Try Something New: Week Two

This week we tried this

Banana Cream Pie

from kingarthurflour.com.

They also have an interesting entry for Banana Cream Pie on their blog: Flourish.

I did not use their pie crust recipe.

I made a short bread crust with a recipe that I already had.

 Mr. In the Mid-west had asked for Banana Cream Pie for his birthday dessert yesterday. 

Since I did not have an existing good recipe for Banana Cream Pie I did some searching on the internet for a recipe that I thought would be worth a try.

I really like how well the custard set up. Once the pie was cut the filling was firm enough that it did not run all over the place.

I did not put whipped cream over the whole top of the pie, but, rather, put it on each piece as it was served.

The reason being, that we were not going to eat the whole pie in one sitting and I did not want the cream to, "deflate," and become a mess all over the pie. :-)

This pie met all of Mr. In the Mid-west's expectations; 

it was smooth, creamy, and not too sweet. He said this recipe was a keeper. :-)

Here is my short bread crust recipe:

Short Bread Pie Crust

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup all purpose flour

1/8 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. almond extract 

Cream butter and sugar. Add flour, baking powder, salt, and extract. Pat, evenly, into a 9 inch pie plate. Bake at 350* F. 15-20 minutes.

This is the filling for the pie:

Banana Cream Pie Filling

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

2 to 2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 large eggs

2 cups milk, whole milk preferred

6 tablespoons room-temperature or soft butter

1/2 to 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, to taste

1/4 teaspoon almond extract, optional

 2 to 3 medium bananas, peeled and sliced 1/2" thick

 In a medium-sized heatproof bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, cornstarch, salt, and eggs, whisking until smooth. 
In a medium-sized saucepan, bring the milk just to a boil.
Gradually add the hot milk to the egg mixture, stirring all the while.
Return the egg/milk mixture to the saucepan, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and starts to boil; this will happen quite quickly, so don't leave the stove to do other chores.

Place the sliced bananas in the bottom of the pie crust. Spoon the hot pastry cream over the bananas, Smooth the surface, and cover it with plastic wrap — or parchment paper.  Refrigerate the pie until it's completely cold; the filling will thicken and set.
Serve the pie cold, with whipped cream if desired.

What Is Different Is Not The Same: 002

Matthew 5:22

KVJ
But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

NIV
 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

ESV
 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.

  NRSV
But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire.


Do you see what is missing?

Sourdough Wontons-Link With Sourdough Surprises

I am joining the Sourdough Surprises link-up this week.

Each month they come up with a challenge for those who are interested in getting adventurous with their sourdough starters. 

This month the challenge was, wontons.

I thought it would be something fun to try.

Rolling out the wontons was the hardest part. 

I think the key to making wonton wrappers different than any other dough is to get them very thin.

I am not sure if I will try this filling recipe again. It was okay, but was lacking in flavor.

Whole Wheat Sourdough Wonton Wrappers

1 egg

1/3 cup sourdough starter

2 1/2 TBS. water

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour

In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Create a well in the center of the mixture and slowly pour in the stater, egg, and water. Mix well. If the mixture is too dry, increase the amount of water one teaspoon at a time until a pliable dough has formed. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough until elastic. Cut dough into two separate balls. Cover the balls with a damp cloth for a minimum of 10 minutes.

Cut each ball into four equal pieces. Roll the pieces into 10 1/2 by 10 1/2 inch squares. Cut each square int nine 3 1/2 by 3 1/2 inch squares.

To assemble the wontons, place a wonton wrapper flat in the palm of your hand. If frying, add 1 teaspoon of mixture to the center of the wrapper.

  Dip a finger into water, and paint all 4 edges with the water. Fold the wonton in half, corner to opposite corner to make a triangle. Seal tightly all around. Make sure there are no air pockets or holes in the wonton. Fold the longer two triangle points together and seal to make the wonton shape.

Pork Wonton Filling

1 pound ground pork 

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

 2 cloves garlic, finely minced

 3 stalks green onion, chopped

 2 tablespoon soy sauce 

1 tablespoons cornstarch 

2 cups finely chopped cabbage

Place the chopped cabbage into a bowl. Sprinkle generously with salt, set aside for 10 minutes. 

In a large bowl, add the meat, ginger, garlic, green onions, soy sauce, and cornstarch and mix well to combine.

Squeeze excess water out of the cabbage and add it to the meat mixture; mix well.

To assemble the wontons, place a wonton wrapper flat in the palm of your hand. If frying, add 1 teaspoon of mixture to the center of the wrapper.

  Dip a finger into water, and paint all 4 edges with the water. Fold the wonton in half, corner to opposite corner to make a triangle. Seal tightly all around. Make sure there are no air pockets or holes in the wonton. Fold the longer two triangle points together and seal to make the wonton shape.

 To fry wontons, add 1 to 1 1/2 inches of cooking oil to a wok or pot. Heat the oil until it reaches 375F. Add a few wontons to the oil to fry, turning occasionally until they are golden brown. Remove them to a draining rack placed over a baking sheet so they can drain excess oil.

Chopped Cabbage, Sprinkled With Salt.

Meat Filling

Linking to the HOST

Try Something New : Week One

This week we tried :

Simple Roast Chicken with Garlic and Rosemary 

( recipe from justataste.com)

 

• True to it's name, the recipe was simple:

  
  Yay!
   I followed the instructions to a T.

• The list of ingredients was very short:

1 (4- to 5-pound) chicken
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large cloves garlic, minced
1 lemon, halved
3 sprigs fresh rosemary

• The directions were easy to follow:

Wash and dry chicken, 

brush with butter and garlic,

stuff with lemon and rosemary,

roast at 450* F.,

baste every 15 minutes,

and rest 10 minutes before carving.

*This is a very abbreviated version of the directions.*

• And, best of all, the chicken was delicious!

  
  We enjoyed the legs and thighs for dinner.
  The breast we ate the next day, cold.
  It had a mild, pleasant, flavor from the rosemary and lemon.
  
  

• Here are some pictures I took of the process:

Glad to have fresh rosemary growing in a pot on the porch. :)

Ingredients and equipment gathered

Chicken covered in garlic-y butter, stuffed, trussed and ready to roast.

Tasty chicken ready for dinner. :) Yum!

What Is Different Is Not The Same: 001

 

Matthew 1:25 

KJV

And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

  ^NIV

 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus. 

ESV

  but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

 

NRSV

 

  but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

 

 

 

 

Do you see what has been omitted?

Try Something New ??

Dear readers, I am thinking about doing a segment every Friday about a new recipe I have tried in that week. It would be a review, of sorts, where I try something new every week and let you all know how we liked it.

My goal would be to continue this for 12 weeks. It may be something I keep up longer than that, but the goal would be to make it to 12 weeks and then assess the possibility of continuing.

Please let me know what you think, in the comments. I, also, will take suggestions for recipes to try. :-)

This would, also, be an attempt to improve my wifey skills. My meals, lately, have lacked much to be desired. Mr. in the Mid-west would appreciate this new segment every week.  :-)

Measurement Unit Conversions For Baking

I am not sure how common these conversions are to people, in general, but I thought I would share them today.

My mother is the one that taught them to me. We used them for practicing our multiplication and division skills.

I grew up in a rather large family, eldest of 13, and became very proficient with multiplying tablespoons and converting them into cups and so on.. We were always having to multiply recipes several times.

It became quite fun to figure out how many teaspoons was equal to a 1/4 cup, etc...
Once I became married I had to do a lot more dividing of recipes than multiplying, and all of these conversions have been super handy to have committed to memory.

These Are The Conversions That I use Most Often :

1 1/2 teaspoons = 1/2 tablespoons

3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon

6 teaspoons = 2 tablespoons

2 tablespoons = 1/8 cups

4 tablespoons = 1/4 cup

5 1/3 tablespoons Or 5 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon = 1/3 cup

16 tablespoons = 1 cup

2 cups = 1 pint

4 cups = 2 pints = 1 quart

8 cups = 2 quarts = 1/2 gallon 

 

 

 

 

I hope you are having a lovely day!

Wet Dahlia In  My Garden This Morning