the perfect apple pie

I need to write this down for future reference: How to make a pie that is the perfect level of sweetness, has apples at just the right point of tenderness, and actually isn’t runny.

Ingredients:
6 golden delicious apples
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3 tablespoons flour
2 9″ deep dish prepared pie crusts (thawed but kept cool in fridge ’til needed)

Method:

1. Peel and slice apples to 1/4″ thickness.
2. Preheat oven to 425 F.
3. Melt butter in a big saucepan. Add apples and stir to coat. Add brown sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Cook until liquid is syrupy and apples are browned but not completely tender yet.
4. Meanwhile, turn out the 2 pie crusts carefully onto a flat surface. Lay one in a glass dish for baking (don’t bake in aluminum as it keeps the crust from browning). Flatten the other. Trim off the crinkly crust edge and roll it up into a ball. If the edge splits, which it likely will, patch it up with the extra edge dough. You can use the remaining dough for decorations. (creative use of cookie cutters =D)
5. Turn off heat to stove and sift or hand-sprinkle the 3 tablespoons of flour into the apples. Stir well after each tablespoon, until all is incorporated.
6. Pour filling into the bottom crust. Gently lay the top crust over the filling and seal at edges (Fork-tine trick is a good way to do this). Cut some steam vents at the top and decorate with leftover dough shapes if so inclined.
7. Bake for 15 min or until top browns.
8. Remove pie from oven and tent with foil, shielding the edge from direct heat. Don’t forget to rip some slits in the center of the foil. Reduce oven temperature to 350 F and bake for 40 minutes. Place a cookie sheet under it because sometimes the pie will leak when the filling bubbles up.
9. Remove from oven and let cool a couple hours before serving. Hooray, pie!

Moqueca at Muqueca

There’s always something satisfying about making a long trek in the cold New England evening to a hole-in-the-wall spot with a legendary specialty. I’m talking about Rino’s, its location all the way out in East Boston, and its famed plate of perfect gnocchi. I’m also talking about Muqueca, a small but bustling Brazilian joint out in Inman Square [college kids: who really knows how to get there via bus?], and the scrumptious seafood stew after which it is named. Except that the restaurant name and the menu item are spelt differently, post-translation.

more…

Impromptu Avocado Shrimp Wrap

As part of my summer internship adventure, I get to pack myself lunch three times a week. Eventually, I want to get back into packing fancy little bentos (they are so seductively cute) but for today, a simple wrap, a bottle of cranberry juice, and a bag of chips is divine — especially when you want to work and eat at the same time and can’t be bothered with eating utensils.

So last night, after Joel and Kyle (housemates) finished packing their lunches, I ended up with some sandwich ingredients they left out and invented this wrap. It’s really easy and actually turned out quite good, and I like to think that it’s healthy, too. Anyhoo, it looks like I’ll be making it again really soon…

Impromptu Avocado Shrimp Wrap

Ingredients:
6 medium shrimp, peeled, deveined
2 slices tomato
2 rings sliced onion
2 leaves lettuce
1 quarter avocado, cut into slices
1 teaspoon garlic hummus
1 flour tortilla wrap
lots of freshly ground pepper
dash of salt

Method:

1. Place the 6 shrimp in a tiny saucepan with a cup of water; simmer until pink. You can also saute, microwave, or steam your shrimp… however you like, just make sure it’s fully cooked.
2. Put everything on the tortilla wrap, distributing them evenly. Grind some pepper over everything and add a sprinkle of salt. I like to spread the hummus on one of the side edges of the wrap so that when I go to wrap it up, the hummus works like glue and helps the wrap stay together.
3. Fold the bottom edge of the tortilla and roll it up sideways. Enjoy!

I made this the night before, wrapped it in foil, refrigerated it overnight, and stuck it in the fridge when I got to work. Come lunchtime, there’s a delicious good-as-fresh sandwich waiting. You can peel the foil back as you eat, a la Anna’s Tacqueria burritos. And you don’t have to worry about it exploding all over your keyboard! Hooray!

Cilantro Ginger Fish Soup

Tried to fillet a fish today.

It didn’t go so well.

Part of it had to do with the fact that I didn’t have the right knife. The knife (knives) I had were a large, dull, 6″ chef knife, a cleaver, and a small paring knife. I went with that. The other part had to do with the fact that I had hardly an idea what the hell I was doing. I basically started by giving the fish a thorough visual examination, followed by a massage to try and figure out where its bones were. No avail. So I just stabbed into it in a horizontal manner, hoping to shave off some meat from both sides. Lots of bones got in the way. I ended up with two thin slivers of “fillet” and a massive controlling bone with most of the fishmeat still attached. I gave up and threw the entire fish in the pot. I will do better next time. At least now I know how a tilapia’s bone structure works.. sort of. =)

Afterwards, my boyfriend told me that I should have bought a sea fish.. they are more fillet-able. Except all the sea fish were more expensive at the market.. but maybe I’ll try that next time!

Anyway, I needed this fish to make a homey clear soup that my mom has been making for me at home. Ever since I moved to college, I’ve been craving/missing this dish, and I finally decided to try it today. It’s just that I didn’t have enough time to go looking for fish that fits into a college budget until today (swung by Chinatown =P).

The recipe below is actually slightly modified from what I did. In lieu of doing a hack job of filleting on a whole fish, I recommend going with 2 fillets (for eating) and 1 head (for flavor.) (The reason I wanted to try the whole fish, silly ambition aside, was that I remembered my mom saying that the fish heads and skin add the most flavor to the broth.. it’s where all the lovely fatty acids reside.) Well, my version turned out awesome, but I think next time I’ll try the fillets way. I’m guessing it’ll be just as good, and whole heck of a lot less fumbling with knives. =)

Cilantro Ginger Fish Soup

ingredients:

• 1 white-meat fish head (ask the seafood counter at any supermarket for one — sometimes they’ll give it to you for free!)
• 1 lb white meat fish fillet (I used tilapia)
• a 2″ long knob of ginger, sliced thinly
• 2 spring onions, chopped
• 4 tablespoons cilantro, finely chopped
• 6 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon each salt and white pepper (adjust to taste afterwards)

method:

1. Place the ginger, salt, pepper, and water in a pot and bring to a boil. Add the fish head. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and fish (sorry =P) out the head and discard it.
2. Meanwhile, cut the fillets into 2″ pieces. Turn the heat back on. Add the fish fillets to the simmering. Cook 5 minutes or until fish flakes easily.
3. Add spring onions and cilantro. Simmer for a minute more and turn off the heat. Adjust taste with salt and white pepper. You’re done!

Cilantro Lime Shrimp Skewers

Last Saturday we went to the WBOS Earthfest concert (featuring Tufts’ own Guster this year.. w00) and brought along a picnic. As part of our grilling kick, I decided to make these skewers for a semi-spontaneous picnic attempt at the concert, which actually turned out quite successful. I paired it with Lemon Parsley Potatoes (something we stole from a Rachel Ray cookbook… grrr), homemade strawberry lemonade, and a blackberry baby spinach salad with fresh blackberries from Wilson Farms. We found a good grassy spot next to a stream on the Esplanade and munched away. Needless to say, the combination of lime, cilantro, and shrimp spelled out culinary bliss. This is a recipe I definitely need to repeat.

Cilantro Lime Shrimp Skewers

ingredients
1 lb shrimp, shelled and deveined
1/2 cup lime juice
6 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
salt & pepper
2 tablespoons oil, olive
6 tablespoons cilantro, fresh, cleaned and chopped finely
12 cherry tomatoes
2 bell peppers, cut into ~1″ squares

method:

1. Start by making the marinade: mix together lime juice, chopped cilantro, olive oil, and salt and pepper. Pour the cilantro lime marinade over the shrimp and set it aside for a couple of minutes. Anything longer than a few minutes of marinating and I would recommend putting the bowl in the fridge to deter bacterial takeovers. Note that shrimp shouldn’t be marinated for more than 30 minutes because the acid in the lime juice will start to “cook” the shrimp and alter its texture.
2. Now go preheat the grill.
3. Thread the skewers with shrimp and bell pepper chunks, alternating them. Top it off with a cherry tomato.
4. Grill on low heat just a few minutes per side until shrimp are pink and cooked.. ta-da, yummy food!

tuna dill pasta salad

i made this ridiculously easy refreshing pasta salad for lunch today, after making the serendipitous discovery that dill weed goes really well with a smidge of curry powder. the recipe was inspired by one i found on allrecipes.com, but i modified it so that it wouldn’t have dairy. (thankfully, mayonnaise is dairy-free.) this may turn out to be one of the bringing-lunch lunches i’ll have to rely on this summer, as it is madly easy and yummy too.

Tuna Dill Pasta Salad
makes: a lot - like 8 servings
takes: 30 min

ingredients:
1 box of farfalle (bowtie), macaroni, or rotini pasta
1 large cucumber (we used an english cuke)
1 small carrot, shaved or julienned
2 6oz. cans of chunked tuna
1 cup of mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice (or to taste)
1 teaspoon dill weed
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
salt to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon)
pepper to taste (about 1/4 teaspoon)

how to do it:

1. Boil water and cook pasta according to package instructions.
2. Meanwhile, cut cukes in half lengthwise, seed them, and chop into slices. Peel carrot and shave into a bowl.
3. Get a huge bowl and put the cooked pasta in. Add 2 cans of tuna and veggies. Add mayo and everything else. Stir to mix well and adjust seasonings according to taste.
4. Serve chilled. Eat!

back to the kitchen!!

for about four miserable weeks, as finals and final projects overtook everything in importance, there were hardly any kitchen activities at my apartment. we subsisted on a giant pot of chili that jess and i cooked up one weekend (it was supposed to last the whole week) and… hell, i’m not sure what we even ate that month (but the giantness of the pot of chili was memorable).

but school ended (finally) and i was left for about a week to my own devices until my internship started. i was more than happy to return to cooking. i think that’s the only productive thing i’ve done since school ended thus far.

this summer i want to learn to cook more classic dishes from other cuisines, and to experiment with salads and wraps, as i will need to bring lunch to work thrice a week. i also need to get my hands on some fish from chinatown and learn how to clean and fillet a fish. as well as how to work with a whole chicken, like roasting it. lastly i plan to grill a TON. so far we’ve already fired up the grill twice and not yet burnt down the porch. go us!

sheila, the american studies administrator that i work with, recommended a couple farmer’s markets where we should start shopping. one is wilson farm’s in lexington. there’s also this other place called “farmland” but i have yet to look more into it.

this week saw a lot of…
- swedish meatballs with tina’s made-up beer-based gravy (lactose free for elena =))
- chicken curry over steamed basmati rice
- banana bread
- grilled brined chicken - RIDICULOUSLY good. i have to post the recipe sometime..
- jen’s pasta salad with olives
- jen’s nestle’s blondies
- honeyed chicken kabobs
- jen’s boxed pineapple upside-down cake
- grilled glazed pineapple rings
and finally..
- homemade vanilla ice cream and homemade bailey’s espresso ice cream

we also cooked an entirely vegetarian meal for a vegetarian guest:
- ratatouille with summer squash, eggplant, bell pepper, tomato, and zucchini
- curried raisin rice pilaf
- strawberry baby greens salad with an unfortunately over-sweet dressing >_<
- curried carrot soup

i should start posting pictures and recipes soon instead of just hoarding them on my harddrive.. soon =)

the chili that ate 82 bristol. and then we ate it back.

so like today jess and i were in such a good mood because of the weather (it was a fantastic sunny blue sky 80 degrees out! and its only april!) and the fact that our final exam went exceptionally well that we went to davis, got ice cream, and then made devious plans to make chili that night.

we stocked up on three and a half pounds of ground beef, two pounds of dried beans, two huge cans of stewed tomatoes, two pounds of sausages, and a carton of mushrooms. oh, and a four-pack of guinness (yes, this is our secret recipe that involves, among other things, coffee, chocolate, and dark beer.)

then we went home, went through the fridge, and dug out every vegetable we have: carrots, cherry tomatoes, onions, a leek, bell pepper, more mushrooms, olives… letsee what else. i think thats it.

we soaked the beans and it created about 7 cans of reconstituted beans. i cooked the sausage in our little cast iron pan and cut it into big bite-size pieces. we then dumped ALL of the ground beef into our gigantic 8-quart stock pot and browned it. then we put about 4 cans’ worth of beans in. along with all the vegetables and stewed tomatoes. the pot filled immediately almost to the top, but we kept adding things until it was clear that if we added more, it would go disastrously wrong. towards the end we added the “secret” ingredients. we also added TONS of cumin, garlic powder, minced onions, cayenne pepper, paprika, chili powder, salt, and fresh-ground pepper. we stirred and stirred and stirred.

“i feel like a witch with my big pot of trouble,” says jess.

and so it goes. we made some rice. and now we have a pot of chili, of epic proportions. elliot’s gonna wish he were here, and not in japan where things don’t exist in such ridiculous sizes =) and that is the story of the chili that ate 82 bristol…

pictures coming soon…

café makeshift

i made something delicious today by accident. it was like this:

me: “oh man, i can’t stay awake but i need to study. quick, need caffeine!”
[goes to kitchen]
me: “i’m too lazy to make coffee. maybe i’ll use this box of folder’s powdered mocha latte stuff that my someone gave me last year. i should use it up anyway.”
[boils water, makes fake mocha latte]
me: “i’ll just put another scoopful in to speed the using-up process.”
[adds a huge extra scoop. goes back to room. on the way back, sees bag of leftover halloween mini hershey’s bars]
me: “i wonder if this will melt if i put it in my fake mocha latte.”
[puts it in]
[stirs anxiously — the drink, that is]
[sip]
me: “holy shit this is good!”

the end!

shrimp scampi

we wanted shrimp badly today at the apartment, so i looked up this shrimp scampi recipe on allrecipes.com. alas, the sauce required brandy and white wine. though we had an unopened bottle of pinot grigio lying around thanks to jessica’s dad’s fondness for undulging us silly, brandy was missing. we tried to get it at the liquor store across the street and failed miserably (yang, though he is 21, didn’t have his horizontal license yet. also, the owner also kicked me out of the store because i didn’t have iD… in any case, i don’t think he could quite believe that we only wanted it for cooking. then again, we are not your normal college students…)

anyhow, i got back and decided to try the recipe anyway, without the sauce. i remember shrimp scampi being pretty hard to mess up. after all, it’s a simple sauteed shrimp dish with garlic and light herbs. and i was right. the recipe turned out quite great. so great that i didn’t have time to take pictures before they all disappeared.

here it is:

Somewhat Shrimp Scampi

makes: 4 servings
takes: 30 minutes

ingredients
1/3 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 1/2 lb. small shrimp, deveined and shelled, tail off
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic
1/2 tbsp dried onion flakes
1 teasp oregano
1/2 teasp basil

method
1) mix the flour, cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper together in a small bowl. also, mince the garlic (or squeeze it through a garlic press) and mix it up with the onion flakes, oregano, and basil. set aside for step 3. and don’t forget to tell your housemate or someone to start the pasta.

2) the next step is to dip the shrimp in flour and lightly cook them on both sides in a skillet with olive oil. it would be fastest to take a staggered/multi-tasking approach to this. i.e. heat up a skillet with enough olive oil to coat the bottom. (rotate the pan around to get the oil to spread.) while the skillet heats, start to individually dredge the shrimps well in the flour mixture. once the oil is well-heated (hot enough to make the shrimp sizzle), turn the heat to medium-low (so the shrimp don’t cook too fast and get tough) and start laying the first 8 floured shrimps on their side in the pan. leave them there and dredge about 8 more shrimp in the flour. flip the pan shrimps already in the pan to their other side. add the newly floured shrimps. dredge some more. remove the shrimps (from the first round) and set them aside in a bowl, as they should be medium-cooked by now. now flip the 2nd round of shrimps, and add the 3rd round, and keep going untl you’re out of shrimp. this sounds ridiculously complicated but it’s pretty intuitive when you do it out….. and yes did i mention it’s faster? (notes: the reason i don’t just dip them all in flour and saute them all at once is that the flour coating tends to get loose and fall off. also if you find yourself running low on olive oil, just add more)

3) when all the shrimp have been floured/lightly fried, take them all out of the skillet. pour some new olive oil in. saute the garlic mixture until fragrant. add the shrimps back in. now saute for about 5 min until shrimp are well-cooked. some of the flour will come off and form crunchy bits… i am a big fan of those.

4) serve with cooked pasta… watch them disappear very quickly.