Visitors for the weekend arriving in less than an hour! Perfect timing as I just took this Browned-Butter Whisky Apple Pie out of the oven. I have to say my flat smells a-mazing!
Monthly Archives
March 2018
Did you know that this week has been National Chocolate Chip Cookie Week? No? Well, frankly me neither until a few days ago, but it seemed like a good excuse to make these mini (bite sized) mini-chocolate chip cookies. Pretty standard recipe but always good. And because they are small, they bake up quickly. Enjoy!
So how many people hate making roux? I’m fine with making blonde roux, mostly used the thicken things, but when it comes to making penny-roux, the deep dark, meant-for-flavor type of roux used to make things like gumbo, I either lose patience (because it takes so long) or I mess it up by burning the whole thing. Either way, it isn’t my favorite thing to do, so when America’s Test Kitchen demonstrated a dry roux (by placing plain old flour in the oven for an hour), I was really happy. That photo isn’t of cinnamon, it’s flour! And it turns out to work well, at least in making this Chicken and Andoille Sausage Gumbo. At the end of the day, it takes about the same amount of time (2 hours), but you can also toast the flour weeks or even a month or two ahead of time. Game changer! (Oh, and in addition to the technique, the Gumbo is pretty dang tasty too!
Crumble bars are definitely my “go to” dessert (sort of like variations on the blueberry muffin are my go to breakfast item). I think that there must be at least a dozen crumble bar recipes on this site at this point. They are just so eary and the variations are endless. Sometimes I add nuts. Sometimes I add oatmeal. There is always fruit. They are always yummy.
Just catching up with posting this, even though I made it a few days ago. Last weekend was a miserable rainy and cold one (though not snow!) which was a good excuse to make this Bacon Beef and Beer Pot Pie. True winter comfort food. Rich and hearty and warms the soul. If you don’t fancy the pie part, just make the stew and serve with potatoes or egg noodles or Spätzle. The recipe makes enough to feed the entire extended family but it’s a great make-ahead meal and freezes well (either just the stew, or already assemble into the pot pie).