Makin' a mince pie!

Okay, this mince pie doesn't have any meat in it, just pecans, apples, raisins, sugar and spices.  My dad spent a decade not eating mince pie because he thought there was meat in it.  Ten years of missing out on the goodness of this yummy pie.  This is The Husband's favorite and I make it for him every year during the holidays.

Here we go:

First the crust.  You'll need:

3 cups flour

3 tablespoons shortening 

(you can use lard if you like, but not bacon grease)

8 tablespoons butter

about 1/4 cup cold water

a big bowl and a pastry cutter, two forks or just your hands

Put the butter and shortening in with the flour.

Cut the fat into the flour with the cutter or whatever it is you're using.  I like to start with a pastry cutter and then finish with my fingers. In some older cookbooks you'll see the process referred to as "rubbing", meaning actually rubbing the fat and flour between your hands.  That doesn't work for me, but I'm probably doing it wrong. 

When it starts to look like Bisquik with lumps, you're just about there.  The fat should be worked through but the mixture shouldn't be fine.  This is one of those weird things where you just have to know how to do it through experimentation and practice, but once you get the hang of it you can do it in your sleep. 

Now, pour in about half the water.  Make your hand into a cup and start to scoop the water into the flour,  try to work the dough into a ball, adding more water as needed until you have succeeded in doing just that.  

The dough should just stick together and when you stick your thumb in it it should leave a hole. 

Wrap it up in plastic and let it hang out in the fridge for a couple of hours or until you need it.  Yes, that's Tab in my fridge because Tab is the most. 

Moving on to pie filling.

2 cups dark raisins

2 cups pecans

4 golden delicious apples

1 1/2 cups sugar 

(I used sugar in the raw because I can never remember if we have sugar or not. Generally, I guess wrong that we don't have sugar, then I buy more sugar and we end up with multiple bags of sugar.  Then I assume for a while that we do have sugar and don't buy any.  Turns out we didn't have any white sugar and there's got to be a LOT of money in it for me to even go into the parking lot of a grocery store the day before Thanksgiving so I used what I had on hand.)

4 tablespoons butter

3/4 cup apple juice

juice of one lemon and the zest of half of it

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

a generous sprinkle of cinnamon and whatever other spices you like (nutmeg, ground cloves, pumpkin pie spice.  Stuff like that)

Roughly chop up the pecans and raisins.

Peel, core and chop the apples.  Is it me or does the whole apple seems to be contemplating his fate? 

Put all the ingredients in a pot and put it over medium heat until it comes to a simmer.  Lower the heat and let it bubble until the liquid is almost all gone, the pot is almost dry and the nuts and fruits are coated in a thick, syrupy sauce.

It'll look like the photo above, expect the process to take between 40 minutes and an hour.   At this point you'll want to taste it and adjust the seasoning if you like.  Set it aside and let it cool.

Get your pastry crust out and split it into two equal parts.  Plop one down on a floured board and start to roll it out.  

Obviously, you're looking for a circle for your pie pan.  I like to take pieces from the uneven edges and move them to a different spot to change the shape, then keep rolling.  

Now that it's big enough to line the pan, roll it around the pin and then unroll it into the pie pan.   

Be sure to gently pat the dough all the way down into the bottom. Trim the edge or just smoosh it into a rim.

Repeat that process with the other piece of dough and put it on top of the filling that I should have told you to pour in.  I'm assuming you know to put the filling in.  

Cut steam vents in the top.  I get fancy-schmancy and make leaves and berries to decorate.

Pop this into a 400 degree oven for half and hour, then lower the heat to 350 and let it go another half an hour. 

Look!  A pie! Serve warm or keep it in the fridge for up to a week. 

As usual, get someone else to do the dishes.

See ya!

So, we're going to make a souffle.

Cheese Souffle!

Today, I made cheese souffle, which is really much easier than everyone thinks.  It's okay.  Don't be scared!

The recipe I used today is a variation on the one in Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child.  My mother-in-law sent me a pristine copy of the 1969 edition she found at a library fundraising sale.  I, of course, will dog-ear it and get food on it. But I think Julia would prefer to sign a book that's crusty and has obviously been used than one where the spine hasn't even been broken.  

Okay, here we go.  

Equipment you'll need:  A small pot, whisk, ramekins, rubber spatula, a larger bowl and something to whip egg whites with.  I use my Kitchenaid stand mixer to whip the egg whites because my children left my hand mixer in the yard and Gibson the Dog chewed it up. 

Ingredients are: 6 ounces of grated cheddar, about a 1/4 cup of parmesan, five eggs that will be separated, 3 tablespoons of butter, 3 tablespoons of flour, 1 cup of milk and salt and pepper to taste. 

First, you'll want to get your ingredients prepped and ready to go.  Separate your eggs, you need FOUR yolks and FIVE whites.  An easy way to do this is to scrub your hands clean and just crack an egg into your hand.  Let the whites run through your fingers until just the yolk is resting in your hand.  Place the yolk in one bowl and transfer the white to a third bowl. Yes, it's a lot of dishes but if you break part of a yolk into the whites while separating your last egg you'll be pissed and perhaps go to the store for more eggs.  The extra bowl is worth preventing that heartache. 

Rub butter inside the ramekins and then sprinkle with parmesan and get it all over the butter.  This is the same as greasing and flouring a baking pan. 

Get your cheese grated up and then preheat your oven to 400 degrees. 

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat, don't let it burn.  Because burned food isn't that tasty. 

Add in your flour and stir it all up until it's smooth.  Bring this up to a boil and keep stirring it so it won't brown.  This is a roux, a thickener added to liquid.  Since we're making a white sauce, we won't cook the roux until it gets a color.  Once the stuff has bubbled, cook and stir until you can't smell the flour anymore.  

Whisk in the milk then bring the whole thing up to a boil.  (Julia says add boiling milk to the roux, but I've been instructed that you add cold liquid to a hot roux.  If I were to add a hot liquid to a hot roux it would make my instructor's eyes itch, so I added cold milk. )Lower the heat and cook this until it gets thick, this shouldn't take very long.  If you were to add a quarter of an onion with half a bay leaf tacked onto it with a clove and let it simmer for about half an hour you'd have a bechamel sauce.  

At this point you'll add in the egg yolks one at a time.  Really whisk after you add in each egg yolk until they are all combined into the almost bechamel.  At this point, I stirred in half the shredded cheese and  let it melt. Set this aside to cool a little while.  

Whip the egg whites into stiff peaks.  They should hold their shape without any fold over.  

Transfer the egg yolk, sauce, cheese stuff to a big bowl and fold in about a third of the whites.  

Add the rest of the cheese and fold it in.  

Fold in the rest of the egg whites until there are no white streaks or pockets of whites.  Everything should be evenly distributed. 

Pour the eggy stuff carefully into the ramekins and put them into your oven.  You don't have to baby them too much, but don't slam the oven door or punch it or anything like that.  No violence against the souffle!  Watch an episode of Paranormal State on Netflix and then check on the souffles through the oven window.  Don't open the door!  

If they have puffed up and gotten brown you're ready for brunch!  These little ramekins get VERY hot so put them on a plate to serve them.  

The Greatest Daughter in the World loves these!  

Now, get someone else to do dishes.  

See ya!

Seafood terrine and raspberry mousse

We had some friends over last night so I can practice what I'm learning in school.

I made a seafood terrine and raspberry mousse.

Seafood Terrine first.

A terrine is a forcemeat cooked into a loaf shape and are usually served cold or at room temperature.  These can also be made from seafood or vegetables.  This one is made of scallops and shrimp.

You'll need

1 pound of bay scallops
1 1/2 pounds of shrimp, shelled and deveined
2 egg whites
1 egg
1 cup of cream

a loaf pan lined with plastic wrap and a baking dish large enough for the loaf pan to fit in
a food processor


First, you'll cut 1/2 pound of the scallops and 1/2 pound of the shrimp into bite size pieces and set them aside.

Next, place the rest of the shrimp and scallops into your food processor and zip them around until they are very fine and almost smooth.  Toss in the egg whites and the egg and process some more, the mixture should start to look like a puree, which it is.

Now, with the processor running,start to slowly pour in the cream.  You can add it all while it's running around in the food processor or you can add part and work the rest in by hand with a spatula.

Once it's been processed to the point where it's very smooth and creamy, you've made a mousseline!  You can use two spoons to shape it into little dumplings and poach them.

Since we're making a terrine we're going to take the shellfish we cut up earlier and fold it in to our mousseline.

Once that is done, you'll get your loaf pan ready.  Line it with plastic wrap, leaving enough to cover the entire surface of your terrine.  Be sure to get the wrap all the way down in the corners of the pan.

Pour the mixture into the pan, fold the wrap over and make sure it's all covered up.  Now, take another loaf pan and put it on top then put something heavy in that pan, this will ensure the terrine is smooth all around.  ( I used a box of salt wrapped up in foil, but cans or a brick or whatever will work.)

Let this rest in the fridge for a couple of hours.  Remove the top pan and place your terrine in a baking dish large enough to hold your loaf pan with space all the way around.

This is going to be baked in a water bath.  Meaning you'll pour water into the larger pan before you stick it in the oven.  Don't put water in the pan and then try to put it in the oven, put the pan in the oven first and then pour the water in.

Bake this at 300 degrees F for about an hour, or until the internal temperature is between 140 and 145.

Take it out of the oven, carefully unwrap the top and unmold the terrine onto a serving platter.  You'll slice this up and serve it warm.

Raspberry Mousse

For dessert I selected a raspberry mousse.

You'll need:

12 oz. package of raspberries.
1/4 cup of sugar
the juice of one lemon
one package of unflavored gelatin
3 cups of cream, whipped
more raspberries for garnish or to fold in

First, put the raspberries, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan and heat over a low flame until the berries turn to mush.  Pour this mixture through a sieve and push it through, you should be left with seeds and some pulp in the strainer.

While it's still warm, whisk in the gelatin.  Alternately, you can bloom the gelatin in a tablespoon of cold water and then whisk that in.  Let that sit for a few minutes.

Whip the cream until it holds a nice, soft peak.  Fold the cream into the raspberry stuff until it's completely combined.

Put it in the fridge and let it have some alone time.  After a few hours, you'll have a fluffy but scoopable bowl full of yummy.

I serve the mousse in champagne glasses.

See ya!