Venison and Mushroom Pies

Jolene was kind enough to give me a whole bag of fresh wild mushrooms. I used them for two recipes, these Venison and Mushroom Pies and Chicken Marsala.

These individual pies came out great. If you don't have individual ramekins or oven safe bowls, preferable with a handle, you can always make the following recipe but put it in a pie plate and cover the whole thing with one sheet of puff pastry. You can also substitute the puff for mashed potatoes for more of a pot pie feeling. Just make mashed potatoes, the box kind work great, and spread or pipe them over the top of the filling.

Ingredients:

2 lbs venison, diced

1 cup wild mushrooms, such as a mixture of porcini and trompettes de mort

6 tbsp olive oil

1 onions, finely chopped

3 clove garlic, chopped

1 large carrot, finely chopped

2 sticks celery

1/2 c pancetta or bacon, cut into lardons

8 juniper berries, crushed (optional)

3 bay leaves

2 tbsp chopped thyme

2 tbsp plain flour

300 ml red wine

1 tbsp rowan or redcurrant jelly (I used raspberry preserves)

1 pinch black pepper

1 sheet ready-rolled puff pastry

1 eggs, beaten

Directions

1. Heat half the oil in a large casserole, add the onion, garlic, carrot and celery, and cook for 5-10 minutes until softened. Stir in the pancetta and fry with the vegetables until just beginning to brown. Add the juniper, bay leaves and thyme, sprinkle in the flour, mix well, and set aside.

2. Heat the remaining olive oil in a large frying pan and (working in batches) quickly fry the venison on all sides until crusty and brown. Tip the browned meat into the casserole as you go. When done, deglaze the frying pan with the wine, allow to bubble and scrape up the sediment on the bottom of the pan. Pour over the meat and vegetables.

3. Add the mushrooms to the casserole with 150ml of the soaking water and the rowan or redcurrant jelly. Season really well and give the whole a good stir. Bring to the boil on top of the stove then simmer for 1 1/2 hours until tender. Leave overnight or at least 2 hours.

4. Next day, spoon the stew into six individual pie dishes. Cut out six circles of pastry, a good inch wider than the rims of the dishes. Brush the rims with beaten egg. Sit the pastry on top and press over the edge to seal tightly. Brush the tops of the pies with more beaten egg, then make a couple of slits at the centre of the pastry. Set the pies on a couple of baking sheets and chill for 30 minutes or until ready to bake.

5. Bake at 425 F for 20-25 minutes until the pastry is risen, crisp and golden brown. Serve hot.

Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Filling

These were fun to make and I have it on good authority that bite-sized cookies are healthier for you ;)

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 4 ounces butter, softened
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 3/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 can cream cheese frosting

Directions:
1. Lightly rub a dollop of oil onto your baking sheets with a paper towel. Heat oven to 350°.
2. In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
3. In a large mixing bowl with electric mixer, beat 4 ounces butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 1 cup granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until well blended. Slowly beat in the milk and pumpkin, then add dry ingredients, beating just until blended.

4. With a pastry bag (or ziploc freezer bag), pipe the dough into silver dollar sized circles onto the prepared baking sheets.










5. Bake for 10 minutes, or until tops are firm. Cool for about 5 minutes on the baking sheet then loosen the bottoms with a spatula and let them cool completely.

 
6. Lay the cookies out upside down and pipe frosting onto each one about 1/2 inch from the edge of the cookies. Then gently push the bottom of another cookie down onto the frosting until the frosting just barely comes over the edges.








7. Refrigerate for 10-15 minutes so that the icing sets up. Serve room temp or cold. 

Octoberfest Beef Steak

Beef... Beer... Happiness. I'll give directions on how to prepare the steak, but truthfully you should just use the method you've perfected so that your steak is cooked the way you like it. If you haven't perfected your own method, consider this one :) Broiling falls short of grilling for flavor, but it's more practical for us makes it easy to monitor the temp.

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 2 bone-in Rib Steaks (Any steak will do, just adjust your cook time)
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3 onions, sliced
• 1 cup Octoberfest beer
• 1 cup beef stock
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon water

Directions:
1.  Salt your steaks on both sides and rub with a bit of dijon mustard.

2. Mix the Dijon mustard, brown sugar, garlic, and nutmeg together in a small bowl. In a medium pan over medium heat, add the mustard mixture, the beer and beef stock; season with salt and black pepper and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to low.

 

3. Whisk the corn starch into 2 T cold water and add to the simmering sauce. Continue to stir for 5 minutes or so, until the sauce thickens.




4. Put the steaks in the broiler on high for 5 minutes, remove, then flip and broil for another 5 minutes. Keep checking the steaks every minute after that until they're just slightly undercooked to your liking. Then let the steaks rest on the pan for 5 minutes before serving. They'll finish cooking to perfection and hold onto all of the juices better when you let them rest.

5. Cover steaks with sauce and serve with potatoes and veggies :) 

NOTE: To test the temp of your steak without a meat thermometer, use this trick. Touch your thumb to any one of your fingers and squeeze the thumb-portion of your palm. This corresponds to how a steak should feel at various levels of done-ness (prior to letting the steak rest). This method is a quick reference and can be done in two seconds to decide how well your steak is cooked, as opposed removing your steak from the heat and waiting for a meat thermometer to take a reading or burning your hand while you leave your steak on the heat and hold the meat thermometer...


Medium-Rare: Thumb to first finger
Medium: Thumb to middle finger
Medium-Well: Thumb to ring finger
Well: Thumb to pinky

 

Chron-Tons

I've been holding onto this recipe for weeks because I couldn't think of a name for this odd and delightful creation that evolved in my kitchen one evening. I know this combo sounds a little odd, but you're going to be sorry if you miss out on these scrumptious little wontons!!


Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb fresh mozzarella
• 2 T pesto
• 1 avocado, split in half, seed removed, and removed from the peel
• 15 wonton squares
• 1 egg, beaten

Directions:
1. In a bowl, combine a hunk of mozzarella, the avocado and pesto. Squish them all together with your hands until it's a little chunky, but mostly creamy. I suppose you could do this with a food processor, but I don't have one :(   [There is one on my wedding registry at Macys.com, along with many other wonderful kitchen gadgets. I hope for my kitchen to be renovated in any style but "dark ages" after the wedding!]

2. Lay out wonton squares and place 1 T of filling in just off center in each one. You then line two edges of the wonton with egg wash and fold it in half diagonally. Take the two ends of the hypotenuse (I don't know how else to describe this...) / aka don't grab the right angle, grab the two smaller angles, and pull them together away from the right angle.  And in case my genius geometric description didn't make that perfectly clear (I never liked geometry...), here's a photograph from the wonton wrapper!



3. Fry them at 350 for 1-2 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Move from heat onto a paper towel lined plate, and let cool for a few minutes.










NOTE: These don't reheat very well, as most fried items do not. So, get'em while the gettin's good!

Chili Rubbed Pork Chops with Black Bean Pineapple Salsa and Roasted Corn

Yum yum yum! The pork chops reheated really well for lunch the next day. I was worried that the chili rub would be too spicy, but brown sugar served to mellow out the chili and make a really great flavor combo. I will definitely be making this again!!



Ingredients:

• 4 pork bone-in rib chops, about 3/4-inch thick, trimmed
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 1/2 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
• 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 ears of corn

Pineapple Salsa:

• Canned crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 can black beans, drained
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeds and veins removed, finely chopped
• 1/4 red onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• Salt, to taste

Directions: 
1. In a shallow bowl, combine chili powder, brown sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt. Sprinkle both sides of pork with spice mixture. 

2. Broil pork chops on a foil lined baking sheet on high for 6 minutes on each side (or until internal temp reaches 160F)
 
3. Meanwhile in a medium pan, combine pineapple, black beans and lime juice- heat throughout. Once hot, add jalapeno, red onion, and lime juice. Season to taste with salt. 
 

4. Prepare corn by shucking and boiling for 6 minutes. Once it's cooked by boiling, turn a stove burner to medium and roast it until there are little black spots all over it. You typically will hear some popping as a good indicator that it's time to turn the corn. I was nervous to do this, but it was fun and gave the corn such a multi-dimensional flavor. Delish! 

Zucchini Fritters

It will take you 10 minutes to whip these up, max. They're the perfect side for any fall dish!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound (about 2 medium) zucchini
• 1 teaspoon coarse or Kosher salt, plus extra to taste
• 2 scallions, split lengthwise and sliced thin
•  1 large egg, lightly beaten
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• Olive oil for frying

Directions:
1. Shred the zucchini either with a food processor or by hand. Then wrap it in cheese cloth and drain the water as best you can.
2. Combine zucchini and egg in one bowl and your dry ingredients in another bowl. Once they're mixed together respectively, combine add the dry stuff to the wet stuff and stir.
3. In a CAST IRON skillet, preheat your oil on the stove for frying. When it's hot, drop small bunches of the zucchini mix into the skillet. Don't overcrowd them, because your next move is to flatten them gently with the back of your spatula.
4. Fry for 3-5 minutes on each side. You want them to be golden brown and crispy on both sides.
5. Place onto a baking sheet and keep warm at 325F until you're ready to serve them.

These go great with a sour cream topping- add a bit of lemon juice, salt and garlic for great accents! I added a pinch of Jal Jeera (Indian rock salt) and it made the perfect savory compliment!

Grilled Cheese Tomato Soup

This soup is low-maintenance and has a little kick! The grilled cheese topper brings this classic together perfectly. Talk about comfort food!

Soup

• 2 pounds plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, unpeeled
• 1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
• 2 cups chicken stock

Grilled Cheese Lid

• 15 slices from a thin baguette, lightly buttered on one side
• 1 c shredded cheddar 

Instructions:

1. Lay tomatoes out on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, coarsely ground salt, and pepper to taste. Wrap cloves of garlic in aluminum foil and toss them on the tray as well. Broil on low for 20-30 minutes (or on high for 5-10 minutes). The tomatoes will be charred and your house will smell amazing when they're ready to come out. Cool Slightly.

2. Unwrap and peel garlic. Coarsely puree tomatoes and garlic. 



3. In a soup pot, combine tomato puree, red pepper and chicken stock. Bring to a boil and simmer on low for 30 minutes.





4. While the soup cooks down, toast the bread in the oven at 325 F. The toast will become hard throughout. It's important that it gets crisp enough because otherwise the bread won't hold up in the soup.









5. Ladle soup into bowls or large mugs. Top with toast, then cheddar cheese. Broil on high for 5 minutes.