One Pie Crust, Two Great Uses

I have two pie crust recipes I rely on. One is excruciatingly complicated and time consuming, the other quick and easy. The former is stunningly beautiful when baked, fat and golden and flaky, and of course it's delicious. The latter doesn't put on as much of a show. It does not have quite the same poof to it, but it is perfectly tasty. In general, when baking for myself, I stick with the simpler of the two, saving the complicated beauty for impressing guests.

This crust comes from my favourite recipe blog Simply Recipes. You can find it here.

I made a double batch in the morning and used the first half to make quiche. Bacon, asparagus, and gruyere quiche that is.

Sorry, this is another one of those half-assed recipes, that I totally did not measure at all, but it couldn't be easier! I promise!

Prepare your crust, roll it out, and line your pie tin.

Line your crust with tinfoil, then find a way to weigh it down. You can fill it with dry beans, rice, or proper pie weights if you're fancier than me. I was out of all of the above, so I used a conveniently sized plate.

Bake at 375F until the edges and bottom are lightly tanned.

Fry up some bacon, 5-6 pieces, or more, if you really like the bacon.

Chop up your asparagus, and fry it in the delicious, bad for you, bacon fat.

Chop your bacon, and toss it and the asparagus into your partially baked shell, grate some gruyere over the top.

In a large bowl, whisk together five eggs, one cup of milk, and one cup of half and half (10%). If you're feeling naughty, replace the half and half with whipping cream. Whisk it good! It should be nice and frothy.

Pour it in, reduce your oven to 325F, and bake until poofy and soft set (jiggles like jello), 30-40 minutes.

 

My second recipe I made that night. Blueberry-Plum Galette. I'll be slightly more scientific for this one.

1 cup diced plums, skins on

1 cup blueberries

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp cardamom

1/4 tsp nutmeg

optional: splash of triple-sec
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch

2 tsp water

Mix everything, except cornstarch and water, in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.

Mix the cornstarch and water together in a small bowl, add to the boiling filling, and continue to boil, stirring constantly, for one minute.

Place your filling in the fridge or freezer to cool, while you roll your dough.

Divide the second half of your pastry into two pieces. Roll each into a rough circle 7-8 inches in diameter.

It really does not need to be pretty.



Place your two circles on a parchment lined baking sheet. Divide your cooled filling between the two, keeping it in the middle. Fold over the edges, a bit at a time, overlapping.

Dust the tops with a chunky sugar (turbinado's awesome) and bake at 375F for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Yummm! These are too good.

Fire in the Sky

Oh, the sky last night!

 

Just incredible. I couldn't stop watching as it turned from orange,

to pink.

Happy Sunday!

Being currently unencumbered by a formal job, days of the week kind of lose their meaning. There's no TGIF or Monday hating. However, Sunday's still have a special feeling to them. The road outside my house is a little less busy, especially in the morning, and Andy is home, playing nerd games with his brothers and friends back in New Hampshire. I like to cook up something special on Sunday mornings. This morning it's bacon, gruyere, and asparagus quiche. (yum!)

The weather is gorgeous. Overcast and cool, with a strong breeze that smells like fall. I'm sorry for those of you who are getting hit by storms from the hurricane, while I reap the benefits on the outskirts. Kinda makes me feel like a jerk, but not enough to not enjoy the weather anyways.

This is my first attempt at updating via my iPod. The typing is a lot slower and I can't add pictures, but I can sit in my comfy chair, so that's a bonus. I really need a proper computer desk. Or maybe a laptop.

I think I'm starting to ramble, and my oven is beeping, so I'll leave this for now and return later with a quiche recipe.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Seriously Good Chili

I am a generous person. I am going to share with you my (not at all) secret chili recipe. Seriously, I give it to everyone who asks, and some who don't. It's good. Make it.

In a small bowl mix together:

2 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp cumin
1 tsp chipolte powder
1 tsp sage
1 tsp marjoram
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves

Add 3-4 Tbsp of cold water and stir until you have a thick paste. Set aside.

Finely chop:

1/2 medium spanish onion
3 cloves garlic
1-2 jalapeno chilies, seeds removed (depending on your spice tolerance)

Heat your frying pan with 1 Tbsp olive oil, add your onion and fry 2-3 minutes, or until translucent. Add your garlic and jalapeno and cook another minute.

Transfer your veggies to a large sauce pan, and in your frying pan, brown 1 lb organic ground beef (if your using lean, add a little more olive oil).

When cooked through, add your beef to the sauce pan, then pour your spice mix over top, mix well and cook for one minute.

Add one 28 oz can of diced or crushed tomatoes and 2 1/2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add three 19 oz cans of beans, drained and rinsed. These can be any kinds of beans you like. My favourite combo is red kidney beans, white kidney beans, and pinto beans, but I'll use whatever I have on hand/is on sale.

Now you have two choices for finishing up. If you have the time, it is much better to leave your pot at a low simmer for another 30 minutes to an hour, until it all thickens up, and the flavours go POW! (Really)

But if you're in a hurry, it is just fine to take a teaspoon of cornstarch, mix it with a bit of cold water and add it to your chili, then let it BOIL while stirring constantly for a solid minute.

Serve your awesome chili with a thick slice of buttered bread or some delicious cornbread (yum!). I like to stir in a spoonful of plain yogurt or sour cream.

Enjoy!

Forgetful

So before I forget again, I did get my canning done. Well, most of it. I waited too long on the plums, and they were mostly devoured. What I have left will probably be made into a few yummy galettes.

I did, however, manage to produce copious amounts of blueberry jam, blueberry preserves, and (my favourite so far) spiced and honeyed pickled blueberries. Yum!

I also made a ton of pickles, including my second batch of bread & butters (the first ones disappeared far too quickly), and dill pickles.

The first batch of dills I made last month turned out too strong on the vinegar, so I tried a different recipe this time, and they are scrumptious! My husband, the dill hater. proclaimed them edible, which is high praise considering.

Look at those pretty things! Such a gorgeous shade of green.

Bonus prize! An adorable fat cat:

His name is Mordenkainen, and if you are anywhere near as big a nerd as my husband, you will appreciate the joke.

A Few of My Favourite Things

Had a very lovely day today. Andy and I went swimming in the Ottawa River at a little beach I discovered while biking.

Yes, this is the same place as in the picture from my previous post. The water was warm, and there were some surprisingly good waves for a river. There is also a small stretch of absolutely perfect sand, only about two feet wide, where I had a grand time making tiny, lumpy castles and writing my name in the sand.

After, we walked back home, following the path I usually bike, and I was finally able to show Andy one of my favourite spots in Ottawa.

This is the strip of land the runs beside the Aviation Museum and small Rockcliffe Airport. It is so beautiful, and there are some very comfortable benches where I like to sit and watch the tiny planes take off and land. I hate flying, but I love to watch other people fly.

Just after the Aviation Museum, the bike path runs though a patch of forest, which stuns me every time. You're walking along, completely enclosed in trees, and it's nearly silent. Then you walk up a hill, and suddenly you're right in the city. It just jumps at you out of nowhere. From serene forest, to bustling street. Very disconcerting. It's like a little patch of magic.

On a completely unrelated note, my Etsy shop is almost ready to go! Hopefully in the next couple of days, I'll have homemade jams, jellies, pickles and preserves ready to sell. Woo!

Lesson Learned

I will never again get on my bike without at least a couple of granola bars stashed in my bag.

I wasn't planning on a long ride, I was only planning to pick up milk and dinner. I had a lot on my mind however, feeling a bit down between money worries and the death of the only politician I've ever liked (loved), I rode right past the grocery store and down to the river. Riding always clears my head and relaxes me.

I ended up riding all the way to end of the bike trail in Orleans, a good twenty kilometers. It was an absolutely beautiful ride, and the weather could not have been more perfect. Of course, as I reached the end of the trail my stomach reminded me that it was two o'clock and all I had eaten was a peanut butter sandwich. Not good. Then, just to mock me, storm clouds rolled in from nowhere and I was pelted with extremely cold rain all the way back. Bah!

When I was only about thirty minutes from home, I was pretty certain I was going to fall off my bike, so I texted Andy (who luckily was just leaving work) and told him he might have to rescue me. Miracle of miracles, I managed to make it back to civilization, but I have definitely learned my lesson.

Also: when they said road closed, they weren't kidding...

Canning Day

Today will be a good day. Better than yesterday anyways. I never like being downtown, but being downtown on Rideau Street at ten o'clock on a Friday night? Nightmarish. It is everything I hate about the city, and completely reaffirms my need to move as soon as possible. I think in the mean time, I'm going to have to plan a day trip out of the city, just to get some peace.

But today will be a good day, and a busy day. I have eleven quarts of blueberries, four quarts of plums, and six quarts of kirby cukes all waiting to be jammed, jellied, pickled and preserved.

Wish me luck!

Autumn + Apples

I can not believe it's been 11 days since my last post. I don't know what is up with time lately, but it's going by faster than I can register. I can't complain though, because every day brings me that much closer to FALL.

That is an old one there. Although ignore the date stamp, this was definitely not June '99. Probably October 2002-2003. Outside Andy's childhood home, looking across to the old barn, which was attached to the chicken coop. I'm sad that all the farm animals were gone by the time I moved there. It would have been a great experience. Though I think back then I would have been less enthused to get involved. Now it's all I think about!

But back to fall. I'm always excited for autumn to come around. Undeniably the best season. The weather is perfect and the scenery is stunning. You get Thanksgiving AND Halloween, the two best holidays. And the food. Oh, the food! Roasted root vegetables, turkey with stuffing, cranberry sauce and apples. Apple cider, apple sauce, apple butter, apple pies, apple crisp, baked apples... You know that scene from Forrest Gump? With the shrimp? That's me and apples. Now that I'm canning, I want to preserve as much as I can this year, which of course means heading to the nearest pick-your-own orchard (I get obscenely excited about PYO anything). Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to strap several bushels of apples to my bicycle, so I will have to find a car and a driver. I wonder if I can convince my mother...

Pasta with Chicken in a Mustard Cream Sauce

I wasn't intending on making this a recipe blog. I still don't. I just cook, a lot. I worked in the food industry for ten years, so I guess it's not that surprising.

Anyways, I made this pasta dish last week at the whim of my husband, and with no recipe at all (I'm getting pretty good at that). It was so good I made it again last night.

This is not a specific recipe at all. It's a little bit of this, a little bit of that.That's usually how I cook.

Start by slicing a dozen or so grape tomatoes in half. Toss them in a bowl with some olive oil and a bit of salt and pepper.

Lay them out on a baking sheet lined with parchment (save your bowl). Roast at 400F for 10-15 minutes. Or until they look something like this:

While those are roasting, cook up enough rotini pasta for two (or however many you want to serve). In a separate small pot, combine equal parts good quality dijon mustard (grainy or creamy, I used creamy) and 35% cream (you could probably get away with 10%) and a couple splashes of white wine vinegar. I believe I used about 1/2 cup of each plus a tablespoon vinegar. Add salt and pepper, and taste. Adjust ratio to suit your tastes. Whisk and heat over low temperature. You just need to warm it up.

Wash and remove the stems of about six white mushrooms, quarter and toss them in your bowl from the tomatoes, just to pick up a bit of oil and spice. Throw them in a hot pan with a chicken breast and a bit more oil if you need it. When the chicken is browned on one side, flip it over, then cover and cook the chicken to 74C (165F).

 

While that's cooking, pit and halve a dozen kalamata olives. Toss into a mixing bowl with a small handful of chopped green onion, a few chopped basil leaves, and your roasted tomatoes.

When your chicken's done, toss in the mushrooms, chop the chicken into small bits and add that too. Drain your noodles and put them in the bowl, pour your sauce over top, sprinkle on a bit of paprika and a dash or two of cayenne if you want to spice it up. Toss well and serve.

So, so good! This will definitely become a regular at my house.

Bike Love

This is my bike:

She's not especially pretty, but she's the best bike ever and I love her! My brother found her abandoned and broken, waiting for the garbage man. He straightened her wheels, replaced her chain and seat, and gave her new brakes. She's a very big bike, which is perfect because I am very tall woman. She is ridiculously stable and flies like the wind. She is mine and I am hers.

Before I got my bike it had been nearly ten years since the last time I rode! It took me about five minutes of riding to remember that it is THE BEST FEELING IN THE WORLD! Seriously, I don't know how I survived so long without a bike. Pure love.

You may notice that my bike basket is filled with canning jars. I started canning a few months ago, and I can't get enough. I will never buy jam again! In fact, I sold my first jar today! Yea! I'm hoping to set up an Etsy shop soon, but we'll talk about that later. ;)

My next canning adventure will be blueberry jam, which brings me back to my bike. The nearest pick-your-own blueberry farm is 38 kilometers (23.6 miles) from my house. I do not own a car (or a license), and I don't know anyone who has one who would be interested in blueberry picking. The bus goes about 3/4 of the way there, but then it would be another hour and a half walk, and the buses with bike racks are not always reliable... So! My plan is to ride there and back with my brother. He's a way more bad ass biker than I am. He has biked from Ottawa to Kingston and back several times, and attempted to ride across Canada once (Didn't work out, mainly due to poor biking partner picking). Half of the ride is on bike path, which is great, after that it's mainly country roads. I'm hoping to go in about a week, and I'm trying to train up a bit. I already did one major ride with my brother into Quebec, which totally kicked my ass. It was too many huge hills for me. Today I biked 26 km, the first part of which was on the bike path we'll be taking. It took me about three hours, though I did stop a few times. Google maps estimates 2 hours 17 minutes for the 38 km. I don't think I'll pull that off, but as long as we leave early we should be fine. Keep in mind that's 38 km  there, and then 38 km back. With blueberry picking in between. It's intimidating, but really exciting too. Wish me luck!

Here are a few pictures from today's journey.

I love biking along the waterways.

Why are swamplands so pretty?

I rode down the Greenbelt path. Gorgeous. Can't you just see this place full of fairies?