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November 25, 2013 · 8:07 am

How to . . . Blind Bake a Piecrust

“Blind Baking” is a term for baking a pie crust with no filling. This pre-baked crust is used for any pie that is not cooked in the oven with its filling: pies with cream or custard fillings, ice-cream pies, lemon meringue pie, strawberry pie.

When you bake a pie crust without a filling, it tends to have bubbles form in the bottom part of the crust, or the sides sink and fall into the center of the crust. To keep this from happening, you need to bake the crust in two steps: first with something weighing down the bottom of the crust, and then without the weights to finish cooking the crust. Here is a quick How To… on blind baking a perfect crust.

Start with any crust recipe. Here is one that I like for an All Butter Pie Crust. Place in your pie plate and flute the edges. When you flute your edges, press down slightly on the indentations where the crust touches the top edge of the pan to keep it from sliding down the sides as it bakes.

Place a square of foil in the bottom of your crust. I like to use non-stick foil (non-stick side touching the crust) to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the crust. Extend the foil slightly up the sides of the crust, but do not cover the fluting on the edges. Add about 1-2 cups of DRIED beans to your foil bowl. You can also buy pie weights (either loose or on a chain), but beans are a great cheap alternative.

Bake the weighted crust at 400°F for 10 minutes.

Remove the beans and foil and prick the bottom of the crust with a fork.

Place a pie crust shield on the edges of your crust to keep them from overcooking while you bake the crust again. You can buy a pie crust shield or make your own. Here is an easy HOW TO on making one that is just the right size for your pie plate: Make Your Own Pie Crust Shield.

Bake empty crust for an additional 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Be sure to cool crust completely before filling.

Instructions:

How to Blind Bake a Piecrust

Prepare pie crust and place in pie plate. Flute edges, if desired.
Line bottom of pie crust with foil (I like non-stick foil), extending foil slightly up the sides of the crust. Add 1-2 cups dried beans, or use pie weights.
Bake at 400°F for 10 minutes.
Remove beans or weights and foil. Prick bottom of crust with a fork. Place a pie crust shield over the edges of the crust and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until golden brown.
Cool completely before filling.

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Lemon Meringue Pie Bites

All the goodness of a lemon meringue pie in a hand-held bite-sized dessert.

These bite-sized pies use packaged pre-baked fillo (phyllo) dough shells as a crust. For a gluten-free dessert, skip the crust all together, and bake pies in small ramekins.

Lemon pie filling is a pudding made with egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice and zest. It is thickened by the eggs and cornstarch. Meringue is made from the remaining egg whites, stabilized with sugar and cream of tartar.

For the mini-pies, I piped the meringue using a large star pastry tip. Because of their small size, it is not as important to seal the meringue completely to the sides of the crust.

The pies are baked just long enough to cook and brown the meringue.

You can, of course, make a regular lemon meringue pie by pouring the hot filling into a regular baked pie crust and spreading the meringue over the hot filling. Bake until meringue is golden brown.

Tips for keeping meringue from shrinking and weeping: Start with room-temperature egg whites for best results. Be sure to seal the meringue to the edge of the piecrust. It should touch everywhere along the edge of the crust. Also be sure that the lemon filling is hot when you spread the meringue over the filling. The hot filling will help cook the bottom of the meringue and keep it from weeping as it cools. The pie should also be completely cool before cutting.

RECIPE:

Lemon Meringue Pie Bites (or Regular Pie)

Servings: 45 mini bites or 1 regular pie
Print

Lemon Meringue Pie Bites 4

1 ¼ cups sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
¼ tsp salt
1 ½ cups cold water
½ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
5 eggs, separated (at room temperature)
2-3 tsp grated lemon zest (from one lemon)
2 Tbs butter

3 packages Mini Fillo Shells or 1 Baked Pie Crust

½ tsp cream of tartar
½ cup + 2 Tbs sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Combine 1 ¼ cups sugar, cornstarch and salt in a saucepan. Mix with a whisk. Stir in water and lemon juice until smooth. Separate eggs. Set egg whites aside to use in the meringue. In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks with the whisk until well mixed. Stir into cold liquid in the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and bubbly. Stir in lemon zest and butter. Continue to cook until butter melts. Turn off burner, but keep pan warm.

While lemon filling is cooking, prepare meringue: Combine egg whites and cream of tartar in large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until foamy. Gradually beat in ½ cup + 2 Tbs sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form. Beat in vanilla. Spoon meringue into a pastry bag fit with a large tip.

Place fillo shells onto a baking sheet. Spoon hot lemon filling into fillo shells. Pipe meringue onto filling. Bake at 350°F for 13-15 minutes.

Makes about 45 mini lemon meringue pie bites.

For regular Lemon Meringue Pie: Prepare filling and meringue as directed, but do not spoon meringue into a pastry bag. Pour hot lemon filling into a baked pie crust. Spoon meringue over hot filling, spreading to seal to edge of pastry crust. Use the back of a spoon to make peaks. Bake at 350°F for 15-18 minutes, or until meringue is golden brown. Cool completely to room temperature before slicing.

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Szechuan Beans

Szechuan Beans are one of my favorite dishes at Chinese restaurants. Often at restaurants, they are made with Chinese long beans. When I make them at home, I use the skinny French filet beans.

These beans are slightly spicy, flavored with Szechuan peppercorns, a good dose of garlic, ginger and chili paste. Szechuan peppercorns are actually less spicy than regular black pepper or chili peppers. They have a slightly lemony taste and leave your tongue with an interesting tingly, slightly numb sensation.

Szechuan Peppercorns

I buy whole Szechuan peppercorns from Penzeys. If I am grinding a large quantity of the peppercorns, I use a mini electric coffee grinder. For times when I only need a small amount of ground peppercorn, I have a separate peppermill (the wooden kind you turn by hand) that I keep full of these peppercorns. Don’t use your regular black peppercorn mill to grind the Szechuan peppercorns and then refill with the black ones. As straight Szechuan peppercorns can leave your tongue feeling numb, your kids might not appreciate that sensation when they are expecting regular pepper.

I like to include a small amount of ground pork when I make these beans, but you could leave that out for a vegetarian dish.

RECIPE:

Szechuan Beans

Servings: 4-6
Print

1 Tbs oil
¼ lb ground pork
4 green onions, chopped
1 Tbs minced garlic
2 tsp chopped fresh ginger
2 Tbs soy sauce
1 tsp ground chili paste (use more for spicier beans)
1 tsp honey (or 5 drops liquid stevia)
½ tsp ground Szechuan peppercorns
1 lb Chinese long beans or French filet beans, ends trimmed

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground pork, green onions, garlic and ginger. Cook until pork is cooked through.

Add soy sauce, chili paste, honey and ground peppercorns to skillet. Stir to mix, then add green beans to skillet. Cook for 2 minutes. Add 3 Tbs water to the skillet and cover with a lid. Cook beans for about 3 minutes, or until beans are not quite done.

Remove lid and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated and beans are crisp-tender. Do not overcook beans. Serve immediately.

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Filed under Main Dishes, Side Dishes

Tagged as Chinese, food, green beans, peppercorns, pork, recipe, side dish, spicy, szechuan

October 29, 2013 · 7:06 am

Ginger Beef Stir-Fry

We eat a lot of stir-fries in our house. They are a fairly quick meal to get on the table, and they are one thing that I don’t hear complaints about from anyone. This Ginger Beef is not a saucy stir-fry, but is very flavorful. The beef marinates for about half an hour at room temperature and then is cooked in small batches over very high heat. Fresh ginger, cut into thin matchstick shapes, green onions and sliced serrano chiles (hot, but not overpowering) provide additional flavor. Because this dish is not as chock-full of vegetable as some other stir-fries, I often serve it with Szechuan green beans (recipe coming soon!).

RECIPE:

Ginger Beef Stir-Fry

Servings: 4-6
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Marinade
5 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs unseasoned rice vinegar
1 Tbs honey (or 5 drops liquid stevia)
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
½ tsp red chile pepper flakes
½ tsp ground cumin

Stir-Fry
1 ½ lb flank steak or top sirloin steak
2 Tbs oil, divided
2-3 hot chiles, preferably red serranos, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½” piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into thin matchstick shapes
1 bunch (about 5-6) green onions, cut diagonally into 1” pieces
1 Tbs sesame oil

Mix together all of the marinade ingredients.

Thinly slice the steak (partially freezing the steak will make this easier) and place slices in a Ziploc bag. Pour marinade over the sliced steak. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. This can also be prepared ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator. Remove beef from fridge 30 minutes before cooking.

Place 1 Tbs oil in a wok or large skillet and heat over high heat until very hot. Place a small amount of the beef (about ½ cup at a time) in the hot pan. Sauté beef slices over high heat until juices in pan almost completely evaporate. Transfer cooked beef to serving bowl. Repeat with remaining beef.

Add remaining 1 Tbs oil to the pan and sauté the sliced chiles, minced garlic and ginger matchsticks for 1 minute. Add the beef back to the pan with the sliced green onions. Stir in the sesame oil and cook for 1 minute. Serve immediately over steamed rice.

(recipe adapted from Simply Recipes)

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Tagged as beef, Chinese, entree, food, ginger, main dish, recipe, steak, stir fry

October 23, 2013 · 11:03 am

Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix

Making your own taco seasoning mix is an easy way to cut chemicals and preservatives out of your food and save money at the same time. And it tastes so much better than any packaged mix. Make a large batch and then store in an airtight container. Use about 2 Tbs of the mix for a pound of ground beef to make regular tacos. You can adjust the amounts of spicier chilies to your family’s taste. Penzey’s (online or in person) is a great source for quality bulk spices.

Use this for more than just ground beef tacos. Try replacing spices in the following recipes with this taco seasoning mix:

Layered Chicken Taco Salad Bowls
Taco Cornbread Pie
Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas
Creamy Chicken Enchiladas Verdes
Baked Chicken Taquitos
Chicken and Black Bean Chili
Hearty Beef Chili
Fajitas
Marinades for grilled steak or chicken

RECIPE:

Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix

Servings: Makes about 2 ½ cups
Print

1 ½ cups chili powder
4 Tbs paprika (Spanish smoked or regular)
2 Tbs kosher salt (coarse grain; use less for regular table salt)
2 Tbs black pepper
2 Tbs garlic powder
2 Tbs onion powder (not onion salt)
2 Tbs ground cumin
2 Tbs dried oregano
1 Tbs Ancho chili pepper
1 Tbs crushed red pepper flakes
1 Tbs ground cayenne pepper

Mix all ingredients and store at room temperature in an airtight container. Use about 2 Tbs of seasoning per pound of meat. Makes about 2 ½ cups.

Note: Adjust amount of crushed red pepper flakes and cayenne pepper to make milder or spicier

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Filed under Condiments/Sauces, Main Dishes, Tips and Tutorials

Tagged as food, homemade, recipe, seasonings, spices, taco seasoning mix

October 4, 2013 · 4:00 pm

Pumpkin Zucchini Bread

Pumpkin Zucchini Bread: where summer and autumn collide in a great tasting snack. This is a great way to use an over-abundance of zucchini from your garden (or local farmers’ market) and incorporate the great fall flavors of pumpkin and spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom.

You can also make these in muffin form for a delicious on-the-go breakfast or lunch box treat. There is no easier way to get your kids to eat their veges. Chocolate chips are optional, but always appreciated (unless you are a certain son of mine).

RECIPE:

Pumpkin Zucchini Bread

Servings: Makes 2 loaves
Print

3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups sugar
1 ½ cups canned pumpkin
2 cups shredded zucchini
½ cup butter, melted
1 Tbs vanilla
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cardamom
¼ tsp ground nutmeg (or cloves)
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips, optional
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 2 medium loaf pans.

Combine eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add pumpkin, zucchini, melted butter and vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Gradually add to pumpkin mixture and stir until just incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Pour into 2 loaf pans.

Bake at 350°F for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove and cool on a wire rack.

FOR MUFFINS: Line muffin pans with paper liners (or grease pan). Bake at 375°F for 15-18 minutes.

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