Fresh Strawberry Pie

  I was recently at the local produce market picking up some hot peppers, and I noticed that the strawberries looked absolutely delicious! When I walked into the market, I had no intentions of buying strawberries, but I just couldn't help it, they looked so good! Clearly there must be something I can do with them. And then I thought of a fresh sweet delicious old fashioned strawberry pie. PERFECT! And then it dawned on me... do I even have a recipe? Wait, have I ever even MADE a strawberry pie before?????  WHAT?? How can it be that I've gone this long without making a perfectly fabulous fresh strawberry pie? Well, that settles it. One strawberry pie, coming up!
 At first, I couldn't decide if I wanted to do crushed berries, sliced berries, or whole berries, so I figured, why not do all three? I made a filling with the crushed, stirred in the sliced, topped it with whole. Boom. It turned out just as good as I hoped it would be, and now I can add this pie to my ever growing list of favorite pies. Actually, I've literally never met a pie that I didn't like, but still!




1 deep dish pie shell, blind baked and cooled
4 lbs fresh ripe strawberries
1 cup sugar
1 tbs lemon juice
3/4 cup water
3 tbs corn starch


First, choose about 5 or 6 or your most perfect gorgeous strawberries. Set Aside.
Take half of the remaining strawberries and place them in a small sauce pot along with the sugar and lemon juice. Using a potato masher, mash the strawberries into small chunks. Heat over medium high heat until they just begin to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5-10 minutes.  Meanwhile, in a small bowl, add the cornstarch to the water, and stir well. Add the cornstarch slurry to the strawberries. Let simmer, stirring constantly, until mixture becomes very thick. Let mixture cool slightly.
Slice remaining strawberries, and stir into the cooked strawberry mixture. Pour filling into your pre-baked pie shell. Arrange your selected choice strawberries over the top of the filling, either whole or sliced. Chill for several hours or overnight. Serve with freshly whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.



Tips:
To make your pie really glisten, reserve a little of the thickened strawberry filling, removing any chunks of berry. Use that gel to brush your decorative strawberries on top.
If you're making a regular 9" pie, (instead of a deep dish pie) just cut all the amounts by half.
For a little unexpected summer variation, add a little fresh basil to your pie filling. Seriously!
For an extra special treat, drizzle your whole pie with melted chocolate.

Creamy Grape Salad

  When I first saw this recipe, it reminded me of your good old fashioned Southern type of recipe. Lots of sweet juicy grapes in a sweet creamy dressing.. it sort of has that "down home country" thing goin' on. I'm not even sure whose recipe it is because I've seen this exact recipe on many sites. But here's the thing.. whenever I see the SAME recipe posted over and over on different websites, that usually means it's a great recipe that everyone makes the same way. I mean, I suppose everyone tweaks the amount of sugar, and that's fine, but still, it's the same recipe. That's good enough for me!

  So exactly what is a grape salad? Is it a side dish? Is it a dessert? Well, TBH, it can be anything you want it to be. When I first read it, I pictured it as a sweet cold side dish.. kind of like applesauce with pork chops, or cranberry sauce with turkey. But when I first TASTED it, I immediately got the fruit and yogurt with granola vibe. Perfect for a light summer breakfast or brunch. But then I read a few of the comments and tweaks on different sites... and many people said they like to chop up frozen Snickers or Milky Way bars and sprinkle them over the top. Or do the same with a candy toffee bar. Well, now we've taken it in a whole other direction! That clearly crosses over into dessert territory. So I guess it's up to you how ever you'd like to serve it.

 The point is that it's really tasty and everyone will love it! Personally, I'm not one to add candy bars to my fruit salad, but hey, you do you! For me, the kicker is the addition of the brown sugar and chopped pecans over the top. SO GOOD! The brown sugar makes it just sweet enough, and the pecans add just exactly the right amount of crunchy texture! It's the perfect bright and refreshing thing to bring to a summer family event. It's a great do ahead too, so make it the night before, and then serve it nicely chilled. I promise it'll be a big hit!

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 cup sour cream

1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 lbs seedless red grapes

2 lbs seedless green grapes

3 tbs brown sugar

3 tbs chopped pecans

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, and vanilla until blended. Add grapes and toss to coat. Transfer to a serving bowl. Cover and refrigerate until serving. Sprinkle with brown sugar and pecans just before serving.

Tips:

ok, so, a few things...

It seems to me that this recipe makes quite a lot. If you don't need FOUR POUNDS of grapes., just cut the whole recipe in half. Then again,  I don't think leftovers would be a terrible thing in this particular case.

Speaking of cutting things in half, I wanted a smaller bite, so I decided to cut all the grapes in half. It's actually a pretty good idea, especially if you have little ones who might try to swallow a whole grape.
If you're not a fan of pecans, try any kind of chopped nuts. You could even do granola instead of nuts, if you're so inclined.

If you'd like to lighten it up a bit, try using plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. It works quite well! (especially if you're doing granola!) Another thing that works quite well is adding or substituting a different kind of fruit. How about pitted fresh cherries? (I've tried it.. they're fabulous) Or fresh blueberries and sliced strawberries? I bet it would also be great to add some diced apples to the grapes. Mmmm... Might need to try that next time!

Joey's Summer Squash Pie

  So I was looking for fun recipes to try with zucchini. During this time of year, I always like to find some new zucchini recipes, just because it's so abundant. Sooo.... what'll it be this time.....Do I wanna go sweet like zucchini bread? or savory as with an entree? And then I thought, ooooo how about a pie? YUM. So I googled, and immediately found a recipe from Taste of Home and it looked pretty awesome, so I thought I'd have a go.
 Well, the first thing I noticed is that it was kind of similar to a tomato pie recipe I've been making for years. In that pie recipe, you layer slices of tomatoes with fresh basil and scallions, then you spread a mixture of shredded cheese and mayonnaise over the top, and bake it. So this was basically the zucchini version of that recipe. I immediately thought "why have I never done this before?" I'm forever looking for new ways to reinvent old recipes, and I'm still completely amazed that I never tweaked that tomato pie.
 So, now, I'm reading the squash pie recipe, and I'm already deciding what changes to make. Not to the method, but mainly to the ingredients. Full disclosure, I always find summer squash to be a little bland unless you pump up the flavor a bit, so I added a few aromatics. (Basically I can never leave well enough alone!) Fresh herbs, onions, peppers, garlic.... it just seemed like this pie was calling for them!!
 Oh, and one more thing... with the tomato pie recipe, the one problem I always have is that the fresh tomatoes bring too much liquid to the party, and you end up with a soggy pie. So, recently, I started adding a little flour to the filling, just to help thicken it up a bit. It worked with the tomatoes, so I did that here too. And I must say those extra aromatics really boosted the flavor. It turned out great! At the very first bite, I thought "ooh that's REALLY good." Dontcha just love that feeling of getting something right on the very first try? Seriously delish! So if you happen to have a home garden that is overgrowing with a million zucchini, give this one a try. Serve it with a little side salad and there's your perfect brunch or light dinner. It's really just that good!





1 unbaked pie crust (ready made, or your own)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
olive oil
2 cups roughly diced zucchini
2 cups roughly diced yellow summer squash
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
1 red bell pepper, roughly chopped
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
a couple sprigs EACH fresh thyme, fresh basil, fresh oregano, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup flour
2 large tomatoes, sliced
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise



Heat oven to 350ºF.
Line deep dish pie plate with pie crust pastry. Crimp to make a decorative edge. Line pie shell with parchment paper. Fill with dry beans or pie weights. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove pie weights and parchment. Brush with beaten egg. Bake for an additional 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside. Meanwhile, make the filling.
  To a large skillet or wok, add a few big glugs of olive oil. When the oil is hot enough, add the zucchini, yellow squash, onions, and peppers. Saute over fairly high heat for a good 10 minutes, stirring often, until very tender. Add garlic powder, salt, and pepper. At the last minute, add garlic, fresh herbs, and flour. Stir until well combined and cook for only another minute or two. Spoon into baked pastry shell. Top with tomato slices. Combine the cheese and mayonnaise; spread over the top.  Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let stand for a good 15 minutes before cutting.



Tips:
Like I said, I just couldn't leave this one alone. I had to add my own little spin. But just because I like certain things, doesn't mean you have to! Don't like peppers? Leave 'em out! Want to add eggplant? Go for it! Add any combination of veggies you want, or just do all one kind! It'll still be fabulous!
Also be sure to season everything well. It will probably need more salt than you think it will!

Lemon Basil Sugar Cookies

  Many years ago, after all of my siblings and I had grown up and moved out, I used to stop by my parents' house and visit with my Mom. Honestly, if I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times,... someone should have followed my Mom and written down everything she ever said. I can't even begin to express the amount of Life Lessons we all learned from her, and of course, this blog wouldn't exist if it hadn't been for her. She was the best at cooking with what she had on hand, and she could feed an army just as easily as she could feed 2 people. Whenever I visited with her, we talked about loads of topics, but of course the conversation would inevitably work its way back to food or cooking or recipes or "how did you make this?" or "do we have that old recipe written down anywhere?" or some similar variation.
 Once I was fixing her a cup of tea, and I noticed that she had a little plate of sugar cookies in a container off to the side of the kitchen counter. I asked her about them and she said she liked to make them "whenever she wanted a little something sweet." She described them as being "nothing crazy, 'no bells and whistles', just good old fashioned sugar cookies" and they made a small enough batch that it didn't take her all afternoon to make them. "Perfect with a cup of tea."
 For some reason, that conversation always stuck with me. How can you go wrong with a good old fashioned sugar cookie whenever you want "a little something sweet", right?
 Cut to many years later, and I happen upon this recipe on a blog called Albiongould.com. I IMMEDIATELY think of Mom and those cookies that she had with her cup of tea. A classic sugar cookie, only this time with a little refreshing lemon and basil. I guess we can call that a few small bells and whistles, but still nothing crazy. The recipe description even says that it's perfect with a cup of tea. Sounds pretty awesome to me. And since I happen to have an ever-growing window box of basil, I decided to give it a hair cut and make these cookies. They're just exactly what you want them to be. Sweet, lemony, crispy, chewy, basil-y. Pretty sure Mom would have loved them.
 So the next time you want "a little something sweet" without too many "bells and whistles," fix yourself a cup of tea and try this recipe.
As Mom would say "It's one of Life's simple pleasures."




2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup butter
2 tsp lemon extract
zest of two lemons
4-6 basil leaves (about 2 tbs when finely chopped)


Heat oven to 375ºF.
Soften the butter in the microwave for about 1 1/2 minutes on low. If it melts a bit, that’s ok. Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the egg. Add the lemon extract and lemon zest. Mix in the flour and baking powder. Combine everything. When a dough has formed, mix in the finely chopped basil. Form 1 inch balls of dough in your hands. Roll each ball in sugar. Put twelve on a half sheet pan. Push down in the middle of each ball a little with your thumb. Bake for 9-10 minutes.




Tips:
If you like the "green freshness" that the basil brings to these cookies, also try it with chopped fresh mint or fresh thyme leaves. They go very well with lemon, and it's amazing how well the fresh herbs go in a sweet recipe!

Summer Panzanella

  Ok this one is as simple as can be and it has summer written all over it. I was looking for something fresh and light, which is always a welcome break from the all-too-convenient heavy deep-fried take out that happens far too often. For me, summer always means tons of fresh tomatoes and basil, and this recipe is the perfect way to use them. The thing that makes it a Panzanella, and not just any old salad is the inclusion of the bread cubes. This was a way of using up stale bread because it soaks up all that delicious dressing as well as the juices from the tomatoes and cucumbers. The result is a fabulously fresh salad that hits all the right notes. And the bread makes it hearty enough to be a meal, all on its own. Full disclosure, this recipe is actually my tweaked version of the original recipe from Delish. What can I say? I wanted to add artichokes, avocado, and fresh mozzarella! Not sorry! Hmmm... I think maybe one of these days I might even add some grilled shrimp to it. Doesn't that sound amazing?

Now THAT says summer to me! LOVE.

1 large baguette or Italian bread, cut into 1-inch cubes

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided

3 tbs red wine vinegar

1 tsp honey

kosher salt

black pepper

Freshly ground black pepper

1 large seedless cucumber, roughly chopped

2 pts cherry tomatoes, halved

1 red onion. chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 avocado, diced

1 jar marinated artichoke hearts

balls of fresh mozzarella

1 bunch basil, torn

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, toss bread with 1/4 cup olive oil. Add bread to skillet and toast until golden and crisp, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

In a small bowl, whisk together red wine vinegar, remaining 1/4 cup olive oil and honey. Season with salt and pepper.

To large bowl, add crispy bread, and remaining ingredients. Toss with dressing until evenly coated and season with more salt and pepper. Garnish with basil and serve.

Tips:

TBH, I didn't even measure anything. For each vegetable, I didn't even look at the amounts... just cut up everything and threw it into the bowl. For the bread, I just cut it up, drizzled with olive oil until it was enough, then crisped it in a pan. I had a lot of bread, so I did it in two batches. And as always, if you like a lot of something, add a lot!

This recipe lends itself to any number of variations, not only with the ingredients but also with the amounts, as well. Feeding a big crowd? Use a lot of each ingredient! Only a few of you? Scale it back a bit. There's really no wrong way to do it. Be creative! Not a fan of red onion? Try chopped scallions instead, for a milder onion flavor. Want to use a different kind of vinegar? Go for it! Want to add a protein? DO IT! Or how about adding other veggies? Red or yellow bell peppers? Zucchini? Perfect!

You do you!

Bucatini All'Amatriciana

  As I was looking for yummy summer pasta recipes, I happened upon this recipe that I had seen on TV about a million years ago. Back in the day, before Chef Anne Burrell had her Worst Cooks in America thing going on, she used to have her own show, and honestly, it was great to just watch her cook. Wait... before I go any further.. am I the only one who misses those old TV cooking shows where we just watch a chef cook? You know, like Jacques Pepin and Sara Moulton and of course Miss Julia... they were always my favorites because I'd look at them and say "I bet I could make that too", ya know? My young self learned quite a bit from them, so I really do miss how informative those old shows used to be. As much as I love a competition cooking show, or whatever baking challenge we're up to, it's kind of not really the same.

ANYWAY.....Anne Burrell used to have a show called Secrets of a Restaurant Chef.. and on one particular episode, she made this pasta recipe. Of course, it looked so simple, I thought "yup.. definitely making that." And then I promptly forgot all about it. Until now. Aaaaaand we're back.

  I was just gonna make the recipe as I had seen it, but then I thought I'd compare several recipes, just for funsies, to see how different chefs have different variations. The first thing I read is that it's not really authentic to use any herbs in this sauce, or even garlic. I mean, I guess that makes sense. What is the point of coming up with a new tomato sauce recipe if you're just going to add all the same ingredients to it, right? So I knew right off the bat that I wasn't going to add any oregano or basil or garlic, as with your usual basic marinara. But still, many chefs do. Bobby Flay adds parsley and oregano and garlic and finishes his sauce with a couple pats of butter.. I read another recipe that adds fresh rosemary. I saw another version that included a big splash of white wine. Clearly this recipe was open to interpretation. So I looked for the things that seemed to be constant in all of them. The pasta was always bucatini, hence the name, and the sauce always had chopped chilis or crushed red pepper flakes for a spicy kick.

 But the most important thing, it seemed, was to include the star of the show... a specific cut of cured pork called guanciale. Annnnd now you might say "what's guanciale???"  Well, it's actually the cheeks or jowls of the pork. It has quite a lot of fat, and has a stronger porky almost gamey kind of flavor. It's treated like bacon, and it's quite luxurious! The problem is that it's not always the easiest thing to find. So, then I discovered that the next best thing is to use pancetta. Aaaaand now you might say "what's pancetta???" Well, it's similar to guanciale, also a cured cut of pork, but it comes from the belly of the animal instead of the jowls. Think of it as bacon that is cured but not smoked. It's a little expensive, but you only need 8 oz and it's SO worth it. If nothing else, you can just use regular bacon! (actually, that's what Bobby Flay uses in his recipe). It'll add a little smokiness, but that's not really a bad thing here. Anyway, after all that, I decided to just go back and use Anne Burrell's recipe. It's simple, it's straight forward. And I love that she gives the recipe like she's talking to you, especially when she talks about the marriage between the pasta and sauce. LOL It's kinda like many people tell me about this blog. They say "I can hear you talking!" which always cracks me up.

 So there we have it. You absolutely MUST add this recipe to your recipe repertoire. It's SO amazingly delicious, only takes a few ingredients, and is simple enough that anyone can make it. I'd say it's even good enough for when you want to impress someone! It took me forever to finally get around to making it, but it was certainly worth the wait!

Extra virgin olive oil

8 ounces guanciale, cut in 1/4-inch strips

2 large onions, cut in 1/2-inch dice

1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Kosher salt

2 (28-ounce) cans San Marzano tomatoes, passed through the food mill

1 pound bucatini or perciatelli

1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus extra for garnish

1 tablespoon minced chives, for garnish, optional

Coat a large saucepan with olive oil. Add the guanciale and saute over low heat. Cook until it is brown and crispy and has rendered a lot of fat. Remove and reserve 1/3 of the guanciale for garnish. Bring the pan to a medium heat and add the onions and crushed red pepper. Season generously with salt, to taste. Cook the onions until they are translucent, starting to turn golden and are very aromatic. Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer the sauce for about 1 hour, tasting periodically. Adjust the salt, as needed.

Bring a large pot of well salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook for 1 minute less than the instructions on the package. Remove 3 or 4 ladlefuls of the sauce from the pot to a bowl, as an insurance policy. You can always add it back in but it's harder to take out once the pasta is in the pan. You're looking for the perfect ratio between pasta and sauce. Drain the pasta from the water and add to the pot of sauce. Stir to coat with the sauce. This is how you always finish pasta; you cook it in the sauce to perform the marriage of the pasta and the sauce. Add more sauce, if necessary. Add in the cheese and drizzle with olive oil to really bring the marriage together. Toss to coat and serve in shallow bowls garnished with cheese and the reserved guanciale. Sprinkle with chives to finish, if using. YUUUMMMEEEEE!

Tips:

When the recipe says "season generously with salt, to taste", I kind of held back a little because I knew the pancetta would be very salty. Maybe the guanciale isn't as salty as pancetta, but it's something to keep an eye on. Yes, I used pancetta instead of guanciale. Who even knows where to buy guanciale??? Also I used more than 8oz. Why? because pancetta is just so GOOD!

Since I only like a little spice, I only used a half tsp of crushed red pepper flakes, which gives it a nice slow burn. But if you like the heat, go for the full teaspoon. Or more! You could even add a fresh pinch right at serving.

I like it a little chunky, so instead of passing my canned tomatoes through a food mill, I just emptied the cans into a large bowl and then squished them with my impeccably clean hands.

Cherry Pie Bars

  I was recently invited to visit some of my family members who were vacationing at the Jersey Shore. Of course, my first question was "what can I bring?" They said they wanted "a picky uppy dessert", which is a very technical term we like to use and it basically means something such as a brownie, something cut into squares that is easily picked up and eaten out of hand (instead of needing plates, bowls, spoons, etc.)

 Well, I knew right away I didn't want to do anything chocolate since the heat was so relentless. I didn't want to arrive at the shore with a melted mess. So I decided to make these little cherry gems.

 I actually found the same exact recipe on several websites, which usually means that's the go-to recipe, but on every website, the recipe always used a 15x10 sheet pan, and I only have 18x13 sheets. hmm... that won't work. Then I thought, well, usually whenever I make a picky uppy dessert, I use a 9x13 pan... yes, I think sounds like the better option than a sheet pan. So I needed to find a smaller version of the same recipe, or figure out different quantities for all of the ingredients. (Wait, did all of that make sense??) Resizing pans... makes my brain hurt.. anyway... The listed recipe is basically the same as all the rest, and the amounts have been adjusted to work for the smaller 9x13 pan. I think that's usually the pan most people use anyway, so there we go.

 The recipe is SUPER easy to do, and it came together in a snap. Everyone LOVED them, and they were gone in no time at all. Side note, they still wound up becoming a little melty (melty?) because of the 80 mile drive to the shore, but no one seemed to mind the extra gooey-ness!

I know I'll definitely be making them again. You should too!

1 cup butter, softened

1 3/4 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch salt

1 (21oz) can cherry pie filling

Heat oven to 350ºF.

Spray a 9x13 inch baking pan with nonstick spray, line with parchment paper with an inch or two hanging over the edge, and then spray again. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the dough and spread the rest into the bottom of the prepared pan. Cover this layer evenly with cherry pie filling. Drop the rest of the dough by spoonfuls on top of the cherry layer and spread to cover the best you can.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until top is slightly golden. Drizzle with a confectioners' glaze when cool for sweeter bars. Let cool completely or chill before cutting into bars.

Tips:

For the glaze, I just added water to about a cup of powdered sugar, just a few drops at a time, until it was the right drizzling consistency. (Can use milk or even fruit juice instead of water). I also added a 1/4 tsp of almond extract. Be careful when adding water to the sugar, a little goes a long way, so just add a tiny bit at a time and whisk it together. Same goes for the almond extract. A little goes a long way.

Not a fan of cherries? Try any kind of pie filling you like!