Homegrown-Homemade Apple Pear Crumble Pie

I would say that pie making is one of my specialties, and one of my biggest prides in cooking. it's one of the things on how I really got into cooking and baking in general. We've had fruit trees growing in my backyard since we've lived here. One of the earliest pies I ever made was lemon meringue made from homegrown lemons. We also had lots of apples, so my mom use to do all the peeling and coring for me, while I did everything else for the pie. Me making this pie was based on necessity, which is using the backyard apples and pears which comes into season at the same time.

Pie Filling

5 cups mostly apple with some pear peeled and thinly sliced
juice from 1/2 a lemon
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
2 tablespoons flour

Crust - good for 9 inch pie

1 stick butter -very cold

1 and 1/4 cups flour

dash salt

3-4 tablespoons water

Pie Topping - crumble

1/2 stick chilled butter

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup oatmeal

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp allspice

Start preparing the filling first. it can take time to peel and slice that much fruit. squeeze over the top the juice of a 1/2 lemon. toss. add in the rest of the seasonings and flour, and toss until evenly coated. Set aside.

Create the dough: cut the very cold butter into sections and drop in a food processor. Add in the flour, salt. Pulse until the dough looks coarse and the butter is well broken up. It shouldn't take that long, maybe about 6-8 pulses. It coarse dough should look about the size of little peas. Add in the water 1 tablespoon at a time and pulse each time. Remove the lid and check the dough. make sure the dough holds together when you pinch it. If it doesn't, add another tablespoon of water, and pulse again. Gather the dough into a ball and press together. Flatten the dough a little on a clean floured surface. Take your rolling pin and coat it with flour. I like to take about a tablespoon of flour and put it in my palm, then run the rolling pin up and down my palm to distribute. Then sprinkle disk of dough withe the extra flourand use the edges of the pie plate to measure. I say I like an extra inch all the way around the plate. if you have a scraper scrape to lift off the surface. Now roll the dough carefully onto the pin, then carefully roll the dough onto the pie plate. Press up against the plate and fill any holes. Flute the edges. Take 4 strips of foil, about two inches wide each. carefully fold them together to make a ring around the pie. Then get a little more foil and place in the middle so the topping doesnt brown too quickly. Bake in a 375 oven for about 40 minutes. Take off the foil. Bake for another 10 minutes. allow to cool. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Apple - Pear Crisp Crumble

Upon doing some research because I had to name this little recipe, I found out the difference between a crisp, cobbler, and crumble.

a cobbler has dough dropped by the spoonfulls and makes a clumpy "cobbled" surface

a crisp has flour, butter, sugar, and nuts,

a crumble has flour, sugar, butter, and oatmeal

So this recipe has flour, butter, sugar, nuts, and oatmeal. So I decided to name it a Crisp Crumble. it's rich and sweet, and enough to feed a potluck crowd with an 8 1/2 x 11 dish. I have a tiny food processor, so I had to make the crumble topping in 2 batches, which does split nicely.

1 cup flour

1 cup old fashioned oats

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup raw pecans

1 cup butter (2 sticks) - super cold

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp allspice

6 cups of a combination of peeled, cored, and thinly sliced apples and pears. My ratio was 4 cups apples, and 2 cups pears

start peeling and slicing the fruit and set aside when completed. Mix to combine

preheat oven to 350. In a food processor combine the rest of the crisp - crumble ingredients. add in the butter last. I would even recommend popping the butter in the freezer for a few minutes prior to make sure it is as cold as possible. Dice the butter into little squares before putting into the food processor. but don't handle the butter too much or it will go to room temperature and it will not crumble as nicely. Pulse all the ingredients together until combined and crumbly.

place the apples and pears in an 8 1/2 x 11 dish. Pack them in tight. Top with the mixture. Bake for about 40 - 50 minutes, uncovered.

Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream

Israeli Couscous with Vegetables

This is a Yom Kippur Special – Israeli Couscous with vegetables. Zucchini and tomatoes are just wonderful in the summer. It’s a pretty healthy, tasty dish, so you won’t feel like you have to repent for eating it.

Serves about 5

½ cup pine nuts
3 tbsp butter
EVOO
4 cloves of garlic, minced
½ a large onion (or 1 small), diced
1 zucchini, cut into quarters lengthwise, then sliced
1 box of Israeli couscous (trader joe’s) it’s bigger than regular couscous
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper
1 stick of cinnamon
2 cups chicken stock (or veggie stock if you want a true vegetarian dish)
1 bunch fresh parsley
Zest and juice of one lemon
1 cup of whole mini tomatoes (used a medley of red and yellow)

In a pot, melt down the butter and cook the pine nuts until just toasted, it will only take a minute. Remove from the pot and set aside. Drizzle some EVOO in the pot and cook the onions, garlic, and zucchini stirring frequently. Season with a little salt and some crushed black pepper. Cook for a couple minutes. Now add the Israeli couscous and stir and allow to cook the firm couscous for a minute or two. Enough to just barely toast it. Add in the cinnamon stick and bay leaves. Pour in the chicken stock. Raise heat and bring to boil then drop to very low. Meanwhile mince the parsley, and zest the lemon. When the couscous is al dente, turn off the heat. Mix in the parsley. Squeeze the lemon juice over the dish and toss. Now add in the mini tomatoes and the buttery pine nuts. Serve.

Faster Broccoli Cheese Soup

Miss me? It's been awhile, and I am recipes behind so I wanted to at least do a quicker one today. I've already posted a Broccoli Cheese Soup, but this one has fewer ingredients, as I had way less time to make it. I made it while I was entertaining Vicky. It took maybe 5 minutes to assemble, and you'll be done in about 20 minutes or less.

Serves about 5

extra virgin olive oil

1 bag of fresh broccoli florets (it was the Trader Joes bag, so maybe 12-16 ounces)

1 large onion

3 cloves of garlic

salt and pepper

1.5 boxes of broth. You can get away with 1 box for a thicker soup, but I had leftover

1/2 cup of half and half

2.5 cups extra sharp cheddar (I like Tillamook's black label for this)

drizzle a tablespoon or so of EVOO in a soup pot to medium heat. Slice the onion - no need to finely chop, and cook. add in the broccoli and cover. Mince the garlic and add to the pot. Allow to cook stirring occasionally for a few minutes. Season with a little salt and pepper. Then add the broth. bring to a boil and cook until broccoli is tender. Pour in the half and half and mix. Take out a blender and a large extra bowl. Ladle into the blender about half the soup (don't fill the blender more than half way). Blend on low then increase to medium to pureed. This should take only about a minute or so. Pour the pureed soup into the bowl. Now repeat the process with the rest of the soup. It only took two batches when I did this. Pour the blended soup from the blender back into the empty soup pot, and also the soup in the big bowl. Place on medium heat to heat up again, even though it should be hot. Add in the cheese and stir until completely melted. Serve with a little extra sprinkle of cheese on top.