Paula Deen's Crunch Top Apple Pie, Y'all

Paula Deen's Crunch Top Apple Pie

Paula Deen makes a mean apple pie, y'all.

And by "mean", I mean scrumptious.

On Sunday I made her Crunch Top Apple Pie currently featured on Food Network's home page and I enjoyed it for 3 days straight. Why just yesterday morning, I went to the fridge to see what I could have for breakfast and there it was... a piece that I had sliced and only eaten half of. So, I just picked it up and ate it while standing right there. It was even great ice cold. I did stop short of picking up the milk container and drinking straight from the carton, though... or at least that's the story I'm sticking to.


Paula suggests using whatever crust you prefer - whether store bought or made yourself. I opted to use this double pie crust recipe by Lapadia. Since Lapadia's Himalayan Blackberry Pie is a Food 52 Editor's Pick and will be in the next edition of the cookbook, Amanda and Merrill even created a slide show to show how they made it. This pie crust was not only simple to make using my food processor, but it was flaky, delicious and easy to work with, even with my unskilled-at-crust-making hands.

The crunch topping was great even though I felt mine wasn't as crumbly as I thought it should be.
Also, you may notice that I only weaved the lattice once or twice then gave up and just laid the strips across ;-)

Here's Lapadia's recipe for a 10-inch double pie crust:

Double Pie Crust (10 inch)

Adapted from Lapadia

Special equipment: food processor

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), cubed and chilled

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

8-10 Tablespoons cold water

Place butter, flour and salt in food processor and pulse lightly until the mixture starts to resemble wet looking sand.

Next add the cold water 1 Tablespoon at a time, pulsing in between, and keep adding water and pulsing until dough just starts to come together. It took 8 Tablespoons for me.

dough has started to come together

Remove dough from food processor and split in half. Pat each into a small disk and place in plastic wrap or plastic bags and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. While your dough is chilling, you can proceed to make your filling.

put disks of dough in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes

After 3o minutes, remove disks from refrigerator. Place the first disk on a floured surface and roll out until it is large enough to fit your pie plate. Fit to your pie plate and trim edges. Roll out other disk, then cut into long strips that you will use to form a lattice pattern across the top of your pie.


Please note, the recipe I chose for my crust happened to be for a 10-inch size pie, but Paula's recipe is for a 9-inch pie, so you'll have a little dough left over. Never a bad thing in my book. I like to sprinkle a little sugar on the dough scraps and bake them at the same time as the pie for a little extra treat.

Crunch Top Apple Pie (9 inch)

Adapted from Paula Deen

Oven 425 degrees F


Filling:
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
dash salt
3 1/2 cups peeled, sliced cooking apples (I used 3 Granny Smith and 2 Fuji apples)
1 (16 ounce) jar applesauce
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 Tablespoons butter, chopped into small pieces

In large bowl mix sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Next stir in apple slices, applesauce, and lemon juice.

apple pie filling

Spoon apple mixture into dough lined pie plate and dot with pieces of butter.

Arrange strips of dough on top of pie in a lattice pattern (weaved), or just lay them across each other.

Crunch Topping:

Adapted from Paula Deen

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 Tablespoon sugar

dash salt

1 Tablespoon butter, at room temperature

Mix all topping ingredients together using a fork until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle mixture evenly across top of pie.

Bake for 10 minutes at 425 degrees F.

Next reduce oven heat to 350 degrees F and continue to bake for 45 minutes or until crust and topping are golden brown.

For some reason it took 85 minutes for my crust to properly brown. I kept checking it at 5 minute intervals but didn't want to remove it until my crust was brown. The pie came out fantastic despite taking much longer than planned.

When pie has cooled, serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or serve cold straight from the refrigerator with a big "glass" of ice cold milk.

Look at that buttery, flaky crust! Topped with vanilla ice cream, this pie was soooo good!

Margarita Tacos y Papas

Margarita Tacos y Papas

So, I was drinking a margarita and accidentally spilled it on my steak. Okay, not really. But that would make for a much more fun story.

The truth is, I marinated the flank steak in tequila, lime juice and salt (plus a little garlic, cumin and red fresno/jalapeno), and margaritas were clearly my inspiration. The result is steak that is tender, juicy and citrusy.

But I gotta tell you the 'papas' part of these tacos is secretly my favorite part. I make these potatoes all the time, usually for breakfast, and I just never seem to get tired of them.  I only lightly brown them, so they're more soft than crispy and I always use Yukon Golds. Cutting them into a small dice seems to make the littlest of potatoes go a long way.

This Yukon Gold was slightly larger than a lime and once diced it was more than enough for 2-3 tacos.

Back to the Margarita Tacos.. first you'll need to marinate the flank steak overnight or up to 24 hours in the refrigerator using the following marinade.

Margarita Tacos

Serves 4-6 (serving size 2 tacos)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds flank steak

1/4 cup tequila

juice of 2 limes

2 large cloves of garlic, minced

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 red fresno pepper or jalapeno pepper, sliced lengthwise (optional)

8-12 taco size tortillas (for a Paleo version use almond flour tortillas like these by Must B Nutty)

Place all ingredients, except the tortillas, in a zip-top plastic bag, seal and turn to mix thoroughly. Store in refrigerator overnight or up to 24 hours.

When ready to cook, heat indoor or outdoor grill to high heat, about 500 degrees F. Remove steak from marinade, discard marinade, and place steak on hot grill. Cook for about 3-4 minutes per side for medium. Adjust less or more based on thickness of your steak. Mine was about 1 inch thick.

marinated flank steak right off the grill, allow to rest a few minutes before slicing across the grain in thin slices

Remove from grill and allow to rest for a few minutes before slicing. Slice across the grain in thin slices. Season with extra salt and fresh cracked pepper if desired. Serve on tortillas with your favorite toppings including the papas recipe below.

Papas

Papas

Serves 4-6

4 small organic Yukon Gold potatoes, diced small (about 1/4" x 1/4") (for a strict Paleo version, you may wish to use sweet potatoes)

2 Tablespoons coconut oil 

kosher salt to taste

Heat skillet to medium-high heat and add oil. Next add diced potatoes and a dash of salt.

Cook for approximately 6-8 minutes stirring occasionally until potatoes are tender. If they start to brown too much, reduce heat to medium and continue cooking. Taste and add additional salt if desired.

Add whatever toppings you like - this time I used cilantro, green onions, and lime juice.
You could add cheddar cheese and sour cream, too, if you like.

The Best Meatloaf and Creamy Cauliflower Mash

The Best Meatloaf and Creamy Cauliflower Mash

The best meatloaf? Really? Well, I think it is. I've been making meatloaf for years and years and years, and while I've made it differently at different times, this is my current favorite version.


It's rich, tangy and moist with a caramelized tomato-based sauce (aka ketchup) on top. And the little pockets of creamy feta cheese add another layer of richness.


Most times, I like to pair it with creamy mashed potatoes but occasionally I'll make creamy mashed cauliflower instead, like today. You might be surprised at how especially delicious cauliflower can be when made this way.

The Best Meatloaf

Serves 6

Oven 375 degrees F

Ingredients:

1 pound ground sirloin (or ground grass-fed beef if you can find it - The Meat House has it)

1 pound ground pork

1 egg, beaten

2 Tablespoons worcestershire sauce

1 Tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 teaspoon ground mustard

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper

2-3 large cloves garlic, minced

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1/2 cup ketchup (I used Annie's Naturals this time but turns out I prefer Heinz or Hunt's)

4-6 ounces Greek feta cheese, crumbled

Annie's Naturals was sweeter than Heinz or Hunt's and that didn't appeal to me.

In large bowl whisk together egg, worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, crushed red pepper, mustard, salt, pepper, bell pepper, garlic, parsley and ketchup.

Next add ground sirloin and ground pork and mix together using your hands. Just mix until blended but don't over mix. 

Lastly, add the crumbled feta and gently mix in.

mixture in baking dish and then with sauce on top

Place mixture in loaf baking dish or pan, then make the sauce.

Sauce:

1/2 cup ketchup (if using Heinz or Hunt's add 1 teaspoon brown sugar)

1/2 teaspoon ground mustard

1 Tablespoon worcestershire sauce

Mix all ingredients together and spread on top.

Place in oven and bake for 45-55 minutes. Meatloaf should be hot, bubbly and starting to brown. Place under broiler for 5 minutes to caramelize ketchup mixture. Let rest for a few minutes before slicing and serving.

Creamy Cauliflower Mash

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 head cauliflower

4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature

1/2 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream at room temperature

3 Tablespoons butter at room temperature

kosher salt to taste

fresh cracked pepper to taste

Trim stem and leaves from cauliflower head and cut florets from core. Cut florets into small pieces and steam for 15 - 20 minutes until very soft.

Remove from steam and allow cauliflower to dry out a little or blot with paper towels. Place cauliflower in medium bowl and mash well with a potato masher or a fork. Add cream cheese, yogurt, butter, salt and pepper to mashed cauliflower and mix well.

Leftover meatloaf makes excellent sandwiches the next day!

A Small Plates Lunch

Italian pepperoncini peppers, Iberico cheese, and assorted olives
Asian Beef Roll-Ups (recipe included) with fresh green onions

Salt-Crusted Shrimp (no recipe, sorry - was too salty!)

We often like to snack on assorted nuts, cheeses and fruits in the afternoon, but today we opted for a lunch of small plates:

• A small plate of assorted olives, our favorite Spanish cheese - Iberico - and Italian pepperoncini peppers
• A small plate of Asian Beef Roll-Ups and fresh green onions
• A small plate of salt-crusted shrimp with a spicy cocktail sauce

It's fun to do that sometimes. Just gather up whatever veggies, fruits, etc. you have on hand and make a relish tray. Maybe make a cheese, salami and cracker tray. And one of my favorites is to put a wedge of Maytag blue cheese on a plate and surround with thin slices of pear - yummm.

To make it more of a meal, just add a few substantial items like - miniature meatballs, crab wontons (why didn't I make these today?!), or whatever you fancy.

Soooo... on to the things I did make today... Asian Beef Roll-Ups and Salt-Crusted Shrimp. The Asian Beef Roll-Ups are right off the pages of my brand new 5 Ingredient Fix cookbook by Claire Robinson. I'm just starting to dig into this cookbook and this first recipe was quite enjoyable. The beef was marinated in a sweet and spicy soy sauce and was complemented nicely by the crunchy green onions I served alongside.

The Salt-Crusted Shrimp was from a recipe I saw in Southwest Airlines Spirit magazine and I'm sorry to say it didn't quite meet my expectations so no point in sharing the recipe. Unfortunately, it was just way too salty. To salvage the dish, I ended up rinsing the shrimp after it was cooked and then it sort of became similar to shrimp cocktail but with way more work. We ate it anyway but I wouldn't care to make it again.

As for Claire's recipe for Asian Beef Roll-Ups - here you go:

Asian Beef Roll-Ups

Adapted from Claire Robinson

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

Juice of 2 limes

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

3 Tablespoons soy sauce

1 to 2 Tablespoons Sriracha sauce (like Huy Fong or even better - make your own: Homemade Sriracha Sauce)

1 pound flank steak

In large glass bowl whisk together lime juice, brown sugar, soy sauce, and Sriracha sauce.

Slice the flank steak across the grain into very thin slices and place into bowl with lime juice mixture. Toss to coat, cover with plastic wrap and leave out on counter for 15 minutes.

slice across the grain into thin slices (grain is running left to right)
be sure to use a cover for your cutting board when cutting raw meats

Heat a nonstick grill pan over high heat and place strips of marinated beef in the very hot pan. Cook for approximately 1 minute on each side.

Meanwhile pour the marinade into a small saucepan and cook over medium heat for approximately 5 minutes or until reduced and thickened.

Roll each cooked strip of beef and spear with a toothpick or small skewer. Arrange on plate and drizzle each with cooked and thickened sauce. I recommend not skipping this step as the sauce did add quite a bit of flavor. Serve with fresh green onions. The green onions also complemented the beef extremely well.

Organic Herb Salad with Black Eyed Peas, Grapes, and Spanish Marcona Almonds

Organic Herb Salad with Black Eyed Peas, Grapes, and Spanish Marcona Almonds

Never underestimate the value of a good salad. There have been many times when I've gone out to eat at a restaurant and I didn't want to order a salad as my main course because I thought I'd be missing out on something - some really great fish, or pasta, or who knows what. But then when I actually do order it, I'm never disappointed.

Such was the case last weekend when we went to Gulfstream Restaurant. They make a really, really great salad. Actually, more than one. And they make really, really great other stuff, too. I really, really like Gulfstream's. I could do a whole post just about them but I'll let you check them out if you're ever near one. They're from the same family of awesome Hillstone Restaurants as Houston's, R+D, and Bandera's. One more thing - they make really, really great cocktails. They fresh squeeze their juices on site and what a difference that makes.

And, no, I'm not getting paid or compensated in any way to say that. These are some of our favorite haunts simply because they have great food, great drinks and a great atmosphere. And I'm kinda selective about my food and drinks. Okay, and atmosphere.

Back to the salad...

Organic Herb Salad with Black Eyed Peas, Grapes, and Spanish Marcona Almonds

This isn't the salad I got at Gulfstream's, rather it's one I made based on their inspiration. Salads are so great because you can make them any way you want, use any greens you want, include as many or as few simple or exotic ingredients as you want, and toss in whatever dressing you want. Love that about salads.

This is pretty much what I put in mine, minus the rotisserie chicken because I ate that while I was making the salad...

I bought the organic herb mix from Bristol Farms. They have the best selection of organic produce around, btw. The others mostly came from the farmer's market, including the purple bell pepper (which I couldn't believe I finally found around here!). The black eyed peas (also known as cowpeas) were fresh so I just boiled them for about 8 minutes in salted water to soften them a bit more, then let them cool.

The beautiful greens rinsed and ready...

A few cutting tips:

Chopped and ready:

In the bowl all together, and then with a very simple dressing:

Dressing:

How did I make the very simple dressing you ask? I just took a heaping spoonful of mayonnaise (about 2-3 Tablespoons), added about 1 Tablespoon of citrus champagne vinegar (I used my favorite O Olive Oil Co. vinegar, but any champagne or white wine vinegar will work) and some fresh cracked pepper, then whisked together. Adjust according to your taste.

This made enough dressing to coat the whole container of greens (enough for 4 people) even though I only used half the container this time. My bad - I ended up with too much dressing, but it was still good!