So I've been playing with new recipes ...
Two nights ago we had:
Zuppa Toscana!
And it was de-lish!! :) One pot, less than one dozen ingredients, and just over one hour ... and voila! Olive Garden at home. It was good stuff too ... super secret recipe here.
I would also like to remind my readers that, despite my young age, I am a bit of an expert baker. (Perhaps the few too many pounds I carry are testament to that ... :P) However, one thing has always scared me ...
Pies. Why? Simple. While I've been known to take what I consider the easy way out (baking with a box mix) on more than one occasion, I prefer to bake from scratch. In my world, the best brownies come from bakers chocolate and sugar, not a Betty Crocker box and cookies ALWAYS start with butter, eggs, and sugar. But I do stand firm on the fact that I don't use an easy way out if I can't make a better version from scratch. Hense, pie crusts struck fear deep in my baker's soul ...
*Flashback* My Gammy (dad's mom) makes the most INCREDIBLE pies. As an engagement present she gave me the recipe to my most favorite of her creations ... and in 5 years I haven't even attempted it because I just knew that I could NEVER make a pie crust. *End Flashback*
Last night I had planned to make a Toll-House Pie for dessert. I had surrendered to using a pre-made crust, even though I knew I couldn't make my own. We had some frozen crusts that someone gave us quite a while ago ... it was supposed to be fast and convenient ... Anyway, I took the crusts out of the freezer and discovered that there was mold on them ... EWW! So, (after a frantic side trip into the world of cleaning and sanitizing everything in sight) I made a decision. The filling was already in process and I was NOT going to waste perfectly good cookie-esque pie filling. So, I gave in. I went looking for my Gammy's pie crust recipe. Silly me figured it was included in the recipe she gave me 5 years ago. Nope. The recipe says "Pour filling into pie crust." No mention of how to get that crust. Just that it magically appears. Great. Now what?
Ahh ... recipezaar. Enter search for "quick pie crust" ... and voila!
My pie crust was light and flaky, buttery but not greasy ... really good for my first ever pie crust. And now ... I feel almost unstopable in the kitchen ... well ... at least in baking. Cooking is more of Tyler's area of expertise ... but perhaps with more time on my hands these days I can claim back that one too ...
4 comments:
That soup looks delicious! I will be printing out that recipe and hopefully making it soon!!
I'm glad we'll get to see each other this weekend.
It was good to see you!
Notes for you on the recipe for the zuppa - My mom doesn't like extremely strong flavors, so I don't put in the fresh garlic or the red pepper flakes, for her the Italian sausage is enough seasoning.
I also don't believe in using heavy cream. I know that soups could be creamier, but I prefer (for many reasons) to make (almost) all of my soups with 1/2 and 1/2 instead (the exception being those that are intended to be chowder-y really need the cream).
And I use about 1.5 times the amt of potatoes because (like Olive Garden) I prefer to have a bit of a larger piece of potato to eat ... no mashy mushy here ...
Good luck with everything! Let me know how it turns out :)
Oh yeah ... and I don't waste time peeling the potatoes either. Just a good washing for them before this soup!
Pie crusts don't have to be scary! I had a whole lesson with aaron's mom on how to make them! I prefer to make them from scratch too! Good on you! Miss you. Let's get together?
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