GUEST ENTRÉE ENTRY

 

Part 2 (to the Part 1 Meatball Recipe)

“The Sauce”

 

Ingredients

8oz pineapple chunks in juice, slice the chunks in ½

½ green pepper, 1/16^th – 1/8^th inch slices

¼ c. brown sugar

1 tbsp corn starch

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 small lemon juiced

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil for 1 minute.  Reduce heat to medium and allow sauce to thicken, stirring with a wooden spoon.  At this point, I was really nervous that this thick sauce wasn’t going to be enough to prevent the meatballs from burning in the Crock-Pot.  Before adding anything into the Crock-Pot, I added ¼ c. of H2O.  Then added the 1lb meatballs (thawed if previously frozen), and then the sauce over them.  I stirred with a wooden spoon and set on low for 90 minutes, stirred at the ½ way mark.

 

I served it over white rice, prepared by box instructions...or however you make rice...

 

In the future, I would add a small can of pineapple juice to the Crock-Pot instead of the water to keep the flavor + add extra juice to the sauce.  Another recommendation was to perhaps perpare the meatballs with more heat, I was thinking crushed red pepper flakes would be a nice pairing to this meal. 

 

Enjoy!

 



sour cream apple pie

as a kid, i attended camp broadstone, a summer camp associated with appalachian state university, that is now (sadly) closed.  one of the desserts that the kitchen staff made at least once every session was sour cream apple pie.  the first time i tried it, i was astonished with how good it was...so light and fluffy.

a few years ago, i decided to replicate a version of this pie.  after researching the internet, i found two recipes that looked interesting: one for a topping and one for the filling.  naturally, i smashed the two recipes together into a single brilliant combination.  yes, i'm very modest about my success.

as desserts go, this is one with a longer than average prep time.  truthfully, it probably takes upwards of 45 minutes or more to prepare.  but i rather think that the time is worth it.  i generally end up cutting the pie into eighths, so it lasts...well, considerably less than eight days.

ingredients:
(crumble topping)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1/4 cup butter/margarine
-  1 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch of salt

(filling)
- 1 1/3 cup sour cream
- 2/3 cup white sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- dash of cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 5-6 cups sliced apples (i used granny smith)
- shelled pecans

preparation:
first, blend all the crumble topping ingredients together in a bowl, cover, and chill.  ideally, this would be done the day before you make the pie so that it can firm up overnight in the refrigerator.  however, in a pinch, just stick it in the freezer for a half-hour before you start the rest of the pie filling.

for the pie filling, peel, core, and thinly slice several apples.  i've learned that a potato peeler is an excellent tool for peeling apples, and then it's just a matter of slicing them up.  in order to get 5-6 cups, i used four medium-sized apples.  i used granny smith because it's a good pie apple (holds up well during baking) and because there weren't any pink lady apples in the grocery store.  sadness.

whisk the sour cream, sugar, salt, vanilla, eggs, and flour (and a dusting of cinnamon) until smooth.  since i've noticed an improvement in my omelets when i incorporate some air into the mixture with the whisk, i tried to do the same with this pie filling.  add a double handful of shelled pecans (i didn't try to measure them) and the apples, and stir until all the apples are well-coated.

spoon the filling into a pie crust (i'll admit that i cheated and used a pre-made refrigerated crust).  i didn't try to arrange the apple slices, but i did at least try to ensure that they were in layers (not just haphazardly poured into the pan).

take the topping mixture and crumble it evenly onto the pie filling.  it should be enough to fully cover the exposed apple mixture.  bake at 350°F for 1 hour 10 minutes.  testing doneness with a toothpick should find the apples tender and the toothpick coming out clean.

let pie cool before serving.

verdict:
it's been awhile since i've baked it, so i had forgotten how much i enjoy this pie.  i love how sour cream gets all light and fluffy when baked (even if i don't like sour cream in general), but i probably could have cooked the pie about 10 minutes more to get the filling to set just a little more. 

five cups of apples almost looks like it is insufficient in the pan, but i think it's actually just about perfect; the pie filling lifts up when baking, and if any more apples were added, i think that filling would start spilling over the edge (and onto the bottom of the oven).  normally, i try to add a cookie sheet under the pan to catch drips, but i forgot to do that this time...so it's just as well i didn't have excessive filling.

aside from that, i didn't add enough pecans.  in the future, i probably should add a few to the top of the apples (before adding the brown sugar crumble).  i've added nuts to the very top before, but those end up getting blackened because there's no coating to prevent them from burning...i suspect that putting a layer of pecans under the brown sugar would allow the topping to coat the nuts and toast them (without burning).

GUEST ENTREE ENTRY

Meatball Masterpiece

Homemade meatballs in a homemade Crock-Pot sauce (still searching for the right sauce recipe)

Part 1 – Preparing the meatballs

Preheat the oven at 350F

Ingredients (mostly obtained from a local farmer’s market)
1lb local organic “Grass Fed” ground beef
1 organic egg
2 tbsp H2O
½ c. Progresso Italian bread crumbs
¼ c. minced yellow onion (~1/2 a small onion)
½ tsp sea salt
Dash of ground pepper

Starting with the egg and working down the list, mix all the ingredients thoroughly together.  Then add the beef to the mixture.  (Remove rings from fingers; this part is going to get messy).  Kneed the beef into the mixture until homogeneous.  Roll 1in size balls in between the palms of your hands.  On a baking sheet (I used two lightly greased shallow pizza pans, though greasing is unnecessary because the beef with generate enough grease to allow them not to stick), arrange the balls evenly on the baking sheet.  I placed on the bottom 2 racks in the oven for 25 minutes.  Remove from the oven and cut one open to make sure they have been cooked thoroughly.

 

Should yield between 25-30 meatballs, depending on the size... I couldn't just have 1... there were 28 total before the picture :-p

In hindsight, I should have removed the bottom sheet out at the 23-24 minute mark.  Also, since this was my first attempt at meatballs, ever, I kept it simple… in the future, I may get more creative with spices, perhaps crushed red pepper flakes might be in order.  But I will say, they were very tasty and melted in my mouth.  I think the organic ingredients make all the difference.  I will have to freeze the meatballs until I have time to work on the sauce.

Part 2 – Preparing Crock-Pot sauce (stay tuned)

In the meantime, if you can’t wait, serve with cooked pasta + your favorite pasta sauce, topped with parmesan or mozzarella cheese.  Can’t go wrong with that!

Thanks for letting me hijack your blog ;)

guest authors

every so often, someone expresses a desire to share a recipe, which is something that should never be discouraged.  i don't claim that my blog is a particularly widely-viewed one, but i still like it and am willing to let other people make use of it (instead of trying to create their own blog from scratch).

if anyone wishes to participate, i will not try to pass your recipe off as my own.  you'll obviously have your own signature line at the bottom, and you probably won't be able to replicate my writing voice.  if requested, i'll even introduce you before-hand!

fresh peach cake

two things occur to me tonight:  first, i have been making a lot of desserts lately.  and secondly, i have failed to document this peach cake recipe.  with the help of some fruit (sadly obtained from the grocery store...peach season is basically over), i am rectifying the latter by continuing the tradition of the former.

i obtained this particular recipe from my mother, and the sheet of paper states that it is from august 1997.  i don't know where she obtained it, but it's been a favorite summer dessert for years.

ingredients:
(cake batter)
- 1 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup butter/margarine
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk (i use the powdered buttermilk instead of buying the regular liquid...it lasts forever and i don't end up with a bunch of leftover buttermilk at the end of the recipe)
- 2 cup plain flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- 2 cups chopped peaches (can substitute blueberries, strawberries, or rhubarb)

(topping)
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 stick butter/margarine
- 1/4 cup milk

preparation:
in a fairly large mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter; add the eggs and the vanilla.  in a separate container, sift the flour with the baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, and stir until the batter is thoroughly mixed.  add the chopped peaches and stir until well coated.

pour the cake batter into a greased 9" x 13" pan.  bake at 300°F for approximately 50 minutes, or until the cake is browned.  a toothpick should come out clean, and the batter should be set (ie, not still liquidish.  yes, that's a technical term).

to prepare the topping, boil the ingredients together for 3 minutes and pour over the cake while it is still hot from the oven.  note: do not stir the mixture while it's boiling...it won't crystallize nearly so nicely if you do.  also, if you judiciously perforate the top of the cake with the toothpick before adding the topping, the sugar will be better able to penetrate.  or maybe it just seems that way.  i'm not quite certain.

if desired, serve the cake with whipped cream or cool whip.  sprinkle a little extra cinnamon on top.  i don't much care for the whipped cream, but some people do.  and some of those people will even try to convince you to give them allllll the cake!

verdict:
it goes without saying that this is a wonderful dessert.  it probably also goes without saying that moms always make recipes better.  still, i'm quite pleased with how well i can make this cake turn out.

bacon-wrapped apples

so i went to the georgia aquarium over the labor day weekend, and i got up close and personal with a sea otter named cruz.  which was awesome!  this animal interaction is well worth it if you're ever in atlanta.

you may wonder why i preface a recipe with a plug for an aquarium exhibit, but i have a very good reason.

during the encounter, we were given the opportunity to stuff otter toys with raw seafood (shrimp, clams, and octopus).  sounds fishy, you say?  well, maybe.  but it was still fun.  anyway, one of the people participating in the encounter was stuffing a round, red toy.  she was commenting that it looked like an apple, and one of the otter keepers thought she said "bacon wrapped apple."  the keeper thought that sounded really weird...but also kind of delicious.  and i happen to agree.

so i decided to make a version of bacon-wrapped apples.

ingredients:
- 2 apples (i used gala)
- 1 package bacon (i used a package of butcher's cut)
- cinnamon
- honey

preparation:
the apples i used were nc gala (it is apple season in the carolinas, after all), but they happened to be fairly small.  so i quartered them and removed the core/seeds.  i wrapped the quarters in bacon, dusted them in cinnamon, drizzled a little honey on top, and secured the whole mess with toothpicks.

put parchment paper on a baking sheet, and load up the apples.  bake at 425°F for 20 minutes (or until the bacon is brown and crisped.  remove from oven and place on newspaper/paper towels to drain and cool.

verdict:
in hindsight, i should've used some bacon that wasn't nearly as thick...the butcher's cut didn't want to wrap quite as nicely, and frankly, it took a lot longer than i expected to cook.  i ended up having to zap the apples just a little longer in the microwave to finish cooking the bacon.  also, i think maybe i should've added the cinnamon and honey to the apples before applying the wrappers.

all told, i think it's an interesting combination.  i'd try it again, but i'd definitely tweak the recipe next time.