Meringue and chocolate pudding pie

I modified this from my sister-in-law's pie, which she labeled "Jean Green Chocolate Pie".

Blind bake a standard pie crust:  20 minutes with pie weights, followed by 15 minutes without, at 375 F.

In a large sauce pan, melt butter over low heat, then whisk in:

1. 1 stick (1/2 c) butter, melted
2. 4 egg yolks (whites reserved)

Next whisk in dry ingredients to get a thick batter:

1. 8 3/4 oz sugar (1 1/4 c)
2. 1 1/8 oz flour (1/4 c)
3. 1 oz unsweetened cocoa powder (1/3 c)
4. dash of salt

Slowly whisk in milk to get smooth mixture:

1. 1 1/4 c milk
2. 1 t vanilla extract

In stand mixer, whisk to soft peaks (or just shy of):

1. 4 reserved egg whites
2. 1/4 t cream of tartar

Meanwhile, cover and bring to boil in saucepan:

1. 9 oz sugar (1 1/4 c)
2. 2 oz water (1/4 c)
3. pinch of salt

With mixer running slowly, pour boiling sugar syrup into egg whites.  Increase speed to high and whip until cooled.  Put custard into pie crust, top with Italian meringue.  Serve chilled.

Chinese chicken

The best home versions of General Tso's Chicken and Orange Chicken that I've had come from Serious Eats.  However, I usually want to skip the frying and just have the sauce on plain chicken breasts.

General Tso's sauce

Saute until soft but not browned:

1. 2 t peanut or canola oil
2. 2 t minced garlic (2 cloves)
3. 2 t minced ginger (1" piece)
4. 2 t minced scallion, white parts (1 scallion)
5. 1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes

Whisk together, then add to pan and cook until thickened:

1. 3 T dark soy sauce
2. 2 T Shaoxing wine or dry Sherry
3. 2 T rice vinegar
4. 3 T chicken stock (or 1/2 t Better Than Bullion + 3 T water)
5. 4 T sugar
6. 1 t sesame oil
7. 1 T cornstarch

Orange sauce

Saute until soft but not browned:

1. 2 t peanut or canola oil
2. 2 t minced garlic (2 cloves)
3. 2 t minced ginger (1" piece)
4. 2 t minced scallion, white parts (1 scallion)
5. 1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes

Whisk together, then add to pan and cook until thickened:

1. 1 T dark soy sauce
2. 2 T Shaoxing wine or dry Sherry
3. 2 T rice vinegar
4. 3 T chicken stock (or 1/2 t Better Than Bullion + 3 T water)
5. 4 T sugar
6. 1 t sesame oil
7. 2 t zest and 1/4 c juice from one orange
8. 4 strips dried orange peel*
9. 1 T cornstarch

* Orange peel can be dried at 225 F, being carefully not to let it darken/burn.

Potato cinnamon rolls

This is my current favorite cinnamon roll recipe, adapted from "Jailhouse potato-cinnamon rolls" in Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather.  I've added an overnight rise inspired by Alton Brown, cut the recipe in half so it fits in a mixer, and found I need more flour (and more baking time) than Rather claims.  The recipe still feeds an army (16 good-sized rolls), but it can be doubled with big enough bowls.  (Use 3 whole eggs instead of 2 eggs and 2 yolks.)

Start by peeling, cubing,  and boiling one medium russet potato for ~15 minutes in unsalted water.  Save the water and let it cool to ~110 F (or add a little ice to speed it on its way).  Mash 8 oz of potato in the stand mixer using the beater or whisk.  Now, you can combine the other ingredients directly in the mixer using the whisk:

1. 8 oz (1 c) mashed russet potato
2. 1.5 c potato water, cooled to <110 f="" li="">
3. 4 t (0.5 oz) rapid-rise or bread-machine yeast
4. 2 5/8 oz (3/8 c) sugar
5. 1 stick (1/2 c) butter, melted
6. 1 egg plus 1 yolk
7. 1 t salt

Whisk well to combine, then use the dough hook to mix in flour just until the dough comes together:

1. 30 oz (~6 c) unbleached all-purpose flour

Let dough rise, covered, until doubled, about 1 hour.  (It will fill the mixer bowl to the top.)
For the filling, use either

1. 2 c brown sugar
2. 1 T cinnamon
3. 2 c toasted pecans (optional)

or

1. 2 c granulated sugar
2. 1 T orange zest (from one orange)

Divide the dough in half, and roll each half out into a large rectangle.  Brush each half with

1. 2-3 T melted butter

Top each dough half with half the filling, roll it up, and slice into 8 rolls (16 total).  We typically arrange these as a Christmas tree shape on a half sheet pan (rows of 1, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1).  You could also put them in a 9x13 pan (5 rows of 3, cut one less roll) or two smaller pans.  Refrigerate overnight;  rolls will rise slowly.  Alternately, freeze rolls and wrap well;  thaw overnight in the refrigerator.

Remove rolls from refrigerator and preheat oven to 375 F.  (Set rolls over a pan of hot water if they need to rise more, although they will expand significantly in the oven.)  Bake rolls until dough is set in the centermost rolls, about 35-40 minutes in the Christmas tree configuration.  I think the dough in the middle needs to reach 175-180 F or so to set -- in the Christmas tree configuration, the rolls on the edges are deeply browned by this point.  Next time I might try a somewhat lower temperature for a longer time, or tenting the top with foil.  Baking time in a high-sided pan is likely to be quite different, but might result in more uniform rolls.

Cinnamon rolls should be frosted with

1. 4 3/4 oz (1 1/4 c) powdered sugar
2. 2 T buttermilk (or milk)
3. 1/4 t vanilla extract

Orange rolls should be frosted with

1. 4 3/4 oz (1 1/4 c) powdered sugar
2. 2 T fresh-squeezed orange juice (from one orange)
3. 1 T orange zest (from one orange)

I've tried using orange extract to amp up the orange flavor of these rolls, but the alcohol gave it an unpleasant taste.  I'm considering a mixed citrus version (lime?  grapefruit?) next year.

Croissant French Toast

Best French toast ever, period.  Wish I could claim to have invented it, but that honor goes to my mother-in-law Jeanne.  Apparently there was a morning where some old croissants were the only bread around, and the rest is history.  They become tender without losing their structure, they brown beautifully, and of course they're chock full of buttery goodness.

These don't require top-notch croissants -- we've used ones from Costco and Food Lion so far.  You want to halve them through the equator, so you expose a lot of the inside surface.  If they're small, you can cut them not-quite-through, so you get a butterfly shape.  The rest of the recipe is pretty standard.  You just want to dunk them into the custard, let the excess drip off, and then put them in the pan.  If you leave them soaking, (1) you'll need more custard and (2) they may fall apart.

Heat a griddle or 12" skillet over medium.  In a medium bowl, whisk

1. 3 eggs
2. 1 c milk
3. 1 T sugar
4. salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg to taste

Into this mixture, dip

1. croissants, halved

Fry croissants in batches in a few tablespoons of butter until nicely browned on both sides.  Hold in warm oven until ready to serve.  Serve with syrup or cinnamon sugar.

Triple-chocolate crunchy cookies

These were an attempt to replicate a store-bought cookie from my childhood for a local cookie contest.  Although they flopped at the contest, my family loves them.  First I make two very crunchy, chocolate cookies with chocolate chips.  Then I sandwich them around a chocolate ganache filling.  For the grownups, I spice the ganache with cinnamon and cayenne.  I also put a little gelatin in the ganache to firm it up, because there's nothing worse than cookie filling that squoozes out the sides when you bite it.

To get the cookies really crispy-crunchy, I used a lot of tricks from this page:  I used white sugar instead of brown, used high-protein flour, melted the butter, and swapped the whole eggs for whites only.  I also added some extra baking soda (as is sometimes done with crackers).  But I ultimately had to resort to double-baking the cookies, biscotti-style, to get them to stay crisp once filled.

In a medium bowl, sift together:

1. 5.25 oz (1 c + 2 T) King Arthur all-purpose flour
2. 1 oz (1/3 c) cocoa powder
3. 3/4 t baking soda
4. 1/4 t salt

In a standing mixer, combine with the paddle:

1. 5.25 oz (3/4 c) granulated sugar
2. 1 stick (8 T) butter, melted
3. 1 egg white
4. 1 t vanilla extract

Mix in the dry ingredients, just until thoroughly combined, followed by

1. 5.25 oz (1 c) chocolate chips

Chill the dough while the oven preheats to 375 F, about 20-30 minutes.  Line three cookie sheets with parchment.  Portion the dough by generous rounded half tablespoons, to give 36 cookies (12 per sheet).  Smash the balls into disks, so the final cookie sandwiches won't be too thick.  Bake each sheet for 14 minutes, one at a time, and let cookies cool on the sheet.  Turn the oven down to 300 F.  (I leave the oven door cracked for ~10 minutes to speed this up.)  Bake the cookies for another 15 minutes to dry them out and make them really crunchy.  You can also consolidate the cookies down to two sheets at this point, and even bake one on the lower rack and one on the other if you're in a hurry.  When they're done, let them cool completely on the cookie sheets.

In the meantime, in a 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup, combine in this order:

1. 1/4 t powdered gelatin (such as Knox)
2. 1/4 t ground cinnamon
3. 1/8 t ground cayenne pepper
4. 1.5 oz heavy cream
5. 6 oz chocolate chips
6. pinch of salt

Microwave on high ~45 seconds, then whisk until smooth.  Let cool on counter until cookies are ready.  Ganache may look slightly oily / broken;  it will be fine, just stir it back together before spreading.  Spread filling on the bottom of one cookie and top with another, to make 18 sandwiches.  Keeps up to a week in a tightly sealed plastic container.

Takeout Asian Chicken

A work-in-progress recipe that's a little like General Tso's, my favorite take-out dish.  Sauce inspired by Mean Guy's, though I'm curious if I could incorporate some tamarind paste for a different twist...

Whisk together

1. 1 egg white
2. splash soy sauce

Mix to coat

1. 1 lb. chicken breast, large cubes

Drain chicken and coat in

1. 1 c seasoned flour

Pan fry over medium-high heat until crispy, golden brown, and done through.  Remove to clean bowl.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk

1. 4 T sugar
2. 4 T soy sauce
3. 2 T rice vinegar
4. 2 T water or white wine
5. 1/4 t Better Than Bullion Chicken concentrate
6. sriracha, to taste

Cook in the now-empty pan until thickened into a glaze, a few minutes.  Pour over fried chicken and toss to coat.  Serve with rice and green vegetables (broccoli, snap or sweet peas, etc).  To have everything done at the same time, start white rice just prior to heating the pan for the chicken.

Chewy Granola Bars

Although granola is awesome, bars are easier to transport.  This recipe and variations on it has been my daily breakfast for the past few months.  I adapted it from Smitten Kitchen, who adapted it from King Arthur Flour.  I've reworked the process to dirty the absolute minimum number of dishes, taking good advantage of the kitchen scale.

In the food processor, combine these ingredients.  Process the oats to flour, then add the fruit and chop, then add the nuts and chop again:

1. 1 1/2 (1/3 c) oz old-fashioned oats, processed to flour
2. 5 oz (1 c) dried fruit, such as apricots or figs
3. 5 oz  (1 c) nuts, such as pecans or peanuts

In the bowl you just used for weighing the fruit and nuts, now combine these ingredients and whisk together until smooth:

1. 1/2 oz (1 T) water
2. 1 3/8 oz (2 T) corn syrup
3. 3 3/8 oz (1/4 c) honey
4. 3 1/2 oz (1/2 c) granulated sugar
5. 2 5/8 oz (6 T) oil, such as canola
6. 2 7/8 oz (1/3 c) nut butter, such as peanut or almond
7. 1 t vanilla
8. 1/4 t cinnamon
9. 1/2 t salt

Mix in the contents of the food processor plus:

1. 5 1/2 oz (1 2/3 c) old-fashioned oats
2. 5 oz (1 c) chocolate chips (optional but encouraged)

Line a 9" x 9" pan with greased aluminum foil or parchment paper.  (The paper is harder to work, but doesn't leave little slivers of foil in your bars when you cut them.)  Use plastic wrap to keep your hands clean while you pack the granola very firmly into the pan.  Cook for 35-40 min at 350 F, until they're bubbly and have picked up some color.  Cool completely before cutting (I cut into 16 squares), store in refrigerator.  If bars are too crumbly, cook them longer next time.  The add-ins (fruit, nuts, and chocolate) can be exchanged for other ingredients as long as the total is kept at 10-15 oz / 2-3 cups.

Mag Grill Grits Souffle

I was flipping through the Magnolia Grill cookbook while waiting on my dentist, and came across this gem.  It's similar to my favorite cheese grits recipe, but kicks it up with eggs, butter, and garlic.  (The garlic is strangely delicious.)  Texturally, it's not quite like a souffle, but it's definitely lighter than standard grits and just slightly fluffy.  Yum.  This recipe makes 8 generous servings, and I'm betting it's not as good reheated, so plan to serve a crowd.

In a 3 qt. pot, bring to a boil

1. 2 c chicken stock
2. 1 c water
3. 1 c half and half
4. 2 t Kosher salt

Stir in

1. 1 c grits (not instant!)

and cook, stirring constantly, until thick and creamy.  Spoon some hot grits into

1. 4 egg yolks (whites reserved)

to temper, then stir yolk mixture into grits.  Stir in

1. 6 oz (1.5 c) shredded Cheddar
2. 4 T butter
3. 1/4 c roasted garlic paste or 1 T minced fresh garlic
4. Tabasco, salt, and black pepper to taste

Allow grits to cool at room temperature.  One hour before serving, preheat oven to 375 F.  Beat the 4 reserved egg whites to stiff peaks, and fold into the grits.  (Also fold in 1/2 c sliced scallions if desired, I didn't have any on hand.)  Spray 2 qt casserole with PAM (or rub with butter), and fill with grits.  Bake 35-40 minutes, until puffed and set.  Serve hot.