Ugly Pumpkin Tartlets and Lazy Pumpkin Pie

Over night I have turned into a pumpkin maniac. I even made pumpkin waffles this morning (blog post to follow)! This post is dedicated to pumpkin.

Last night I couldn't resist the urge to make a pumpkin pie. Nothing fancy- just your run of the mill pumpkin-out-of -a-can pie. I was in such a craze that I didn't bother to read ALL the directions because the can DID mention that I was making enough filling for TWO pies. Since I only have one pie dish I ended up getting adventurous and tried to make pumpkin tartlets. They came out very ugly. Ugly and tasty.

For lazy pumpkin pie and/or ugly pumpkin tartlets you need:

PIE FILLING

• 29 oz. Libby's 100% pumpkin



• 2, 12. oz. can of Evaporated Milk



• 1 1/2 cups white sugar



• 4 large eggs



• 1 tsp. salt



• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon



• 1 tsp. ground ginger



• 1/2 tsp. ground cloves

Put all your ingredients in a bowl and mix together. Ta-da! Pumpkin pie filling. You will have enough for one pumpkin pie, 6 tartlets and pumpkin waffles... ;)

PIE CRUST

• 2 cups flour



• 1 tsp salt



• 3/4 cup vegetable shortening



• 8 tbs cold water
  

Mix the flour and salt together. Then add the shortening in. Mix until it looks like crumbs. Use a hand blender or a Kitchen Aide. Then add 4 tbs of cold water. Mix in with a fork. Keep adding tbs of cold water until you have dough. Roll it out and put in a pie dish. Make sure to lightly flour the bottom of your pie dish before adding the pie dough. Then add your pie filling. Bake at 450F for 15 minutes and then reduce to 350 for about 40 minutes or until your toothpick test comes out clean.

For Ugly Pumpkin Tartlets do the same thing as you would for pie but use a cupcake tin. Bake at 350 F for about 30 minutes.

Amazing Rainbow Cake!

A few months ago I was taking an adventure throughout the blogosphere in search of baking tips. I've never been a great baker and I've been meaning to improve my skills. I'm more of a Sauce Queen...

Anyway, that is when I stumbled across this cake by the Whisk Kid. She is incredible. I was very inspired by her rainbow cake and I've been waiting for an occasion where her rainbow cake would be needed.

It was my sister-from-another-mister's birthday this week and ta-da! I decided to bust out the rainbow cake. I shortened the recipe by using cake mix from a box... I realize this doesn't improve my baking skills but I was in a hurry. Here is my revised recipe (for the full recipe check out Whisk Kid's blog here http://whisk-kid.blogspot.com/2009/08/say-it-with-cake.htm):

Ingredients:

1. 2 boxes of white cake (you will need 8 egg whites, vegetable oil and water to mix up the cake batter)

2. 4 containers of white frosting

3. Food coloring

4. 3 cake pans

5. Butter ( to grease the cake pans with)

Ok- so now mix up one box of cake mix. Preheat the over to 350 F. When you are done divide one box of the mix into 3 bowls. Add your red (20 drops), orange (12 yellow and 2 red drops) and yellow (20 yellow drops) food coloring to the batter. Grease the cake pans and put batter into eat pan. Bake all 3 layers for about 15 minutes.

While the 3 layers are baking make the second box of cake batter. Divide the batter into 3 bowls and put food coloring in to make them green (15 greed drops), blue (15 blue drops) and purple (15 blue and 4 red drops). When the first few layers are done pull them out of the oven, transfer to plates and let layers cool. While the 3 layers are baking make the second box of cake batter, divide that into 3 bowls and put food coloring in to make them green (15 greed drops), blue (15 blue drops) and purple (15 blue and 4 red drops). When the first few layers are done pull them out of the oven, transfer to plates and let layers cool.

When all six layers have been baked and cooled make sure all the layers are even by sawing off any lumpy parts.

Frost in between each layer before frosting the outside:

Now you have a gorgeous rainbow cake! I love that the outside is white! No one knows about the rainbow magic until the cut into the cake! How fun! Yum! This cake is also perfect for gay pride events!

Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice

It has been several months since I have posted. I apologize loyal followers. I moved from Northen California to Southern California and that has occupied much of my time.

For my first recipe back I decided to go simple and natural. You can't beat nature. Nature was pretty genius when it came up with the orange. Oranges are delicious. Few tastes can compete with the sweet, tangy, amazingness of fresh squeezed orange juice. Next time you have a backyard BBQ to go to or any other sort of gathering bring some fresh squeezed orange juice. Your popularity will soar immediately. Especially if you bring champagne too. I was inspired to make orange juice because the backyard orange tree is just so beautiful (pictured below).

Making juice is really simple. Gather oranges (a lot- like 25- 30 for a pitcher) then slice them in half, press them, pour juice into a pitcher. Serve lightly chilled.

Mini Chicken Apple Sausage, Camembert, Spinach Frittata

Its been quite some time since my last post. I've been going through cooking blog withdrawals! I lost the charger to my camera and it was awful. I'm back on track and I have a really simple recipe that tastes great. A very impressive (but simple) brunch item that only takes about half and hour from start to finish.

The mini chicken apple sausage, camembert, spinach frittata makes for a delicious breakfast. Why? Mini foods ALWAYS taste better then their normal sized counterparts.

Here is how you can make these scrumptious items for yourself!

Ingredients

1. 10 eggs
2. 1/2 and 1/2
3. Fresh spinach
4. A wheel of Camembert
5. 4 chicken apple sausages
6. Pam (or whatever spray on anti-stick stuff you like)
7. cupcake pan

Ok- now that we have our ingredient list lets get cooking

1. First preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Next, cook the sausage in a frying pan. I used a dollop of olive oil to keep them from sticking. While the sausage cooks cut the cheese (no I don't mean fart... ) into little cubes and chop up the spinach too. By then the sausage should be done. Once they are cool enough cut them up into pieces.2. Pam the cupcake pan then divide the spinach, Camembert and sausage into the little cupcake cups.

3. Crack 10 eggs into a bowl and scramble them. Once scrambled blend a 2 second pour of 1/2 and 1/2 into the eggs. (you don't have to use 1/2 and 1/2, milk is fine or no dairy at all- up to you. The addition of milk adds a sweeter taste and a softer texture. )

4. Pour your egg mixture into a measuring cup- makes for easier pouring and pour the eggs over your yummy sausage, spinach and cheese bits.

5. Stick the pan in the oven and in about 15 minutes you should have beautiful mini chicken apple sausage, Camembert, spinach frittata. You know its done when its slightly browned at the edges and the mini frittata isn't liquidy.

Chicken Scallopine with Sage and Asiago Cheese

Don't let the word, "scallopine" scare you. All it means is thin, sauteed cutlets. Seriously. I like saying, "chicken scallopine" because it sounds super fancy. But its not.

Ok- so I've been trying to broaden my cooking horizons because I want to be a better cook and I'm tired of making the same dishes. This recipe is a Giada from the Food Network hybrid (me being the hybrid) recipe. While I personally don't think she eats she must have at some point because she does have some great food ideas!

Ok- after looking at a very thin Giada dumping food on herself rather then in herself lets get to work!

Here is what we need:

1. 2 Chicken breasts- we are going to butterfly them into 6 thin pieces. I used Rocky Organic Chicken, yum!
2. Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3. 6 sage leaves
4. Asiago Cheese
5. olive oil
6. 1 clove garlic -- halved
7. 1/2 cup white wine
8. 1 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
9. 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
10. Toothpicks

Ok now that we have the ingredients lets get our chicken out.

Slice them thinly. I find it helps to put your hand flat on the meat and slice with a sharp knife horizontally.

Add some salt, pepper and sage.
And some cheese.
Then start to roll the meat up like so-
And then...
When all of your roll-ups are complete heat some olive oil in a pan, when the oil starts to warm add a halved garlic clove in there for flavor.
Now add your chicken.
Let them brown on each side for about 3 minutes. When they look like this remove them from the pan- they should still be a little raw inside.
Leave the olive oil in the pan but remove the garlic clove and chicken. Now add your white wine. Simmer off the alcohol for about 5 minutes. After that add your crushed tomatoes and red pepper flakes. Stir the sauce and let simmer for about 5 minutes.
Now that the flavors have united add the chicken back into the pan. Let it cook for about 10 minutes and you have a delicious meal.


Chicken Scallopine serves with Parmesan risotto and asparagus. (Remove the toothpicks when serving).

Ask Me Anything

Hello,

Happy New Year! Like everyone else I'm about to attempt to slim down for Summer so my recipes are about the get a lot healthier and much leaner. I'm Jillian Michael's super fan (you know the lady trainer from Biggest Loser). I'm doing her 30 Day DVD challenge. I'll let you know how it goes... However- I yearn to help you with your delicious meals.

Need help cooking or just feel like interrogating me? Ask me anything, just go to http://formspring.me/KaraMarissa to ask me a question. You can also e-mail me at realisticcook@gmail.com.

Much love!

Kara

Dungeness Crab Stuffed Shells with Bechmel Sauce

I love crab. The sweet, deliciousness of crab is really hard to resist especially when it's in season at $3.99 per pound. While plain crab never gets old I thought that some crab enriched food would be even better. You will have to excuse my strange choice of dishes in this recipe because I had a lot of dirty ones and didn't want to wash them before I started and not having a lot of kitchen supplies left me with some creative choices to make... Here is a recipe for:

Dungeness Crab Stuffed Shells with Bechmel Sauce

What you will need:

1. 1 box (12 oz) of large shell pasta (about 15 shells, make a few extra in case some break when you are stuffing them)

2. 1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese

3. 3/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus 1/4 cup for sprinkling

4. 1 egg yolk

5. 1 handful of chopped fresh basil leaves

6. 1 pound of crabmeat

7. 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

8. 2 heaping tablespoons of garlic

9. About 2 heaping handfuls of mozzarella cheese

Bechamel Sauce

1. 5 tablespoons unsalted butter

2. 1 cup all-purpose flour

3. 5 cups whole milk

4. 1/2 teaspoon salt

5. 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

6. Pinch of grated nutmeg

7. A 1/4 cup of tomato sauce (you can add more if you like- you just want a hint of tomato and it makes the sauce a very pretty pink).

8. A 1/4 cup of chicken broth

Directions:

1. Open a Budweiser beer and drink it.

2. We are going to prep the shells before we make the sauce. Boil up a large pot of water add some salt and a drop of olive oil to the water. Once the water is boiling drop your shells in. They should take about 10 minutes or so to cook. Don't let them get too soft. You want them slightly chewy because you are going to stuff them and if they are too soft they will split.

3. Next- Making the crab/ricotta stuffing- first dump your ricotta cheese into a mixing bowl. Then crack your crab legs and get all of the meat out. Shred the meat a bit- you wants chunks not lumps. Mix the Crab into the ricotta cheese.

4. Next, add your egg yolk to the ricotta crab mixture. Then add the Parmesan cheese and and some garlic (be careful with the garlic you don't want it to over power the crab flavor). After you do this chop up your basil and add that to the cheese. This would be a good time to preheat your over to about 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

5. Your shells should be done by now- strain them and make the sauce while they cool enough to be touched. If they seem sticky add some olive oil to the shells- just a drop! To keep them from sticking. Now it is time to make your sauce.

6. In a sauce pan slowly melt your butter over a medium-low heat.

7. Gently stir or wisk in the flour after the butter has melted.

8. Add the milk to the mixture in the sauce pan slowly- stirring the entire time.

9. Now stir in some tomato sauce and chicken broth.

10. Add a few shakes of salt, some nutmeg and white pepper and wallah! You have a delicious sauce. Turn the burner off now but don't forget to stir the sauce every once in a while because you don't want a gross milk skin to form.

11. Now it is time to stuff your shells. Add some of your fresh sauce to a baking pan before you do this though because you don't want the shells to stick to the pan.

12. Gently stuff the shells with the ricotta crab mixture and then place them into the baking pan.

13. Cover the shells with the beschemel sauce and some Parmesan. Cook about about 15 minutes and then top with mozzarella and cook for about another 5 minutes or until the cheese is melty and a tad browned.

14. Enjoy!