Maple Pecan Pie

this is from Bon Appetite Magazine. I haven't even tasted it yet (i have to wait till tomorrow's thxgiving dinner) but it sure looks purty! And how can it be bad? (famous last words? bet you $10 not this time!) ps- i bought the crust.

INGREDIENTS

CRUST:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
FILLING:
3 large eggs
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans

PREPARATION

FOR CRUST:
Using electric mixer, beat butter in medium bowl until smooth. Add sugar, egg yolk, and salt; beat until blended. Add flour and beat just until dough begins to clump together. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Roll out dough on lightly floured work surface to 10 1/2-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Press dough onto bottom and up sides of pan. Pierce dough all over with fork. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.
Place crust in freezer 30 minutes before filling and baking.

FOR FILLING:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk eggs and brown sugar in medium bowl until well blended. Whisk in maple syrup, corn syrup, melted butter, and salt. Stir in pecans. Pour filling into unbaked crust. Place tart on rimmed baking sheet.
Bake tart until filling is slightly puffed and set, about 40 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Tent loosely with foil and let stand at room temperature.

Avocado Tuna Melt

seriously last minute kitchen. and tasty. and real easy.

you need:
-1 avocado
-2 cans of tuna (or 1, but i used 2 in case i had to share with my kitty cat)
-whatever cheese you like (i used canadian cheddar. real sharp and good)
-2 slices of bread

since i don't have a toaster oven anymore i put the oven on broil so i wouldn't start a fire. (this is me we're talking about).

then i cut the avocado in half and scooped it onto the tuna which was mixed with mayo and put on the bread. on went the avocado and then some sliced cheese.

put it on a cookie sheet or foil and heat till it's ready. i enjoyed it topped with salt and pepper.

that's it!

Pork Tenderloin with Beets and Pears

What you'll need:
-however many boneless pork loin cutlets you want
-2 beets
-1 pear
-butter
-cinnamon
-brown sugar
-"Stonewall Kitchen" Vidalia Onion & Fig Sauce
-vinegar

Start with the beets. I boiled them which takes about 30 minutes. You can also bake them which takes longer. Pour some vinegar in the boiling water so preserve the color of the beets. You'll know they're done when you can stick a knife in them and they're tender. When they're finished boiling, peel or cut off the skin, remove the root and stem. **Leave about an inch of stem and the whole root when cooking!!

Marinade the pork in the fig sauce or just pour it in the pan when cooking the meat. I did both. That takes about 15-20 minutes (the cooking).

While you're doing that, skin and cut up the pear into small pieces, equivalent to the piece size of the beets. Start with the butter, sugar and cinnamon in the pan to create a nice glaze and throw the pears in. Cook until soft.

That's about it! Mix the beets and pears together like a salad and serve with the pork. Then, eat it.

Hamburger Scramble..ger

Here's a mceasy one for those who just got home at 11pm and all you ever wanted was to eat 2 hours ago.

What you Need:
*ground beef (i prefer sirloin)
*cheese of your choice (i choose american)
*elbow macaroni
*ketchup
*an onion


Basically, just dice up that onion and throw it in with your seasoned meat as the pasta is just about done. I threw in a little butter with the pasta so it wouldn't dry up. Then use more cheese than you think and as it melts (because you're stirring it) add the meat.

There ya go! Because I'm from the Midwest, nothing tastes better with cheese than ketchup. (I was also inspired to add it to add more flavor).

"Blackened" Chicken Cutlets and Green Beans

now, i only say "blackened" because i fry the chicken just enough so the outside is a little burned because i like it that way and i can get a little hypochondriac-y when it comes to cooking chicken.

SO:

*chicken cutlets thinly sliced
*1 egg beaten....not slapped
*bread crumbs
*olive oil
*green beans

(this is by the seat of my pants so there's no right way to do it, really).

-pour some olive oil in an unheated pan along with any seasoning you may want
-get yer chicken cutlets, thinly sliced, and brush the egg on each side
-rub both sides of each egged cutlet on the plate of bread crumbs (also, i always forget but you can also put flour on the cutlets before you egg'em and then with the crumbs. that gives the cutlets a thicker fry and the crumbs stick even better).
-place in the pan and cook------bada bing!

string beans:

-put some water in a different, covered, pan and steam the beans for a few minutes till they're a vibrant green and still retain a crunch.
-put whatever you want on them, i used a little butter and some sea salt

*also, just for the uninformed, it's important to wash your hands and anything that touched the raw chicken because salmonella is a bitch......i've heard. and hopefully will never find out. what i do sometimes is wash the pans and brush and such and throw the sponge out and use a new one for other things.

**for those of you not living under a rock, the previous note need not be read. :)

Pear-alysis

yeah i said it. you can thank me for not titling this recipe the more inappropriate thing i was going to say. ANYWAY, these are some roasted pears with roasted chestnuts in the middle. a lovely cold weather treat that needs a little first aid but for now, it works. and you can work your own magic with it and let me know how that...works.

CHESTNUTS:

-preheat the oven to 425 degrees

-wash yer nuts.

-dry 'em

-make an "X" shape incision in each nut, preferably on the flat side of the shell. this prevents the nuts from popping up, literally catching some air, in the oven.

-put them in a cookie sheet or on a baking rack covered in foil and stick them in the oven for 40-45 minutes.

-when they're done, let them cool just a little so you can touch them and then peel the shell off of each nut. the first time you do this can be messy, like my experience, but don't fret. you really only need two chestnuts for one pear. (this is of course for this version of my experiment. when i perfect it with a chestnut mush, more un-destroyed nuts will be needed.)

PEARS:
-i used a soft green pear called...i can't remember it starts with an "f" but for next time i'd use BOSC pears or BARTLETT or even the RED ANJOU.

-pre-heat oven to 425 degrees about

-skin the pear and cut it in half and core it

-in a metal or glass pan melt butter, cinnamon and brown sugar in the oven until it's in liquid form

-when it is, take the pan out and cover the pear halves with the dressing by flipping them around in the pan. then toss those bad boys back in the over for about 20 minutes.

then just put a nut in the middle of each pear half and sprinkle on brown sugar and cinnamon. you can never have too much of that stuff.

coupled with a hot cup of chai and any confusion about life up until this point will melt away.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies!!

Yeah that's right. Together at last! These are so fluffy and cake-like it's amazing. They seem dense but when you bite into one, they're the opposite. This recipe is from a website. My adjustments are in bold.

* 1 cup shortening (no. i use butter. i never use shortening.
* 2 cups white sugar (that's kind of a lot. i use half white sugar and half brown sugar. next time i may use all brown sugar. and i only use about a cup and a half.)
* 2 eggs
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
* 4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon(i use about 1 1/2 teaspoons)
* 1 pinch ground nutmeg
* 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
* 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the vanilla and pumpkin until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg; stir into the pumpkin mixture. Mix in the chocolate chips. Stir in the walnuts if desired. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.

3. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until edges begin to brown. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Don't use too much batter per cookie....but, this makes a lot of batter so keep yourself hungry or have a family of 15.