Book Eighty-Eight: A Decade of Cooking ~ The Costco Way

by Costco Wholesale
Recipe contributed by Devin Alexander


                                                Naked Apple Tart


I'm not really sure how I came to own this book; it is not one I would have bought. I'm not even a Costco shopper, other than the occasional item; either someone gave me this book, or maybe it was one of those freebies you get when you purchase something.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with Costco, it is one of those warehouse stores where you buy everything in bulk. So I was surprised that the recipes were for normal servings (4-6) and not for a crowd, being the recipes call for items you purchase at Costco.

Leafing through the book I came across this interesting "tart". I had some leftover ice cream and thought this would be the perfect accompaniment. I liked the idea of sliced baked apples with no crust, and the photo in the book looked scrumptious. And it sounded healthy ~ without the crust you can have a little more ice cream, yes?

For presentation purposes this would be much better served in a martini glass or similar shaped bowl, with the apples spooned around the ice cream, rather than trying to slice it and present it on a plate. After baking it pretty much had the consistency of applesauce ~ really tasty applesauce. This is probably why they did not show it being served. The picture in the book shows it whole, in the pie plate, with a cake server slipped underneath just a bit.

This has great flavor and would be great for those that want that apple pie taste without the guilt that comes with a buttery, flaky crust.

Success meter (1-3): 3

amazon

The recipe calls for the apples to be peeled. You will

want to peel them! The peels turn out very chewy,

almost unpleasantly chewy.

If my apples look re-arranged in this picture, they are.

After placing all the slices oh so perfectly, I realized I

 forgot to grease the pie plate and did not have the patience

to re-arrange them ever so beautifully again.

TWD: Berry Galette

Tuesdays with Dorie baking through Baking with Julia
By Dorie Greenspan

When I saw that this recipe was chosen I initially was going to pass on it. We just made blueberry pie which posted this past Tuesday. Then I thought this would be a great way to use the leftover pie dough I had in the freezer from the blueberry pie recipe.

I had enough dough leftover to make two galettes. I filled one with berries and the other with peaches. I really had high hopes for the peach galette. The peaches are really full of flavor right now. Unfortunately by the time I got around to making this, my peaches, which I purchased too many days beforehand, were less than prime.

The recipes in this book tend to be too sweet for me; therefore I used only about one, to one and a half teaspoons of sugar to the one tablespoon, plus one teaspoon the recipe called for in the berry galette. I also omitted the butter and honey. I added some lemon zest and about three-quarters tablespoon of flour to help thicken the juices. Adding the flour made for a much better result than I had with the blueberry pie.

For the peach galette I sprinkled some Demerara sugar over the formed galette, and once out of the oven, I drizzled some agave nectar over the top. The peaches, being less than par, needed something more.

This is a dessert which the fruit is the star. Make sure your fruit is top notch ~ full of flavor. It will make a difference.

Galette's make for a great last minute dessert that can even be served to guests. I bet you have what you need in your pantry for a crust (just do a google search for galette or pie dough if you don't have the ingredients for this one) and may even have some fruit laying around, and who doesn't like a rustic looking pie, warm from the oven, oozing with goodness?

Success meter (1-3): 2 (this rating should not reflect on the original recipe due to my alterations.)

With the leftover fruit I made a

delicious smoothie!

Our hosts this week are Lisa of Tomato Thymes in the Kitchen and Andrea of The Kitchen Lioness. Visit there sites for the original recipe. You can see other variations from my fellow bakers over at the Tuesdays with Dorie website. Just look for the LYL post.

TWD: Blueberry-Nectarine Pie

Baking through Baking with Julia
by Dorie Greenspan
Recipe contributed by Leslie Mackie




I love blueberries! I like them so much I have them several times a week tossed over my morning oatmeal (why does that statement make me feel old?). I also enjoy just grabbing a handful to pop in my mouth for a midday snack.

This is my second blueberry pie I have made in as many months. The filling of the first pie I made was just blueberries; this recipe, as the title states, has the addition of nectarines. I found this filling to be too sweet for my liking. Not only was there more sugar in this recipe, but the nectarines added their own sweetness as well. If I were to make this again I would want to cut the sugar by at least a third to half, though I am not sure if that would have an effect on the thickening aspect.

I also prefer the other pie dough recipe for it used more butter and less shortening, plus the addition of lemon juice.

Leslie's instructions for lining the pie pan has you, for the top crust, placing the pie pan onto the dough and cutting it so it is about 1/2 inch larger than the pan. I find it easier to just place the dough over the filling and trim the excess with scissors. He also recommends to cool the pie for at least 30 minutes before slicing. I say cool the pie completely! After cutting into the pie and removing the slices, most of the filling oozed out - not a pretty picture. This I should have learned from the other pie I made.

I asked our daughter if she liked the pie and she said it was good - not good enough to eat the whole pie, though. As I mentioned earlier it was just too sweet for me; I ended up throwing half of the pie away.

Success meter (1-3): 1

Why does this always happen with me and stone fruit?

Cut and twist. Only the skin comes off.

I could have done without the butter.

↑  As I said, not a pretty picture.  ↓

Helping the filling back into the crust.

Looking for the recipe? Our hosts of the week have it posted on their sites or you can always pick up your own copy of Baking with Julia.

Our wonderful hosts this week are: Hilary of Manchego’s Kitchen and Liz of That Skinny Chick Can Bake. Also check out all the other baker's creations here: Tuesdays with Dorie LYL post.

Blueberry Pie

by Fine Cooking magazine



                                       Blueberry Pie



This week I should have been making pecan sticky buns for the Tuesdays with Dorie baking group to post this coming Tuesday. However I could not bring myself to make another butter-laden recipe. The first recipe (the group bakes two recipes a month) was Hungarian Shortbread which called for one pound, yes, four sticks of butter, which I made and really did not care for. The sticky buns call for even more butter - five sticks! Don't get me wrong, I am not one to shy away from any kind of sweets; especially baked goods. Reading through the recipe the sticky buns did not appeal to me.

So I baked a blueberry pie of which I have been craving and anxious to make ever since seeing the delicious, mouth-watering picture in this month's Fine Cooking magazine.

Cravings can make you do crazy stupid things like baking a pie when it is 90° outside; but the aroma while baking made it all worthwhile.

The pie turned out beautiful! The blueberry flavor was not as pronounced as I thought it would be, but very tasty just the same. I think the only other blueberry pie I had was when I was growing up and we would get the Hostess mini pies (remember those?), the ones you buy in the snack isle of your local grocery store which not only had added "real" flavoring but a lot of other ingredients too numerous to mention let alone pronounce. Hey, at the time I thought they were the best! Years later, now that I do my own baking and cooking, I have become a bit of a food snob. Even restaurant food does not impress me much anymore - oh the pitfalls of knowing how to cook.



Image found here.

The instructions which I failed to read required a cooling time of three hours. I would be in bed by then and there was no way I was going to retire without a taste of this enticing creation sitting on my cooktop. I highly recommend that you do wait the three hours or longer. I cut into it early and the slice did not hold its shape and the filling ran out. The next day the slice of pie held its shape beautifully and even tasted better in my opinion.

Success meter (1-3): 3

My dough was too fragile to weave so I just

criss-crossed them.

As well as too fragile to roll the dough over a rolling pin

 as instructed. I just flipped the parchment over directly

into the pan. Worked like a charm!

A sea of blueberries.

Flour, sugar and lemon zest to

thicken the pie.

Flip the parchment with the lattice

onto the pie.

Homemade pie cover as found in

Fine Cooking.

Start with a 12-inch square of

heavy-duty foil.

Fold in half.

Fold in half again to make a smaller square.

(note your center point)

Fold diagonally through the center point

to create a triangle.

Fold again through the center point for

a narrower triangle.

Cut across the triangle in a slight curve

about 4 inches from the tip.

Unfold and whoala!

Edge and top cover for your pie.

Edge is beautifully golden.

Time to cover up!

Yummy goodness.

This is what happens when you

don't let it cool for three hours.

Juice oozing out.

Much better the next day!

No oozing this time.

Mmmm..