Salted Caramel Apple Hand Pies

 

 from: justataste.com

 

Salted Caramel Apple Hand Pies

Yield: Makes 10 (3-inch) hand pies

Prep Time: 1 hour (includes chilling)

Cook Time: 15 min

Ingredients:

For the dough:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1/2 cup cold sour cream
For the filling:
2 cups small diced (peeled) Granny Smith apples (See Kelly's Notes)
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
8 store-bought soft caramels, roughly chopped
Large flake sea salt (See Kelly's Notes)
Egg wash (1 egg lightly whisked with 1 Tablespoon water)
Crystal sanding sugar (optional)

Directions:

Make the dough:
Whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl.
Add the cubed butter to the bowl and use your fingers to work the butter into the flour until the mixture is the consistency of wet sand.
Stir in the sour cream (the dough will be very wet), and then turn the dough out onto a well-floured work surface.
Knead the dough a few times until it comes together, adding more flour, 1 teaspoon at a time, if the dough is too sticky to handle. Roll the dough into an 8x10-inch rectangle and dust both sides with flour before folding it into thirds as if you were folding a letter.
Rotate the dough 90º and roll it out again into an 8x10-inch rectangle. Fold the dough again into thirds then wrap it securely in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes while you make the filling.
Make the filling:
In a small bowl, combine the apples, lemon juice, cinnamon, sugar and flour, stirring until thoroughly mixed. Set aside.
Assemble the pies:
Preheat the oven to 425ºF.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and unfold it onto a well-floured surface, rolling it out to a 14x14-inch square. (See Kelly's Notes.)
Using a 3-inch circular cookie cutter or cup, cut out as many circles as possible. Re-roll the scraps and continue cutting out circles until you run out of dough, ensuring you end up with an even number of circles. (You should have approximately 20 3-inch circles.)
Place six of the dough circles on a Silpat or parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Spoon a small portion of the apple filling into the center of each circle, leaving enough of a border around the filling. Top the apple filling with a portion of the chopped caramels and a pinch of sea salt. Place a second dough circle atop each filled circle then use a fork to crimp the edges together, sealing each pie.
Brush each pie with the egg wash, and using a sharp knife, cut two or three vents on the top of each pie. Sprinkle the pies with crystal sanding sugar (optional).
Bake the pies for about 15 minutes, or until they're golden brown.
Remove the pies from the oven and allow them to rest for 10 minutes before serving. Repeat the filling and baking process with the remaining dough circles.
Kelly's Notes:
The cubed apples should be no larger than the size of corn kernels to ensure they become tender during the quick 15-minute bake time.
Large flake sea salt is available in most supermarkets. My preferred brand is Maldon Salt.
If the dough is too firm to work with after refrigerating, allow it to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before cutting out the circular shapes.
If the sour cream in the dough makes it to sticky at any point in the rolling out process, just simply sprinkle a pinch of flour atop the wet areas and continue rolling.

Dough recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour.

Fully Loaded Baked Potato Soup

 

 from tasty kitchen

Ingredients

• 4 whole Extra Large Baked Potatoes Or 8 Regular Baked Potatoes
• 6 slices Bacon, Diced
• 6 Tablespoons Butter
• ½ whole Onion, Chopped
• 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
• ⅓ cups All-purpose Flour
• 4 cups Chicken Stock
• ½ teaspoons Sea Salt (or To Taste)
• 2 teaspoons Ground Pepper, Or To Taste
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 3 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 4 whole Scallions (Green Onions), Sliced
• 1 cup Greek Yogurt

Preparation Instructions

Scoop the white insides out of the baked potato skins. Roughly chop the white insides and set them aside. Chop potato skins and set aside.
In a large stock pot brown the diced bacon over medium heat. Once it’s crispy, remove bacon from the pan and drain off the grease.
Add 4 tablespoons butter to the brown bits at the bottom of the stock pot. Add onion and continue to cook over medium heat until onion is caramelized. Add minced garlic and flour. Stir flour until absorbed by the butter and cooked, about 1-2 minutes.
While stirring, slowly add chicken stock to the flour mixture to prevent lumps. Bring to a simmer then turn heat to low. Add the insides of the diced baked potato. Add sea salt and pepper. Cover pot and continue to cook over low heat.
In a large saute pan add 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat and heat until all of the butter is melted. Add the chopped potato skins and fry them until crisp and heated through.
Add 1/2 of the crumbled bacon, 2 cups of cheddar cheese, 2/3 of the scallions and Greek yogurt into the pot of soup. Stir well and continue to cook over low heat until heated through and cheese is melted.
Serve soup topped with remaining bacon, cheedar cheese, scallions and crisp potato skins.

Grilled chicken tzatziki

 
 From Styleathome.com
Ingredients

• 4 pitas
• Extra yogurt for garnish

For chicken marinade:

• 1/2 cup yogurt

• 2 tbsp honey

• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice + 2 tsp lemon zest

• 2 tsp hot sauce

• 1 to 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 tsp dried oregano

• 1/2 tsp ground cumin

• 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

• Pinch salt

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

For cucumber relish:

• 1 English cucumber, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced (about 4 cups)

• Pinch salt

• 1 cup seeded, finely diced tomato

• 1/2 cup finely diced red onion

• 6 tbsp coarsely chopped and pitted black olives

• 4 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh parsley

• 2 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh dill

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 4 tsp fresh lemon juice

Directions
1 To prepare chicken marinade, whisk all ingredients except chicken breasts together in a bowl. Combine marinade with chicken breasts in a large zip-lock bag, seal and gently shake to evenly distribute marinade over chicken. Place in refrigerator and chill for 2 to 4 hours.

2 Meanwhile, prepare the cucumber relish. Lay cucumber slices in a sieve placed over a bowl and sprinkle with pinch of salt. Leave for about 30 to 40 minutes, or until cucumbers soften and their liquid begins to drain into the bowl. Stir occasionally.

3 Combine the tomato, onion, olives, parsley, dill, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Stir in drained cucumbers, then cover the bowl and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.

4 Grease grill and preheat to medium-high. Remove chicken from zip-lock bag and discard marinade. Grill chicken breasts until cooked through, about 15 to 18 minutes. Remove chicken from grill, let rest for a few minutes and slice thinly on the diagonal. Lay chicken slices on top of each pita round and divide relish evenly among them. Garnish with a little extra yogurt and serve.

Crockpot Grinders, from Big Red Kitchen
one round loaf Artisan Italian Bread
18 slices provolone
18 slices Mortadella
18 slices sweet or hot Capicola
18 slices Genoa Salami
sweet pepper rings
thin onion slices
olive oil
oregano and basil
Large 6 quart oval crockpot
Slice bread 13 times, almost all the way through but leaving 1/2 inch space at the bottom. Layer three slices of cheese and top with 3 slices each of Mortadella, Capicola, and Salami. Top with pepper rings and onions. Sprinkle with Italian Seasonings and repeat 5 times. Fold each bundle in half and tuck down between every other slice of bread to create 6 sandwiches. The sandwich may have “arched” its back, gently push down and wrap tightly in one then a second piece of heavy foil. Place in crockpot on top of a small aluminum foil pan or balls of foil, do not touch bottom of pan. Pour in 1/4 cup of water (I never like to have a “dry” crockpot, it just seemed to make sense to me to have a little water in there), it does nothing for the sandwich since it is wrapped up so tightly in foil. Cover and cook on low for 2-4 hours. To serve cut each sandwich apart, drizzle the insides lightly with olive oil, and enjoy. Makes six sandwiches with the center two being quite generous in size.
Note- you may not need all the meat and cheese as the sandwiches on the ends are a bit smaller and will not hold as much.

*We have done a Roast beef and Provolone French Dip variation and it is great!

• Pumpkin Bread

   

   

   

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from sisters cafe

1 (15oz) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 c vegetable oil
2/3 c water
3 cups sugar
3 1/2 c flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
*Optional Variations–see below
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour pans (this will make 3 small 7×3 loaf pans or 8 mini loaf pans).
In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended.  In a seperate bowl, wisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.  Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended.  Pour into the prepared pans. *if desired stir in mini chocolate chips or sprinkle loaves with crumb topping (recipe follows) before baking.
Bake for about 50-60 minutes in the preheated oven.  Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Do not over cook!

*Optional Variations

Crumb Topping
1/2 cup butter
1/2 c quick oats
1/2 c flour
1/2 c brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
6 TB chopped pecans (if desired–we leave out)
Using a pastry cutter combine topping and sprinkle on top of loaves before baking.
Brown Butter Glaze
1/4 cup butter, warmed in a pan until it turns light brown
2 c powdered sugar
3 Tb hot water or milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
Combine the warm butter and vanilla with enough powdered sugar and water to get the right consistency to pour over loaves.  I put it on pretty thick pictured above, but you could definetly make the glaze thinner by adding a little more hot water or milk.  Also–you can heat it up again if it starts to stiffen.

Mexican Chicken Lime Soup

• From Rachel Ray

6 servings Prep: 15 mins Cook: 30 mins

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 onion, finely chopped

• 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

• 6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

• 2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, finely chopped, plus 2 tablespoons adobo sauce

• 6 cups chicken broth

• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

• Juice of 2 limes

• Salt and pepper

• 1 hass avocado, thinly sliced lengthwise into 12 pieces

• Crushed tortilla chips

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, lower the heat to medium and cook until the onion begins to brown, about 7 minutes. Increase the heat to high, push the vegetables to the side of the pan, add the chicken and cook, stirring, until golden, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chipotles and adobo sauce, then stir in the chicken broth. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, skimming any foam. Stir in the cilantro and lime juice; season with salt and pepper.
2. Place 2 avocado slices in each of 6 soup bowls and pour in the soup. Top with the tortilla chips.

Creamy Potato Soup and Philly Cheese Steaks!

I borrowed and LOVE these recipes from my friend Kami Shaw. You can find her here at Everyday Heaven.

Creamy Chicken Potato Soup

lb chicken (breasts or combination)

1 onion, diced

6 slices of bacon

2 handfuls baby carrots (about 2 cups sliced small)

4-5 potatoes, diced small

1 c milk

1/4 c flour

8 oz package cream cheese

1. Put chicken in pot and cover with water; boil until cooked. Take chicken out of water but keep the broth. When chicken is cool, shred. ( just add the onion to the water too and cook them at the same time)

2. Fry bacon in the pot you will be using for the soup. Fry bacon until crispy. Remove bacon and saute' onions in bacon drippings. (I have never added the bacon but really anything with bacon is delicious..) Add carrots and potatoes. Add 3-4 cups of broth or enough to cover vegetables. Add bouillon cubes or soup base for flavor (I add 4 bouillon cubes). Bring to a boil and simmer until veggies are tender.

3. Mix flour with milk and add to soup. Add chicken and cream cheese into the soup mixture. Slightly soften cream cheese in microwave, then add to soup in little pieces.Simmer until melted and well combined. Add in crumbled bacon. Season with salt and pepper.

Philly Cheesesteaks

1 lb. steak frozen slightly (you really can use any cut; since you're going to cut it up and season it heavily, there's really no need to splurge on a filletmignon.)
2 Tbsp. butter
1 green bell pepper
1 medium yellow onion
White cheese (mozzarella or Swiss or provolone)
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Hot sauce -I didn't have hot sauce, and still super yummy!
4-6 Hoagie rolls

Slice bell peppers and onions . Set aside. Slice frozen meat . Set aside. Heat 2 Tbsp. butter over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add steak and stir-fry. Season heavily with salt and lots of freshly-ground pepper. When meat is about half-cooked, add peppers and onions. Stir occasionally, cooking until most of the liquid is evaporated and meat is cooked through. Season with hot sauce to taste. It's up to you, I didn't use any and I thought they were great. Slice buns and spoon steak mixture inside. Top with cheese and place under broiler (I used my toaster oven) for 1-2 minutes or until cheese is melted and bread is slightly toasty. Enjoy