Cooking thread, anyone?

[ispinwool]

Peach pie in Old Iron. I finally got the hang of how to season cast iron cookware so I've been using it more often

 

[PaulOinMA]

Peach pie looks good. Here's a really good peach and blackberry pie recipe that was in Parade in the Sunday newspaper, oddly enough.

Peach Blackberry Pie
​

Sheila Lukins, Dash (Parade Magazine)

When you brush the bottom pie crust with an egg wash, you keep the fruit from making the pie soggy as it bakes. By sprinkling the top crust with sugar, it makes for a great sugary crust.

Ingredients

Pie Crust for a 9-inch double-crust pie
5 cups peeled and sliced ripe peaches
¼ cup fresh blackberries
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
Pinch of salt
2 Tbsp ground crystallized ginger (a food processor or spice grinder may be used to grind the ginger)
5 Tbsp all-purpose flour
¼ cup packed light-brown sugar
1 egg white
2 tsp water
2 Tbsp granulated sugar

Directions

Prepare the pie dough, rolling out the bottom crust to fit a 9-inch pie plate. Roll out the top crust and place it on a plate. Wrap both crusts and chill until ready to use.

Combine the peaches, blackberries, lemon juice, and salt; set aside. Combine the ginger, flour, and brown sugar; toss with the fruits. Let rest for 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 350 °F.

Combine the egg white and water in a small bowl. Remove the pie crusts from the refrigerator. Brush some of the egg-white mixture over the bottom and sides of the bottom pie crust to prevent sogginess. Add the fruit filling, mounding the peaches in the center.

Cover the filling with the top crust. Trim the overhang to 1 inch. With water, moisten the edges of the crusts where they meet, then press together lightly and turn under. Crimp the edges decoratively. Cut 6 decorative steam slits in the top crust. Brush the top crust lightly all over with the remaining egg-white mixture. Sprinkle lightly with the granulated sugar.

Place the pie on the center rack of the oven and bake until it is golden and the juices are bubbling, about 60 to 70 minutes. Let the pie cool on a rack before serving just slightly warm or at room temperature.

Serves 6 to 8. Per serving (based on 8): 510 calories, 55g carbohydrates, 6g protein, 30g fat, 45mg cholesterol.

 

[begreen]

Peach pie looks good. Here's a really good peach and blackberry pie recipe that was in Parade in the Sunday newspaper, oddly enough.

Peach Blackberry Pie
​

Sheila Lukins, Dash (Parade Magazine)

When you brush the bottom pie crust with an egg wash, you keep the fruit from making the pie soggy as it bakes. By sprinkling the top crust with sugar, it makes for a great sugary crust.

Ingredients

Pie Crust for a 9-inch double-crust pie
5 cups peeled and sliced ripe peaches
¼ cup fresh blackberries
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
Pinch of salt
2 Tbsp ground crystallized ginger (a food processor or spice grinder may be used to grind the ginger)
5 Tbsp all-purpose flour
¼ cup packed light-brown sugar
1 egg white
2 tsp water
2 Tbsp granulated sugar

Directions

Prepare the pie dough, rolling out the bottom crust to fit a 9-inch pie plate. Roll out the top crust and place it on a plate. Wrap both crusts and chill until ready to use.

Combine the peaches, blackberries, lemon juice, and salt; set aside. Combine the ginger, flour, and brown sugar; toss with the fruits. Let rest for 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 350 °F.

Combine the egg white and water in a small bowl. Remove the pie crusts from the refrigerator. Brush some of the egg-white mixture over the bottom and sides of the bottom pie crust to prevent sogginess. Add the fruit filling, mounding the peaches in the center.

Cover the filling with the top crust. Trim the overhang to 1 inch. With water, moisten the edges of the crusts where they meet, then press together lightly and turn under. Crimp the edges decoratively. Cut 6 decorative steam slits in the top crust. Brush the top crust lightly all over with the remaining egg-white mixture. Sprinkle lightly with the granulated sugar.

Place the pie on the center rack of the oven and bake until it is golden and the juices are bubbling, about 60 to 70 minutes. Let the pie cool on a rack before serving just slightly warm or at room temperature.

Serves 6 to 8. Per serving (based on 8): 510 calories, 55g carbohydrates, 6g protein, 30g fat, 45mg cholesterol.

Are you using frozen peaches for this?

 

[PaulOinMA]

Just checked my photograph log. The pictures were late July 2011, so they were fresh peaches. Wow. It was 10 years ago.

I also drained the fruit in a strainer to remove some of the liquid after it sat for one hour. Felt that there was too much weeping for the pie.

The lattice was made on waxed paper then transferred to the pie top.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

I always say that it is my aspiration to become one quarter of the woman that my mother is. I'm not there yet, but yesterday I reminded myself of her. She always used to (and still does) put tins of bread to rise on the mantel above her woodstove. Yesterday was a warm day in Texas, and so we didn't stoke our fire in the morning after the overnight load. We still had lots of coals, though, and they were putting off gentle heat till afternoon. I mixed up a big batch of dough in my mom's bread bucket and made it into dinner rolls. I put the pie plates of rolls on our mantel to rise. I had 36 rolls total, enough for everybody to have two with yesterday's lunch of chicken salad and for two bags with one dozen each for the freezer.

 

[begreen]

My wife loves the trivet top on the T6 for raising dough. She swings them out for gentle warming.

 

[PaulOinMA]

Don't think I've posted this: cast iron skillet chocolate chip cookie with broiled mini marshmallows and chocolate dipping sauce. Yum.

Make the cookie. Cut into wedges. Place mini-marshmallows on top and briefly under toaster oven broiler. Drizzle with chocolate dipping sauce. Yum.

Cast Iron Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie​

http://sugarcrafter.net/2011/06/10/cast-iron-skillet-chocolate-chip-cookie/

Posted on June 10, 2011 @ 12:13 am

Having finally learned how to use and care for my cast iron skillet, my next step was to use it to bake something sweet, of course! For quite a while, I’ve been dreaming about making a giant chocolate chip cookie in a cast iron skillet…and not too long ago, I finally made those dreams come true. This huge cookie is soft and chewy in the middle and crispy on the edges – perfection in my book, and I’m not even a crispy cookie kinda gal. Just like drop cookies, this dough comes together in a matter of minutes, except it’s even easier since you simply press all of the dough into the skillet and bake. This is a great dessert to serve to guests with ice cream, whipped cream, or chocolate or caramel sauce. If you have a cast iron skillet, give this a try…and if you don’t, put one on your wish list – you’ll be glad you did!

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 10″ cast iron skillet lightly with vegetable oil. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

In another medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugars. Beat about 2 minutes.

Add in the egg and vanilla. Beat 2 minutes longer.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until well-combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Press the dough into the skillet as evenly as you can.

Bake about 40 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned.

Transfer the skillet to a wire rack to cool. When ready to serve, cut into wedges. Add a scoop of your favorite ice cream on top while it’s still warm!

Nan’s comments: Use less chocolate chips and adjust the ratio of sugar to brown sugar to 1:1, a half cup of each. Place a 9-inch parchment round in the bottom of the skillet. Bakes in less than 40 minutes.

Chocolate Dipping Sauce​

Crafts, Kevin. Ebelskivers. Filled pancakes and other mouthwatering miniatures. San Francisco, CA: Weldon Owen Publishing, 2009.

¾ cup water
½ cup (4 oz / 125 g) sugar
2/3 cup (2 oz / 60 g) unsweetened Cocoa powder, preferably Dutch processed
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In a saucepan, combine ¾ cup (6 fl oz / 180 mL) water and the sugar. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook, stirring often, until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is clear, 3 to 5 minutes. Whisk in the cocoa powder and salt, reduce the heat to medium, and simmer until the mixture is smooth and slightly thickened, about 3 minutes longer. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. The sauce will thicken a little more as it cools. (The sauce can be made up to 3 days in advance and stored, tightly covered, in the refrigerator.)

Makes about ¾ cup (6 fl oz / 180 mL).

Paul’s Note: Lasts a lot longer than 3 days in refrigerator.

 

[PaulOinMA]

Kluski last night. Hadn't made it in a long time.

Nan had kluski with butter and salt. I had it with butter and shredded Romano from an old Mouli grater.

Pictures of leftovers. I'll have with leftover gravy from the pot roast above.

HOMEMADE KLUSKI NOODLES

From Favorite Recipes
Felician Sisters
Our Lady of Angels Convent
Enfield, Connecticut

1 beaten egg
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons milk or cream
1 cup flour

Mix egg, salt and cream; add flour slowly to make a stiff dough. Knead until smooth. Sprinkle flour on board, roll dough thin. Let stand 20 minutes. Cut into strips with a sharp knife, then slice small pieces like kluski. Cook in boiling salted water and drain. Serve with chicken broth or just buttered.

Paul’s notes: My grandmother flatten the dough and removed small pieces of dough with a tablespoon and flicked the dough into the boiling water her thumb.

I triple the recipe, roll out, and slice into strips and pieces with a wavy pastry cutter. Can also use a pizza wheel.

 

[begreen]

Kluski last night. Hadn't made it in a long time.

Nan had kluski with butter and salt. I had it with butter and shredded Romano from an old Mouli grater.

Pictures of leftovers. I'll have with leftover gravy from the pot roast above.

Any special type of flour or just GP?

 

[PaulOinMA]

Just AP flour. I buy King Arthur. Employee owned company in VT.

Making pizzas today. I add some cake flour, but don't think we have any. Do have whole wheat in the freezer, so I will add a little of that.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Just made 3.75 gallons of chicken florentine soup

 

[DuaeGuttae]

Just made 3.75 gallons of chicken florentine soup
View attachment 273145View attachment 273146

Wow! I make some big quantities sometimes to freeze, but I think my largest pot tops out at 10 quarts. It sure looks delicious. Enjoy!

I made some yummy vichyssoise on Friday with turkey broth from bones from Thanksgiving. Unfortunately I forgot to refreeze them after they had cooled, and they sat out long enough that I asked my husband to take them out for the vultures. I'm roasting a chicken tonight just to make sure that I have a carcass on hand in the freezer. I have lots of beef bones, but I always like to keep chicken carcasses for broth, too. I think a good broth adds so much to a soup both in terms of flavor and nutrition.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Wow! I make some big quantities sometimes to freeze, but I think my largest pot tops out at 10 quarts. It sure looks delicious. Enjoy!

I made some yummy vichyssoise on Friday with turkey broth from bones from Thanksgiving. Unfortunately I forgot to refreeze them after they had cooled, and they sat out long enough that I asked my husband to take them out for the vultures. I'm roasting a chicken tonight just to make sure that I have a carcass on hand in the freezer. I have lots of beef bones, but I always like to keep chicken carcasses for broth, too. I think a good broth adds so much to a soup both in terms of flavor and nutrition.

I agree.. I use the carcass as well as parts with skin .. makes the best broth.. a good base is the key to a flavorful soup.. normally I make a 5 gallon batch.. my wife asked me to keep it down a little..freezer space is short.. I made chicken noodle soup 2 weeks ago.. like 4.5 gallons got frozen..

 

[PaulOinMA]

Two pizzas Saturday night. Dough recipe is adapted from Joy of Cooking, substituting a little whole wheat flour for a portion of the AP. Sauce is Leone's Marinara Sauce from: Leone, Gene. Leone’s Italian Cookbook. New York: Harper & Row, 1967.

Toppings are under the cheese. Mine on the left of mushroom and garlic. Nan's is pepper and onion.

 

[PaulOinMA]

Making aebleskiver Sunday for the Super Bowl. Danish pancake balls. An Aebleskiver Sunday.

Making two savory and one sweet.

Savory will be (1) chicken bites with creamy dressing. Will have chicken and shallot and served with buttermilk dressing. And (2) spicy corn aebleskiver with scallion, jalapeno, Monterey jack cheese, and corn.

Dessert will be cherry-almond aebleskiver, but substituting plum preserves for cherry preserves since we have it in the refrigerator.

Recipes from a little cookbook: Crafts, Kevin. Ebelskivers. Filled pancakes and other mouthwatering miniatures. San Francisco, CA: Weldon Owen Publishing, 2009.

 

[PaulOinMA]

Here's making some in 2015, if anyone's curious.

 

[PaulOinMA]

Most of my pans are Griswold 962. Can buy others here: (broken link removed) .

Lodge has one, too: Aebelskiver Pan | Lodge Cast Iron .

 

[DuaeGuttae]

I agree.. I use the carcass as well as parts with skin .. makes the best broth.. a good base is the key to a flavorful soup.. normally I make a 5 gallon batch.. my wife asked me to keep it down a little..freezer space is short.. I made chicken noodle soup 2 weeks ago.. like 4.5 gallons got frozen..

I had to make beef broth earlier this week when I made a slow-cooker Beef Burgundy. (Our "burgundy" is actually a mixture of pomegranate juice, rice vinegar, and water, because of some food sensitivities to grapes in our family. It works really well, surprisingly enough.) I usually put carrots, celery and onion scraps in with my beef bones, but I think one of the best ingredients for the broth is a couple of bay leaves. We have a small tree we planted outside our back deck, and I love being able to harvest the older leaves for cooking.



This was our dinner Tuesday night, with leftovers on Wednesday. Two quarts went into the freezer for a later date.

This week we were able to get some collard greens grown locally. I grew up eating them, but I think that tonight's dinner of slow-cooked collards and ham and corn bread muffins was the first time my husband or children had had them. (Of course, we also had pepper vinegar on the table, too). I'm glad to say that they were a success, and I introduced my children and husband to the term "potlikker."

 

[PaulOinMA]

Anyone have pancakes for dinner Tuesday? Shrove Tuesday. Nan always had a pancake supper at her church in NJ when she was a kid. Her former church here in MA did it, too. The men's group at her former church would do the pancake supper, and I would cook at it.

Griswold 9/609 round griddle.

 

[PaulOinMA]

Nan saw a quiche on the web site of a bakery she likes this week. Said she wanted a quiche. Hadn't made one in years. Way, way too long.

Forgot the couple of tablespoons of flour in the quiche filling since I was making it from memory. Yeah, well, you know how that goes.

Flaky Pastry

From Jim Fobel’s Old Fashioned Baking.

​

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup shortening or ¼ cup shortening and ¼ cup chilled, unsalted butter, sliced
3 to 4 tablespoons ice water

In a large bowl stir together flour and salt. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of the ice water (toss ice cubes with water to make sure it’s good and icy) and stir In quickly with a fork just to moisten. Sprinkle another tablespoon of ice water over the top and quickly stir in. Add just enough of the remaining water to make a dough that holds together. On a sheet of wax paper flatten into a 6-inch disc, cover, and chill for about 1 hour or as long as a day or two.

Notes: Better with butter and shortening. Cut in the butter and shortening with pastry blender until the dough just about holds together by itself. Roll out between wax paper. Makes a single pie crust. Best with lard and butter.

Ham and Cheese Quiche

​

Adapted from the many recipes found at http://www.recipezaar.com.

Ingredients

9-inch pie crust
3 eggs
¾ cup milk
2 tbsp. flour
1 cup cooked ham, diced (or other breakfast meats)
1 cup green pepper and onion, diced
1 rounded cup cheese, shredded
Salt, scant
pepper
oregano
garlic powder

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add eggs, milk, flour, salt, pepper, oregano, and garlic powder to a bowl and whisk to blend. Add meat, pepper and onion, and cheese. Pour ingredients in the crust and spread evenly. Place pie ring so the edge of the pre-baked crust. Bake for about 45 minutes. Enjoy!

 

[DuaeGuttae]

@PaulOinMA , your quiche is giving me ideas for tomorrow. A cold spell will be moving in (a normal Texas cold spell, not the Valentine’s Day deep freeze), so it will be a good day to use the oven. I’ve got goat cheese and bacon. I’ll have to see if there’s asparagus left.

We had a cilantro plant in our garden that survived remarkably well during the recent freeze here in Texas. I decided today that I needed to use some leaves, so that inspired me to cook Indian food. Here’s what I managed with help from my husband on the main dish.



6 pieces of naan, one for each family member. A dry chicken curry ( https://twosleevers.com/chicken-karahi/ ) topped with (not finely chopped enough) cilantro leaves. My kids aren’t huge cilantro fans, so this let them avoid them more easily. An okra masala dish that is a favorite in our family. I was able to cook it quickly in the same skillet from which I had just removed the curry. That was nice. It turned out to be quite a hit, and I have leftovers of everything except naan. We’ll have the next round with rice.

 

[PaulOinMA]

I have the genetic trait that has cilantro taste very soapy. Not my favorite thing.

Why Cilantro Tastes Like Soap, for Some - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

I was shopping one year for ingredients to made Baked Green Rice (Arroz Verde) for my wife's birthday. I make Mexican food for her birthday since it is May 5. Ingredient list called for coriander. Wasn't thinking and put a bunch in my shopping cart. Then it his me: isn't coriander cilantro? Tasted a leaf. Back it went.

I froze six pieces of the quiche so I had a ready-made breakfast. Nan has a cinnamon roll on Friday mornings, so I had a piece of quiche last Friday.

Nan was making fun of me later because I was going to make pasta with some of the beef gravy from the pot roast I still have in the freezer for dinner. I'm Catholic, and it was a Friday in Lent. I said that the guidelines stated that I should abstain from the flesh of animals (i.e., meat) on Fridays. Gravy doesn't qualify.

I thought for a second, and it hit me: "the ham in the quiche would qualify, though."

Just so easy to grab a piece of the quiche for breakfast not even thinking it has meat in it.

My Methodist wife thinks the rules are pretty ridiculous that gravy is exempt.

Laws of Days of Abstinence, Penance and Fast - Mater Dei Catholic Parish (materdeiparish.com)

 

[DuaeGuttae]

Thanks for that article, @PaulOinMA. I found it very interesting, especially the discussion from the neuroscientist about his own brain changing his perceptions of cilantro’s flavor. We in our family all seem to notice the soapiness (I have not confirmed this with the four year old), but we have different reactions. My husband and I both love Indian food, and I think grew to appreciate cilantro through different exposures to that, though too much is still off-putting. I don’t really enjoy harvesting it because of the smell on my hands. Basil, on the other hand, I love to inhale its fragrance. I can’t ever imagine trying a cilantro pesto.

My four year old loves to eat cilantro plain. I add it to dishes, but even I would never do that. He’ll ask for a leaf or two off the plant when we’re in the garden together. He also loves eating leaves of parsley, basil, lettuce, and kale.

The next one up hates it with a passion. She even asked us to rearrange the table last night so that the dish containing cilantro was not in front of her. (Nevertheless, it’s an ingredient in one of her favorite salsas.). I think the garnish last night was too much and too large, but it did make it easy for us not to serve it to her. She did like the chicken dish as a whole.

The oldest two don’t love it but don’t hate it with a passion. One of them preferred to avoid it in the chicken curry last night; the other actually admitted that he thought it suited the dish and liked it in that context.

I don’t plan to grow or cook with huge amounts, but I do like introducing my kids to flavors in different combinations. My oldest also wanted a salsa garden, and she admits that a little cilantro just might be a good thing for that.

 

[Jan Pijpelink]

Yesterday was the Lady's birthday. Her favorite meal.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

@Jan Pijpelink, I think no one wanted to follow your photo. I can’t compete, but I’ll just plunge ahead anyway.

My kids will take any excuse to have a celebration, and they’ve been looking forward to Pi Day for weeks now. My husband this afternoon made the crust and filling for a lime pie. I put it together and made the meringue. We had half of it for dessert this evening after a simple dinner of chicken thighs and green beans. The leftover pie is designated for breakfast on Pi + One Hundredth Day.