Thursday: Aunt Mabel's Killer Oatmeal Cookies

Apparently I have an Aunt Mabel and she makes a mean oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. The recipe has been modified over the years by my mother and lastly by me, but it is a really nice crisp cookie with lots of chocolate.

You will need:

2 2/3 c rolled oats
3/4 c butter, softened
1 1/4 c brown sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp water (?? that's a first for me, but I did it!)
1 c whole grain whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3/4 c chocolate chips
3/4 c pecans, chopped

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and spread the oats on a baking sheet. When the oven is up to temp, bake the oats for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through. I know I always say that roasting nuts and the like makes them taste better, but for reals, you will want to do this. Adds another dimension. Set them aside to cool and get to creaming!

Rolled oats

Multi-dimensional oats!

Cream the butter and sugar together, add in the egg, vanilla and water (?? so strange! kept wanting to switch it out with another egg, but I stuck, sorta, to the recipe), beat until combined.

Mix the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg together, add slowly to the butter mixture on low speed. Take a minute and scrape up the flour that landed on the counter. We'll wait.

Add in the oats, mix as well as you can. Add in the pecans if your mixer isn't getting grouchy with you. If it is, just stir them in with a spatula, which is what you want to do with the chocolate chips. Mix it allll together.

Drop by spoonful onto parchment paper, bake for 12-15 minutes until the bottoms are lightly browned. Remove from tray immediately, cool on a rack.

This made 4 dozen cookies, at calories 103 per. Relatively healthy, though! Whole grains, whole wheat flour, it's all good!

Enjoy!

Wednesday: Split Pea Soup with Dough Boys

Technically, these are called Dough Byes by anyone I've ever talked to, looks funny in print so I won't do it. Won't! Except there where I did. A pretty basic split pea soup, the sole raisin detter for ham, as far as I'm concerned. It is SO COLD right now, this plus hot chocolate is alls I wanted today.

You will need:

Tuesday: Chocolate Butter Tarts

I used to hate butter tarts. I loved making them, because there is nothing easier, but would.not.eat.them. Too sweet, too whatever. Then I added chocolate. And then a chocolate tart shell. I have to send these into work with my husband tomorrow, or I am going to eat ALL of them.

You will need:

3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 c butter, softened
2 Tbsp cocoa, unsweetened
1/2 Tbsp icing sugar
1c all purpose flour
1/2 c dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 c corn syrup
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp butter, softened
1/4 c chocolate chips

First, prep! Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit, get out a stand mixer (pink optional), spray a mini-muffin tin and weigh your cream cheese. It's not a full brick, that's 8 oz. You want a little less than half. Also, quick tip for softening cream cheese, you can microwave this much for 8 seconds and it will work.

Cream the 1/2 c cup butter and cream cheese together until creamy, add in cocoa and icing sugar and beat until well blended. Add in the flour slowly and carefully, then scoop up what sprayed all over the counter when you forgot to turn it down. I'll wait.

The dough should form into one cohesive ball; remove and cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate for 1/h hour. Hey, you could toast some oats for tomorrow while you are waiting! Spread some rolled oats onto a cookie sheet, bake for 20 minutes, stirring halfway. All set!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, prepare the filling. Mix the sugar, corn syrup, egg, vanilla and 2 Tbsp butter in a medium bowl. Stir it again. Check the clock. Time!

Cut the dough into 24 pieces, I like to cut it up like a Terry's orange, in four, then 8, then so and so forth.

Roll each piece into a ball, place in the muffin tin and using your fingers, push it up the sides into the shape of a tart shell.

Place the chocolate chips in the bottom of each tart shell; use the smallest ones you have.

Spoon about half a tablespoon of the butter / sugar mixture into each shell, until about 2/3 full.

Bake for 15 minutes, until the filling is bubbling and the pastry is puffy.

Let them sit for a minute before trying to remove, then use a skinny spatula or very thin knife (totally will probably not work super well) to pry them up gently. There's approximately eleventy thousand calories in each, give or take, so we'll just call our treat!

Enjoy!

Monday: Tortiere

This falls under the Fambly Week umbrella; my high school best friend's mom (holla Julie!!) made the best tortiere I've ever had, and it was always awesome when I could sneak some. Unfortunately she passed before my BFF was into cooking, so her recipe was never passed on. I've tried a few commercially available ones, they just did not do it for me, so I figured I would give it a shot on my own.

This is traditionally a pork meat pie, but I wanted to try a couple of variations, see what gave the best flavour. I tried all pork, half pork / half beef and half pork / half turkey. The turkey blend just did not have enough meaty flavour, so it was between the beef and all pork. I went with the beef mixture, but I really think either would work.

You will need:

For the crust:

2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c butter, cold and UNSALTED
1/4 c lard, cold
6-8 Tbsp cold water
1 egg white

1 lb extra-lean pork
1 lb exra-lean beef (or just use all pork - it's your pie, sailor!)
10 oz potatoes, 2 medium
2 celery stalks
2 small onions
3 garlic cloves
1/4 c red wine
1/2 c beef stock
1/2 tsp each nutmeg, ground cloves, thyme
1 bay leaf
Salt, pepper

I just ate the carrot, decided not to use it. It was nummy, though!

Turkey / pork at 12, Beef / Pork at bottom right, all pork plus pork at bottom left

First, get your crust ready. It needs time to rest and break down gluten and blah blah. So, measure your flour and salt into a wide bowl, add in the cold butter and lard. Work it in with a pastry blender or two knives, until it looks like itty bitty pea / crumbs.

Make a well in the center and start adding in your cold water by the tablespoon. Swirl it with your fingers, adding enough so that it feels cohesive without being gooey. We do not ever want gooey.

Once it will hold together in a ball, break it into two balls, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Gluten blah blah destroying something or rather, make it so!

On to prep! LOTS of prep! Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Peel your potatoes, (sacrilege, I know, but I wouldn't want people wandering across a potato peel and having it throw them off completely), chop them up and bring to a boil in a pot of water. Cook for 10-15 minutes until poke-able, drain, mush and set aside. While they are boiling, chop your celery and onions into a fine dice, mince your garlic. That's not actually a lot of prep, maybe it just felt like it because I did three types. Anyway!

Cook your meat in a LARGE saucepan, breaking apart as you go. I really like it to be as fine as possible, but you may like chunky-style. It's your pie, sailor! Do as you will. Break it down somewhat, cooking until all of the pink is gone, about 8-10 minutes. Drain off the fat.

Add everything else in. Seriously, dump it all in there, including the potato. It's gonna take a little while, mix it carefully in that pan that totally looked big enough, didn't it? Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 25 minutes. Take the lid off and let simmer for another 5-10, until the liquid is almost all gone. Taste! Add more pepper, probably more thyme, salt, whatever. Taste again!

 

Roll out half of your dough, I suggest this awesome pie roller measuring mat, because it's pretty much idiot proof. Drape your rolled out dough over the pie plate, brush with egg white. Roll out the other half of your dough, leave it on the mat while you fill your pie.

Add in the meat filling, top with the rolled out crust.

Mush together the outside ring, make it as pretty as humanly possible. Or you-ly possible. Slice a few vents in it, brush with egg white and bake for 40-50 minutes, until golden brown and flaky-looking.

It's a happy pie!

Also a ginormous pie

Happy and now with a tan!

This worked out to 450 calories per slice, and there are 8 servings in one huge pie. That is super high, but we could still in a nice refreshing salad with this and have a little bit of dressing. Like dot it on.

Enjoy!