Easy as pie........

Roasted Root Vegetable Pie

This was amazing- very filling, sweet and savory at the same time.  Made two- and now one is in the new chest freezer to have another night!  This was served alongside Smoked Turkey, Mashed potatoes, Stuffing

The Recipe is courtesy King Aurthur Flour.  They have some lovely things o their website- I wish their flour was available in our area!

King Authur Flour's version Their tutorial is great- go read it!

My Version (Picture courtesy of Mike VandeBundt)

Savory crust

• 2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh herbs (thyme, parsley, chives)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled and diced
• 1/4 cup cream cheese, chilled and diced
• 1 to 2 tablespoons milk, as needed

Filling vegetables

• 2 1/2 cups pearl onions (subbed diced sweet onion)
• 1 cup peeled, diced winter squash
• 2 cups peeled, diced rutebaga
• 1 cup peeled diced white turnip
• 1 cup peeled, diced parsnips
• 1 cup diced leeks, washed and drained
• 2 cups peeled, diced celery root (Subbed Beets)
• 2 cups sliced mushrooms (Forgot)
• 2 to 3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Potato filling binder

• 2 medium baking potatoes
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1) For the crust: Whisk the flour, salt and herbs together in a medium bowl. Cut in the butter and cream cheese until the mixture is the texture of granola. Add the milk one tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together but is not soggy.

2) Pat the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 30 minutes before rolling out.

3) To roast the vegetables for the filling. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Place the diced, chopped vegetables in a large bowl and drizzle them with the oil. Season with salt and pepper and toss all to coat. *

4) Spread the vegetables out on a parchment or foil lined baking sheet and roast in the oven for about 45 to 60 minutes total, stirring well every 15 minutes. The veggies are ready when they are fork tender and caramelized on the edges. Set aside to cool.

5) While the vegetables are roasting, bake or boil the potatoes until they are soft and easily pierced with a fork. Peel, drain and mash the potatoes in a large bowl.

6) Mix the warm mashed potatoes, eggs, herbs, and seasoning together, then fold in the roasted, cooled vegetables.

7) To assemble: Roll the pie crust to a 12" to 14" circle. Drape the crust into a greased 9" or 10" pie pan. Trim and flute the crust edges and place the filling in the unbaked crust.

8) At this point the pie can be well wrapped and frozen for up to 4 weeks. If you are baking now, bake in a preheated 400°F oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350°F and bake for another 25 to 30 minutes or until golden browned on top and the center is set.

9) If you have frozen the pie, you can bake it directly from the freezer at 350°F for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Be sure to check the edge of the crust and protect it from burning with a pie shield or foil. 

* just a note- If you are adding beets to this recipe, KEEP THEM SEPARATED  from all the rest of the veggies until just before you bake the pie. Roast them separately, Store them separately and  fold them in at the last minute, to avoid purple pie.

Between the oven and the camera.....

this blog has gone on hiatus the last couple of weeks.  Sorry about that.  Most of my cooking for the last two weeks has been Christmas cookies, using a friend's oven, and the we go out to eat. Or eat frozen slop from the microwave.

Hopefully next week the Service guy will be able to look at my 13 year old stove and tell us it would be cheaper to buy a new one than to fix the old one.

Pyrex® Bake, Serve ’N Store™ 12-pc Set

Next Monday (the 26th)my new chest freezer finally arrives, Now I need to start collecting freezer-to-oven storage containers, like these from Pyrex:

As well as breaking out the Food Saver Vacuum Sealer,  I have this model: 

This week's dinners are as follows:
Monday: Crock pot Chicken Thighs
Tuesday: Out  
Wednesday: Honey glazed ham with Mashed potatoes
Thursday: make ham stock from the bone- bean soup.
Friday: Calico baked beans
Saturday: Holiday tenderloin on the grill
Sunday: Merry Christmas!  Baked Cinnamon Tree for breakfast- dinner out with friends.



Tonight:
Monday: Crock pot Chicken Thighs
It doesn't get easier than this- throw 2 frozen thighs per person in the crock poth, sprinkle with Lipton savory herb and garlic seasonings, let cook 6-8 hours on high. i added about a cup of chicken stock half way through as it looked a little dry.  Served with Mashed potatoes, (flakes,  I cheated) made with chicken broth and most of the liquid from the crock pot.  Yumm. a little left over for pies later.

Eh?

The pork loin that has been curing for the last week in the bottom of my fridge is now on the grill with an extremely low fire, and some apple wood chunks.  Canadian bacon, here we come!

Canadian Bacon 

Cure
1 tbsp/lb Morton Tender Quick
1 tsp/lb brown sugar

Pork
1  3-5lb pork loin, trimmed of all fat
corn meal

Combine Tender Quick and brown sugar. completely coat pork.  Place in a large zipper bag in the coldest part of your refrigerator for at least 5 days, flipping daily.

The night before you plan to smoke your meat put your wood chunks in a bowl of water to soak.

On the day you plan to smoke your meat, pull it out of the fridge, rinse, and soak it in cold water for at least 1/2 hour.  This process is called "freshening" and will prevent you from having extremely salty meat.  While the meat is freshening, build a low fire on 1/2 your grill, and place a full pan of water on the other side.  Just before you place your meat on the grill, roll it in corn meal to form a rind, and toss the soaked apple wood chunks on the fire.  Place the meat over the water pan, NOT over the fire.  Allow to cook until internal temp reaches 145.  *NOTE - this is a smoked product NOT a fully cooked product. cook before eating!

more turkey sandwiches-

nothing special tonight- more turkey sandwiches-  but found this amazing tutorial on how to perfectly boil an egg!

Pork Loin smoking on an open fire....

Ok. so the fire's not open, it's contained in my Weber Kettle. So sue me.  Smoked pork, Mixed veg, and mashed potatoes for supper last night, carrying it to a friend's.





Pork Rub

• 1-1/12 C kosher salt- Iodized Table Salt Will NOT do for this application.
• 1T onion salt
• 1T Garlic salt
• 2 T Celery Salt
• 2T paprika
• 3T Black ground pepper
• 2 tbsp Brown Sugar
• 1/4 c Black-strap molasses
• 1tsp Mace
• 1tsp Nutmeg (FRESHLY ground)
• 1tbsp ginger

I put the rub on the meat on Saturday afternoon, but I made a newbie mistake- I forgot to RINSE the meat before I threw it on the grill.  The result was a little more salty than I like.  Smoked this with Kingsford Briquettes, and applewood chunks.  Everyone liked it, despite the salt.


Remember to RINSE your meat- at least 1/2 hour in fresh water with one change of water before it goes on the grill.
This was a 6 lb loin, and took 1 1/2 hours on two low fires with a water pan between them.

it's begining to smell a lot like Christmas.....

especially in my kitchen, if Christmas smells like peppermint to you.

I should have double bagged the candy canes. really. maybe even triple bagged them.  because when I began to smack them to crush them, the bag split, and candy canes went flying all over the kitchen. 
These lovely treats were so simple to make, thanks to the tutorial on "Baked by Rachael"

They came out a little thick, but that's my inexperience. If you have to get one of the hearts, be careful. The second candy cane that forms the heart was supposed to show through the dark chocolate, and mostly doesn't!

Sunday- Planned Leftovers- Soup and Sandwiches

Autumn Chopped Salad

OK, I admit it- I don't have a panini press, but I DO have a George Foreman Grill. I love hot sandwiches in the fall and winter.The sandwich filling was inspired by this Autumn Chopped Salad I found on Pinterest

Smoked Turkey, Pear & Walnut Panini

2 C smoked Turkey, cubed
2 pears- 1 diced, 1 sliced
1 C chopped walnuts, divided (If you don't like walnuts, use whatever nut you like!)
Balsalmic vinegar, to taste
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
sliced cheese- something with some bite
softened butter
bread

• Toss the sliced pears in a little vinegar to prevent them from oxidizing.

• Place the turkey, half the walnuts, the cubed pear and the spices into your food processor.  Process until it forms a thick paste, scraping the work bowl several times.  add about 3Tbsp of Balsamic to the paste, and process until incorporated.
• mix remaining walnuts into paste for texture 
• Butter bread on one side only
• Place slices of bread , butter side down on your hot grill, Spread with paste, top with sliced pear, cheese and second slice of bread, butter side up. close grill, and cook until crisp and golden on both sides, and the cheese is melted.
• Serve immediately with hot soup and cold crisp salad . (Mine will be  Pacific's Cashew Carrot Ginger soup with a Romain salad with cranberry balsamic vinaigrette- what will yours be?)

Cranberry Balsamic Vinaigrette

1/4 c fresh cranberries
1/2 c Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 c EVOO
Salt and white pepper to taste
sugar to taste

• process the cranberries until chopped very fine.  Add Cranberries and 1 tbsp or less sugar to jar,  stir to coat, add Vinegar and mix thoroughly (I processed the sugar and cranberries together)
  
•  add salt, pepper and EVOO, cover and shake until emulsified. Let sit at least 1 hour to allow flavors to combine. Keeps refrigerated for up to 1 week, in a tightly sealed jar.
• for less "crunch" in your dressing, you can microwave your cranberries until very hot, add the vinegar, then allow to cool before you add the oil and spices.