This is How You Know You're a Baking Addict

I resolved not to bake this week. I figured I shouldn't be eating as many pies and cookies right before my race. It has only been two days since I made this resolution.

Merely five minutes ago, I was sitting reading Jane Austen, forcing myself to relax, when I got up without really thinking and walked toward the kitchen to open the oven. Of course there was nothing inside. I'm just crazy and felt like there was. I could have sworn I had thrown a tart in there or something. Did I not?

I did, however, make an excellent okra curry for dinner. My mother returned from Tennessee today, and she brought me 30 lbs. of White Lily flour (yes, t-h-i-r-t-y, which should make about 300 pie crusts I think), some peanut butter moon pies that I am avoiding this week, and some fresh okra from my aunt's garden.

I followed this recipe, threw the okra in with half fresh tomatoes and half canned, and ate it with some plain yogurt and naan. Now I am happy as a clam.

Camera Phone Photo for Photographic Evidence that I eat things that don't contain butter.

And, no, I don't have a tart baking. I checked. Again.

Inspiration for Post-Race Baking

This is the week leading up to my half-marathon, so I will not actually be baking much of anything (unless I find some time between running, doing yoga, working, and volunteering). Instead, I'm looking to the next few weeks, when I will be hosting another pie party, traveling to Los Angeles, spending a week with one of my favorite people on earth, going to Portland, Yosemite, and finally finishing it off with a skydive. I'm thinking August will be pretty epic. Gotta have a cake to celebrate when it's all done!

Biscuits with Chocolate Gravy via Sprinkle Bakes

Frozen Chocolate Peanut Butter Terrine, also via Sprinkle Bakes

Bourbon Peach Hand Pies via smitten kitchen

Bacon Pecan Pralines. Genius. Via Framed Cooks

Authentic Red Velvet Cake via Sweet Endingz

Coconut Cream Tart (a la Tartine) via Bay Area Bites

Pie pops (with a fantastic photo tutorial) via Luxirare

Currently

Listening to
Pretty Lights: Country Roads
It's like down home bluegrass mixed with totally danceable electro. I want more music like this in my life.
Listen and download their other remixes online.

Eating
Double Chocolate Zucchini Brownies. Surprisingly moist, though the ones in the center are worlds better than the corner pieces. Those are too dry. If I had to make these again, I would add natural peanut butter. Without a doubt, they would be so much better. These were perfect after my morning run.

via A Dash of Sass

Lusting After

This sweet potato latte from YakiniQ in Japantown. I will have one this weekend, and I will add a shot of espresso to it. 

via SFoodie

Have a fantastic, food-filled weekend, everyone! I have some life-reassessment to do, and I am very much looking forward to it. 

"Georgia Peach" Peaches and Cream Pie

Aerial View of Summertime

White peaches are one of my all-time favorite fruits. I love the way the juice runs down your hands when you bite into a good peach, how the skin falls right off when you blanch them, how they perfume your entire kitchen when you leave them to ripen on the counter top (I have a very small kitchen, mind you). 

But it's hard to find a good white peach in California. They are few and far between. Too many times, they are picked before they are ready and shipped over on giant trucks, either bruised or eternally unripened. So when I found some at the local farmer's market that I could smell from a few feet away, I knew it was time for a peach pie. 

And not just any old peach pie, but a traditional peaches and cream pie, which tastes pretty much exactly like peach ice cream, except it warms your mouth and the fruit almost melts on your tongue. Then the crust adds a contrasting crunchiness that will have you coming back for seconds. Or, in my case, for breakfast, since I've been eating this one before work for two days in a row.

It's also a very simple recipe. So go ahead and try it. You've got nothing to lose and everything to gain (literally, you might gain a few pounds after eating the entire pie to yourself, so share it please). 

Pretty crust, sculpted by my talented roommate, Maria, and my wonderful friend, Marie

This recipe also taught me how to blanch a peach, which I highly recommend you do in order to remove the peach skin. It has never been appealing to me to leave the skin on any fruit in a pie, and if you try to remove it with a peeler, you'll lose way too much of the peach-meat. Trust me. 

My roommate made little musical notes with leftover crust (look sideways, you'll see it)

Peaches and Cream Pie 

Recipe Adapted from Nathalie Dupree's New Southern Cooking

PRINT THIS AS A RECIPE CARD!

Ingredients

one 9" pie shell (I used a butter-shortening crust with 1 added tbsp sugar)

4 peaches, skinned and sliced 

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup heavy cream

OPTIONAL: A generous sprinkling of brown sugar

OPTIONAL: Butter and egg for a butter-egg wash

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Grease a 9" pie pan. Roll out the pie crust and line the pan with it. 

2. Mix together the flour and sugar. Pour 1/3 of the mixture into the bottom of the crust. 

3. Place the peaches into the crust. Add as many or as little as you want, but I like myself a really, really peachy pie. 

4. Pour the rest of the sugar-flour mixture over the peaches. Pour the heavy cream over everything. Stir the peaches around so they are completely covered in cream. They can be above the cream, but you want them all to have a chance to have a taste of it!

5. OPTIONAL STEP: Sprinkle a generous helping (about 1 tbsp) of brown sugar over the top. Alternatively, you can do this halfway through baking. Cover the crust with an egg wash and butter. 

6. Bake for 50-70 minutes, or until the middle is just set. You'll know it's not ready if you jiggle it, and the middle shakes. If the crust gets too brown, cover it with a ring of foil. Serve hot or cool.

NOTE: If you're not happy with your peaches, add in a nectarine or two instead. You want the brightest, juiciest fruit for this. 

This is what the pie looked like after I took a slice for breakfast yesterday morning. Then I ate said slice while watching the sun rise over San Francisco. Not too shabby. I love my city. I love my pie. 

Southern Chicken Pot Pie with Lard-Based Crust

My mom's pot pie is the kind of treat she only allows us one time per year. That one time is the day after Thanksgiving, when she uses the turkey skeleton to make homemade turkey stock, the leftover fat to make some gravy, and pulls the last of the dark meet from the bones to fill one of her homemade pie crusts. 

When we eat this, we always end up groaning as much, if not more, than after the Thanksgiving dinner itself. And yet we still always head back to the fridge to finish off the leftover pumpkin and pecan pies for dessert. 

Now that I have my own kitchen, I can cook whatever I want, whenever I want to cook it, provided that I have the time, energy, and resources. And I have all three when it comes to this favorite recipe. So last night, in defiance (like when I used to eat my Snack Pack puddings before my sandwich at lunch time), I made a chicken and veggie pot pie dinner for my roommates and a few of our friends.

My roommate rendered her own lard for this recipe with bacon grease from Avedano's, which is located just down the street from us here in Bernal Heights. You can also buy lard at the grocery store. You can make this with the lard-based crust recipe I'm providing, or use your own tried and true crust recipe (this one is an excellent standby when made with White Lily, minus the sugar)

So, without further ado, here are the photos of the final product as well as a recipe for both a vegetarian and chicken version of Southern Chicken Pot Pie

Pretty much what I ate for dinner last night.

The final setup, with the city as our backdrop.

Things started out so tame...

...And finished with such brutality.

Deep-Dish Southern Chicken Pot Pie with Lard-Butter Crust

(See directions for veggie in parentheses)

My mother's recipe

Ingredients

Lard-Butter Crust:

3 cups White Lily AP flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup lard

1/2 cup ice cold water

OPTIONAL: one egg, for egg wash

Filling:

1 tbsp butter

1 cup carrots, chopped

1 cup celery, chopped

1 cup red potatoes, chopped

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1/2 cup AP flour

2 1/2 cups stock (chicken or veggie)

1 cup half and half or heavy cream 

3 cups of roasted chicken breast

1 cup frozen peas

OPTIONAL (if vegetarian): Include 1 cup or more of fresh mushrooms. Vary the types for more flavor and texture.

1 tsp dried rosemary, or to taste

1 tsp dried thyme, or to taste

salt and pepper to taste

NOTE: You can pretty much add any vegetable you prefer, given that you chop it to the right size.

Directions:

1. Make the pie crust: Mix together dry ingredients, then add in the butter in small cubes with a pastry knife until the mixture looks like cornmeal. Add in the lard until the mixture has lumps no larger than the size of peas. Add in the ice cold water 1 tbsp at a time until it is able to be rolled into a ball. From here, separate the dough into two balls, wrap it up, and put the dough in the fridge to let it chill for at least 30 minutes, or up to a few days.

2. Make the filling: In a large skillet, drop the butter and let it melt. Then add in the carrots, onions, celery, and potatoes. Cook 5-10 minutes or until slightly soft. 

3. Add in the flour half at a time, and cook for 1 minute to get the flour taste to cook out. It will look very dry, but have faith! You will persevere! Add the stock and the cream or half and half then let simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes or until the sauce thickens to your liking. I like a super thick filling, so I let mine cook a bit longer.

4. Add in the mushrooms or the chicken and also the rosemary and thyme, and let simmer some more. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

5. Remove from stove. 

6. Preheat the oven to 375F. Roll out one of the balls of dough to about 1/4-inch thickness. Then press it into a deep-dish pie pan or casserole dish (I used two different sizes, as you can see in the photos. It doesn't really matter. If you have extra save it for the next pie you make, especially since you will probably have leftover filling). 

7. Place the dough in the oven to flash bake for 10 minutes. Once it starts to puff up a bit, remove and press your fork into the sides to let the air out. 

8. Pour the filling in. Roll out the other dough ball and create a top for your pie. Cut a slit in the top and place in the oven. If you want, brush egg over it to make it all shiny and pretty. Bake 50 minutes or until the top is slightly brown. 

9. Eat it right away! It tastes great when it's warm from the oven. 

Sugar-Free Almond Milk Cherry Clafouti

A lot of clafouti recipes call for both almonds and milk, which I think is dumb considering I always have almond milk in my fridge. And it's delicious. And it's low cal. And it tastes like almond dreams. Which is probably why it is called Almond Dream. God, someone hit me.

This is a SUPER simple recipe that I threw together just before my friends came over for a gossip sesh last week. We ate it with a bottle of sirah, which complemented the egg flavor and the sweetness of the cherries. If you like egg flavor a lot, you can use a third egg instead of the flax seed, but I thought the flax balanced out the breakfast-y-ness (that's a word, bitches) of the clafouti flavors.

I made this sugar free because my dad is pre-diabetic, and I still wanted him to be able to enjoy the leftovers without worrying about ingesting copious amounts of refined sugars. If you want, replace the sucralose with real sugar.

Again, sorry about the photo quality. I was back at my parent's casa without my camera.

Halve your cherries nicely. If you have a pitter, good for you. I do not, so suck it (I guess I'm feeling aggressive tonight. I had too much sugar!)

I added blueberries to mine. You can add any complementary fruit really. I just had some sitting around. They will turn the whole thing blue if you don't eat it all in one sitting, however.

This is about how covered it should be with batter. 

I sprinkled on some almonds on the top halfway through baking. This is ready to eat.

Sugar-Free Almond Milk Cherry Blueberry Clafouti

Recipe adapted from Got No Milk

Ingredients

6 oz of dark cherries, pitted and halved

2 oz of blueberries, whole (alternatively, replace with 2 oz more cherries)

1 tbsp plus 1/2 cup sugar substitute (we use Splenda)

2 eggs

1 tbsp flax seed + 3 tbsp water (together, this replaces 1 egg)

1/2 tsp almond extract

pinch of salt

1/3 cup AP flour

1 1/4 cup almond milk (I used Almond Breeze brand)

powdered sugar, for sprinkling on top

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F.

2. Grease a 10" round baking dish. Sprinkle with 1 tbsp sugar. Then cover evenly with fruit.

3. Mix together eggs, flax + water, almond extract, salt, and the remaining sugar. 

TIP: If you don't have an electric mixer, use a whisk and blend quickly to get a lot of air in the batter and fluff it up. 

4. Add almond milk and then sift in the flour. Beat until smooth.

5. Pour over cherry mixture. Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

6. Allow to cool and then top with powdered sugar. 

Strawberry Radish Summer Salad

After a friend delivered a giant bag of fresh butter lettuce and radishes to my house straight from her garden, I started craving a humongous salad. Like, enormous. No, bigger than enormous. I kind of wanted to be able to live in the salad.

But I was realistic about it. Also, I was realistic about the fact that that sounds totally crazy and most people are not in LOVE with salad... until they try one of mine. So go ahead and indulge in this simple treat. It's only about 150 calories for the entire meal. Which is why I had a huge hunk of tri tip with it. That part is optional.

I apologize for the awful photo quality. I took these at my parent's house and only had my iPod instead of my Nikon.

Strawberry Radish Summer Salad

Ingredients (approximations; you can use whatever ratio or variation you like)

6-8 radishes, sliced thinly

10 strawberries, sliced

3 cups butter lettuce, loosely packed

handful of sliced almonds

part of a red onion, diced

3 celery stalks, thinly sliced

Balsamic vinegar (I used a fig balsamic that was to die for)

Olive Oil

Directions

Combine all ingredients (up to the vinegar and oil) in a large salad bowl. In a small bowl, mix together your preferred ratio of olive oil and vinegar and pour over individual servings. If you have some feta or chevre lying around, throw some of that on there. As I always say, Do whatever. Just do what tastes good.

Granola Bars Make Granola

What a concept: When granola bars break while you're cutting them, they become delicious granola, that tastes fantastic with Fage Greek yogurt and bananas.

This granola is the remains of this recipe. It was absolutely delicious.

FROM THIS....

TO THIS!

San Francisco Meets Southern Chocolate Shortcake

I know I'm a bit late, but I thought I'd share the dessert I made for July 4 this year. It was a wonderful, gooey yet cakey shortcake recipe that I adapted from Paula Deen's classic chocolate strawberry shortcake. She put RE-DICULUS amounts of sugar in hers, so I toned that down a bit, and I also used sustainable cocoa and King Arthur cake flour. So it was feel-good bad-for-you food. Yummsies.

This flour is the BOMB dot com.

I also used Clover buttermilk. So fresh.

Still in the pan. It cracks a little, but don't be concerned.

I had to summon my strength not to put my face in it.

The final result. Wish I had my nice camera, but my desperation to eat overcame my desire to take photos.

Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake

Recipe Adapted from Paula Deen's Savannah Country Cookbook

Ingredients

2 cups cake flour

3/4 cup sugar

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup shortening (or butter)

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

3 egg whites

1 quart of fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced

whipping cream (drool)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. 

2. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl (except strawberries and whipping cream). Mix it up, scraping the bowl constantly. If you have a mixer, mix on high for 3 minutes after incorporated, otherwise just stir really fast to try to get a lot of air into the batter. Build up those arm muscles!

3. Pour into a greased and floured 13x9 inch pan

4. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

5. Cool completely (the hard part). 

6. Cut into slices with a very sharp knife. Serve with a ton of whipped cream and sliced strawberries. 

Backpacking Granola Bars

Before my backpacking trip, I made my own customized granola bars. I did this for several reasons:

1. Nature Valley bars bore me. They crumble and make my throat dry. Ugh. 
2. I like my bars sweet, but not Chewy brand sweet.
3. I really like apricots, cherries, and chocolate together, and I haven't found a solid bar that combines these without being cloyingly sweet.
4. Because I wanted them to break up into granola for later. They did.

Sweetened coconut for a substantial texture and much-needed sugar fix

Solid ingredients: Quaker oats, organic vanilla, freshly dried fruit

Apricots, cherry-flavored cranberries

First, you bake all the dry ingredients as if you were making granola

Lots of texture from pressing all the ingredients together and then baking.

Major Nomz: Cut these into squares and then pack in a freezer bag for transporting in your pack. Freeze at home for a healthy, go-to snack.

Backpack Granola Bars

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients

2 cups of old-fashioned oatmeal

1 cup of nuts (I used pecans, but almonds, walnuts, pretty much anything is good)

1 cup shredded coconut (I prefer sweetened for this recipe)

1/2 cup of toasted wheat germ or all-purpose flour

1-2 tbsp butter (melted) or olive oil

2/3 cup honey

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup of dried fruit (assorted, use whatever you fancy)

1/2 cup of chocolate (more or less or even none, but make sure you adjust the dried fruit or nuts accordingly)

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. 

2. Butter a baking dish (any size will do, though I used an 8"x8" and a 4"x8" to spread out the bars, but it depends how thick or thin you want the bars to be). Line with parchment paper for easy cleanup.

3. Toss the oatmeal, nuts, and coconut together with the butter or olive oil on a sheet pan. Bake for 10 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid burning. This is like making a simple granola. 

4. Transfer this to a large bowl and mix in the wheat germ or flour, honey, salt, and the vanilla until well coated. Reduce the oven to 300F. 

5. Mix in the fruit and chocolate. Pour into the baking dish and PRESS really hard into the pan so everything sticks together. I used a rubber spatula for this. 

6. Bake 25-35 minutes or until lightly browned on the edges. Cool completely (2-3 hours) and then cut into squares.

Store these in the freezer until you want to eat them or carry them with you. If you lose parts of the bars while you're cutting them, just save the remains for granola over yogurt or something equally as delicious.

All ready to go!

The Perfect Backpacking S'more

1 Marshmallow, Roasted to Perfection (w/ a heart-shaped burn mark please)

2 Keebler Chocolate Graham Cookies

1 Stick you found on the ground

1 Fire, burned to embers

Just stick the marshmallow on the stick, brown it nicely in the embers, and sandwich it between two chocolate-covered graham cracker cookies. And it hardly adds any weight to your pack.

I had a fantastic weekend and we made delicious backpacking food. My friend Colin took all the photos. He is a much better photographer than I could ever hope to be.

Backpacking Food Inspiration

I'm headed out on a big backpacking trip this afternoon (which will explain why I am not posting this entire weekend), and I've been thinking loads about good backpacking food. Rodale published a backpacking recipe book back in the 1970s, but it's really hard to find reliable resources that really don't require a lot of heavy lifting.

Now I'm not sure that my food will be gourmet, but I hope to do better than the bagged stuff.

Here are some ideas I'm working with. I'll update upon my return.

Mushroom Pea Couscous via Dirty Gourmet

Bacon-Wrapped Smores... Kill me nowwww (also via DG)

Breakfast Burrito and Potatoes via rosemary rosemary

Vegetarian Ramen (must taste better than it looks) via Backpacking Chef

More original content upon my return from Big Sur!

It's Too Darn Hot to Bake... Let's Drink Instead

I can't possibly bear to cook, let alone bake, in this heat. Instead, I've been drinking lemonade like it's going out of style. Now, where is someone to make me a mint julep and when am I going to find the time to sit outside and bask in the sunshine?

On the horizon for this evening when I return to San Francisco and the fog: homemade granola bars for my backpacking trip this weekend.

Here are some lovely southern summer drinks to finish out the long day.

Bourbon Whiskey Iced Tea via something edible

Image via Vintage Victuals, along with a fabulous recipe

Decaf sweet tea with mint (non-alcoholic!) via a sweet pea chef

Strawberry Arnold Palmer via Disgustingly Good 

I'm gonna make myself at least ONE of these as soon as I get home. Probably more like three though.