Pie Crust for Fruit Pies

3 cups unbleached flour (King Arthur)
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
3/4 cup butter, cut into small cubes (organic is the tastiest)
1/2 cup Crisco or lard (or you may use all butter)

Cut in shortening and butter with a pastry blender.
The mixture should have little flakes of butter throughout.

In a small bowl, mix together:

1 egg, beaten
5 Tablespoons COLD water
1 Tablespoon vinegar (I prefer Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar)

Add to a depression scooped into the flour mixture, mixing with a fork gently until you can form a ball. On dry West Texas days I find I often have to add another Tablespoon of cold water (or two, but try to add as little as possible!) Separate into two balls, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Roll out to fit your pie plate, handle as little as possible. Roll dough up on your rolling pin, and transfer to lightly floured pie pan, gently rolling out. Add filling, roll out the second crust, making little cuts in the crust to allow steam to escape. You can also cut out circles in the dough with a biscuit cutter. Transfer to the pie, again rolling on the rolling pin and unrolling onto the top of the pie. Flute the edge of the crust.

You may glaze the crust by brushing a light wash of egg white and water with a pastry brush. Cook fruit pies very slowly (275 to 300) to prevent the crust from burning. This will also produce the flakiest, best crust.

Best Peanut Butter Cookies

After a forty year quest for the perfect peanut butter cookie, I found this gem. This cookie has just the right amount of chewiness and moisture and the perfect amount of peanut butter. Do yourself a favor and buy organic peanut butter that has no additives; the peanut flavor will be fabulous and well worth the extra cost. I make these cookies small so I can cook them just barely and avoid over cooked bottoms. The honey roasted peanut topping adds another dimension of flavor and texture.

3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 cups All-Purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda

Heat oven to 375. Place cooling racks or clean newspaper on counter for cooling cookies.

Combine peanut butter, shortening, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed with electric mixer until well blended. Add egg, beating just until blended.

Combine flour, salt and baking soda. Add to creamed mixture, mixing until blended on low speed. Using small scoop, drop by teaspoonfuls about two inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten slightly in a crosscross pattern with a dinner fork. Bake at 375 for 7 to 8 minutes (use a timer for this) until just set and beginning to brown. Cool for a couple of minutes on the cookie sheet, remove to cooking racks and allow to cool completely.

Variation: I like to chop honey roasted peanuts and sprinkle on top of the cookie before baking.

Sue’s Kickin’ Grits

Baby you ain’t had grits until you’ve had these grits. To me, this paired with a pot of pinto beans is the ultimate comfort food. I’ve taken this dish to potlucks at work and have had people say “I don’t like grits but my God these are incredible”. Yes, they are. Thanks Mom, this recipe rocks.

Blue and Sue are very picky when it comes to buying grits. Bob’s Red Mill grits are far superior to any other grits on the market. We find them in the grocery store, they are also available online.

2 cups grits
8 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks butter
24 oz velveeta, cubed
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 eggs
2 tablespoons red wine, or vermouth, or tequila, or whiskey, or beer, or….(fill in the blank)
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon tabasco
1 12 oz can or 1/2 cup Hatch green chiles (or more, depends on how hot you like it)
2 cups corn

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Bring water to a boil, slowly stir in grits, lower heat a bit, and cook about 10 minutes until thick. Remove from heat. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour into 9×13 pan and cook for 1 hour.

This recipe can be halved…

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Oven Roasted Broccoli

I could eat this every day. Sometimes I do. There is something about the oven roasting that perfectly complements the broccoli. And this is a very healthy recipe. It is also very good left over but I don’t recommend bringing it to work to heat in the microwave. Talk about a stink bomb (but it was still delicious). Actually it was kind of funny to see every single person that walked into our area stop abruptly and state “WHAT IS THAT SMELL?”. I think I’ll bring some to work tomorrow mwuah-ha-haha-HAAA.

Fresh Broccoli, cut into flowers (I like to buy it at Costco by the bag, precut, prewashed)
Olive oil
Fresh Parmesan Cheese
Lemon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place broccoli in single layer on cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Place in oven and roast for about 15 minutes, broccoli will start to get little browned edges, this is how you want it! Remove from oven and top with freshly ground parmesan cheese and squeeze 1/2 – 1 lemon over. Salt/pepper to taste.

Easy, and incredibly good.

Eggs a la Suisse

This dish has lovely eggs cooked in cream with a little cheese and cayenne thrown in for good measure. A quick dish, it has the richness of the more difficult to prepare Eggs Benedict. I tried to make this once with milk and it was a disaster. It has to be cream and butter. There are some things that the French are right about and when it comes to cooking they are always right!

2 T butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup cream
1/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 slices good bread, toasted and buttered

Melt butter on slow temperature in a small saucepan. Carefully break 2 eggs and slip into butter. When egg whites begin to show cooking (opaque and white), carefully add cream, cheese, and cayenne pepper. Cook at low temperature and baste eggs with warmed cream until egg yolks are covered with white well cooked film. Slip eggs on toast, top with cream sauce, and enjoy.

Steak Marinade

I made filet mignon this weekend, used this marinade and grilled them over mesquite wood. Abso-lucking-futely perfect.

1/3 cup olive oil
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 Tablespoons chopped garlic
3 Tablespoons chopped chives
1/2 cup soy sauce

Mix. That’s it. Pour over steaks.

Creamy Jalapeno Dip

This dip (which also makes an incredible salad dressing) was a huge hit at our 2nd Thanksgiving dinner for 2008. Our first dinner was traditional, the 2nd dinner was a Mexican theme feast! Because my brother Grue requested it, of course. As he said then, where else but Blue or Sue’s kitchen can he pretty much list anything that he wants to eat and it just miraculously happens? We obviously love him! Also it goes without saying that after our Mexican feast we continued the traditional “death by pie” dessert lineup. This consisted of not one, not two, but four different fabulous pies!

16 oz. sour cream (can substitute reduced fat sour cream if you wish)

1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch Dip Mix powder

1/2 c Sofrito

1-3 fresh jalapenos, depending on how hot you like it, coarsely chopped

Drain the sofrito in a small sieve for a few minutes. Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Chill for a few hours for best taste and texture.

Eggs Aubergine Benedict

I am constantly looking for ways to to cook a fabulous lo-carb breakfast. While I love traditional eggs benedict, I am allergic to the English Muffins. They make my ass swell. This recipe is very simple, and very delicious.

For each serving, adjust recipe according to the number of people that you are serving:
2 poached eggs
Two slices of cooked turkey bacon (the Oscar Mayer turkey bacon is pretty darn good, and I have loved all of the uncured turkey bacon that I have puchased but it’s slightly more expensive).

Preheat oven to 425. Slice eggplant about ¼” thick, brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Spray cookie sheet with non-stick spray and place eggplant in single layers on cookie sheet. Bake about 10 minutes, turning once.

Quick sauce:
1/8 c heavy cream
3/4 oz reduced fat swiss cheese

Yes, heavy cream. You might be thinking – what’s the point of using turkey bacon and reduced fat cheese? It’s a very small amount of heavy cream and it packs a huge flavor whallop. Also, if you are watching carbs it’s perfectly ok to have a small amount of heavy cream. This combination of ingredients keeps the calorie count for each serving under 350!! WOOT! Heat cream in small pan, add cheese, stir until cheese melts. Continue to simmer until reduced and slightly thick. Season with salt and white pepper.

Assembly:
Place two slices of eggplant on plate and top with turkey bacon. Place one poached egg on each eggplant slice and pour sauce over.

Salsa

1 can diced tomatoes (or substitute fresh)
Hatch green chiles to taste (my personal favorite, I use at least 6 because I like it HOT), or substitute jalapenos to taste
1/2 cup sofrito
Salt/pepper to taste

Throw everything into a food processor and process to desired consistency. Add more garlic/onion if needed.