Papaya Pie

I can't believe a week has gone by already since my last post.  I promise to never again curse those bloggers I follow for not posting for days at a time....

OK, papaya pie?  you ask why papaya pie?  Well for one thing it is fun to say papaya pie... papaya pie... or as William likes to say Peter and Petunia Pig ate papaya pie on popcorn mountain, say that 5 times fast.

Well Anthony is doing a project/report for school on Martinique and Antigua in the Caribbean could get extra credit if he brought in food so he decided on papaya pie.

I don't regularly cook with papayas, and I am not sure if this is actually the season for papayas.  Is there a season for Papayas?  What is the difference between green and red papayas?  Where can I buy papayas?  How do I know which ones to select?   The questions went on and on.

After looking through a few books and recipes I realized I was going to just have to dive right in and make it up as I went along, really how bad could it be?  First I went to Joe Randazos Produce Market on Wayne and Warren in Westland I think,  coming from the UP where there are forests in between towns, I am never really sure what city/township/village I am in.

The only papayas they had were green papayas, sort of squat little dark green hard objects that looked more like green coconuts than the yellowish, soft bowling pin shaped objects I was expecting.  Well here goes nothing.  Then, on my way home I went to Kroger and found a couple of small red papayas smaller than I expected but they looked more like "real" papayas to me.

Home I went, split a green papaya in half, it was filled with white seeds that looked more like puffed rice than the black seeds of the red papayas, hmmm I hope this works.  I scraped out the seeds, peeled, diced and put in a pot of boiling water with a little salt and turned on to a full boil.   I have to say I was getting a little concerned as there was a slightly unpleasant odor coming from the green papayas, and they were about as hard as a good fresh pie pumpkin.  The red papayas were soft and creamy and I had just peeled, seeded and diced them and set them aside.

After about an hour the green papayas were soft so I drained them, pureed them and let them cool.  Adding the remaining ingredients to taste more than anything, and stirring in the red papaya for a little color and texture and I had what looked an awful lot like applesauce and tasted pretty good too.  The crust was made with the help of sous chefs Anthony and Jonathan and baked.  I have to say they are quite tasty and I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.  Although I think they would also be good with fresh apple sauce, or berries or chocolate custard....

Papaya Pie
      For the Crust
           4 c Flour
           1 T Baking Powder
           1/2 c Sugar
           1 t Salt
           1 1/4 c Butter, cut into small pieces
           1 1/3 c Milk

     For the Filling
           3 c Mashed Green Papaya, about 2 7 inch around 
           1 c Red Papaya, diced
           2 c Sugar
           4 T Lime Juice

           2 T Butter, melted
           1/2 t Nutmeg
           2 t Cinnamon
           1/2 t Salt
           1 1/2 t Vanilla

     For Assembly
           Extra Flour for dusting the work surface
           1 Egg Beaten
           1 c sugar mixed with 1 T Cinnamon
           
      Instructions
            1.  To mash the papaya, peel it, seed it and cut into 1 inch chunks
            2.  Cover with water and a pinch of salt, bring to a boil and let it cook for about an hour until you 
                  can squish it with a fork.  Drain and puree in a food processor, blender or mash by hand if you
                  have too.
            3.  Set the papaya aside and let it cool.
            4.  Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl, mix well
            5.  Add butter and cut it in with a pastry blender, fork or as we did with clean hands... the kids love
                  mixing it with there hands, continue until the mixture resembles gravel, it is ok if there is still some
                  larger pieces of butter.
            6.  Stir in the milk until everything just comes together, be careful to mix it gently to keep the finished
                  crust light and flakey.
            7.  Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate
            8.  Combine papayas, sugar, lime juice, butter, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and vanilla and mix well.  You
                  may want to add more sugar or lime juice to your taste.
            9.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
           10. Cut dough into thirds and roll out to about an eighth of an inch thick.  Using a 3 inch biscuit
                  cutter, cut into circles, reserving excess dough.
           11. Place 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of filling on each circle and gently fold over.  Press down edges with a
                  fork and place on a greased baking sheet.
           12. Repeat with remaining dough
           13. Brush with a beaten egg and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar
           14. Bake for 15 minutes, allow to cool slightly before eating.
                

Ash Wednesday... well the day after

First of all, my New England Clam Chowder recipe.  Every year our Church has a soup dinner on Ash Wednesday, and every year I make a New England Chowder or a variation on it.  Here is my recipe...

New England Clam Chowder

2 Sticks Butter
1 c Onion – diced
1 c Celery – diced
1/4 c Carrot – diced
2 c Potatoes – diced
18 oz Clams, drained, reserving juice
1 T Clam Base
1/4 t Basil
dash Thyme
3 c Heavy Cream
3 c Milk
½ c Flour

1. Take one stick butter and melt in a large pot.
2. Once butter is melted, add in onions, celery, and carrots, saute 5 minutes.
3. Add in ONLY THE CLAM JUICE, not the clams themselves.
4. Add clam base, basil, and thyme.
5. Bring this to a boil, then simmer to celery is soft.
6. Once celery is soft, add in the potatoes.
7. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are done.
8. Put the other stick of butter in a small pot and set on stove on low.
9. Once potatoes are done, keep on boiling and add in Cream and milk
10. Add in the clams.
11. Boil the butter in the small pot.
12. Once it’s at a boil, add in the flour; stirring continuously.
13. Continue to stir until the mixture is a light blonde color
14. Dump the flour mixture into the other pot and whisk to remove lumps
15. Heat until it starts to thicken then remove from heat

Enjoy

I Am Trying...

Ok, It has been a week since I said I wanted to post more often, so I am making myself do this... can I get a Hurrah!

chirp...chirp...chirp

Well anyway, I want this to be a food blog eventually... what to talk about....

If you haven't heard of Cozi Calender, it is really cool.  My wife Jennifer started using it a while ago, then when she got her smart phone it was nice to check in on.  The kids got kindle fires for Christmas so now they can access it.  So I started loging in to it and found you can plan your meals, add recipes, create shopping lists and what not.  It is pretty easy to do, you can type in your favorites or browse the net and cut and paste.

Unfortunately with our hectic schedules it hasn't worked out as planned, it started out good... first recipe $5 Pizza from Little Caesars.... 2nd Recipe everybody's favorite  French dinner Lef'T o'Vers.  It sounds better in French.... but hopefully in the next week or two we will adapt to the schedule and be able to use it.

Of course then we are going to London England for a week.  I hope to have some cool food stuff then.  I want to go to the Billingsgate Fish Market, the Smithfield Meat Market, and St. John's Restaurant while we are there.  Oh and see some castles... see Stonehenge... get knighted for saving duchess Kate...

Have a Great Day!
Madd Chad

Re-load

1-30-13

Well, what do I have to say for myself?  At least no one is reading tis so I am not disappointing anyone... right?

I am going to try and post here at least twice a week.  Until I get some photos going, I won't worry about recipes or anything else, just thoughts on food and what I have been cooking or eating lately.

So to start with, I received Chef Brian Polcyn and Michael Ruhlman's book Charcuterie for Christmas and have made a few things...

• A couple of days after Christmas I made a Rack of lamb at my parents for an adult dinner while the kids and cousins watched a movie downstairs.  I Frenched the rack, dug around for some of the meat in the scraps and made the Merguez recipe... very good as an appetizer.
• Breakfast Sausage - Yummy, I have to say, I think it says a lot about my wife (and my obsession with food) that she can wake up on a Sunday morning and see me in kitchen, dicing seasoning and grinding meat to make breakfast sausage fresh and all she says is "Good Morning",  Not "What are you doing"  not "You know you can buy sausage at the store."  
• Italian Sausage - I sort of combined his hot and sweet variations and made a slightly spicy sweet version that I really like.  I also added aged balsamic vinegar from Fustini's instead of the red wine vinegar.
• Tasso - I have made tasso in the past but not for several years.. where does the time go.  I used a combination of my recipe and Chef Polcyn's technique.  My original recipe didn't contain the #1 Cure, but I didn't really notice a difference. He had a different spice blend but I am partial to mine.  Good stuff either way.
• Duck Prosciutto - I have been wanting to make this for a long time, not sure why I didn't, saw some on a blog years ago but never made the attempt.  I did the most basic duck prosciutto in the book, salt overnight, rinse, dust with white pepper and hang for a week.  It probably could have hung for another week but it was good, easy and successful... It prepared me for bigger and better things.
• Pepperoni - I have wanted to make this since culinary school... why? Not sure.  I actually made some in the sausage portion of Chef Angus' class but because of the long drying time we never ate it, it just sort of disappeared... hmmmm, currently it is hanging in my crawl space which has a perfect temperature, maybe a little dry but I have been checking on it and I think it will be ready for tasting in another week or two.  Will take pictures and share my notes.
• Coppa - this is from the book, again I modified it slightly, adding a little paprika to the sweet recipe for color.  We just stuffed this and have it hanging in the crawl space near the pepperoni. 

Soon, I will have more, found a recipe on line for a Noisette a French Salami with hazelnuts?
Yummmmmmmmmm

Fishing Harvest

I went fishing last weekend with my brother-in-law and some of his friends and had a great time.  We rented two pontoon boats so we had two four man teams and set out to try7 our luck.  The place was Fletcher's Pond, a floodwater from a dam that was built about 100 years ago, and has perch, bluegills, rock bass, small and large mouth bass, Northern Pike, and Carp.

I am to put it mildly, not much of a fisherman.  Don't get me wrong, I like to fish and I love the idea of catching a fish, cleaning it, cooking it and enjoying it.  Unfortunately, whatever skill is required for fishing, I don't seem to have it.  What do you mean there are different weights of poles?  The fishing line matters? What lure should I use?  Too much thinking for me although I did learn some tips from and by watching the guys who were on my boat, thy really know their stuff.  Even though "Jordan" didn't have a great weekend compared to what my brother-in-law had led me to believe.

I did catch a few fish however, after buying some buzz baits, a dixie spinner, a bass-o-reno a plastic frog and some weedless lures, I caught my first and biggest large mouth on an old J Plug lure that my grandfather gave me about 20 years ago and it was out of his tackle, so it was old then.  I cast it out and as it hit the water there was a large splash as a 16 inch bass took it immediately.  I was completely startled as that sort of thing never happens to me.  Got some pictures that I plan on putting up soon.

I also caught a smaller bass a 12 inch perch and a couple of pike, all in all a record setting fishing trip for me.  I did get to bring some fish home with me, and plan on sharing the recipes, having never cooked bass before I will be doing some experimenting and hopefully you will enjoy them two... First off, here is Drunken Bass

Drunken Bass
     4 Bass Fillets
     1 t salt
     1 t Black Pepper
     1 t Paprika
     1/4 c Butter
     1 c Onion, chopped
     3 T Flour
     1 Can Beer
     1 T Honey
     1/2 t Worcestershire Sauce
     1 Lemon, cut into wedges

     1.  Rinse bass and pat dry, sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika on both sides.
     2.  Melt butter in a hot skillet and add onions, cooking until they start to brown slightly
     3.  Add flour and cook until it darkens, the darker it gets the richer the final sauce will be.
     4.  Pour in the beer of your choice, I used a Summer Shandy and thought the final sauce was a little two 
          sweet, I would probably use something darker next time like a two hearted ale from Bell's but use
          something you like!
     5.  Let the sauce come to a boil to thicken then turn it down to a simmer
     6.  Stir in the honey and Worcestershire sauce and lay the fish in the sauce
     7.  Cover the pan and turn it down to low, let it cook 12 minutes, relax, drink another beer while you wait.
     8.  Remove the lid and carefully transfer the fish to a serving platter
     9.  Check the sauce and season it with salt and pepper to your taste
     10. Serve with lemon wedges and sauteed potatoes.

Enjoy!

Survived the Weekend

Well, I managed to pull of the menu over the weekend.  The boys had a friend over to spend the night and I think he ate 2 watermelons by himself... wasn't feeling to good after that, but it could have been the fact that they were running around outside all day and seemed to be allergic to water.  "I'm Hot" was a commonly used phrase and yet they did not want to get wet in the sprinkler or with water balloons.  Jeesh, kids these days

Due to a minor difficulty with the camera and some apple juice, I don't have any pictures yet, but here are the appetizer recipes.  I like them a lot because all of them can be made ahead of time and put in the freezer, except the aioli.  You don't have to make your own pita chips but I usually due, they turn out much better than anything you can by IMHO.

Scotch Eggs with Aioli

            Aioli

                        2 Cloves Garlic, peeled

                        2 Egg Yolk

                        1 c Olive Oil

                        Juice of one Lemon

                        1 t Cider Vinegar

                        Salt to taste

            6 Hard Boiled Eggs, peeled

            1 lb Pork Sausage

1.      In a food processor combine garlic and egg yolks

2.      Pulse to combine

3.      Add oil in a slow steady stream to in corporate

4.      After the oil is added, stir in the lemon juice and vinegar

5.      Taste and season with salt.

6.      Refrigerate aioli

7.      Pre-heat oven to 375º

8.      Divide sausage into 6 equal portions and wrap one portion around each egg

9.      Bake eggs for 35 minutes

10.  Cut into wedges and serve with aioli

Vidalia Onion Dip

            4 ½ c Onion, chopped

            4 ½ c Mayonnaise

            4 ½ c Cheddar Cheese

            1 ½ t paprika

1.      Mix all together well

2.      Pour into a casserole dish

3.      Bake 350° for 25 minutes

Pita Chips

            1 Package Pita Bread

            3 T Olive Oil

            1 T Seasoning Salt

1.     Cut Pita into bite size pieces

2.     Toss with oil and salt

3.     Bake in 350º oven for 15 minutes

4.     Stir chips every 5 minutes

Pecan Stuffed Morels

            As many Morel Mushrooms as you can find, beg, borrow or steal if you have too!

            2 T Olive Oil

            ½ c Onion, finely diced

            ½ c Celery, finely diced

            1 T Garlic, chopped

            2 c Bread Crumbs

            ¾ c Chicken Broth

            ½ c Pecans, toasted and chopped

            1 # Butter, melted

1.      Wash morels and soak in cold water sprinkled with kosher salt

2.      Heat oil in a sauté pan and add onions and celery

3.      Sauté until soft and translucent, about 6 minutes

4.      Add garlic and sauté 1 minute

5.      Stir in bread crumbs and broth and remove from heat

6.      Rinse Morels and cut in half

7.      Stuff with stuffing, (If you are lucky enough to have more morels than stuffing, make another batch.

8.      Place stuffed morels on a sheet pan in the freezer for 1 hour

9.      Dip in melted butter to coat

10.  At this point, you can freeze these for later for up to about six months, wrapped tightly under lock in key… in a refrigerated safety deposit box if you can.

11.  Pre-heat oven to 400°

12.  Place morels in a cast iron pan, or a nice heavy baking dish, I like to put a layer of extra stuffing on the bottom of the pan and arrange the mushrooms on top.

13.  Bake 20 minutes until golden.

Start with a bang! Happy 4th of July

Well, please forgive me, this is my first blog and I might tend to ramble a little bit.

Fourth of July weekend is here and our plans started simply enough, friends from out of town were going to let their son spend the night Sunday and we would all get together Monday for the big Milford parade, and then something grilled at our house, water balloons and sparklers...  So I started a menu which has evolved into this:

4^th July, 2011

Appetizers

Scotch Eggs with Aioli

Pecan Stuffed Morels

Vidalia Onion Dip with Pita Chips and Fresh Vegetables

Drink

Rhubarb Mojito

Fresh Lemonade

Bread

Roasted Rhubarb Muffins

Westphalian Pumpernickel

Salad

Watermelon and Feta Salad w/ Mint

Vegetable

Grilled Corn on the Cob with a Trio of Butters

Starch

 Green Tea Soba Noodles

Entrée

Tahini Encrusted Sirloin Steak

Dessert

Dulce de Leche Brownies a la Mode

Not too ambitious by my standards, the Vidalia Onion Dip, Stuffed Morels and Scotch Eggs are already made and in the freezer so I just have to make the drinks, the breads, the salad, the steak and the dessert.  It's probably a good idea to do the drinks last...

As I work, I will be publishing the recipes with their inspirations and sources where possible. So, I hope you enjoy this as much as I do and have a great meal!