Pear Pie with Red Wine and Rosemary

It's been a while folks! But we have not forgotten to eat, don't worry. I've tried to give the blog a fresh look for our fresh start, and here is a little something to serve as evidence that we've been cooking: a pie so delicious I made it twice in one month:  Pear Pie with Red Wine and Rosemary - discovered in Bon Appétit this last fall.

The crust technique was a revelation, and the filling was amazing. Seriously let's be honest, reduced red wine is never a bad idea for a dessert, and it's particularly delicious with pears.

This pie helped me survive the winter. 

I love this pie.

xo, ~Shauna

Pumpkin Banana Mousse Tart

We had a very lovely Thanksgiving meal this year (as always), and for dessert I made this Pumpkin tart.  I have made it before and it is quite tasty and more exciting than your generic pumpkin pie.  It requires only 10 minutes of baking for the crust, otherwise the rest is done on the stove top and chilling in the refrigerator.  The orange zest, banana and spices in the mousse are quintessential fall flavors, and they go so nicely with the pumpkin.  This tart is definitely something you could make for dessert after any meal since the pumpkin isn't overwhelming and it's much lighter than the dense pumpkin pies we are used to.  Try it while it's fall out there!  I promise you will love it!

We passed on the whipped cream topping - and I don't think it really needs it.

Our Official Frankenstorm Cocktail: the Pumpkinhead!

This is a delicious cocktail that we discovered a couple years ago when we did a class at Murray's. It was a class on pairing cheeses with cocktails, and this was one of our favorites of the night. It was paired with a nice "Spring Brook Tarentaise" - a French Abondonce style artisan cheese from Thistle Hill Farm. To be honest I don't know what any of that means, it's just in my notes from the class, which was in 2009. 

Anyway I'm sure I loved all the cheese but the important take-away was this drink. It's so good you guys!!! Perfect for weathering a big storm. It's pumpkin beer season, and pumpkin butter has been available at the farmer's market for the last few weeks... but neither will be around much longer, so get some soon if you want to try this out! We're going to stock up so we can make this tasty drink again, perhaps at Christmas time. 

xo ~Shauna :)

Pumpkinhead Cocktail

Recipe for 1 drink:

- 3/4 oz pumpkin butter

- 3/4 oz ginger simple syrup*

- 1/2 oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice

- 1 oz vanilla vodka (I didn't have any this time, so I just used regular vodka with a dash of vanilla extract!)

- 2 dashes orange bitters

- chilled pumpkin beer (I used Post Road Pumpkin Ale - a seasonal release from Brooklyn Brewery - this was the one we had in the class)

- orange twist to garnish

Shake all ingredients except beer well over ice. Strain into the bottom of a pilsner glass. Top with beer. The beer should comprise about 2/3 of the final volume of the cocktail. Twist orange rind over drink to release oils. 

*To make ginger simple syrup, add 3/4 cup chopped, peeled ginger to two cups simple syrup in saucepan. Simmer for five minutes. Strain and discard ginger.

Radicchio Risotto

Folks, while we were hunkering down for Frankenstorm last night, I made this yummy risotto!

It's one of the recipes I hoarded during my year abroad in Austria, back in 1996. I learned to cook a lot of Italian delights that year from my South Tyrolean friends. Risotto is so easy (if you don't mind stirring at the stove for 20 minutes or so) and so hearty and comforting on a stormy night!

There are so many different types to make, but this time of year I really enjoy this earthy radicchio version. Here's the recipe for you....

Risotto al Radicchio
serves 4

5 or 6 cups vegetable stock
6 tbsp butter
1 onion chopped
1 head radicchio, cut into strips
2 cups risotto rice
1/2 glass white wine
4 tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated
salt

Bring stock to a boil. In another pot, cook the onion in half of the butter, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Stir in the radicchio, then stir in the rice and cook, stirring, until the grains are coated in butter. Pour in the wine and cook until it has evaporated. Add a ladle full of the hot stock and cook, stirring, until it has been absorbed. Continue adding the stock and stirring until each ladle full is absorbed. This will take about 20 minutes. When the rice is tender, season with salt to taste, stir in the remaining butter and the Parmesan and serve.

Enjoy!

Chicken with Olives and Pine Nuts

I am doing an honorary post for Mommy.  She made this for dinner last night and came into my room and was like "come take a picture of this chicken so we can show it to Shauna and put it on the blog".  So I did,  and now I am posting the recipe as well.  This recipe is from Lidia Bastianich and it involves really simple ingredients but it is so tasty, and literally finger-lickin' good!  With so few ingredients I'm sure that this dish is super easy to prepare, and I'm sure Mom will attest to that in a comment very soon.

Mom served it up with some creamy polenta and sauteed green beans. Yummy!!!!

Stuffed Shells with Fennel, Radicchio and Cheese

This recipe was on the cover of last month's Food & Wine magazine and whatever it was I had to make it!  When I saw what the ingredients were I knew that I would LOVE it.  I am a huge fan of radicchio and fennel, and who doesn't love cheese and pasta of any kind!?  This was easy to make, although I used a mandoline which made the job faster and way easier than doing the slicing by hand - so I highly suggest that.  I also made a homemade tomato sauce that you could of course just replace with your favorite jarred sauce to make it even faster.

The mix of fontina, ricotta, and the veggies was so nice, and had a very earthy flavor that was perfect.  This dish is great for fall and days when you want comfort food!  I served it with Italian chicken sausages and salad.  I will definitely make this dish again and so should you!

Apple Cider Cream Pie

For Thanksgiving I volunteered to make a pie after I saw this recipe in the November Food & Wine.  I couldn't resist!  It is really quite easy to make as far as pies go.  The only trouble I had was with stretching the dough to fit my pie dish.  So it shrank a little while cooking.  But the combination of the buttery dough, with the slightly tart apple cider custard, and the sweet cinnamon-y whipped cream on top was a nice combination.

Thanksgiving Pops!

I took these to a birthday party over the weekend, and since it is almost Turkey Day I made them using pumpkin and decorated them with cute fall sprinkles.

All I did was make a yellow cake and added to it one can of pumpkin puree, a little vanilla extract, and some pumpkin spice.  Then once that was baked and cooled I mixed in some cream cheese frosting that I made using 1 stick of butter, 8oz of cream cheese and powdered sugar to taste.  I even added a little pumpkin spice to the frosting too!  Then I dipped them all in melted white chocolate and decorated them with sprinkles that Shauna sent to me for my birthday!  If you look closely they are little gingerbread men and leaves.  So cute!

I think these are the best tasting cake pops I have made thus far. They were definitely a hit!

Pasta with Radiccio

Another beautiful ingredient at the farmers market right now: radiccio. Searching for something new to try with it, I found this great fall recipe for Pasta with Roasted Radiccio. You gotta try this it's so good! The roasted radiccio is SO yummy, it's bitterness perfectly complimented by the kalamata olives and pine nuts. The only thing I left out were the sun-dried tomatoes, which I'm not a huge fan of. I used fresh cherry tomatoes instead, and I thought they were perfect. We served it up with a little lean steak. Yum!

Cranberries!

I love cranberries! I've been getting them fresh at the farmers market, and I want to tell you about some delicious things I've made with them lately. First of all, this Pan-Roasted Pork Chop with Cranberries and Swiss Chard which I found on Epicurious is so good and super easy,.. I've made it twice in the last few weeks! This last time, we had a nice dry cider with it that really rounded out the lovely fall flavor profile:

Second, I made some really amazing Cranberry-Orange Scones. I used this recipe, also from Epicurious, but with a few changes. I used fresh cranberries instead of dried, and added a little extra sugar to account for the tartness, and replaced a bit of the buttermilk with some fresh squeezed orange juice. Also I cut them into 16 pieces instead of 8, because they would have been way too huge.

They were so yummy right out of the oven, and even better the next day after the flavors had time to merge further. I'm going to make them again very soon!

Heaven! i.e. Bacon Jam

I was introduced to this lovely sweet and savory gooey goodness by Margot.  She made it for a feast we had at Mom's house (I can't remember what for though) and it was soooooooo good, it blew my mind!  So of course I had to make it again!  And I will make it again and again and again!  It is really simple to make - all you need are these ingredients:

• 1 pound smoked bacon
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 medium brown onion sliced
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• Tabasco sauce (I used cayenne pepper)
• 1 cup coffee
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• Black pepper to taste
• extra water

Start by frying up the bacon in a dutch oven until crisp.  Transfer to another plate and when cool cut the bacon slices into 1 inch pieces.  Discard all but about 1-2 tablespoons of the rendered bacon fat (for a later use of course).  Add the onions and garlic to the pot and saute until softened.  Return the bacon to the pot and add the other ingredients except the water.

Simmer for about 2 hours, adding 1/4 cup of water every 30 minutes or so if it starts to look dry.  And be aware that the smell is going to permeate every inch of your house, and drive you crazy because the aromas are heavenly!

The above picture is after about 2 hours of cooking and it is done once all the liquid is gone and it is the sticky consistency of jam.  Let it cool for about 15 minutes and then process it in a food processor until it is smoother but not too smooth.

Then you can do whatever your little heart desires with it!  Eat it by the spoonfuls if you'd like - and you will! Here are a couple other ideas:

You can make some crostinis by slicing a baguette and toasting them in the oven until a little crispy and then slather some of your Bacon Jam right on them.

Or you can do like I did and make a pizza using the Bacon Jam as the sauce. I used a pre-made pizza dough from TJ's which I topped with some mozzarella, sliced red onions, and grated asiago cheese. I then put it in the oven for about 12 minutes until crispy. Then I topped the whole thing with arugula. Delicious delight!  

You gotta make this stuff mang!

Happy Halloweenie!!!!

These had white cake mixed with cream cheese frosting inside, and I used orange melt-aways with black sprinkles (from Shauna!) for the decorating.

I hope everyone has a spooky Halloween!!! :)

Oktoberfest!

A couple weeks ago, Jimmy and I had a little mini Oktoberfest at home. I made one of my favorite things that I learned how to make when I lived in Austria, which I used to make all the time but hadn't made in way too long... Käse Knödel! Knödel are traditional dumplings found in German and Austrian food; there are many different kinds: Käse Knödel, made with cheese; Speck Knödel, made with Tyrolian cured ham, Spinach Knödel, Liver Knödel, and more. Sometimes they are served in a soup, sometimes with meats and gravies. I love them so much! But my favorites are definitely the cheesy ones. We had them with our favorite tiny bratwursts from TJ's, and some yummy sauteed kale, and a good German beer.

Knödel are easy to make, and a good thing to do when you have bread that is a couple days old and has dried out (or you can just toast some in the oven). Cut the bread up into small cubes, then brown some butter and add that to the bread. Whisk 2 eggs with some milk and add to bread; add salt and pepper. Chop up a little onion and garlic, and some chopped fresh parsley, (and optional, a little bit of lemon zest and a pinch of nutmeg) add to mixture. Finally, add your cheese, chopped into small cubes, (cheese should be one that melts easily - I've always used Austrian or Swiss cheeses with a nice nutty flavor) and some flour to thicken it all up. The dough must be moist but not too sticky; adjust with flour and milk. Wet hands with cold water and roll the dough into round balls, about the size of a baseball. Drop into hot salted water (not boiling or they'll fall apart) and cook until done, 10-15 minutes.

I also made an Apple Strudel with chocolate sauce for dessert. It was tasty, but I don't think I'll make it again. It was pretty difficult to put together, and I'm not convinced it turned out right. However I did really enjoy making the filling:

Simmering star anise, cinnamon stick and vanilla bean in apple juice, then adding the apples and dried cherries... the smell really got me in the mood for yummy fall desserts!!! More to come!

CheOWda!

Yesterday I had kind of a rough day, but when I got home THIS was cooking on the stove and filling the apartment with delicious smells:

Jimmy had the day off for Rosh Hashanah, so he was a mommy and made me such a super yummy dinner. He made New England Fish Chowder, served with some nice sourdough... oh my goodness it was so hearty and rich. Here's the recipe he used. They were out of cod and haddock at Whole Foods so he used hake, which is basically the same. It was SO GOOD!!!!