to taste. (the berries and their juices are the sweeteners in this dessert, so don't overdo it, but don't underdo it either!)

for the biscuits:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

4 oz butter, chilled (the recipe didn't specify, so i used salted since i had it on hand)

1 cup milk

2 Tbsp cream (optional-- i forgot this step and it was fine)

heat oven to 400 degrees.

stir dry ingredients together in large mixing bowl. cube the chilled butter and work it into the dry ingredients with your fingers to get a texture like a rough meal. stir in milk and mix until you have a soft dough that is pulling away from the sides of the bowl. (i tried not to overmix since i've heard that's the easiest way to get rock-hard biscuits. i don't bake, so i don't really know, but these turned out great.)

spoon the dough in 6 portions on a greased baking sheet. brush the tops with cream, if using. bake 10-15 minutes until golden. cool on a rack.

for the whipped cream:

2 cups heavy cream, well chilled

2 Tbsp sugar (or to taste)

whip the sugar and cream together using a wire whisk or electric mixer until soft peaks form.

for assembly:

slice a biscuit in half and top the bottom half with berries and juice, then a spoonful of cream. cover with the top half of the biscuit and add berries/juice and more cream. 

enjoy, and whimper.

sources: 
rainier strawberries-- schuh farms
cream-- golden glen creamery 

looks like bad 80s art, but it's a delicious rhubarb custard pie!

the other day i  made, like, the ugliest pie ever. it was a rhubarb custard pie recipe from my friend annette over at sustainable eats (check out her blog-- it's amazing what she's doing), and while it tasted fantastic, i really screwed the pooch in the "visually appealing" category. i started cutting the dough into a shape, then messed it up, then the dough broke, then i decided "forget this" and just threw the pieces on top. it totally reminds me of my middle-school-in-the-80s decorating projects when i would take mirrors that had been stepped on and arrange them on my wall as though they were exploding out from the center. it cracks me up how ugly this pie is. 

BUT, it tastes so good!

rhubarb continues to baffle me. i bought some at the market and cut off a little piece for rob to taste raw. his face twisted and scrunched up while he cried out like a 4-year-old, "not want!"  and with good reason-- the stuff tastes like the sour grass growing down by the lake that my brother and i used to chew on as kids. but, amazingly, it transforms into amazing desserts! 

as an egg and sugar custard base, this pie has the spirit of a pecan pie, except it's springy! 

annette's grandma's rhubarb-custard pie 

1 double pie crust or shortbread crust (i used store-bought crust. big mistake. huge.)
chopped rhubarb, enough to fill pie crust, about 2 cups
3 beaten eggs
2 cups sugar (annette says to adjust up or down according to your taste-- i tend to not like super sweet stuff, so i adjusted to a cup and a half. totally great, but more would have been okay, too.)
1 tsp vanilla
3 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp mace (optional, and i left it out because i don't have any)

prepare one pie crust for filling according to package directions, or by lining with foil and adding pie weights (purchased, or use uncooked rice or dry beans as weights), and bake at 425 for 15 minutes. cut the other pie crust into pretty shapes for the top. (note: take care to not have the  pieces look like something out of a duran duran video.)

mix eggs, sugar, and all of the spices. pour over rhubarb in pie pan. cover with top crust and sprinkle with sugar or sugar and cinnamon. bake at 450 for 10 minutes, then reduce to 325 and cook another hour. (i actually took mine out after about 40 minutes as it was set.)

tart and creamy goodness. try it. 

rhubarb from stoney plains 
caity's eggs from woodring specialties 

simple strawberry rhubarb cobbler

here's a little bonbon for your friday afternoon-- a super easy and absolutely swoon-worthy rhubarb and strawberry cobbler. 

i've never cooked with rhubarb. i've known all along it's the stuff that looks like red celery that you can make into a pie, but until last week i'd never even tasted it. i was looking forward to its availability this spring, though, precisely because i had no idea what to do with it, and i like to learn new tricks in the kitchen. 

i chopped it up and took a bite and said out loud (to myself as i was home alone), "whoa, REALLY?" it was so tart! i couldn't imagine it becoming a delicious dessert, but after following the muscat rhubarb cobbler recipe from edible seattle, that's exactly what it did.  

rhubarb muscat cobbler 
edible seattle
serves 4

for the filling:

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup Muscat wine (i used sweet vermouth, but i think about any dessert wine would work)
1 Tablespoons lemon juice
3 cups diced rhubarb
3 cups quartered strawberries, from about a quart of berries (i used strawberries i'd frozen after a u-pick adventure last summer.)

for the topping:

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup (packed) brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 stick (4 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2” cubes

heat oven to 400 degrees.
filling: melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. add sugar, muscat, and lemon juice and cook, stirring, to dissolve sugar. bring to a simmer and add fruit, stirring to coat. cook, stirring occasionally, until fruit softens and gives up some of its liquid, about 8 minutes. increase heat and cook for another 5 minutes, until mixture is thickened and reduced. divide mixture amongst individual ramekins (or souffle molds, or other ovenproof bowls) and make topping.

topping: add all ingredients to food processor and pulse 30-40 times until it has the texture of coarse gravel. (may need to add a little more butter if it seems too loose and dry.) spoon generously over the filling. 

bake 15-20 minutes until filling is bubbling and top is golden brown.

rhubarb from stoney plains organic farm

lemon rosemary sorbet

i've always been a low-tech girl. i remember in college almost begging my professors to let me handwrite my papers since i had no use for the computing machines that everyone else seemed to find soooo necessary. i've come a long way, even in the kitchen. there was a time when a cutting board, a casserole dish, and a dull 8" chef knife were all i needed. then i met rob...

rob is captain gadget, as any self-respecting mechanical engineer would have to be. i quickly learned that browsing a kitchen supply store with a gizmo guy had changed the experience forever. i'm still not taken in by all of the toys, but i do at least now own a chopper, and the bread machine we picked up at goodwill has been one of the best $13 investments we've ever made.

another of our favorite tools, especially this time of year, is the ice cream maker. i've used it once or twice, but rob has made all manner of treats, from vanilla bean custard ice cream to orange sherbet. nothing beats the sorbets, however. after having dinner with his family a couple of weeks ago at a restaurant that served water in pitchers with lemons and rosemary, we had a new plan-- lemon rosemary sorbet.

this is all rob-- the recipe, the execution, even a couple of the photos. i'm just the proxy. ;)

lemon rosemary sorbet

2 sprigs fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 sprig mint
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
2 Tbsp vodka (optional-- this keeps it from freezing solid)
1 1/2- 2 cups fresh-squeezed lemon juice
zest from 1 lemon (couple of Tbsp)

bring water and sugar to boil over medium high heat.
reduce to simmer on low for 5 minutes or until all sugar is dissolved.
remove from heat, add rosemary and mint, cover and steep 10 minutes.
strain out rosemary and mint, add lemon zest, chill in fridge until cool.

stir in lemon juice & vodka and freeze in ice cream/sorbet machine according to mfg directions.

we've found that after it's done all it's going to do in the ice cream maker, it still needs a couple of hours, or even overnight, in the freezer to not turn back into syrup the instant you scoop some into a bowl.

this sorbet is wonderful! you definitely have to like rosemary, but the flavor is not overpowering at all. we tried a similar recipe last summer using basil, and it, too, was incredibly good. next on the list-- blackberry!