June 28, 2009

Zucchini Herb Phyllo Pie


being the creature of extreme habits that i am i find myself checking the NYtimes "dining & wine" section every single day at lunch and every ungodly early morning on saturday and sunday (i don't sleep much). so there is the mark bitman blog bitten and then there is the semi-new bit in the health section called "recipes for health". ahh yes - the ideal section for your truly. so i was checking it out midweek and found that the healthy recipes for this week focused on greek pies. it struck me, not because the greece and pie aren't really a notorious couple but because these healthy recipes called for the use of phyllo dough.
now i know what puff pastry is and it is anything but healthy. somehow after all that baklava i never pieced it together that those flaky light layers where absolutely not puff pastry. phyllo is in fact "healthy" - quotations because its not like i offers nutrients or fiber or anything like that - it is made with very little oil and mostly just flour and water. because its rolled so thin you use multiple sheets and thus all the light flaky layers. yippee! my new favorite food item. thanks NYtimes health section.

ZUCCHINI HERB PHYLLO PIE

12 sheets phyllo dough
2 1/2 lbs zucchini , washed and grated
salt
2 tbs olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1c chopped dill
1/2c chopped mint and parsley mixture
1c crumbled feta
3 eggs, beaten
fresh ground pepper

*place the grated zucchini in a large colander, salt generously and let drain for 1 hour. push down it ever now and then to help along the draining
*place the zucchini in a paper towel and squeeze out as much liquid you can, place in a bowl
*preheat oven to 350F
*place 7 sheets of the phyllo in a 10" cake pan, brushing with oil between each sheet and rotate 180 so the overhang is is even.
*saute the oil and onion over medium heat until translucent
*combine the onions and remaining ingredients in the bowl with the zucchini, stir to combine
*pour mixture into the prepared cake pan
*fold the phyllo sheets on top of filling
*place the remaining 4 sheets of phyllo on top, brushing between each sheet and alternating like before
*tuck the edges into the edges of the pan, cut vent holes
*cook for 1 hours until golden

June 27, 2009

Sunset

have you ever seen a sunset so beautiful and creepy at the same time? this totally reminds me of the scene in ghostbuster when all the trapped ghosts are released and hell breaks loose in NYC. I feel like i've seen some amazing sunsets in my life but this one by far has to be the most memorable. about 30 minutes before i took this picture as fierce storm rolled through the city and was gone within 20 minutes or so. you could watch it coming over the river and winds from it sucked my curtain clean out of the window and slammed a few doors shut. ok - i don't really have doors - plural. but it did slam my bedroom door shut. whatever ,i'm moderately poor in NYC.

June 21, 2009

Apple Pie


i can't tell you how many times i have made this pie. every single time it has been perfect. to top that all off it was also the pie that i made for the thanksgiving dinner i made for josh and i the day he proposed. ahhh. i know! so i guess there could be some bias there. non-the-less i have never gotten bad or mixed (which to me is bad) review on this pie.
in the summers when
we go up to our friend's farm and there are pink ladys available i feel almost obliged to cook this up. it just makes sense and what could be more fun that watching southern raised city boys play horse shoe, drink cheap beer and eat apple pie?! i love it!

APPLE PIE

Crust: click here

FIlling:

3lbs peeled apples, cut into 1/2" cubes
1/4c sugar
1/4c packed brown sugar
1tbs cornstarch
1 tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
2 tbs unsalted butter, cubed
1 egg, beaten


*preheat oven to 450F
*roll out one half of chilled dough, line bottom of our pie pan with it - place back in frig until ready to fill
*in a large bowl combine all ingredients except butter & egg
*roll out the other half of chilled dough
*pour filling into prepared bottom crust, distribute butter on top of the filling
*top with the other half of dough, pinching ends to make a decorative edge
*brush with beaten egg
*place in oven and cook for 10 minutes, lower heat to 350F and cook for another 40-50 minutes
*let cool completely (at least a hour) before cutting.

Arugula PIzza


i love greens on pizza, so i ordered my share on freshdirect (online grocer in NYC) and planned out pizza pie night. i was to have a nice tomato basil basil with a sprinkle of fresh mozzarella then once out the oven slather on the fresh arugula - keeping all nutrients in tact. josh was to have his regular "josh and candice original" consisting of tomato basil base, sweet caramelized onions and crispy bacon (can you see a contrast there?) anyways, when i actually took a close look at the arugula freshdirect sent me i knew i couldn't eat that raw. it was for lack of energy to find a better word - crap. all yellow and looked like there was permanent dirt infused into the leaves. yum right?
unlike some people i don't mind sautéed greens - actually i adore them. so i cleaned out the bacon grease from the pan and cooked the arugula off a bit on low, sprinkled with salt and added a few fresh tomato slices to the mix. lovely! the crust is my (now) usual formula of whole wheat and cornmeal as written out here.
josh gobbled his up as well. you can't go wrong with bacon, cheese and men.

Lemon Berry Muffins






what could be better than lemon and berries?especially blueberries. somehow they just work together, magic i suppose. so i've been on a muffin kick this past month. i think it may have something to do with my grand attempt to sneak more (or really just any) fruit into josh's diet. truthfully i just want a communist rule over his diet. well ok, i would rather just dictate everyone's diet.
with all that mildly creepy talk over with: these are perfect summer breakfast muffins. i made them in mini mode cus we love to just "pop" a muffin on the way out the kitchen. i used a mix of raspberries and blueberries - do what you wish i am sure they will be fine with just about any berry.

LEMON BERRY MUFFINS
(via Smitten Kitchen)

1c + 2tbs sugar
zest from 2 lemons
2c AP flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
4oz butter
1 egg
1 c buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla
berries to top

*preheat oven to 375 F, line muffin pan
*mash together the zest and 2tbs sugar to a grainy paste
*sift together flour, baking powder & salt
*in separate bowl cream together the butter and 1 c sugar
*add egg, beat to combine
*add buttermilk, vanilla and lemon sugar, beat to combine
*add four, beating just to combine
*spoon into prepared pan, top with a berry
*cook for 18 minutes for minis - longer for full size, check with a toothpick

June 14, 2009

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

until today i had never ever taste rhubarb in any shape of form. really i had never held one in my hand, much less seen a rhubarb until a couple of days ago when i got it from the grocery. growing up i always knew the pie existed, but never had i seen one as far down as louisiana, or if i did i didn't know it. so ever since moving to NYC a bit over 4 years ago i've been intrigued with all this spring noise over rhubarb. i mean its everywhere at this time of year - and so are strawberries. so i guess it makes perfect sense.
surprisingly when i was chatting with my parents this afternoon (yes simultaneously over one single line, making so i can't fully understand either; but non-the-less enjoyable) my father perked up in that special "i remember those" way when i mentioned i just took a strawberry rhubarb pie out of the oven. huh. so these pies must exist somewhere outside of its native north east. imagine that - food being available to various regions throughout the country.
anyways, like i mentioned: this pie has been in the making since 2005 (sad i know) and totally worth all its cracked up to be (i am aware that is a cheesy phrase, but i am tired). i put the hearts on for josh (ahhhh); he's coming home tomorrow from CT. did i mention i was tired?


STRAWBERRY RHUBARB PIE

CRUST:

2 1/4c flour
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
4 oz butter, cubed
4 oz shortening, cubed
6 tbs ice cold water

*sift together the flour, sugar and salt
*cut in the butter and shortening with your hands until pea size crumble
*pour in water, mix with wooden spoon. add more water if needed but you don't want it to be too wet
*form dough into two balls, cover in plastic and chill in frig for at least 30 -45 minutes
*roll out one of the balls and line the bottom of a 9" pan with the dough, put back in frig
*roll out the other ball and cut into 14 even strips, take chilling pan out of frig
*pour filling into chilled pie pan
*lattice your dough in alternation sequence, brush a beaten egg evenly over the dough
*cook at 400F for 20 minutes
*reduce heat to 350F and cook for 1 hour 15 minutes or until bubble and thick


FILLING:

3 1/2 c rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 1/2" slices
3 1/2c strawberries, quartered
1/2 c golden brown sugar, packed
1/2 c sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4c cornstarch
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla

*combine all the ingredients in a bowl, toss to combine and let sit for 10 minutes

June 13, 2009

Curried Couscous


so i am huge fan of ina garten. several of her recipes have become staples in our little apartment. mind you every now and again i just can't bring myself to make the full fat versions of her creations, but again they are always on the mark. so when i found out there was a barefoot blogger's community out there - i signed up immediately. so bi-weekly i will be turning my kitchen into semi-ode to my cook crush mrs. garten.
first up is the curried couscous. typically i don't like curry but knowing there are some many beneficial spices in curry i've been tell myself to just try it until i like it. great logic right - i think that may be the definition of insanity. anyways the original recipe called for chopped red onions and scallions. i don't do very well with raw onions, not to mention i didn't have any in the frig so i omited them. also i used raisins because my mom had sent me a few tons of them a while back, but you should use currants or cranberries if you have them. and my customizations aren't over (told you i just can't leave something alone); i al
ways, always always use whole wheat couscous. there is no reason to use anything else, no one can convince me otherwise. annnnd i used fat free yogurt... ok you know what if you want the real ina garten recipe check it out here. if you want to be insane like me see my adaptation below. as usual though th
e finished product was delish and i will make it again.
so with all that said below is my altered version of ina's curried couscous. i quickly baked a fillet of salmon and it was a perfect meal!



CURRIED COUSCOUS

1 1/2c whole wheat couscous
1 1/2c boiling water
1 tbs butter
1/4c fat free plain yogurt
1/4c olive oil
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 c grated carrot
1/2c raisins
1/2c parsley, finely chopped
1/4c chopped raw almonds

*melt butter in boiling water
*pour in couscous, stir to combine and cover tightly, let sit for 5 minutes then fluff with a fork
*in a separate bowl whisk together the yogurt, oil, vinegar, turmeric, curry, salt and pepper
*stir yogurt mixture into the couscous
*stir in carrots, parsley, raisins and almonds

Cashew Pumpkin Pudding (Gluten/ Sugar Free)


lately i've been dipping back into my vegan/raw living foods days. surely to my friend's regret. but i promise you all that i still eat everything else - seriously - EVERYTHING. so i stumbled onto the greatest food blog ever (or least for this week): elanaspantry. i found this recipe for a pumpkin pudding and for multiple reasons, one of which being that i have about 6 cans of pumpkin in "pantry"/coat closet/folding chair storage/everything that will unreasonably fit. they were left over from when i made a trip home about a year ago and there was a sale on pumpkin so my mom and i stocked up. thus i now have a few servings of delish pumpkin and cashew pudding sitting in my frig. yum! oh and by the way just a warning: don't be too shocked by the price of agar - its like $200 a pound - but you will only need a fraction of that unless you just decide to go crazy. that's your call.

CASHEW PUMPKIN PUDDING
(via elanaspantry)

1/2c raw cashews
1 tbs agar flakes
pinch sea salt
1 1/4c boiling water
1 1/2c roasted pumpkin, pureed
1/4c agave
1 tbs vanilla
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
pinch clove
1/4 tsp lemon zest

*process cashews, agar and salt on high to a powder
*add in boiling water, mix on high
*add pumpkin, agave, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and zest. blend to smooth
*pour into your favorite containers and chill of about 30 minutes to an hour