As American as Apple Pie

These last few weeks have been nothing short of amazing! First, I must give props to WomenVenture – without them or Katy Burke, we would not have been able to secure financing for our food truck!! Yes, you read that right, we are one gigantic step closer to opening up the Grill Works Truck!

Right now, we have targeted August to open our doors, so to speak, for events, parties and other weekend type festivities. I am hoping for the sooner, the better, but am being cautiously optimistic. Because the hard work has just begun – find the perfect truck to become Our Truck! We have become our American Dream, to own a family business. You’ll have to come out to see us once we are up and rolling.

To honor both this wonderful news as well as the celebration of our nation’s birth, I’ve decided to share a recipe that brought back childhood memories for those have tasted this pie. And to me, a wonderful meal can evoke nostalgia of our youth.

This pie does just that. It is buttery, sweet & tart with a caramel flaky crust. I’ve used both my own pie crust, which I will share with you soon enough & my great-grandmother loved so much she wanted MY recipe! But I have also used a store bought crust & it turns out quite nicely as well. Because Nanny was the inspiration for this, we named it after her too.

I hope that you enjoy this as much as I do!

Grandma Nanny’s Apple Pie

Grandma Nanny’s Apple Pie

Prep Time: 30 Minutes

Cook Time: 1 Hour

Ready In: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

Servings: 8

INGREDIENTS:

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

½ C unsalted butter

3 Tbsp AP Flour

¼ C Water

¼ C Applejack

½ C white sugar

½ C packed brown sugar

1 ½ tsp Cinnamon

Dash Nutmeg

¼ tsp Salt

¼ C Vanilla extract

¼ C Butter extract

1 Tbsp Lemon juice

4 Honeycrisp apples - peeled, cored & sliced

4 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored & sliced

1/3 C Sanding Sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 425° F. On low heat, slowly melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to make a paste.

2. Add water, Applejack, white & brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg & salt and bring to a boil.

3. Reduce temperature and let simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

4. Add vanilla & lemon juice.

5. Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Gently pour, very slowly, ¾ of syrup into apples so that it does not run off.

6. Reserve remaining syrup & keep warm (putting it on the back of stove near where the oven vents its heat will do this for you).

7. Cover with top crust & crimp well to prevent leaking. Cut vents in top crust to allow escape of steam.

8. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350° F. Baking for about an additional 30 minutes.

9. Brush crust with reserved syrup in last 5-10 minutes of baking & dust heavily with sanding sugar. 

Get your MoJo back

I need to share some really good news with you before we get started with everything. I recently had an interview with Urmila Ramakrishnan, the Food Truck journalist for the Minneapolis St Paul Business Journal. We’re going to get a follow up interview at our commissary with her as well! Finally, I had thought that WomenVenture was not going to be able to review us for funding until July, but they are going to this week! Okay, thanks for that commercial break & now on with the show…

This was a hard decision to make. I really love this recipe and it is one of my trade secrets. Since it is near and dear to my heart, I was kind of reluctant to share. While I’ve given to close friends and family, it’s really just so good & simple that I finally came realize that I needed to let you in on this too.

This all began with my quest for the perfect Cuban sandwich. Now, I don’t claim to have made that (yet!) but this pork recipe was a wonderful step in the right direction.

It all started about a couple of years ago when I first discovered the Cuban sandwich. It was hot and toasty; savory with a touch of sour; and it makes my mouth water just thinking about it. I tried one from the Happy Gnome in St Paul. Man oh man was it good! And that sandwich drove me to find another and another, to taste the best the Twin Cities had to offer. I enjoyed Simply Steve’s Food Truck’s Cuban Burrito, which is the Chipotle version of a Cuban sandwich – it’s just as big too! But the moment of transcendence for me came when I visited 3 Squares in Maple Grove. I knew that had great food. I’d gotten take out from the restaurant before, but this time I was finally able to convince the whole family to go there to eat.

I, of course, had read the menu & checked out the place online, included their website, Yelp & Facebook. So I pretty much had my mind made up even before we pulled into the parking lot. The funny thing is now I can’t remember what that was anymore. Probably because I forgot to take into account that, like many great places, they have daily specials. That’s where the chefs get to show off their handiwork & impress their guests with their talent.

You already have an idea of where this going, no doubt. Yes, one of the specials that night was a Cuban sandwich with Sweet Potato Fries. Mere words cannot describe the bliss from that gastronomic experience of that night. So many delicious things and the Cuban they served was absolutely incredible!

And this was the inspiration for my MoJo Pork recipe. Most Cuban sandwiches start with a Pork Butt and include either sour orange juice (1/2 orange & 1/2 lime juice mixed) or Seville orange juice. I didn’t have either, nor did I know where to find Seville orange juice. I substituted Grapefruit instead and the rest was divine! You will not believe the easy of this recipe & how so few ingredients come together to make it. It does take a few days prep ahead, but it is well worth the wait, I assure you. So far, I don’t think I’ve steered ya wrong yet, not intending to start now either!

So let’s get cookin’!

 

 

MoJo Pork

4-6 lbs. Pork Butt

2 large Grapefruits, peeled & segmented, save all the juice possible
1 head garlic, peeled & crushed
1 medium onion, medium dice
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. B. Pepper
1/2 Cup Olive oil
 

Puree all ingredients except pork with an immersion blender.

Stab pork with knife all over to let the marinade penetrate.
Put pork into a gallon Ziploc bag, pour puree over it & seal. Make sure marinade covers the entire butt.
Marinade 2-3 days.
Slow roast 2 ½ -3 ½ hour foil covered at 300, uncovering last ½ hour to brown.
Shred pork. Pour cooking liquid over shredded pork to reabsorb.
Cool overnight.
In a non-stick skillet on medium heat, brown pork on both sides until crispy & serve.

Good for the body & soul

A couple of weeks ago, I was really ill with a nasty stomach flu that was going around. I happened to get it from my preschooler and then so did the rest of the family. When I was finally up to eating, the only thing I wanted was chicken soup. And boy did it make me feel nice! It was like a warm bowl of healthy goodness.

This got me to thinking about the other times I had been under the weather. Most of them started the road to recovery with a bowl of chicken soup in one form or another. I usually make myself a yummy bowl of soup that I’ve spiked with cooked rice & cilantro. It is so delicious. 

Another chicken soup I love & infuses me with well-being is a Thai version called Tom Yum soup. The very best I’ve had is from a Thai restaurant near me called Lemongrass. Their Chicken Tom Yum soup is spicy, rich & makes my mouth water just thinking about it.

Soup is generally something I don’t follow a recipe for since I’ve made it so many times. I normally look at the ingredients & wing it from there without looking at amounts. Making soup is a simple and wonderful thing. It is versatile and forgiving. And one of the best things about soup is that everyone loves it and it makes you feel wonderful eating a great soup too!

So I did take the time to write these favorite soups down and here they are. The Tom Yum soup might have a few unusual ingredients not found in the average American’s pantry or spice cupboard. It may take a trip to the local oriental market to get things like galangal, kaffir lime leaves or bitter melon; trust me, it is well worth it.

I hope you find these recipes as edifying to you as they were for me.

 

Chicken & Rice soup with Cilantro

Prep Time: 20 Minutes

Cook Time: 40 Minutes
Ready in: about 1 Hour
Servings: 6

Ingredients
1 tsp butter
2 medium onions, small dice
2 carrots, small dice
2 ribs celery, small dice
2 tsp garlic, minced
½ cup sherry wine
1 tsp poultry seasoning
½ tsp granulated garlic
½ tsp granulated onion
4 cups chicken stock*
1 ½ cup chicken, chopped
1 cup cooked rice
1 bunch cilantro, minced

Directions

In a large pot, melt butter on low heat.
Sweat onions, carrots & celery until tender.
Add garlic & cook for about 1 more minute. * If using chicken base instead of stock, add base with garlic.
Deglaze with sherry. Add spices. Cook for 5 minutes until alcohol is burned off.
Add chicken stock. Bring to boil, then reduce to simmer.
Add chicken & simmer for 10 minutes.
Add rice, then simmer for 2-3 minutes or until rice is hot.
Remove from heat & add cilantro

Tom Yum Koong Soup  

Prep Time: 20 Minutes

Cook Time: 40 Minutes
Ready in: about 1 Hour
Servings: 6

"This Thai soup with straw mushrooms starts with a stock made from chicken combined with slices of galangal, kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass and fish sauce. Garnish with cilantro."

INGREDIENTS:

1 tsp sesame oil
4 white onions, julienne
2 bitter melon, seeded & julienne
1/2 cup oyster sauce
4 cups chicken broth
2 lemon grass
4 kaffir lime leaves
4 slices galangal, minced
4 bird's eye chiles (*optional)
12 green onion, diced
1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 1/2 limes, juiced
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon thai chile paste (like sriracha)
8 straw mushrooms, halved
15-20 cilantro leaves

DIRECTIONS:

Trim lemongrass and cut into small matchstick size pieces. Or leave in larger pieces to remove later.
In a large pot, sauté white onions in sesame oil until translucent, add bitter melon. Sauté for about 2-3 minutes
Add oyster sauce, stock, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, bird eye chilies*, green onions, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and chili paste to a pot then bring to a boil, simmer 25 minutes.
Bring to boil, after boiling for 5 minutes, add mushrooms. Cook for further 10 minutes or until mushrooms are tender and heated through.
Remove lemongrass (if not soften and tender enough to eat) and lime leaves.
Garnish with cilantro.

“Me want cookie!” - Cookie Monster

Lately, I have noticing there are a lot, I mean, A LOT of peanut butter cookie recipes being posted on Pinterest lately. Sometimes I feel like I can’t get by 4 posts without seeing another one. And most of them have unsubstantiated claims like “Only 4 ingredidents1” or “gluten free!” but when you get to the actual recipe, you find it had 12 ingredients and at least one is flour.

I have decided to throw my hat into the arena for this. Because if there is one thing I love better than donuts, it’s peanut butter! My mom can attest to this addiction came from a very young age. She has a picture of me & my brother when we have the infamous Peanut Butter & Cheese fight – this was when you could get both in a squeeze-able container. If you substitute peanut butter for green eggs & ham, then I’m right with you Sam I Am!

This recipe has been tweeted and twisted and turned a bit. As usual, when I was working on it, I grabbed as many Peanut Butter cookie recipes as I could find, then compared them all to one another to see what the major & minor differences were. Most were the same. Except one. It called itself “The Impossible Peanut Butter Cookie” and I agreed with the title. This cookie had no flour and only 3 ingredients – Peanut Butter, sugar & eggs. I thought, no way this can work! There just no way, there’s no flour to give texture or build off the gluten, no leavening – this thing is just going to melt into a giant puddle on the pan. So I set that recipe aside and worked on the rest to make, what sounded like on paper, a really great cookie.

It was okay. Nothing special. Yeah, it was a peanut butter cookie, so that made it delicious, but it wasn’t anything to write home about or bring to work to say, hey try this! I decided to look at the impossible cookie again. I made a small batch, because I didn’t want to waste my precious ingredients. Lo & behold – it was really good! It held its shape well enough that pressing it was necessary and it worked great making peanut butter blossoms too! But I wanted more – you’ve never heard that from me before have you? ;)

Now was the time to put on my culinary thinking cap & put all of the years of school and cooking & baking to work. What could I do to bring out the peanut butter flavor & truly delight a PB head like me?

The final product doubled the number of ingredients to six. Peanut butter (of course), eggs, brown & white sugar (the original recipe only called for white) vanilla & the curveball – curry powder. Believe it or not, the curry truly brought out the flavor of the peanut butter & it was such a minute amount that it is almost undetectable. So if you love peanut butter as much as I do, these are the cookies for you!

Peanut Butter Cookies

Total Time: 12 mins

Yield: 18 cookies

Ingredients

1 cup peanut butter (your choice, smooth or chunky)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1/16 tsp curry powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
sugar, for rolling (optional)

Directions

Mix peanut butter, both sugars, curry, vanilla and egg together until smooth.
Drop by teaspoon onto cookie sheet two inches apart. If desired, roll in extra sugar before placing on cookie sheet.
Press with fork; press again in opposite direction.*
Bake 8-9 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Do not brown; do not over bake.

*If making Peanut Butter Blossoms, roll balls in sugar & do not flatten before baking. Pressing the kiss into the cookie after it comes out of the oven when flatten the cookie.

The way the cookie crumbles

This week was a friend’s birthday and I wanted to surprise her with a birthday treat. So I had some other people ‘casually’ ask her what kind of sweets she likes and it came down to chocolate.

While chocolate is a pretty easy choice for bringing a dessert, but the first thing that springs to mind was Chocolate Chip Cookies. Now if you know me like I know me, making the recipe off the back of the Nestle Toll House chips bag wasn’t going to cut it, by a long shot. Especially since the idea was to have a really great cookie. I am not saying those cookies are good, they aren’t, but I wanted something more. Something that really brought out the chocolate in the cookies & made them more than ordinary.

So that got me thinking about what enhances chocolate. I did some research and found there are a few things that do the trick. But I wasn’t convinced adding instant coffee, red peppercorns or chiles were the way to go necessarily. Maybe I was simply overthinking it? So I got back to the drawing board & grabbed about 7 or 8 different chocolate chips cookie recipes that had high rates and compared them, and yes I did include the Nestle Toll House one; it’s a classic and it was appropriate to be there.

A couple of things stood out on some unique recipes, one by Elizabeth Faulkner and the other boasting to be The Best NY Times Cookie. They both used bread and cake flour instead of AP flour. Now I don’t keep any other flours at home except AP cuz it is easy enough to create them from ingredients I have on hand. The other thing was resting the dough, at least overnight.

That seemed to make no sense to me – rest cookie dough? Why? Well here’s why. Like in pie dough, the flour needs to hydrate and because there is not actual water in the dough, it must get it from the eggs & butter. The water in them is more gelatinous, the one recipe explained so it takes more time to hydrate the flour. If you’ve ever made pie dough & let it rest in the fridge for ½ hour, you know what I mean as how different that time makes from before & after.

I also found that brown sugar enhances the chocolate too. Since more brown sugar lends to a chewier cookie, I replaced all of the white sugar with brown. For the substitution for the bread flour, I added 1tsp of Vital Gluten to each cup of AP Flour. I also added 1 Tablespoons of cornstarch to each cup of AP flour the recipe called for as cake flour (taking that tablespoon out of the flour measure on the AP for cake too – if that makes sense.) To mix things up a bit more, I used ½ semi-sweet chips & ½ dark chocolate chips, added butter extract with the vanilla extract & did include some instant coffee.

Now I know some of you are asking, what is vital gluten & butter extract & where do I find them. Vital Gluten is wheat protein flour; I buy mine either at the health food store or in the baking aisle with the Red Bob’s Mill product, usually by the yeast. Butter extract is a flavoring used to give a buttery taste to baked goods without having to add additional butter to the recipe. I find it either at a cake decorating store or even at my local Walmart in their cake decorating supplies area. However, the amounts are pretty small, so you could skip either one, but the cookies got rave reviews.

I made a double batch but had to bake one off immediately & couldn’t let it rest as I needed it the next day. That’s the one I brought in & everyone loved. With that in mind, each batch makes about 60 cookies.

*** Update - if you do let the dough rest, you lose about a dozen cookies. I just scooped by 72 hour rested batch and only got about 48 cookies***

Now that I’ve bored you with all of the technical details, here is the recipe I know you really wanted.

Chocolate Chip Cookies, Best

Makes about 60 cookies unrested dough; 48 cookies rested dough

 

 Ingredients:

• 3 ½ C + 1 tbsp. + 1 tsp. AP flour
• 2 tbsp. cornstarch
• 1 2/3 tsp. vital gluten
• 1 ¼ tsp. baking soda
• 1 ½ tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 ½ sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
• 2 2/3 C packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. instant coffee crystals (optional – for a stronger chocolate flavor*)
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 tsp. butter extract
• 10 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 10 oz. dark chocolate chips

Preparation:

1. Mix together flour, cornstarch, gluten, baking soda, & baking powder into a medium bowl.
2. In a large bowl (preferably of a stand mixer) cream butter, sugar & salt together (using paddle attachment) until very light, about 5 minutes.
3. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, making sure they are fully incorporated before adding the next.* If adding coffee, add after 1^st egg.
4. Mix in the vanilla & butter extract.
5. On low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined, only 5-10 seconds.
6. Gently incorporate the chocolate into the dough.
7. Press plastic wrap against the dough and refrigerate 48 hours (at least 24, can be up to 72 hours). Dough can be used in batches, if desired.
8. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
9. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
10. Scoop golf-ball sized dough balls onto baking sheet, making sure to leave about 1” between each.
11. Bake 7 minutes, rotate pans & bake for an additional 7 minutes until golden brown but still soft.
12. Transfer sheet to a wire rack and cool 10 minutes, then move cookies onto the rack or other surface to continue to cool.
13. Repeat, as needed, and in as many batches as desired, until all the dough is used.
14. Eat warm and make sure you have a napkin near (for crumbs, melted chocolate, and the drool that will inevitably accumulate due to the overwhelming deliciousness)!

Spicy Pig Candy

Ingredients

1 lb thick cut applewood smoked bacon

2 c white sugar
1 heaping spoonful sriracha
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp brewer’s yeast

 

 Directions

Mix all but bacon until resembles brown sugar in consistency

Toss bacon in sugar mix & coat well
Bake at 325 on a cookie sheet with a baking rack for about 15-20 minutes or until well browned, rotating at least one time.

Red Enchilada Sauce

Servings: about 10

Ingredients
4 tbsp chili powder
6 tbsp flour
2 tsp cocoa powder
2 tsp granulated garlic
1 ½ tsp ground oregano
1 tsp paprika
1 ½ tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
¼ c dried onions, ground
2 c water
1 tsp lime juice
1 (29 ounce) can tomato sauce

Directions
Combine all dry ingredients in a medium saucepan.
Whisking constantly, slowly add enough of the water to make a thin paste & is well combine.
Add rest of water.
Over medium heat bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens.
Whisk in tomato sauce