Test Kitchen Thursday - Pie Crust

OK - sorry this recipe is a little late this week - kind of a crazy week around here!  I'm going to focus on the pie crust rather than the whole pie.  This past weekend I was sifting through some of my mom's Cook's Illustrated Magazines and found their Fool Proof Pie Crust.  Knew it must be tried at some point.  What better time than just before Thanksgiving.  The other reason being my sister asked for my pumpkin pie recipe this week which reminded me I needed to bake a pie for Friday's church supper!  Of course, I signed up for cherry pie so I could just dump in the Cherry Pie Filling I preserved this spring - what a time saver!

Back to the pie crust - here's the recipe (or go HERE to find it on-line)

2 1/2 Cups unbleached all purpose flour (or pastry flour blend is good too)

1 t table salt

2 T sugar

12 T cold unsalted butter (cut into 1/4" slices)

1/2 C chilled solid vegetable shortening - cut into 4 pieces (like the butter flavor shortening for buttery taste)

1/4 C vodka - cold (taste will completely bake out)

1/4 C cold water

 

Process 1 1/2 cups flour, salt, and sugar in food processor until combined, about two 1-second pulses.  Add butter and shortening; process until homogenous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 15 seconds (dough will resemble cottage cheese curds and there should be no uncoated flour).  Scrape bowl with rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade.  Add remaining 1 cup flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up (4 to 6 quick pulses).  Empty mixture into medium bowl.

 

Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture.  With spatula, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks down together.  Divide dough into 2 equal balls and flatten each into 4" disk.  Cover each with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.

 

Remove 1 disk at a time from refrigerator and roll out on generously floured (up to 1/4 cup) work surface to 12 inch circle about 1/8 inch thick.  Roll dough loosely around rolling pin and unroll into pie plate, leaving at least 1 inch overhang.  Ease dough into plate by gently lifting edge of dough with 1 hand while pressing into plate bottom with other hand (do not stretch dough).  Refridgerate again until dough is firm about 45 minutes.  Flute edges.  Pour in filling and bake.

Seriously, for two people who don't drink we have a large supply of hard liquor.  I can now add vodka to the list.  Well, I could have used my husband's 20 year old vodka he brought back from the Soviet Union but decided that might not be a wise choice.  In case you're wondering our stash also includes rum (will be using that soon for stollen), cherry brandy (for the cherry pie filling), cherry liqueur (for the black forest cakes) and some Sam Adam's for when we want some yummy beer bread.  Good thing it lasts a long time since I use it in such small amounts!

Alright, back to pie crusts:

I put the vodka, water and shortening in the freezer to chill.  To chill the shortening I measured it out onto wax paper and divided it into the 4 pieces called for in the recipe.  I wrapped the wax paper up over each section and sat in freezer.  Good thing I cleaned out all my freezer's this week - I had plenty of room to set things flat today!

Of course, I had my little helpers!  Grant enjoyed watching the food processor spin!  This was the first time trying out the food processor for mixing pie crust - it worked quite well.

I should also add I did change the recipe somewhat and used whole wheat pastry flour rather than all purpose flour.  Still made a good looking crust.

After adding the liquids I ended up with two nice balls.  I forgot to weigh them to ensure they were equal but it ended up working out OK.

Here's the rolled crust.  Look at the little lumps of fat throughout!  I have to say this was the easiest crust I have ever rolled out.  Either I'm getting a lot better with my pastry (which trust me, I need all the help and practice I can get) or the recipe is really that good.  I covered it with plastic wrap and set it back in the fridge.

Here is my favorite part!  When I was a little girl I remember my mom rolling pie crusts.  It was exciting to see the rolling pin sock (is that what it's called?) and her canvas with the circle sizes marked come out of the drawer.  After she made the big pie she would re-roll the dough and fill a mini pie tin just for me.  Sometimes I was able to help roll and fill the tin.

And when the pies came out there was a perfect little pie for me.  Strange - now I'm the mom making little mini pies for my boys (ignore the singed crust).  And boy were they excited when they found out this little pie was just for them!

Test Kitchen Thursday - Applesauce

My family LOVES applesauce!  When I was growing up I remember my mom would sometimes let me go down to the basement and pick out the fruit for supper.  I loved this responsibility - standing looking at the shelves of canned goods tasked with choosing just the right item.  Now sometimes mom would tell me no cherries - I loved her canned cherries - would have eaten them for every meal.  So, my second choice was her applesauce.  A close third were the peaches!

So what fun to make applesauce with my own little guys.  And eventually when they're old enough I'll task them with picking the fruit for supper!

Here is what I started out with - 12 pounds of apples.  I needed to use up the Red and Golden Delicious apples that we picked in Indiana.  In addition, (to add flavor) I bought some Fuji and Granny Smith.

I used the applesauce recipe from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.  You can find the recipe HERE on Ball's website too!  

When processing I always used an approved recipe.  The ingredients for applesauce are pretty straight forward - apples, lemon juice and sugar (if needed).  I decided to just go with plain old applesauce since I can use it in baking this way.  Plus, I can always add red hots or cinnamon/spices to it before serving if we want something special.  Mmmm - warm cinnamon applesauce!

The boys wanted to help too (nothing new there - I'm raising a couple little chefs).  They were fascinated by all the tools.

Here's where my test kitchen piece comes in.  I've made plenty of applesauce but always the hard way.  This year I tested a couple different pieces of equipment.  Last year (after apple season) we bought a counter top apple slicer, peeler, corer.  It DID NOT work today - at least not for me.  What's worse after just a few apples the tines bent.  The only plus was the boys enjoyed turning the crank (and no, mommy was working it when it broke - not them).

So, I chucked in that idea.  Not wanting to waste time I decided to just chop the apples up, soften them up and run through the KitchenAid.  YES - that was the answer!  I did not core or peel - just chopped up.  After softening the apples on the stove and allowing a brief cool down I put them through the Fruit/Vegetable strainer attachment on my KitchenAid.  Perfect applesauce!

Mom and dad gave this to us last year and we used it for processing pumpkin (it was after apple season).  Worked great for pumpkin so hoped it would be perfect for apples.  Last year it took my sister-in-law and I HOURS of work putting all of our applesauce through food mills and even after all that hand cranking there were still bits and pieces of peel in the sauce.  Took me all of 20 minutes to process my applesauce through the KitchenAid strainer.  If you do a lot of processing, make your own baby food, etc and you don't have one of these it should be on your Christmas list!

Yes, I am very thankful to have my KitchenAid - my original was a wedding gift from mom and dad, later they upgraded me to the 5 quart and my sister inherited my original.  I can truly say we're a KitchenAid family - mom always had one (at least as long as I can remember) and so did my grandma.  In fact, we found my grandma's original in her basement when we cleaned it out - it had to be one of the first produced.  So yes, this family believes in our mixers (and I'm not paid a dime to say that)!

Back on task - the boys thoroughly enjoyed watching the sauce come out and the little fruit "poo" drop down into the second bowl (which the chickens later enjoyed).

In no time at all we had over 4 quarts of sauce.

I ended up with 8 1/2 pints.  We would have had 9 pints but we sampled some for lunch.  I only used 1 1/2 cups of sugar (rather than the 3 in the recipe) since the sauce was already pretty sweet.  Plus, I like my applesauce slightly tart.

Once I get the recipe officially typed up and filed in my 2011 ISF entry folder I can add one more entry to the list.  I'm on an apple kick this week - I think we need some apple butter and the recipe for cinnamon apple syrup just looks too yummy to pass up.  This family doesn't buy store bought syrup anymore.  We only use the fruit syrups we've put up - so much better!  I do buy a little pure maple syrup from Vermont because sometimes you still need a little maple goodness!

Test Kitchen Thursday - Caramel Apple Muffins

I don't know what possesses me - this time of year I always break down and buy one of those beautiful magazine cookbooks for the holidays that you see at the checkout lane.  Impulse buys - I know.  However, some of the best recipes I use regularly have come from some of those (that makes it worth it right?).  Quite frankly I blame my mother (she knows what I mean).  You should see her magazine cookbook stash (I love it).

Back to my compulsion - most often (but not always) they are of the Taste of Home persuasion.  I must add I called mom right away after picking up the new 2010 Taste of Home Fall Baking Cookbook and she had it too!  Apple doesn't fall from the tree :)

I decided I had to try the Caramel Apple Muffins.  You can find the recipe on Taste of Home's website HERE.

I did make a couple of changes.  Rather than chopping up the 12 sticky caramels I used a cup of Kraft's Caramel Bits.  They did tend to sink to the bottom and may not have been as ooey gooey as the original but as far as ease of preparation they are a winner in my book (and still ooey gooey).

It also called for only 1/2 cup of apple.  My big Granny Smith yielded a lot more than a 1/2 cup but I put the whole thing in anyway (well, what was left after the boys sampled some - still more than 1/2 cup left).  So, if you want to stick to the 1/2 cup use a small apple or plan to eat half your apple as a snack while baking!

They were quite yummy!  Now I should work on some of the other yummy looking recipes in my cookbook.

Cheers!

Test Kitchen Thursday - Auntie's Roll Out Sugar Cookies

This week I'm featuring a recipe I have worked very hard on - for number of years.  Had to get this one right because it means so much to my husband and his family.  This is my husband's Great Aunt's (from her mom - his Great Grandma) Christmas Cookie recipe.  Unfortunately I don't have the greatest photos since I didn't actually decorate these - they went to Clark's preschool for their Fall Party today!

Auntie's Sugar Cookie Recipe:

Yield: approximately 5 dozen (depends on the size of cutter you use - warning: these cookies grow in the oven)

2 C     Sugar
1 C     Butter, unsalted (softened)
1 C     Sour Buttermilk (I found this odd at first but yes it helps -- add a little lemon juice if you don't have sour buttermilk on hand - on the flip side great way to use up old buttermilk in the fridge)
2         Eggs
1/2 t    Salt
1 t       soda
2 t       baking powder
1 t       vanilla
1 t       lemon flavoring
5 C     flour

Whisk together the flour, salt, soda and baking powder together; set aside.  Cream the butter and sugar.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Mix in sour buttermilk, vanilla and lemon flavoring. Add in the flour mixture.  This makes an extremely SOFT dough - you may want to add just a little more flour but don't overdo it.  The original recipe says to roll right away but I find giving it an hour or more in the fridge helps the rolling process.  Roll 3/8 inch and cut as desired.  Place cookies on parchment paper lined cookie sheets.  Bake for 8 - 10 minutes at 350 degrees F.  Do not over bake!  The cookies should barely be  colored on the bottom.

While we waited for the dough to set we sorted all the Halloween cookie cutters!  We sorted by shape, and by color, and by size.  So many sorting options!  Now for my family's Christmas cookies there are traditional shapes that must be cut but for other times of year anything goes.  However, for the Fall Party at preschool we needed to make pumpkins.

Required Christmas shapes include (all frosted with white frosting):
Santa (with red sugar)
Wreath (with green sugar and 9 red hots - 3 berry bunches)
Star (with yellow sugar)
Bell (with blue sugar and silver nonperil for clapper)
Tree (with green sugar and red hot on top)

My addition to the list:
Snowflake (with large crystal sugar)
Rudolf (with red hot for nose)

After nap time we rolled the cookies out.  I tested using only 4 1/2 cups of flour like the original recipe and remembered why I don't do that.  The cookies will roll but be prepared to utilize LOTS of flour on the counter.  Even using the 5 cups you will still need to well prepare the counter with flour.  When rolling I usually use the bands you can put on the ends of the rolling pin to roll out to the perfect thickness every time. It really helps with even baking!

Here are some photos of the pre-school party today - there were lots of dinosaurs (including Clark in blue).

Three dinosaurs and three batmen - seemed to be the popular costumes today!

Frosting the cookies and adding M&M faces.

I thought this was an adorable picture.

Also, many thanks to Aunt Em for the Halloween treats that arrived in the mail today!

Skeletons in my Cupboards

Not that I usually show people my cupboards (especially the insides) but I thought I'd show off my before and after photos today.  While the boys were playing, I decided to tackle the kitchen cupboards.  Cooking and baking just aren't as appealing when you have to dig for supplies.  I kept things well organized through the State Fair but it went downhill fast after that.

OK - here we go -- here are the horrible guts of my large pantry.
BEFORE:
Eeek!

AFTER:
My husband feels the middle drawer is much ignored and neglected and should be used more (the chocolate chip/nut drawer).

The boys' cupboard - BEFORE:

AFTER:
I even found extra space and room to spare - whoa!

The dreaded spice/cookie sprinkle cupboard - BEFORE: (note before also spills onto the kitchen counter -grrr!)

AFTER:
Ta Da!  Forgot to show the counter but it is now clear and free - ready for action!

I also managed to clean the upper and lower corner cupboards and cleaned up the cupboard under the kitchen sink (that was overdue for a makeover).  The boys decided early on that helping mommy was much more fun than playing in the living room.  So I had lots of help.  Luckily I emptied/consolidated some spice containers - that kept them occupied for quite some time.

There you have it - I showed off my skeletons!  What skeletons do you have lurking in your home?  I decided to do one cupboard at a time and it went rather quickly.  Now I feel like getting started on Christmas baking.  Something about a clean and organized kitchen makes me feel like baking (that and the cold, wintry weather).

In other news:
Grant has now officially joined us at the table.  Well, he's always eaten with us but now he is out of the high chair and in a booster seat.  He thinks it's the best!

Red, Yellow and Orange

Earlier this week we headed out to Tuttle's Orchard to pick apples and find some pumpkins.  I know, I know - you're saying from my previous posts on pumpkins that we have more than we need.  True - but those are little pumpkins.  We need Jack-O-Lantern size pumpkins!

First - to the apple trees!  The boys loved picking their own apples.  They were determined we needed Red Delicious apples.  Then Clark said - mommy, we need to make apple pie!  I replied - well, that sounds good but these are totally the wrong apple for that!  

So, we headed through the trees to the Golden Delicious and picked large yellow apples too!  1 bu each - can you believe Grant still fit in the wagon?

Next, playtime!  Clark is very into mazes right now.  Luckily, this farm had not 1 but 4 mazes (and we did them all)!  First - the hay/straw maze.  They made it out before mommy did (only because I thought the little one was lost in the maze -no he followed his brother out).

Through the next maze - Grant loved this next one out of PVC.  I think next year's garden needs to include a child tunnel (covered with vines)!

Through the rope maze and finally through the sunflower maze!

Where we discussed pollination and honey making.

Then, some tractor driving (and fixing - Clark likes to fuel and fix all tractors).

Finally, out to the pumpkin patch!  Grant is pointing the way to some good pumpkins.

Grant really wanted to help pull the wagon.

Alas, those pumpkins were just too heavy.  Note the pouty face in the wagon.

I love their pricing board!  Clark helped me find the right size.

Of course, a stop to Tuttle's means visiting the gourd tower.

On our drive home we saw this beautiful barn.  I couldn't get much closer but look at the round barn - isn't it gorgeous?  Oh how I wish more old barns could be given such love.

We could not have asked for a more beautiful day!  Now to process some yummy apples - mmm, cinnamon applesauce sounds delicious!