Coconut Pie - tastes like summer to me!

The smell of coconut immediately brings to my mind thoughts of summer, sun, and beaches, so I was super excited when I recently came across a great recipe from an old Bon Appetit (November 1992) for a delicious coconut pie.  It isn't a traditional coconut cream pie, but almost more like the pie version of a macaroon.  (Is your mouth watering yet?)  The article mentioned that the pie is very rich and should be served in small wedges, and I totally agree.  However, it never hurts to have a few small wedges right? 

Francis Oliver's Coconut Pie recipe (as adjusted by me)

Ingredients:
1 All Ready Pie Crust (half of 15-ounce package), room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 1/2 cups sugar (you can use a little less if you think the pie is too sweet)
3 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or use 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp almond extract)
1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 450°F. Roll out folds in crust, and press crust into 9-inch glass pie plate. Trim and crimp edges. Bake crust until light golden, about 9 minutes. (I use ceramic pie beads when I bake a pie crust without a filling, but you can also use dried beans - cover the raw pie crust with aluminum foil and cover the foil with pie beads or beans and bake as directed.  Remove foil and beads/beans from the pie crust once cooled.  Do not eat beans after using them for this purpose.)  Transfer to rack and cool. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.

Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over low heat or in the microwave. Add sugar and stir until mixture is heated through. Transfer to bowl. Add eggs, lemon juice and vanilla and whisk to combine. Stir in 1 1/2 cups coconut.

Pour filling into crust. Bake until filling is deep golden brown and set, about 40 minutes. Cool on rack. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before continuing.) Garnish with shredded coconut, if desired.

Check out the original recipe on http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Frances-Olivers-Coconut-Pie-5002 and try this pie out!  Your whole house will smell like summer!

Toasted Cheerios

I'm dedicating my post today to my college roommate and dear friend, Jackie.  Jackie and I are returning to alumni weekend on Friday, and as I reminisce about all that we have experienced together, my thoughts immediately turn to food.  (Granted, when I think about anything long enough, my thoughts typically turn to food, but that is neither here nor there.) 

Jackie and I have shared many food-related experiences over the years.  We were often the only people up early enough to enjoy breakfast at the college dining hall.  We became popular at a particular fraternity house in college when they allowed us to use their kitchen in return for samples of the cookies we made.  We made Sonic runs at all times of the day and night, celebrated our roommate anniversary over cini-minis at Burger King, and could often be found on Sunday after church enjoying the Pizza Hut buffet while recapping the gossip of the weekend.  One of my favorite food memories with Jackie is a treat she made for me the first time I visited her at her parents' house in Oklahoma.  Jackie asked me if I'd ever tried Toasted Cheerios.  I had not, but I was intrigued.  So Jackie whipped up a batch for me, and from then on, I've been hooked.  Here's the recipe:

Pour yourself a bowl of Cheerios.  (Do not add milk.)  Set aside.  Melt about 1 Tbsp (or more if you want) of butter in a pan over medium-high heat.  Add Cheerios from bowl.  Saute Cheerios for about 30 seconds to 1 minute or until they are toasty but not browned.  Pour back into bowl.  Eat.  

WARNING: They are addictive.  I still eat them all the time.  I have no explanation for why they are so good (besides the obvious butter, I guess), but I have never met anyone who could resist them. 

Jackie and I have enjoyed delicious snacks together all over the country since college, from swanky restaurants in New York and Denver, to In-&-Out Burger in San Diego and Pot Belly's in DC, but the Toasted Cheerios always take me back to our crazy college days.  I am so thankful for our friendship - and for Toasted Cheerios!  Can't wait to see you this weekend, J!

Happy Opening Day!

I love Opening Day of baseball season!  To celebrate, I thought I’d share some of my recent baseball-themed cakes with you.  Whatever team you cheer for, enjoy the games and some delicious treats to go along with them!   

Eating my way through Washington, D.C.

I’m back and full of cupcakes!  Last week was Spring Break, and I got to visit my brother in Washington, D.C.!  I had a great week of visiting monuments and museums, watching basketball games, and catching up with friends and family.  I also ate myself silly at some amazing restaurants and did some baking recon around our nation’s capital. 

My brother took me to several delicious restaurants (including the Jose Andres restaurants Jaleo and Zaytinia, for Spanish and Greek tapas respectively – yum!), but my favorite was Brasserie Beck’s.  I actually wanted to take this chef home with me and eat his cooking every day.  I’m generally unfamiliar with Belgian food (except for waffles and chocolate), but I loved everything I ate there, especially the mussels!  There are no words for food like that.  So, so good.    

On the sweeter side of things, I realized shortly after my arrival that Sticky Fingers, the vegan bakery that recently won Cupcake Wars, was located just around the corner from my brother’s apartment!  With a little help (it’s not too hard to find people to share cupcakes with you), I tried all of the winning cupcakes, and they were every bit as beautiful and delicious as they looked on TV. 

From there, I decided that I should test out a few more DC bakeries as well.  On Monday, I went to Warren Brown’s Cake Love and its sister sit-down coffee house, Love Café.  The barista recommended a pumpkin cupcake with cream cheese icing, and she didn’t steer me wrong.  It was a delicious afternoon snack along with my latte.  I received Warren Brown’s cookbook United Cakes of America for Christmas, so it was a fun treat to test out one of his recipes in person!

My next stop on the cupcake tour was a cupcake truck called Curbside Cupcakes.  We split a Black Irish Cream cupcake (it was close to St. Patrick’s Day) and a vanilla cupcake.  The specialty one really took the cake so to speak, but the vanilla wasn’t bad either.  And the customer service was great!  They even posed for a cheesy, touristy picture for me! 

I also tested out the chocolate hazelnut cupcake from Crumbs bakery, which was good but enormous!  My companions munched on a cookies ‘n’ cream cupcake and an Artie Lange – vanilla cake, chocolate cream cheese filling, topped with vanilla cream cheese dipped in chocolate fondant.  Neither of them were complaining. 

The last bakery I tried was Hello, Cupcake!  I had the Princess cupcake (vanilla cake with strawberry frosting) and my cupcake accomplice had another cookies ‘n’ cream.  They were my least favorite on the cupcake tour, but had some cute decorating ideas for their other cupcakes. 

On Saturday morning, we had brunch at Co Co. Sala, which is a whole restaurant based around chocolate.  It was a great culmination to my week of dining indulgence!  We had some fancy, not-quite-cupcake desserts there, but I thought I'd share the pictures anyway. 

It was a great week, and I can’t wait to go back soon.  Believe it or not, there were restaurants and bakeries that I missed! 

Happy Mardi Gras! A King Cake even my gluten-free friends can enjoy!

Today is Mardi Gras, aka Fat Tuesday, a day where everybody is supposed to indulge in all things delicious and guilt-inducing!  The King Cake is the traditional Mardi Gras treat of choice.  It’s a brioche shaped into a ring and stuffed with deliciousness like cinnamon or strawberries and cream cheese, then covered in glaze and sprinkled with purple, green, and gold sugar.  Here's some info on the history of King Cakes:  http://www.mardigrasunmasked.com/LocalColorCustoms/KingCakeHistoryARichTradition.aspx

Unfortunately, one of my family members has to maintain a gluten-free diet and can’t enjoy a traditional King Cake!  Luckily, I recently found a gluten-free cookbook that I’m actually a fan of – The Cake Mix Doctor Bakes Gluten-Free (http://www.amazon.com/Cake-Mix-Doctor-Bakes-Gluten-Free/dp/0761160981/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1299467454&sr=8-1).  I have been a huge fan of Anne Byrn and her Cake Mix Doctor cookbook for many years now, so when she came out with recipes for adapted gluten-free cake mixes, I had to check it out.  (View the website at http://www.cakemixdoctor.com/).  I usually hate (hate, hate, hate) gluten-free recipes, but I figured that Anne probably knew what she was doing, and boy was I right!  I adapted the recipe for her “Kathy’s Cinnamon Breakfast Cake” into a gluten-free version of King Cake.  Alright, fine, it’s more of a coffee cake than a brioche, but it was actually good!  I think the trick is in adding instant pudding mix to the gluten-free cake mix.  Good-bye to mealy, dry gluten-free "cake"; hello to delicious, moist, I-can’t-believe-it’s-gluten-free dessert!  Here’s the recipe:

For the cinnamon streusel

1/3 cup lightly packed light brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/3 cup finely chopped pecans

For the cake

1 Tbsp cinnamon sugar (to make cinnamon sugar, combine ¼ c. sugar and 1 Tbsp cinnamon; save extra sugar for cinnamon toast or to sprinkle on baked apples)

1 pkg vanilla gluten-free cake mix

¼ c vanilla instant pudding mix

1 c milk

½ c vegetable oil

3 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

For the glaze

½ c powdered sugar

1-2 Tbsp milk

Dash of vanilla extract

For decoration

Purple, green, and gold sugar sprinkles

Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans and set aside.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease bundt pan and dust with cinnamon sugar.  Set aside.  In a large bowl, combine cake mix, pudding mix, 1 c milk, oil, eggs, and 2 tsp vanilla.  Beat with electric mixer at low speed for 30 seconds, then beat at medium speed for 2 minutes more.  Pour 1/3 of the batter into the prepared bundt pan.  Add half of the streusel mixture on top of the batter.  Pour half of the remaining cake batter on top of the streusel.  Top with the remaining streusel, then top with the remaining batter.  Bake for 35-40 minutes.  Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then invert cake onto plate.  Cool completely.  In a small bowl, mix the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla to create glaze.  Pour over the top of the cake.  Sprinkle in sections using purple, green, and gold sugar sprinkles.  Enjoy!

I smell bacon...

So I know I’m about two years late to the chocolate and bacon party, but this is a trend that has intrigued me for sometime now, and I finally decided to give it a shot today.  Many before me have evaluated the pros of cons of meat candy already (check out http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/09/chocolate-and-meat-trend-bacon-vosges-mole.html, http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/food_coach&id=7096731, and http://www.hungrypassport.com/2010/12/in-defense-of-the-bacon-in-the-chocolate-trend/), and the reviews are mixed.  I recently bought a new cookbook called Recipes Every Man Should Know by Susan Russo and Brett Cohen.  The cookbook has an entire chapter devoted to “Beer, Bacon & Bar Food,” which includes a recipe for Bacon Brownies.  This gave me the perfect opportunity to test out the meat and sweets movement.  I am happy to say that my experiment was a huge success.  Now I’m not sure that every combo of bacon and chocolate will turn out delicious, but this one is definitely a winner.  Here’s the recipe for you – I guarantee the bacon- and brownie-lovers in your life will not be disappointed!

Bacon Brownies

30 minutes / 16 brownies

6 bacon strips

1 package store-bought brownie mix

Store-bought caramel sauce, warmed, for serving

Whipped cream for serving

1. Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until somewhat crispy.  Drain on a paper-towel-lined plate.  Chop four strips into small pieces, reserving two strips for garnish.
2. Make brownie batter according to package directions and stir in chopped bacon; pour into a greased 8-inch-square baking pan.  For optimal bacon distribution, swirl a spatula through batter.  Bake according to chart on package.
3. To serve, place a brownie on a plate.  Drizzle with warm caramel.  Place a dollop of whipped cream on top and sprinkle with reserved chopped bacon.  Await praise. 

Shhh... It's a secret!

I mentioned last week that I would write about secret recipes today, so here’s the deal.  I’m not 100% against secret recipes when your business depends upon the recipe (or formula) for something being kept a secret, so I hold no ill will towards the manufacturers of Coke or the pretzel rollers at Auntie Anne’s. 

What I’m not a fan of are personal/family recipes that are held a little too close to the chests of some home cooks.  I don’t understand this phenomenon.  Perhaps I am a bit more communal than most when it comes to recipes or food in general.  I was raised in a house where if food didn’t have your name on it (literally), it was fair game for anyone who found it.  On my dad’s side of the family, recipes were passed along to anyone willing to cook them with the hope that it meant the good food would be made that much more often. 

My mom’s side was a different story.  My mom didn’t cook from scratch that often, but one of her best dishes was pot roast.  She used to make it on Friday nights when I was driving home from college or visiting from St. Louis.  I loved catching up with her in person over that meal after being away.  When I asked her for the recipe, she said, “Oh, my roast isn’t that good.  I’ll get you Cindy’s recipe instead.”  Her friend Cindy does make a mean roast as well, but that was not what I was looking for.  She really didn’t think her recipe was worth passing on.  Before I had time to convince her that her recipe was really the one I wanted, she grew ill and passed away.  Since then, I’ve spent a lot of time attempting to create a pot roast that tastes as good as hers.  I’ve come close, but my roast will never be exactly right, and whenever I make it, I feel more connected to and more distant from her at the same time.

I was recently asked to contribute to a church cookbook and was happy to hand over my very favorite recipes.  Obviously, I included the apple pie recipe I mentioned last week.  These were the other recipes I submitted:

Ham and Cheese Puff-Pastry Quiche (makes about 4 servings)

Ingredients:

1 sheet frozen puff pastry (from one 17.3-ounce package), thawed

1/2 cup diced ham

1 cup coarsely grated cheese

1 large egg

1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup sour cream

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Unfold 1 pastry sheet into an 8x8 pan. Top with ham and cheese leaving 1/2-inch plain border. Whisk eggs, rosemary, pepper, salt, and nutmeg in bowl. Whisk in sour cream. Spoon egg mixture over toppings on pastry. Bake until pastry is puffed and golden and toppings are set, about 25 minutes.

Stuffed Mushrooms (This recipe was one I was able to get from my mom.  We ate them on every holiday.  They are so good!)

Ingredients:

1 pint button mushrooms, cleaned and destemmed

1 8 oz block cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Preparation:

Combine last three ingredients.  Fill each mushroom with mixture.  Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees on a cookie sheet until golden brown.

Hash Brown Casserole

Ingredients:

For casserole:

2 lb frozen shredded hash browns

2 Tbsp minced onion

1 can cream of chicken soup

8 oz sour cream

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 stick butter, softened

8 oz shredded cheddar cheese

For topping:

1 1/2 c. crushed cornflakes

2 Tbsp butter, melted

Preparation:

Mix first 8 ingredients together and place in a 9 x 13 pan.  Spread cornflakes over mixture.  Pour melted butter on top.  Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Grandma Bonnie's Green Beans

Ingredients:

1 can or jar green beans with juice

1 tsp butter or grease

dry onions to taste

soy sauce to taste

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan.  Add water if necessary.  Simmer 30 minutes.

I’m sure that I could keep these recipes a secret and add something to their allure in the eyes of some, but honestly, I just want to share them while I still can.  Hopefully someone else will be able to create their own special memories around some of these dishes.  If you have any secret recipes, feel free to post them and get them off your chest!  Or if you are keeping a secret recipe, tell us why you want to keep it a secret.  I’d love to know!