Pecan Pie

I may have one of those, "Life is uncertain, eat dessert first" moments tonight.

When we were in New Mexico during March Break, 2010, a friend gave me pecans. (C&R Pecans for those who want to get some from them, I think they ship, call them and ask. The contact information is at the bottom of this post, tell them I sent you! ) I love friends who give me pecans. I live in Austin where they fall from the trees downtown but still have to pay a fortune in the store. Luckily I know people here with trees but today we have a haul from NM and it's those beauties we'll be using!

Husband isn't a fan of sweets, or treats, or food or really anything so I am on a constant mission to get some reaction other than "cool" out of him ;) . That being said, I love to cook and would either way. Husband and Connor had their first father son day today and I was inspired to cook for them. A little something special for each.

Connor's favorite (or one of them) meals I make for him is a cheater chicken divan. (will be posted later) I roasted off 4 chicken breasts when they left then wrapped them in foil to keep warm and moist till I needed them. For Husband? Pecan pie, who can resist it??

In a store bought pie crust (hey, I'm not a fanatic!) dump a thick layer of pecans. Yes, I hear my mother cringe from 1,600 miles away. Hey, she does pastry all the time, I do it a portion of the time. Sometimes, though, you need to utilize the brilliance of those who make pastry for you and toss it in the freezer! I'm just supporting Pillsbury ;)

The pecans are "Burkets" and apparently one of the best! *thanks Gloria! Ray! Don! Heather! Brantley State Park! and New Mexico in general!

In a large mixing bowl combine:

4 eggs

beat like crazy then add

1 cup corn syrup (I cheat and substitute 1/4 cup of Tate&Lyle's Golden syrup but really, just pure corn syrup is fine and delicious it just won't take like mine *grin*)

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1 large teaspoon vanilla

1 tsp salt

whisk like mad then add

4 tablespoons soft butter

whisk

Now, this is not of the faint of heart! This looks completely curdled and separated. Worry not, trust me and beat it in the best you can, it'll be relatively smooth but don't worry about the butter globs. Can there be anything wrong with a good ole blob of butter?

Pour the mixture into the waiting crust, add more pecans if you like, they float. You can add up to about 3 cups but I think 2 and a bit if perfect.

Put the pie on a sheet pan and put in the oven. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes then check it. It should be set around the edges and a little jiggly in the middle. If it's just too jiggly then bake in 5 minute increments up to 55-60 minutes. Don't let it bake all the way through, it won't be so, um, smoothly delicious.

Leave it on a rack to cool. Go shopping or lay a floor, you need to be busy, it's a hard wait!!

Slice, eat. You can serve it with ice cream or whipped cream or custard (which is how I will have it later). You can throw a few chocolate chips on top when you take it out of the oven if you want as well, that's quite nice! Connor thinks he's a fan of chocolate pecan pie but will only eat one slice and I didn't want to chocolate the pie away from husband so it's plain today. I may drizzle chocolate sauce on it for Connor if he wants some later, we'll see.

The money 'slice on the plate' shot will be around later, check back in a few hours! This is a quickie pie to throw together, the middle is soft and smooth and silky and yummy. Put it in your repertoire and you'll be a happy soul, and so will the people who come to your house for dinner!

/enjoy

C&R Pecans, Carlsbad, NM

http://national.citysearch.com/profile/6988457/carlsbad_nm/c_r_pecan_landscaping_inc.html

Fajitas

Busy weeknight, day on the road under the auspice of running errands and getting things "done" but really it was a day hanging with some of my mommy friends. We did coffee for a ridiculous number of hours. I went to 3 stores to try to find a bra, luckily at store 3 I found one that actually fit so I cleared them out of one of every color, I don't want to go do that again for a while.

I met a friend for a late, lingering lunch and we munched on enchiladas and had a cocktail so by the time I grabbed Connor from school and dashed home there was a finite amount of time to get food on the table.

Enter fajita night.

Four skinless breasts, two peppers, one onion. Flour and lard for the tortillas and bingo! DINNER!

Let's play, here's how it went:

Salt, pepper and lightly the oil the breasts and lay them in a screaming hot cast iron pan. I crowd them slightly because they shrink and frankly I can't be bothered to get out a larger pan. I managed to use my new pink retro pyrex dish as holder for the sliced veg.

Turn it when it's quite brown and then cover it with a piece of tin foil. It keeps it moister I think and it speeds it up a bit. Flip a couple of times until you peek into a fat bit and it's just barely cooked through. Wrap it in thick foil and leave it on the side. It'll steam a bit, cook through a bit more and stay ridiculously juicy!

Toss the sliced onions into the pan and toss them around a bit, I put the comal on top and you see the foil chicken package was on it, I just wanted a little steam.

When they are slightly soft and slightly crunchy and a little brown around the edges, toss in the peppers, salt and pepper. Toss them around a little, plunk the chicken package on top and toss the whole pan into a 300 degree oven. DONE!

Heat a cast iron skillet or comal on medium high heat. Toss a tortilla on it and leave it there until you get a few bubbles, Connor timed it at 38 seconds. Flip it and cook it till it puffs... maybe 20 seconds? *you can buy tortillas or make your own, your choice. I have a recipe and process for flour tortillas, go there if you want to make EASY fresh tortillas!!

Pull the peppers out of the oven, if there's a ton of juice, toss them on high heat to boil it off. Slice the chicken thickly and toss it in with the peppers.

Take your yummy warmed tortillas and stuff them full! Add sour cream, cheese and I like avocado. There were leftovers that I may use in scrambled eggs and do a breakfast taco or two, or three :)

I love fajitas and I don't make them nearly enough. They are quick and easy and really delicious and I think you should stop reading and go make some, now!

/enoy

Cheese Turnovers

Ok I'm still playing with the 1923 cookbook. Cheese turnovers with 3 ingredients? Oh, I've got to try THAT!

I love the random nature of many of these old recipes. I love that they assume you can cook. I love you add 'some' and merely 'bake'. No temperatures, no baking pan or instructions as to greasing or not. I think maybe that's why I write my "recipes" the way I do, I assume you can cook and if you can't, you should be cooking and you don't need someone to hold your hand the whole way. You don't NEED to measure all the time. Sometimes you cook by feel and smell and sight. Ooops, I'm ranting again. Back to the turnovers.

I am playing with only half the recipe here as a test. I put a block of cream cheese (80z) and 1/4 lb (1 stick) butter in the kitchen-aid and beat like heck. I didn't bring them to room temperature, I just put them in my beloved "big red" loaded it with the paddle and turned it on medium high until it was combined.

I sifted the flour into it, mixed it to a blob and kneaded it quickly then put it in plastic wrap. Into the fridge with you, I'm off to have a shower, we'll revisit in a couple of hours. Actually, I have crochet patterns to invent...loopersaustin.blogspot.com is what I do when I'm not doing this, over here.

I cut the dough in half and rolled it out. It didn't need much flour on the board really and kept turning it as I rolled it out. I cut it in squares with a giant knife. A blob of jarred raspberry jam in the middle of each and I folded it over. Some I pricked, some I sealed tight and some just the point.

I baked them at 375 for about 18 minutes. Oh they exploded alright but that's part of the fun and homemade-ness of them.

Yes, they're keepers!

Here's the recipe:

CHEESE TURNOVERS

2 packages cream cheese

1/2 pound butter

Mix well, knead in 2 cups of sifted flour. Let stan in cold place several hours or overnight. Roll out thin. Cut in squares. Put jam in center and turn over. Bake about 15 minutes.

*I just ate one, um, two *sigh* OK already, how many I ate is irrelevant. They are flaky, tasty, yummy and easy. Another shortlist keeper!

Make them, you'll thank me.

/enjoy!

Breakfast rolls

Yes, I'm back in 1923 land. I was Skyping with my mother and since she's a foodie too, we started talking about, well, food. I shared with her the book I found on my latest adventure into the desert and subsequent antique shops and we giggled through some of the recipes and suggestions in the 1923 cookbook I recently acquired. It's the Chicago Evening American Cookbook; Practical Recipes for the Housewife.

We were intrigued by two recipes this morning and since I am at home and feeling peckish, two recipes it is.

The first I decided to try was the "delicious breakfast rolls" I felt like something delicious and it was breakfast!

Here we go:

sift a couple cups of flour in my new tin bowl, add baking powder and salt

add in some shortening and cut it in, I use my fingers

add enough milk to make a shaggy dough and stir with a fork for a minute and it'll turn into a ball. I didn't measure the milk, sorry.

I rolled out the dough to about 1/2 inch and cut it with a biscuit cutter. The dough only needed a little bit of flour on the board

I cut them out, put a blob of butter on each and folded them in half. Bake on parchment at 350 for 22 minutes (that's how long mine took)

In the name of science, pure science, I sampled, um, some. I tried them plain, lovely. With pomegranite jelly I got in NM from friends? Yummy and slightly tart. With butter and raspberry jam? Oh yes. I ate one with butter and tate and lyles golden syrup, I may have moaned with delight. That's the type I ate when I sampled for my mother, while she watched me on Skype; yeah, I'm special like that.

They are flaky and sort of crispy. Not too doughy and almost roll like? I like them a lot, sometimes regular biscuits are just too flaky for me, if there is such a thing and sometime too stodgy, I think these will be in regular rotation.

Make them and let me know what you think.

DELICIOUS BREAKFAST ROLLS

4 cupfuls of flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 1/2 tablespoonfuls sugar

1/2 cupful of any kind of shortening

Enough milk to make a stiff dough

Sift the dry ingredients together. Cut in the shortening. Add the milk. Toss on a floured baking board, roll half an inch in thickness. Cut with biscuit cutter. Place a small piece of butter on each. Fold in half. Place in a slightly floured baking pan. Bake from fifteen to twenty minutes in a moderate oven.

*I made half this recipe, increased the salt and baked at 350.

/enjoy!