WHAT'S COOKING SF: THE PERFECT PUMPKIN PIE

This weekend, my S.O. and I had a dinner party to attend giving me the the perfect excuse to bake up something delicious. Since we're well into the fall season I decided I wanted to take a delicious twist on a festive fall favorite: pumpkin pie. This recipe for a mouthwatering Maple Pumpkin Pie with a Brown Sugar Meringue is adapted from KitchenSimplicity.com and produces some of the best pie I've ever tasted. Bonus points?This recipe is both dairy and gluten free.

Maple Pumpkin Pie

1 15oz can pumpkin

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon ground ginger

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt 

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

2/3 cup almond milk 

1/2 cup pure maple syrup 

Frozen pie crust (or homemade pie crust of your choosing)

For pumpkin pie filling: Combine pumpkin, sugar, ginger, cinnamon and salt. Add eggs and whisk until just combined. Slowly whisk in maple syrup and milk.

Pour the filling into a 9-inch unbaked pie crust.  Bake at 450ºF for 10 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 350º and bake for 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted at te center comes out clean. 

While the pie is cooking, begin your meringue.

 Stiff meringue peaks (forms peaks that hold their shape when beater is lifted)

Brown Sugar Meringue 
3 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup brown sugar

For meringue: Place egg whites in a bowl and allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Add vanilla, cream of tartar and salt. Beat on a medium speed with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gradually add the brown sugar, approximately 1 tablespoon at a time, beating at a high speed until stiff peaks form

Once the pies have baked for approximately 50 minutes, remove them from the oven to top with your meringue. To spread the meringue, pile it on the center of your pie and slowly spread it equally to the edge of the crust. Once you have covered the pie entirely, place it back in the oven and cook for an additional 10 minutes at 350º F, or until the meringue has lightly browned

 You can even make fun patterns with the meringue

Once the meringue has browned (be careful not to overcook) remove to a wire rack to cool completely. After the pie has cooled, cover it lightly with foil and place in the fridge. Because there are eggs in the meringue, this pie should not be left at room temperature for more than a few hours.

The pie was a huge hit at the dinner party and would be a great addition to any Thanksgiving spread! 

WHAT'S COOKING SF

I love Fall, everything about it. For me, nothing says Fall quite like a delicious, homemade pie. This past weekend, I played around with some recipes and combined a few to make this unique, blackberry and blueberry pie. 

Blackberry and Blueberry Lattice Pie Recipe
For the crust: 2 refrigerated or frozen pie crusts (or make from scratch if you're more talented than I am)

For the filling:
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/8 tsp. ground allspice
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. table salt 
12 oz. fresh blackberries
6 oz. fresh blueberries
1 21 oz. can blueberry pie filling 
1 tbs. cold unsalted butter
2 tbs. melted unsalted butter

If using frozen pie crust: Allow to thaw out to room temperature for approximately 1 hour and a half. Roll out your first disk on a lightly floured surface. Place gently into the pie pan, you may need to trim the excess dough from the edge of the pan. Refrigerate until needed. 

For the filling: In a large bowl, combine your sugar, cornstarch, allspice, cinnamon and salt. Add the blueberries and blackberries and gently toss until they are just covered with the mixture. Pour in the pre-made pie filling and gently mix together until combined. I think using both fresh and pre-made really enhances the flavors. Remove pie pan from refrigerator and fill with the mixture.

Lattice topping: Roll out your second pie dough disk into a circle large enough to cover the pie (about 11 inches) onto a lightly floured surface. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut the dough into 1/2 inch wide strips. Lay dough strips, spaced evenly and parallel to each other, across the pie in one direction. Fold back every other strip and lay your first strip in the opposite direction in the center of the pie so that it is covering half of the strips, then lay down the folded strips and repeat this process until completed. Here's a helpful tutorial.

Crimp the edges. Cut the cold tablespoons of butter into small pieces and place onto the open areas of the lattice. Once the pie is assembled and the butter in place, freeze for about 15 minutes.

Baking: Make sure there is a rack in the center of your oven before preheating. Place a foil wrapped baking sheet on the rack (larger than your pie pan to catch any drippings while the pie is baking) Heat the oven to 425˚F. Remove the assembled pie from the freezer and brush the lattice top with the melted butter and sprinkle with a dusting of sugar. Put the pie on on the heated baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes at this heat. After the 15 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 375˚F and bake for approximately 60 minutes, or until the pie is bubbling consistently at the center. If your crust starts to brown too quickly while baking, cover it loosely with foil. 

Let the pie cool and serve.

Pro tip: Serve with a heaping portion of vanilla ice cream. Double yum. 

WHAT'S COOKING NYC

If there are two things I love (LOVE) to eat, it would be pizza and mexican food. I can't get enough. When I go to my favorite Mexican restaurant I make a point to try and get a different thing from the menu. Cue my introduction to Chile Rellenos. Since then, I've been toying with the idea to try and make them at home and if I do say so myself, I think I succeeded! 

Chicken Chile Rellenos Recipe
What you'll need:
Tomato or enchilada sauce - (I had leftover tomato sauce I made the other day, so just added a few mexican seasonings - Cumin, Chile powder, Garlic to give it a different twist)
4 medium poblano peppers
Shredded mexican cheese and mozzarella 
Cream cheese (Use jalapeno cream cheese for extra spice)
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1 chicken breast
1/4 cup frozen roasted corn (optional - for filling)

First things first, pop that chicken in the oven and let it cook. Once the chicken is done, then you can really get started. Shred the chicken and combine in a bowl with shredded cheeses, cream cheese and roasted corn - this will be your filling. If you haven't seasoned your chicken, you can add your seasonings into this step.

Once the filling is assembled start roasting your poblanos. There are a few reasons why people do this - peel the skin off or just to give it that grilled flavor.

Once the peppers have roasted, start your batter. I separated the egg yolk from the egg white, mixing the egg whites first until they are frothy and then followed up with flour and the yolk. The batter almost resembles pancake batter.

Now start prepping your peppers for the filling. When cutting the peppers make almost a T-shape along the top and down the middle - this is where the filling will go. Pin it closed using toothpicks, 1 or 2 should be good. Begin dunking the peppers in the batter. Once they are all covered, fry them in a pan with very hot oil. This helps ensure less sticking and reduces the oil absorption into the food.

Ta-Da! Make sure to place the fried peppers on a paper towel to absorb excess oil. Be sure to remove the toothpicks! To serve place them on a plate with the tomato/enchilada sauce. Feel free to add extra cheese on top. Yum!

WHAT'S COOKING - SF

Are you in need of a quick and easy appetizer with Labor Day Weekend right around the corner? Look no further because this Corn Salsa Dip is pure perfection. No exaggeration. I've made this dip on a few occasions and it's always a hit, the best part? It's so simple to make.

Corn Salsa Dip

Ingredients:

1 fairly ripe avocado (you don't want it to be too soft yet you don't want it to be too hard - like Goldilocks, somewhere in the middle works best)

1 lime

4oz Mild Soft Goat Cheese

1 jar (13.75 oz) Trader Joe's Corn and Chile Tomato-Less Salsa

If you're making this recipe for a large crowd I suggest doubling or even tripling the recipe. Trust me, it goes fast. 

First things first, prepare your ingredients. For the avocado you're going to want to slice and dice it so you have thin, delicious chunks. Don't you just love working with fresh ingredients?

This is my definition of beauty. Sorry, distracted by food porn, okay back to the recipe. 

You're going to need a shallow bowl or container, again depending on how much of the dip you want to make - scale your container to your needs. 

Take the soft goat cheese and press it to the bottom of your dish, you're going to want a flat layer that completely covers the bottom of your container. Make sure you don't press it in too hard or it will be difficult to scoop with chips. 

Next, take your Trader Joe's corn salsa and pour it directly on top of the goat cheese layer. 

Mmmmm. Then, take the avocado chunks you sliced previously and distribute it evenly on top of the corn salsa.

Cut your lime and squeeze the juice directly onto the avocado and corn salsa layers.

That's it. It's that simple. Now grab a handful of your favorite tortilla chips and enjoy these delicious layers of goodness. 

What do you plan on cooking up this weekend?

WHAT'S COOKING - NYC

Nothing says summer to me more than gazpacho. Super easy and refreshing, this is a great meal for any weekend or week night. The best part, I get to use ingredients straight from the garden.

Gazpacho Recipe

What you'll need:

2 cucumbers halved and seeded, peeled

2 red bell peppers, cored and seeded

4-5 tomatoes (I had tomatoes on the vine on hand, make sure to remove seeds!)

3 cups of tomato juice (V8 is great for this)

2 small jalapenos (optional)

1 medium sized red onion

1/4 cup olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

A cap full of white wine vinegar 

We like things a bit spicy in my house (Notice the spicy hot V8 and jalapenos? Opt for regular flavored V8 and remove the jalapenos, if spicy is not your thing). 

You will need to assemble your vegetable ingredients and put each vegetable separately into a food processor. This helps ensure consistency.

Chop your veggies into cubes prior to putting into the food processor and don't forget to remove the seeds! Use the 'pulse' button to make sure the veggies don't get over processed.

After processing all the vegetables, combine them in a big bowl. Now you can add the tomato juice, white wine vinegar and salt & pepper to taste. Some people like to add hot sauce and worcestershire sauce, feel free to add it if you like! 

The end result. Pop it in your fridge until you are ready to eat. The longer the gazpacho sits, the more the flavors develop. We waited about an hour. 

Serve the gazpacho with grilled cheese, it's the right thing to do. Enjoy!

WHAT'S COOKING - SF

I've had a mean hankering lately for something spicy and cheesy so I decided to whip up some Jalapeno Cheddar Burgers this weekend, the perfect solution. This quick and easy meal requires very few ingredients and is so simple, you'll be chowing down in under 20 minutes. 

Jalapeno Cheddar Stuffed Burgers
What you'll need:
1 - 2 lbs ground beef
1 - 2 medium jalapenos 
block of cheddar cheese
salt & pepper to taste
1 avocado (optional)

This yields 4 hefty and delicious burgers

Prepare by slicing your jalapenos thinly, quartering them if you prefer, and cubing the cheddar cheese until you have enough to fill your patties. 

 Salt & pepper your ground beef to your liking, with the jalapeno and cheddar flavors, you'll need very little. Next, use the ground beef to begin molding the bases of your patties. You will end up almost making 2 thin patties for each burger, one made for the bottom which will have a bowl like shape in order to hold the cheddar and jalapenos and another to cover and seal into one patty. Begin by molding your base patty. You'll want to begin by creating a flat patty, then working the center so that it slowly becomes indented, almost like a mini pie. Once you have the base, fill it with as much cheddar and jalapenos as your heart desires

 Work the second half of the patty to cover and seal, in the end you'll have a regular looking patty with a secret pocket of goodness inside.

Continue until you have 4 complete burgers

I opted to cook these on my George Foreman grill. No matter what your cooking method, these burgers should take no longer than 7 to 10 minutes to cook thoroughly. Once you have cooked them to your preferred wellness, remove from the grill and let stand for 2 minutes before cutting or biting into as the cheddar cheese will be piping hot. Once slightly cooked, top with condiments and toppings of your choice, I went with some California avocado I'd been using for another recipe and it was delicious. 

Now, devour. 

Did you cook anything delicious over the weekend?