Thai Inspired Baked Wontons

Posted on August 27, 2012 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

I am not often one for appetizers. I know, it’s silly. And there’s no good reason. Often when I’m thinking of meals to cook, I skip over appetizers and instead focus on elements of the actual main courses and a schnazzy dessert. When we go out to fancier restaurants, my husband and I rarely glance at the appetizer/small bite menu. I think it’s more habit than anything. When it comes to Thai and Chinese cuisine, however, this isn’t the case. I love perusing their appetizer menu! Mostly on the hunt for good eggroll options.

The following recipe was born out of last minute decision making. I was planning on making two different curries and jasmine rice. Then I thought homemade eggrolls sounded like a good idea, for a slightly differnt texture to the meal. When I got to the grocery store and hunted for eggroll wrappers, I couldn’t find any. I had planned on eggrolls packed with rice noodles and vegetables. During my wandering I came across wonton wrappers. While I’d initially planned on large eggrolls, I thought these would be a fun challenge.

I suggest cutting the noodles up even smaller than I did – about ½ an inch long, even though the following recipe is exactly what I used. You can serve these as an appetizer, or right alongside your meal.

 

Thai Inspired Baked Wontons

Yields approx. 40 wontons

 

Ingredients:

½ package Thai thin rice noodles (4 oz. uncooked)
1 tbsp. oil
1 small sweet onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 3-inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced
2 stalks green onion, diced thin
1 large carrot, grated fine
2 cups savoy cabbage, shredded
1 cup fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced thin *
3 tbsp. tamari or soy sauce
2 tsp. Thai fish sauce
salt and pepper, to taste
1 large package wonton wrappers (at least 40)
small dish of water

* If fresh shiitake mushrooms aren’t available, rehydrate dried mushrooms and use instead.

Directions:

Cook the noodles according to the package instructions, then drain under cold water. Roughly chop the noodles into small pieces (½-1 inch long) and set aside.

Preheat your oven to 400° F. Heat the oil in a large saucepan, over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, and ginger. Sauté until the onion is translucent (5-7 minutes). Add the green onion, carrot, savoy cabbage, and shiitake mushrooms, evenly mixing everything. Cook for 4-5 minutes, then add in the noodles, tamari/soy sauce, and fish sauce. Mix thoroughly. Taste and then add salt and pepper to your liking.

Time to prepare your wontons! Using one wrapper at a time, place a small spoonful of the above mixture in the center of the wonton skin. Brush the edges of the wrapper with water, then fold the wonton in half diagonally, creating a right triangle. Press the edges of the wonton wrapper together to seal them closed.

Place the sealed wontons on a large baking sheet that has been lightly brushed with oil. Once all the wontons are folded, brush the tops with a light coating of oil, then bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown, turning once about halfway through the baking time. Serve hot.

I served these alongside a homemade green curry, so I didn’t make a dipping sauce of any sort, but you’re welcome to! I’ve made a sauce very similar to this one that is quite tasty!

Posted in Appetizer, Baking, Lunch, Sides | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Easy Raw Tomato Sauce

Posted on August 26, 2012 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

My quintessential summer mealtime would probably include no stoves or ovens being used. Or maybe being used very minimally. There would be lots of veggies straight out of the garden. Perhaps grilled fish or something along those lines. Grilled pizza? Oh yes. There would be ice-cold inebriants to sip on and cool, fruity, grown-up treats afterwards. The truth is my summer cooking rarely takes that form. Often I’ve got my oven on. Or I spend large amounts of time at the stove, contemplating whether it’s the burners or am I really experiencing hot flashes in my 20’s? And the adult cocktails? They’re an afterthought. Probably cold beer straight from the fridge, or good straight bourbon. You know, to make the stove-heat more bearable?

This time of year and all throughout summer, really, fresh tomatoes are everywhere. This sauce is very easy and super fresh. And it does that ideal thing: no stoves or ovens required. Plus it’s simple and quite versatile. You can this sauce to fresh pasta (my favorite: with more fresh garlic, red chili flakes, more basil and goat cheese).  You can add chopped onion, perhaps a little fresh chopped jalapeno or other pepper, and create a salsa. Put it on little pieces of crusty bread and call it bruschetta. You can even eat it plain, like a chopped tomato salad. Honestly, you can’t go very wrong here. No joke.

 

Easy Raw Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

4-5 large ripe tomatoes, most seeds removed
2 cloves garlic, minced
¾ cup fresh basil, finely chopped
2-3 tbsp. fresh oregano, minced
2-3 tbsp. fresh thyme, minced
1-2 tbsp. fresh parsley, minced
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1-2 tbsp. good quality olive oil
small pinch of cane sugar
salt and fresh ground pepper


Directions:

Dice the seeded tomatoes small, leaving the skins on if you want. Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl, mixing well. Add enough salt and pepper to your liking. Cover and allow the mixture to sit at least an hour or prepare in the morning and let it sit until dinner time.

Either mix the tomatoes with cooked pasta for an easy meal, or use in whatever way suits your fancy!

Most recently I used this sauce in eggplant parmesan, which does get baked, ultimately cooking the tomato sauce. But the taste was quite delicious and still very fresh.

Posted in Appetizer, Dinner, Gluten-Free, Life, Lunch, Salad, Sauces, Sides, Vegan, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mini Sourdough Peach Pies

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

I enjoy peaches, especially this time of year when the summer heat so perfectly ripens them. Peaches themselves don’t need many frills or additives to make them attractive. Wandering through the grocery store or farmers market, I love spotting these soft, fuzzy gems, heavy with sweetness and a promise of nothing short of delicacy. The following pie doesn’t add much embellishment aside from the fruit. I do like fresh nutmeg with the sweetness of these peaches.

Last month, I discovered Sourdough Surprises – a group dedicated to using their personal sourdough starters for recipes other than sourdough bread. This month’s theme was sourdough pies. I had not even heard of a sourdough pie before seeing the theme. I thought about the sweetness of good peaches and the notable sourness of sourdough, and decided that the ratio of crust to filling in my current Babycakes mini-pie craze, would perhaps work perfectly.

The results came with a not overly sweet peach filling, dense with fruit, and a flaky, buttery crust featuring noticeable hints of nutmeg. These very quickly became my favorite mini-pie thus far. As with my previous mini pies, I’m nearly positive this can be made into a larger, single pie. I’ve not tried it myself yet, though.

 

 

Mini Sourdough Peach Pies 

Yields approximately 10-12 mini pies

 

Ingredients:

For the crust:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. powdered sugar
¾ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. fresh ground nutmeg
¾ cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks)
¾ cup sourdough starter 

For the filling:
4-5 large ripe peaches (about 4 cups total when diced)
water
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon (Ceylon preferred)
a pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
½ tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. water or reserved peach juice

Directions:

Prepare the dough for your crust: In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, powdered sugar, salt and nutmeg. Cut in the butter (I like to use a box grater to grate the butter into the dry ingredients), until you have a bowl filled with very coarse crumbles. Add in the sourdough starter, stirring until a ball of soft dough comes together. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least an hour, no more than 24.

Peel the peaches: Bring a large pot of water to a boil (large enough so the peaches can be completely submerged). Prepare a bowl of ice water and set aside. Cut an X into the bottom of each peach, about 1-inch by 1-inch, not very deep.  Lower the peaches into your pot of boiling water. For ripe peaches, boil for 20-30 seconds, until the skin begins to loosen where you’ve cut. For less ripe fruit, boil 30-40 seconds, up to 1 minute. Immediately remove the peaches to your prepared ice bath with a slotted spoon, then a clean dish towel. As soon as the peaches are cool enough to handle, remove the skins, then set the fruit aside in a bowl.

Prepare the filling: Cut the peeled peaches into bite sized pieces (reserving the juice that you’ll find at the bottom of the bowl the peaches went into after they were peeled), placing them in a small pot. Add the granulated sugar and turn the stove up to medium-high heat. Cook, occasionally stirring, until the sugar has dissolved (3-4 minutes). Stir in the cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla. In a small bowl, mix together the cornstarch and reserved peach juice (or water if you didn’t end up with enough juice). Whisk the cornstarch mixture into the peaches, increasing the heat to high. Continue stirring for 1-2 minutes, until the peaches thicken. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.

Prepare your pies: Remove your dough from the refrigerator and set aside about 1/4 of it. Roll out the remaining dough on a lightly floured surface, to about 1/8-inches thick. Use the larger Babycakes cutting tool to cut as many dough rounds as possible. Roll out the dough scraps for a few additional rounds. Set the cut crusts in the fridge for a couple minutes. Meanwhile, roll out the reserved dough (and leftover scraps) to about 1/16-inch thick and cut into 1/4-inch wide strips (about 5 or 6 inches long). You’ll need about 8 strips per pie.

Brush the wells of your pie maker with oil, then press 4 dough rounds into the wells. Fill each well with 3-4 tablespoons of peach filling (be generous). Arrange the strips of dough you cut over each pie in a criss-cross or lattice pattern (about 4 strips in each direction). Trim the excess dough. Close and bake for 10-12 minutes, until the crusts are crisp, golden, but not burnt. Cool before serving. Top with fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream if you want!

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Herbed Cauliflower, Cherry Tomato and Fontina Pizza

Posted on August 19, 2012 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

The other night, we had a dinner get-together fall apart at the last minute. At that point I had gone grocery shopping and had all the ingredients for two different curries, one of which included red lentils and cauliflower. When plans changed, I opted for just one green curry for my husband and I, leaving me with a head of cauliflower I wasn’t sure what to do with the following day. I’ve got to tell you – generally, I am not much of a fan of cauliflower. Especially not raw (yuck!). One recipe I always enjoyed as a kid was the cauliflower spaghetti found in Molly Katzen’s original Moosewood Cookbook. That cauliflower always sounded appetizing! So when the craving hit for homemade pizza, I thought, well – why not top it with the same sort of cauliflower I so loved as a child?

While I wandered around the internet trying to figure out what to pair with my cauliflower-topping, I came upon the Tomato Love Recipe Exchange that has been going on since last month, hosted by Cassie of Bake Your Day and Ali of Gimme Some Oven. The recipe exchange is eight weeks long, featuring tomatoes in recipes of different themes each week. Not only are there fantastic recipes to be seen and tried, there have been some great prizes to win as well! I got very excited when I saw that this week’s theme was tomato pizzas, featuring a dank 7-piece pro pizza making kit being offered from Pizza Home Chef. I was sold immediately.

Lucky me, cherry tomatoes of any color you can imagine on a tomato, were on sale this week. I picked the pint of the most varied color assortment, knowing that the colors would create a beautiful pizza topping. Plus the sweetness of oven roasted cherry tomatoes would go great with the herbed cauliflower. I picked creamy fontina cheese and goat cheese in addition to mozzarella, creating a creamy accompaniment to the cauliflower and fresh tomatoes. It was an excellent balance and quite delicious. I enjoy homemade pizza crusts, especially made with my sourdough start, but use what you prefer. I like to prebake the crust slightly before adding my toppings, ensuring that the crust is cooked even under the weight of many toppings. 

 

 

Herbed Cauliflower, Cherry Tomato and Fontina Pizza

Ingredients:

1 medium head of cauliflower, cut into 1” pieces
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp. plus additional fresh basil, chopped
2 tbsp. fresh oregano, chopped
1 tbsp. fresh thyme, chopped
1 tbsp. fresh marjoram, chopped
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 bay leaf
sea salt and black pepper
½ pint cherry tomatoes, halved
4 oz. fontina cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella
¾ cup marinara sauce (this is my go-to sauce)
1 18-inch pizza crust (this sourdough crust is my fave)

* optional ¼ cup fresh goat cheese

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 500° F, or the highest setting your oven will go. If using a pizza stone, place it in the oven to preheat as well.

In a medium-sized saucepan, combine the oil and butter over medium heat, until the butter has melted. Add the garlic and bay leaf, sautéing until fragrant. Add the cauliflower, stirring to evenly coat everything with the butter/oil mixture. Add in the basil, oregano, thyme, and marjoram, stirring again to evenly coat the cauliflower in herbs. Add a light sprinkling of salt, to your liking, and a generous amount of ground black pepper (I like a lot of pepper!). Put about 1 tablespoon of water into the saucepan, then cover and cook until the cauliflower is tender (10-15 minutes). Remove from heat.

Place your pizza crust on your preheated pizza stone, or a pizza pan. Evenly spread the marinara sauce onto your crust, then layer the cauliflower over the sauce, distributing evenly. Add your shredded mozzarella cheese, then break the fontina into bite-sized chunks all over the top. Do the same with your goat cheese, if using. Place the halved cherry tomatoes on your pizza.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the cheese on top of your pizza is melted and blistered to your liking. Top with more fresh chopped basil and let the pizza rest for about 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

Enjoy!

Come share in the tomato love at the Tomato Love Recipe Exchange, hosted by Gimme Some Oven & Bake Your Day, sponsored this week by Pizza Home Chef. Also visit Recipe for Change to learn more about how to support tomato farmers.

Posted in Baking, Bread, Dinner, Kids, Lunch, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Chorizo and Cheese Enchiladas

Posted on August 18, 2012 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

Much of the time, I would prefer using fresh and/or homemade ingredients instead of relying on canned, pre-jarred, or pre-made things. I’ve made enchilada sauce from scratch a few times, but we tend to keep canned enchilada sauce on hand. While I will no longer buy corn tortillas, we usually have about 20 lbs. of masa around for homemade tortillas. These things said, enchiladas are a popular dinner option around our house. Truth be told though, I get a little worn out on enchiladas. Yet on most days if I ask either of the kids what they’d like for dinner, it’s a toss up between enchiladas and pizza.

Canned enchilada sauce makes things that much easier. Although we’ve tried various brands, my preferred type is Hatch enchilada sauce. I recently discovered their fire-roasted tomato variety, which is perfectly smoky, spicy, and tasty. Accidentally, I found Tofurky’s brand of chorizo crumbles, too. The following recipe resulted from having all of these ingredients on hand. I really liked the bell pepper cooked with the Tofurky chorizo–it created a slight sweetness to balance with the spiciness of these enchiladas, and the Monterey Jack cheese is perfectly creamy.

You can easily make this into a vegetarian meal, adding your preferred type of beans and rice as side dishes. Easy to reheat, you can also multiply this recipe accordingly and either freeze a portion, or eat it the next day.

  

Chorizo and Cheese Enchiladas

Ingredients:

2- 12 oz. pkgs. Tofurky Chorizo Style Crumbles
1 small red bell pepper, diced
½ a sweet onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. fresh oregano, minced
1 tbsp. fresh cilantro, minced
2 tsp. fresh thyme, minced
salt and pepper, to taste
8 oz. Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
15-20 corn tortillas (fresh, if possible)
2 cans fire-roasted tomato enchilada sauce (Hatch brand)

Directions:

Heat the oil in a medium-sized saucepan over medium-high. Add the onion and garlic, sautéing until the onion is mostly translucent (5-7 minutes). Add the diced bell pepper and sauté for an additional 2-3 minutes, until slightly softened. Add the ground Tofurky chorizo and cook until the chorizo is slightly browned (5-6 minutes). Stir in the oregano, cilantro, and thyme, then add salt and pepper to your liking. Remove from heat.

Preheat your oven to 375°F. Pour one can of your enchilada sauce in a 9×13 inch pan. One at a time, dip a corn tortilla into the sauce, flip it over, then place about 2 tablespoons of chorizo filling and a nice pinch of shredded cheese in the center. Roll up and arrange in your pan. Repeat with all the remaining tortillas. Once all the tortillas have been rolled up, pour the remaining can of enchilada sauce evenly over the rolled tortillas. Top with the remaining shredded cheese.

Bake the enchiladas for about 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the sauce completely heated. Serve immediately with your favorite sides and toppings (rice, beans, guacamole, sour cream, salsa, tortilla chips, etc.).

 

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Vegan Spam

Posted on August 14, 2012 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

 

Once upon a time, I had a craving for a spam musubi. Yes, that mysterious rectangular pink colored who-knows-what. If you didn’t grow up in Hawaii or haven’t spent a good amount of time there, the whole idea of a spam musubi sounds weird as hell. And it’s probably far from appetizing sounding: slices of spam cooked then sandwiched between two layers of sticky white rice, all wrapped in nori—seaweed—in a uniform rectangle fashion.

What to do, though, when you’re craving a food you grew up eating for nearly two decades, but no longer want to consume? I don’t say that from a holier-than-thou place. I grew up eating my fair share of fast food, over-processed ingredients. I could eat a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch in one sitting all by myself from about the age of ten, on. One of my favorite after school snacks consisted of taking a piece of bologna, placing a slice of American cheese on it, then microwaving the whole concoction until the cheese was bubbly and the bologna crisp on the edges. We also ate home-cooked meals often, always including some vegetables, typically including rice as well. When I turned 12, I experimented off and on with vegetarianism, never for very long. Then came a phase of various eating disorders and often eating nothing, or purging the minimal junk food I did eat. The plus side of decade’s worth of hindsight is learning constantly to eat better. It’s still a struggle sometimes, but I have learned that moderation and cravings work together. When I’m craving something, overtly healthy or not, I try to listen, within reason.

So that goes back to the question of what to do when you’re craving something that you don’t exactly want to eat? Spam isn’t anywhere near the top of my list of “acceptable craving” foods. While the labels boast that this canned product consists of merely pork shoulder, ham, salt, water, potato starch, sugar, and sodium nitrate – no thanks! I turned to the inter-webs on the hunt for a vegetarian solution, so I could still fulfill my craving, but feel entirely less guilty about it later. I found a recipe from Renae of ieatfood.net and went for it. The results were… odd. But canned spam is pretty odd itself, so that seemed like an okay outcome. I mistakenly did not soak my soy beans or cook them ahead, which ended up giving my food processor a good beating. I don’t suggest that route. Although this “spam” comes out in a cylinder shape, it’s easy enough to cut it into rectangles for making spam musubis. Unlike my photo above, spam musubis are not usually served with a salad. If in Hawaii, you’ll find them by their lonesome, perfect for a hand-held snack. You can also fry up slices of the spam plain and eat them as you would regularly.

 

 

Photo ©Renae at ieatfood.net

 

Vegan Spam

Adapted from I Eat Food 

Ingredients:
1 cup dried soybeans, soaked overnight then cooked
1 cup water
1 cup tomato juice
½ cup peanut butter
2 tsp. sea salt
¼ cup nutritional yeast
1/3 cup celery, finely chopped
1/3 cup onion, finely chopped
½ cup soy sauce
½ tsp garlic powder
1 cup cornmeal
vegetable oil

Directions:

Drain the soybeans then add to a food processor or high powered blender, along with the water, tomato juice, peanut butter, salt, chopped celery, chopped onion, nutritional yeast, soy sauce, and garlic powder. Pulse until you have a smooth mixture. Place in a large bowl, then stir in the cornmeal until it’s completely incorporated.

Oil two 14.5-oz cans (the size of canned soups, beans, tomatoes, etc.) with vegetable oil. Place half of the mixture into each can, then cover with foil or parchment paper and secure with a rubber band.

Place the cans in a dutch oven or large pot with enough water so they’re 1/3 of the way submerged. Bring the water up to a boil, then cover the pot and reduce your heat to simmering. Steam the cans for AT LEAST 2 hours. Make sure to check your water level periodically, being sure not to let it all evaporate off.

Remove the cans from the pot, allowing them to cool until you can easily handle them. The easiest way to remove the vegan spam is to turn over the can, use a can opener to remove the bottom of the can, using it to push the spam through the other opening.

You suddenly have cylinder-shaped vegan spam. Use as you wish! : ) Renae has an excellent recipe for vegan spam musubis if you choose to venture there.

 

Posted in Appetizer, Dinner, Gluten-Free, Sides, Vegan, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Mini Chocolate Pies with Macadamia Coconut Crusts

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

Our kitchen isn’t exactly lacking in gadgets. The lovely Kitchen Aid artisan stand mixer, food processor, Belgian waffle iron, juicer, Hawaiian shave ice maker, etc. My tendency, however, is to use these things frequently as soon as we get them, only to use them less and less often as time goes by. One thing that hasn’t lost its intrigue thus far is the Babycakes Pie Maker my mom sent me for my 27th birthday. I love this device. You get home-baked pies without having to turn on your oven, thus keeping the house from getting too hot even in the middle of summer. I know you can make mini pies with a regular ‘ole cupcake pan, but that still requires heating your whole house.

Up until this last recipe, I had been making double-crusted pies. I finally figured out recently though, that single, bottom-crusted pies, are so simple. As it turns out, not reading the direction manual very closely isn’t the smartest way to go. Turns out I’ve been doing it all wrong. You’re supposed to start off with the pie maker unplugged (and cool), no preheating! This makes things much simpler, by the way! The only real downside is waiting for the pie maker to cool back off between batches of pies.

That aside, this recipe for chocolate pudding pie is tasty. And cute when they’re assembled. And who doesn’t enjoy eating good tasting, cute looking desserts? Seriously. The crust is reminiscent of my favorite macadamia nut shortbread, which I love to use for lemon bars. The chocolate pudding? I loosely based it on my husband’s grandmother’s recipe. Use a good quality cocoa; it makes all the difference in your final product. As I am assuming with most of the recipes I use for my Babycakes maker, I reckon you could make a full size pie (8 or 9-inch), simply altering the amount of ingredients. I have not tried that personally, but am nearly positive you could double the following recipe and be set! :)

 

Mini Chocolate Pies with Macadamia Coconut Crusts

Ingredients:

For the crusts:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
3 tbsp. powdered sugar
a pinch of salt
2 tbsp. unsweetened shredded coconut
¼ cup raw macadamia nuts, chopped fine
1 stick unsalted butter
6-10 tbsp. ice cold water

For the filling:
¾ cup pure cane sugar
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. cornstarch or arrowroot powder
¼ tsp. sea salt
1½ cups milk (any kind you’ve got available)
2 egg yolks
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 tbsp. unsalted butter

For the topping:
8 oz. heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp. powdered sugar
½ – 1 tsp. vanilla extract
¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut, toasted *

1 tbsp. canola or vegetable oil

* With such a small amount of coconut to toast, I like to do this in our toaster oven. I layer the coconut in a single layer on a small baking sheet, then bake at 300° for about 7-10 minutes, paying close attention to make sure the coconut doesn’t burn (it will, quickly). Allow the toasted coconut to cool completely before using.

 

Directions:

Prepare the dough for your crusts: In a bowl, mix together the flour, powdered sugar, salt, unsweetened coconut and raw macadamia nuts. Use a box grater to grate in the unsalted butter. Use your hands or two butter knives to mix in the butter, until your flour mixture resembles very coarse crumbs. Add in about 6 tablespoons of cold water, mixing with a fork. Continue adding the ice cold water one tablespoon at a time, until you have a soft but not overly sticky ball of dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, but no more than 24 hours.

Prepare the crusts: Once the dough has cooled for at least an hour, roll it out to about 1/8-inch thick (thinner than a full-size pie crust) on a lightly floured surface. Use the pie cutting tool included with the Babycakes Pie Maker, cutting the larger circles for bottom crusts. You should be able to get at least 10 crusts out of the dough. Lightly brush the wells of your pie maker with the oil. Use the pie-pressing tool, placing four of the dough rounds into the pie maker. Prick all over the dough with a fork (keeping it from puffing up while cooking. Close the pie maker until it locks, then plug in and bake for 12-14 minutes, until the crusts are lightly brown and crisp. Unplug the pie maker, transfer the crusts to a wire cooling rack until completely cooled, then repeat the above cooking process until all the dough is used. Be sure to allow the pie maker time to cool completely between each batch!

Prepare the filling: While the crusts are cooling, whisk together the sugar, unsweetened cocoa, flour, cornstarch and salt in a small saucepan. Turn the heat on to medium and whisk in the milk. Continue stirring until the mixture begins to thicken (15 – 20 minutes). While the chocolate pudding is cooking, whisk together the egg yolks and vanilla in a small container. Add a tablespoon of the chocolate to the egg mixture, whisking continuously (keeping the eggs from cooking). Remove the pudding from the heat once it’s very thick. Whisk in the egg mixture, stirring continuously. Stir in the butter.

Prepare the pies: Spoon about 3 tablespoons of chocolate pudding into each pie crust, or just enough filling to be slightly rounded on the top. You can use a butter knife to smooth the top if you want. Place all the filled pies on a baking sheet.

In a bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until thick and to the consistency of whipped cream. Top each of the pies with a generous amount of whipped cream and a light sprinkling of your toasted coconut. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving.

Makes 10-12 mini pies.

Posted in Baking, Dessert, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Mini Blueberry Pies

Posted on August 4, 2012 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

Perhaps by now you’re aware that I do not consider myself much of a baker. Queen of the flop-cakes? Sure thang. Sunken-center baker extraordinaire? You know it. Not always, but enough to make me nervous about ever having to bake anything gorgeous and substantial for anyone who may request it. In this day and age though, you’re bound to come across cooking devices that make you feel much better about your abilities, or lend just enough confidence to leave you feeling like you could create a treat that actually looks appetizing should the need arise.

My mom sent me such a device for my last birthday, the Babycakes Pie Maker. Initially, even this mini pie maker had me nervous. What if I screwed up these little pies, too? Turns out there wasn’t too much room for worrying once I had the first batch baked. The Babycakes Pie Maker is so straightforward and easy, plus you end up with delicious mini pies that are both cute and delicious. Good for sweet pies, savory pies are also an option. You can bake up mini quiches, cream pies, fruit pies.

The first set of pies I made were a complete experiment: close to overripe blueberries, a handful of sad looking strawberries, cooked then placed in these buttery crusts. They were a huge surprise and amazingly delicious. The following recipe is the second batch of pies I attempted just days later. I liked these even more; the lemon balances out the blueberries perfectly and the crust is flaky, light, and tasty. The mini pie maker is great for allowing you to create homemade treats without overheating your house by using your oven. The only trick I’ve found is making sure to keep the dough as cold as possible right up until the pies are cooking, which ensures a flaky crust. I suppose both the filling and crust recipes could be adapted and scaled for a much larger single pie, but I’ve not personally attempted to do so yet.

 

 

Mini Blueberry Pies

Ingredients:

For the buttery crust:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. cane sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
pinch of fresh nutmeg
pinch of sea salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cold
6-8 tbsp. ice water

For the blueberry filling:
2½ cups fresh blueberries, stems removed
½ cup cane sugar
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
small pinch of ground cloves
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. water
1 tsp. grated lemon zest

For the pies:
2 tbsp. lemon juice
6 tbsp. confectioner’s sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten

Directions:

Prepare the dough for your crust: Whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Use a box grater to grate the stick of butter into your dry ingredients. Use your hands to pinch the butter into the flour, until you have what resembles a bowl of coarse crumbs (1-2 minutes). Add about half of the water, one tablespoon at a time. Use a fork to stir the water into the flour mixture, adding water as needed, one tablespoon at a time, until you have a ball of soft but not overly sticky dough. Wrap in plastic wrap, then refrigerate for at least 1 hour, but no more than 24 hours.

Prepare the blueberry filling: Combine the blueberries and sugar in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat , stirring occasionally until the mixture begins to boil. Cook for 7-10 minutes, until the sugar dissolves and the blueberries begin to burst.

In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and water. Slowly stir the cornstarch mixture into the blueberry mixture, bringing to a boil for about two minutes, until the mixture thickens significantly. Remove from heat, then stir in the cinnamon, cloves, vanilla, and lemon zest. Allow the blueberry filling to cool completely.

Prepare the pies: Roll out the refrigerated pie crust on a lightly floured surface, to about 1/8-inch thickness (much thinner than a traditional pie crust would be). Use the crust cutting tools that come with the Babycakes Pie Maker, cutting 6-8 circles for the lower pie crust  and equally as many for the top crusts. Work carefully so that you don’t tear the crusts or stretch them (this morphs them when you add them to the pie maker).

Plug the pie maker in until the ready light glows green. Work with the crusts one at a time, placing the larger circle into the lower cooking reservoir. Fill with about 3 tablespoons of filling, then top with the smaller dough circle. Fill the remaining pie reservoirs. Brush the top of each pie with the lightly beaten egg, then close the pie maker and bake for 13-15 minutes, until the pies are nicely golden brown. Keep the remaining dough refrigerated while this batch cooks.

While the pies are baking, mix together the confectioner’s sugar and lemon juice. Remove the pies once they’re brown, then brush the sugar/lemon juice mixture over the top of the hot pies. Allow the pies to cool completely.

Repeat with the remaining crusts, allowing the pie maker to cool between batches. (Unplug, allow to cool opened for 5-10 minutes, plug back in and cook the second batch of pies as your did the first.)

Yields about 8 mini pies.

Posted in Baking, Breakfast, Dessert, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Creamy Three-Cheese Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

My appetite has gone haywire over the last couple months. Not hungry, not hungry, not hungry, ravishingly hungry after a couple weeks, though only around 10 o’clock at night. Summer is nearly always like that for me: the warm days somehow outweigh my desire for food. Winter is another story all around. It makes things difficult at times, being someone who thoroughly enjoys cooking, creating meals, and placing my creativity in the kitchen. However, summer offers such pretty, fresh ingredients it’s not hard to convince myself to make something delicious to feed everyone when necessary.

While I’m not usually a fan of raw tomatoes, the turnoff always being the seeds encased in that goopy, mushy slimy mess they’re in. Its taken time, but I’m definitely learning to enjoy tomatoes. In the past, we’ve grown them, ending up with tons of bright red ‘maters. Last year we had a bunch of tomatoes, but with the abnormally cold stretch into summer, we didn’t have single red tomato by the time fall came. I don’t mind buying tomatoes this time of year, especially locally grown. Right now, cherry tomatoes are all over the place and they sure are gorgeous! Yellow, bright red, green, orange… and so very sweet.

I recently saw a recipe for roasted cherry tomatoes and about keeled over with excitement. While I’ve seen many recipes for slow-roasted cherry tomatoes that take hours in the oven at low heat, who wants to turn their oven on for three hours in the middle of summer?  Thirty minutes of oven time is worth it for these, even in the middle of summer. While you could easily eat these roasted tomatoes on their own, I added them to pasta with some fresh basil, goat cheese, feta, and romano cheese, resulting in a very creamy main dish. This pasta is actually delicious cold as well, the following day.

 

 

Creamy Three-Cheese Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes

Ingredients:

2 pints cherry tomatoes, stems and leaves removed
2 tbsp. olive oil
1½ tbsp. balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup fresh basil, chopped
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
¼ tsp. red chili pepper flakes
¼ cup pecorino romano cheese
3½ oz. feta cheese, crumbled
4 oz. goat cheese
1 pound pasta (penne, spirals, strozzapreti)
2 tbsp. heavy cream

 

Directions:

Prepare the tomatoes: Preheat your oven to 400° F. Place the tomatoes in a single layer on a large rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle the tomatoes with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Generously sprinkle on some salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes, or until the tomatoes turn wrinkly and begin to pop from the heat. Remove from heat and allow the tomatoes to cool at room temperature while you prepare the pasta.

Prepare the pasta noodles according to the package directions (boiling in salted water). While the pasta is cooking, get the sauce started. Melt the one tablespoon of butter over medium heat in a large saucepan or pot (all your pasta will eventually go in here, so choose something large enough). Sauté the garlic, chili flakes, and about a quarter of the fresh chopped basil for about 10 minutes, until the garlic is tender.

Drain the cooked pasta, reserving about one cup of the cooking liquid. Add the pasta to your sautéed garlic, turning to evenly coat the noodles. Add in the roasted tomatoes (including their juices), pecorino romano cheese, feta, about half of the goat cheese, and the heavy cream. Stir well, folding all the ingredients in together and making sure the pasta gets coated evenly. Add in the remaining chopped basil. If the pasta doesn’t seem creamy enough, you can add a little of the reserved pasta cooking-liquid (a couple tablespoons at a time). Add in the remaining goat cheese right before serving.

Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Roasted Poblano Guacamole

Posted on July 28, 2012 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

I kick myself every single time I need to buy an avocado. There are numerous foods in Hawaii that I miss incredibly much all the time, but one in particular I never expected to miss, let alone crave, are the gigantic avocadoes we so readily had available in our backyard. The avocadoes I find here in Southern Oregon are so little, often far from ripe when I need them to be, and expensive especially when attempting the organic route. So it goes. Avocadoes are full of fiber, folate, potassium, vitamins, and though a bit high in calories, I never worry about it because generally, we eat pretty healthily and the calories are coming from good fat.

I love guacamole. Once while on vacation with my husband in Vegas, we went out for Mexican food, where we were told multiple times to order the guacamole, simply because of the elaborate preparation that came with it table-side. A guacamole spectacle? Who can resist? Our server showed up with a large tray: ripe avocadoes pitted but still in their skins, tiny bowls filled with cilantro, chopped onions, diced tomatoes, diced jalapeños, fresh limes, salt and pepper. In two minutes, tops, we had a huge bowl of freshly prepared guacamole and hot tortilla chips sitting in front of us. It was divine and made me vow to only eat guacamole prepared equally as fresh.

My husband is an avid fan of poblano peppers. Roasted, in sauces, in tamales or enchiladas. He just told me he’d love a poblano margarita. I love the flavor roasted poblano peppers offer: smokey, but not overly spicy. The smokiness in the adobo sauce that I like in this guacamole works with the roasted peppers as well, balanced with the creamy avocado. This guacamole is delicious on its own, or on tacos, wrapped in a burrito. You can’t go wrong, really.

 

 

Roasted Poblano Guacamole

Ingredients:

5 ripe avocadoes
2 poblano peppers, roasted and peeled
2 cloves garlic
¼ cup fresh cilantro, minced
1 tbsp. onion, grated fine
1 tbsp. adobo sauce *
1 lime
salt and pepper, to taste

* Canned chipotle peppers are often stored in adobo sauce. Smokey in flavor, this is a great addition to this guacamole. You can incorporate a chipotle pepper as well, for added smokey, peppery flavor. If you just use the one tablespoon of sauce in this recipe, you can puree the remaining peppers in sauce, then freeze for later use (approximately one tablespoon of puree is the equivalent of one whole pepper).

 

Directions:

In the small bowl of your food processor, or in a blender, combine the roasted poblano peppers, two of the avocadoes, and the garlic. Pulse until creamy and smooth (1-2 minutes). Transfer the blended mixture to a large bowl. Add the remaining avocadoes and mash until very few chunks of avocado are visible. I use a potato masher to do this – if you don’t have one, you can use a fork, wooden spoon, two butter knives, etc. Add in the grated onion, adobo sauce, and the juice from your lime. Stir until well incorporated. Taste, then add salt and pepper to your liking.

Serve immediately (the longer the guacamole sits before serving, the more brown it will get), either as a side dish, dip, or to go with tacos, burritos, etc.

Posted in Gluten-Free, Lunch, Sauces, Sides, Vegan, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments