Category: recipes

recipes

Basic Pie Crust

tlkitchen

Hey there foodies! The holidays are right around the corner and I just know we all are going to have such a great time cooking up some delicious food for our families and ourselves. I don’t know about you guys but one of my favorite things to eat during this great time of year, is pie. Apple, pecan, sweet potato, you make it, I’ll eat it! So to kick things off, I wanted to share a super simple pie crust recipe with you guys, they will work well with just about any pie.

Fun fact about pie crust. Not all pie crust contain sugar! I know what you are thinking….’How can you not add sweetness to a sweet desert?’ Well with pies, the sweetness comes from filling instead of the crust. Sugar can actually make your pie dough a bit too tender and make it hard to stretch without breaking. With that being said, same crust recipes do contain sugar, you just won’t work the dough as much.

Now back to taste. Though your crust will not have sweetness added to it, doesn’t mean it won’t taste amazing! After all, the crust is always the best part. In the recipe I use a mixture of unsalted butter and vegetable shortening. The butter will help with the crust flavor and the shortening helps make it nice and flaky. Of course there is a pinch (or two) of salt added to help bring everything together.

Again, this recipe is a very basic pie crust that works really well with savory and sweet pies. So give it a try and let me know what you think. Happy eating!

What you need:

  • 2 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 1/4 tsp salt
  • 6 tbsp unsalted butter, chilled
  • 3/4 cup vegetable shortening, chilled
  • 1/2 cup ice water (or cold water left in freezer for 5-10 minutes)

Method:

  • In a large bowl whisk together flour and salt
  • Add butter and shortening and with a pastry cutter, 2 forks or your hands, chop up fats into the dough. It will start to resemble coarse meal.
  • Start adding in cold water 1 tbsp at a time, working dough after each table spoon. Once all water is added, if dough to too sticky, sprinkle in some additional flour
  • Form dough into a ball and cut in half
  • plastic wrap both halves and place in refrigerator for at least 2 hours or up to 5 days.

When you’re ready to use:

  • Always place dough on floured surface before rolling it out.
  • Start from the center of dough ball and work your way out creating a circle
  • Make sure to spin dough after a few rolls (This helps it not stick to the counter)
  • When placing in pie dish, use knife to cut off extra

Pro tip!

**Brush top of crust with an egg wash after putting pie together to help get a nice golden crust

recipes

Gouda Mac-n-Cheese

tlkitchen

Hey there foodies happy Monday! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend and are all ready to take on this week with stride. Speaking of this week, Thanksgiving is on Thursday!!! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and I am very excited to celebrate with the ones I love and the food I love. I figured while there is still time to sneak in some food shopping, I would share my absolute favorite Mac-n-Cheese recipe! It took me a few tries to perfect it but now it is perfect and would make a great addition to your holiday table.

What you need:

  • 1 16oz box Elbow pasta
  • 2 7oz wheels smoked Gouda cheese, cubed or shredded
  • 1 8oz bag Cheddar cheese, shredded
  • 2 1/2 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 2 1/2 cups milk
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 2 tsp salt

Method:

  • Bring to boil a large pot of water (around 5-6 cups) and add pasta. Cook until noodles are tender. Drain noodles but do not rinse.
  • In a sauce pan: melt butter and sprinkle in flour. Mix together to create a roux (This helps thicken the cheese sauce).
  • In same pan add in milk, black pepper and salt.
  • Occasionally stir until milk starts to thicken. You can tell it’s thick by placing a spoon into mixture and milk will stick to the back of the spoon.
  • Cube or shredded Gouda cheese
  • Add Gouda cheese and half a bag of Cheddar to thicken milk and stir. At this time take the sauce off the heat and stir until cheese melts.
  • Pour cheese sauce over cooked pasta and mix well.
  • Pour into an oven safe dish, top second half of cheddar cheese on top and bake in the oven on 375 for 15-20 minutes
  • Let cool and enjoy!
recipes

Vegetable Pot Pie

tlkitchen

Good Morning Foodies! I hope you all are having an amazing week and getting all prepared for the upcoming holidays! Today I wanted to share a recipe with you that I am so excited about! Honestly, this might be one of the best meals I have ever made and it was a huge hit with my boyfriend.

I little background story first: I have never been that great of a baker but over the past year or so I have really been trying to sharpen my baking skills. So far, I have made some pretty great things that I am proud of. The other day, I decided to make a pot pie. I didn’t want to use biscuits or a pre-made crust, so I decided to try for a homemade pie crust instead. Also, I decided to try my luck at making this inside of the pot pie, right off hand. I told myself I would use my knowledge that I already have for cooking, throw something together and hope it works. One thing they teach us in culinary school is ‘to trust yourself and your palate’ and I am happy I did! This is my favorite recipe to date and I hope you all enjoy it too!

What you need

Pie crust

  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/4 tsp salt
  • 6 tbsp of unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
  • 3.4 cup vegetable shortening, chilled
  • 1/2 cup ice water ( if not ice, place cup of water in freezer for 10 minutes or until really cold. NOT FROZEN)
  • 1 egg, beaten

Pot Pie

  • 4 medium potatoes
  • 1 cup carrots, chopped
  • 1 large yellow onion, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 cup fresh green beans, chopped 1 inch long
  • 2 1/2 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 2 1/2 cup 2% milk
  • 1 tbsp fresh thyme
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning, salt, garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • Pinch of ground clove
  • Pinch of crushed red pepper
  • Optional: 1 container of your favorite veggie meat product or 1 1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped.

Method

Pie crust:

  • In a large bowl, mix flour and salt together. Add cubed and chilled butter and vegetable shortening.
  • If you have a pastry cutter, cut the butter and shortening into the mixture. It should start to look like course meal. If you do not own a pastry cutter, with clean hands, you can mix the dough that way or use two forks.
  • Slowly start to incorporate your ice water, 1 tbsp at a time. Mixing dough until it start to become thicker.
  • If too sticky, sprinkle in some additional flour
  • Roll dough into a large ball, cut the ball in half and use plastic wrap to cover each half.
  • Place in refrigerator for 2 hour or up to 5 days.
  • Once pie crust is chilled, on a floured surface, roll out dough, 1/2 at a time, starting from the middle, outward in long even strokes, until you have a circle. Make sure to occasionally spin dough, so that it doesn’t start to stick to the counter tip. (Circle does not need to be perfect).
  • Note: Do this last step after you have completed you pot pie filling.

Pot Pie:

  • Clean, peel and cube potatoes. Add in boiling water and cook until you are able to stick a fork through them. (Do not over cook or make cubes too small)
  • Melt butter in a pan and add in onions and fresh garlic.
  • Once onions become translucent, add carrots. Saute until carrots become tender.
  • Sprinkle in flour and mix
  • Lower heat a little and add in milk, Italian seasoning, paprika, salt, pepper, fresh thyme and garlic powder.
  • Occasionally stir. Once mixture starts to thicken up, add in green beans and simmer until mixture is thickens.
  • At this time if you chose to use a veggie meat (that you have already cooked separately) or mushrooms, add them in, as well as the potatoes. Mix together.
  • Take off heat and add a pinch of ground clove and crushed red pepper.
  • At this time you can roll out pie dough 1/2 at a time.
  • Place 1/2, rolled dough in a glass baking dish (or pie dish). Use knife to cut off extra dough around the edges.
  • Poke a few whole with a fork at the bottom of crust and place in the oven for 10 minutes on 375 degrees. This will help make sure the bottom crust cooks all the way.
  • Take crust out of the oven and add pot pie mix.
  • Place second 1/2 of your rolled dough on top and use knife to cut off extra around the edges.
  • Make small slits in the middle of dough with knife (2 or 3)
  • Use a cooking brush to brush on egg wash to help get a nice golden crust on top
  • Place in oven for 30-35 minutes on 375 degrees
  • Let rest of 10 minutes before cutting
  • ENJOY!