Breton Apple Pie

Our family is one full of pie lovers. My mum and gramma are pie makers. Pie for breakfast is quite a common thing...if there happen to be leftovers.

My grandpa would quite often, after supper, tell my gramma he wanted a piece of pie and she would whip one up in an hour.

I cannot count the number of pie varieties I have tried on account of my mum and gramma.

All that said, I don't fancy myself a pie maker. I have made my share of pies in different forms, sweet and savory. I'm not a master by any means.

"So Jess how's your pastry success been lately?" My gramma asked me today, which made me smile. Mostly because I know it makes her happy that I love to cook, like she loves to cook.

Honestly though, my pastry is pretty hit and miss.

I'm quite sure all cooks learn a lot by trial and error.

Gramma's first pie was a pumpkin, she had never made a pie before and thought she'd be a good (new) wife and make her husband a pie. She made her crust, dumped a can of pumpkin into it, smoothed it out and baked it. She proudly served it to my grandpa but, instead of gratitude, was met with gags and sputters.

Grandpa-"What did you put in this?"

Grandma-"Nothing just the pumpkin!"

Now she knows you have to add sugar, spices, cream and other such important ingredients.

Gramma has since totally redeemed herself.

Last night, after dinner, I thought I'd make an apple pie for Jimmy. This pie had caught my eye as a quick one to make during the week.

Breton Apple Pie is quick, and really won't feel like pie making, in the laborious, fiddly kind of way it can.

The crust is somewhere between a shortcrust and a shortbread cookie. It's easy to work with and shortcomings can easily be patched.

The apples are partially cooked before hand on top of the stove with applesauce, lemon and cinnamon. They will become soft and shiny and rich smelling.

Everyone loves this pie. I will be making this one over and over. Maybe it will become a favourite in your house too.

Breton Apple Pie

Originally in by Nick Malgieri and also in The Washington Post, September 17, 2008

Apple

2Tbsp unsalted butter

2 1/2 lbs apples, peeled, cored and sliced (6-8 apples)

1/4 C apple sauce

1/4 C sugar

1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Dough

1C unsalted butter, room temp

1tsp vanilla

1C sugar

4 large egg yolks (1 of the egg whites beaten with a pinch of salt for a wash)

2 3/4 C flour

Butter a deep 9 inch pie plate and set aside. Place oven rack at the lowest setting and preheat oven to 350*.

In a large saucepan, melt 2 Tbsp butter in a large saucepan, add apples, applesauce, sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon. Cook, covered about 10 minutes or until swimming in liquid. Uncover and cook another 10 minutes.

Combine the butter, sugar and vanilla extract in the bowl of a mixer.

Beat at medium speed for 5 minutes.

Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating until smooth after each addition.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a large rubber spatula to incorporate the flour.

Place half of the dough in the bottom of the prepared pan.

Use your fingertips to press the dough evenly over the bottom of the pan and about 1 inch up the sides.

Spread the filling over the dough.

Roll out remaining dough on a board with lots of flour until the circle is the same size as the pie plate. Top the pie with the dough and press down around the outside to seal.

Brush the top of the pie with the egg wash. Use the tines of a fork to trace a lattice pattern on the top.

Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, until the dough is nicely colored and baked through.

Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes.

Slice and serve with ice cream, cheese or by itself.

Black Beans with Ginger

I made more refried beans.

Beans with ginger and hoisin sauce.

Ginger and hoisin make the beans sweet, smoky and spicy.

Clara told me she could eat these beans for every meal.

These have a more Asian taste than the Limey Beans, they taste great piled into tortillas (or a large lettuce leaf) with brown rice, mango salsa, sour cream and black olives.

Both kids came back begging for more of the beans 20 minutes after we finished dinner.

Black Beans with Ginger

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced and crushed

1-2 Tbsp grated ginger (I freeze my ginger to make it easier to grate)

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1-2 Tbsp Hoisin sauce

1/2 C vegetable broth

2 tins black beans

Heat oil in a med sauce pan. Add onion and cook on med heat until soft, about 8 mins.

Add garlic, ginger and thyme and cook on med another few minutes.

Stir in hoisin and broth.

Add beans and mash in with a potato masher. Simmer on low for 20 mins. Stir a few times.

Serve on a tortillas or large lettuce leaf. Top with brown rice, mango salsa, sour cream and olives.

Blueberry Date Juice

(Photo by Renee)

Renee and I were making this cake, and trying to figure out how dates grow.

Do they grown on a tree or on a bush or on a plant like a strawberry? Finally we googled it and discovered that they do, indeed, grow on trees, a little like a coconut does.

We then stumbled upon this recipe for a blueberry date juice.

After a morning of baking and cooking we were ready for a snack.

Throw bananas, milk, blueberries and dates in the blender and you get this bright violet juice that is creamy and sweet and filling.

Blueberry Date Juice

(livelighter.org)

2 Bananas

1Cup Milk

2Cups blueberries (frozen)

8 dates, pitted

1-2 Tbsp protein powder (optional)

Mix together in a mixer until smooth.

Breakfast Sandwiches with Fried Mushrooms

We eat a lot of eggs. One of our favourite ways to eat them is in a breakfast sandwich. Usually the sandwich just consists of egg, cheese and an english muffin. But on the weekends, we like to fance them up by adding vegetables and meat.

Fried mushrooms are so versatile and simple to prepare. We put them in crepes, pizza, burgers, sandwiches and even eat them as a side dish.

I watched my Uncle Steve make his version of fried mushrooms last summer and was inspired to simplify my recipe and eat them a lot more.

Alton Brown has an amazing recipe for mushrooms which he then piles in between layers of crepes. They are amazing!

This method is the easy way.

The Breakfast Sandwich with Fried Mushrooms

2 tsp olive oil

2 tsp butter

1/2-1 lb mushrooms, chopped or sliced thinly

1 small onion, chopped finely (divided)

1/4 C red pepper, chopped finely

2 thin slices of ham, chopped

5 eggs

heaping 1/4 tsp herbes de provence

1/2 tsp Montreal Steak Spice (divided)

2 Tbsp sliced Kalamata olives

1/4 C grated mozzarella cheese

3 English Muffins, halved and toasted

In a small frying pan warm 1 tsp oil and 1 tsp butter. Add chopped mushrooms, 1/2 the onion, herbes de provence and 1/4 tsp montreal steak spice. Fry until mushrooms are soft, about 5 mins. Keep mushrooms warm.

In a larger (10 inch) frying pan warm the other 1tsp oil and 1 tsp butter over med heat.

Add 1/2 the onion, red pepper and other 1/4 tsp of steak spice. When the vegetables are soft, add ham and warm through.

Crack 5 eggs over top of the cooked vegetables. Mix up the egg into the vegetables breaking a few of the yolks. Continue cooking, opening up little holes in the egg mixture so the uncooked egg falls onto the hot pan and fills the holes.

Once the egg is mostly set, sprinkle with olives and cheese. Cover the pan with a lid and turn heat down to low.

Toast english muffins. Butter them when toasted.

When eggs are set, divide into 3 portions.

Fill up english muffins with egg and mushrooms. Squirt on some hot sauce or ketchup if you like.

Chocolate Espresso Bars with Dried Fruit

I love granola bars, I buy granola bars.

Starting today, I make granola bars.

It always pains me to buy them even on sale because the good ones are usually so expensive. Jim and I love Clif Bars but try to ration them because of how expensive they are.

Today, I was inspired by Grace to make granola bars.

I view this recipe as more of a ratio suggestion than a recipe because you could do anything with it.

I decided to make my first batch chocolate espresso bars and then added some chopped apricots and walnuts.

Some other flavour ideas:

~ Banana chip, Chocolate with Espresso

~ Carrot, Walnut with cinnamon and yogurt chips

~ Peanut butter, chocolate....(maybe some espresso in there too)

I doubled the recipe and used a 10 x 14 inch as well as an 8 x 10 baking dish to spread the mixture in because I wanted my bars to be really thin and look like a Clif bar. Mmmm.

Granola Bars

(adapted from whatscookingwithkids.com)

1 cup oats (quick cooking or old fashioned)

1 cup shredded wheat or weetabix cereal

1 cup walnuts

1 1/2 cups dried fruit (I used apricot, fig and golden raisin)

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp espresso powder

2 large eggs

1/4 cup honey

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 cup finely chopped good dark chocolate (or chocolate chips)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Light oil or coat an 8×11-inch baking dish and set aside.

Place the oats, weetabix, walnuts, dried fruit, cinnamon, espresso powder

and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the mixture is finely chopped. .

Or chop fruit and crush cereal by hand and mix with other dry ingredients in a large bowl.

(The dried fruit should be the size of lentils.)

Whisk together the eggs, honey, and vanilla in a large bowl until well blended.

Add the oat mixture and chocolate chips and stir to combine.

Spread the mixture evenly in the prepared pan and flatten gently with the back of a spoon.

Bake about 18 minutes, or until the edgest turn golden brown.

Let cool completely in the pan before slicing into 12 bars.

Broccoli Pasta with Feta

Don't pass this one by. It's EASY, cheap and so tasty.

A bunch of broccoli, a can of beans, some pasta and feta.

This couldn't be easier or more perfect for making after work. (Shannon, if you like broccoli, this one's for you.)

I threw some chopped tomatoes and kalamata olives on top.

I think a Sauvignon Blanc would go perfectly.

Mum I see this being a great dinner to take down to the beach this summer... The Sauv will be a must!

Broccoli Pasta with Feta

(Moosewood Cooking for Health)

450g (1lb) chunky pasta

3 Tbsp Olive Oil

4 Cups chopped broccoli

1-2 Tbsp minced (pressed) garlic

1/2 tsp salt

ground pepper

2 ladles of pasta water

1 small can pinto beans

1 C crumbled feta (cow or goat)

chopped tomato, sliced kalamata olives to finish

Cook pasta.

While pasta cooks, warm oil in a large frying pan over med-high heat. Add broccoli, cooking 5 mins, and stirring constantly.

Add garlic, salt, ground pepper and 2 ladles full of pasta water. Stir in beans. Cover and steam for about 5 mins.

Please do not overcook the broccoli! Let it remain bright and green!

Top cooked pasta with broccoli and feta. (add tomatoes and olives if desired)

Ideal Easter Cookies

We spent a long time with my Gramma today making cookies for Easter. She has some fantastic old spring chicken and bunny cutters. What I failed to do, even though I took my camera, was take a single solitary photo of us together...sad.

We used Martha's "Ideal Sugar Cookie" recipe. I love Martha's Ideal Sugar Cookies. I especially love that they're called "ideal"...that makes me laugh.

That said, these cookies are ridiculously easy to make, yield a dough that is perfect to roll out and bake into a beautiful, light and tasty cookie.

We inherited a large amount of cookie decorating supplies from a sweet friend the other day, which proved quite inspriational to the decorating of our cookies. And, of course, Clara made her signature violet and tiffany blue icing for them.

After the icing hardens, they can be placed in a container in the freezer so they stay fresh until the weekend comes.

The only thing to do now is try and stay out of them.

Ideal Sugar Cookies

(Martha Stewart)

2 cups flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons brandy (or milk)

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl; set aside.

Cream together butter and sugar; mix until light and fluffy.

Add egg, brandy, and vanilla; mix until well combined. Add reserved flour mixture.

Mix until just combined.

Transfer dough to a work surface. Shape into 2 discs, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness.

Cut into desired shapes, and transfer to prepared baking sheets, leaving an inch in between.

Leftover dough can be rolled and cut once more.

If the dough or the cut outs are getting soft refrigerate them again before cooking.

Bake until lightly golden, about 10 minutes; do not allow to brown. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

Ice and Decorate.

Clara's Signature Icing

2C sifted icing sugar

2-4 Tbsp warm water or juice

blue, red and green food colouring

Mix sugar and water together in a med size bowl.

Divide icing into 2 smaller bowls.

To the first bowl add 1 drop of blue and one drop of red. Stir well.

To the second bowl add 1 drop of green and ond drop of blue. Stir well.

Shove the icing into 2 separate, small ziplock bags, cut off a small corner and pipe onto cookies.