Pies For Pi Day!

So, I made a couple of pies this past weekend, in honor of Pi Day, and I thought I'd share them with you. One is sweet, and the other is...well, not sweet.  But they both turned out really tasty!

Fish Pie

Banana Cream Pie

The first is a fish pie.  I know, many of you will be thinking what I thought when I first heard that - "A what now?"  As you may or may not know, I watch a lot of British television, and pretty much anything with Gordon Ramsay on it, so it was inevitable that I would come across the traditional casserole dish called, fish pie.  I don't eat a great variety of fish so I pretty much ignored this dish for a while, but lately, I've been wanting to branch out and learn to make different types of fish recipes, so I thought I should do some research on the English fish pie.

According to Wikipedia, this little ditty has been around for quite some time.  From King Henry I through Henry VIII, the tradition of putting fish into some sort of pie evolved into the casserole dish I happily enjoyed this weekend.  After researching the dish's history, I sifted through countless recipes online and in cookbooks.  Okay, I'm sure I could have counted them, so maybe they aren't literally "countless," but more than I cared to keep track of, at any rate.  After my scavenger hunt, I deduced that a traditional fish pie consists of whatever fish/seafood you have on hand, a cream base, and is topped with mashed potatoes.  I was a bit baffled at first at the fact that they were calling this a pie, when it in fact has no pie crust.  Then I remembered that the UK is also famous for the popularity of another crust-less pie - the Shepherd's pie. 

Ok, so I looked in my kitchen to see if I could put together this "pie" with what I had on hand.  After a quick inventory and stroking my chin for a few minutes, I decided I could do it and devised a plan of action (P.O.A.).  

Fish Pie

Fish Pie

Ingredients:

2 frozen cod fillets (thawed)

2 frozen flounder fillets (thawed)

1 (14.5oz) can salmon (deboned and deskinned) - save the liquid

1/2 cup onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2-1/2  cups, plus 1/2 cup, plus 2 TBLS. of milk, separated

Salt & pepper to taste

About 1 tsp. of Dried Basil 

4 bay leaves

About 1 Tbls., plus some for spinkling of Dried parsley

3 Tbls of butter, divided

10 oz pkg of frozen peas

2 lbs. of red skinned potatoes (leave the skin on)

Dash of celery salt

3 Tbls. of corn starch

White sharp cheddar (optional)

Lemon zest (optional)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Wash and cube the potatoes (don't forget to leave the skins on), and boil them in water seasoned with cracked sea salt, celery salt, and 2 of the bay leaves, until tender.  Drain, remove bay leaves, and mash with 2 Tbls. of milk, some cracked pepper, a bit more celery salt, and about a tablespoon of butter. Set aside to cool.  

Take the thawed cod and flounder fillets and place them into a large bowl.  Pour 2-1/2 cups of milk over them, plus the liquid only, from the can of salmon.  DO NOT ADD THE SALMON ITSELF, that will come later. Set aside to soak. In a small saucepan, melt 2 Tbls of butter over medium to medium-high heat. Add in the garlic cloves and onion and saute until onions are tender.  You may feel like you need a little more butter here, so go ahead and knock yourself out, I usually do.  

While that is working, get out a large, deep skillet.  Turn your burner on medium and pour in the milk you had the fish soaking in. While that is heating up, add in some salt, pepper, basil, parsley, and the remaining 2 bay leaves.  Now add in the cod and flounder fillets.  Bring the mixture to boil, then reduce heat and poach for about 6-8 minutes, or until the fillets flake easily with a fork.  Now, the founder is significantly thinner than the cod, so they should only take about 4-5 minutes, if that, so keep an eye on them.  When the fillets are done, remove them and set to the side.  

Bring the heat back up to a near boil and add in the garlic and onions to the milk, stirring until thoroughly blended.  In a measuring cup, add about 2-3 Tbls. of corn starch and slowly add in the remaining 1/2 cup of cold milk, stirring continuously until there are no lumps.  Pour the milk/corn starch mixture slowly into the boiling milk/onion mixture, stirring continuously until thickened, making a cream sauce.  Add the peas and stir until blended.  Remove bay leaves and turn off the heat.

Remember the fishes?  Okay, chunk the cod and flounder fillets into a large bowl, however big or small you like.  Add the salmon (remember to remove the bones and skin before hand).  The salmon should be left in relatively large chunks so that they don't overcook before the rest of the dish.  Blend all the fishes together evenly and add them to a 9x12 (or there-about) casserole dish. Pour the cream sauce over top of the fish evenly.  If you are using a lemon zest, go ahead and add that now.  You can add any other sea food you want here, like mussels or shrimp, but I didn't have any on hand, and I wanted to try a simple fish pie for my first time out.  However, this is a great dish to experiment with, so have fun with it!

Now spread the mashed potatoes over the cream and fish, making roughly textured peaks, or get fancy and pipe them on with a pastry bag if you like.  Bring the potatoes to the edge of the casserole dish, creating a light seal.  Sprinkle with parsley.  If you are using white sharp cheddar, make sure you grate it first, then sprinkle it on over the mash.  I made one dish with cheese and one without, but I couldn't tell which one I liked more, maybe you can decide?

With cheese..

...without cheese

Okay, you are all done with the prep work!  Just pop it in the oven, uncovered, for about 30-35 minutes or until golden and bubbly.  I went ahead and put it on broil for the last 3 minutes for a little more browning, because I like it that way.  When you pull it out, let it set up for about 5 minutes or so before digging in.

Fish pie, almost gone - YUM!

Okay, now, for the sweet pie!

Easy Banana Cream Pie

Banana Cream Pie

I've made banana cream pie before from scratch - with meringue. It was good, but it takes quite a while from beginning to end, and I've found that there are some people who don't like meringue on a cream pie, they prefer, well, cream.  That made sense to me, plus I was too tired for fancy baking after making dinner.  So, after finishing up the baking time of the fish pie, I cranked up the oven to 400 degrees and put a couple of pre-made pie crusts on a baking sheet (pricking the shells with a fork first) and put them in the oven for about 10 minutes, until golden.  When they were done, I pulled them out and set them to the side to cool.

Okay, I have to say that personally, I absolutely cannot stand the tinge of chemical taste from instant pudding, but I really like the Cook & Serve line of pudding from Jell-o.  It takes a little longer than instant, but not enough for me to really notice, plus the flavor difference is very much worth it!  So just follow the package instructions on the pudding box, which basically says to add the powder to 3 cups of milk and bring to a boil, stirring continuously.  Great, you're done!  Set it to the side to cool.  **Tip - the pudding will cool down faster if you give it a quick stir every few minutes.

The whole reason I decided to make this pie was because I had 3 over-ripe bananas that weren't going to get eaten as they were, plus I had the pie crusts in the fridge.  And it was Pi Day, soooo, banana cream pie it is!

While waiting on the crusts and filling to cool down, this is a perfect time to make the whipped cream.  I know I've said this before, but DO NOT BUY PRE-MADE WHIPPED CREAM!  It is full of chemicals (I'm especially talking about Cool Whip here, people - and Cool Whip is most certainly NOT whipped cream) and it doesn't have the full rich flavor and texture of real whipped cream.  Making your own whipped cream is easy, and you know exactly what is in it.  As I said in the Sweetheart Shake post, don't be lazy here!

Okay, put a medium glass or ceramic bowl in the freezer along with the mixer beaters, for about 15 minutes. This will make the whipping process go a lot faster.  Pull out the bowl and pour in 1 cup of heavy whipping cream, 2 Tbls. of sugar (organic sugar is what I prefer), and 1/2 tsp. of pure vanilla extract.  Beat on high with the chilled beaters until thick.  Some people choose to use powdered sugar instead.  Try them both, and see which you prefer.  The powdered sugar will provide a bit of a sweeter flavor (you can always use less of it though if it is too sweet) and the whipped cream will be shinier.  When it is properly whipped, place the bowl of whipped cream into the fridge until needed.

Once the pie crusts are cooled to room temperature, slice up 3 bananas and layer the slices evenly on top of the crusts, like so...

When the pudding has cooled down, pour it evenly between the pie shells over top of the bananas.  Lick the spatula clean and put it back in the drawer into the sink to wash, or in the dishwasher, if you are lucky enough to have one.

Put the pies in the fridge for about 3 hours.  After that time is up, pull them back out, along with the bowl of whipped cream.  Divide the whipped cream evenly between the 2 pies and smooth to the edges.

Viola!  You're done!  Just cut and serve.

Banana Cream Pie

Easy Banana Cream Pie

I hope you enjoyed my homage to Pi Day!  Thank you for stopping by!

Green Stuff

So, how was everyone's string of spring holidays?  Are we out of them?  Already?  I think we could always use more holidays, myself - for vacation day purposes, yes, but mostly because of the fact that holidays are themed.  And I LOVE themes!

Traditionally, I will cook something like Irish stew for St. Patrick's Day, but this year I wanted to do something different.  (Plus it was way too warm for stew in my neck of the woods that day).  So I got another brilliant idea from Mr. Gordon Ramsay to make herb-crusted lamb.  His recipe was for a rack of lamb, but all I could get a hold of were lamb loin chops.  No biggie.  Anyway, I thought, "Yeah, it's lamb, and it's coating is green - I've got the St. Patty's Day theme nailed!"

And I did, for the most part, (it wasn't as green as I thought it should've been after I cooked it).  I served it with some golden potato and garlic mash, and it was all very lovely.  But when I started eating it, I came to a very sad conclusion...I just don't like lamb :(

I've put lamb in my stews, I've fried it, baked it, and herb-crusted it, but I can honestly say that even though I'll eat it if I have to, I don't really care for the natural flavor of lamb at all!  I know, I made myself sad.  I know it sounds silly to be sad about not liking something, but I really really wanted to like it!  However, I do LOVE gyro meat!  Mmmmm.  It's probably because the lamb is sometimes mixed with other meats and is always loaded with awesome Mediterranean seasonings.  I don't even care what it is, it's good.  Period.

Even though I was all very distraught at first at the realization that I don't like lamb, I started feeling better about it for a few reasons:

1. Lamb is EXPENSIVE!!!
2. It is difficult to find, as opposed to some other meats that I like better.
3. It is nearly impossible to find off the bone unless it is ground (at least where I am), so if you need lamb for stew, you have to buy it in chops, (paying for the bone weight, mind you) and cut it off the bone.  Which isn't pretty because the meat is so tender that it stretches and you don't even get that much meat per chop.
4. Did I mention that it is crazy expensive for what little meat you get?
5. It tastes like it's going bad to me, even when it is fresh.  I just don't care for the flavor, and it doesn't look like it will grow on me any time soon, much to my dismay, so I've decided to accept it.  Even though I'm convinced I should like this meat!

Message to self - It's okay if you don't like it.

Speaking of lamb, does anyone have a traditional Easter meal that they cook?  My family always had baked ham, red-eye gravy (gravy is always an important "side dish"), some sort of veggie like green bean casserole or scalloped corn, dinner rolls, pie, coconut cake, and what is referred to as "Green Stuff."  Apparently, I later learned in my adult years, "Green Stuff" is known to the general public as lime ambrosia.  It looks like this, only it's green...

"Redbud Ambrosia" - p.59 in The University of Oklahoma Cookbook

The ingredients are the same for both, accept for the red one is made with cherry Jell-O and the "Green Stuff" is made with lime.  It's an easy, tasty dessert that is a really great ending to an amazing meal.  Not too heavy, and not too sweet. Well, it IS sweet, but not crazy overboard sweet like some of the richer desserts can be.

I will be having a give-a-way contest soon.  Be sure to hit the "Join This Site" button under the "Followers" heading on the right of this post, so that you don't miss your chance to win an autographed copy of the University of Oklahoma Cookbook!

What The Croute Do I Do With Salmon?

I know that in my last post, I talked about how I thought that I may or may not have some sort of gluten allergy.   Well, it turns out that I don't, but I do have other dietary issues such as anemia and a severe slight Girl Scout cookie addiction.  That being said, I know I said I would create and post some new gluten-free recipes, but the fact of the matter is...I've moved on to a different focus.  Now, that doesn't mean that I won't do that sometime in the future, because I am interested in the gluten-free phenomenon.  It just means not this time around.

Instead today I would like to talk about all the new recipes that I've tried over the last several weeks!  In my household, we try to assign dinner happenings with each day of the week.  For instance, Monday used to be Taco Bell Monday, until Taco Bell started making us sick every time we ate it.  So, we just decided to make homemade tacos on Mondays and skip fighting over the bathroom for the rest of the night.  Tuesdays are leftovers or "Get what you want nights" which basically means fend for yourself.  Wednesday is our eat out night of burgers or BBQ, Thursday is calzone night at a local pizza joint (because that's the restaurant's special for that day).  Friday used to be Pizza Night before we found calzone Thursdays so now Friday is a little up in the air, but I usually cook some sort of easy meal like spaghetti or something.  Saturday is the same as Friday, but lunch is always leftovers from the week.  But Sunday - Sunday is my day to create!

Sunday the kitchen is mine to experiment with something new or try out a recipe that I found and think will be a challenge to cook.  Or at least that is what Sundays have become.  They used to be just big meal days, such as roast, chicken schnitzle, etc.  But Sunday lunch (or lupper as I call the meal between lunch time and supper time), has evolved into something much more rewarding.

The first thing I tried in the evolution revolution, was one of Gordon Ramsey's dishes called Salmon en Croute.

I left the grain mustard off, because if you've been reading this blog from the beginning, you'll know that I just don't like mustard.  This dish was exciting for me to try because:

1) I've never cooked with fresh dill or fresh basil, or even salmon fillets for that matter!
2) I have never used pie crust for anything other than pies, I know weird right? (Not really)

So, I went to the market in town that carries the best fresh and frozen fish and looked for either one whole side of salmon, or a couple of fillets.  The best option was a fresh frozen (I know, what an oxymoron) side of salmon and it looked delicious!  But there was a problem.  The recipe specifically calls for the salmon to be skinned.  All the awesome cooking show chefs say you can just ask your local butcher to remove the skin for you.  Well, I didn't see how my local butcher could remove it from a frozen fish, but maybe he had some fillets or a thawed side that he could remove it from while I waited.  Just as I was thinking that, my friendly local butcher asked if he could help me.  I explained what I needed and why and he asked what the recipe was that I was cooking.  "Salmon en Croute," I said.  And then his eyes glazed over, but he replied with an "uh, huh."  He told me he did not have any salmon without the skin, but that it will peel right off when I cook it.  I re-explained that the fish would be encased in a pastry so that wouldn't work...to which he repeated, "Well, it'll just fall right off if you cook it."  Yes, thanks genius.

I took the salmon home and let it thaw overnight in the fridge.  The next day I unwrapped it and tried tugging on the skin to see what I was really dealing with.  Hm, it was not going to come off without a fight, (or according to the genius butcher, fire).  However, I had a knife.  Mind you, it was not a filleting knife, or a fancy knife, or even a sharp knife for that matter - I know, a dull knife is the most dangerous thing in a kitchen.  Maybe I'll get a round to sharpening them all, but for now, I'm going to keep telling my story.  So anyway, it wasn't all that bad, it just took some patience .  I held the corner of the skin, prying it up just enough to make an incision (yes, I'm now an official animal skin surgeon).  I sliced slowly as close to the skin as I could, cutting off the least amount of meat with the tough skin as I gently pulled it back and away from the fillet.  I took off a few chunks when I accidentally sliced a little deeper into the meat than I meant to, but all in all, it came off pretty well.  I don't need no stinkin' heat to teach that skin who's boss!

Ok so, I watched the above video for technique, followed the recipe (minus the mustard), converted said recipe from metric to standard measurements, wrapped it up and popped it into the oven.  While it was cooking I boiled some new potatoes, (which by the way is a fancy way of saying little potatoes) consisting of red, golden, and purple varieties of small potatoes. I know!!  I had no idea there was any such thing as naturally purple potatoes!  And unlike the red kind, they are purple all the way through!  I was very excited.  Anyway, I boiled those up, then drained them and drizzled them with a little olive oil before sprinkling them with rock salt, cracked pepper, fresh basil, and fresh dill.  Toss, and serve hot.  I pulled the salmon out of the oven when the crust was cooked and let it rest while I blanched some broccoli for about 3 minutes.  In a small skillet, I used a touch of olive oil to sauté two cloves of garlic, then tossed in the broccoli for a couple of minutes.  I then slice the salmon into 4 parts, as instructed, and served it all up together.  I also made up a couple of simple salads on the side.

www.kbbc.co.uk

*Oh, and just FYI - bake the salmon on a baking sheet with edges, because I did not and about half way through cooking, the butter leaked out of the parcell, dripped off the pan and all over the bottom of my oven.  There was a lot of smoke inside of it and I was about 3 minutes from setting my entire kitchen on fire.  This has been a The More You Know: Cooking Addition announcement.  You are welcome.*

I have to be honest, fish is not one of my favorite meats unless it is batter-dipped, deep fried, and covered in catsup, mostly because the flavor isn't really all that appealing to me.  Therefore, I never cook fish, I don't really know what to do with it.  However, this one dish was so amazing, that it made me wonder what else I could do with other varieties of fish?

Ack!  I have more recipes and Sunday Lupper experiences to share, but my laptop battery is dying!  Ok, stay tuned for more to come...

Irish Butter & Scottish Cheffing

Okay, today I wanted to share with you a meal that I cooked last week that turned out deliciously fantastic!  Pan-fried steak with a port wine mushroom sauce, sesame stir-fried asparagus with peas, soft rolls and honey butter.

Now, first off I have to confess that I have never cooked steak in my life!  Well, I make cubed steak all the time, but that's totally different than say, a New York strip.  Honestly, I never really cared for steak but maybe once or twice a year, so I never thought about making it myself.  But then I found this video from Gordon Ramsay's new Ultimate Cookery Course on how to cook steak:

OMG!  Did you see that?  What, with the butter, and garlic, and thyme, and butter?  Did I say butter twice?  That's because first and foremost, I heart butter in/on anything, but to mix it with such aromatic flavors and baste a steak in it?  Forget about it.  So, for the first time ever, I decided to give it a go and cook a steak at home.  For the occasion I decided to give that block of Irish butter I'd been eyeing a try.  In case you are wondering, as I was, Irish butter has a higher butterfat content, giving it a richer, creamier flavor/texture than normal American butters.

Well, then I just had to think of a veggie to do this steak justice as a companion.  So I thought and thought about recipes I knew, I tossed a few ideas around in my head, and wound up surfing the web for something new.  That's when I stumbled across this little gem:

Sesame Stir-Fried Asparagus and Peas from a Best Health Magazine website in Canada.  Here is a link to the recipe. The recipe measurements are in milliliters, but don't panic, here is a milliliter to ounce conversion calculator to help you.  

Next, I decided I was in the mood for mushrooms with my steak.  So I tossed some of the Irish butter in a saucepan, added the other half of the red onion and let the onion cook down a bit.  Then I sliced up some Portobello mushrooms and stirred them in, mixing it all around for about 10 minutes, then I added some port wine and a little water with a bit of corn starch.  I let that all bubble together for a few more minutes until it started to thicken up a bit, then poured it into a small ramekin to serve on the side.  Mmmmm!  (No, I didn't get a picture of it- curses!)  

I got some soft bread rolls from the bakery and thought it would be cool to make some simple honey-infused butter.  But I over-softened the butter, which means that I completely melted it and it was ruined, so I settled for the plain ol' Irish butter and OMG!  Seriously, you've got to get a hold of some of that butter...oh, unless you're on a diet or something, but you should give it a taste at least once in your life, regardless.  The difference can really be tasted as a spread, not as much in cooking, just FYI.

So, considering I made everything in this meal new for the first time with only the honey butter being a failure, I sat that's a win!  Next time I'll be reviewing the local restaurant "The Garage."

**Don't forget, I will be selling and signing University of Oklahoma Cookbooks this Saturday, October 13th at the Duncan Public Library in Duncan, Oklahoma from 10am-1pm with other local artists.  So come on down!