Flaky Pie Crust

In honor of Mother's Day, here is the recipe my mom probably uses the least (if at all). What does that really have to do with Mother's Day? Shouldn't this be a great memory of mom?

Well, actually...it is. When I think of my mom and food, I think of two things most distinctly.

First, I think of all the cakes she made during my childhood. She was the neighborhood baker, making everyone special birthday cakes - Mickey Mouse, Barbie, Disney, you name it.

Second, I think of how my mom hates to make pie crust. She is convinced she is unable to do so and therefore relies on store-bought, refrigerated packs of pie crust. I'm sorry, but that stuff just really isn't good. It in no way comes close to the savory, mouthwatering taste and smell of fresh homemade pie crust. But my mom, Baker of Cakes, Cooker of Pot Roasts, Preparer of Christmas Dinner, will not make her own. 

It's become a running joke between the two of us. She knows I (sort of) don't approve of refrigerated crusts. I know she (sort of) doesn't care that I don't approve. We both have a chuckle and that's life with mom.

To me, it's representative of growing up and becoming an adult. Sure there are things my mom and I don't agree about, but we acknowledge our differences and keep going. 

So here you have it. This is not my pie crust recipe. It isn't even my mom's recipe, but it's the one I'm loyal to. It has always held up for me in any pie-baking circumstance, and I hope you enjoy it, too.

Recipe by Yvonne Urey
Makes 2 crusts

3 C Flour
1 tsp. Salt
1 Egg
1 1/3 C Crisco (I like butter-flavored)
1 tsp. Vinegar
5-7 T. Ice Water (I use closer to 4-5 T.)

Mix all ingredients, except ice water, in a medium sized bowl. After ingredients are well combined, add in ice water one tablespoon at a time. Separate dough into 2 balls. Roll out on pastry mat or wax paper.

Note: I always lightly dust the surface with flour to prevent the crust from sticking and then tearing when transferred to the pie pan. I find it easiest to leave the crust on the mat/wax paper and flip into the pie pan as opposed to peeling the crust off and then transferring it to the pan.

Funny enough, all these photos were taken at my parents' house in a baking day with my mom, and this recipe was one she published in a cookbook for the preschool she used to teach at.

Brioche Sliders

This should really be subtitled: "Jenna Still Isn't Very Good with Yeast" because few things are more accurate than that statement.

While I've had plenty of experience baking loaves of pumpkin bread, zucchini bread and the likes, working with yeast isn't one of my stronger skills. I think mainly because it takes so much time and time can be hard to come by. Don't get me wrong, I like to bake with yeast. I like smelling what baking with yeast smells like. I'm just not that good at it.

Now that I have some extra time on my hands, I decided this is the perfect time to work on those recipes that take a little more time.

Some friends brought back a pack of pork belly from the (not so) local H-Mart. If you're keeping track at home, I'm funny about pork products. I happen to like it in Asian cuisine and as ground sausage or sausage patties. I don't particularly care for pork chops, roast pork, smoked bacon, or link sausage. I don't understand either. It's a mix of texture and taste reasons why I like some and not others.

At first I thought about making bao but then I realized I had everything I needed to make brioche. So sliders edged out bao (maybe another day) and I found myself making my first batch of brioche dough.

Ingredients: flour, sugar, yeast, salt, milk, butter, eggs

This did not go so well. I'm not sure what the problem was. My money is on my lack of skills with yeast and the recipe being wrong. Regardless, the dough was runny, which is not a very good look for bread.

So batch one went down the garbage disposal.

Attempt 2: Fingers Crossed

Not to be beaten by food, I immediately decided to give it another shot. The second batch looked a little better but the consistency of the dough was still a bit concerning. The dry yeast packets come in a three-pack so I figured, if this batch fails there's always one more pack left.

I let the dough rise for one hour and it did, in fact, double in size. Now, the recipe I was following was for the food processor. I (#1) did not think rising dough in a food processor sounded like a good idea. I (#2) do not own a food processor. So my dough was made in my KitchenAid Artisan Series 5-Quart Mixer. Instead of letting the dough rise in the mixer (or food processor), which made zero sense to me, I transferred it to a bowl and let it rise on the stovetop with the oven preheated.

When I punched it down, the whole thing deflated. I thought this seemed like bad news bears so I researched some additional recipes. After reading a handful of recipes, it seemed like this particular one I was using was pretty low on flour. While many called for 3 or more cups of flour, this one only called for 2.

Figuring I had nothing to lose, I added some more flour to the dough to firm it up a bit. I rolled it into slider-sized balls and let it rise again for another hour. I was lucky that dough double in size, too.

Slider-sized Dough

Sandwich-sized Dough

The sliders ended up baking for about 11 minutes and the sandwich-sized ones baked for close to 14. I was really nervous about these, especially since I had so many issues with the dough. Would the stay flat? Would we use the for hockey pucks? Who knew?

Luckily, they turned out  just fine, perhaps slightly drier than I'd hoped, but fine nonetheless.

Next time I plan to try a different recipe. This one just didn't work out as well for me as I'd hoped. Maybe there was just something I was missing. If you have any tips or a recipe you'd like to share, I'm interested in both!

To see what I did with the slider buns, check it out here.

Puff Pastry Turnovers

Today I made these quick and easy apple turnovers. You could make them with any fruit filling you want, but I happened to have apples on hand. I think lemon blueberry, sweet cherry or even peach could be good, too.

I sliced and peeled one large apple, and cooked it on medium heat in a saucepan with 3-4 T of cornstarch, 2 T water, 1/3 cup white sugar, 1/3 cup brown sugar, cinnamon, clove and nutmeg. You could easily change the spices to match the fruit you use. The sugar mixture thickens as it cooks and turns more syrupy the longer it heats. 

I quartered one sheet of puff pastry, filled each half with a few slices, and then used a little water to moisten the edges and fold and seal the pastries. To give it a little extra, I pressed around the edges with a fork and brushed the top with milk (although I think I'd use egg white next time). 

They baked for about 15 minutes at 400 F. Once cooled, I dusted with powdered sugar! Powdered sugar makes everything better. 

These were quick, easy and hit the spot for a sweet craving. They met the approval of the bf, although if they didn't, I'd probably just have eventually ended up eating them all myself. 

Pie Crust: Don't Leave It Up to Pillsbury

In light of recent marijuana news, I feel like I should make some kind of baking joke here. I won't because, to be honest, it probably wouldn't be that funny.

But here is a recipe I've been meaning to post for quite some time, and I think it's one you should all try. I can't take credit for this recipe; I found it in a cookbook my mom put together for the preschool where she used to teach. However, I've been using this recipe for about 10 years now, and it's only really failed me once (because I forgot part of the ingredients). So that doesn't really count.

Moving on. One thing I strongly believe in is making your own pie crust. The stuff you buy in the refrigerator section tastes like cardboard (or how I imagine it would taste if I ever ate it). I'm sorry, Dough Boy, your crescent rolls are tasty but your pie crust is just awful.

This recipe will make two crusts. So you can use it for the bottom and top of the pie or make two crumb pies, etc.

3 C flour
1 tsp salt
1 egg
1 1/3 C Crisco
1 tsp white vinegar
5-7 T ice water




Combine first 5 ingredients. Add 5-7 T of ice water.

You don't want the dough to be too sticky, but don't overwork it.

Half the dough and roll out on pastry mat or wax paper until it suits the size pan you're using. This recipe will fit both shallow and deep dish pie pans. I find it is easiest to roll out on the pastry mat with a little flour and flip onto the pie pan rather than try to lift if off your counter after it's rolled out.



Note: You can use part butter and part Crisco, but I do not recommend using margarine (ever, for anything). I imagine you could use lard, if you have it, but I have yet to try! Lard is usually in the refrigerator section near the bacon and sausage, not by the dairy.

Baked Vegetable Egg Rolls

This post is appropriately timed as my boyfriend and I were out purchasing a Crock-Pot when he spotted a selection of deep fryers.

Boyfriend: "Ooh. What is..."
Me: "No."
Boyfriend: "A deep fryer!"
Me: "NO."

Wanting to escape the terror that is Wal-Mart, I was lucky enough to find the Crock-Pot aisle and we escaped the trip without a deep fryer. However, when we arrived at the party later that day (with Crock-Pot of yum), there was...a deep fryer.

There are a few reasons for me to dodge the deep frying bullet:

1. Deep frying is dangerous. I am clumsy and accident-prone (one time I cut myself on BREAD). My boyfriend almost set his house on fire grilling bacon. Those seem like good reasons.

2. Deep frying makes your house smell like a fryer. This isn't the smell of fries or cheesesticks. It's the smell of OIL coating everything in your house.

3. I think owning a deep fryer sets you on the edge of...'Merica. Hey, let's deep fry food that's already extra fattening (Twinkies, Snickers, cheesecake).


And that brings us to egg rolls. Baked. Not fried.
Recipe adapted from fortheloveofcooking.net

Ingredients:

2 tsp. sesame oil
2 C savoy cabbage - chopped
2 C shredded carrots
1 Can chopped water chestnuts
1 C mung bean sprouts
2 green onions - chopped
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. fresh grated ginger
3-4 T. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. fish sauce
1 package of egg roll wrappers - usually found with produce

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Spray baking sheet or bottom of baking dish with cooking spray.

In a medium skillet heat sesame oil, ginger and garlic until fragrant. Add cabbage, carrot, water chestnuts and green onion. Add soy sauce and fish sauce. Stir. Cook until softened but not soggy!

Cooked cabbage, carrot, water chestnuts and onion

Place spoonful of cabbage mixture on wrapper. Add bean sprouts. Carefully roll egg rolls. Place on sheet and lightly spray with cooking spray.

Flag wrapper with cabbage mixture and bean sprouts

Bake about 8 minutes. Egg rolls should be golden brown and crispy. Turn egg rolls. Bake an additional 5-7 minutes.

Baked to golden brown on both sides

Slice or serve whole. I prefer to slice mine in half on a diagonal to make them more bite sized and crowd-friendly! They work great as appetizers with dipping sauce. You could serve with a ginger, peanut or ponzu dipping sauce - or all three!

Sliced and ready to eat!

My Mom's Sticky Bun Recipe

This is a very easy and crowd pleasing recipe my mom always uses when she makes sticky buns for church or family events. It uses (thawed) frozen bread dough and sits overnight in your refrigerator so it's ready to bake in the morning! I don't know about you, but anything that can save me time in the morning is an absolute bonus.

Ingredients:

2 loaves frozen bread dough (thawed)

1 large box cook and serve vanilla pudding

1 cup of chopped nuts

1 stick of butter

2 T milk

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

• Butter 9x13 pan. 

• Spread nuts on bottom of the pan. I like pecans, but walnuts work just as well. 

• Cut or tear bread into small pieces. Lay in pan. 

• In a medium saucepan, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar, milk, cinnamon and pudding mix. Pour over dough evenly. 

• Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight. 

• In the morning, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake covered pan for 30-40 minutes. Remove from oven and flip onto serving plate or into another 9x13 pan. 

• Serve and devour!

Homemade Pie Crust - A Battle with My Mom

Ever since I was young, my mom and I have fought over anything and everything - from what was appropriate to watch on tv, to buying a Trapper Keeper (mine had a cat on - big surprise), to my curfew, to cutting my hair (I won that one), and a number of things I won't even bother to mention. I credit my mom for part of my love of cooking. Growing up, she baked all my friends' and neighbors' cakes, believed in a home cooked meal and dinner time with family, and could usually be relied on to come up with some kind of dessert. Not to mention, she has made her own jam and canned her own vegetables. But the one thing she doesn't do, the one thing we still fight about is making homemade pie crust.

She firmly believes that making homemade pie crust is too difficult, even though I can't recall the last time she even made the attempt. Here is a woman who makes frosting from scratch and takes the time to make homemade strawberry jam but who is convinced a pie crust is beyond her talents. Of course, I hold my stance that while it does take more time than unrolling those crappy refrigerated Pillsbury** ones, it is more than worth it to make your own crust. Not only does it taste 1000x better (this has not been scientifically tested, btw) - kind of the difference between eating cardboard and, well, pie crust, but it's very easy to learn to do. Maybe the first time, it won't come out exactly how you want, but many of your best recipes probably haven't either. And if they have, then you really need to give making pie crust a try. It will probably take you 15 minutes longer, but it is absolutely worth it to get that flaky, buttery crust that is only achieved with a homemade crust. Plus, your pie will actually look homemade, and where I'm from (the glorious PA Dutch country), people know the difference.

*If you have leftover pie crust, try making a cinnamon roll style treat with the leftover dough! In my mom's family, her mom called them 'dough hickeys'. I have no idea why, but it is a tradition now every time I have leftover crust, which is pretty much every time. Just roll or press out the extra dough, spread a layer of butter on the dough, sprinkle it with cinnamon and sugar, and roll up the dough. Then cut it into little cinnamon roll shaped pieces and bake for a few minutes. My mom would always wait for my extra pieces of 'dough hickeys' when I was making a homemade pie. They're only good if you use homemade crust though. So don't try this with cheater pie crust!

**As a sidenote: I have nothing against Pillsbury. I happen to really like their crescent rolls - especially the garlic butter flavor. I also really like the Grands biscuits, although I don't buy them often because they are a killer on calories (well for me since I could eat them all in one sitting). I just don't get why they have such a crappy tasting premade pie crust. It is really awful.

Oatmeal Raisin Bars

I adapted a recipe I found on Pinterest that originally used toffee or cinnamon chips. I prefer raisins with my oatmeal cookies, but I think you could try any similar dried fruit.

Ingredients:

1/2 C canola oil

1 C brown sugar

1/2 C granulated sugar

2 Eggs

2 Tbsp. milk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. salt

3 C old-fashioned rolled oats
1 3/4 C flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 C raisins

Sea salt to sprinkle on top


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine oil, sugars, eggs, milk, vanilla, and salt. Beat on medium for 2-3 minutes or until sugars have dissolved.

Add oats, flour, baking soda, and raisins. Stir until just combined.

Pour into 9x13 pan. Batter will be very thick. I lined my pan with nonstick foil first so I could easily lift the bars out and slice them. Then sprinkle top with sea salt.

Bake 15-20 minutes or until top is golden. Remove from oven and cool slightly before slicing and serving.

*I like to under bake mine just a smidge so they are soft and chewy, even after they've completely cooled. But that's up to you. I also like my cookies slightly under baked, too.

Egg Cups

Bake some egg cups for brunch on Sunday, and keep the leftovers for a quick breakfast during the week!

I used salsa, cheddar, and spicy black bean gardenburger

Ingredients:
6 Eggs
Splash of Milk (optional)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C shredded cheese
Your choice of add ins - whether it's sausage, onion, bacon, tomato, etc. Make sure your meat is precooked if you are adding this into your mix. Get creative, make a fiesta theme or vegetable theme or whatever you can think of! Use up those leftovers from your fridge!

Other:
Muffin Pan
Cupcake liners - use paper if you're going to reheat leftovers

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk eggs. Add salt, cheese, (milk) and add ins.

Pour egg into each cup, filling no more than about half full.

Bake for approx 20 minutes or until egg is thoroughly cooked.

Holiday Dog Treats

Tis the season for holiday presents! We give presents to our friends and family, and how could we leave out our pets? For pet owners, pets are part of the family, too - so what can we give them? How about some home made treats? They are easy to mix, only a few ingredients needed, then roll them out, and cut out shapes like you would for your sugar cookies or gingerbread cookies! It's easy to make these festive by using seasonal cookie cutters. You can make them any size you want - customize them as small treats for your small dogs or big treats for your big dogs! Plus, I've read that pumpkin is kind of like Activia for dogs!


Ingredients:
2 1/2 C flour
2 Eggs
3/4 C pureed pumpkin
2 T Peanut Butter
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Tsp Ground Cinnamon

Note: It is much easier to stir this recipe with a good sturdy spoon rather than trying to whisk. The dough will be very thick. Also, I measured in approximate amounts of pumpkin and peanut butter rather than measuring exactly. When the dough was ready to roll, I needed a little extra flour to balance out the extra (I'm sure) wet ingredients.

Directions:
- Preheat your oven to 350 F
- Stir flour, eggs, pumpkin, pnb, salt and cinnamon. The dough should be stiff but workable to roll out. You may need some additional flour to help roll the dough and prevent it from sticking.
- Roll out dough and cut in any shape desired.
- For smaller sized cookies, bake about 25 minutes. Cookies will puff a little and brown slightly. If making larger or thicker cookies, you may need to bake them for 35-40 minutes. I rolled my dough to about a 1/4 inch thickness for small dogs. If you have a large dog, you could probably do a 1/2 inch thickness.

The recipe made a nice sized Ziploc bag full of treats. I think I baked about 3-4 trays worth. Of course the number of cookies you will get will depend on the size you make them! Happy baking!

Everyone Loves an Easy Clean Up

...Especially me! I love to cook and bake, but the clean up is like my nemesis. Having a heavy clean up puts a serious damper on the fun! So how to I defend myself?

First of all, before I start anything, I make sure my kitchen is cleaned up. Yes, I clean up before making a mess because there's nothing like having an even bigger mess to put a damper on your cooking fun. So, minimize the mess, and you won't feel so overwhelmed with dishes later.

Once you have started with your cooking or baking, try to clean as you go. Wash utensils that are easy to clean, and start soaking the dishes that will require more time. If you're using items that can be washed in a dishwasher, put them in the dishwasher as you go. That will get them out of your way right away. By giving yourself a head-start, you won't feel like you have so much to clean up when you're done!

Be smart, and help yourself reduce messes with the dishes you are cooking or baking in. Make sure you are preparing your dishes according to the recipe to avoid stuck sides, which will involve soaking and scraping to clean. Even if your recipe is cooked perfectly, you can be left with some nasty dish clean up. If you are baking, use parchment paper or silicone baking mats. If you are using a slow cooker, I highly recommend Reynolds slow cooker liners. If you are baking something like lasagna, try lining your pan with non-stick Reynolds foil or pan lining paper. Because I don't like to create a lot more product waste than necessary, I'd recommend only lining your pans for those big-mess recipes.

By wiping your countertops & stove top and cleaning dishes as you go, you get quite a head-start to the inevitable clean up. You'll find cooking or baking is less of a hassle and more enjoyable when you don't have to worry about cleaning everything at the very end!

Krusteaz Crumb Cake

So while most of my blog is recipes you can learn to make, file away to try, etc., I'm also going to share products I like. So first up is the Krusteaz Crumb Cake (aka coffee cake boedx mix). I'm sure you are wondering if I have my own coffee cake recipe, and I do. But I know we don't always have as much time every day to cook or bake as we'd like. So sometimes we just have to take the short cuts, and there's no shame in taking a short cut every once in a while. Plus, for those of you who may just be starting out as a rookie baker, a boxed mix is a cheap and easy way to start out.

All you need is egg and water plus an 8x8 pan (and an oven). You don't have to be good at baking to follow this recipe. But it will make a pretty good coffee cake! Usually you can find the mix at the grocery store for about $2-$3. I like to buy it when it is on sale 2 for $4 just to keep a box on hand. Boxed mixes are good to keep on hand for "emergency situations" - when you need something fast. Also, if you visit the Krusteaz website, they have variations on their boxed mixes for you to try. For example, you can use the Cinnamon Crumb Cake to make Cinnamon Apple Bars. If you give it a try, let me know what you think!

Easy Fresh Peach Cobbler

Snatch up some fresh peaches and make a quick cobbler. I always use storm days as an excuse to cook new recipes and have a glass of wine. Today, post Irene, if you are lucky to have electricity, take the opportunity to bake something delicious! It's a great dessert, but I eat it for breakfast, too.

I add whipped cream and powdered sugar! Yum!

Ingredients:
3-4 Fresh ripe peaches
1 Stick (1/2 C) butter (melted)
1 C Milk
1 C Flour
1 1/4 C White sugar (divided)
Pinch of salt
Dash of cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder

Other:
8 in. deep-dish pie pan
Small or Medium mixing bowl

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Pour melted butter in pie pan.

In mixing bowl, mix together milk, flour, sugar (1 C), salt, and baking powder. Pour mixture into pie pan.

Peel and cut fresh peaches - add cinnamon. Add peaches to top of batter mixture. Peaches will sink into batter. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 C of sugar over top. Bake for approximately 25 minutes.

All done! Batter should be cakey but moist when baked. I use a deep-dish pie pan, but I think you could sub a 2 Qt. baking dish. I would not suggest using a pie pan that is not deep-dish because of the volume.