Pie Triumphs!!!! and How My Readers Can Win Free Stuff!

So if you live in SLC, you have probably heard of Orson Gygi.  For those of you who live out of state, Orson Gygi is Salt Lake's premier culinary store.  You want great supplies for cake and candy making, it's there.  How about a wall of cookie cutters? Yep, that's there too.  Looking for restaurant quality cookware or just that hard to find kitchen gadget?  You're going to find it there.  And on top of all that, you can have them design your dream kitchen, then have them build it for you!  Basically, it's a cook's Nirvana.

Well, last week they had a Not Your Mama's Non-Traditional Pie Contest.  They were looking for unusual pie recipes just in time for Thanksgiving.  They would select 5 winners, publish the recipes and link back to the winner's blogs.  So since I run a blog that was founded on some pie recipes, I thought "why not send some in?".  So I wrote up a pair of quick e-mails and submitted the Peanut Butter Cup Pie and the Peppermint Fudge Pie, just to see if one would break through.

We received the results of the contest yesterday..... and we won.... TWICE!!!!

Yes, they loved them both and we're going to have the recipes posted on their blog Thursday and Friday!  Click here for a link to their blog to see the results.

And yes, I won a prize for the winning pies.  Now since you all are avid readers and have given me great support over the year, the least I can do is show my gratitude to you this holiday season.

So I'm announcing our big Christmas Present Giveaway!  Yes, we'll be giving away a couple of different prizes to Facebook friends this month, which we'll announce over the next couple weeks.  But the first prize we'll reveal is a $20 gift certificate to Orson Gygi!  We'll draw for winners on December 23rd and announce the winners on the site.  So how do you qualify for these great gifts???

1.  If you are already a Facebook friend, congratulations, you're already entered into the contest.

2.  If you're not a Facebook friend, log into Facebook, look for the That Means We Get Pie page and click Like at the top of the page.  You'll then be a friend and be entered in the contest.

3.  You get extra credit for referring new people to the site.  If you convince them to become a Facebook friend, have them e-mail ThatMeansWeGetPie@gmail.com and state that you referred them.  They'll get an extra entry and so will you!  Refer as many people you like and have them e-mail us, there's no limit to the number of entries you can earn.

So go to Facebook, Like our page and get ready for a little bit of Christmas Cheer!  And thanks again to Gygi for selecting my pies as winners!

Liz's Caramel Corn

So since it's the holiday season again, it's time for the neighbor and co-worker gifts.  Last year, I did a HUGE conglomeration of different chocolates.  The picture on the left side of the blog header is a display of everything we did.  Yes...  it took a very long time.  So this year, we're scaling it back and doing something a little different. There will still be a lot of sugary goodness, but it's been narrowed down to a just a few items; popcorn balls, chocolate caramel pretzels, and homemade taffy.   

Now I've tried to make popcorn balls in the past, but I've never been able to hit that perfect caramel consistency.  It's always been a little undercooked, so the caramel is runny, or overcooked, so it coats and solidifies to a chunk that can tear out fillings.

I truly lucked out when it came to marrying a perfect counterpart.   While I can cook rather well, Liz is an expert baker and candy maker.  She professionally designed and decorated wedding cakes for a few years.  She can make designer cupcakes and other confections in mere minutes.  And when it comes to popcorn balls,  I could never hope to compete with her recipe.  The caramel is extremely tasty, yet not too sticky.  They stay together even after a few days.  And they stay chewy for an extremely long time.  No rock-hard Cracker-Jack type caramel here.

Caramel Popcorn Balls

Makes 14-18 popcorn balls

1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1 stick butter
1 14 ounce can condensed milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 gallons of popped popcorn.

Pop your popcorn.  If you don't have a popcorn popper, Newman's Own makes an unflavored popcorn in microwavable bags that works great.  Remove any unpopped kernels and spread the popcorn over two greased cookie sheets

Stir together the corn syrup, salt and brown sugar in a large saucepan over medium high heat until it gets to a boil. Mount your candy thermometer to the side of the pan so you can start monitoring the temperature. Then add the butter and bring it back to a boil.  Add the condensed milk and stir constantly until the temperature reaches the soft ball candy stage (which is 230 degrees). Remove from the heat and add the vanilla.  Pour the mixture evenly over the popcorn on the cookie sheets.  Stir up the popcorn until it's thoroughly coated.  Once it's cool enough to touch, form into popcorn balls.  Allow them to set for about an hour, then wrap in plastic wrap and tie with ribbon or other adornments so they look holiday-ey.

So make of batch of Liz's Caramel Popcorn Balls, hand some out to the neighbors, but save some for yourselves.

Thanksgiving Aftermath and Christmas Presents

The November cooking marathon is over, so we all need to take a couple of days to relax.  I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.  Ours went very well.  Tons of turkey, more stuffing than I could consume and the pies went over extremely well.

Thanks to all of you for reading the recipes I've been posting.  Seriously, we've had more traffic this past week and a half than we've had in the past two months, so I'm very, very appreciative. If you tried one, please post a comment on that particular and let me know how it went. 

But even though we're past the biggest meal of the year, it doesn't mean we can take a break.  Christmas brings a whole new set of cooking challenges.  There's the cookies for Santa, there's building a gingerbread house with the kids, and there are the obligatory neighbor gifts, with snacks like caramel popcorn balls, chocolate caramel pretzel sticks, and homemade taffy that have to be delivered. 

We'll be covering all those essentials in the next 30 days.  You'll also see at least one restaurant review.  And since it's the holidays, there has to be presents.  So make sure you become a Facebook friend of That Means We Get Pie so the elves can possibly deliver a gift to you.  Stay close and keep on the lookout for all sorts of new ideas!

Finally, you may have noticed that there are now a few ads on the site.  Well, Daddy's gotta pay a few bills, and I promise to not make it too intrusive.  But if you want to support the blog and you see something that interests you, feel free to click it and help my boys go to college.

So watch the blogs for a couple of new posts every week until Christmas!

Chicken... or Turkey Noodle Soup with Fresh Noodles

No matter how large or small a turkey we cook, we always have leftovers.  So the next few days are a litany of different uses of turkey meat.  Turkey sandwiches, turkey and broccoli casserole, turkey stir fry, turkey omelettes, and whatever else we can add the protein to.  But the standby is always the turkey soup.  And it can warm you to the bones when the weather has turned cold.  Especially if you get one of those customary snowstorms over the holidays.  The best part is if you've cooked the turkey and stuffing over the past few days, you most likely have other ingredients (veggies, mushrooms, and spices) left over.

Now you can add store-bought noodles to this recipe, that's just fine.  After cooking major meals over the past few days, it's completely understandable.  You can use egg noodles... I prefer a Kluski brand egg noodle.  It's thicker and stays firm in the soup, even after reheating it.  But if you have the extra 10 minutes, making the noodles is easy and the taste is awesome.  I don't have a special recipe for the noodles, because I've found the one in the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook is great.  I will reprint it below, but they get all the credit.

Turkey Noodle Soup / Chicken Noodle Soup

Serves 4-6

64 ounces turkey or chicken broth

1/2 cup celery, sliced into small half moons

3/4 carrots, chopped into small bits. 

1 1/2 tablespoons dried onions

3/4 teaspoon thyme

1/2 teaspoon sage

2 1/2 to 3 cups noodles (either previously dried or homemade - recipe follows)

1/2 cup diced mushrooms

1 clove garlic, minced

1 1/2 to 2 cups diced turkey

Pour the broth into a large stock pot and crank it up to high.  Chop the celery and carrots and add them to the broth as soon as possible.  Add the dried onions, thyme and sage immediately following the carrots and celery. Add your noodles 5 minutes after the pot has reached a boil.  Set your timer for 15 minutes.  When there is about 5 minutes left, add your diced mushrooms, garlic, and diced turkey or chicken. (Since it's leftover cooked meat, it only needs to warm up.  If you are using raw meat instead, add them with the noodles).  When your timer beeps, check the tenderness of the noodles.  If they are too firm, cook until the noodles are to your preferred consistency.  Serve warm with some fresh rolls or bread so you can soak up any leftover broth in the bottom of the bowl.

Homemade Noodles - From Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook
Makes enough for two batches of soup

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 egg yolks
1 whole egg
1/3 cup water
1 teaspoon cooking or olive oil

In a large bowl, stir together 1 3/4 cups of the flour and the salt.  Beat the egg yolks and eggs in a separate bowl, then add the water and oil.  Pour the yolk mixture into an indentation on top of the flour/salt mixture and combine.

Sprinkle the rest of the flour onto a your kneading surface.  Turn the dough out onto the floured surface and knead until it's smooth and elastic (about 8-10 minutes). Divide the dough in half and roll out one portion until it's as thin as you can make it.  Using either a pizza cutter or a pie crust trimmer (so you get the fancy zig-zag edges), cut the dough into the size of noodles you want.  Let stand for about 10-20 minutes, then add them to the soup when it's time. 

The second portion can be frozen for later use.  You can also cut them into noodles, hang them on a hanger or lay them out on a cooling rack for an hour.  Then store them in an airtight bag so they can be used within 3 days if refrigerated.  You can also freeze the cut noodles for almost 9 months.


So make a batch, put your feet up and relax!  You've been cooking for three days straight, you deserve a rest.
 

Homemade Turkey Broth... put the remnants of the bird to good use!

The party has wound down, the cleanup has begun.  You've probably picked the carcass clean of all the meat that you can and are about to throw the remnants of the turkey away... STOP!!!  You can make something extremely good with those leftovers.  Instead of having to buy can after can of chicken or turkey broths for soups, you can make your own broth from all these leftovers.

Now I know, some of you don't want to touch all that skin and fat and bone and other... stuff.  But that's where a good deal of the nutrients of the bird are located.  Also, if you cook down the carcass, you get all of the yummy fat out that thickens up the broth of a good soup, so it doesn't just take like chicken water.

This doesn't need to be made directly after the dinner.  You can place the bird parts in a large bag and store them in the fridge until the next morning, maybe even the day after that.  It takes a little time for everything to cook down, but you don't have to constantly monitor it.  Maybe you hit the after-thanksgiving sales in the morning, come home and let this simmer on the stove as you recover.  And it will make the whole house smell great for a second straight day.

Homemade Turkey Broth
Makes 3-4 quarts

The bones, skin, meaty remnants and leftover non-meat pieces of the turkey
1 medium onion
2 large carrots
3 celery stalks, leaves and all
1 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoon sage
1 teaspoon rosemary
2 bay leaves
4-6 cloves garlic

Place the turkey bits into a large stock pot. Break it up as much as you feel comfortable doing, it doesn't need to be in small parts  Chop the onion in to large half moons, the carrots into inch long chunks, and the celery into large chunks and add to the pot.  Add enough water to completely cover the turkey parts and turn to high.  Cut the garlic cloves into quarters and then add them to the pot, along with all the other spices.

Bring to a boil and let boil for about 30 minutes.  Then bring down the heat to a simmer and let it simmer on the stove for 3-6 hours, depending on the time yo have.  If the water evaporates away, add more hot water to the pot to cover the bones again.  When cooking is complete, strain the mixture through a fine strainer to remove all the solid ingredients.  This should leave you with a nutritious and delicious broth.

Now there are two different ways to handle the broth from this point.  If you like a little fat (and extra flavor) in your broth, then just place them in 2-4 cup containers and place in the fridge if you plan to use it in the next couple of days, or in the freezer to store for later.  There will be some clumps of fat that solidify and float to the top.  That's OK, because they are flavorful when they melt into the recipes.

If the congealing fat grosses you out, then pour the entire batch of broth in a large bowl and place in the fridge for 4 hours.  The fat will float to the top and solidify into a single,large layer.  Skim the fat off the top, then scoop the broth into 2 or 4 cup containers for storage in the fridge (up to 4 days) or in the freezer (3-5 months).

So use the whole bird and then make some of the best chicken/turkey soup of your life.

More Mini-Pie Recipes

So last week I took a plethora of pie to the X96 studios.  There was the Peanut Butter Cup Pie, the Coconut Cream Pie and the trio of miniatures: Caramel Apple, Triple Chocolate and Peanut Butter Banana.  I promised that I would post the filling recipes for the miniature pies as well.  But if you're planning on making these, you'll need the pie crusts too, so here's all of the recipes so you can make a batch of the them for your Thanksgiving party.

The portions listed for the fillings below are to make an entire pan (24 mini cups) of one type.  Remember to half or quarter the recipes if you want to make a number of different types.  Also, if you want to make a number of cream pie flavors at the same time, you can actually just make one large batch of the cream pie filling and flavor parts of it separately.  For example, if you wanted to make half chocolate and half peanut butter, make a whole batch of the cream filling, but after adding the vanilla, pour half into another bowl and dump 1/2 cup peanut butter into the pan and 1/2 cup chopped chocolate or chocolate chips into other bowl.  Stir them quickly so the flavors melt in, then fill the shells.

Miniature Pie Crust
Makes enough crust for 12 shells, so do this twice for 24.  I've found just doubling it and trying to mix it all at once in a large food processor makes the crust less flaky, so just do this recipe twice.



1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons butter, right out of the fridge, don't allow it to warm up
1/4 cup shortening, cold or chilled
1/4 +/- cup ice water

Pour the flour, sugar and salt into a food processor and pulse it 8 times.  Cube the butter into small 1/2 inch or less pieces, drop it around the flour so they have a little space between the pieces and then pulse it another 8 times.  Add the shortening in small bits around the flour and pulse 8 more times.  Add about 1/3 of the water and pulse three times.  Repeat until all the water is incorporated.  Pulse two more times and STOP.  No more pulsing.  Dump the crust dough into a large ziploc bag and squeeze the dough together into a ball.  Place back in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Remove from the fridge and flour your rolling surface.  Roll the dough out into a square that is between 1/8 - 1/4 inch thick.  Using a large glass, cut out small circles of crust.  Place each circle into a miniature cupcake cup and trim any excess off the top.  Once all are formed, place the shells in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes, but check often after the 13 minute mark to make sure it doesn't go beyond a slight golden brown




Caramel Apple Filling
Make filling for 24 pies - half or quarter as needed

3 Braeburn or Fuji apples, peeled
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 jar Caramel Ice Cream topping

Slice the apples into small half moons, and then dice those into very small pieces and place them into a saucepan.  Add the sugar and turn the burner to medium heat. As the apples begin to warm and the sugar and water begin to create a sauce, add the cinnamon and cloves.  Continue to cook the apples until they reduce in size and become tender.  Taste it occasionally to check.   When they are cooked to your preferred softness, remove from the heat.

Using a small spoon, pour some of the caramel topping into the bottom of each shell, enough to cover the bottom and come up the sides slightly.   Add the apple mixture and pack it in the shells.  Top with Whipped cream and additional caramel topping for decoration.



Triple Chocolate Filling
Make filling for 24 pies - half or quarter as needed

3/4 cup sugar
4 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup whipping cream
2 1/2 cups whole milk
4 egg yolks
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips or your favorite milk chocolate, chopped fine
4 ounces dark chocolate
48 white chocolate chips


Combine the sugar and the cornstarch in a medium saucepan and stir thoroughly, which will prevent lumps. Add the salt, whipping cream and milk and whisk to combine.  Separate your egg yolks at this time.  Place them in a small bowl, beat them together, and set it aside for later.


Turn the heat up on the saucepan to medium and begin to cook.  Stir the mixture continually to prevent any scalding or scorching.  After 7-10 minutes, the consistency of the mixture will change from milk to a half-way set pudding.  While still stirring the main mixture, spoon a small amount out of the saucepan and into the egg yolk bowl and immediately start stirring that as well.  Repeat this two more times.  This will warm up the egg yolks so they won't curdle when introduced into the saucepan.  After the third time, pour the egg yolks into the main saucepan and continue to stir for another 3 minutes.  It will thicken up even more.


Add the butter and vanilla and stir until the butter melts into the mixture.  Remove from the heat, add the milk chocolate and mix until it melts in.

Grate the dark chocolate or chop it fine on a cutting board.  Cover the bottoms of the each of the shells with the dark chocolate.  Spoon in the chocolate pie filling.  Finally, press two white chocolate chips into the tops of each of the pies.  Garnish with whipped cream and additional grated chocolate.



Peanut Butter Banana
Make filling for 24 pies - half or quarter as needed

3/4 cup sugar
4 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup whipping cream
2 1/2 cups whole milk
4 egg yolks
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup peanut butter
2 bananas, chopped into small pieces
Peanut butter chips (optional)


Combine the sugar and the cornstarch in a medium saucepan and stir thoroughly, which will prevent lumps. Add the salt, whipping cream and milk and whisk to combine.  Separate your egg yolks at this time.  Place them in a small bowl, beat them together, and set it aside for later.


Turn the heat up on the saucepan to medium and begin to cook.  Stir the mixture continually to prevent any scalding or scorching.  After 7-10 minutes, the consistency of the mixture will change from milk to a half-way set pudding.  While still stirring the main mixture, spoon a small amount out of the saucepan and into the egg yolk bowl and immediately start stirring that as well.  Repeat this two more times.  This will warm up the egg yolks so they won't curdle when introduced into the saucepan.  After the third time, pour the egg yolks into the main saucepan and continue to stir for another 3 minutes.  It will thicken up even more.


Add the butter and vanilla and stir until the butter melts into the mixture.  Remove from the heat, add the peanut butter and mix until it melts in.

Slice the bananas into very small pieces and lay them at the bottom of each of the shells.  Spoon the filling into the shells on top of the bananas. 

If you have them, run some peanut butter chips over a cheese grater, or just finely chop them on a cutting board.  Garnish each of the pies with some whipped cream and sprinkle the peanut butter shavings on top.




So try these recipes for your Thanksgiving feast and tell me how they turn out!!

Thanksgiving Contest WINNER and a touch of Shatner!

So first, thank you all so much for the comments about the radio appearance.  It's gone over very well and we've had more traffic in the past two days than we had in a month!  So thank you for the support and we hope you all stick around.  There are more recipes, restaurant reviews and a number of giveaways on the horizon.

Second, since it's getting close to Thanksgiving, the thought of a fried turkey starts to pop up in some people's heads.  I've had them, I like them, but it's not extremely fun to stand around and monitor it if it's 20 degrees outside.  But worst of all, they can be dangerous.  How dangerous?  How about setting William Shatner on fire dangerous?  State Farm and Shatner teamed up for a little PSA about turkey frying that you can see here.

And I should probably tell you who won the Thanksgiving Giveaway!  Thanks to everyone who entered the contest.  It is time to go to the randomizer to determine who is the winner.  And the magic number is 10, which translates into .....

Michelle Lakeit! 

Congratulations!  I'll be contacting you soon to schedule delivery of the prize.  Now don't go unliking the site just yet.  There are more contests coming in the next few weeks.  And if you leave now, you don't get the Christmas candy recipes coming up in the next four weeks.  So hang around, it'll be worth it.

Thanksgiving Contest ends TODAY!

Remember, the Thanksgiving Prize Giveaway ends today!  We're giving away a digital thermometer, the essential tool for your Turkey and candy making endeavors over the next few weeks.  How do you enter?

1.  If you are already a Facebook friend, congratulations, you're already entered into the contest.

2.  If you're not a Facebook friend, log into Facebook, look for the That Means We Get Pie page and click Like at the top of the page.  You'll then be a friend and be entered in the contest.

3.  You get extra credit for referring new people to the site.  If you convince them to become a Facebook friend, have them e-mail ThatMeansWeGetPie@gmail.com and state that you referred them.  They'll get an extra entry and so will you!  Refer as many people you like and have them e-mail us, there's no limit to the number of entries you can earn.

So Like the facebook page today by 10:00 tonight and we'll draw for a winner.  Good Luck!

Welcome X96 listeners! Here's the Peanut Butter Cup Pie and other recipes

Thanks to all of you X96 listeners for checking out this site after today's Tasty Pie Segment.  I love Kerry, Bill and Gina and enjoy bringing them pies on occasion, especially since they're being held captive in the studio for the time being.


First, if you're interested in entering the Thanksgiving Giveaway, please log into Facebook and Like the That Means We Get Pie page.  That will earn you one entry.  If you refer someone else to Like the page, have that person send an e-mail to ThatMeansWeGetPie@gmail.com, mentioning who referred them.  Both you and they will receive an additional entry into the contest.  This won't be the only contest we do.  A number of free meals are coming shortly.  So definitely sign up now.

Second, instructions on how create the Mini-Pie shells, as well as a few pie variations, is listed here.  Any pie recipe can be used to fill the shells, just make sure the filling is cooked before you fill them.  I'll be writing a mini-post about the three types of filling I did for today's show in the next week.


Third, the recipe for the classic Coconut Cream Pie is listed here, but all of my basic pies were posted yesterday, and you can find that list here.

Finally, here are complete instructions for the Peanut Butter Cup Pie, start to finish. It's a basic Peanut Butter Cream Pie with an Oreo cookie crust and two layers of chocolate ganache. To some, it sounds intimidating, but anyone can make this.  It does take some time, but each step is pretty simple and you need no special culinary training to do any of them.




 

Peanut Butter Cup Pie
Serves 8


Crust
1 package regular Oreos
1 stick butter


Scrape the filling off of the Oreos and place them in a large Ziploc bag.  Eat discarded filling…if you really want to.  Crush the cookies in the bag to your desired consistency, somewhere between very small chunks to almost powdered.  Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  Once butter is melted, add the cookies and stir until the cookies soak up the butter.  Scoop the mixture into a pie plate and press the mixture flat until the entire plate is covered.  Bake the crust in a 350 degree oven for 8 minutes, then set aside to cool.




Ganache

1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

8 ounces dark,semi-sweet or milk chocolate (according to your taste), chopped fine

3/8 cup heavy cream

1 1/2 tablespoon light corn syrup

Slowly melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium low heat.  Dump 6 ounces of the chocolate into the saucepan and stir until all the chocolate and butter is melted. Next slowly pour in some of the cream and mix until it's incorporated.  Keep repeating until all of the cream is included.  Finally, add the corn syrup.  Once it's all thoroughly combined, remove from the heat.  Pour enough of the chocolate into the pie crust to cover the bottom, then place the crust in the fridge to chill.  Place the rest of the ganache and the leftover 2 ounces of chocolate aside to use later (place in the fridge if you plan on taking longer than a half hour to complete the pie).

Peanut Butter Filling
3/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup whipping cream
2 1/2 cups whole milk
4 egg yolks
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup peanut butter


Combine the sugar and the cornstarch in a medium saucepan and stir thoroughly, which will prevent lumps. Add the salt, whipping cream and milk and whisk to combine.  Separate your egg yolks at this time.  Place them in a small bowl, beat them together, and set it aside for later.


Turn the heat up on the saucepan to medium and begin to cook.  Stir the mixture continually to prevent any scalding or scorching.  After 7-10 minutes, the consistency of the mixture will change from milk to a half-way set pudding.  While still stirring the main mixture, spoon a small amount out of the saucepan and into the egg yolk bowl and immediately start stirring that as well.  Repeat this two more times.  This will warm up the egg yolks so they won't curdle when introduced into the saucepan.  After the third time, pour the egg yolks into the main saucepan and continue to stir for another 3 minutes.  It will thicken up even more.


Add the butter and vanilla and stir until the butter melts into the mixture.  Remove from the heat, add the peanut butter and mix until it melts in.


Remove the pie crust from the fridge and add the peanut butter cream, leaving about a quarter inch at the top for the final step.  Set the excess filling aside to snack on later.


Not put that small saucepan with the ganache in it back on low heat.  Add the remaining chocolate and stir until it melts into the ganache and it smooths out.  Remove from the heat and pour over the top of the pie.  Use a spatula to smooth it evenly over the top all the way to the edge.   Let it sit on the counter for 15 so the chocolate sets, then cover in plastic and refrigerate for at least two hours. 


Serve with whipped cream and any other garnish you'd like.


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So make one of these tonight, or try it for your Thanksgiving dinner.  Let me know how it goes.  And please feel free to come back anytime.  We post a new recipe at least once a week, some times two, or we'll add a special feature here and there.  Either way, I guarantee it will be entertaining.

A Cacophony of Cream Pies

I've posted this once before, but since we're days away from Thanksgiving, and since I will be appearing on X96's Radio From Hell Show tomorrow at 7:00, I thought it would be good to post it again.  If you're assigned the dessert for the big dinner, feel free to use one of these cream pies.

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So since it's the holidays, it's time to make a batch of pies again.  I'm always making a few for Thanksgiving Dinner.  Then I remember how much I like them, get the craving for more, and so I make a few more... and a few more...  Anyway, I know you all will be taking some to your dinners as well, so here's every variation of the Cream Pies that I make.  Make sure you read through the entire recipe.  The first section tells you how to make the pies, but there are slight variations at the end for each different recipe.  If you don't read ahead, you may add too much sugar, not enough butter and it won't taste nearly as good as it could.

Basic Cream Pie Recipe

2 1/2 cups whole milk

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

3/4 cup sugar

4 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 egg yolks

2 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Place the egg yolks into a small container, mix them up and set aside for the time being.  In a medium saucepan, thoroughly combine sugar, cornstarch and salt.  Add the milk and cream and whisk until the sugar and cornstarch lumps are gone.  Cook over medium heat and stir constantly to prevent scorching. Once the mixture starts thickening (about 8-10 minutes), scoop a small amount of the mixture into the egg yolks and immediately start stirring the yolks. (Tricky part, continue to stir the other mixture too so it does not burn). Do this a few times so the yolks slowly warm up.  This will prevent them from curdling when they are added to the main mixture.  Now add the yolks into the saucepan very slowly, stirring the entire time.  Once added, pour in the butter and cook for two more minutes.  Remove from heat and add the vanilla.  Immediately pour it into a pre-cooked crust and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

Differences to make each different type of pie…..

Chocolate Cream Pie – When you add the butter, add 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips or 6 oz of your favorite high-end chocolate and stir the mixture until completely melted.  Once the pie is cooled, garnish with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

Coconut Cream Pie – Increase the sugar to 1 whole cup at the beginning.  When you add the butter, add 1 ¼ cups of coconut and mix well. Once the pie is cooled, garnish with whipped cream and toasted coconut (to toast, broil a few pinches of coconut in an oven safe dish until brown, then sprinkle over the pie)

Banana Cream Pie – Increase the sugar to 1 whole cup at the beginning of the recipe.  Layer the bottom of the crust with slices of bananas.  Pour the vanilla pie filling  into the crust over all the sliced bananas.  Once the pie is cooled, garnish with whipped cream and banana slices

Strawberry, Raspberry, Blackberry or Blueberry Cream Pie – You can layer the bottom of the crust with sliced or crushed fruit.  Then as you add the butter, add ½ to ¾ cup of crushed fruit and mix thoroughly.  Garnish the top with whipped cream and slices of the fruit

German Chocolate Pie – Reduce the sugar to ½ cup.  As you add the butter, add 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1 cup of coconut and ¼ cup finely chopped pecans.  Once the pie is cooled, take storebought hot caramel (or homemade if you’re skilled enough) and drizzle all over the top of the pie, covering most of the surface.  Garnish with whipped cream and sprinkle with chopped pecans, toasted coconut, and shaved chocolate.

Butterscotch Pie – Increase sugar to 1 cup and the butter to 6 tablespoons.  As you add the butter, add 2 oz of scotch (the alcohol will cook out).  Stir for 5 more minutes instead of two to cook off excess liquid.  Garnish with whipped cream.

Butter Rum Pie – Increase sugar to 1 cup and the butter to 6 tablespoons.  As you add the butter, add 2 oz of dark rum (or light if you prefer the taste, don’t worry, the alcohol will cook out).  Stir for 5 more minutes instead of two to cook off excess liquid.  Garnish with whipped cream.

Peanut Butter Pie – Increase the sugar to 1 full cup.  When adding the butter add 1 cup of creamy or chucky peanut butter.  After cooling, garnish with whipped cream and crushed peanuts.  Use a regular or Oreo Cookie Crust and slather on as much hot fudge sauce as you’d like (recipe at the bottom of this page).  If using the Oreo Crust add chocolate shavings to the crushed peanut garnish.

Peppermint Fudge Pie – Before starting to cook, crush enough starlight mints or candy canes into very small pieces to fill 1 cup (about 20 starlight mints).  Add the candy when you add the butter and stir until they melt.  Add ¼ tsp peppermint extract when you add the vanilla, as well as 5 drops of red food coloring. Pour into an Oreo Cookie Crust.  Garnish with whipped cream, crushed peppermint candy and pour hot fudge over it when serving.

Oreo Cookie Crust

1 package oreos

8 tablespoons butter

Scrape the filling off of the oreos and place them in a large Ziploc bag.  Eat discarded filling…if you really want to.  Crush the cookies in the bag to your desired consistency, somewhere between very small chunks to almost powdered.  Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  Once butter is melted, add the cookies and stir until the cookies soak up the butter.  Scoop the mixture into a pie plate and press the mixture flat until the entire plate is covered

Hot Fudge Sauce

4 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate

1 ounce unsweetened chocolate

1 stick butter

3 cups powdered sugar

1 cups evaporated milk

¾ cups whole milk

1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat, then add the chocolates, increase to medium heat and fully melt them into the butter. Add half the powdered sugar and milks and stir until incorporated.  Add the other half and stir.  Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat and simmer for about 8 minutes until it’s thick and creamy. Stir in the vanilla. The sauce will thicken as it cools.  Store in a mason jar in the fridge if you aren’t using it immediately.  To reheat, place the desired amount in a small bowl and microwave on high for 20-30 seconds.

Seasoned Turkey with Gravy... brine it for a very moist bird

If you've cooked a Thanksgiving dinner or two, then you know how an overcooked turkey can ruin a dinner.  Too long in the oven, not enough time thawing it, or no preparation done to the bird at all and the meat can turn into a spindly, meaty clump of fibers with the consistency of pine shavings.  And just as dry.

And just as embarrassing is cutting into the meat and realizing that the center is still pink inside...

So I discovered a few insurance policies you can enlist that will force the turkey to turn out just the way you'd like.  They may add about 15 minutes of prep time, and you have to start preparing it earlier than normal, but it's definitely worth it.  Especially if you have an aunt/sister/grandmother/mother-in-law/resident B!&@# in the family who likes to critique your cooking.  Have them try a few moist slices from the breast and tell them to suck on the drumstick.

First, completely thaw the bird.  Nothing wrong with using a frozen turkey.  I do it all the time, because I'm not made of money.  But if you don't COMPLETELY thaw the bird, the outer meat will be much warmer than the inner meat will be as you start to cook.  This means one part will be done while the other part is still raw, or one part is properly cooked and the other is as dry as the Sahara.

Second, try brining the meat.  Brining the turkey will force a little more flavor and moisture into the meat, which will give you a better chance of a very moist bird.  It all goes back to your biology class, where you learned that an excess of salt and water on either side of a membrane will always try permeate the tissues to equalize the level of salt on both sides.  Because there's less salt inside the bird than in the brine, it'll suck some through the skin and into the meat, along with some of the water, spices and sugar.  And that little extra salt will help it retain water, like I do when I eat a foot long Italian Sub from Coronado's.  Retained water means more moist meat.  And finally, brining it will help a previously frozen bird thaw completely because it's soaking in water for almost 24 hours..

Third, DO NOT TRUST THE TENDER TIMER!!!!  Tender timers never work correctly.  I've seen a turkey breast reach 175 degrees and the tender timer wasn't anywhere close to popping.  They're no where close to accurate and if you trust them, they will turn your kitchen into a den of lies and a room of shame!  Rely on your handy dandy digital thermometer instead.  Stick it into the thickest part of the breast if you're doing just a breast or stick it into the thickest part of the thigh if you're doing a whole turkey.  And don't let it go over 168 degrees before pulling the turkey out and letting it rest by wrapping it in a towel and some tin foil.  It'll finish it's cooking on the counter and be perfect when you slice it up

A turkey breast or a turkey under 15 pounds will most likely fit in a large stockpot when you brine.  But if you're preparing a very large bird, you'll need a large vessel to soak the turkey (like a 5 gallon Gott drink cooler, keeping ice in it to keep the mixture as cool as it would be in the refrigerator) Then triple or quadruple the brine and water amounts to cover the bird completely in the large water cooler.

Brined and Seasoned Turkey Breast
Prep time is a minimum 4 hours, cook time is around 3-5 hours depending on the size of the bird, so read through completely and prepare properly.

Meat
1 8-14 pound turkey or a large turkey breast

Brining Stage
If you're brining it in a stock pot, one batch of this is enough.  If you are using a Gott cooler for a very large bird, then you'll want to triple/quadruple it.

1 quart water
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoon sage
1 1/2 teaspoon rosemary
2 cloves of garlic, chopped into eighths
2 or 3 more quarts cold water

In a large saucepan, combine the water, salt, sugar and spices.  Turn the heat to high and stir the concoction so the sugar and salt begin to dissolve.  Bring it to a boil and keep it there for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and pour into a large stockpot (or whatever large vessel you've chosen to use soak the bird in).  Add two quarts of the cold water and stir to mix.  Finally, add the turkey , breast side down, submerging as much as possible.  If it won't completely fit, let the legs poke out, but by putting the breast side down, the majority of the meat will still brine.  Cover completely with plastic wrap and soak for at least 4 hours in the fridge (Best if left overnight).

Roasting Prep / Cooking Stage
3 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons thyme
2 teaspoons sage
1 teaspoon rosemary
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped very fine
Freshly ground pepper

In a small bowl, combine the thyme, sage, and rosemary.  Remove the turkey breast from the brine and thoroughly dry it (use paper towels).  Place it breast side up on a rack in an aluminum foiled lined roasting pan.  Rub the breast with the butter until it is coated.  Sprinkle the spice mixture all over the breast evenly.  Then spread the garlic over the breast as well.  Stuff the bird at this point, if you want (my stuffing recipe is here).  Stick your meat thermometer into the thickest part of the breast if cooking a breast, making sure you don't go more than halfway through the meat.  If you are cooking a whole bird, stick the thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh.  Cover the breast in a tin foil tent and place in a 325 degree oven.  Cooking time will be about 20 minutes a pound, but rely on your meat thermometer.  When the temperature reaches 150 degrees, remove the foil tent so the skin will crisp up.  When it reaches 167 degrees, pull it from the oven, cover it in tin foil and a large beach towel.  The temperature will increase to around 173-175.  When the temperature begins to drop (about a half hour), remove the towel, tin foil and thermometer. 

Now since you have all these wonderful meat drippings captured by our roasting pan's aluminum foil lining, we can make a great gravy.  The drippings are important, not only because they have great turkey goodness in them, but some of the spices have mixed in.  So there is very little you'll need to add to it for some great taste.

Turkey gravy

Turkey drippings

1 tablespoon Cornstarch

8 to 12 ounces turkey broth/stock (substitute chicken broth if you don't have any turkey stock)

Pour the turkey drippings from the bottom of the roasting pan into a small saucepan.  Add the tablespoon of cornstarch and mix together so the cornstarch is incorporated.  This will prevent lumps. Add the turkey broth and turn the heat up to medium-high.  Take it to the boiling point, whisking the mixture occasionally.  Remove from the heat and pour into a serving vessel. Allow to cool for a couple minutes.

So try this recipe out and see if the meat is as moist and tender as it is for me.

Raspberry Pretzel Jello Salad - The answer to everyday jello!

If you live in the state of Utah, you know the area's affection with the Jello Salad.  At every holiday gathering, you're guaranteed to see at least one.  And the variations are wide and bizarre.  Yes, I have seen the cake pan full of Jello with fruit cocktail mixed in.  I have beheld tons of bundt cake or other elaborately molded jellos laced with every fruit imaginable.   I have even seen the infamous Green Jello with Carrots and I was adequately horrified. Most Jello concoctions are frightening and just don't taste that good. 

That is, until my sister brought this dish to a family gathering.  It's delicious.  It has the sweetness of the raspberries and the Jello, the tartness of the cream cheese and the saltiness of the pretzel crust.  Yes, pretzels.  How do pretzels taste in Jello?  About 20 times better than the grainy bits of "melon" that is in fruit cocktail, that's all!

It's borderline to call this a true Jello dish, because it has so many other ingredients, but it only takes 20 minutes longer that boiling up some jello and dumping a can of fruit cocktail in a mold.  And best of all, it won't make your family members feel like they have to politely choke it down.  They'll go back for seconds.

Raspberry Pretzel Jello Salad

Serves at least 12

2 cups crushed pretzels

3/4 cup melted butter
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 8 oz. package cream cheese
8 ounces Cool Whip
1 cup powdered sugar
1 large box raspberry Jello
2 pkg. frozen raspberries

Mix together crushed pretzels, melted butter and the 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar. Then press the combined ingredients into a 9 x 13 inch pan. Bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool for about 20 minutes. Mix cream cheese, Cool Whip and 1 cup of powdered sugar; pour and spread over pretzel crust.

Dissolve large package of raspberry Jello in 2 cups boiling water. Add 2 packages of frozen raspberries, not drained. Mix well and pour over cream cheese. Chill for two hours.

So if you're required to bring the Jello at Thanksgiving, bring this instead so you do not inflict another Jello Horror upon your loved ones.

Homemade Sausage and Herb Stuffing

Up until about age 10, I avoided stuffing like the plague.  I thought it was just nasty bread chunks soaked in in turkey juice with lots of weird stuff mixed in.  And I was SO wrong...

Personally, this is my favorite side dish at Thanksgiving dinner, especially this recipe.  It my mother's design with a few tweaks in it.  She uses freshly ground sausage from the butcher block, lots of butter and fresh veggies.  It so good, sometimes it makes the turkey meat on your plate an afterthought.

Stuffing that's been inside the bird is my favorite.  It has the opportunity to soak up all that extra turkey fat and the essence of the breast meat.  But nowadays, some people really freak out about possible cross-contamination or infection by little bacteria if the bird isn't cooked long enough.  Well, this can be avoided by... say it with me... cooking the bird long long enough. An opportunity of infection comes from under-cooking the turkey or not completely thawing it before cooking.  There are a number of steps that ensure a well-cooked and flavorful bird.  But that's another post (which is coming in a week)...

If you are that worried about salmonella, don't have enough room in the turkey, or just want stuffing without the bird, you can bake it in an oven-safe container separately and it will turn out great!  Any you can choose any type of bread you would like.  I've seen people use cornbread, sourdough, or just the standard dressing boxes.  If you live in Utah, they make their own dressing strips from their dried bakery bread.  It's excellent!

Homemade Sausage and Herb Stuffing

1/2 pound country style sausage
2 stalks of celery, finely sliced into thin half moons
1 half of a medium sized onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons butter
2 good sized white or brown mushrooms, diced
1 box (18 oz) herb flavored stuffing bread
1-2 14 oz can chicken broth
1 teaspoons thyme
1 teaspoon sage
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder.

In a large saute pan, break the sausage up into small pieces and brown them all thoroughly. Remove the sausage to a small bowl and then add the butter.  Once the butter has melted, add the celery, mushroom and onion and saute until the onions are translucent and the celery is softened.  Sprinkle the spices over the vegetables just before they have completed cooking.  Add the stuffing bread and stir to combine.  Pour the chicken broth in and stir until combined.  You want to add enough broth so the bread is moist, but not enough that it starts to disintegrate when you stir, so add more than one can slowly...  Once thoroughly mixed, add the sausage back into the mixture and stir for another 2 minutes.  Transfer to an oven-safe container. 

From here, you have two options.  If you wish to stuff the bird itself, do it.  Make sure that the bird reaches 173 degrees when you cook it so the stuffing is thoroughly cooked as well.

The second option is to leave the stuffing in the bowl, cover it and bake it in the oven until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.  If you're cooking it at the same time as a bird, it should take about 30-40 minutes.   So once the bird reaches 150 degrees, pop it in the oven and check the temperature often. (or just use your digital thermometer).

Thanksgiving PRIZE Giveaway and 1,500 visits!

So we've reached another milestone, 1,500 visits!  Once again, thanks to everyone for their continued support and your wonderful comments on the recipes. 

There's a lot in the works in the next 30 days!  First, of course, is a large list of recipes just in time for your Thanksgiving dinner, including a great Turkey preparation and all of the trimmings in the next two weeks.  Second, you'll be hearing me on the X96 Radio from Hell Show on November 16th; more details on the broadcast next week.  And third, we'll be including restaurant reviews in the next month. We have a few other surprises as well, so stay tuned...

And to celebrate the upcoming special events and the holiday season, we're running a contest!  What's the most essential tool for the holiday season?  A digital thermometer!  It's an essential tool for cooking a turkey.  NEVER trust the tender timers... they LIE!  And if you're making any candies, you'll need a good thermometer to make sure you're taffy doesn't become rock candy and your caramels don't become slag.

 We'll be giving it away to one of our Facebook friends. So how does the contest work? To be entered into the drawing, do the following....

1.  If you are already a Facebook friend, congratulations, you're already entered into the contest.

2.  If you're not a Facebook friend, log into Facebook, look for the That Means We Get Pie page and click Like at the top of the page.  You'll then be a friend and be entered in the contest.

3.  You get extra credit for referring new people to the site.  If you convince them to become a Facebook friend, have them e-mail ThatMeansWeGetPie@gmail.com and state that you referred them.  They'll get an extra entry and so will you!  Refer as many people you like and have them e-mail us, there's no limit to the number of entries you can earn.

We'll be drawing the winner on November 17th and notifying the winner immediately through Facebook.  That way we can collect your information and get the prize into the mail on the 18th.  Hopefully, you'll have it in time for the big day!

So make sure you and all your friends Like the That Means We Get Pie page on Facebook and prepare to win!

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

OK, with Halloween over ::sniff::, we move into the largest cooking season of the year:  Thanksgiving.   And it's never too early to start preparing for the big day. 

So during the month of November, I'm going to post the recipes I've used for making the big turkey dinner. 

We'll start with the classic mashed potatoes.  I remember my Grandma Johnson cooking a giant batch of potatoes, straining out the water and then pounding them into oblivion with an old school potato masher.  She'd add a ton of butter and cream to get the necessesary smoothness.  Once again, I said that they were good, I never mentioned anything about low fat.

Anyway, the potatoes were so good, you could have eaten them without any additional garnishment; gravy or extra butter not needed.  So I've concocted this recipe in her honor.  I wish I had her original proportions, but we never wrote them down.  I've also added the garlic in as well, because I'm a garlic lover.  If it's not your thing, just leave it out.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Serves 10-16, can be halved for non Thanksgiving day uses.

5 pounds russet potates
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tsp salt
2 tsp black pepper

Scrub all the dirt off the potatoes and peel them if you wish (I'd suggest not to peel them, I like the flavor they bring).  Bring a stockpot of 4-6 quarts of water to a boil.  Chop up the potatoes into 3/4 inch cubes and add them to the boiling water.  The size isn't as important as much as consistantly making the larger pieces the same size  Smash three cloves of garlic, by laying them on the counter, placing the flat side of a large knife's blade over them and then slamming your hand onto it.  Add the smashed cloves to the potatoes and water.  Cook them for 20-30 minutes, or until the average cube splits apart when pressed by a fork.

While the potatoes are cooking, place the 2 cloves of minced garlic and the whipping cream in a saucepan, and cook it on low (2 out of ten).  This will infuse the cream with the garlic. Do not let it boil.

When the potatoes are done, strain the potatoes thoroughly, getting all the water out you can.  Pour them into the bowl of a stand mixer.  Using the paddle attachment, mash up the potatoes.  Add the butter and mix for another 30 seconds.  Next pour in half of the whipping cream and mix for 15-20 seconds.  If the consistancy is not smooth enough, keep adding the cream until it is to your liking.  Finally, add the salt and pepper and mix for 20 more seconds.  Remove from the mixer and serve.

So make some of this with ANY meal you want, but make sure it's one of the side dishes in the fancy bowls on the Thanksgiving table.