Tillamook Cheddar Apple Pie

Somehow I got it into my head that I really wanted to make a cheddar-apple pie. Once that thought appeared, there was no ignoring it. I chose this recipe because it looked easy, and since I don't like to bake, easy sounded pretty good.

A slice of this pie, warmed up, with a sprinkle of melted cheese on top, is divine.

I don't think that this is the best recipe out there, but the end result made me happy. I think there could be some improvements though. For one thing, because you don't cook the apples beforehand, the filling cooks down, leaving a gap between the apples and the top of the crust. Not really a problem tastewise, but not as pretty to look at. I thought the dough was kind of hard to work with, but then again I'm not much of a baker so that might have had something to do with it. Joe had to come help me part-way through.

**Late night edit** I've just added a new "Recipes" tab at the top of the page: it takes you to a complete listing of all the recipes, categorized by type, with a link to each one. This took me FOREVER to put together, but it was really fun to go back through all the older recipes I have posted over the past couple of years. So please, go check it out!

Tillamook Cheddar Apple Pie
adapted from The Tillamook Cheese Cookbook
serves 4-6

Note: If you don't live in a place that sells Tillamook cheese, just buy the sharpest cheddar you can find.

For the crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup shortening
1/2 cup grated Tillamook Special Reserve Extra Sharp Cheddar cheese
5-6 tablespoons ice water

For the filling:
5-6 firm, tart apples (I used Granny Smith)
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup grated Tillamook Special Reserve Extra Sharp Cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 425 F.

Cut the shortening into 1/2-inch cubes and place in the freezer.

Peel, core, and thinly slice the apples. Place in a large nonreactive bowl and toss with the lemon juice. In a separate bowl, add the rest of the filling ingredients and set aside. Now the filling is ready to be combined once you have made the dough.

Place the flour and salt into a large bowl. Remove the chilled shortening from the freezer and scatter over the top of the bowl. Scatter the 1/2 cup cheese over the top as well. Cut in the shortening and the cheese until the mixture becomes crumbly, like coarse meal. Add the water slowly, while folding with a spatula, until the crumbled mixture holds together  and just starts to form a ball. Don't overwork the dough. Divide the dough in half and flour a clean board or counter top. Roll out half of the dough onto a the floured surface. Carefully place in a 9-inch pie pan. Roll out the remaining dough.

Mix all the filling ingredients together, and pile into the pie pan, mounding it up in the middle. Place the second crust on top. Prick a few holes in the top with the tines of a fork and seal the edges.

Place the pie on a baking sheet to catch any drips. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 F and continue baking for another 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.

I think this is best served warm with a little melted cheese over the top. But you can also serve cold or room temperature without the extra cheese if you'd rather. 

Southwestern Chili-Mac Salad

This was printed up in a Rachael Ray magazine as a "make-over" recipe for traditional chili-mac. Not that there is anything wrong with chili mac; I am a huge fan of it myself. But it's fun to change things up every once in awhile, and in the summer, or in this case early fall, the produce stands are stuffed to the rafters with fresh veggies, so rather than having a side salad next to your bowl of standard chili mac, why not put your salad IN the chili mac? This dish makes use of fresh seasonal veggies like tomatoes, corn, spinach (my addition), and red onion. The chili-spiced meat and beans are mixed in with the veggies and the whole thing is tossed with a zesty vinaigrette and topped with sharp cheddar.

CSA Week 18:

In the box: 1/2 pound spinach, 1 pint cherry tomatoes, 1 pound Romano beans, 2 sweet Italian peppers, 8 ears corn, 2 pounds Nicola potatoes, 1 watermelon, 1 basket French petite plums, 2 pounds Gala apples.

We used the carrots from last week along with the Romano beans and sweet red peppers from this week to make a veggie stir fry. To go with that, we made beer-glazed black beans.

The corn, most of the spinach, and the cherry tomatoes were used in the chili mac.

We made home fries with the potatoes for breakfast on the weekend. My pan was too crowded though so they weren't as browned and crisp as I would have liked. Good to remember for next time.

Also noteworthy: apparently Nicola potatoes are reported to be lower on the glycemic index than regular potatoes. We've been trying to cut out excessive carbs and sugars lately so every little bit helps. I just read Gary Taubes' book, Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It, and it has given me a whole new perspective on carb and sugar consumption! Have you read it? What do you think? It pretty much contradicts everything I was told in Weight Watchers, but I find his arguments and interpretations of the research very convincing.

I used the rest of the spinach to go with this really awesome sun-dried tomato and chili walnut layered dip!

Check out the recipe over  at Leanne's blog, Healthful Pursuit. I followed her recipe almost exactly, except that I didn't have this one ingredient called Herbemare, but from what I could tell online it is a mixture of salt and dried spices so I improvised with sea salt, dried celery flakes, oregano, and thyme. I used lime juice instead of lemon juice, because that's all I had, but it seemed to work out fine. I didn't have a clear bowl to layer it in so I went with the platter instead, and topped with some sliced cherry tomatoes from our garden just for fun. We brought it to a going-away/board game night at a friend's house and it was a hit! I would definitely make this again.

We didn't do anything special with the fruit, just had it with breakfast and snacks. I loved those little plums!

Southwestern Chili-Mac Salad
adapted from Every Day with Rachael Ray - June/July 2008
Serves 6

Notes: My only changes to this recipe include using whole wheat pasta instead of regular, sharp cheddar instead of medium, and adding steamed spinach. I also didn't use cilantro this time, only because when I took it out of the fridge, I discovered that it had gone bad. If you have it, I suggest you use it. Oh, and I added coriander too, just for fun.

1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
8 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
Salt and pepper
4 ears corn, husks and silk removed
2 cups whole wheat elbow pasta
1 small red onion, half finely chopped, half thinly sliced
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons coriander
1 pound lean ground beef
One 15-ounce can kidney beans, rinsed
2 tomatoes, cut into wedges, or a couple handfuls of cherry tomatoes sliced in half
Large bunch fresh spinach, big stems removed (optional)
1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

In a medium bowl, combine the lime juice and the cilantro. Whisk in 6 tablespoons of the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the corn and cook for three minutes, it should be just tender. Transfer to a cutting board and let cool. Return the water back to a boil, add the pasta and cook until al dente, drain and transfer to a large (serving) bowl. Drizzle about a tablespoon of oil over the pasta and toss so it doesn't stick together. Set aside.

Cut the corn kernels from the cob, add to the bowl with the pasta.

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the finely chopped red onion, chili powder, and coriander. Cook for about 2 minutes or so, until the onion has softened. Add the ground beef. Cook about 8 minutes, stirring frequently, until the meat is lightly browned and cooked through. Drain any excess fat.

Wash the spinach, and put the damp leaves into a large bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Microwave for a 2 minutes. Put the spinach in a towel and squeeze to remove excess water. Chop the spinach and add to the pasta and corn.

Add the beef mixture to the pasta bowl. Toss to combine. Season with a little salt and pepper. Add the kidney beans, spinach, tomatoes, sliced onion, and vinaigrette. Toss to combine. Taste again and adjust the seasoning as needed.

Scoop into bowls, top with cheese, and serve.

Corn and Salsa Tortilla Soup

It's getting colder and rainier here in the Pacific Northwest, but the corn is still coming in strong. Eight more ears for week 17 of the CSA. I've made corn chowder before and love it, but seeing as the poblano plants in our garden were finally starting to ripen, we felt like something with a little more south-of-the-border flair. I chose this recipe that I'd cut out of a magazine a few years ago because it called specifically for poblanos and I just liked all the toppings. It's very prep-intensive, but the actual cooking part is very quick.

I would like to point out that I tried something new this week: liver. We had a package of beef liver that came with our quarter of cow. I followed a Julia Child (i.e., traditional) recipe for liver and onions. The raw meat smelled weird, but I pressed on. After lightly dredging the pieces of liver in flour, salt, and pepper, I pan fried them in a mixture of butter and oil for about a minute on each side, then I added caramelized onions, vermouth, and broth to make a quick pan sauce. I served it on a platter and garnished with parsley. I made mashed potatoes, cucumber sauteed in butter, and poured glasses of red wine. The verdict? It looked great, but it tasted AWFUL. I ate two bites and wanted to puke. Never again...::shudders::...never again.

Have you ever tried liver? What did you think?

My mom hates liver because she used to have to eat it every Tuesday growing up, so she never served it to us as kids, but my dad likes it. I guess I just had to try it for myself and decide what I thought of it. I really liked the idea of using the whole cow, so I was really hoping I would like it. But unfortunately I couldn't get past the texture and taste, and it reminded me a little too much of the tissue samples I process at work. Oh well, live and learn, right?

CSA Week 17:

In the box: 1/2 pound spinach, 2 cucumbers, 1 bunch carrots, 1.5 pounds Heirloom tomatoes, 8 ears corn, 2 pounds White Rose potatoes, 1 yellow watermelon, 2 pounds Abate Fatal pears

I made a pot of delicious pumpkin oatmeal for Joe, Jamie, and Doug for breakfast, but I had to open a huge can of pumpkin to do it. So, later in the week I made some delicious pumpkin polenta with spinach and white beans using the spinach from the CSA, and a Rachael Ray recipe. This recipe also has a version that uses chorizo and black beans that I've already blogged about.

The cucumbers were sauteed with butter and the potatoes became mashed potatoes - side dishes for the liver fiasco I mentioned above.

I made a colorful appetizer to nibble on while cooking dinner one night using the heirloom tomatoes, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper:

We brought the watermelon to a friend's BBQ and ate the pears for snacks throughout the week.

The carrots are still in the fridge so they will be included with week 18.

Corn and Salsa Tortilla Soup
adapted from Every Day with Rachael Ray - August 2008
serves 4

Note: I think a great variation to try next time would be to grill the corn, peppers, and onion first, then add them to the soup.

3 poblano chiles
6 corn tortillas, halved then cut crosswise into 1/2-inch thick strips
3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt
6 ears fresh corn, kernels scraped from the cob (no need to boil first), or two 10-ounce boxes frozen corn kernels
1 red onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
Pepper
One 32-ounce container (4 cups) vegetable broth
One 14.5 ounce can fire-roasted diced or crushed tomatoes
1 avocado, chopped
1 lime, quartered
2 tablespoons cilantro leaves
1/4 cup sour cream (optional, we skipped it)

Preheat the broiler. Place the poblanos on a baking sheet and broil until blackened, about 10 minutes, turning partway through. Transfer the peppers to a bowl and cover. Check them after about 5 minutes. Once they are cool enough to handle, peel, seed, and chop them.

Preheat the oven to 400 F. On a large baking sheet, toss the tortilla strips with one tablespoon of the oil and the cumin. Spread them out into a single layer on the pan. Bake for about 10 minutes, then sprinkle with salt. Set aside, and try not to munch on too many.

Meanwhile, in a large, deep skillet (a dutch oven would work too), heat the remaining two tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat. Add the corn, cook for about 10-12 minutes, until looking charred around the edges. Next add the red onion and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes more, until the onion is softened. Stir in the broth, tomatoes, and poblanos. Bring to a boil to warm everything through and cook the tomatoes a bit. Now it's ready whenever you are.

Ladle the soup into bowls, top with tortilla strips, avocado, cilantro, sour cream if using, and a squeeze of lime juice. Grated cheddar cheese would also be great.