First of all, this isn’t Heather.  This is the husband.  And it seems I’ve hijacked Sugar & Butter…okay, I convinced her to let me guest blog.  Isn’t she great?

Right now I basically have two responsibilities in the kitchen:  slice things with my knife, “Gertrude” and help with dishes.  Three if you count Official Taste Tester.  But if we had one of THESE I would seriously lobby to add mixing to my list.

I saw this mixer walking through Crate & Barrel.  (That’s right, I’m man enough to go to Crate & Barrel, especially if there is a Red Mango treat in it for me afterwards.)  But seriously, just look how great this thing is!  It’s all chrome, cord storage, beaters, whisks, and dough hooks, all at 5 different speeds and powered by a 240 watt motor.  That’s about as much as a (really small) weed eater.  And if that’s not a manly mixer, then I don’t know what is.

P.S.  I wasn’t allowed to buy it.  Oh well…

Photo: Nicholas Donner

Labor Day is upon us. For anyone outside of Florida, it means the last days of summer are almost here.

What better way to celebrate than with some good old fashioned apple pie?

As much as I wish I was talented like my grandmother, I haven’t mastered the lattice crust yet. Instead, I went the crumb topping route. It tastes like almonds and butter mostly, but when it mixes with the apples and cinnamon underneath…so much goodness! This apple crumb pie is adapted from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook.

I strongly recommend buying an apple corer/peeler/slicer for this, if you don't already have one.

The makings of a crumb crust...

Pile the apples nice and high in the middle so your pie achieves that "domed" look.

Let this pie cool completely before digging in. It needs time to set up before being served so it all sticks together.

Ingredients:

• Almond Crumb Crust (recipe follows)
• 3 1/2 lbs assorted apples (I used Granny Smith and Fuji), cored, peeled, and sliced into half-moon pieces
• 2 TBS lemon juice
• 1/3 c sugar
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 TBS unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Press 2/3 of crumbs into bottom, up sides, and onto rim of a 9-inch glass pie plate. Freeze pie shell for about 15 minutes.
2. In large bowl, stir together apples, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, and salt. Pour mixture into chilled pie shell, mounding apples in center. Dot with butter. Sprinkle remaining crumbs in clumps over apples to cover completely.
3. Bake, rotating halfway through, until crust turns golden and juices begin to bubble, 45 min – 1 hour. Cool on rack, completely.

Almond Crumb Crust:

In large bowl, stir together, 1 1/2 c all-purpose flour, 1 c + 2 TBS almond meal, 1/2 c +2 TBS sugar, and 1/4 tsp salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 c) unsalted butter, room temperature, until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs with a few larger clumps remaining. Using your fingers, squeeze the mixture together to create pea-size pieces.

This is the classic. Of all classics. It is labor-intensive and moderate in difficulty.

And completely worth it.

I recently adapted Julia Child’s Beef Bourguignon for dinner at our place with friends. I served mine with mashed confetti potatoes instead of egg noodles or pasta.

Next time you have a special occasion, try this one out. Just make sure you give yourself plenty of time!

Ingredients:

• 6-ounces bacon coarsely chopped
• 3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 pounds lean stewing beef, cut into 2-inch cubes
• 1 carrot, sliced
• 1 onion, sliced
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 3 cups red wine, young and full-bodied (I used Cotes du Rhone)
• 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups beef broth
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 cloves mashed garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• A crumbled bay leaf
• 18 to 24 pearl onions (prepare with recipe here)
• 3 1/2 tablespoons butter
• Herb bouquet (4 parsley sprigs, one-half bay leaf, one-quarter teaspoon thyme, tied in cheesecloth)
• 1 pound mushrooms (prepare with recipe here)

Directions:

1. Saute bacon over medium-high heat in a dutch oven or fireproof casserole until crisp. Remove from pan, drain and dry on separate plate with paper towels. Reheat pan until fat is almost smoking before you saute the beef.
2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
3. Dry the beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp. Saute it, a few pieces at a time, in the hot oil and bacon fat until nicely browned on all sides. Add it to the bacon.
4. In the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables. Pour out the fat.
5. Return the beef and bacon to casserole and toss with the salt and pepper. Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly with the flour. Set casserole uncovered in middle position of pre-heated oven for 4 minutes. Toss the meat and return to oven for another 4 minutes. Remove casserole and turn oven down to 325 degrees F.
6. Stir in the wine, and enough broth so that the meat is barely covered. Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs, and bacon rind. Bring to simmer on top of stove. Cover casserole and set in lower third of oven.
7. Simmer for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or until meat is easily pierced with a fork.
8. While beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms.
9. When meat is tender, pour contents of casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan. Return beef and bacon to casserole, distribute onions and mushrooms over meat.
10. Skim fat off sauce. Simmer sauce for a minute or two, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about 2 1/2 cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly. Pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables.
11. Cover casserole and simmer for 2-3 minutes, basting meat and vegetables with sauce several times. Serve on a platter surrounded by potatoes, noodles, or rice. Decorate with parsley.

Well, now that we’re all grown up, there’s something better. Check out the Fuel Duo food container. The bottom holds your liquid meals and the top holds crackers. It also comes with a foldable spoon.

So now we can all sound really old and say, “I sure wish they had this when I was a kid.”

These banana nut muffins taste a lot like banana nut bread, but in individual portion sizes (a good thing for many of us who know and love banana nut bread). They’re made even better by being part of the “quick bread” family, needing no yeast.

These muffins were moist and not too banana-ish. I used chopped almonds instead of walnuts, and half wheat flour, half white flour.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 c plus 2 TBS butter, melted
• Nonstick cooking spray, for muffin tin
• 2 ripe bananas
• 1 c whole wheat all-purpose flour
• 1 c all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1/2 c brown sugar
• 1/2 c chopped almonds

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Mash the bananas using a fork. In large bowl, stir together flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. In another bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar, butter, eggs, egg whites, then pour the mixture into flour mixture. Add nuts and bananas. Fold just long enough to moisten flour mixture.
3. Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, scoop mixture into muffin tins, about 2/3 of the way full.
4. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

The past few months have been…crazy. I know people say that, but seriously. I mean it. I won’t torture you with all the busy details of the last few months, but it’s been really hard to blog a lot – or at all – lately. I will be trying to catch up over the next few weeks! This is where I’ve been: getting used to married life!

Photo: Nicholas Donner

Photo: Nicholas Donner

Behold, the shallot. There are a lot of rumors about this vegetable, and I’m here to clear them up. First, shallots are not a crossbreed of garlic and onions. Next, shallots are not a type of onion. They are a species all on their own.

In fact, shallots are a type of allium. The allium family contains popular “flavor” veggies such as leeks, onions, scallions, chives, and garlic. Allium is the genus and shallots are the species. Remember this:: domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species?

Shallots are often used in place of or in tandem with onions. They’ll make you cry like an onion will (believe me!) and they have papery skins like onions. Their flavor is sweeter and more mild than their onion brother. However, they grow in cloves like garlic – though only 2-3 per head.

You can see where the confusion comes in.

Shallots are fast gaining popularity (and have likely “arrived”) among both professional chefs and home cooks alike. Provided your knife is sharp, they are easy to slice and chop and they’re great in vinaigrette when you don’t want a sharp onion after-taste.

Find these little guys in the onion section of your grocery store and try them out!

Time is a hot commodity for many of us. Ok, all of us. Staying creative while using convenience foods is difficult!

Problem solved: Four Way Brownies.

The beauty of these is that there are no rules and the different flavors will please everyone in your crowd. Just open up your cabinets and pull out what you see. Does it go well with chocolate? If yes, bring it out.

This is my spread. I had a box of brownie mix and my other random ingredients.

Pretzels.

Dark chocolate.

Walnuts.

Candied ginger.

• Follow directions on brownie package. Pour the mix into baking pan. I used a 9×13 pan for mine, because it gives more room for different ingredients.
• Chop brownie mix-ins and sprinkle them into each quadrant of brownie batter.
• Using a wooden spoon, carefully stir mix-ins into each quadrant. Use a motion similar to smoothing out cake batter. Like this:: ~~~~
• Bake brownies according to directions on box.

In order from top to bottom:

1. Pretzel Brownies
2. Ginger Brownies
3. Walnut Brownies
4. Dark Chocolate Chunk Brownies

Filed under: Desserts ]]> http://sugar-and-butter.com/2010/05/21/four-way-brownies/feed/ 1 heathercummins CIMG3535 CIMG3522 CIMG3525 CIMG3527 CIMG3526 CIMG3523 CIMG3530 CIMG3538 http://sugar-and-butter.com/2010/05/12/ingredients-101-quinoa/ http://sugar-and-butter.com/2010/05/12/ingredients-101-quinoa/#comments Wed, 12 May 2010 14:04:52 +0000 heathermisner http://sugar-and-butter.com/?p=698 ]]>

You may not even know how to pronounce this little grain. Let me help! Quinoa is pronounced “keen-wah.” You can find it at practically any grocery store these days, but when all else fails try a Whole Foods. It tastes a bit nutty and sweet and when cooked, should be a little al dente.

Quinoa is a grain that is produced primarily for its seeds, which we can eat! Believe it or not, it is closely related to beets and spinach. It was originally harvested in the Andes region of South America and used to be considered one of the most important crops to the Incas (behind potatoes but before maize).

Nutritionally speaking, quinoa is great for you! It is high in protein and is one of the few plant foods that can act as a complete protein – great for vegetarians or flexitarians. It is also a good source of fiber and offers a kick of magnesium and iron. Bonus: it is gluten-free!

Don’t be afraid to cook quinoa. Treat it like rice with a 2:1 water:grain ratio. Bring the quinoa and the water to a boil, and cover and simmer for around 15-20 minutes. Fluff it with a fork and get creative! You can add veggies, olive oil and parmesan, or honey and berries for a breakfast treat.

Ready to try it out? Check out these recipes here and feel free to post your favorite one in the comments!

I think I might be aching for summer. My dessert choices lately have all reflected warmer days and cool treats. Remember the strawberry tart last week? And coming up, we’ll have key lime cookies.

Yet another case in point: Mint Oreo Pie.

This isn’t your normal, run-of-the-mill oreo pie. This is dense, creamy, minty oreo pie. The kind you can’t get enough of.

It was 46 degrees when I left to walk to the Metro this morning. Until it gets be 80, I’ll be eating this and dreaming of Florida.

First, you want to get all your ingredients together. Pretty simple: sugar, whipped cream, cream cheese, mint oreos, and a ready-made pie chocolate pie crust (not pictured).

Crush up the oreos in a food processor. Alternatively, you can release all your life frustrations by placing the cookies in a heavy-duty freezer bag and crushing them up with a rolling pin, meat tenderizer, or other heavy object of choice. I like to leave mine a bit chunky. This way, as you eat the pie, you’ll find heavenly surprises of cookie chunks.

Next, use a stand mixer or hand mixer to blend the whipped cream, cream cheese, and sugar together. This will look like glue. Seriously. Gently mix in your crushed oreos.

Pour the pie filling into the pie crust and smooth it out. Put the pie in the freezer for at least a couple hours. I left mine in overnight.

Let it thaw for about 20 minutes before serving. When you’re ready to showcase your amazingness, top the pie with oreos in whatever fashion you want.

Make your friends very happy.

Ingredients::

• 1 ready-made chocolate pie crust
• 16 mint oreo-type cookies
• 8 oz. 1/3 less fat cream cheese
• 1 tub lite cool whip
• 1/4 c. sugar

Instructions::

1. Pulse oreos in food processor until roughly chopped.
2. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, blend cream cheese, sugar, and cool whip on medium-low until well mixed and smooth.
3. Gently fold in crushed cookies. Pour cream mixture into pie crust, spreading evenly over crust.
4. Freeze for at least 2 hours or until chilled through and frozen. Thaw for about 20 minutes before serving.