A Berry Apple Pie

To celebrate my beautiful sister's 22nd birthday I decided to try a new type of pie: Berry Apple.  However, it was Saturday and I had plans in two hours and needed to go to the store, so needless to say, I didn't have the time to make my signature homemade crust. So Pillsbury's pre-made refrigerated pie crust to the rescue! I just want to say, always make your own -- it totally makes it more special and have that extra great taste, but if your short on time, Pillsbury is the way to go. Anyway, to the store I went! Thank goodness the berries looked wonderful for the end of October.  It made my day.

Here are the ingredients you'll need:

• 3 lbs of apples, preferably a mix of Empire, Gala, and McIntosh. 
• 1 cup of mixed berries, preferably strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries
• 2/3 cup of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 3/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• A pinch of salt
• 1 large egg
• Coarse sugar

      First things first, get peeling and coring those apples! Then slice them down.  Mix them with the sugar and lemon juice.  Then put about 4 tablespoons of butter into a super large skillet and melt it over medium-high heat.  Add the apples and cook them down until tender, stirring often.  DO NOT OVER COOK THEM or it will be mushy! Stir in the flour, cinnamon, vanilla extract and salt, and cook for about another minute or so.  Stir in the berries and let it cool.

     Roll out 1 disk of the dough into a 9-inch pie pan.  Add the berry-apple filling, putting more in the middle then towards the outside. This will give your pie a beautiful domed look! Cut up 2 tablespoons of butter and place it on top of the filling. 

    Now, for an amazing lattice top, use a pizza cutter to slice the second rolled out dough disk into about a 1/4 inch strips. Place all of the strips on the two sides of the rim, but do not fold it onto the pie.  This allows you to easily work your way through your lattice.  I wish that I would have taken a video so that you could more easily understand this, so I promise the next lattice top pie will be filmed and posted in that blog post.  Anyway, once you are finished weaving the pieces in and out, pinch around the edges and flute the edges so it has a pretty wave going on.

Before it hit the oven!

    It's almost ready for the oven, but first whip up that egg! Use a pastry brush to spread the beaten egg on top of the pie crust. Then sprinkle the top with the coarse sugar.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees with a baking sheet on the lowest rack.  Leave it in there without the pie for about a half hour.  I know that this seems absolutely ridiculous, however it makes sense. Think through this with me, you will be setting the pie on the pan, it will take the pan a while to heat, therefore the bottom of the pie will not cook if you skip this step.  So just trust me here and DO IT!  Lower the temperature to 375 degrees and put the pie into the oven.  Bake it until it is golden brown all over, which should be about an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes. If the edges start to get too dark, put foil around the outside.  So check the pie about 35 minutes into baking and put the foil on if necessary.  When it is finished, let it cool completely before serving.

From apples and berries to a beautiful pie!

     Needless to say, the pie was a big hit with the birthday girl and our friends. A couple people even went back for seconds.  So get out there and get baking!

The birthday girl with her homemade Berry Apple pie!

Until we eat again,

Amateur Chef Cheryl

Cinnamon Apples a la Mode

When I made applesauce this past weekend, I set aside about a 2 dozen apples to make other things.  So last night I made a quick and easy apple dessert for some of my friends -- Cinnamon Apples a la Mode! Therefore my dear readers, I'll share with you the secrets of this super quick and yummy dessert!

Macintosh Apples!

Here's what you'll need.

• 4 medium/large apples - preferably Macintosh or Granny Smith (something slightly tart)
• 2 tablespoons or so of butter
• Brown Sugar
• Ground Cinnamon
• Ground Cloves
• Vanilla Ice Cream
• Ground Nutmeg

First things first.  Peel, core, and slice your apples.  This is the most time consuming part of the dessert making... and it doesn't even take that long! Then, in a skillet at low-medium heat to melt your butter and move it all around the pan.  Throw in your apples and saute them for about 7 or 8 minutes.  Flip them around as necessary!  Then add about 3 teaspoons of brown sugar (sometimes more is necessary!), a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, and just a pinch of cloves.  Stir it gently and then continue to saute them for about 3 more minutes. When the apples are softened, sample them to make sure that you don't need more sugar or cinnamon! 

TIME TO SERVE!!! That's right folks, 10 minutes in the skillet and that is it! Put a scoop of Cinnamon Apples in bottom of your bowl. Add a heaping spoonful of Vanilla Ice Cream on top and garnish with Nutmeg.  The nutmeg is totally worth it! 

This is so good and so easy, you can whip it up in no time! So go ahead, give it a whirl! 

Until we eat again,

Amateur Chef Cheryl

Kraut and Kielbasa Pasta

Tonight, I was in a quite a rush to get dinner made because I have too much to get done tonight I couldn't waste too much time in the kitchen. So I scoured the freezer looking for what to make.  I pulled out Kielbasa and threw it into a pot of boiling water.  Noodles with Kielbasa in my family is a must, so I threw them in.  Then I thought, how can i jazz this up a bit?  Well, here it goes - 

A kraut cream sauce!

An Amateur Chef Cheryl Original!

Ingredients

• Rotini pasta
• 1 package of Kielbasa
• 1 can of cream of mushroom soup
• 3 to 4 oz of sauerkraut
•  1/2 cup fresh spinach, chopped
• 1/2 green pepper, sliced
• 1 tsp. garlic minced
• 4 tbsp. water
• 2 tbsp. milk

Directions

1. First, put on two pots of water for the kielbasa and the rotini pasta. Bring them both to a boil then add the kielbasa to one and the rotini to another.  
2. Now, in a separate pan, saute the peppers and garlic until the peppers are softened.  
3. Toss in the spinach and saute for about 1 minute. 
4. Add the mushroom soup and water, stir until well mixed.  Let simmer for about 3 - 5 minutes.
5. Add in the Kraut to taste by stirring it in.  If you add too much it may get very acidic, so taste as you go! (That's a key part of being a chef... just make sure you're always using a clean spoon!) 
6. If it looks too thick for your liking, add the hint of milk! 

And in less than 30 minutes I had a delightful meal! And to think, looking into the freeze blindly could bring such inspiration!

Until we eat again,

Amateur Chef Cheryl

Roasting Pumpkin Seeds

After all, I bought 3 little pumpkins. So I decided to make some roasted pumpkin seeds.  This is nothing elaborate and my family does this every year when we carve pumpkins. So, first things first, remove the pumpkin brains out of the pumpkin.  Then separate the seeds from the rest of the pulp. Now, its roasting time! Spread some extra virgin olive oil on a cookie sheet and toss them on it. Roast them in the oven for about 30 minutes. 

Roasting the Seeds

Then take them out, throw them in extra virgin olive oil and season them.  You can season them however you'd like.  This time, I made 2 types -- Salted and Italian.  Salted - self explanatory, throw them back on the sheet and sprinkle with salt.  Italian - AWESOME! Throw them back on the cookie sheet and sprinkle them with two of the most italian seasonings ever. One - parmesan cheese, Two - dried oregano. Toss the cookie sheets back in the oven for about 20 more minutes.  Then... perfection!

Italian Pumpkin Seeds

Until we eat again,
Amateur Chef Cheryl

2 Bushels of Apples Later....

Four 1/2 Bushels - 3 types of apples

Yumm!

Well today my great aunt, "Auntie" and I made the journey to Soergel's in Wexford.  It was my first time there since I was a kid and I was amazed at how many items they sold and how many activities were going on! There are pumpkins galore and any vegetables you can think of.  


So, what to do when you buy two bushels of apples.... Make Homemade Applesauce!

Cooked with skin on!

She taught me our secret family recipe.  Here's a quick overview, but I will not divulge all the details!

Hand Sieve :) KEY TO SUCCESS!

1. You need to buy multiple types of apples -- some tart, some semi-tart, and one semi-sweet! 
2. You need to leave the skins on the apples while you cook them.
3. A hand sieve is the best way to puree!
4. Trust your taste buds, sugar and cinnamon to taste!
5. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE LOTS OF TIME!!!!

Just so you know, two bushels of apples is a whole lot of apples and it makes quite a bit of applesauce.  As in, about 40 quarts of applesauce.  Good news, applesauce freezes well and we will have fresh, homemade applesauce all year!

So make sure to get out there and get fresh apples while you can and experiment away!!!

This is one of the two 21 quart pots!

Until we eat again,

Amateur Chef Cheryl

Pumpkin Rolls

      This is the story of 3 little pumpkins and how they went from cute orange pumpkins to yummy Pumpkin Roulades, also known as Pumpkin Rolls!
       First things first, what type of pumpkin to buy.  I went to the Etna Farmers Market this past week and picked out a giant pumpkin.  It was huge -- probably 20 lbs or more.  I walked up to the man, paid for it, and then asked him if this was good for baking.  He looked at me and laughed and then politely pointed out the type I should buy... "baking pumpkins".  They are smaller than normal pumpkins.  He told me that there are other kinds that he didn't have that could also be used. The nice man then let me exchange the giant pumpkin for three little baking pumpkins.

My Three Little Pumpkins!

         Now I was always told that from pumpkin to pumpkin puree was a big hassle.  Well to me, it was just time consuming.  First, you have to cut the pumpkin in half and remove the seeds.  Then place it in a shallow baking pan with 1/8 in of water in the bottom.  Put 1 tablespoon of butter and 2 tablespoons of sugar in each half of the little pumpkin. Then you have to cover it with foil and bake it at 350 degrees for about an hour, or until tender.  Then remove it from the oven and let it cool for a bit.  Lastly, remove the skin and puree the inside until smooth. Perfecto!
Ingredients
Roll

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup of fresh pumpkin puree (see directions above)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

Cream Cheese Filling

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 4 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Make the puree as directed above. (You can always use store bought canned pumpkin, but its not as fun! )
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
3. Beat the eggs and sugar together for about 5 minutes or until it doubles in volume.  Then, in a separate bowl, combine the baking soda, cinnamon, and flour.  
4. Fold the pumpkin into the egg-sugar mixture.  Then fold in the flour mixture and mix it until it is evenly blended. 
5. Pour this mixture into a greased and floured baking sheet. 
6. Bake for about 15 minutes, remove from oven, then let cool. **THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT!!** If you don't let it cool completely, it is so hard to get out of the tray.  My first one didn't turn out very well because of this. The second one however, I let cool for about 20 minutes and it came out wonderfully!
7. In a new bowl, blend together cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla.
8. Sprinkle the top of the cooled cake with sugar.  Then flip the cake over and spread the filling.  Roll the cake up into a cylinder. 
9. Refrigerate to set. Slice as desired to serve!

My Pumpkin Roll from Scratch!

       Needless to say, this is a very messy and time consuming recipe.  Also, it is very important to know that 1 little pumpkin yields about 7 cups of pumpkin.  I made all 3 pumpkins before I realized how much pumpkin I had.  Now I have a lot of pumpkin puree and I'm scouring the web for more ideas. Maybe a Pumpkin Pie or Pumpkin Cheesecake will be in the future. But that's another post for another day.

Until we eat again,

Amateur Chef Cheryl