"Al Gore is a slacker and I made apricot pie"

My internet was goofy all day yesterday and finally went totally down today. "They" said it was a tower down because of the storm.

I blame Al Gore. I mean, if he invented the darn thing, you'd think he'd keep it going!

But oh no, he's too busy going all over the place trying to make everything better for our planet. Hey Al, first things first, ok pal??? You can't make the environment better if we can't email all our friends to stop buying Dixie cups!!!

I could read email on my Blackberry, but I cannot, for the life of me, type on those itty bitty keys very fast, so I couldn't communicate. I'm back up, which is great, because I'm kinda addicted to cyberspace. I mean, what is the purpose of life, if you can't forward jokes???

For this week’s “Papa Dale Pie Project”, I’ve made an apricot pie. Now, I was stumped on how the heck I was going to make an apricot pie, with no fresh apricots – even though my Dad said canned ones would “be fine”. It didn’t sound likely, in fact it sounded kinda horrid. So I decided to call on the experts….the wonderful Norita Solt, who has won something like 2 zillion ribbons in the Iowa state fair over the years. She had some very good ideas and also very generously contacted Louise Piper, another very proficient prize-winning pie baker, who had a simple recipe using canned apricots. Bakers - the most amazingly generous chemists in the world. Thank you, ladies – you’ll made the world’s foremost pie expert (my Dad) very happy!

I'll take it to him tomorrow morning...I know it will be wonderful.

Louise Piper’s Apricot Pie

Pastry for a 9” two-crust pie
½ cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
¼ teaspoon salt
3 – 15 oz. cans apricot halves, well drained and cut up a bit
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons butter

Line a pie plate with bottom crust.

Combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a large bowl. Fold in cut, drained apricots and lemon juice.

Pour into pie shell. Dot apricots with pieces of butter. Cover top with pastry (either lattice style or cut vents in top) and crimp edges. Bake at 375 for 40 – 45 minutes or until nicely browned.

Cook’s Notes: I did add a scant teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg to the sugar mixture. After I drained the apricots, I used kitchen shears to cut the apricots a bit smaller. I also patted them dry as possible with paper towels, so as not to be too mushy. I brushed the top crust with a little milk mixed with a dash of vanilla, then sprinkled granulated sugar over the top. I also needed to cover the crust edges with strips of foil (I use the “quick release” foil so it won’t stick!) to avoid over browning. Those store-bought tin pie edge covers never work for me. I like to cut 4 or 5 foil strips, about 4 inches in length and 2 inches wide, and make my own. Way better.

"Focaccia"

When I am feeling under the weather, (which I am, can’t you hear me whining from here????) I want to make bread. There’s something about the softness of the flour, the warmth of the kitchen, the smell of baking…it’s so comforting. Even kneading helps! Of course, I’m spreading all my germs all over everything, but maybe the baking killed them. Who knows? Anyway, I also hooked up my Bose speakers (finally) to the stereo and I recommend kneading bread to “GusGus”.
I’m just sayin’….you should CHECK OUT THESE GUYS!

I haven’t made my Focaccia in a while – I used to make it every week when all the kids were home. The little savages would eat all of it in about an hour. It’s extremely easy and like all bread recipes, lets you attend to other important things while the dough is rising or resting. I mean, I did, like, 10 Sudoku puzzles!

Additions to the dough are up to you. I almost always add sautéed garlic and chopped chives. The toppings - you can go crazy….since there are 4 breads to a batch, you can do something a little different on each one. Today one had rosemary and sea salt, one had sliced tomatoes and finely grated Pecorino Romano, one had just the cheese, and one had thinly sliced shallots. Be sure to use a fruity olive oil for the brushing…makes a big difference. And I always sprinkle my breads with sea salt after baking. But I’m a salt freak. If I could have a salt lick in my living room, I would. Moo.

Focaccia

Makes 4 flat rounds

1 tablespoon dry yeast
4 cups warm water (we’re talking baby bottle warm)
3 tablespoons olive oil
About 6 cups bread flour OR 2 cups whole wheat flour and 3 cups bread flour
1 ½ tablespoons coarse kosher salt
GOOD extra virgin olive oil for brushing Focaccia

1. Fill a large mixing bowl with hot water. Let stand for a few minutes, then pour off water. Add the 4 cups warm water to bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and let stand for 5 minutes.
2. Stir in the olive oil
3. Add half (3 cups ) of the flour and stir until it is all incorporated. Add salt and any additions you wish (see notes below).
4. Beat the batter (at this point, it’s like a thick pancake batter) until dough is elastic and grabs the spoon when you lift it. Stir in more flour to make a soft dough and mix until mixing becomes difficult.
5. Cover bowl with damp towel or plastic wrap and place in warm spot – let rise until doubled.
6. Sprinkle dough with handful of flour, enough to remove the stickiness on the surface.
Punch down dough, deflating it. Pour dough out of bowl onto a well floured surface. It will be pretty sticky, so cover your hands with flour and use a light tough. Cut (I use a dough scraper to do this) into 4 pieces. Knead each piece until dough is homogenous, adding more flour as necessary to keep surface dry and not so sticky. Maintain a soft dough and avoid the temptation to add more flour. Dust each piece lightly with flour, and set aside for about 15 minutes, to allow the dough to relax.
7. Preheat your oven now, to 400 degrees. Prepare 2 baking sheets by generously oiling them with olive oil. When ready, place 2 pieces of dough onto each baking sheet, pat and gently stretch each piece of dough into a disk, about 1 inch thick. Brush generously with olive oil. Let rise until puffy, 15-30 minutes.
8. If you have chosen to do so, sprinkle dough with toppings. Then dimple the dough with your fingertips. Brush tops with olive oil again. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until browned (check the bottoms too!) If baking both sheets in same oven, switch positions halfway through baking.



9. After breads are removed from oven, brush once again with olive oil and sprinkle with coarse sea salt, if desired.

*If you are adding garlic or onion into the dough, sauté first in the olive oil, let cool, then add when oil is to be stirred in. Other additions could be finely minced fresh rosemary or sage, freshly grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese, or pieces of dried tomato in oil.
* For toppings, sprinkle dough before you bake with one or more of the following…very thinly sliced onions or shallots, crumbed sage or rosemary leaves, finely minced garlic, Parmesan cheese, freshly ground black pepper, sea salt, thinly sliced, seeded tomatoes.

The picture below is one I took of a huge hawk sitting on my tree, outside my upstairs bedroom window yesterday. He was bedraggled and wet from the storm. I went outside to talk to him, but he didn't have much to say. He was pretty miserable, I think. So I got him a hot dog and put it below the tree. I think he liked it. Isn't he beautiful??

"Love, Honor, and WHAT!?!?

The Scene: A dark and rainy day. A man. A woman. Standing in the kitchen. The man is restless, talking, hungry. The woman is listening with her usual good cheer and patience. She is sniffling, hair in a deranged ponytail, and in her robe, because she has been fighting a cold for a couple of days. But she gazes with adoration at the man.

He: “So, when you are going to make that beef stuff again???”

She: (with a light background of harp music and chirping birds) “Why, darling, whatever do you mean?”

He: “You know! That stew that woman, uh, what’s-her-name, makes? Bare Feet Princess? Whatever food show you watch all the time – the really good meat stew! Come on, that stuff is good! I’m really hungry!”

She: (cute little clouds of happiness and rainbows surrounding her angelic face) “Why sweetheart, I think who you mean is, “The Barefoot Contessa” and you probably are remembering the "Beef Bourguignon"! I’ve made that a number of times and you loved it!”

He: “Yeah. Whatever. Make that.”

She: (tiny feathers of angel wings sprouting from her shoulders) “Why, my pumpkin, I would be so honored to prepare that for you! Shall I get you a beer and rub your feet before I begin? And then, while you’re napping on the couch with a bag of Fritos on your stomach, I’ll start a load of laundry and then I’ll run to the supermarket in this pouring rain to get all the ingredients and I will also get you some hunting magazines, 12 Snicker bars, and some Slim Jims – is that ok, my peach popsicle??”

Background noise of flying wooden spoon hitting a soft surface and then....a yowl.

Fade to the man and woman walking into Olive Garden, mid-afternoon. Man is looking a bit....under the weather. He is holding umbrella over the woman’s head and mumbling.
The woman glances up and smiles ever so sweetly. He holds the door open for her. They disappear into the restaurant. (Hallelujah chorus in the background.)

For all you kitchen saints out there, I offer this insanely delicious Beef Bourguignon recipe from Ina Garten. (from the book below) This is such a pleasure to make and serve…it really deserves a…very appreciative audience. If you get my drift.

Ina would never put up with any husband nonsense, I just know it. She’d just go out to dinner with one of her decorator pals.

“Beef Bourguignon – Ina Garten (The Barefoot Contessa)”

Serves 6

1 tablespoon good olive oil
8 ounces dry cured center cut applewood smoked bacon, diced
2 ½ pounds chuck beef, cut into 1-inch cubes
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 pound carrots, sliced diagonally into 10inch chunks
2 yellow onions, sliced
2 teaspoons chopped garlic (2 cloves)
½ cup Cognac
1 bottle good dry red wine such as Cote du Rhone or Pinot Noir
2 cups beef broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature, divided
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 pound frozen whole onions
1 pound fresh mushrooms, stems discarded, caps thickly sliced.

For serving:
Country bread or Sour Dough bread toasted or grilled and rubbed with garlic clove.
½ cup chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Add the bacon and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is lightly browned. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon to a large plate.

Dry the beef cubes with paper towels and then sprinkle them with salt and pepper. In batches in single layers, sear the beef in the hot oil for 3 to 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Remove the seared cubes to the plate with the bacon, and continue searing until all the beef is browned. Set aside.

Toss the carrots, and onions, 1 tablespoon of salt and 2 teaspoons of pepper in the fat in the pan, and cook for 10 – 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, just until the onions are lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minutes. Add the Cognac, stand back, and ignite with a match to burn off the alcohol. Put the meat and bacon back into the pot with the juices. Add the bottle of wine plus enough beef broth to almost cover the meat. Add the tomato paste and thyme. Bring to a simmer, cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and place it in the oven for about 1 ¼ hours or until the meat and vegetables are very tender when pierced with a fork.

Combine 2 tablespoons of butter and the flour with a fork, and stir into the stew. Add the frozen onions. Saute the mushrooms in 2 tablespoons of butter for 10 minutes until lightly browned and then add to the stew. Bring the stew to a boil on top of the stove, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Season to taste.

To serve, toast the bread in the toaster or oven. Rub each slice on 1 side with a cut clove of garlic. For each serving, spoon the stew over a slice of garlic bread, and sprinkle with parsley.

If I feel better tomorrow,

I'm making this. I may share.

"Leek and Cilantro Pesto Tart"

One of my very favorite books I have discovered this year is “At Mesa’s Edge” by Eugenia Bone. It is part cookbook, part memoir, but mostly a wise, witty, and warm look at how one very talented cook connects to a new land and way of life she had no idea she would fall in love with. Before she came West, Eugenia lived in NYC, writing and cooking for Gourmet, Food and Wine, Saveur, and other high-falutin’ publications. The last thing she dreamed she would be doing was chasing cows out of her garden, fly-fishing, and picking wild mushrooms.

Her husband fell in love with and bought a small ranch in western Colorado and before she knew it she was renovating an old ranch house, wrestlin’ skunks, and trying to figure out how to live “out west”. It’s a very enjoyable read, particularly because she is willing and able to change her perceptions and adapt to the regional way of raising food, hunting game, and getting along with the neighbors, some of whom are prickly characters. The recipes are wonderful. Today I made Eugenia’s very delicious “Leek and Cilantro Pesto Tart”. Get this book. Cook these recipes. You will be a better cook for it. It made me more determined to find my own place where I can fish in the morning, pick peppers from my garden in the afternoon, then sit on a porch and ponder the mountains in the evening. I’m working on it. My husband and I are searching for a small ranch ourselves.

In the meanwhile, I’ll just be jealous of Engenia and her tart.

“Leek and Cilantro Pesto Tart” by Eugenia Bone (from the book, “On Mesa’s Edge”)

4 large leeks (I needed to use 5) washed well and sliced into thin rounds (6 cups)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ - 1 teaspoon cold water, as needed
3 large egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
¼ cup pine nuts
¼ cup olive oil
1 (I used 3!) large garlic clove, peeled

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9 inch tart pan. (I used a rectangular tart pan – I love that shape!)

Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the leeks and cook until they are soft, about 15 minutes, stirring frequently to be sure they do not burn.

To make the pastry, cut the remaining 4 tablespoons butter into pieces and place in a food processor with the egg and flour. Pulse to blend until the dough forms a ball, or a lot of tiny soft balls, about 1 minute.. Add the water if the dough is not coming together. Wrap the dough in wax paper (I used plastic wrap) and refrigerate it for about 30 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and cream. Add the cooked leeks and salt and pepper to taste and combine.

In a food processor or blender, combine the cilantro, pine nuts, olive oil, and garlic until the mixture is a nubbly (What a great word!) puree. Add salt to taste.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough (I let mine warm up a bit before rolling) by pressing in the center of the ball with your rolling pin and slowly pressing outward in all directions. (Or the shape to fit your tart pan – mine was long and narrow) Place the dough into the pan, and press gently to fit. Pour in the leek mixture. Spread the cilantro pesto over the top as best you can (it doesn’t have to cover the entire top).

Place the tart on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes or until the top is just beginning to brown and looks puffy and a knife inserted in the middle comes out dry. Allow the tart to sit for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

"A Day Late and a Pie Short"

Did you know that yesterday was NATIONAL PIE DAY????




And, being the goober I am, I FORGOT to bring my Dad a pie when I went to visit yesterday. There was hell to pay. To make amends, I took him out to lunch and bought him a ”Cinnamon Brandied Bread Pudding with Blackberries” at his favorite lunch restaurant, Crackers. It was a pretty awesome dessert. Even though it wasn't pie. On National Pie day. I should be flailed with a pastry brush.



AND he made sure I understood that next week, I was to bring a pie - an apricot pie. Apricots? In January? But he said he’d take “canned” apricots. Ok, anybody got any ideas for canned apricot pie? I am so pie-challenged.

This morning as I was dancing around singing Al Green and fantasizing that Randy Jackson called me, “dawg”, it occurred to me that I haven’t yet thanked Jenn "The Leftover Queen" for including me on the most awesome Foodie Blogroll! I mean, I could get lost for DAYS reading all the amazing blogs and being mesmerized by such talent. I have to put some sort of limit on myself, or I won’t get any pie makin’ done! But do check out the Foodie Blogroll, over on the right, down a bit….there are some seriously great cooks and writers sharing a wealth of knowledge and expertise. Thank you, Jenn!

A weird thing happened on my deer hunt in October.

Let me preface this story with some self-defense. I respect anybody’s distaste/dislike for hunting, but am mystified by those who eat slaughterhouse beef shot full of hormones then angrily judge my choice to shoot my own meat when possible.

Anyway, on this hunt I shot a very nice buck, but I’ve never seen one still in velvet that late in the season. Usually deer shed their velvet late summer, before the rut, and by the time hunting season rolls around, their antlers are completely devoid of any velvet. However, this buck was in full velvet, like it was still summer! We had never seen anything like that! At first, I thought “global warming – dang, if Al wasn’t right”! However, when I spoke to the taxidermist and asked if he knew what was going on, he had an interesting answer for me. Essentially, I shot a gay deer. His testicles never really…hmm…got busy, and he wasn’t at all interested in female deer. So his antlers never got the signal to shed, hence to rut and date the ladies.




I’m probably going to hear from GLAAD, aren’t I?

But meat is meat. I am a non-gender-biased cook! I have a freezer full of the best organic venison! Beautiful roasts, steaks, ground meat for all kinds of dishes, spicy jerky…the purest, healthiest protein available. The only thing better (to me) is fresh elk meat, but I didn’t fill my elk tag this year.



“Ol’ What’s His Name” has been hounding me to make a venison stew of some kind, something different than my usual chili. I love a potato soup, so I came up with this soupy stew. It’s definitely one of those stove-top concoctions that is best on a cold winter night, with warm biscuits and then baked apples for dessert. If you don’t have venison, ground beef would work just fine.

“Alternative Life-Style Venison Stew with Potatoes and Crispy Leeks”




6 large red potatoes, unpeeled, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 qt. beef stock (you may want to throw some salt in there, if the stock isn’t salty enough)
4 slices bacon, cut into ½ inch pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 large leeks, washed well, trimmed and thinly sliced (white part only)
1 small box button mushrooms, sliced
1 pound ground venison (or ground beef)
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
1 teaspoon salt (or more…venison needs salt!)
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup whipping cream


1. Place cut potatoes and beef stock into large stock pot. Bring to boil then lower heat slightly and simmer until potatoes are fork tender, about 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, while potatoes are cooking, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add bacon and sauté, stirring often, until bacon is crispy. Remove with slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.
3. Add olive oil to skillet and then add leeks. Sauté, stirring often until leeks are just turning brown and starting to crisp. Stir in the mushrooms and continue sautéing until mushrooms are just brown on edges. Remove leeks/mushrooms to plate, cover with foil to keep warm.
4. Add venison to skillet, crumbling with wooden spoon and sauté until meat is well-browned all over. Add the allspice and sage, stir. Add vegetables back into skillet, along with the crispy bacon, and stir to combine. Cook until potatoes are tender, and then add meat and vegetables to stockpot.
5. Bring soup to simmer, add salt and pepper and correct seasonings if necessary. Add cream and continue to cook until soup is back to simmer.
6. Ladle into bowls and serve immediately.


"Say, honey, gay deer isn't half bad!"

I don’t know if this is as much a recipe as an experiment that ended well.

I was at a wedding shower yesterday and had too many truffles, cupcakes, hot cocoa (cute idea…several types of cocoa with an assortment of toppings which was nice, because the shower was outside and it was chilly) so once I got home I was in the mood for something savory and cheesy. My husband is on some sort of nutty health kick (which means he’ll be done with it in a couple of days as soon as I make a dessert he loves), so it was just my daughter and I. I had some nice baby Brussels sprouts, so I knew I wanted to use them. Added a carton of fresh spinach tortellini, a little Alfredo sauce (from a Bertolli jar) and some slivers of prosciutto (I need to talk to someone about my obsession with prosciutto). I LOVE roasted Brussels sprouts – to me, that’s only way to eat them. I wondered about the taste combinations, but, wow….the Brussels sprouts with the Alfredo sauce was GOOD. I think the slightly sulfuric taste of the sprouts mellowed by the creamy Alfredo sauce worked! Next time, I think I’d use plain pasta, like a penne, because I don’t like it when water collects in the little folds of tortellini – even with thorough draining, a little leaks out and spoils that cheesy bite.

My daughter really liked this, and she’s a tough critic. When I stand in the kitchen and say..."hmmmm, I wonder...", she usually takes off.

So sometimes, rummaging around the refrigerator pays off. It beats a bag of Cheetos!

"Roasted Baby Brussel Sprouts with Pasta and Alfredo Sauce"

About 2 cups of baby brussel sprouts
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 small carton spinach tortellini
½ cup Alfredo Sauce (I like the Bertolli brand of jarred sauces very much)
A handful of prosciutto, slivered
A little finely grated Pecorino Romano

1. Preheat over to 400 degrees. Line a small roasting pan with foil. Trim and halve the brussel sprouts. Place in lined pan and drizzle with the olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Shake pan to coat with oil. Roast in preheated oven until sprouts are turning brown on edges, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. Add salt, then tortellini. Cook according to package directions, usually about 6 minutes. Drain well.
3. Microwave the Alfredo Sauce (covered…you know what happens if you don’t!) in a small bowl for 40 seconds. Stir, and repeat until hot.
4. Place drained tortellini on a plate and top with sprouts. Spoon sauce over the top. Pile slivers of proscuito on top and sprinkle with Peconrino Romano. Serve at once.

Serves 2.

"The Fix Everything Cake"

This is the “family birthday cake”, “fall down and scrap both knees cake”, “sorry my kid put bb’s through your window cake”, “I got a new pair of shoes cake”, and our family’s general all-around “make things a whole lot better cake”.

It’s a variation on the classic Italian Cream Cake, which is found in about a zillion cookbooks and websites. It’s pretty foolproof, delicious, easy to freeze, and wonderful to give as a gift. I hope you get a chance to bake and enjoy it. It might even get you out of trouble!

Coconut-Hazelnut Three Layer Cake

Serves: a lot of people

For Cake:
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup Crisco
2 cups granulated sugar
5 large eggs, seperated
2 teaspoons hazelnut syrup (the kind you use in coffee drinks)
2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh buttermilk
2 cups flaked coconut
½ cup chopped hazelnuts

For Frosting:
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 8 oz package cream cheese
2 teaspoons hazelnut syrup
1 box powdered sugar
½ cup flaked coconut, lightly toasted*
¼ - ½ cup chopped hazelnuts, lightly toasted*

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 3 round 8” cake pans by either using parchment paper or greasing lightly and flouring the pans.
2. In large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, Crisco, and sugar.
3. Beat in the egg yolks and hazelnut syrup.
4. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
5. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the fresh buttermilk to the sugar/butter/egg yolk mixture. Mix well.
6. Stir in the coconut and nuts.
7. In deep cold bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold into cake batter carefully but completely.
8. Pour batter into prepared cake pans. Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until golden brown and springy in the middle of cakes.
9. Cool for 10 minutes in pan, and then remove cakes from pan to cool completely on racks.

To prepare frosting:
1. Place melted butter into medium size mixing bowl. Add the cream cheese and work into melted butter with a wooden spoon. After incorporating butter and cream cheese, switch to electric beater and add the hazelnut syrup and powdered sugar. Beat until glossy and smooth.

To assemble cake:
1. Place first layer, rounded side down, on cake platter or plate. Frost sides and top lightly. Repeat with second layer and third. Frost cake thickly up the sides and on top. Frosting will be soft and gloppy, giving the cake a definitely “rustic” finish! This ain’t fondant stuff! Top cake with the toasted coconut and hazelnuts, sprinkling some of the nuts around the bottom of cake.

* I toast the coconut and nuts (separately) in a large skillet over medium-low heat, shaking pan to keep browning even. Watch carefully, so they won’t burn! Remove from heat when exact browning color is achieved, and turn onto plate to cool.




I made this cake last night because our son is home for a short leave from his Marine base…he leaves for Iraq in a few weeks. I think he’ll probably eat this whole cake by himself.

I’m calling this one “my son is my hero cake, so that’s why I’m crying cake”.

Mac, with one of his littlest cousins, Megan