Guy Foods Blueberry-Kale-Banana Smoothie

Ingredients:

 

Kale, raw, 2 oz(s)

Bananas, raw, 1

Apple, 1 medium (3'' diameter, cored)

Greek Yogurt, ⅓ Cup

Peanut Butter, 2 tbsp

Frozen Blueberry, 1 cup frozen

Avocado, ½ medium

Milk, 2% - 1 cup

Blend it together. Makes a quart or more. For me, it's one (leisurely) serving.  

Computer says it's about 800 calories altogether. 

It's pretty good.

Apple Pie, Gluten Free

I've discovered an important detail when making pie:
Read the instructions BEFORE you start making the pie.

While making this pie, I learned to scramble quickly. I had one can of apple pie filling. It was already loaded into the crust when I learned that I needed two cans worth of filling. Sigh.

So I hurriedly sliced some apples and doused them in sugar and cinnamon. and mixed them into the canned filling.

Let's see how it turns out.

Ingredients:

Pie Crust:

1package of gluten free pie crust mix (Yeah, I cheated!)
made according to the recipe on the bag, which includes:
12 TBSP cold margarine (or butter)
8  TBSP cold shortening (I use the sticks)
A bit of water.


Filling (in this strange version):

1 can apple pie filling
3 small Gala apples, peeled & sliced
Some sugar. Maybe 2 TBSP
Some cinnamon. Maybe ¼ tsp.

Load one crust into the pie plate, add the filling (it's best not to stop and make more filling while some sits in the pie crust), spread the second crust on top, and pinch the edges. 

Covered the perimeter in foil, and baked it at 375⁰.  When the center started browning, I removed the foil from the edges until the whole pie was reasonably brown. 

I'm told it was yummy. I didn't get to taste it.  
 

French Eggs in a Frame

Ingredient

 

2 or 3 mini-loaf slices of dark bread. I used a buckwheat/rye loaf I’d just made.

    The filling is enough for at least three slices.

Egg Filling:

1 egg.

1½ TBSP yogurt

1½ TBSP shredded (not ground) parmesan cheese. (or use another cheese of your choice.)

Spices to taste: I used salt, pepper, basil.

Stir these all together in a custard cup or small bowl.

Instructions

·         Preheat a cast iron frying pan.

·         Butter both sides of the bread.

·         Cut out the center of the bread with a shot glass.

·         Lay all holed bread slices in frying pan.

·         Immediately fill with egg filling.

·         Lay the “holes” in the gaps between the bread, to toast. 

·         Note that it is traditional to serve the holes with peanut butter.

Flip them over as needed. Note that the “holes” will need flipping before the French eggs in a frame need flipping.

  

 

GERMAN OVEN PANCAKES

INGREDIENTS
• 1 cups milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 cube butter (melt in pan per instructions; do not blend with other ingredients)
• 1 lemon and powdered sugar (for garnish)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Place 1/2 cup butter in a 9x9 heavy glass baking dish.
2. Set baking dish (with butter) in the oven and
preheat to 400 degrees.
3. In a blender, combine milk, eggs, vanilla, flour, and granulated sugar.
4. When the butter is completely melted (before it browns or burns, though!), pour the batter Over a metal spoon into the baking dish.
5. Cook 20-30 minutes or until the pancake is set in the middle and the edges are very puffy and golden brown.
6. Remove from oven. Squeeze the juice of one lemon over the top and dust generously with powdered sugar.
7. Serve immediately!
8. Realize that it's not quite done.
9. Cook 10 more minutes. The powdered sugar will caramelize. Don't let it burn.
10. Sprinkle with more powdered sugar. Maybe a little more lemon juice.
11. Watch out. It's hot!

Apple Rhubarb Pie, Guy Foods Style

My bride was off doing something else, and I suddenly developed a hankering for pie.

I love pie. I don’t make pie. But I was home alone, so I guess I needed to figure something out. This is what I figured out.

It’s pretty good. Makes one 5" pie. That's enough for two people if you're polite, or one if you're not.
　
Ingredients:
Crust:
1/2 cups Krusteaz mix.
1" from a cube of butter. Warm is better.
1 egg. Filling: 1 apple, peeled, cored, sliced thin, with the slices halved. I used Yellow Transparent.
2 sticks of fresh rhubarb, cleaned, sliced thin.
1/2 cup sugar.
Some cinnamon. Let’s guess at 1/2 teaspoon.
　 Process:
Start the filling and let it cook gently for a while. I added the rhubarb and sugar to a saucepan while I prepared the apple, and I added that as soon as it was ready. Let that simmer.
　
I added all crust ingredients to a bowl, and mixed it real well with a fork. It took a while. I added a little more flower to keep it from getting goopy.
　
Dust the cutting board with flour, and roll out the dough. Cut a piece big enough to fill the pan, and bake it at 350F for 15 minutes or until golden brown. I poked holes in the bottom before I baked it to make me look like I know what I was doing.
　
Add the filling. Don’t forget the cinnamon before you pour it into the cooked crust, or you’ll have to pour it back into the pot, add cinnamin, cook a little longer, and pour back into the crust.
　
Squeeze the remaining dough into a ball, and roll out on the floured cutting board. Cut into strips and make something nice on the top of the filling.
　
Bake at 350 for 5 or 10 more minutes. All we really need to do is make sure the top crust is done. Then let it cool to not much more than room temperature.
　
Serve warm with vanilla ice cream, or cooled down the next day with sharp cheddar cheese.

 

Chickpea Pancakes With Leeks, Squash

Ingredients
SERVINGS: 4
6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 medium leek, white and pale-green parts only, chopped
½ teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup grated peeled squash
1 large egg
¾ cup chickpea flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
½ cup plain yogurt
¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley

Instructions:
Optional: Cook vegetables first:
Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a large skillet, over medium-high. Add leek, season with kosher salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until leek is softened and starting to brown, about 4 minutes. Add squash and season again. Cook, stirring often, until squash is cooked through and softened, about 4 minutes. Transfer vegetables to a plate and let cool.

In the meantime, combine all batter ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Set aside for a few minutes to allow the chickpea flour to hydrate, then combine the chickpea batter with (sautéed?) veggies.

Heat 1½ Tbsp. oil in reserved skillet over medium heat; do not over-heat skillet. Add ¼ cup batter, gently flattening to about ¼” thick. Batter should spread easily (if it doesn’t, thin with a little water). Cook until bottoms are lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Use a spatula to carefully flip pancakes over and cook until browned and cooked through. Transfer to a plate and keep warm. Serve pancakes topped with yogurt (or a substitute, for dairy-free), parsley, kosher salt, and fresh pepper.

DO AHEAD: Leek and squash can be cooked 2 days ahead; cover and chill. Batter can be made 1 day ahead; cover and chill.

Comment: Consider more seasoning: perhaps chili powder, curry powder, a touch of spicy pepper (careful there!).

Personal Ham & Pumpkin Quiche

Per serving:
A 6" ramekin. Or an oven-safe cereal bowl.
2 fresh eggs, large
2 TBSP milk
1 thin (1/4") homemade bread.
2 oz or so of chopped ham
1 TBSP chopped leek
1/3 cup shredded pumpkin
1/2 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
thin slices of summer sausage.
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.

Instructions:

Coat ramekin generously in olive oil.
Cut the bread to fit snugly in the bottom of the ramekin.
Whip eggs by hand. Add milk and whip by hand until smooth and even.
Stir in ham, leek, pumpkin, Jack cheese. Add to ramekin, on top of bread.
Top with summer sausage (or julienne and add to mixture) and Parmesan cheese.
Bake at 400 degrees until the top begins to brown (about 15 minutes)
Cover with tinfoil and continue baking until a fork comes out clean.

Alden Family Lemon Banana Ice Cream

Apparently this is is a family tradition.

Ingredients (my version):


2 lemons, peeled very well.
2 oranges, peeled very well.
2 bananas, peeled.
1 cup sugar.
2 cups half & half.

Process: 

Load everything except the half & half into the blender. Set blender on high for several minutes: until everything is completely blended, and then let it blend some more. We want this extremely smooth.

Stop blender. Add half & half. Blend on lowest setting for a few seconds, until it's well mixed together.

Load it into the ice cream maker and fire it up. This takes a little longer to freeze than some.

The original recipe called for the juice of the lemons and the oranges. I used the whole fruit, since the blender did such a good job of reducing the substance to liquid. 

This is really good. Got some zing to it. I might add a little vanilla to it next time, to round it off. 

Good with cookies, or dark chocolate. 

Steak Better Than Barbecue

Start with excellent cuts of meat, more than an inch thick. We used Porterhouse, and we cooked two of them.

Season in advance: we used pink Himalayan salt (freshly ground), smoked salt, and freshly ground pepper. Be a little bit generous.

IMPORTANT: Let the meat warm to room temperature while the seasonings are on it, soaking into it. Allow half an hour or more.

Select a cast iron frying pan that’s large enough for steaks you’re cooking to fit comfortably, with plenty of breathing room between steaks, and between the meat and the sides of the pan.

Preheat the frying pan in the oven. Get it very hot. Either leave the frying pan in the oven as you preheat the oven to 500F, or set the oven to broil on high for ten minutes with the frying pan on the top rack.

When the frying pan is very hot, remove it from the oven and place it on a hot burner on the stove (again: on high). Leave the oven hot (500F). Sear the seasoned steaks for 30 seconds on each side: there will be sizzling. There will also be smoke: take precautions against setting off the fire alarm.

Return the hot frying pan with the steaks to the oven. For rare, bake two minutes on each side. Cook slightly longer for other preferences.

Remove the steaks from the oven and from the frying pan; let them rest on a plate for at least two minutes (up to ten minutes). 

Serve with appropriate side dishes and beverages. Enjoy. 

Strange Green Smoothie

 

1½ very ripe bananas

1 cup milk

1 leaf kale

2 carrots, shredded

¼ cup raw cashews

¼ cup peanuts

½ cup white raisins

The carrots and the nuts are a new experience for me. I’m discovering what appear to me to be strange flavors that work well together.

This was quite good, and pretty filling. Guess I'd better experiment some more.