Pumpkin Pie Bites

I’ve been in a mini-mood lately when it comes to baking and these bite-sized pies met my big craving.
They are really, really easy. Let me show ya.

Of course, it didn’t hurt that I used ready to roll refrigerated pie crust. It comes two to a box and if you roll each round pie crust a little bit thinner with a rolling pin, you can get 24 mini pumpkin-shaped pie crusts out of them. Make sure you use all the dough scraps and re-roll to maximize quantities.

Then, stuff each one in a mini muffin baking pan. This one holds 24.

Press the dough down, in and around the edge of each muffin cup. Make sure the stem for the pumpkin stays sticking out. You’ll notice I alternated cups above. I did this mainly to make sure the pie crusts didn’t touch each other. So I ended up baking these in two batches.

Fill each pie crust with pumpkin filling all the way to the top.

When they come out of the oven, they’ll be puffed up like this. Too bad they didn’t stay that way. That would be pretty darn cute.

But no, after they cool for a few, they’ll fall and be flush with the pie crust.
See… easy mini pumpkin pie bites. These would be really cute at Thanksgiving.

You can even drizzle them with melted chocolate to jazz them up a bit. Just melt some chocolate in a heat-proof bowl in the microwave on medium. Heat in 30 second intervals, stirring in between. You can also add a little bit of vegetable oil to make the chocolate more fluid. Then, transfer the chocolate to a re-sealable plastic bag and cut the corner off and drizzle away.
But wait… you say you don’t want to wait until Thanksgiving.
I don’t blame you.
So… pipe some chocolate faces on and make them in October.

Cute!
And I’ll say it again… easy!
Pumpkin Pie Bites
2 refrigerated ready-to roll pie crusts
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Pumpkin-shaped cookie cutter
Optional
1/2 cup chocolate morsels
vegetable oil
re-sealable plastic bags
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Use cookie cutter to cut 12 pumpkin shapes from each pie crust. You will need to roll the dough thinner than it comes out of the box.
Press dough shapes into a 24 cup mini muffin tray. (Make 12 at a time, alternating cups to make sure pie crusts don’t overlap each other.)
Apply egg whites from one egg to the top edges of each pie.
Mix cream cheese, sugar, canned pumpkin, remaining 2 eggs, vanilla and pumpkin pie spice together until thoroughly combined.
Spoon mixture into each pumpkin-shaped pie crust.
Bake for 12-15 minutes.
Remove pies to cool and repeat with second pie crust. Place the muffin tray in the freezer to cool it quickly for re-use.
Makes 24 pies. Keep refrigerated.
To decorate, melt chocolate in a heat-proof bowl in the microwave on medium. Heat in 30 second intervals, stirring in between until melted. Add a little vegetable oil to make the chocolate more fluid. Transfer to a re-sealable plastic bag and cut the corner off. Drizzle or draw faces on pies.
Note: The cutter I used was 3 3/4 inches wide, but if you don’t have one, don’t worry. Just use a round cutter around that size or slightly smaller to cut circle shapes out of the dough. Then make stems with the scraps. Press each stem over the edge and down the side of the dough before filling.
Pumpkin pie spice is a mixture of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice.
Enjoy!

Municipal Bar + Dining Company - Bacon Mac & Cheese

We are all for recreating recipes from great restaurants, so when one willingly gives up their secret recipe, we are all ears.

Municipal Bar + Dining Company
A multi-purpose sauce that will add a little zing to your traditional tailgating fare.
 



Opening next month in River North, Municipal Bar + Dining Company will be an upscale sports bar that pays homage to our incredible city. The name comes from the Y-shaped municipal device that represents the three branches of the Chicago River. You've probably seen it stamped on public buildings, bridges, and city vehicles. Oh, and former NFL player and Chicago native Simeon Rice is an investor!

Back to game day food! "This recipe of our bacon-mac-and-cheese sauce is perfect for tailgating," says Executive Chef Jeffery Arasi. "Not only can you make it on top of a grill in a parking lot, you can also put it on all your tailgating foods, such as burgers, nachos, hot dogs, and chili — pretty much anything you want to put cheese and bacon on. This is the sauce for our mac and cheese, so you can put it on pasta also."

Bacon Cheese Sauce Ingredients
8 cups bacon, small dice
4 cups onions, small dice
2 cups garlic, minced
1/3 pound butter
1 ½ cups bacon fat
2 cups flour
1 gallon milk
4 cups cheddar cheese, grated
6 cups American cheese, julienne
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Render all bacon in a sauce pot. Once golden brown and crispy, strain and reserve bacon. Add bacon fat and butter, then sweat the onions and garlic. Gradually add flour and cook for ten minutes while constantly stirring. Add milk, whisk in cheese, and complete with the addition of bacon.

Chinese Braised Tofu with Ground Pork

Chinese Braised Tofu with Ground Pork Recipe

Servings: Serve 4 Prep Time:15 minutes Cook Time:15 minutes

You can use either ground pork, beef, turkey or chicken. For a little more Chinese flavor, when you are seasoning the tofu with salt and pepper, sprinkle a little bit of Chinese Five Spice Powder on both sides (you'll use a total of about 1/4 teaspoon - a little goes a long ways!)
I'm a big fan of green onion as a topping to give the dish a little bite - however if your family isn't, you can leave it out. Another option is to add the green onion in the wok at the same time as the garlic and ginger. This way, the green onion gets stir fried and softens.
Serve this with rice.

Ingredients:

1 block firm or extra firm tofusalt and freshly ground black pepper1 tablespoon cooking oil1 pound ground pork, beef, turkey or chicken1 clove garlic, very finely minced1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger1 cup chicken broth2 tablespoons oyster sauce1 tablespoon soy sauce1/4 cup cool water1 teaspoon cornstarch1/2 stalk green onion, chopped

Directions:

1. Drain the tofu and place on towels or paper towels. To get rid excess water in the tofu, place another towel on top of the tofu, then place something flat and heavy (like a cutting board or a cast iron frying pan) on top. You can weigh the cutting board down by putting a couple of cans of soup on top. Let sit for 10 minutes. Cut the tofu into several slices 3/4" thick. Season on both sides with salt, pepper.
2. Heat a wok or large saute pan over medium-high heat. When hot, swirl in the cooking oil. Very carefully and slowely slide in the tofu slices in one layer. Fry for 1 minutes, then flip to fry the other side for 1 minute until both sides are browned. Remove the seared tofu to a clean plate.
3. To the same wok, add in the ground meat. Saute until browned, about 2 minutes. Add in the garlic and the ginger and stir fry for 30 seconds.
4. Add in the chicken broth, oyster sauce and soy sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together the water and the cornstarch. In the wok, stir in the water and cornstarch mixture and bring everything to a simmer. Add the cooked tofu back in the pot. Lower the heat to medium-low. Let simmer for 5 minutes, until thickened. Mix in green onion. Serve with rice.

I must be feeling a little homesick lately, I’ve been making Chinese homestyle dishes that my Mom would cook. Tofu has always been a regular staple at our house, Mom would serve it about once a week. Tofu USED to be inexpensive years ago – but that was before it was being marketed to the American market. Tofu companies never had to “market” to the Asian crowd – we have always loved it!


At some Chinese markets (and all of Asia), you can buy freshly made tofu – large blocks would be submerged in water, and you scooped out what you wanted.


Did you know that not all tofu tastes the same? There are big differences in taste and texture (I know some of you are saying, “what, not all tofu is BLAND!?”) My favorite brand  that is easily found in most regular grocery stores is Nasoya.


For this recipe, make sure you buy Firm or Extra Firm Tofu. Anything softer will fall apart in the dish.

Put Winter Squash on the Menu

Put winter squash on the menu.

An excellent source of vitamin A, fiber, and beta carotene (among other things), winter squash is a fabulous fall ingredient. If you’ve never cooked with it before, we’ve got three good reasons to start now.

Pasta with Roasted Butternut Squash and Sage. Shaped like a bell and not very stringy, butternut squash lasts for months so you’ll have plenty of time to whip up this restaurant-quality pasta dish.

Spaghetti Squash Tacos. Spaghetti squash is an interesting variety that appears solid when cut raw but separates into individual strands, like spaghetti, when cooked. How fun is that? Look for yellow ones at the grocery or farm stand; they’re riper than the ivory ones.

Acorn squash. It would take a giant squirrel to stash one of these in its cheeks. But you can cut it in half and serve it as a tasty side dish using this easy recipe I got from my mom.

Baked Acorn Squash
As I started to write out this ‘recipe,’ I realized how very unscientific it is because how much you use of each ingredient will depend on how many you’re serving and how much butter and brown sugar you feel comfortable adding. So I’m just telling you what I do to use as a guide; adjust it to fit your family’s tastes.

Acorn squash (2 servings per squash)
2 Tbsp. butter
4 Tbsp. brown sugar

Preheat your oven to 375°. Pour just enough water in the bottom of a baking pan to cover it.  Cut squash in half length-wise and scoop out the seeds (you can rinse and roast them later like pumpkin seeds, if you want). Place cut side down in the pan and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and carefully flip squash over (you don’t want to splash yourself with scalding hot water). Put 1 Tbsp. of butter and 2 Tbsp. brown sugar in the middle of each half and return to the oven for another 30 minutes or until cooked through (a fork should easily penetrate the flesh). Serve and eat right out of the acorn.

Mini Pies

My daughter's birthday party was this weekend, and I wanted to do some fun and yummy party favors for the adults that were coming to the party. 

We ended up making some pies with homemade strawberry jam.  I'll be posting the homemade strawberry jam recipe soon.

Ingredients
Frozen rolled up pie crust or make your own dough. 
Any filling you wish, we used homemade strawberry/berry jam, chocolate chips & bananas. 

Directions

Cut your pie dough to your desired shapes with cookie cutters.  We did castles & crowns. 

Place the dough on a sheet of parchment paper on top of a cookie sheet. Fill with your desired filling. Be sure to not put too much, otherwise - the filling will overflow.

Here's a pic of our desired strawberry jam.

Pinch the edges to seal the edges.  You can use a fork or take lollipop sticks and pinch the edges. Brush egg white wash on top of the pies to give it a nice toasty color when they're placed in the oven.

Bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes, and place on a cooling rack to cool.  Your pies should have a nice toasty color.

Let cool and wrap in small treat bags & decorate accordingly.

Quick & easy tomato sauce

Making tomato sauce is usually a long long long process.  I know because I've done it.   With that being said, I try not to do this during the weekday, when I only have 2 hours when I come from work to cook dinner, feed the kids dinner, give the kids a bath, finish homework before ushering them to bed by 9pm.  So I usually pick a meal that's easy to cook, nutritious, but still yummy.

With the weather being so hot lately, I've been craving lots and lots of veggies, so I thought of this fun quick & easy tomato sauce.

Ingredients
4-5 riped tomatoes, cut into small pieces - Zyliss Red Tomato Stem Remover
2-3 carrots - cut into 1/4 size small pieces
1 whole garlic - minced (we love garlic in our house, so we naturally used a lot more)
1 yellow onion - diced
1 teaspoon of marjoram (if you don't have any in your pantry, feel free to use oregano)
1 tablespoon of garlic powder (didn't I mention we love garlic)
1 stalk of fresh rosemary
1/2 teaspoon of red hot pepper (more if you like spicy, or leave out if this isn't for you)
Canola or Olive Oil
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Heat the oil in a medium size pot and stir in the garlic & onion till fragrant.  Be sure to not burn these.  Toss in carrot & toss.  Wait approximately 2-3 minutes and start putting in the tomatoes. Look at the pretty colors with all the veggies combined.

Let these vegetables simmer in your pot on medium heat for 15-20ish minutes. Keep a close eye on this and stir if necessary.  You don't need to stand by your stove and keep stirring crazily, but what you're looking for is this. You'll be tempted to add water or chicken broth before it gets to this stage.  Resist that temptation, I promise you it would cook down.  At this point, add all the seasoning into the pot and stir to mix everything together. 

The longer this cooks, the more the sauce would thicken - I kept this on my stove a medium low simmer for approximately an hour (during that time, I bathed both my kids & helped them with their homework).

In the end, I topped this on top of some zitis.  This can also go on top of spaghetti, penne or any pasta you have in your pantry.

So no this isn't your traditional tomato sauce, but the flavors are great (especially since you're using all fresh veggies), the colors are vibrant, and it's quick and easy for a work night.

American Buttercream Frosting

We LOVE this frosting recipe from Glorious Treats

 

Often the most beloved element of a cupcake is the frosting.  A good frosting can elevate a simple cupcake to a delicious, rich dessert.  Classic American buttercream is surprisingly easy to make, and can be adjusted to your personal preferences using added flavorings, and adjusting the ratio of the ingredients.  American buttercream is simply a combination of butter, powdered sugar, vanilla (or other flavoring), and usually a bit of milk or cream- that’s pretty much it!   The frosting I love to use the most often is my Cream Cheese Frosting, which is simply a variation on American Buttercream, with some cream cheese added.  Free free to play with this recipe and adjust it to your palate.  This is a very sweet, classic frosting that pairs well with most any flavor of cupcake.

 

American Buttercream Frosting

1 cup (2 sticks) butter (salted, or unsalted)
1/4 teaspoon salt (if using unsalted butter)
4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (best quality available)
2-3 tablespoons heavy cream, half and half or milk.
*Optional- As mentioned above, I like a cream cheese version of this frosting best.  The cream cheese adds to the creamy texture, and cuts down on the sweetness just a bit.  If desired, for a very light cream cheese flavor add 1/2 block (4 oz). cream cheese, leaving the other ingredients (as listed above) the same.  For a more traditional cream cheese flavor, reduce the butter to 1/2 cup, and add 1 block (8 oz.) of cream cheese.  If using a full block of cream cheese, you can reduce the cream or milk to 1 tablespoon total.
Flavoring options- An almost unlimited number of flavoring options can be added in addition to, or instead of the vanilla.  Orange and/or lemon zest, citrus extracts, mint extract, coconut extract or the seeds of a vanilla bean are all wonderful options.  In most cases I’ll still add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla, then 1/2 teaspoon of the other flavoring.  For zest, add about 1 teaspoon fresh zest.  For chocolate buttercream, add 1/2 cup (good quality) unsweetened cocoa powder.
Directions-
* In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, beat butter (on medium speed) until completely smooth (30 seconds to a minute). (If you are adding cream cheese, add it now, then beat until smooth)
* Add salt (if needed).
* One cup at time, add 2 cups of powdered sugar, beating after each addition.
* Add vanilla, or other flavorings and beat to combine.
* Add about 1 tablespoon of cream, and continue beating.
* Add the remaining 2 cups powdered sugar, one at a time.
* Add an additional 1-2 tablespoons cream until desired consistency is reached.  If you want to pipe the frosting on cupcakes, the frosting should be nice and thick.  Continue to beat another minute or so.  The frosting should now be smooth and fluffy.
Troubleshooting-
* If your frosting is not smooth, it is likely because the butter was not fully smooth before adding the other ingredients.
* If your frosting will not hold up when piped on cupcakes, your frosting has too much liquid or is too warm.  Put entire bowl of frosting in the fridge for 15-20 minutes and it will stiffen up.  If it is still too thin, then add 1/4 to 1/2 cup powdered sugar, beat well.

Recipe Source-  American buttercream first appeared in cookbooks in the early 1900′s (here’s a little buttercream history)  Countless sources since then have included very similar versions, always using some combination of butter (or shortening), powdered sugar, milk and flavoring.  The recipe above is simply the proportions I like to use.