Annie’s Eats

What better way is there to finish off a cookout than with a fresh homemade fruit pie? I can’t think of any. Since there was a large crowd for dinner I decided to make both apple and peach pies. Both turned out wonderfully. The peaches were in absolutely perfect condition, so I’m really glad we chose that one.

I’ve made this apple pie recipe many, many times before and it has become my old standby. This crust turns out perfect every time. It is from a great cookbook we got as a wedding gift, Cook’s Kitchen Handbook. This book is great because it has step-by-step illustrations which were a great help the first time I ever made pie crust. Handmade pie crust is not difficult, but it does take patience. I prefer to use my hands to blend the butter and flour. I just always seem to get the best results that way.

For the peach pie I used the same pie crust recipe, but used the peach pie filling recipe from Williams Sonoma. The filling is absolutely to die for. There is quite a bit of liquid in the pie even after it is finished baking, so I would recommend putting it in the refrigerator so the liquid sets a bit.

Peach Pie
Ingredients:
For the crust:
3 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
6 oz. butter (1 ½ sticks), chilled and diced
5-6 Tbs. cold water

For the filling:
6 cups peeled, pitted and sliced peaches
2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
2 Tbs. unsalted butter

Directions:
Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Add the butter. Cut the butter into the flour or rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture is crumb-like. Sprinkle 5 tablespoons of water over the mixture. With a fork, toss gently to mix and moisten it. Press the dough into a ball. If it is too dry to form a dough, add the remaining water. Wrap the ball of dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes.

To make the filling, place the peaches in a large bowl. Sprinkle with the lemon juice and toss to coat well. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, salt and nutmeg. Add to the peaches and toss to combine.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let warm up a bit if necessary. Preheat oven to 425°.

Cut the dough in half. On a floured surface, roll out one half into a 12-inch round, about 1/8 inch thick. Try to keep the dough as round as possible. Transfer the rolled-out pastry to a 9-inch pie dish. Roll out the pastry for the top crust and cut it into strips about 1/2 inch wide; set aside. Pile the fruit mixture into the pastry-lined pan and dot with bits of the butter.

To create the woven lattice top, use the longer pastry strips near the center of the pie and the shorter ones near the edges. Cross the two longest strips over the center of the filled pie. Place a second long strip over the top cross strip. Fold back every other strip onto itself and lay a cross strip in place, then return folded-back strips to their original position. Continue weaving in this fashion, working from the center of the pie toward the edges. Trim and flute the edges decoratively with your thumb. Bake for 25 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350°F and bake until the juices are bubbling and the top is browned, about 25 minutes more. Makes one 9-inch pie; serves 8.

Apple Pie
Ingredients:
For the crust:
3 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
6 oz. butter (1 ½ sticks), chilled and diced
5-6 Tbs. cold water

For the filling:
2 lbs. peeled, cored and thinly sliced Granny Smith apples
1 Tbs. all-purpose flour
¼ c. sugar
¾ tsp. apple pie spice

Directions:
Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Add the butter. Cut the butter into the flour or rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture is crumb-like. Sprinkle 5 tablespoons of water over the mixture. With a fork, toss gently to mix and moisten it. Press the dough into a ball. If it is too dry to form a dough, add the remaining water. Wrap the ball of dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes.

To make the filling, add the apple slices to a mixing bowl. Add flour, sugar and apple pie spice and toss to coat evenly.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let warm up a bit if necessary. Preheat oven to 375°.

Cut the dough in half. On a floured surface, roll out one half into a 12-inch round, about 1/8 inch thick. Try to keep the dough as round as possible. Transfer the rolled-out pastry to a 9-inch pie dish. Roll out the pastry for the top crust and cut it into strips about 1/2 inch wide; set aside. Put in the filling and smooth so the top is level.

To create the woven lattice top, use the longer pastry strips near the center of the pie and the shorter ones near the edges. Cross the two longest strips over the center of the filled pie. Place a second long strip over the top cross strip. Fold back every other strip onto itself and lay a cross strip in place, then return folded-back strips to their original position. Continue weaving in this fashion, working from the center of the pie toward the edges. Trim and flute the edges decoratively with your thumb. Bake for 45 minutes or until pastry is golden brown and the fruit is tender. Cool on a rack. Serves 8.

Ahh, deviled eggs. How I love thee. Saturday night my Dad hosted a cookout for many of Ben’s family members. My dad is quite a grill master, and made an enormous amount of steak for everyone. He made chicken sausage for me since I don’t like steak, but I heard the steak was good He also made corn on the cob and baked potatoes. I decided to make deviled eggs because as far as I am concerned, no cookout is really complete without them.

This is a classic deviled egg recipe. I have found that mixing the yolk mixture with an electric mixer rather than a spoon or fork does a much better job getting lumps out, creating a smoother texture. I use light mayo rather than regular to make them a little bit healthier. The mechanical pastry bag is a great tool to make regular old deviled eggs look a little nicer than normal. The recipe is from Williams Sonoma (surprise, surprise) and makes 8 deviled egg halves. It is very easy to multiply to make larger quantities.

Deviled Eggs
Ingredients:
4 eggs
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
8 small pinches of paprika

Directions:
Put the eggs in a saucepan and fill half full with water. Set over medium heat. When the water bubbles gently, reduce the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and place it in the sink. Run cold water over the eggs until both the water and the pan feel cool. Let the eggs cool in the water for 10 minutes.

When the eggs are cool enough to handle, take them out of the water. Roll each egg on the work surface to crack the shell. Carefully peel off the eggshell.

Put the eggs on a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, cut each egg in half lengthwise. Use a soup spoon to scoop the yolks out of the eggs and into the bowl. Put the egg white halves on a serving platter and set aside.

Add the mayonnaise and mustard to the bowl with the yolks. Use an electric mixer to mash them all together into a paste. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Fill a mechanical pastry bag with the yolk mixture. Using a decorative tip, pipe filling back into egg white halves. Sprinkle with paprika.

Risotto is a dish that I have always thought I would enjoy. When I see it on a restaurant menu, I like all of the ingredients, but every time I have ever ordered it, I ended up hating it. After reading rave reviews of this recipe on The Food Network website I decided to try making it on my own and see if I could get better results at home. I’m happy to say this was a huge success! This dish is absolutely fantastic. Ben and I both really loved it.

This is one of Giada’s recipes from Food Network. It is especially great because it is really a very healthy dish. I used turkey sausage instead of regular Italian sausage to make it a little healthier. I also did not include the pancetta because I am generally not a fan of bacon. I would highly recommend this as a starting point for anyone who has never tried risotto before. Now that I have discovered that I actually do like it, I’m looking forward to other recipes with other things added in, so I’m sure there will be more risotto to come on my blog.

Dirty Risotto
Ingredients:
5 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons butter
2 links Italian turkey sausage, casing removed
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
4 ounces button mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice or medium-grain white rice
3/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

Directions:
In a medium saucepan, bring the broth to a simmer. Cover the broth and keep warm over low heat.

In a large heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the pancetta and sausage and saute until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the onion, bell pepper, and mushrooms and saute until tender, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the rice and stir to coat. Add the wine and simmer until the wine has almost completely evaporated, about 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup of simmering broth and stir until almost completely absorbed, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking the rice, adding the broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly and allowing each addition of broth to absorb before adding the next, until the rice is tender but still firm to the bite and the mixture is creamy, about 25 to 30 minutes total. Remove from the heat. Stir in 3/4 of the Parmesan. Transfer the risotto to a serving bowl. Sprinkle with the parsley and remaining Parmesan and serve immediately.

Today was my last day of surgery block orientation before my first real day of clerkships. We learned suturing, IVs and anesthesia monitoring. It was a great feeling finally doing something that I can apply in real life. I think now that I am going to be actually doing things instead of just learning about them, this year is going to be much better than the last.

Ever since the first time I made this a couple months ago, Ben has been begging me to make it again. He finally got his wish This recipe is originally from Allrecipes, but I adapted it slightly to better suit our tastes. I use less olive oil than the original recipe and added dried basil, garlic and ground pepper to give it a bit more spice. I also used a garlic and herb pizza crust from Trader Joe’s since I don’t usually have time to make dough from scratch when I get home from a day on campus. I prebake the crust on its own (about 8 minutes at 425°) before adding toppings since the crust really needs more baking time than the toppings do. This is an incredibly simple and delicious dinner, and is pretty quick from start to finish. My version of the recipe is below.

Spinach and Mushroom Pizza
Ingredients:
1 (12 inch) pre-baked pizza crust
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup fresh spinach, rinsed and dried
8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
~1 tsp. dried basil
ground pepper, to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F (175 degrees C). Place pizza crust on baking sheet. Brush olive oil onto pre-baked pizza crust, covering entire surface. Sprinkle minced garlic evenly over crust. Stack the spinach leaves, then cut lengthwise into 1/2 inch strips; scatter evenly over crust. Cover pizza with shredded mozzarella, and top with sliced mushrooms. Sprinkle dried basil over the top and season with ground pepper. Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and edges are crisp.

Tonight I wanted to make something quick, healthy and tasty for dinner after my long day of orientation. I have heard many rave reviews of this tilapia dish from Allrecipes. I have been anxious to try it and see how it went over with Ben, the not-so-seafood lover. He really liked it, as did I. This will definitely be added to my permanent collection. It didn’t taste very “fishy” at all. The asparagus from Williams Sonoma was a nice accompaniment, and a great way to make use of the rest of the lemon from the fish. I also served yeast rolls from The Fresh Market, one of my favorite freezer staples.

I only made a few changes to the tilapia, mainly just because of having different seasonings on hand. I used a little more dried basil than the recipe calls for to suit my tastes. I used celery seed instead of celery salt, and onion salt instead of onion powder, because that was what I had on hand. I didn’t make any changes to the asparagus, other than to only make enough for the two of us. The halved version of the original recipe is below.

Broiled Parmesan Tilapia
Ingredients:
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp. butter, softened
1 tbsp. mayonnaise
1 tbsp. lemon juice
¼ tsp. dried basil
1/8 tsp. celery seed
1/8 tsp. onion salt
ground black pepper, to taste
1 lb. tilapia fillets

Directions:
Preheat your oven’s broiler. Grease a broiling pan or line pan with aluminum foil.

In a small bowl, mix together the Parmesan cheese, butter, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Season with dried basil, pepper, onion salt and celery seed. Mix well and set aside.

Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan. Broil a few inches from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the fillets over and broil for a couple more minutes. Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the Parmesan cheese mixture on the top side. Broil for 2 more minutes or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork. Be careful not to over cook the fish.

Roasted Asparagus with Lemon
Ingredients:
1 lb. asparagus
1/8 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
Zest of 1/2 lemon
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
½ lemon, cut into wedges

Directions:
Position a rack in the upper third of an oven and preheat to 450°F.

Snap off the tough stem ends from the asparagus spears and discard. Arrange the spears in a baking dish.

In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, garlic and lemon zest. Brush the asparagus evenly with the oil, turning the spears to coat well, and season generously with salt and pepper. Arrange the lemon wedges around the asparagus.

Bake until the asparagus is tender and just turning golden, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the asparagus to a warmed serving platter and drizzle with the pan juices.

I love chocolate, I love cherries, and I love muffins - so clearly, this was a recipe for me. Today was my first day of third year (read: really long, boring orientation day) so yesterday I decided to make these for my breakfast this week. The recipe is from Williams Sonoma, and was originally created for making heart-shaped muffins in a silicone pan. Since I don’t have a pan like that, I decided to adapt the recipe for a regular muffin pan. I increased the baking time so they would be cooked through and also increased the baking temperature so that the muffins would rise more than in the picture on the WS website. I had one for breakfast this morning and it was delicious. Below is the recipe with my adaptations for a batch of regular-sized muffins.

Chocolate Cherry Muffins
Ingredients:
6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
6 tbs. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2/3 cup dried cherries, chopped if desired

Directions:
Preheat an oven to 350º F. Line a muffin pan with muffin cups or grease wells.

In a small heatproof bowl, combine the chocolate and butter. Set the bowl over but not touching simmering water in a small saucepan and melt the chocolate and butter, stirring occasionally, until smooth and blended. Let cool slightly.

In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the egg, sugar and vanilla until light in color and doubled in volume. Whisk in the chocolate mixture and then the flour mixture just until combined. Stir in the dried cherries. Divide the batter evenly among the wells of the prepared pan and smooth the tops. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 25-30 minutes.

Makes 7-8 muffins.

My one week “off” between boards and the start of third year has been pretty busy so far, and as a result I have not had much opportunity to cook or bake. Today I finally made myself a little free time, and I decided to make these cookies because I’ve been dying to make them ever since I saved the recipe. They are just as wonderful as I thought they would be! Normally I am not a cookie dough eater, but the batter for these was so good that I definitely had a couple of bites I saved this recipe from a cooking message board, and unfortunately I don’t remember who posted it so I can’t give credit here. This is a great recipe, and I wouldn’t change a thing. My only tip is that these cookies have a fine line between just perfectly baked and a bit crispy, so watch them carefully. After the first batch was a little more brown than I like, I baked the rest on the lower oven rack and that helped a lot.

Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
yield - about 6 dozen cookies

Ingredients:
3 eggs, well beaten
1 cup dried cranberries
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 ½ cup flour
½ tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups oatmeal
1 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine eggs, dried cranberries and vanilla and let stand for 1 hour, covered with plastic wrap.

Cream together butter and sugars. Add flour, salt, cinnamon and soda to sugar mixture. Mix well. Blend in egg-cranberry mixture and oatmeal. Dough will be stiff. Fold in the white chocolate chips. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto un-greased cookie sheet or roll in small balls and flatten slightly on cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.

This past Saturday my youngest brother Steven graduated from high school. We are all so proud of him. He is a really wonderful guy, and I love him like crazy! It seems like just yesterday I was giving him “tickle torture” and now he’s a high school grad!!! We didn’t have an open house or anything because our family is pretty low-key, but I still wanted to do something to honor his accomplishment, so I decided to bake him a graduation cake. (Note: please excuse the tiny crack that was created during transport…oops!)

Our high school colors were maroon and gold (GO COUGARS!) so I wanted to incorporate those into the cake. My What’s Cooking buddy Jessica had the brilliant idea of doing a red velvet cake - perfect! I made the red velvet cake and frosting recipes from her blog, and then decorated with store bought frosting using my fabulous Williams Sonoma mechanical pastry bag. I achieved the maroon and gold I was going for with Wilton icing colors. You can buy these at Michael’s individually or as a set. These are a great thing to have around for baking and decorating. Per the instructions on their website, I used burgundy as the base of the red icing and then added red to give it a more maroon hue. For the gold, I used only the golden yellow. The cake and frosting recipes are below. I didn’t make any alterations in the cake recipe. With the frosting, I omitted the nuts as usual, and I only softened the butter and cream cheese in the microwave before beating as opposed to melting in a saucepan. I think this helped the frosting have a thicker consistency.

Red Velvet Cake
Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 tsp white vinegar
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 tsp baking soda
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
5/8 ounce bottle red food coloring

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line the bottom of two 9-inch round cake pans with parchment paper. Cream the eggs, sugar, oil and vinegar. Sift the cake flour, baking soda, and cocoa together. Add the flour mixture to the creamed ingredients while beating. Slowly add the buttermilk. While still beating, add the vanilla and the food coloring. Pour into prepared cake pans and bake for about 25 minutes. Press lightly; if the layers are spongy, then the cake is done. Frost the cooled layers, assemble and frost the top and sides. Serves 12 to 14.

Red Velvet Cake Frosting
Ingredients:
1(8 ounce) package cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
1 (1 pound) box confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
Combine the cream cheese and butter in a small mixing bowl and soften in the microwave. Add the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla and mix well. If the frosting becomes too thick, add a little milk. Frost one 8-inch or 9-inch layer cake.

CELEBRATION TIME!!! It’s official, I have completed Step 1 of the USMLE, aka “the boards”. This is a wonderful feeling, but the past three weeks leading up to this have not been so wonderful. I have been studying as much as my brain could handle, and cooking has been one of my main stress relievers. Since yesterday was the last day before the exam, I tried to just relax and think about other things, and denial worked wonders I also decided to keep myself busy by baking something for a healthy test day breakfast. I’m glad I did - this was a very yummy way to start my day!

This recipe is from Cooking Light, a pretty good resource for healthy recipes. I am not the biggest fan of their ideas about healthy eating. I believe much more in mindfully eating regular meals rather than having to constantly use fat-free, calorie-free, etc. ingredients and often very small portion sizes. Regardless, this is a great recipe. My only changes were that I accidentally forgot the orange rind and I used regular strawberry yogurt instead of fat-free - yogurt already has almost no fat as it is! Also, the original recipe suggests cutting the round of dough into 12 slices. I ended up only cutting 8 slices because 12 slices would have created very tiny portions. One reviewer on Cooking Light suggested that these would probably be great substituting other flavors of yogurt and fruit, and I think she is right.

Strawberry Yogurt Scones
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
½ cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
¾ cup diced strawberries
2/3 cup strawberry yogurt
3 tbsp. butter, melted
½ tsp. grated orange rind
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
cooking spray
2 tsp. sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°. Combine flours, ½ cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Combine strawberries, yogurt, butter, orange rind and egg white; add to flour mixture, stirring until just moist.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. With hands well floured, knead the dough four times. Pat into an 8” circle on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Cut into 8 wedges. Sprinkle with 2 tsp. sugar. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.