Autumn Apple Torte

I first came up with this one two years ago for a potluck my freshman year and I've been making it every year since. There's a fair bit of work involved, but the result is a delicious personal-sized torte. Great for sharing, if you're so inclined.

-=Autumn Apple Torte=-

Crust:

see Savory Chicken Pie recipe

Filling:

3-4 crisp green apples

1/4-1/2 cup apple cider

2 sticks butter

16 oz cream cheese

2 eggs

1-2 cups flour

1/2 cup milk

Cinnamon

1 cup sugar

Preheat your oven to 350F. Start by cutting up the apples into small, bite size chunks. Heat a skillet on med-low and add the apples, cider, cinnamon to taste, and about 1/4-1/2 stick of butter. Slowly cook the apples until tender. In the meantime, beat the eggs in a large bowl. Melt the remaining butter in the microwave. Add the butter, milk, and cream cheese to the eggs and mix until even. When the apples are done cooking add that and any liquid in the skillet to the mixture. Slowly add the flour while stirring until the filling mix is slightly gloopy, but still more liquid than say, pancake batter.

Next, grease two muffin pans. Begin pressing the pie crust dough into the bottom and sides of each well. Fill each mini crust with the apple filling. If you have any extra filling left over (which is likely), you can either make more pie crust, or add more flour to the mixture and make apple muffins. Sift some confectioners sugar over each torte. Bake for 30 minutes-1 hour, until filling is firm and top is slightly browned.

Yields ~15 mini-tortes + 6 muffins

LumberJack Steak

Well, it's Friday, and finally one where I've got some time to put up a recipe. This one's a bit of a tradition from last year, when we had ourselves a little Steak Night on Fridays once every few weeks up at the co-op where I live. Seeing as house meals are vegetarian, those of us who enjoy asserting our dominance over the food chain would often cook up copious amounts of meat to deal with the withdrawal*. Heck, even before that, when I lived in a townhouse, I would often cook steak come Friday night after a long week of classes. Really, I've been grilling steaks since just about forever, which has given me plenty of practice in getting the perfect medium/medium-rare, which is how I like mine -- cooked just enough so that it's no longer bloody, but still juicy and tender.

*this is, obviously, a joke. Meat withdrawal only sets in after about a month in reality, but is a real problem. Informal polls show that 72% of all forced vegetarians either have or will suffer from meat withdrawal at some point.

Anyways, here's the recipe for the Lumberjack Steak, so named because if you can actually finish this monster in one sitting, you're either a lumberjack, a bear, or me (yes, I have done it. Only once, but still. It was delicious)

-=LumberJack Steak=-

1 Sirloin Steak (~1.75-2 lb)

1 Onion, chopped

Salt

Pepper

Optional, for fellow pyros out there: flavored liquor of choice (Fireball Whiskey rocks)

Cooking steak is a bit of an art, but the methods are the same whether you're on a stove or grill. The trick is to quickly sear the surface of the steak to lock in the juice and flavor, then turn down the heat so the meat can slowly cook through without getting tough. Although I like my steak medium/medium-rare (pink-red in the center), you could in theory continue cooking this all the way to well done without the meat getting too tough (I still don't recommend it though).

Start by turning the heat up to HIGH. Let your cooking surface get good and hot, then drop your steak in. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let the steak cook to approximately 1/3 of the way through from the bottom, so that if you're looking at the sides, the bottom third is brown, about 3-5 minutes. Now turn the steak over and let it sear for about a minute while you add salt and pepper to this side as well. Turn the heat down to medium once the bottom surface is fully cooked. Add the onions in now, stirring occasionally so they cook evenly. Now this part is a little difficult to describe, because cooking times will vary depending on the thickness of the steak. Once the sides of the steak are cooked, flip again and turn the heat down to LOW. At this point you should start checking to see if it's fully cooked. The center will take longer to cook than the sides, so just looking at the steak isn't always a good judge. Take a pair of tongs and press on the center of the steak. It should be firm, but still have some give to it. If it feels squishy, then the center needs more time. It shouldn't be hard though; a juicy steak will depress then bounce back. Knowing the right feel is something that takes a bit of practice. At this point, the steak is ready to serve. However, I like to add a bit of extra flavor by flambe'ing it. Turn the heat up to HIGH again, and quickly splash a small amount of liquor on top of the steak. CAREFULLY, using one of those long barreled lighters (or if you're like me, a butane torch), light the alcohol. This will literally burn the flavor from the liquor into the meat for an extra kick. After impressing your friends (or terrifying them to death), dig in! Sharing is optional.

PSP

Some of you may be familiar with the Poor Man's Pizza (basically, pizza made open-faced on french bread or a sub roll). The Poor Student's Pizza (PSP) is an even cheaper version of this, using toast. Really, it's more an exercise in using up leftovers than anything else (I first came up with this 'recipe' this one time when I had some extra pasta sauce; not enough to make spaghetti, but enough to not throw out). It's great for a quick on-the-go meal as well.

-=PSP=-

Sliced Bread

Pasta Sauce

Shredded Mozzarella

Toppings?

Spread the pasta sauce on the bread and cover with shredded cheese. Add any toppings and spices as desired (I made mine with ham and dried oregano). Toast in a toaster oven until cheese has melted.

There's a lot of variations to this theme. The California, for example, uses avocado and cheddar. Feel free to make up your own versions.

Chicken Georgia

Named due to the peaches used in the recipe, this one is a bit more involved than most recipes I've been posting. Want to cook a nice dinner for yourself, plus one? Take a stab at this one. It's a two-part recipe, with a peach compote served over herb infused chicken.

-=Chicken Georgia=-

=Compote=
2 Peaches
1/8-1/4 cup Honey
1/8-1/4 cup Brown Sugar
Cinnamon
Cloves
Nutmeg

Cut the peaches into bite-sized pieces, and begin heating on LOW in a small pot. Add the honey and brown sugar, and stir until the sugar has been incorporated. The compote will take some time to cook down, so you can leave it be for a while and just keep stirring periodically to prevent the bottom from burning. After about 10-15 minutes, it should begin taking on a very syrupy consistency, and the fruit should be completely softened. Add cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg to taste (I used about 1 tbsp, 1/2 tbsp, and 1 tsp, respectively). Continue letting it cook on low heat until ready to serve.

=Chicken=
2 Chicken Breasts
3-5 stalks (stems?) Rosemary
~1-2 tsp Sage
~1 tbsp Oregano
White wine
Salt
Pepper

Begin by slicing the chicken breasts into thinner pieces (you could also wrap them in plastic wrap and pound them flat, but that's a bit on the noisy side). Heat up some oil in a skillet on MED and add the rosemary, sage, and oregano. Let the herbs cook for a few minutes, then add the chicken. Add salt and pepper to taste. Flip the meat once, after it has cooked for about 10 minutes at most, and turn the heat down to LOW. Add about 1/4-1/2 cup of wine to the skillet. Once the chicken is fully cooked (the alcohol should have cooked off by then), serve with the compote on top. If you wish, the leftover oil/drippings can be saved to make soup/sauce stock.

Orange Chicken Stir-Fry

So, I never used to make Chinese food very often in the past. Hell I still don't really know how, I just have a few sauces I like to make and work around that (and most of those end up being more fusion-y dishes anyways...I'll have to put up one of my favorites the next time I buy salmon). Still, stir-frys are about the easiest thing to make, and it's pretty difficult to mess it up, since all it involves is more or less throwing everything in a large skillet (or wok, if you have one). This one was a bit of an experimental dish, so I don't really have set proportions for the sauce ingredients (this is where not using measuring cups tends to come back to haunt me), but when it comes to an orange-honey glaze, it's all up to personal preference anyways.

-=Orange Chicken Stir-Fry=-

=Sauce=
1 cup Orange Juice
1/4 cup honey
Corn Starch

=Stir-Fry=
2 Chicken Breasts
4 leaves Nappa
1-2 cups Green Beans
Salt
Pepper

In a small bowl, mix the juice and honey. Add a mixture of water and corn starch (~2:1 ratio) until sauce is the desired thickness. Cut the chicken into bite sized cubes and start cooking on high heat. Chop the nappa and trim the green beans, then add them in. Other ingredients to consider include white mushrooms, tofu, onions, and green peppers. For those of you who like spicy, dump in as much chili garlic sauce as you like. Serve over white rice.

Total time: ~20 minutes

Chef's note (ye gods that sounds pretentious): You may have noticed that I don't really talk about cook times. The main reasoning (other than the fact that I don't time myself) is that I usually spread out the prep work so that as each thing starts cooking, I'm working on the next item. Kind of like singing a round, except each person comes in with fewer verses so they all end at the same time. Okay, that was one helluva crappy analogy. But you get the point.

Thai Coconut Curry

I am a huge fan of curry. Comes with being a fan of spicy food I guess. Thai curries tend to be slightly creamier, and less spicy (although often no less hot, due to the addition of chilies) than Indian curries. This version uses green curry and coconut milk to form the base of the sauce.

-=Thai Coconut Curry=-

2 Chicken Breasts
1 head Broccoli
1 14 oz can Coconut Milk
Green Curry Paste
1/2 cup Cashews (Peanuts are fine if you don't have cashews)
1/2 cup - 1 cup Basmati Rice
Salt
Pepper
Paprika

In a large skillet, start heating the coconut milk on low heat. Start by adding 1-2 tbsp curry paste and stir until even. Check the taste of the sauce, adding more curry as desired (I ended up using the whole 4 oz jar). Add salt, pepper, and paprika to taste. Cut the broccoli into bite sized florets, and cut the chicken into small cubes. Turn the heat up to medium and add the chicken. At the same time, start a pot to the rice. After about 5-10 minutes, turn the chicken. Add the broccoli and cashews. When the chicken is fully cooked and the broccoli is tender, serve the curry over the rice.

Total time: 30-40 minutes
Yield: 2-3 dinners

Optional additions include onions, potatoes, green peppers, lemongrass, Thai chili peppers, and fresh basil. If you find that the curry sauce is too liquid, make a mixture of some starch and cold water and add it to the curry (if you dump starch directly into the hot sauce, it will clump and cook like dough instead of dissolving and thickening the sauce). Cornstarch is the more common choice, although tapioca flour makes a good and flavorful alternative.

Fish n Chips (n some other stuff too)

Sorry for the hiatus guys, it's been a real busy couple of weeks, and I've (finally) got some breathing room. Since today is Friday, figured I'd go with a classic Friday dinner - fish fry. This one's real basic, although if you've never fried stuff before it could be a bit of an adventure. I know I rarely do, since it uses a lot of oil, and the cleanup can be a bit messy, but every now and then, it can make for a heck of a delicious meal. Although I'd actually avoid the chips. For whatever reason, they never turn out right lol.

-=Fish Fry=-

=Batter=
1 egg
~4-8 tbsp Milk
1/6-1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs

Beat the egg and milk together, then slowly mix in the flour until the batter is the consistency of pancake mix. Add in the bread crumbs and stir until even. For a more tropical flavor, try using coconut flakes and tempura batter.

=Fish Fry=
1 Fish Fillet
1 Onion

Cut the onion into thin slices, then pop out the rings. Pour about 1/2 inch of oil into a deep skillet and heat on high. Since oil doesn't boil, you can test if it's ready by sticking the end of a wooden chopstick into the oil - if it fizzes, it's ready. If you don't own any chopsticks (get some, they're awesome for cooking), you can drop a bit of the batter in to test the oil, although be careful not to let it spatter too much. Once the oil is heated, coat the fish and onion rings, and start frying them. I suggest starting with the rings, and keep them spaced out so they don't stick together. They fry pretty quickly, so give em about 10 seconds or so, then flip them over, before taking them out of the pan. It's hard to say how long it takes, so just go by eye. It's okay if they turn out a bit dark, and the more you fry, the darker the oil gets anyways. The fish will naturally take the longest, so make sure it was fully defrosted before frying, or else the batter will burn before the fish is cooked. When everything is done, shake some salt over it, add a bit of lemon, and you're done.

For dessert, you can try this very simple recipe. Simply take a hamburger bun, coat it in any leftover batter you might have, and fry it. Add some powdered sugar and cinnamon for a delicious treat quite similar to carnival style fried dough.