I’m not going to lie. I can get crazy around sweets. Sugar does bad things to my joints, though – once I started down the anti-inflammatory diet road, I noticed that when I went on a sugar bender (which USED to be a fairly regular occurrence), I’d get all swollen and achy again. So I revised my position on stevia and started to use it to get my “fix” once in a while. And I’m proud to say that I’m not nearly as beholden to the sweet stuff as I used to be – cutting down on carbohydrates generally and upping my protein has evened me out enough that I don’t have those highs and lows that left me trolling the cupboards for ages-old Halloween leftovers.

But. I still love a lil’ somethin’ somethin’. And here’s a great solution. This cheesecake takes a few minutes to throw together and bakes up quickly. No springform pan, and only an improvised water bath. Once it’s done, it can sit in your fridge for several days, ready to rescue you when you’re feeling munchie. One slice of this will only set you back about 140 calories – NOT a bank-breaker. It is what we call a buffer food, sweeties. Something that feels indulgent but is not going to undo your good work. Something that keeps you from running to Cinnabon or The Cheesecake Factory. You could bring this to your book club, to your family’s weekend get-together . . . and use it to practice “dessert defense,” a term coined by the strong and wise Jill Colman.

I got the inspiration for this recipe from The New Rules of Lifting for Women, but of course have tweaked it. I’ve developed a nasty Quest Bar habit, and thought this might take the edge off after a meal, when I crave a sweet. It works.

UPDATE!!! I have since added chocolate & peanut butter cup variations in the  notes . . . and if you want to bring the cal/fat counts down a notch, you can use 1 c. fat-free ricotta and 1 c. part-skim. I do that all the time and it is still fantastic!

Bon appetit, Sweeties!

© 2014, Sarah. All rights reserved.

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Berry season is in full swing . . . what better to do than make a berry crisp? You could bring it to that 4th of July thing you’re going to!

I’ve made this recipe a few times now, most often using frozen berries, but more recently with freshly picked strawberries. It’s always a hit, but believe me when I tell you, those fresh strawberries were OUT OF THIS WORLD in this recipe. So if you have access to fresh, use those. And don’t limit yourself to berries, if you don’t want. Stone fruit would work great here. Or a mix of stone fruit and berries. Peach and blueberry have been on my mind lately. Might have to execute on that one before my fresh peach window closes.

Berry Crisp (adapted from Bon Appétit)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Combine berries, 1/4 c. sugar, 1/4 c. flour and lemon juice in a large bowl and toss to blend well. Transfer berry mixture to a 9-in. pie plate.

Combine remaining 1 1/2 c. flour, oats, brown sugar, spices and salt in a large bowl. Add butter; rub in with fingertips until topping holds together in small, moist clumps. Sprinkle over berry mixture.

Bake until berry mix is bubbly and topping is golden brown, about 1 hour. Let stand 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. If storing, store on the counter lightly wrapped in waxed paper so that the topping doesn’t get soggy. Goes great with vanilla ice cream, or do what we used to do when we were kids and pour a little heavy cream on top. Wowza.

Makes 6 servings.

Image(s): FreeDigitalPhotos.net

© 2012, Sarah. All rights reserved.

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We’re rounding out the Thanksgiving dessert preparations today with pecan pie.  Chocolate pecan pie, to be exact.  This easy recipe isn’t for the faint of heart – it is RICH RICH RICH.  Serve it with a little sweetened whipped cream and watch your guests hold their bellies with delight. 

Chocolate Pecan Pie

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and put your oven rack in the lowest position.  Put the chocolate chips in microwave-safe bowl (preferably glass) and microwave in 15-20 second intervals to melt (be careful not to scorch those chips!!).  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, stir together (don’t whisk) eggs, corn syrup, sugar, vanilla and salt.  Stirring constantly, gradually add melted chocolate.  Pour filling into prepared crust; place pie plate on a rimmed baking sheet.  Arrange pecans in one even layer over the filling.

Bake just until set (filling will jiggle slightly when pie plate is tapped), 50-60 minutes, rotating halfway through cooking time.  Let cook completely on a wire rack, at least 4 hours (or up to overnight) before serving. 

Leftovers!?

OK, if you’re making all this pie, depending on how many guests you’re feeding, you’re gonna have leftovers.  Which is never a bad thing, when it comes to pie – I mean, what better Friday-after-Thanksgiving-breakfast is there than a slice of pie and a cup of coffee or tea??  What’s the best way to store those goodies?  Fruit pies (double or single-crust) are best stored at room temperature.  Putting them in the fridge will only make the crust gummy.  Wrap them well in foil and they should keep for 2 days.  Custard and cream-filled pies (like pumpkin and pecan) should be wrapped in plastic wrap and put in the fridge.  They’ll last for a day or two. 

Stay tuned – learn all about Chia in Monday’s post!  Have a great weekend.

© 2009, Sarah. All rights reserved.

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A mid-day post, how novel?!  I wanted to get this up, stat, because I just got an email from a flummoxed reader who asked me to explain the term “blind baking” – the pumpkin pie recipe calls for you to blind bake the crust. 

“Blind baking” is just a fancy term for baking the crust before you put the filling inside.  You should use dried beans or pie weights (the pie weights I’ve seen are either ceramic balls or else little metal balls all linked together on a chain) to keep the bottom of the crust from puffing up too much as it bakes.  It’s likely something you’ve already done, if you ever bake pie or quiche.  For the uninitiated, after you get your crust situated in the pie plate, put a bunch of dried beans/pie weights in to cover the bottom part of the crust, bake for the time indicated, remove the beans/weights, and fill the pie. 

Many recipes/cookbooks call for you to line the crust with aluminum foil before putting the pie weights in – this can help keep the crust from getting too brown.  I don’t do this, and I haven’t had an issue with too much browning – in fact, I find the foil to be cumbersome and that it usually wrecks the crust a little bit going in.  So if you wanna be a purist, you can do this, but I take the short-cut way and don’t.

Please, if you ever have questions about terms or recipes, just email me or post them in the comments, OK?

Carry on!

© 2009, Sarah. All rights reserved.

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OK, back to pie today!  The two other pies I make at Thanksgiving are pumpkin and pecan.  Today we’ll deal with pumpkin.  The pumpkin pie recipe is adapted from the America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook (a GREAT all-‘round cookbook if you’re looking for one – nice pictures, well laid-out, tasty, easy recipes).  So, like all ATK recipes, it’s got some funky steps – but let me tell you, I was not a big fan of pumpkin pie ‘til I had this one.  And my mother-in-law went crazy over it – I can’t remember if she says it’s the “best” she’s ever had, but this pie generates that level of enthusiasm.  So it’s worth the effort.   

For this pie, you’ll need one single pie crust – check out my post from the other day for the double crust recipe . . . just use one ball o’ dough and you’ll be all set!

Spiced Pumpkin Pie

 Blind-bake the pie crust at 375 degrees, for about 20-30 minutes (crust will look dry and slightly golden).  Remove the crust from the oven.  If it’s not already there, set your oven rack to the lower-middle position and increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees.  Note: the crust must be hot when the filling is added, so time this accordingly! 

While the crust bakes, process the pumpkin, brown sugar, spices and salt in a food processor until combined, about 1 minute.  Transfer the mixture to a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.  Cook the mixture, stirring constantly, until thick and shiny, about 5 minutes.  Whisk in the cream and milk, return to a simmer briefly, and then remove from the heat.

Put the eggs in the food processor (don’t bother cleaning the bowl beforehand) and process them until beaten and uniform in color.  Keep the machine running and slowly add about half the hot pumpkin mixture through the feed tube.  Stop the machine, add the remaining pumpkin, and continue to process the mixture until uniform, about 30 seconds longer.

Dip you finger in to taste – it is SO tasty!  OK, enough.

Pour the warm filling into the hot, blind-baked crust.  If you have extra filling, ladle it into the pie after it’s baked for about 5 minutes (your filling will settle a little bit in that time).  Bake until the filling is puffy and lightly cracked around the edges, and the center of the pie wiggles like Jell-O, about 25 minutes.  Transfer the pie to a wire rack and cool until warm or room temp. before serving.

You can make this pie ahead of time!  Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for up to 2 days . . . .

© 2009, Sarah. All rights reserved.

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Can you believe it’s November already?  That Halloween is behind us and that we’re staring down the barrel of THE HOLIDAYS?  The older I get, the more quickly time passes . . . not a great combo, if you think about it.  But that’s for another post. 

The next major food-oriented holiday is Thanksgiving – are you hosting?  I *love* hosting Thanksgiving dinner, and have been doing it for our family for the past few years, but this year I asked for a pass since I’ve had all these foot issues . . . so my dear sister-in-law agreed to take on the job. 

Over the next several days, I’ll share some of my favorite Turkey-day recipes with you – the ones I make, year after year.  Even if you’re not hosting, chances are you’ve offered to “bring something” to contribute to the meal – come here for ideas, and let me know if you need a specific recipe.  

And if you are hosting, I can share some of my organization and planning strategies, too.  I usually feed 10+ people here, and prepare most of the dishes myself.  That means preparing all that I can in advance, and creating a schedule to plan everything down to the minute – I even label serveware.  Timing is everything, people!  Let me know if you’d like a window into the mind of a truly anal hostess and I’ll share that with you, too.

We’re going to start with dessert – what is Thanksgiving without pies?  I’ve been baking pies for a while now, and have experimented with all kinds of recipes and crusts, and these are my tried-and-true favorites.  These are not for pastry-p*ssies – these crusts contain lard.  If you’re freaked about lard, you can do an all-butter crust, but friends, if you’re a fan of the tender flaky pie crust, then live it up with lard.  I know that some people render their own, but that’s a little hardcore for me – I buy mine at Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge – just call ahead and make sure they have it.  They render it fresh there and are happy to pack up however much you need.  Keep it in the freezer for long-term storage and you can enjoy some fresh fruit pies once summer comes back our way.

Double Crust Pie Dough

Process the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor until combined.  Scatter the lard over the top and process until the mixture has the texture of course sand, about 10 seconds.  Cut the butter into 1/4 –inch pieces and scatter the pieces over the top.  Using short pulses, process the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs, about 10 pulses.  Transfer to a bowl.

Sprinkle 6 tablespoons of the ice water over the mixture.  Stir and press the dough together, using a stiff rubber spatula, until the dough starts to stick together.  If the dough doesn’t come together, stir in the remaining water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it does.

Divide the dough into two even pieces and flatten each one into a 4-inch disk.  Wrap the disks tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.  Let the chilled dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling it out and fitting it into a pie plate.

This recipe makes enough for one 9-inch double crust pie.  The dough disks can be refrigerated for up to 2 days, or frozen for up to 2 months.  Let the frozen dough thaw on the counter until malleable before rolling.

Sarah’s Mile-High Apple Pie

Toss the apples, ½ c. of the granulated sugar, brown sugar, zest, salt and cinnamon together in a large bowl.  Transfer the apples to a Dutch oven, cover, and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the apples are tender when poked with a fork but still hold their shape, about 15 minutes.  Transfer the apples and their juice to a rimmed baking sheet and let cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.  Adjust oven rack to the lowest position and place a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet on the rack.  Heat the oven to 425 degrees.  Drain the cooled apples through a colander, reserving ¼ cup of the juice.  Stir the lemon juice into the reserved ¼ cup of apple juice.

Spread the apples into a dough-lined pie plate, mounding them slightly in the middle, and drizzle with the lemon juice mixture.  Top with the other pie crust and fold and crimp the edges.  Cut 4 vent holes in the top.  Brush the crust with the egg white and sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar.

Place the pie on the heated baking sheet and bake until the crust is golden, about 25 minutes.  Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees, rotate the baking sheet, and continue to bake until the juices are bubbling and the crust is deep golden brown, 25-30 minutes longer.  Let the pie cool on a wire rack until the filling has set, about 2 hours.  Serve warm or at room temperature. 

Did You Know??

Are you wondering – “why in the heck does she cook the filling?”  Yeah, it adds an extra step, but if you do this, you’ll be rewarded with a pie packed with apples all the way to the top crust – no gaps!

If you want to make cute vents in your top crust, use a small cookie cutter (or if you’re all-that, do a free-form design) after you roll your crust but before you top your pie.  I have some tiny hearts I often use, but there are some cute cutters on the market – like these from Williams-Sonoma.

You can assemble your apple pie, then wrap it carefully in plastic wrap, then in aluminum foil, then freeze it ‘til you’re ready to bake.  Oh yeah, baby!  You can freeze unbaked fruit pies, pull ‘em out when it’s time to bake, and add about 30 minutes to the baking time depending on how deep the filling is. It actually works out great because the bottom crust starts baking before the filling thaws, giving it a chance to get crisp and brown.  Don’t try this with custard pies like pumpkin, though – the filling will get weird.

Stay tuned for more Thanksgiving recipes (including 2 more pies – yes, I usually have 3 types on the table!), and remember, I take requests.

© 2009 – 2010, Sarah. All rights reserved.

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