Apple Pie

 A family favorite, especially for Thanksgiving. Adapted from here. We use this piecrust recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 double pie crust (9” pan) - see recipe here
• ½ cup unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup water
• ½ cup white sugar
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• 8 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 425ºF (220ºC). Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.

Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.

Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350º F (175º C). Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.

Perfect Piecrust

 Favorite piecrust. Easy to work with and tastes great. Reposted from here.

Ingredients:

• 170g very cold unsalted butter
• 420g plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 15g granulated sugar
• 70g very cold vegetable shortening
• 6 to 8 tbsp (about 120ml) ice water

Procedure:

Dice butter and keep in fridge while you gather the dry ingredients. Place flour, salt, and sugar in food processor and pulse several times to mix. Add butter and shortening. Pulse 8 to 12 times until the butter is the size of peas. 

With the food processor running, add ice water and pulse until the dough begins to form a ball. Place bought on a floured surface and roll into a ball. Wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate 30 min.

Cut dough in half. Place each piece on a floured surface. Roll into a circle, rolling from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough to keep it from sticking.

Fold dough in half lightly, place in pie dish, unfold, and fit to the dish.

Honeymoon Chicken

 Easy chicken fingers made with Bisquick. Adapted from Betty Crocker.

Ingredients:

2/3

cup Bisquick mix

1/2

cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2

teaspoon salt (or garlic salt)

1/2

teaspoon paprika

3

chicken breast, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch strips

1

egg, beaten

3

tablespoons butter, melted

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 450ºF (230ºC). Line baking sheet with foil or baking paper and spray with cooking spray.

Mix Bisquick, parmesan, salt, and paprika in a medium mixing bowl. 

Dip chicken strips in beaten egg. Roll in Bisquick mixture and place on baking sheet. Drizzle with melted butter. 

Bake 12 minutes, flipping halfway through.

Chicken Shish Kabobs

We usually double the marinade—one batch for the meat and one for the veggies.

Ingredients 

• 1 pound chicken breasts cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 red bell pepper cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 yellow bell pepper cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 small zucchini cut into 1 inch slices
• 1 red onion cut into 1 inch pieces

Directions

Mix marinade and add meat and veggies. Allow to marinade for at least 1 hour, or over night. 

Assemble skewers and grill, 4 minutes per side. 

Beef Shish Kabobs

We often double the marinade in order to keep the veggies separate from the meat. 

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon prepared mustard
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon coarsely cracked black pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 pounds lean beef, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 16 mushroom caps
• 8 wood skewers, or as needed
• 2 green bell peppers, cut into chunks
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into chunks
• 1 large onion, cut into large squares

Directions

Mix marinade. Add beef and veggies, and allow to marinade 8 hours. 

Assemble meat and veggies on skewers and grill, 4 minutes a side. 

No-Bake Cheesecake

A favorite, especially for summer barbecues. Adapted from Nigella Lawson.

Ingredients 

• 160 g Tea biscuits
• 95 g butter
• 375 g cream cheese
• 75 g powdered sugar 
• 1 1/4 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 tsp lemon juice
• 315 ml heavy cream
• 350 g black cherry jam

Procedure

1. Blitz the biscuits in a food processor until they begin to turn to crumbs, then add the butter and blitz again to make the mixture clump.
2. Press this mixture into a 9 inch springform tin; press a little up the sides to form a slight ridge.
3. Beat together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla extract and lemon juice in a bowl until smooth.
4. Lightly whip the heavy cream, and then fold it into the cream cheese mixture.
5. Spoon the cheesecake filling on top of the biscuit base and smooth with a spatula. Put it in the fridge for 3 hours or overnight.
6. When you are ready to serve the cheesecake, unmould it and spread the black cherry over the top.

Bacon & Swiss Quiche

A great quiche. Much better warm, but can also serve cold. Original recipe calls for ham, but we used diced bacon (spek sneedjes). Use our pie crust recipe. A large serving (quarter of the quiche) is about 30g of carbs.

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp. thyme
• 5 large eggs, plus 2 egg whites
• 1 cup diced bacon (spek sneedjes), cooked
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1/3 cup whole milk (or cream)
• 1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400º (200ºC). Toss onion in olive oil and mix in thyme, salt, and pepper. Spread on baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes, until onion is soft.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and egg whites, milk, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Stir in onion, bacon, and cheese. Pour mixture into crust and bake on top rack until center is just set, about 25 minutes.