Apple pie

Currently baking a delicious apple pie. This is actually the third pie I've made in two weeks from some apples Jason and I picked the last time he visited. Eep. Anyway, pie crust recipe is courtesy of Jason's mother and everything else I estimated, haha. It's actually easier to make pie crust than I had originally thought, so I am more inclined to make them homemade now.

Pie Crust (makes two crusts)
2 cups flour
1 tsp. vinegar
1 egg
1 tsp. salt
3/4 cup shortening or butter
Water added a tbsp. at a time

Filling
6 medium apples (diced/sliced/whatever)
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg

To make the crust, I sifted the flour and the salt together and then cut cold butter into the mixture. Next, I added the vinegar and egg and incorporated that with my hands. Adding one tablespoon of cold water at a time, I mixed the dough until it was just moist. I learned from Alton Brown that if the pie crust dough is too wet, it will shrink when it cooks! He was totally right! Anyway, I then refrigerated the dough wrapped in plastic wrap for 30 minutes and then rolled it out. The filling was pretty simple-- I mixed all of those ingredients together and then assembled the pie. Then you just bake that bad boy in a 350 degree oven for about an hour and you're all set!

(Image via Colleen Hammond)

Maple glazed pork chops

Yesterday I made maple glazed pork chops with apple wood smoked bacon and onions. Come on, you know this looks delicious! First I started off by chopping the bacon and cooking it until it started to crisp up, then I added the onions and sauteed them until they were just about soft. After letting the pork chops soak in a brine of salt, granulated sugar, light brown sugar and cold water for over an hour, I sprinkled some salt and pepper over them and seared them in a pan (using some of the bacon fat for flavor), letting them get golden brown and crispy on the outside, then let them finish cooking in a 350 degree over for about 10 minutes. While the chops were roasting, I made the maple glaze (deglazed the searing pan with chicken stock to pick up all the flavor), added the bacon bits and onion, and poured it over the entire dish and let them soak up the maple goodness for a few more minutes while they were still in the oven. To finish off the dish I added a bit of rosemary and parsley for garnish. Here's my ingredient list:

Six pork chops
Maple syrup
3 slices of bacon
Half a small onion
Rosemary and parsley
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper

It was a great dish-- sweet, salty and flavorful. The chops were cooked just right too. I hate when people over cook anything. That dry texture completely ruins my eating experience. Haha, I'm not a food snob... much. Also, this resized picture doesn't do my dish justice. Click on it to see the full size image and let the drooling begin.

Roasted chicken and potatoes

Went with comfort food this evening for dinner. While I was out grocery shopping, I picked up a nice 6.5 lb. chicken and decided to roast it for a delicious homemade meal. I preheated the oven to 350 degrees and completely covered the chicken in a simple herb butter (thyme, rosemary, garlic powder, salt, pepper), making sure I got under the skin and between the wings and drumsticks. Then, I filled the cavity with more of the butter and some roughly chopped onion, garlic, and lemon. After about 2.5 hours in the oven, it was moist and succulent.

The potatoes, on the other hand, were chopped and drizzled in olive oil. I then added some salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, rosemary, parsley, paprika and chili powder. Those were also roasted in the oven with the bird.

Lastly, after the chicken was finished, I made a black pepper gravy from the drippings-- adding a little salt and a hearty amount of pepper, flour, and milk to thicken it up. It was simple, but effective. Honestly, this was the best chicken dinner I have ever made. And tomorrow, I am planning on using the leftovers for chicken noodle soup. I know you're jealous.

Grilled corn and black bean salsa

For dinner this evening, I went with hot dogs and made a simple cold salad on the side. This grilled corn and black bean salsa was the perfect for a night of grilling. Although I altered the recipe a bit to accommodate what was in the pantry (I would have liked to use some fresh cilantro, but I didn't have any), it was still fresh and delicious. Here's what I used:

Approx. two cups of corn
Some canola oil
Salt and pepper
1 half of a red onion
1 small jalapeno
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
Juice of half a lime
A bit of cumin, chili powder and parsley

After grilling the corn and chopping the other veggies, I just mixed everything together and tasted it for seasoning purposes. Big success! Anyway, that's about all for now.

(Photo courtesy of Food Network.)

Chicken pot pie

Probably one of my top five favorite comfort foods. Living at home makes me crave comfortable things like no other-- guess it's because I've never truly been content or settled here. Anyway, here's my ingredient list:

Carrots, peas, celery, onion
Diced chicken breast
Little bit of flour
Low fat/sodium chicken broth
Half cup of 1% milk
One clove minced garlic
Thyme, rosemary, parsley
Pie crust (flour, salt, vinegar, shortening, etc.)
Egg wash (whole egg and a drop of milk)

It was a pretty easy assembly: sauteed the veggies and chicken, added the broth and flour to thicken it, stirred in the milk, poured the mixture into a baking dish and covered it with the pie crust. I brushed it with an egg wash and let it bake for like twenty minutes in a 400 degree oven until the crust was golden brown. Yum, that is happiness in a dish.

Eggplant parmesan

In an effort to recreate my grandmother's eggplant parmesan recipe, I learned just how much time it took her to cook this dish. From start to finish, it took me nearly two hours to make. Eep. I suppose I could just be a slow cooker-- since I took the time to make my red sauce, cook the eggplant and then letting the dish bake in the oven. Anyway, I didn't get a picture of the finished product before I dug in, but it was lovely looking-- all cheesy and delicious. This recipe made about four servings and all measurements are, of course, estimates.

2 medium sized eggplants
Handful of breadcrumbs
3/4 cup of flour
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup milk
2 cloves of garlic
14 oz. can of dicd tomatoes
Some olive oil
1/4 cup diced onion
Parmesan and mozzarella cheese
Basil, parsley, thyme, oregano, salt, pepper

Started my red sauce by sauteing the onion in the olive oil and then added the garlic when they started to become opaque. Once I started to smell the garlic, I added the canned tomatoes and seasonings and let that simmer as I prepared the eggplant. My grandmother used to soak the eggplant slices (I cut them about 1/2 thick) in a salt water brine for a few hours before she made her parm, so I did as well. After drying off the slices, I coated them in flour, dipped them in the egg and milk mixture, dredged them in the breadcrumbs and then fried them in a little more olive oil. Once they were done, they were placed on a wire rack to get rid of the excess oil and then layered in a baking dish with my red sauce and topped with parmesan and mozzarella cheese. About 35-45 minutes in a 350 degree over and the cheese was bubbly and golden brown. I think my grandma would be proud.

Note: I was mostly inspired to make this dish because when I was in PA this week with Jason, I bought the eggplant from an Amish lady at her side-of-the-road farm stand. Good times.

Broccoli and cheddar cheese quiche

Usually when I have to work the closing shift at night, I make my dinner beforehand so I'm no starving when I get there. This morning I made a broccoli and cheddar cheese quiche-- one of my favorite comfort foods!


I started out with, admittedly, two 9 inch frozen pie crusts (since I was too lazy to roll out my own) and added my mixture of seven eggs, one cup milk, 3/4 cup grated Vermont cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup chopped onion, one cup chopped cooked broccoli, and a pinch of salt and pepper. All of those measurements are estimates because I never measure when I cook! That might also be due to laziness, but I usually prefer eyeballing things. After about 40-45 minutes in a 350 degree oven, both quiches were golden brown and delicious! I will definitely enjoy this later before I have to go to work.

Spicy summer corn chowder

Over the past few weeks I have been experimenting with a number of different Southwestern and Tex-Mex style dishes. So far I have managed to made a spicy tomato soup, honey-lime grilled chicken, and fresh guacamole and salsa-- all of which have been superb. Wanting to use up the rest of the sweet summer corn I had in the kitchen, I decided to try to replicate Panera's summer corn chowder, which went a little like this:

I started out with a green bell pepper, a small yellow onion, and half of a pablano pepper and diced them up. After sauteing the veggies in a little butter, I added minced garlic and a small Italian red pepper (I have been growing these little guys in my garden-- aren't they adorable?). Once I started to smell the garlic, I added some flour to coat the peppers, etc. and cooked it until it was a light brown color. After adding about six cups of chicken stock, I brought it up to a simmer and then threw in two medium Yukon Gold potatoes I had diced. Ten minutes of rapid boiling and voila-- cooked potatoes! I then added the corn, some chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper and milk (sorry, there aren't any measurements for these ingredients-- I never measure anything when I cook). And there you go, spicy summer corn chowder!


This recipe made about six servings. Not sure what I am going to make tomorrow, but I hope it will be just as delicious!