Brie with pecan sauce

My sister's friend Tiffany gave her this recipe, and we tried it tonight for the first time. A new favorite.

There's no real cooking involved, so don't be intimidated.

We had a hard time not eating it all.

Brie with pecan sauce
1 small wheel of brie [or camembert, which I bought by accident and was also great]
1 small package crescent rolls [in the dairy case]
1 jar pecans in syrup [with the ice cream toppings]

Unroll the crescent rolls on a cookie sheet. Place them together in a squarish fashion and press the seams together. Put the cheese in the middle and fold the corners of the rolls together on top of the cheese. Bake according to the roll directions.

Remove and pour the pecan sauce over the cheese. Serve with crackers. It's ridiculous how good that is.

Squash cornbread recipe

There are about a million recipes for zucchini bread out there, so I figured there might be one for squash cornbread. I found a few, but all called for cornbread mix. Despite my using self-rising cornmeal, "mix" is anathema to me. So I rejected them out of hand.

I made one up, and I was so pleased with it. Hope you enjoy!

Squash Cornbread
3 c. white, self-rising cornmeal
1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1/2 t. thyme
2 eggs
Enough milk -- I think I used around 1 1/2 c. total
4 T. oil or melted butter
1 lb. yellow squash, grated [About 2 cups]
1 medium onion, grated
1 c. cream-style corn

Mix dry ingredients. Beat eggs lightly and mix with milk and oil/butter. Combine wet and dry ingredients. Add more milk if necessary. Batter shouldn't be runny, but should pour easily. Blend in vegetables.

Spray a 13x9 baking pan and pour in batter. Bake for 30 min. or til done [golden brown on top, toothpick comes out clean] at 400 degrees.

Peas in progress

Shelling peas

Today Jacob and I went to the farmers' market. We found the rarest of finds -- peas in the shell. You can frequently find shelled butterbeans in the summer, and often shelled peas in the spring, but to find them still in the shell! Wonderful.

Peas in particular must be the freshest of fresh. When you pick peas, all the sugar in them begins converting to starch, and it doesn't take long. You really need to eat them within a day or two of their being picked or they won't be sweet.

So we bought our peas-in-the-shell and brought them straight home for shelling. I was impressed, but even 2yos can help with this.

Then I slightly adapted a recipe I found on 101 Cookbooks. Here's what I did:

I shelled and rinsed my peas. I boiled a pot of water with a little salt, and I dumped all the peas in for 30 seconds exactly. Then I strained them and rinsed them with cold water to stop the cooking.

For each cup of peas, I added
1/2 c. toasted pine nuts
1/2 c. parmesan cheese
Salt
Lemon juice
1 T. olive oil

And whipped the whole thing up in the food processor.

  Pea pesto.

We couldn't stop eating it.

Carrot Squash Casserole

So today, I cooked and cleaned all day long. The cleaning wasn't what I wanted to do -- but I did want a clean house. So that was worthwhile. The cooking was for me, though. Excellent day.

I made:

• Parmesan biscuits
• Some random things for lunch
• Chocolate-chip cookies
• Homemade croutons
• Carrot-squash casserole

For dinner, we also enjoyed salads, some quinoa and the sesame peanut noodles I made yesterday.

The carrot-squash casserole is an adaptation of one my mother has made for years. It's really more of a souffle, though I tried to knock it back down a couple of notches toward "not deadly." I was actually safe in this, b/c the NYC sister had already cut the butter by I think 3/4, with good results. I used half the butter the original calls for, 1 fewer egg, and mixed in squash. Good reviews all around.

Carrot-Squash Casserole
2 c. cooked, mashed squash and carrots [one large squash, 5 or so carrots]
1 c. mashed saltines [I've also made it with buttery whole grain crackers [like Toasteds] before and that's delicious]
1 stick butter
1 c. milk
1/4 c. grated onion
1/8 t. cayenne pepper
1/4 t. pepper
1 t. salt
2 eggs

Soften the butter but don't melt. Mix everything but the eggs. Beat the eggs until they're puffy and fold them in gently. Butter a 2-quart casserole and pour in the mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. When it's done, it won't jiggle when you shake the casserole.

How to make homemade croutons

  You can't even think of going back to the box. 

If you take nothing else away from here, here is this:
You shouldn't put anything pre-made onto a salad.

• Salad dressing.
• Croutons.
• Bac-Os. [Yikes!]

I occasionally still use store-bought dressing, but I am incredibly picky about it. I don't even consider dressings that aren't sold refrigerated. [Much better to make your own....I'll have to share an easy recipe soon.]

But croutons -- so easy to make them homemade. Don't ever buy them at the store again.

Homemade Croutons
1 loaf good artisanal bread
1 c. olive oil
2 t. your favorite herbs -- I used thyme. Oregano, basil, rosemary would all be good.
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
3-4 cloves garlic

Smash the garlic, chop finely. Mix with the olive oil, herbs, salt and pepper. Cut the bread into small bite-sized chunks. Toss the bread with the oil mixture. Bake for about 30 min in a 350 degree oven, but stir 2-3 times during that time.

Chess pie for Easter dinner

  Chess pie for Easter dinner 

I made a chess pie this morning and I really enjoyed my piece after dinner. Strangely, neither of the kids wanted any. I promise they eat barbecue and grits both -- well, at least until the 8yo became a vegetarian last year -- but for some reason, I have apparently failed at getting them to appreciate this particular Southern delicacy. I'll keep working on it.

I got this recipe from my mom. It's always great.

Chess Pie
2 c. sugar
2 heaping T. flour
1 heaping T. cornmeal
1 stick butter, melted
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 c. buttermilk
2 t. vanilla
1/4 t. lemon extract
Pinch of salt

Combine sugar, flour and meal. Add melted butter. Add eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, salt and lemon extract. Beat until well mixed. Bake in a pie shell at 400 degrees, for 10 minutes. Then lower heat to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes. Pie should be golden brown on top, and should jiggle just a little when you shake it -- not like water or soup, but not as firm as Jello, either.

Easy Thin Mint Ice Cream Pie

I had a dinner tonight with my in-town cousins. There are lots of us Norment cousins, but just four of us here in town. For some time now, we've been having semi-regular dinners, rotating between houses. Potluck. Family gossip. All the fun stuff.

Tonight I'd volunteered to bring dessert, and I'd planned to make a chocolate chess pie, but I got majorly busy today and didn't have time to do that. So I made this little thing up and it turned out very well.

Thin Mint Ice Cream Pie
1/2 gallon mint chocolate chip ice cream
1 sleeve Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies
Cool Whip
Graham cracker crust *

Soften the ice cream, but don't let it melt. Meanwhile, crush the cookies to bits. Stir these in to the ice cream, working fast. Pour the ice cream/cookie mixture into the pie shell til it's even with the top. Spread the Cool Whip on top. Freeze--a couple of hours should do it. You want it to re-solidify, but you may want to take it out of the freezer a few minutes before you slice it.

* My sister noticed tonight I'd actually used a storebought crust. I never do that. Graham cracker crusts tend to be just fine at the store, but I can't tell you how much better they are if you make them yourself. They are so easy!! If you're not trying to make the pie and crust in 20 minutes and get out the door, make your own. Here's how:

Graham Cracker Crust
2 cups graham cracker crumbs [Put about 1 sleeve of crackers in the food processor--zip!]
1/3 c. sugar
6 T. butter

Melt the butter. Mix all ingredients. Press into pie pan. If you won't be baking the pie, then bake the crust for 10 min at 350 degrees. If you're baking the pie, that's often not necessary.

Quick vegetarian chili with beans

I'm not a patient person. Have I mentioned that? And with two kids in the house, we aren't into weeknight dinners that take a long time.

Fortunately, unlike lasagna, chili is still good if you make it quickly. I've had lots of chili designed to simmer all day, and that brings a wonderful complexity of flavors you can't get in 20 minutes in the skillet. But I'm not very good at starting a dish in the Crockpot in the morning, so we usually opt for 20 minutes right when we get home. The benefits here are not just speed -- it's also fresh, a different kind of flavor than you get with simmering.

Vegetarian  Chili with Beans*

1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
2 cans diced tomatoes, or equivalent amount of chopped tomatoes
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic
1 T. chili powder
1/2 t. cumin
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
Optional: Tomato paste
Optional: Water

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the onion and spices. Cook until onion is tender. Lower heat to medium and add garlic. Add tomatoes and beans. Bring to a simmer and lower heat. Keep at a low simmer as flavors meld, at least 15 minutes. Add tomato paste if too thin, or water if too thick. You may find yourself like me and doing both in turn. Chili tends to be very forgiving. Just before serving, add salt and pepper to taste.

I make it with cornbread and a little grated cheese. Delicious!

* After 2-3 subpar dishes recently, I've about sworn off anything that comes in a can. I've eaten too much fresh food in the past few years....things like my CSA have spoiled me. However, it's hard to go wrong with canned beans [though they're even more delicious when you have the time to soak them and make them from scratch], and in the winter, I don't mind canned tomatoes, either.

I made baklava from scratch

I can't tell you how much fun this was. I also can't wait to try this again, so I can use my little tweaks to the recipe. The recipe below is how I'm going to make it next time. Since I already have the phyllo sitting in my fridge, that may be pretty soon.

Baklava
3 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. water
1 T. lemon juice
1 t. rosewater
8 oz. phyllo
1 1/2 T. sugar
1/2 c. walnuts
1/2 c. raw pistachios
2 sticks unsalted butter

Make the syrup several hours before the rest of the pastry.

Combine sugar, water and lemon juice in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Simmer for 10 minutes and add the rosewater toward the end. [Note: There's rosewater and there's essence. If you get essence, just use a few drops. It's much more intense.]

Remove syrup from heat and let stand. Refrigerate to chill.

Grind the nuts into tiny bits. A food processor is great for this. Mix with the 1 1/2 T. sugar.

Melt the butter. Remove the phyllo from its wrapper and cover with a damp towel. Paint the sides and bottom of a 13x9 baking pan with butter. Put the first sheet of phyllo in the pan and paint it with butter. Put another sheet on top and paint it. Overlap sheets as necessary to go up the ends and sides of the pan a little. Continue layering phyllo til you've used about half the sheets.

Sprinkle the nuts over the phyllo. Continue adding sheets of phyllo, painting each one with butter before adding the next.

Using a really sharp knife, cut the baklava into a diamond-shaped pattern, with each pastry about 1" or so. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees, then turn the oven up to 425 for 5-10 minutes to brown and puff the phyllo.

Immediately after you remove the pan from the oven, pour the cold syrup over the baklava, spreading it evenly.

Baklava

Here's the hard part: You really should wait about 8 hours before you even THINK about eating it. The next day, it's even better.

I understand it freezes well, but I don't know how you're going to have any left to consider that.

The cookie update, Christmas 2007

So this past weekend, the SO* and I blasted through Dalton, GA, and the surrounding area for the wedding of one of his childhood friends. It was a really cool event, with lots of former neighbors gathered among the revelers, some of whom hadn't seen each other in a dozen or more years. I was meeting most everyone for the first time, but we had a great evening.

I didn't have time to bake anything ahead of time, so I ran by Christie Cookies on Friday to take a tin to the SO's dad and stepmom. [Hat tip to Summer and Cole, who always think Christie Cookies are a good idea.] If you've been around here long, you know I don't much believe in storebought [though I continue to give props to Lindsay for ensuring that I always have a jar of pasta sauce on hand]. I even make my own pie crust. Every single time. But I will tell you, a tin of Christie Cookies is always well received.

But still, I felt bad tonight when the 8yo and I made Hershey's Kiss cookies, as the beginning of our Christmas baking. Most of these will end up as teacher gifts tomorrow. [See Elizabeth's recent post for more teacher gift woes, and ideas.] Next time I come to Dalton, I'll bring some. :)

Hershey's Kiss Cookies
Easy recipe here. Photos to follow.

  Egg, milk, butter and sugars

  Adding the flour, soda and salt

  Rolled in sugar, ready to bake

  We unwrapped 39 kisses

  I'm not sure how we didn't eat them all

  Chocolate goo

*New character on Fixin' Supper: the Significant Other.