Blueberry Pie

Makes one 9-month double-crust pie

Recipe from The Joy of Cooking

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

Make this yummy pie for someone you love.  (For convenience, you can prepare the pie up to the point of baking. Wrap it up tightly and store in the freezer.  Thaw in the fridge a day before baking.)

1 cup sugar or less

¼ cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons quick-cooking tapioca

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 cups fresh blueberries

1 recipe of Perfect Pie Dough, chilled and rolled out into 2 rounds

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 small egg, beaten

1 Tablespoon milk or cream

2 Tablespoons sparkling sugar

(To ensure that your piecrust is flaky, be sure to keep the dough chilled.  Put the chilled pie into a hot oven.)  Preheat oven to 450F.  Whisk together the sugar, flour, tapioca and cinnamon.  Set aside.  Pick over blueberries and discard any stems.  Toss with the sugar/flour mixture.  Let stand for 15 minutes or so.  Place one chilled pie dough round into a 9-inch pie plate.  Pour the berry mixture into the pie plate.  Dot with the butter pieces.  Make an egg wash by mixing together in a small bowl the egg and milk. Set aside. Top with the other pie dough round in whatever fashion you like.  (If topping as a solid round, be sure to cut some slits in the dough.  You can also top the pie with a lattice or stars or small circles of dough.)  Working quickly, crimp the edges of the pie dough. Brush the egg wash over the edges and top of the pie dough.  Sprinkle with sparkling sugar, if desired. (You can chill the pie for 20-30 minutes at this point.  Then pop it in the hot oven.)  Bake the pie at 450F for 10 minutes.  Lower the heat to 350F and continue baking for another 35-45 minutes or so until the pie is golden brown and the filling is bubbling.  Allow the pie to cool to room temperature before cutting and serving.

One-Pot Pasta Primavera

4-6 Servings

Recipe from Oh My Veggies 

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

I was skeptical about this one-pot pasta craze, but I gave it a whirl and have to agree that it was easy to do and turned out very tasty as well.  The sauce was thinner than the usual primavera, but still tasted great.  The best part was that the pasta was perfectly cooked and so were the veggies.  I followed the recipe exactly.  Now, I’m very interested in trying other one-pot pasta dinners.  (My hubby and I also enjoyed the leftovers.  I just zapped them in the microwave the next day for a nice lunch.)

4 cups vegetable broth

8 ounces whole-wheat linguine or spaghetti, uncooked** (Select a dried pasta that has a cooking time of between 9 and 11 minutes. Otherwise, you may end up with under-cooked pasta, or worse, mushy mush.)

1 small onion, halved and sliced thin

1 pound broccoli crowns, cut into large florets (about 2 cups)

1 ½ pounds asparagus, ends snapped off and cut into 2-inch pieces

4 ounces sliced mushrooms (about 1 cup)

4 large cloves garlic, minced

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 Tablespoons olive oil

¾ cup frozen peas

1 small handful fresh parsley, chopped (about ½ cup chopped)

¼ cup heavy whipping cream

2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest

Additional salt and pepper to taste

Additional Parmesan cheese for serving, if desired

Add the broth, linguine, onion, broccoli, asparagus, mushrooms, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to a large pot set over high heat. (Use a heavy, roomy pot. There will be lots of stirring and tossing.) Drizzle the olive oil over the top.  As soon as it comes to a boil, set the timer for 7 minutes and start tossing constantly with long-handled tongs.  (Once it starts boiling, be sure to toss and stir constantly! Otherwise the pasta will start sticking.)  Continue boiling and tossing. As soon as the 7 minutes is up, add the peas, parsley, heavy whipping cream, Parmesan, and lemon zest and continue cooking, tossing constantly, for 1-2 more minutes, until the pasta and veggies appear tender. Remove from heat. Note that much of the liquid will have evaporated, but not all. And that's okay! Let the pasta sit for a couple of minutes to cool; the sauce will continue to thicken during that time. Taste and add additional salt and pepper if desired. Garnish with additional Parmesan cheese.

Stunning Walnut Cake

Serves 12

Recipe from Aliwaks via Food52

Adapted and Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

Well, making this cake for the first time to serve to our book group was a bit stressful.  I even made a back-up dessert (now in the freezer for another time) because I wasn't sure how it would turn out.  But WOW!!  It was a stunner and sooooo tasty too. It was actually pretty easy to make. I’ve included all my notes for you so that making this won’t be so scary ;-) The bottom layer is a basic cake flavored with espresso powder.  The next layer is a cinnamon meringue with toasted walnuts which is baked on top of the uncooked cake batter (yes, that's right, uncooked batter.) Next, is a layer of vanilla whipped cream sweetened with a bit of maple syrup.  Atop that is another cake/meringue/toasted walnut layer. Begin making this the night before serving.  Despite how it looks, it isn't cloyingly sweet, which to us is a big plus.  And the textures are divine, moist, creamy, crunchy, and crispy all in one bite.  Now, I want to make the inspiration for this recipe and maybe a chocolate variety!

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter (for prepping pans)

1 cup heavy cream (The original recipe called for 1½ cups, but it was too much.)

½ vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract

10 ½ Tablespoons butter, softened

2/3 cups brown sugar (I used dark brown sugar.)

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

4 teaspoons espresso powder (I buy this either on line or at a specialty food store.)

1 teaspoon salt (I always use Kosher salt.)

5 large egg yolks (room temperature)

1/3 cup milk

5 egg whites (room temperature)

1 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

½ cup walnuts, chopped and toasted

1-3 Tablespoons maple syrup, to taste

2 Tablespoons powdered sugar (For dusting the cake before serving, totally optional.)

*The night before serving:  

Bring butter and eggs to room temperature by leaving on the counter overnight. Pour cream into a saucepan. Split and scrape vanilla bean into the cream and heat until just boiling. Remove from heat and let cool. Cover and chill overnight.

Baking Day:

Preheat oven to 350° F. Prepare two 8-inch round spring form cake pans with buttered parchment paper. (I only have one 8-inch round spring form pan, so I made one cake and then when it was cool, I removed it from the pan, washed the pan out and then made the second layer.)

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and brown sugar until creamy and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, espresso powder, and salt. Add mixture to butter and sugar in 3 increments, mixing fully between additions.

Whisk together egg yolks and milk. Add to batter in 3 increments, incorporating fully each time. (The batter will be thick, almost like cookie dough.)  Spread the batter into prepared pan. (Actually, I thought this was the hardest part about making this cake.  I used an offset spatula.  The batter will barely cover the bottom of the pan.)

In a clean mixing bowl, whip egg whites until foamy. Add sugar and cinnamon and whip to soft peaks.

Spread the meringue over uncooked cake batter, cover with toasted walnuts and bake 35-40 minutes, until the meringue is crackly. Let cake cool completely. (The meringue will be quite puffy and smooth when taken out of the oven, but as it cools, it will fall and crack.  That’s the way it’s supposed to look.) When cool, run a plastic knife around the edge of the pan and then remove the cake.

Meanwhile, remove vanilla bean from cream. (If using the vanilla extract, just add it to the cream before whipping.) Add maple syrup and whip cream to soft peaks.

Place one cake on a cake plate, meringue side up. Cover with whipped cream. Top with the other cake, meringue side up.  Dust the cake with powdered sugar, if you so desire.

(I made the cakes in the late morning and then whipped the cream in the afternoon of the party.  About an hour before the guests arrived, I assembled the cake.  Other reviewers noted that you can chill the assembled cake in the fridge for an hour or so.)

Lemon Luscious Pie (Daddy’s Favorite)

Recipe from Pillsbury 

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

“I’m going to eat this pie so I know where it is.” This was my daddy’s all-time favorite dessert.  I used to make this for his birthday every year (and other times too.) My hubby and son are crazy about it as well. There’s just something about creamy lemon desserts that the men in my life love!  This is easy to make with hardly any clean up because it’s prepared in one saucepan. It’s great for company since it can be made well in advance and it’s pretty to look at too.  Serve this pie to someone you love along with piping hot coffee.  

1 cup sugar

3 Tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup milk

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

3 large egg yolks; slightly beaten

¼ cup unsalted butter 

1 Tablespoon freshly grated lemon peel

1 cup sour cream

1 baked 9” pie shell 

Sweetened whipped cream**

Toasted walnuts, chopped

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar and cornstarch.  Blend well.  Stir in the milk, lemon juice and egg yolks.  Cook over medium heat until thick, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  Stir in the butter and lemon peel.  Allow to cool.  Fold in the sour cream.  Spoon the filling into a cooled, baked pie crust.  Chill at least 2 hours or until set.  Before serving, dollop or spread sweetened whipped cream over the top.  Sprinkle with toasted walnuts. 

**Sweetened Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy cream, chilled

¼ cup sugar

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Place 1 cup of chilled heavy cream into the mixer with the whisk attachment.  To keep the cream from spattering all over your kitchen, place a towel over the mixer.  Turn the mixer on low and then after a minute, turn it to the highest setting.  Gradually add the sugar and then the vanilla.  Allow to mixer to whisk the cream on high until it looks like whipped cream.  Be careful not to overbeat or you will have butter!  Gently fold the whipping cream into the pastry cream.  Place this in the fridge until you are ready to use it.