October DOTM: Apple Cream Pie

I'm sending out my October DOTM today!
It's a recipe for Apple Cream Pie from Mildred Armstrong Kalish's memoir Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression (which I highly recommend!) Check out the book's website for more farm recipes!

From Chapter 11, "Farm Food"

Here’s how to make crust for two large one-crust pies.

3 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/8 cup skim or whole milk

Blend all together with a fork, and form into two equal balls using your hands. Roll out between two sheets of wax paper. Peel the top paper off the dough using a spatula. With the paper side up, carefully fit the crust into the pie pan. Now carefully remove the wax paper. If the crust tears, don’t worry. Using your fingers, carefully paste over the hole. Take care not to stretch the dough. Unlike the old-fashioned lard dough, you can handle this mixture as much as you like. You will probably never make the old-fashioned dough again. (I was skeptical of this crust at first, because pie crusts intimidate me anyways, but even though it's not that pretty...it was easy and delicious!)

Note: the following recipe for pie filling is for one ten-inch pie; if you want to make two pies, double it.

¾ cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons flour
6 large Granny Smith apples
½ pint heavy cream
cinnamon

Combine three quarters of a cup of sugar with three tablespoons flour and one half teaspoon salt. Stir. Add three tablespoons of this mixture to the dough-lined pie pan, and pat it gently but firmly into the crust with the opened palm of your hand. This little trick promises a crisp bottom crust when baked. Set aside the remainder of the sugar mixture.

Peel, core, and cut into eighths six Granny Smith apples. Add two tablespoons of lemon juice if the apples are not tart enough. Arrange apples in the crust, sprinkle with the remainder of the sugar-flour mixture, and dust liberally with cinnamon. Pour a half pint of heavy cream over all and sprinkle one tablespoon of sugar on top of this wonderful creation. Place in 450° oven for twelve minutes, then reduce the heat to 350° and bake about one hour or until the apples are done. You should test for doneness with a toothpick—or a straw drawn from the kitchen broom if you are as indifferent to the dangers of germs as we were.

PUMPKIN WHOOPIE PIES: PART ONE

What would Halloween be without PUMPKIN WHOOPIE PIES? Non-fattening, and as you well know I just can't have that. I am making all sorts of Fall/Halloween themed food this week and will be posting! Part two of these lil guys is coming soon once I get the filling just how I want it..

Also, I have started a NEW BLOG. I decided that Tentacles needed a sister blog for just food.
The new blog is called FOOD PUNK.

After much inner debate on exactly what to call myself in regard to my food obsessive tendencies, I decided that Food Punk describes me in a nutshell.

MY GELATO IN A COOKBOOK?!?!!?

I'm as shocked as you are!!


Read all about how my recipe will be published in Amanda Hesser's Food 52 book.

Concord Grape Honey Ice Cream

It's taken me a bit to get hip to the concord grape craze but an unexpected treat in last weeks CSA share forced me to get with the program. I've been on a big ice cream making kick lately and am trying to make them with natural sweeteners whenever possible. I think maple could work well with this combo too so I'll try that next time.

Anyway, I was very pleased with the results here. I'm finally getting my ice cream bases correct so they are smooth after churning and freezing. I'm so happy about that! The flavor of the grapes and cream was sort of unusual, but I really liked it. I also really liked the color. What do you guys think??



Concord Grape Honey Ice Cream

2 cups half and half
2 cups whole milk
2 cups honey
2 cups concord grapes
6 egg yolks

In a large saucepan add the grapes and one cup of honey and simmer until the grapes start to break down. Add the half and half and milk, and cook over medium heat.
Put the yolks in a heat proof bowl and whisk in the other half of the honey. When the cream mixture is starting to steam, whisk a cup or so, 1/4 cup at a time, into the eggs. The goal is the raise the heat of the eggs so they won't curdle when added to cream. When the eggs are tempered, add them to the cream, return to stove until mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon and you can draw a clear line through it.

Strain the mixture into a large bowl and chill, 3 hours at least, but preferably overnight. Then process according to your ice-cream maker's instructions, remove from ice cream maker and freeze until it firms up.

Decomposition Of The Monster Club

I got quite the wonderfully creepy surprise in my mailbox today, and I do believe many of you did as well!!!
Decomposition Of The Monster Club...now where I have seen that acronym before???????
Who pray tell sent these spooky goodies???
Whoever it was just MADE MY OCTOBER!! Come forward so I can lavish you with praise!!

"NUDICAL AND DESSERTICAL"

Super Uber talented Tara Sinn made a new zine!
JUST DESSERTS
It's in 3D and features nudes and desserts which is just my my cup of tea dish of pudding!

AGAIN WITH THE SKULL

So I tried to make the Crimson Ghost in tart form yet again
It came out far better this time, no?
Still a mess after baking but what are ya gonna do? I used the wonderous Concord Grape tart recipe that Christophile posted from Oct 2008 Martha Stewart Living. It's really delicious regardless of the crust design.
Try it out before Concord Grapes are gone from the markets.

Salty Caramel Ice Cream

Sumptuous...can I say that word? I made a sumptuous dessert last week, salty caramel ice cream. As many of you know, I'm of the dairy-free persuasion and since I can't seem to ever make it to Lula's Sweet Apothecary when I'm in New York (http://www.lulassweetapothecary.com/) I decided to try making a frozen treat on my own. I consulted my *autographed* copy of Wheeler Del Torro's newly released book "The Vegan Scoop" and the results are truly rich and dense with a heavenly hint of salt. You'll need an ice-cream maker (thanks to my friend Reb for leaving hers at my house indefinitely) and I invested $12.00 in an candy thermometer for the caramel. My main inspiration: the key-lime ice cream Nicole made when I had dinner at her place in August.

For the Caramel
1 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup earth balance (non-dairy butter)
1 cup coconut milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Ice Cream
1 cup soymilk
2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
2 cups soy creamer
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

To make the caramel: Slowly boil sugar, corn syrup, butter, and coconut milk until mixture reaches "thread" stage on thermometer (235 degrees). Remove from heat and add vanilla extract. Set aside.

To make the ice cream: In a small bowl, whisk 1/4 cup soymilk and arrowroot. Set aside.
Mix soy creamer, remaining 3/4 soymilk, and sugar in a saucepan and cook over low heat. Once mixture begins to bil, remove from head and immediately add arrowroot cream. This will cause the liquid to thicken noticeably. Add vanilla extract.

Refrigerate mixture until chilled, approximately 2-3 hours. Freeze/make ice cream according to your ice-cream maker's instructions. In the last few minutes of freezing, swirl in the homemade caramel.

[sorry no pics]