Tag Archives: Fiesta Friday

Cranberry Buckle

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Have you ever cooked or baked something that was really really good, but needed to come with an explanation?

I was looking over the Recipe Index of this blog and realized that I do that pretty often, actually. I’ll announce that I’m making something to my family and the response will be, “Huh?” or “What’s that?”

The conversations usually go something like this:

Me: “I’m making Shakshuka and naan for dinner.”

Family: “What’s Shakshuka?”

Me: “It’s kinda like a tomato sauce, except you put cumin, eggs and ground beef in it. The naan is the dipping bread that goes along with it.”

Family: “…..Um.”

Me: “Look, just don’t worry about it. I know what I’m doing, and it’s going to be fantastic, trust me!”

Occasionally it may be a miss, but 9 times out of 10, I’m usually right and the recipe that needed an explanation was still delicious.

Today I’m sharing another one of those recipes that I had to give an explanation for. Unless you’re a baker or someone who bakes with fruit pretty often, I’ve noticed that not a lot of people will know exactly what you’re talking about when you announce that you’re going to bake a buckle. They may have a vague idea, but if you had to differentiate it from say, a cobbler, grunt or pandowdy, they probably won’t know.

The closest comparison that I can give to a buckle is a coffee cake. This coffee cake batter has a lot of fruit in it–like, a lot. There’s actually more fruit than batter. The batter’s function is to absorb the fruit and hold it all together like a cake-like sponge. The cake does rise thanks to leavening agents, but the amount of fruit in the batter does weigh it down. There’s also a streusel topping that gets sprinkled on top of the batter before baking. After baking, the bumpy uneven surface of that streusel looks ‘buckled’–hence the name.

Most buckles are made with blueberries, but because this was for the 12 Days of Christmas, I decided to make mine with cranberries, which I find more festive (and tasty). It came together in literally minutes.

You may be tempted to reign it in when it’s time to add in the cranberries. I was. Three cups is a lot, especially for such a small pan of cake and a batter that is thick. But, listen: we’ve already been through this. The primary function of the batter is to just hold the fruit together. The more fruit that is in this, the better it’s going to turn out. Trust me. Add the whole three cups. Just do it.

Same thing with that streusel: it may seem like it’s too much when you’re mixing it together. It’s not. It’s just enough. Dump it all on top of the batter. The whole she-bang. You will thank me later.

We loved this so much. I had originally intended to send it to an office to share, but upon sampling it, the Family made an executive decision that we were no longer interested in sharing, and that the Cranberry buckle would be staying right here at home with us. Once you bake this, you’ll understand why.

Don’t forget to check out the other recipes from the 12 Days of Christmas series if you haven’t already:

DAY 1: VANILLA RED PINWHEELS

DAY 2: CHRISTMAS ELF BITES

DAY 3: THREE FRENCH HEN PIES

DAY 4: CRANBERRY BUCKLE

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Cranberry Buckle

Recipe Adapted from Alton Brown

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 2 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3/4 cup white sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 cup milk (plus more if needed)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • 3 cups fresh cranberries

For Streusel Topping

  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1/3 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 2 ounces unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes.

Directions

Lightly spray an 8 or 9 inch square baking dish or cake pan with non-stick cooking spray; set aside.

In a small bowl use a wire whisk or a fork to combine the flour with the baking powder, salt, and ginger and set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer using the paddle attachment (or using a handheld one), cream together the butter and the sugar until it’s creamy. Add the egg and stir just until combined.

Pour the vanilla and milk together in a small cup.

Add the flour and the milk to the batter alternately in batches, starting and ending with the flour. (This batter is supposed to be thick, but if it’s too thick to spread in the pan and/or too crumbly, you can add in a few tablespoons of milk–just enough to make it smooth enough to spread.)

Use a spatula to fold in the cranberries. Spread the batter into the baking dish and place the baking dish on a sheet tray.

For the streusel: combine the flour, sugar and nutmeg together in a small bowl. Use the tines of a fork to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until it looks like course breadcrumbs. Sprinkle on top of the batter in the pan.

Bake until golden brown and puffed up in the middle, 45-50 minutes. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving.

Sharing at Fiesta Friday #253: co-hosted this week by Liz @ Spades, Spatulas, and Spoons and Mila @ Milkandbun.

Three French ‘Hen’ Pies

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I just realized that in the five years I’ve been doing this series, I’ve never addressed just how silly the song the 12 Days of Christmas really is.

I guess now’s a good time as any for me to do so: The 12 Days of Christmas is silly.

12 Days of gifts sounds great in theory. But when you actually stop and think about the so called ‘gifts’ that somebody’s true love picked out…meh.

I mean, five gold rings are fine I guess, but…what exactly am I supposed to do with seven swans ‘a-swimming’ or four calling birds?

A twelve person drumline may be cute, but…does that partridge happen to be sitting in a pear money tree? Cause if not…keep it.

Come to think of it, most of the gifts given during the 12 Days of Christmas were birds. And since I am a cook, and we are all just here for the food anyway, let’s just think of it as a bunch of poultry. I’ve got no use for a bunch of live birds. But dead, butchered poultry? That’s something I can definitely use.

So let’s pretend that on the third day of Christmas, your true love didn’t send you three French hens. Instead, they sent you three (or more) of these pies. (Hen is, after all, chicken so it’s not too big of a leap.)

I like to try to throw a savory recipe into the baking series, just to mix things up. Last year was this tourtiere pie. I wanted to do it again, and from very early on, I had what I thought was a pretty good idea of a place to start. A few years back I did a post where I made a chicken pot pie filling that I paired with biscuits. For these pies, I took that chicken pot pie filling and stuffed it into a delicious, flaky pie crust that I had made before last year for some Jamaican beef patties. (How’s that for recipe recycling?)

There are a lot of corners you can cut in making these to make the process go faster: you absolutely can make the filling for these with either rotisserie chicken or leftover turkey. I did. You absolutely can use a bag of frozen vegetables. I did. You can also make the filling and pie crust ahead of time, leave it in the fridge overnight, then come back the next day, assemble and bake so that the actual dinner prep takes less than an hour. I did.

It’s the 3rd Day of Christmas, so why not swap out 3 French Hens for these French Chicken–I mean HEN Pies?

DAY 1: VANILLA RED PINWHEELS

DAY 2: CHRISTMAS ELF BITES

DAY 3: THREE FRENCH HEN PIES

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Three French 'Hen' Pies

Recipe Adapted from Ina Garten

Ingredients

For Pie Crust

  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, frozen
  • 1/2 cup butter flavored vegetable shortening, frozen
  • 3/4 cup, plus 1 tablespoon cold water, plus more if needed
  • 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten

For Filling

  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
  • 1 large sweet onion, diced
  • 1 16 oz. bag of frozen mixed vegetables
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Onion Powder
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 4 cups chicken stock
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 4 sprigs rosemary
  • 4 sprigs thyme
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 tbsp-1 tbsp. honey mustard (depending on taste preference)
  • 4 cups chopped, cooked chicken (from 1 large rotisserie chicken) OR leftover turkey
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch (if needed)

For Assembly

  • 1 large egg, beaten with 2 tablespoons of water

Directions

For Pie Crust: In a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt and pepper with a fork. Use the large holes on a box grater to grate butter directly into dry ingredients. Slice the shortening into small chunks and sprinkle into the flour. Mix together with a fork or a rubber spatula. (Mixture should resemble coarse bread crumbs, with chunks of butter/shortening throughout) Make a well in the center of the bowl and pour in the water, beaten egg and vinegar. Mix together until just combined, then turn out onto a cutting board or pastry mat dusted with flour. Working quickly, pat and press with your hands until you have a mass of dough that holds together. Shape into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at LEAST one hour, but preferably overnight.

In a large pot, heat 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add the onions and sweat until the onions are translucent, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the bag of frozen veggies, cook for further 5-6 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, 1 minute more. Remove the vegetables and garlic from the pot.

Heat the remaining 4 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Once melted, whisk in the flour. Cook until the mixture is just starting to turn golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Gradually whisk in the chicken broth. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Add the vegetables back to the pot, along with the bay leaf, rosemary, and thyme. Season with salt, black pepper, onion powder and the honey mustard. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Stir in the cream, and chicken and return to a simmer. Simmer for 4 to 5 minutes more. Remove the mixture from the heat.

(If you need to thicken the mixture up, dissolve the cornstarch in about 1/2 cup of cold water with a fork, then stir this into the chicken mixture, allowing it to cook uncovered for about 5 minutes more until it reaches the desired consistency)

Refrigerate the filling overnight to allow the flavors to develop.

Preheat oven to 375°. Remove the dough from the fridge and divide into quarters. Keep the other 3 in the fridge while you work with one. Sprinkle a clean surface with flour. Roll dough out with floured rolling pin to about 1/8 inch thick. Cut into 4-5 inch circles and place two heaping tablespoons of filling on each. (Don’t overfill, it will mess up your finish) Use your fingers to rub the bottom edge with water or egg wash, then pull the top edge over the filling and press down to fuse the two edges together. You may crimp the outer edges afterwards with a fork if you like. Repeat until you’ve used all of the dough, keeping unused rounds AND filled pies in the fridge as you work to keep the dough cold as possible.

Once finished, line a sheet pan with parchment paper or foil, and lightly spray with cooking spray. Place pies on pan. Brush the tops with the beaten egg, then bake on the middle rack until dough is cooked through & golden brown, about 25-30 minutes. Let stand about 5 minutes before serving.

Linking up to this week’s Fiesta Friday #253, co-hosted this week by Liz @ Spades, Spatulas, and Spoons and Mila @ Milkandbun.

Vanilla-Red Pinwheels

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Hey, everyone. If you’ve been following me for a while, then you’ll know that this is the time of year where I start the 12 Days of Christmas–an annual series of twelve baking recipes I post during the month of December that remind me of the holidays. Growing up, my mom and my grandmother baked a LOT of delicious things at Christmastime.

Apart from loving to eat it, I also just loved the overall atmosphere that all of their baking created in the house. Now that I’m an adult, I guess this series is my way of recreating that atmosphere for myself, and for the people who I love. I look forward to it every year, and I hope y’all enjoy it too. (Also, if you’re interested in viewing the series from past years, you can search the 12 Days of Christmas tag to find past recipes for the past few years.)

I knew even in the early days of planning this years series that I was going to make these. They’d been on my radar for a while for two reasons: first, I just can’t resist a butter cookie. Second, pinwheel cookies are so pretty, they’re nearly hypnotizing. I remember the first time I saw one. I just stared at it, becoming more and more determined with every passing minute that I was going to figure out how it was made asap and make a batch for myself.

I know that pinwheels look like they’re super elaborate, but the actual construction of them isn’t that difficult. Honestly, the ‘trickiest’ part is making sure the dough is at the right temperature for when it’s time to combine & roll the two different colored doughs together. Too cold and it will crack when you try to roll it. Too warm and it won’t hold the pinwheel design of the two colors. Don’t worry, though: because this is a basic butter cookie dough, it is very forgiving. If you think the dough is too cold, simply leave it out for a few extra minutes before you try to roll. It you think it’s too warm, leave it in the fridge for a little bit longer. You’re going to find that happy medium, I promise.

A lot of pinwheel recipes are either a vanilla-chocolate mix of doughs. Some are a single vanilla dough where one half has just been dyed with food coloring. For mine, I went with a vanilla dough and a red one that I flavored with a Red Velvet Emulsion from LorAnn oils. I also flipped the order of layering in my second log so that there is a vanilla wrapped cookie dough AND a Red Velvet flavored one. Also, don’t you dare throw away the scraps from when you trim the doughs! Those pretty tie-dye patterned cookies you see below are made solely from my scraps. I gently kneaded them together with my hands into a log, then wrapped it up with the others. When you cut it, you can see that the colors marble together and hold their design even after baking. Nothing wasted.

These cookies are excellent; like a classic butter cookie, they’re slightly crisp with a crumb that melts in your mouth. The two flavors work beautifully together. And (of course), they make one heck of an impression when presented on a plate. Not too shabby a start for the 12 Days of Christmas, eh?

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Vanilla-Red Pinwheels

Recipe Adapted from Simply Recipes

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups white granulated sugar
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon of LorAnn Oils Red Velvet Emulsion (you can also use a strawberry or raspberry flavoring. A combination of 1 of these flavorings with Red food coloring will also work)

Directions

In a medium sized bowl combine the flour with the salt and baking powder. Stir together with a fork, then set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer (or using a handheld one), cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, stirring just until combined.

Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in batches, stirring just until combined.

Scrape the dough out of the bowl and onto a plate. Divide it in half. Set one aside, and place the other back into the bowl. Add the the 1 teaspoon of Red Velvet emulsion and stir until it’s uniform in color. Remove the Red Dough from the Bowl.

Divide the Vanilla Dough into 2 portions. Divide the Red Dough into 2 portions. You should now have four balls of dough. Roughly shape each one into a rectangle, then wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate them for about 30 minutes, or until firm.

Remove one of the vanilla doughs from the fridge. Sprinkle a clean surface (like a pastry mat or a piece of wax or parchment paper you’ve taped to your counter) with powdered sugar. Lay a piece of parchment paper down, place the dough on top of the paper, then place a second piece of parchment on top of that. Roll out the dough until it’s about 6 x 12 in size. As your roll, occasionally move it around/flip it, just to make sure it doesn’t stick. When it’s the right size, (keeping it sandwiched between the parchment paper)transfer the rolled out dough to a baking sheet.

Repeat this process with the other doughs. Place the baking sheet with the doughs in the freezer for 15 minutes. It should be firm, but not stiff–too stiff and it won’t roll properly.

Remove one of the vanilla doughs and one of the red doughs. Peel away the top parchment paper from them both. Flip the red dough on top of the vanilla dough so that they are sandwiched together. Peel the bottom paper from the raspberry dough. Trim the edges so that the 2 doughs line up. Carefully and tightly roll from the long end into a log, peeling away the bottom layer of parchment as you go.

Repeat this sandwiching and rolling process, but this time put the red dough layer on the bottom so that when you roll the dough, the red dough is on the outside.

(There is an excellent step by step pictured process of this, located here.)

Wrap each log in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. (Don’t throw away the scraps from the trimmings! I gently kneaded them together with my hands and formed a tie-dye patterned log that I also refrigerated with the pinwheel cookies.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Use a sharp knife or bench scraper to slice the cookies into slices 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Place them about 1 inch apart on the sheet.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until they begin to just turn golden brown on the bottom & at the edges. Allow to set up for 60 seconds on the baking sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

(Note: no one oven is the same, & different baking sheets bake cookies differently. Keeping this in mind, I will ALWAYS test bake one cookie before baking entire sheets of the whole batch, just to get a good idea of how long they should be in the oven and if I need to adjust the way I’ve cut, rolled them out, etc. I highly recommend that you do the same.)

I’ll be linking this post up to this week’s Fiesta Friday #252, co-hosted this week by Alex @ Turks Who Eat and Zeba @ Food For The Soul.

DAY 1: VANILLA RED PINWHEELS

Braised Beef and Basil Chimichurri

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I would like to send out prayers, thoughts, and good vibes to everyone out here on the West coast that’s being affected by all of these terrible wildfires. We’re not exactly close to where the actual fires are occurring, but the smoke has been traveling down to where we are, and the air quality has suffered terribly from it.

It’s a terrible situation–one that I hope will pass soon, and that the rebuilding efforts for all of those affected can proceed as best as they can.

How do you guys like to eat your steak?

I’ll go first, and be honest: my go to is a medium tri-tip with A1 on the side. Even if the steak is fantastic enough to eat completely on its own, I still like that primo steak sauce. I’ve only had one steak, ever (at an Emeril Lagasse restaurant) where the steak was delicious enough to where I turned down the A1 completely. Y’all can judge me if you want, but that’s just the way I like it.

I mention my general steak preferences because with this recipe, I kinda stepped outside of my comfort zone and tried something that I had never even eaten before, let alone cooked for myself. I braise beef all the time, but chimmichurri was uncharted territory. I knew that it was green and that it was eaten with food like tacos. But I had no idea what it was supposed to taste like, or if I would even like it myself.

Having now made it, I can now report back to all of you that I now know several things about making & eating chimmichurri, namely that I DO like it, very much. I’ve seen several variations with various herbs used here and there, but I decided to keep things simple for my first time. I use a base of fresh basil and oregano–two herbs that I think play really well against each other. I also put in a very generous amount of garlic, because I love it and because I can. But what REALLY brings all the flavors of the chimmichurri together is the balsamic vinegar that gets added at the very end–the acidity cuts through the sharpness of that garlic and makes the freshness of the herbs that much more fresher.

I kept the seasoning on the braised beef really traditional, on purpose. I’m glad that I did that. It’s a perfectly delicious pot of meat all on its own by the time it’s done, but once you add the basil chimmichurri to the savory beef, the beef moves away from being something you’d typically associate with stick to your ribs food for the autumn, and kinda reminded me of something I’d like to eat in the summertime on a porch deck. So I guess it’s kind of a best of both worlds thing.

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Braised Beef & Basil Chimichurri

Recipe Adapted from Epicurious

Ingredients

  • 4-5 lbs of beef sirloin, (you can also use top blade steak, chuck roast or tri tip that you cut into large chunks)
  • A few dashes of low sodium soy sauce
  • 8 garlic cloves, finely minced
  • 1/4 cup whole grain mustard
  • 2 heaping tablespoons of your favorite steak seasoning; I used The Gourmet Collection’s Pepper Steak Spice Blend. You can find it at TJ Maxx/HomeGoods)
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar (light or dark, doesn’t matter)
  • 2 teaspoons black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves, chopped
  • 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
  • 1/2 cup oil (olive, vegetable or canola will all work), plus more for searing
  • 1 large onion
  • 2-3 cups low sodium chicken broth (the meat is going to release more liquid in the oven, this is just to make sure it’s submerged enough to braise)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Onion powder, Garlic Powder

For Chimichurri Sauce

  • 8 oz fresh basil, chopped
  • 4 oz fresh oregano, chopped
  • 8-10 cloves of garlic, finely minced
  • 1/2 cup (olive, vegetable or canola will all work)
  • salt, pepper to taste
  • 1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Directions

In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, garlic, mustard, brown sugar, pepper, oregano leaves, smoked paprika and oil. Stir together until it forms a paste. Set aside

Rub the meat with the steak seasoning on both sides, then place it inside 2 resealable gallon size bags. Evenly divide and pour the seasoning paste over the meat. Reseal the bags, then turn/toss the bags around, massaging the paste into the meat so that it’s evenly seasoned. Refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Heat a few tablespoons of oil in the bottom of a Dutch oven or other heavy pot, bring it to a high heat, just before it smokes. Sear the meat on both sides until browned (in batches if need be), then remove to a plate.

Saute the onions in the leftover drippings for about 5 minutes until they’re softened/translucent. Add the bay leaf and chicken broth and stir, allowing it to come up to a simmer. Taste and adjust for seasoning (I added plenty of onion powder, garlic powder and pepper).

Place the meat back in the pot, (or you can remove it to a 13 x 9 baking dish) cover tightly with either a lid or foil, then place in the oven. Allow to braise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until the meat is tender and can be pulled easily with a fork.

Meanwhile, make the chimichurri sauce: place the basil, oregano and garlic together in a food processor or a blender. Pulse a few times, then blend on high until they’re finely minced/combined. Remove to a medium bowl, then slowly drizzle in the oil, whisking together with a whisk or fork. Add salt & pepper, then 1 tablespoon of the vinegar. Taste it and if desired, add the second tablespoon. Serve on top of the braised beef.

I’m very pleased to be co-hosting this week’s Fiesta Friday # 250 along with Jenny @ Apply To Face Blog., Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook and Judi @ cookingwithauntjuju.com. Please join us!

Breakfast Slab Pie

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I seriously cannot believe that we are making our way through November already. 2018 is almost over. We’ve already started getting ingredients for Thanksgiving, which I’m always excited for, but it definitely doesn’t feel like it’s going to be happening in a matter of weeks. From there, things REALLY get busy round here, what with the 12 Days of Christmas baking series–I started making my list of this year’s recipes earlier today and I’m already excited to get started on that, so stay tuned.

We still have brinner at least once a week in our house, but it’s been a while since I posted a new recipe for breakfast on the blog. I wanted to change that and so this past week, I decided to go ahead and make something new for our brinner.

Slab pie is one of those things that I really enjoy baking–more so than a lot of other things that I like. It makes a whole lot of pie for a crowd, with a comparatively low amount of labor. Up until now, I’ve only made sweet fruit dessert slab pies and although they’ve been fabulous I have been curious about what it would look like if I took it to the savory side.

The method for making the pie crust is my normal method of grating frozen butter into the dry ingredients. It might seem ‘extra’ to go to the effort of buying a box grater if you don’t already have one, but I will say it again and again until I’m blue in the face: frozen butter & a box grater will change your pie crust making life. It will also transform the way you make biscuits and scones. If you don’t know, now you know.

I think one of the best things about this recipe is how versatile the filling can be. I’ve provided a recipe below of what I used for our slab pie, but with breakfast foods in general, the possibilities are endless. It’s no different here. If you don’t like sausage as a protein, use ham. Or mushrooms. Or chorizo. If you don’t like green bell peppers, use red or yellow. If you don’t like spinach, use potatoes. Do what you heart (or tastebuds) tell you to do.

Be careful when you pour the beaten eggs on top; make sure it’s mixed into the filling well so that it doesn’t spill over too much into the crust. Use your fingers to try and make sure the crust is pinched together tight at the corners of the pie especially. Also, bake the slab pie on the lower rack of the oven to make sure you get the golden brown, flakey crust results that you see in the pictures–the closer it is to the heat, the faster it will cook on the bottom.

Have a good weekend, guys!

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Breakfast Slab Pie

Adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients

Crust

  • 4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 24 tablespoons (1 1/2 cups) cold unsalted butter, frozen
  • 3/4 cup cold water, plus more if needed

For Filling

  • 2 lbs of roll breakfast sausage (pork or turkey, doesn’t matter), browned and drained
  • 8 oz frozen spinach, thawed and drained thoroughly
  • 2 green bell peppers, diced
  • 1 large sweet onion, diced
  • 12 eggs, (plus one for the egg wash)
  • salt and pepper

Directions

For Crust: In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour with the salt and pepper. Use the large holes on a box grater to grate the cold butter directly into the dry ingredients. Stir together with a fork. Make a well in the center, then pour in the water. Stir together with a fork and spatula until it forms a craggy mass. Turn it out onto a floured surface and knead it two to three times, just until it comes together. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 17 x 11 baking sheet and set aside.

Place the crumbled, browned sausage in a large bowl. In a large skillet, saute the onions, then the bell peppers until they are softened and translucent, about 7-10 minutes each. When finished, add to the bowl of sausage. Mix in the drained spinach. Stir together until evenly combined.

Divide the pie crust in two, making one portion slightly bigger than the other. On a floured surface, roll out the larger portion into a 17 x 11 rectangle. Use your rolling pin to help transfer it to the greased baking sheet, using your knuckles to press the crust into the corners; try to make sure there’s some overhang over the sides of the pan.

Spoon the sausage filling into the crust, smoothing over the top with a spatula. (You may have some leftover; place it in an egg scramble at a later use) Place in the refrigerator. Meanwhile, beat 12 the eggs together, then season generously with salt and pepper. Remove the filled pie from the refrigerator. Carefully pour the beaten egg mixture over the filling, using a fork to help it seep in evenly. Roll out the second piece of pie crust into a rectangle. Drape it over the filling, and crimp the edges to seal the pie.

Use a sharp knife to create 2 steam vents in the center (not too big though, or the eggs may leak out). Beat the remaining egg in a small bowl with some water, then use a pastry brush to brush it over the top crust.

Bake the pie on the lower rack of the oven until the crust is golden and the filling is set, 55-60 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool about 10 minutes before slicing into squares serve.

Sharing at the Fiesta Friday #249, co-hosted this week by Diann @ Of Goats and Greens and Jenny @ Apply To Face Blog.

 

Chewy Ginger Cookie Bars

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Y’all, do me a quick favor. Look to the right of your screen and locate the search bar.

Type in the word ‘ginger’. Hit the search button.

What do you see?

My guess would be that quite a few posts are going to pop up.

The reason for this is very simple: I love ginger. I have a very strong appreciation of it. I look for ways to throw it into dishes that may not have originally called for it. Whether you’re using it for a sweet or savory dish, both ground and fresh ginger are fantastic stuff to have around.

I’ve mentioned before that I make my own ginger syrup to help with my stomach issues. The only thing about making ginger syrup is that after you’ve made the syrup, you’re left with quite a bit of candied/crystallized ginger that’s been simmered in the sugar syrup.

Not that I’m complaining. Apart from being delicious to snack on it by itself, candied ginger is one of my favorite things to bake with. Today’s recipe features a double whammy of both ground and candied ginger.

Sometimes I want cookies, but also just don’t feel like making the dough, letting it rest & chill in the fridge, then rolling or scooping it out into individual portions. What I love about cookie bars is that they take the extra labor out of making actual cookies. There’s no chilling time required. You don’t have to portion the dough out individually. After the dough is made, it all gets pressed into one pan and baked off together. You can seriously make this in less than 10 minutes, and have it baked & finished in less than 1 hour. It couldn’t be easier.

This recipe started out from a basic sugar cookie bar that I altered. I swapped out some of the white sugar for brown sugar, then added molasses, ground ginger and candied ginger. Apart from the warm, spicy flavors of these bars, I  think that the texture is my favorite part.

They have a well balanced density, but it’s not so much that it’ll get stuck in your teeth. It’s like that perfect sweet spot that you get in the center of a drop cookie–except, here it’s in the whole thing. I ate mine still warm with whipped cream and caramel. To say that I enjoyed it would be an understatement.

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Chewy Ginger Cookie Bars

Recipe Courtesy of Food Network Magazine

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/2 white granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup molasses
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 cup crystallized ginger, finely minced
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides; coat the foil with cooking spray.

In a medium size bowl combine the flour, ground ginger and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the sugars and molasses into the melted butter. Add the eggs, one at a time, stirring briskly. Add the vanilla.

Fold in the dry ingredients into the wet, stirring just until combined. Fold in the minced crystallized ginger. Spread the dough into the baking dish with an oiled spatula.

Bake until the edges are set but the center is soft, about 25-30 minutes. Allow to sit in pan for about 10 minutes, then use the foil to lift out of the baking dish and transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely. Cut into square bars.

Sharing at the Fiesta Friday #248, co-hosted this week by Judi @ cookingwithauntjuju.com and Alex @ Turks Who Eat.

Sweet Potato Pound Cake

Posted
Filed under Desserts

Last week was really hot in my area and I went on a mini-rant about how over it I was. I shared a recipe that was geared towards warmer weather.

This week, it’s a tad bit cooler, but still warm. But you know what? I’m gonna go ahead and share a recipe that is right up the alley of autumn anyway, because I just can’t wait any longer.

Maybe if I put out autumn foods more, it’ll attract more autumn weather to where we are–or not, but I can at least try. And even if it doesn’t bring the autumn vibes my way, I’m still sending good food vibes y’alls way no matter what the weather looks like in your part of the world.

That way, everyone wins.

I know at this time of year everyone loves to throw pumpkin into everything. Personally, I think pumpkin spice is overrated. And when it comes baking, I actually like to take a recipe that calls for pumpkin and swap it right out for sweet potato.

When they’re roasted & mashed, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, yams, and even butternut/kabocha squash take on a very similar consistency. The flavors are different, but they function the same way scientifically during the baking process.

So, what I did here is incorporate a roasted/mashed sweet potato into a pound cake recipe, then added a lot of the autumn spices that are usually given to pumpkin baked goods. The orange zest is there to give it a boost of freshness. If you prefer to use pumpkin, butternut or kabocha squash instead, that’s fine. I promise it won’t mess anything up.

You should know that I originally intended to give this cake a glaze. If you’ve been following this blog for a while, then you know that I usually do. But by the time the cake was done cooling and I had gotten out all of the ingredients for a glaze, I hesitated, looked at it for a long moment and thought, “You know what? Nah. It’s fine.”

Apart from the flavor, the sweet potato keeps the cake itself really moist. The spices complement the sweet potato and give your taste buds a hug. They don’t need any help from a sweet icing and I’m glad that I followed my instincts and didn’t try to give them any.

This is autumn in one delicious bite. Or several, depending on how much of it you eat. And I think you’ll eat plenty.

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Sweet Potato Pound Cake

Recipe Adapted from Land O Lakes

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup brown sugar (light or dark, doesn’t matter)
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup mashed sweet potatoes
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon fresh orange zest
  • 1/4 cup milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and flour a 12 cup Bundt pan (or two 9 inch cake pans) and set aside.

In a medium size bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices together. Stir with a fork until combined, then set aside.

In a glass measuring cup combine the milk with the vanilla extract and set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer (or using a handheld one) use the paddle attachment to cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing just until the yellow disappears. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl as you go to ensure even mixing.

Add the mashed potatoes and orange zest, mixing just until combined.

Continue to mix at a low speed as you add the flour mixture and the milk mixture. (Start and end with the flour.)

Spoon the batter into the cake pan(s). Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 20 minutes, then turn the cake out of the pan and allow to cool completely.

Sharing at this week’s Fiesta Friday #246, co-hosted this week, by Mollie @ The Frugal Hausfrau and Mila @ Milkandbun.