Strawberry Pie

I'd never had Strawberry Pie before and Brandon kept bugging me to make one for him.. So I waited until the Tennessee Strawberries were in season.. went down to the farmer's market and picked up a quart of the lovely red berries and made him that pie! (I think I nailed it).
So yeah - strawberry pies... turns out its a COLD pie. Something I'm not used to eating... apparently Shoney's makes one that he remembered from childhood - but I suggest DO NOT go to Shoney's to eat pie - or anything for that matter. It only takes a few ingredients and some patience and you have yourself a sweet strawberry pie.

Strawberry Pie
serves 8 - or 2

Ingredients:

• 1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked
• 1 quart fresh strawberries
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions:

1. Arrange half of strawberries in baked pastry shell. Mash remaining berries and combine with sugar in a medium saucepan. Place saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and water. Gradually stir cornstarch mixture into boiling strawberry mixture. Reduce heat and simmer mixture until thickened, about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour mixture over berries in pastry shell. Chill for several hours before serving. In a small bowl, whip cream until soft peaks form. Serve each slice of pie with a dollop of whipped cream.

Its really good I promise!

Posted by Lauren

Mexican Lasagna

Ok - First of all I have to apologize for not posting in forever!! But - I've been documenting past meals and have plenty of stuff to catch up with!
Anyway - I'd forgotten about this gem of a recipe that I'd first heard about from rachel ray. Ok - I'm sorry! I'm a foodie and I mentioned rachel ray! I don't condone watching her show... nor listening to any of her advice... but I have to give it to her that occasionally she does have a pretty decent recipe. So I made a few changes to the recipe and its quite tasty. It also holds up really well for plenty of leftovers!

Mexican Lasagna
serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2lbs ground turkey 0r chicken
  
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained
• 1 (14-oz) can fire roasted tomatoes, drained
  
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels (or I roasted fresh corn and scraped off the kernals)
• 2T ketchup or tomato paste
  
• Salt
• 8 (8 inch) flour tortillas, I think you may really only need 4 if you cut it just right!
  
• 2 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar or shredded pepper jack
• 2 scallions, finely chopped
• 2T fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil. Add onion and cook until tender. Add turkey and season with chili powder and cumin. Brown the meat, 5 minutes. Add fire roasted tomatoes and tomato paste/ketchup. Add black beans and corn. Heat the mixture through, 2 to 3 minutes then season with salt, to your taste. At the very end, throw in a few tablespoons of chopped fresh cilantro to taste.
   

3. Coat a shallow baking dish with remaining extra-virgin olive oil, about 1 tablespoon oil. I find the either an 8x8 square or the 2 quart oblong size works. Cut the tortillas in half or quarters to make them easy to layer with. Build lasagna in layers of meat and beans, then tortillas, then cheese. I would suggest a slotted spoon when scooping the meat/beans, you don't want too much liquid or the lasagna will be runny. Repeat: meat, tortilla, cheese again. Bake lasagna 12 to 15 minutes until cheese is brown and bubbly. Top with the scallions and cilantro and serve.

Enjoy!
Posted by lauren

Tres Leches Cake... well, really quatro

So I do realize that I'm WAYYY behind on posting recipes. I apologize. I truly do. But at least I'm not as behind as the person who's NEVER POSTED ANYTHING. Yeah, you know who you are.

Sorry for the obligatory pestering of a CERTAIN SISTER...

Anyway, back to food. I made this cake for a company pot luck for Cinco De Mayo. It is so so tasty. Each time I make it I like to vary what I add in regards to milk and to liquor (definitely had a heavy hand this time) but no matter what - it's moist, just sweet enough, spongy, and most importantly delectable. I always get rave reviews. See, I made it for Cinco De Mayo 2008 and this year I actually wanted to do something different. However, when my coworkers found out I wasn't going to make it they protested. Alas, I gave in. But it did not disappoint. It's now my go-to Cinco De Mayo dessert.

Ingredients

The Cake:

• 8 large eggs, separated
• 2 2/3 cups granulated sugar
  
• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
  
• 2/3 cup whole milk
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

The Four Milks:

• 1 14-ounce can evaporated milk
• 1 12-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1/8 cup dark rum or other liquer (roughly - I've also done variations with Disaronno & Frangelico)

The Topping (optional):

• Whipping Cream
• sugar
• sliced strawberries
• sliced mangoes
  

Directions

To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease and flour a 11 by 15-inch baking dish and set aside.

In the bowl of a mixer, beat the egg whites on low speed until soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually with the mixer running and peak to stiff peaks. Add the egg yolks 1 at a time, beating well after the addition of each.

Sift together the flour and baking powder and add to the egg mixture, alternating with the milk. When you do this, you'll split the flour mixture into thirds, adding the milk (divided in half) in between adding the thirds of flour. The goal is to start and end with the flour mixture. Also, do this quickly so the batter does not lose volume. Stir in the vanilla. Then, pour into the greased pan. Bake until golden, 30-35 minutes.

To make the cream topping: In a blender, or using a large bowl and a whisk, combine the evaporated milk, condensed milk, heavy cream, and liquor and blend on high speed.

Remove the cake from the oven and while still warm poke some holes in the cake and then pour the cream mixture over it. Let sit and cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight.

Once cake is chilled and ready to serve, make the topping. Pour heavy whipping cream into a bowl and beat until it starts to thicken. Add sugar to taste. Continue beating until thick (but not too thick!). Spread over cake. Slice strawberries and mangoes and arrange over cake.

Buon Appetito!
-Lindsay