Sunday, November 27, 2011

Personal Size Apple Crisp

Post Thanksgiving, tragically we had run out of apple pie.  But I had a leftover peeled Granny Smith apple in the refrigerator so I decided to improvise a personal size apple crisp suitable for the application of appropriate amounts of vanilla ice cream.

Referencing an online recipe for crisp topping, I approximated the ratios.  The filling I eyeballed, so some adjustment may be necessary.

Ingredients:

  • 1 large ramekin
  • white sugar
  • brown sugar
  • cinnamon
  • oatmeal
  • flour
  • salt
  • butter
  • 1 large Granny Smith apple peeled

I thinly sliced the apple and in a mixing bowl, combined the apple slices, some white sugar (about 2 tablespoons or so), some cinnamon (about 1/4 tsp) and a dash of salt until well coated.  I put this in the ramekin with enough left over for a small ramekin.

In a 2 cup pyrex measuring dish, I melted 2 Tbs of butter.  I added to that 2 Tbs oatmeal, 2 Tbs flour, 3 Tbs brown sugar, about 1/2 tsp cinnamon and a dash of salt, combined and pressed on top of apple mixture in Ramekin.  There wasn’t enough for the small ramekin too, so it went “naked”.

In a rush to get this goodness in me, I decided to use the combination cook setting on our microwave/convection oven after preheating it to 400 degrees.  In about 15 minutes the apples looked done but the topping not quite.  I changed the oven to convect only at 400 degrees and gave it another about 7 minutes.

After cooling slightly and with the requisite ice cream, it was as good as anticipated.  Yummm.

Before cooking:

IMG_0966

After cooking:

 

IMG_0967

Saturday, November 05, 2011

Easy Crème Brulee

Though I have successfully made Crème Brulee the “traditional” way, with double boiler, etc., this way is much easier, almost foolproof, and takes less prep time. The quantities below will make 6 small ramekins.

  • 5 egg yolks
  • ½ C sugar
  • 2 C heavy cream
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • Light brown sugar

Preheat oven to 300 and heat a tea kettle of water to not quite boiling. Prepare a large baking dish like a 9x13 or lasagna pan with the ramekins in it.

Put cream in a small sauce pan and warm gently on low. You do not want the cream hot, just slightly warm to touch, and bring it up to heat slow so the bottom doesn’t brown and you don’t get a skin.

Separate eggs reserving egg whites for something else, and combine egg yolks with sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl large enough to add the cream later. When cream, water, and oven are all up to heat, add cream to egg yolk mixture and mix well, but don’t beat or whip.

Pour mixture into ramekins up to bottom of lip leaving about ¼”. Add hot water to baking pan and add additional hot tap water if necessary to bring water most of the way up the sides of the ramekin making sure there is enough room in pan so that it won’t slosh over either the sides of the pan or the sides of the ramekins when you move it.

Put pan with hot water and filled ramekins into oven (see note below) and bake for about 45 minutes to an hour until they start to set up and are slightly golden on top.  They will continue to cook in the hot water when removed.

Remove carefully from oven when done and let cool, cover ramekins with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Right before serving, sprinkle tops with a 1/16” layer of light brown sugar and put on a baking sheet. Mist with a very fine mist of water and place under broiler in oven. Watch carefully and remove when sugar has that caramelized melted look to it. Let cool and serve. For variations, try adding espresso grounds or cocoa to the tops before the brown sugar.

Notes:

  • It can be easier to add water to baking dish when already on oven rack. Removing though still takes a steady hand.
  • Misting the sugar with water prevents the tops of the little lumps of sugar from burning.
  • Heating the cream significantly reduces the cooking time. If it is too hot when you add it to the egg mixture you will get sweet scrambled eggs.
  • Heating the water first significantly reduces the cooking time. Don’t use boiling or really hot water since you risk cracking a dish or turning the outside of the custard to scrambled egg.
  • I have found that the cream to sugar to egg ratio in various recipes various sometimes significantly, mostly the amount of sugar. The above ratios I have used and seem to work well but you could probably reduce the sugar some if wanted.

Picture below is a double recipe in oven just before taking them out.

2011-11-05 20.09.23

Hearty Chili with Beer and Coffee

Hearty Baked Chili
This recipe was adapted from allrecipes.com and is one of my favorite chili recipe to date. And since it only calls for ½ bottle beer, you get to drink the rest of course while cooking.
INGREDIENTS:
  • oil
  • 1-1/2 onions, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 lb+ steak cut into ½” cubes (I like using a beefy tasting steak such as flat iron or chuck eye, or you can use sirloin)
  • 1 can diced tomatoes. (I use “fire roasted salsa style”)
  • ½ bottle dark beer (a chocolate porter is the very best for this chili)
  • 1/2 cup strong brewed coffee
  • 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
  • beef broth (see directions for quantity)
  • 3 TB brown sugar
  • 3 TB chili powder
  • 1 TB cumin
  • 1 TB dried oregano
  • Cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes to taste (start with ¼ tsp)
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans (or sub 1 can for pinto)
  • 1 (8oz) can chopped green chilies (I use fire roasted)
  • 2 fresh hot chili peppers, seeded and chopped
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put some oil in big dutch oven and heat on stovetop to medium/medium-low. Add chopped onion and chopped peppers. Sauté briefly then add garlic and chopped meat. Mix well and season with salt and pepper. Put in oven for 1 hour uncovered. (Note that you aren’t browning the meat on top of the stove but in the oven.)
After 1 hour, remove from oven to a burner on medium heat. Reduce oven temp to 300. Add the rest of the ingredients except for beef broth. The beans can be added either with their liquid or drained and rinsed. Stir chili well and let it come back up to heat slowly. Add beef broth until amount of liquid is appropriate and consistency is how you want it. Cover pot and return to oven for at least 1 hour.
Remove from oven , test seasonings, and place on low burner uncovered for 20 minutes to rest, stirring occasionally. Serve with your favorite accoutrements like grated cheese, chopped green onion and sour cream.

Easy Chili Recipe (March 2020)

1lb+  chuck stew meat diced
1 onion chopped
2 medium carrots chopped
3 celery ribs chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 TBS chili powder
2 TSP Cumin powder
1 TSP dried Oregano
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 can green chilies
2 cans black beans with liquid
Salt
1 shot espresso
1 TBS brown sugar

In heavy dutch oven, salt and pepper and brown meat in batches, remove from pot
Saute vegetables until soft
Saute garlic lower heat for 45 secs
Add meat back in and rest of ingredients and spices
Add about 1/4 cup water
Salt to taste
Simmer or put in 300 degree oven covered for 2 hours
Check seasonings and add salt if required and simmer on stove top uncovered for 30 mins