Easy as Pie!

I had 5 apples that I had to use before they went south so along with a lemon, some sugar, flour and shortening--pie is born. Anytime you have raw fruit to work with, you'll need to add a couple of tablespoons of flour to the sugar you combine with your fruit (pictured above).

The apples are sliced by quartering and cutting out the core pieces. I always like my fruit to taste "bright," so adding lemon juice is a must. Apples are tossed with the lemon and sugar/flour mixture and set aside. 

shortening and sugar

shortening, sugar and oil

Putting pie crust together is more an art than science; though I'm certain Alton Brown and his buds would disagree! I feel my way through, as the pics show here.
In a medium sized bowl, for a largish pie, spoon a generous cup of solid vegetable shortening and add to half of the shortening lump about 1/4 cup sugar. Beat together the sugary shortening and about 1/4 cup liquid vegetable oil. Leaving solid shortening will create that flaky pie crust we all love.

 Put twice as much flour as shortening into the bowl. Add a pinch of salt and then carefully use your hands to mix. Gently work the shortening into the flour, leaving small pebbles of solid shortening. These pebbles will flatten out when rolled and make the crust layered with flakes as the hot air turns it to liquid. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

 After your dough looks like cornmeal with pebbles, STOP! Don't overwork it! Put a fork to it and toss as little by little very cold water is drizzled into the dough until it pulls together into larger, stickier lumps. Again, STOP! Don't over mix! Some of the flour mixture will look a bit dry, especially on the bottom of the bowl--that's okay.

add cold water and toss

Turn out onto a plastic wrap covered surface, bring the plastic up around the dough and press into a circle. Open it up and cover with more plastic wrap. Roll from the center outward until it is a consistent thickness--thicker is more "rustic." I like thicker, free-form pies.

After you press your dough into a circle, it helps to chill the dough for an hour or so in the frig. While this is not absolutely necessary, it makes the fats solidify and then really pop in the hot oven.

 After you roll out your dough, remove the plastic from the top. Slide your right hand under the bottom plastic wrap and with your left hand, cover the dough with your pie plate or cookie sheet. Flip it quickly so that your right hand is now on top and the crust is in the pie plate. Peel away the remaining plastic wrap and fill with fruit. Top with small chunks of butter and sprinkled sugar. Pictured below: Free form, "rustic" apple pie.

 It usually takes about 40-50 minutes for a large pie to bake if you're using raw, dense fruit like apples. To check for doneness, stick a sharp knife into the apples--if they're soft but still a bit firm, you're golden! If you want a shiny crust, brush it with a little half and half before baking and sprinkle lightly with sugar. Add vanilla ice cream if you're feeling extravagant. Enjoy!

Holy Crepes!

I peer into the frig. Hmmmm, what to make, what to make. I need to grocery shop. I see a few eggs, bits of cheeses, a bunch of asparagus, leftover mashed potatoes...that's it! Crepes!

Jan's Basic Crepe Batter 
2 C. milk
3 eggs
1 1/2 C. flour
pinch salt, 2 TBS. oil

I'm not sure why everyone quakes at the thought of making crepes. You need a non-stick saute pan, wire whisk, spatula and simple techniques (and of course, filling). Fillings can be just about anything, sweet or savory. Experiment! I'm using leftovers; as grandma used to  say--waste not, want not!

Whisk together milk, oil and eggs. All at once, add flour/salt and whisk the dickens out of it.  Use a ladle and pour a dollop of batter into a small, non-stick saute pan preheated to med-high. As soon as the batter hits the pan, swirl to coat evenly on the pan's hot surface by tipping up and around (pic below).

No need to flip, just turn the pan upside down over the plate and they'll flop right out. You'll need to help just a bit by loosening the edges with a rubber spatula just as they look cooked through. The batter shouldn't have any gooey-ness on the surface of the crepe if it's done. Cover the stack with a damp paper towel and set aside while you assemble the filling.
 Don't worry, they won't stick together.

I've peeled the asparagus stems and foraged fresh, spring dandelion greens. Both get lightly steamed, drained and chopped.

I've cut up a medium sized onion, caramelized in butter and deglazed with my current favorite white wine (Moscato--fabulous!!)

Now, for the leftovers. I grated all the cheese bits from the cheese drawer with some shredded mozzarella and combined the above ingredients with the mashed potatoes. I seasoned with garlic powder and nutmeg. One at a time, fill the crepes and roll up. Place them seam side down into the baking pan.

I made a little white sauce to nestle and top the crepes into the non-stick sprayed baking dish. Bake crepes, covered with foil, at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until just heated through.White Sauce: melt 2 tablespoons butter over med-high heat, add 2 tablespoons flour and whisk for about 3 or 4 minutes. Add about 4 cups milk gradually as you whisk. When it reaches the lump-free gravy consistency you desire, stop adding milk. Add salt to taste.

Beside seared leftover meatloaf, crepes are most nom nom nom-ful!

Lettuce Soup

Lettuce soup- lemme tell ya. Maybe you have your own garden, you planted waaaaaaay too many beautiful, leafy lettuces, and now you have eaten as much salad as you possibly can...  maybe you belong to a veggie co-op, and every week you get at least two heads of lettuce... maybe you just like surprising the fam at dinner time with something totally outside the box. No matter the reason, you have got to try this one out.

How to flesh out a dinner with the star being a big, vibrant, steaming bowl of emerald lettuce soup? How about a deconstructed BLT night? Lettuce soup with crumbled bacon, tomato and mozzarella salad, and garlic toast! Give it a try, and trust me, it'll be a hit.

Courtney's Lettuce Soup

Makes enough to easily feed 8

1 large sweet yellow onion, chopped

3 big cloves garlic, smashed and peeled

1-2 TBS good olive oil

1 rib celery, leaves included

4-5 small-ish peeled russet potatoes

1 liter good chicken stock

2 heads green lettuce, any variety (the darker the green, the higher the nutrition, FYI)

salt to taste

1/2 & 1/2, heavy cream, kefir, yogurt, or aioli for garnish

crisped bacon, for garnish

In a large stock pot on medium-high heat, saute onions, garlic, and celery in olive oil with a pinch of salt. When
onions start to get soft, add peeled, chunked potatoes. Cover with chicken stock and bring up to a boil.

While potatoes are softening, chop lettuce, wash thoroughly, and dry as much as possible. Try to avoid adding any extra moisture to your soup... I used a salad spinner to get rid of extra water clinging to leaves.

When potato chunks can easily be smashed with the back of a spoon, add lettuce.

It may seem like you have way too much lettuce, and you may
even have to add it in batches to keep it from overflowing the
pot... but trust me, it'll cook waaaaaay down.

Once all lettuce is wilted but still bright green (it will happen very quickly, don't overcook or you'll end up with
a dull, avocado-green soup!), remove from heat.

Puree lettuce and potato mixture in batches in blender. Make sure
you don't have a tight-fitting lid, or you've removed the center of the
lid to allow for steam to escape. Use a dishtowel to cover blender.

Once pureed, it's basically ready, but you can return it to the pot and keep it warm on your lowest heat setting (don't forget overcooking it will make it lose it's vibrant green color). Serve with a drizzle of cream and a sprinkling of bacon.

At my house, lettuce soup is the best way for me to get my kiddos to eat those leafy greens... I've never tried this recipe with more intense greens like spinach and chard, but those are so easily disguised in quiches and omelettes  I'm content to let lettuce shine in this one. 

Enjoy!