Happy Pi Day!!!

So despite having made Amma's very yummy spinach pie two days earlier... I decided to celebrate Pi day in style. For dinner, (my helpful kitchen minion, Kenneth) and I made a Zucchini and Tomato Quiche. My recipe was very close to Da's Leek and Tomato quiche from the previous post.. I, however, replaced the leeks with onion and zucchini (also sauteed in butter with some salt, pepper and marjoram). I also (due to the contents of the fridge) used a mixture of Gruyère, Emmental and Cheddar cheese. Topping it all of was a sprinkling of salt, pepper, marjoram and basil. Yum :)

For dessert, I took a page out of Lakshmi's favourite food blog: smittenkitchen.com..

I made the Nutmeg Maple Cream Pie. As a rule, I do not like overly sweet pies, and maple pies are usually among the worst offenders. This pie, however managed to stay light and sweet without being sickening. I followed the recipe pretty carefully; however, I skipped the straining step and chose to add some cinnamon and allspice. It turned out beautifully. As an added bonus I paired it with some raspberries and a glass of good scotch. All in all a perfect meal :D

(here is the recipe for the maple cream pie: http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/11/nutmeg-maple-cream-pie/)

P.S. Due to the size of my pie tins, I had some of the maple cream mixture as well as some of the eggs from the quiche left over.. We mixed them up and had maple infused french toast for breakfast! (These past couple of meals are a heart attack waiting to happen but at least we will die happy :D)

Happy Pi Day 2012

A leek tart...

Dice finely and sautee 3 medium leeks in 3 Tbsp butter until soft.

Mix 4 eggs, 3/4 cup cream and 3/4 cup finely grated gruyere.

Mix in 1 tsp salt and some black pepper.

Pour into pre-baked crust and bake for 45 min at 375 degrees

Dried Apple Mint. Great for putting in herbal teas, with a softer taste than some other mints.

Where my food is now coming from...

When you go into emergency mode...

Hi,

Even though I should probably get off this sugar kick, soonish, no one can deny the infallibility of chocolate in times of desperation.

Although thankfully I've avoided desperate times lately (shout out to lifestyle changes... they do wonders), I couldn't resist the combination of chocolate and quick and easy.

As I was procrastinating, I stumbled from Doctor Who, to How-to videos, to 5 minute chocolate cake... ohh the wonders of YouTube.

http://www.instructables.com/id/5-minute-Chocolate-Cake/

Now, considering how easy, quick, and simple (yes I realize that is pretty much saying the same thing 3 times...) I was expecting this cake to be way south of good quality, and was pleasantly surprised at the mediocrity of this one... it was perfectly respectable (not gourmet, but did the trick).

So if a girlfriend was dumped, you're close to crashing during finals, or just 'cause you're craving warm chocolate cake-- this is definitely an option. Especially if you're in a questionably equipped college dorm-room... all you need is a mug, a table spoon (even the proportions don't need to be super exact, just all the same), and a microwave. A fork might be useful for whisking eggs, and a bowl, but I'm sure you can be creative with the mug and spoon, worst-case.

I would suggest playing with the flavor dash, to add a different kick to your treat. I just went with vanilla, but if I ever do this for my sister, I'd probably have to substitute for mint!

If you want to class it up a bit, try cooking it in glass bowls, then taking a melon baller (or a good old fashioned spoon) and take a bit out of the center... you could try "a la volcano cake" and put a chocolate sauce in there, or a dollop of whipped cream, or just pile on some ice cream.

I ate mine with some of the never-ending vanilla ice-cream in my freezer (that we keep around for cobblers, pies and anything in need of a basic cooler... but don't make those enough the ever finish it). I'd say that the cake isn't quite classy enough to pull it off at a dinner party, but definitely works for hanging with the family on a late summer night on the porch with music and tea (or port). Even more appropriate when cooking for yourself (my standards are way lower when cooking for just me...)

See you in five!

S

Re-match in Chess?

Hello!

This March marked our one year anniversary, so as the 14th rolled around I searched for a pie to make. Of course all of my classic cooking blogs had a feature on it-- so it was a sea of opportunity. Given all the lovely pies, I couldn't resist trying more than one-- although I let someone else actually make the second. On 3.14, we ended up having pie for dinner and dessert. Last year, I made a Lemon Chess Pie, which turned out beautifully, so I couldn't resist when I saw it in another one of my favorite flavors: Chocolate.

The saying "easy as pie" comes to mind. The whole experience was simple, and filled my kitchen with a lovely buttery, sugary, chocolaty smell. By the time it was done (I got started pretty late) everyone was ready to dig in... conveniently forgetting the chill step. So we sliced up the spongy melty warm pie! Talk about your melt in your mouth goodness.

I especially loved this recipe because it was simple, chocolate-y, and used a graham cracker crust (so easy and yummy). Plus it used unsweetened baker's chocolate-- the only type that doesn't get eaten straight up shortly after buying in my house! I couldn't find chocolate graham crackers, so I used regular-- which worked swimming-ly (although it was seriously sweet).

The next day I brought slices in to share with my work friends-- after a day in the fridge, the spongy melt had congealed into a graham cracker edged piece of fudge... no complaints from me! It was just as good cold, a day later, as hot, straight out of the oven.

It travels well, no breaking up or flaking of (some crumbs, but mostly kept itself together...)

Happy Belated Pie Day!

Sophia

One dish wonderfulness

When you live in a busy household quick, hearty, one dish meals are greatly appreciated. I was browsing my various foodie sources and stumbled upon this wonderful recipes that seems to have everything I had in my fridge, and was extremely time efficient.

The recipe is here: http://www.countryliving.com/recipefinder/easy-pantry-pasta

Essentially speaking, you could pretty much make any part of the recipe and the wait time on that part would be perfect prep time for the next step. Plus it covered almost every part of the food pyramid.

Any one who knows me well knows that I love red-- so when I saw the half a bell pepper in my fridge, I couldn't help cutting a bit into cubes and dropping it in to give the final product some color and crunch.