KETCHUP

In your busy, hectic and over-accounted-for day; making homemade ketchup is probably not a big priority ...........I get that. But if you find yourself with a little extra time, this ketchup is WELL WORTH the minimal effort it takes to whip it up. It is not only inexpensive to make (uses every day pantry staples), but it is sweetened with honey, so it is REALLY-REALLY tasty!!

6 ounce can of tomato paste
1/4  cup honey
1/2  cup white vinegar
1/4  cup water
3/4  teaspoon salt
1/4  teaspoon onion powder
1/8  teaspoon garlic powder (not garlic salt)

Whisk everything together until smooth and then bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer slowly for 20 minutes (whisking every five minutes or so).

Cool and store covered in refrigerator. This recipe makes just over a cup of ketchup, but you could easily double or triple the recipe with no other adjustments.

NOTE: In my humble opinion, this ketchup is just perfect, but if you like your ketchup with a little "heat" to it, just add some cayenne before cooking.

POT LUCK MINI CHERRY PIES

These "Grab-and-Go" mini cherry pies are perfect for large gatherings and family or church potluck dinners. The dough can be made days ahead and baked off when you have some "extra" time, which is a big help.

Guests (at least mine) seem to appreciate PIE at a potluck, but traditional pie can be messy to serve, especially for children. These little "two bite" beauties are perfect. This recipe makes 24 pies, but the recipe doubles easily.

 

 

CRUST

1/2 cup butter  (room temperature)
3 ounces cream cheese (room temperature)
1 cup flour

Mix with electric mixer (I use my stand mixer with paddle attachment) until you get a smooth dough. Wrap it in plastic and chill for about an hour (will also keep well in fridge for several days).

FILLING

(1)  14½ ounce can tart pie cherries packed in water
3/4 cup granulated sugar (divided)
2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon corn starch
pinch of table salt
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (do not leave out)
1 teaspoon butter

Drain the cherries, reserving the liquid. Pulse the cherries in the food processor until fairly well chopped then drain again (I even press on the cherries a little to remove excess liquid): set aside.

 In a saucepan, combine 1/2 cup of the reserved cherry juice, HALF of the sugar, the cornstarch and a pinch of salt. Whisk till smooth and bring to a boil. When this mixture gets super thick (it will happen FAST once it starts to thicken), remove from heat and stir in the rest of the sugar, the chopped cherries, the almond extract and butter. Stir until well mixed; let cool while you form the crusts.

 Preheat oven to 375°. Cut the chilled dough into 24 pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Place one ball in each mini-muffin cup (no need to grease the pan).

Now, you have to use your fingers and push the dough across the bottom and up the sides of each mini-muffin space.  Better yet, if you have tart tamper or something similar, this step will go MUCH faster (just dip it in a little flour between each use).  I use the rounded end of the wooden tool that came with my Kitchen Aid meat grinder, it works absolutely perfectly. Try and get the crust edges just a little taller than the edges of each muffin cup (see 2nd photo).

Fill each mini-crust 2/3 full of the cherry filling. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes on the TOP RACK of your oven.   When the edges of the crust are light golden brown, they are done. 

IMPORTANT:
Don't try to remove the cooked pies from the pan right away. The filling stays hot for a while, so let them cool for a good 25 minutes or so. You can use a butter knife to help "lift" the pies out of the pan. 

BETTER YET: line the mini-muffin pan with mini-cupcake papers and that should solve any/all problems.

 

Delicious and FUN to Serve!!

CRAB CAKES (ALMOST)

Even here in Alaska, crab is VERY expensive and (unless you have a good connection with a crab fisherman) it is often already frozen when it hits our market (which effects the quality greatly) and makes it even harder to justify those high prices.

That's my wordy way of saying "YES, we eat (and enjoy) Surimi" (fake crab). The following recipe is quick, easy and economical.

CRAB CAKES
1 egg beaten
2 1/2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard (I use honey Dijon)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon old bay seasoning
1/4 cup VERY finely chopped celery
2 tablespoons fresh parsley
1 pound crab lump meat (I use Surimi)
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs

Line a baking sheet with wax paper. If you are using Surimi, dice it up fairly small, but not shredded.

In a medium size bowl, beat the first 8 ingredients until very smooth. Stir in the crab (Surimi) and bread crumbs until well mixed.

Using a half cup measure, portion out and shape patties and place them on the waxed paper (makes 6 patties). Cover and chill at least an hour.

The hour wait time is important for flavors to meld AND for the bread crumbs to soften enough so that the patties stay together.

Heat 1/4 cup vegetable oil with a tablespoon of butter and fry the patties until golden brown (3-5 minutes per side).

These patties also make wonderful sandwiches.

HOME MADE CREME FRAICHE

Creme Fraiche is all the rage on the Food Network cooking channels, but it is one of those ingredients that I've been too stubborn old fashioned to try, until now.

Well, my curiosity got the better of me and creme fraiche went onto my grocery list. You can imagine my shock when I saw the price of it (at least at our market) was $7+ per cup!!! That's just crazy.

So in my penny pinching thrifty mindset,(and wanting to know what all the creme fraiche hubbub was about), I set out to see if I could MAKE it. I was shocked at how easy, cheap (and fun) it is to do.  Yes, it takes a couple days to make, but 99.999% of that time is just waiting for it to "cure".

2 cups of heavy whipping cream (at least 45% butterfat)
3 tablespoons buttermilk (OR) plain yogurt (see note)

That's it!!

Mix the two ingredients together well, and put it into a very clean glass jar. Cover it loosely and let it sit on your kitchen counter for 24 hours (room temperature should be 70° to 75°).

It's good if you give it a quick stir after 8 hours, but that isn't absolutely necessary.

After 24 hours, it will still seem a little thin, but that's OK. Put a lid on the jar and put it in the fridge for another 24 hours. After 24 hours in the fridge, it will thicken up and be ready to use in any recipe that you would normally use sour cream for.

 

The flavor will be very mild at this stage, but it will get tangier the longer it sits in the fridge (keeps about 7 to 10 days).

People say it is the "mild cousin" to America's commercial sour cream, but I think it is much tastier than that. Of course, the flavor of your creme fraiche will depend on the "flavor" (quality) of whipping cream, and brand (quality) of buttermilk.

Creme fraiche is excellent for baking sweet AND savory dishes. It is much more tolerant to heat (than commercial sour cream), so it works well in gravy or sauces and makes killer mashed potatoes!! Sweetened, it is nice over any dessert, especially fresh fruit. Can you tell that I am a recent convert??

NOTE: Many of the recipes for creme fraiche (that are online) insist on using UN-pasteurized cream, but I couldn't find it, so I just used regular pasteurized heavy whipping cream and it worked fine.

NOTE: The buttermilk or yogurt that you use HAS to have live cultures in it. The buttermilk at our market was low fat and didn't mention "live cultures", so I opted for the same amount of organic unflavored yogurt with live cultures and it worked very well.

 

 

LUNCH BOX APPLE-PUMPKIN MUFFINS

School lunches are right around the corner,
and these muffins are SUPER moist (they taste even better on day two and three as long as you keep them covered well) AND they are packed with flavor!!

Make a batch of these for  school lunches, or a bake sale or share them at work. You will love this muffin!!!

 This recipe goes together quickly and easily and the muffins bake up with nice round tops covered with a sweet streusel topping. Makes 18 muffins. I don't even use a mixer for this recipe, just a hand whisk works well.

2 1/2 cups flour
2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon (see substitution note below)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs slightly beaten
(1) 15 ounce can of pumpkin
1/2 cup canola oil
2 cups cooking apples (peeled and chopped small)

Preheat oven to 350°. In large bowl, mix dry ingredients until well combined, set aside.

In another bowl, whisk all of the wet ingredients until smooth, then stir in the chopped apples by hand. 

Mix the bowl of wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients. Spoon batter equally into paper lined cupcake pans. Top with streusel topping (optional) (recipe below) and bake for 35-40 minutes at 350°.

Muffins are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

STREUSEL TOPPING   (optional)
2 tablespoons flour
¼ cup white sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
4 teaspoons melted butter

Mix streusel ingredients with your fingers until you get a dry crumbly topping. Put a little on each muffin before you bake.

NOTE: You can substitute 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice for the cinnamon-ginger-nutmeg combination.

NOTE: Let muffins cool down a little, but before they are entirely cold, cover with plastic wrap. Muffins should be stored covered.

NOTE: Recipe says to bake for 35-40 minutes. My oven cooked these in 35 minutes exactly.

MAPLE PECAN TASSIES

When our kids were little, I made these Tassie's ONLY on special occasions, or during the Christmas holiday. I'm not sure why that was "the rule", but it was.

These days, at our house, Tassie's have evolved into a barbecue "staple" for several reasons: not only are they super easy (and mess-less) to serve a crowd (especially the little ones), but you can make them a day (or even two) ahead of time, which is always handy.

I just set a tray of these beauties out on the buffet table, and guests "re-visit" it again and again; I guess their mini-size isn't as intimidating as a big old piece of pecan pie.

Tassie's Aren't Just For Christmas Anymore!!

PASTRY CRUST
1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature (see note)
6 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
2 cups all purpose flour

Cream the butter and cream cheese (with electric mixer) until it is light and fluffy. Add the flour and beat until the dough comes cleanly away from the inside walls of your mixing bowl.

Roll pastry into 1 inch balls and place them into an un-greased mini-muffin pan. Using your fingers, press the balls of dough into the bottom of each cup and up the sides. (I use the floured round end of my rolling pin to press the dough into place). Place the pan of shaped shells into the freezer for a few minutes while you make the filling.

FILLING
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 3/4 cups light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon maple extract
3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans (see note)

Beat the eggs until very well mixed and lemon colored. Stir in everything else (except nuts) and whisk until smooth; set aside.

Put a few chopped pecans in the bottom of each pastry shell and add enough filling to fill the shell about 2/3 full. (see note)

Bake in pre-heated 375F oven for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden and the filling is set, yet still a little soft in the center. Remove from oven and sit the pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before you try to lift them out. Lift Tassie's out of pan and cool on a wire rack.

 

 

NOTE: Keep in mind that the filling puffs as it bakes, so don't overfill the unbaked shells. If you overfill them, they will be hard to get out of the pans. If your Tassie's resist coming out easily, use the tip of a knife to help you "lift them" out of the pan.

UPDATE: The recipe that I've used for 35+ years, used butter in the crust. However, recently, I decided to try butter flavored Crisco and I was thrilled with the crust difference. The butter produces a very white and non-flaky crust, but the butter flavored Crisco produces a super-flaky golden crust that picky-picky husband loved. If you click on the following photo, you can see how nice and flaky this ingredient substitution turned out.

NOTE: If you do not have maple extract, just leave it out.

NOTE: Picky-picky husband is not a big nut eater, so I put minimal nuts in these when I make them. Even with the extra filling, they bake in 20 minutes.