Whole Wheat Pie Crust

Ingredients

• 5 oz whole wheat pastry flour
• 100g solid fat (see notes)
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2-6 tbsp ice water (depending on kitchen conditions)
• 1/2 tsp sugar (optional)
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional)

Preparation

1. Cut the fat into little chunks and stick it in the freezer
2. Put the flour, salt, sugar and cinnamon (if you are using) in a food processor
3. Do 5 one second pulses
   
4. If you are using two types of fat, put the one that is most like butter into the processor and pulse 10 times. Put the other fat in and pulse 5 times.
5. Add 2 tbsp of water and pulse 6 times. Check the mixture to see if it holds together when pinched. If it does not, add 1 tbsp at a time and pulse 4 times until the dough holds.
6. Turn out the dough onto your counter and smear it out with the palm of your hand. Smear 3 or 4 times to get the whole ball of dough. Gather the dough up with a dough scraper and repeat
   
7. Pat the dough into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Push it nice and flat and chill for 30 minutes

Notes

• I like to do 85g unsalted butter and 15g lard This is about 6 tbsp/1 tbsp
  

Apple Streusel Pie

Ingredients

• A single pie crust
• 3 lb apples (As many as 4 lbs for a 9.5 inch deep pan and as little as 2.5 for a shallow pan)
• 3/4 cup sugar (1/4 cup white and 1/2 brown if you want)
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice (I like the vinegar)
  
• 3 tbsp all purpose flour
  
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into little chunks
  
• 1 cup of streusel

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350
2. Mix the flour, cinnamon, ginger, allspice and sugar in a small bowl
   
3. Core and peel the apples
4. Cut the apples into thin slices, then in half, giving you thin half moons. You can go further if you want, making little quarter moons. This is good if you are trying to jam a large number of apples into a small pan, or if your apples are really big.
5. Toss the apples, the vinegar and the dry mixture together in a big bowl
6. Let the apples sit while you roll out the pie crust and line the pan. Toss them every now and again, making sure to get the juice at the bottom up to the top.
7. Put the apples into the pie pan and dot the top with the butter
   
8. Sprinkle the streusel on top - do not press it down
9. Bake for 30 minutes, then put the pan on a baking sheet and bake for another 30-40 minutes
10. Remove from oven and let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting
    

Notes

• To avoid working with the pie crust in a really hot kitchen, turn the oven on after you toss the apples, and before you roll out the dough. My oven takes about 12-15 minutes to heat up, and this is the perfect amount of time for me to roll out the dough, put it in the pan, and so on.
• You could do without the streusel and put a second pie crust on top. That is classic and oh so good. Make sure to cut vent holes in the top crust before baking. Also, brush the top with milk and sprinkle with sugar. I like to use big chunky sugar for this, as it looks nicer.
  

Steel Cut Oats: Basic

Ingredients

• 1 oz (1/4 cup) steel cut oats (Irish/Scottish oatmeal)
• 7 oz (3/4 cup) water or juice

Preparation

1. Put oats and water in a pot that you have a lid for, bring to a boil
   
2. Reduce the heat about as low as you can and cover. If you are using a gas stove, be careful not to reduce it so low that it goes out when you turn your back.
3. Let it go for 20 minutes. You can stir it occasionally if you desire. I don't, unless I am feeling antsy.

Notes

• Check my earlier post for a tastier methods and notes on fruit additions, etc
  

Steel Cut Oats

Ingredients

• A little bit of butter (Optional)
  
• 1 oz (1/4 cup) steel cut oats (Irish/Scottish oatmeal)
• 7 oz (3/4 cup) water or juice
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon (Optional)
  
• 1/8 tsp ground ginger (Optional)
• Pinch of salt (Optional)
• Dried or fresh fruit: Bananas, raisins, dried apricots, etc (Optional)

Preparation

1. Melt the butter over low heat in a heavy pot that you have a lid for
2. Add the oats and toast until you can smell a mild nutty scent
3. Add the water and bring to a boil
4. Add the spices and fruit
   
5. Reduce the heat about as low as you can and cover. If you are using a gas stove, be careful not to reduce it so low that it goes out when you turn your back.
6. Let it go for 20 minutes. You can stir it occasionally if you desire. I don't, unless I am feeling antsy.

Notes

• I make this at least six days a week.
• When I say 'a bit of butter' I mean whatever amount you feel comfortable with. You can get by on as little as 1 tsp. I usually just slice off a thin pat, it is probably about 1/2 tbsp.
  
• You can omit the toasting step. Give it a try, though.
  
• If you made it with spices and fruit, and you tend to add dairy, try it without, it is very good. I like dairy, but I have found that this is really good without it. If you do add dairy, add it to the pot at the end and warm it up a bit. Consider using yogurt or buttermilk for a little tang.
  
• If I don't have any fruit, I frequently add a dollop of jam when I serve it. It is pretty good that way, but a little sugary.
• If you have fruit, and you like to add sugar to your oats, try omitting the sugar and using fruit to sweeten your oats. I am not some anti-sugar advocate, but plain old sugar tends to dull the palate and wash out flavor. Add lots of fruit and you will get plenty of sweetness, without the homogeneity of sweeteners.
  
• Adding bananas before cooking the oats makes them really mushy when you serve. I like this, you may not. Also, if your bananas are green and under-ripe, cut them up and add them anyway, they will come out quite tasty.
• Peaches are great in oats, but remove the skins.
  
• Dried fruit is great in this. I default to raisins, but dried cherries and apricots are also good.
• Irish oatmeal is steel cut, Scottish oatmeal is stone ground. This recipe works pretty well for both. This will produce a slightly soupy oatmeal with stone ground oats, but it tastes fine, and if you do fruits and other things, it won't matter at all.
• Do not try this with any of the following: Rolled oats, Old Fashioned oats, Quick cooking oats or Instant oats. Those are for cookies, and not really all that good for eating, in my opinion.
  

Steel Cut Oats: Volume to Weight Conversion

1 oz oats to 7 oz water works great

Posole

Ingredients

• 12 oz dried white posole
• 1.5 lb pork butt, cut into 1 inch portions
  
• 1 quart pork stock
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp salt
• 2 bay leaves
• Leaves from 3 sprigs of thyme
• 1 small onion, diced
  
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 cup chile sauce

Preparation

1. Soak the posole overnight in water at least 2 inches over the level of the kernels
   
2. Drain the posole and put in heavy pot with 3 quarts of water
3. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours (I added a quart of hot water at the 1 hour mark to replenish, but this depends on environment more than anything)
   
4. Brown the pork in a skillet
   
5. Add everything else, simmer for 1.5 hours
6. Do not add any more liquid, let the mixture get to a stewy consistency

Notes

• This was crazy good
• Next time: Half posole and half black beans, same process.
  
• Next time, I want to use a bone in pork butt, not cut into pieces and put it in when I start the posole. After 3 hours of stewing, it should be falling apart, and I can use a fork to shred it back into the stew. If I do that, I would omit the pork stock and just add water with the rest of the ingredients.
  

Red Chile Sauce

Ingredients

• 4 oz/116g dried red chilies (California chilies was what I used)
• 1 oz dried ancho chilies
• 1 oz garlic
• 2.5 cups water
• 3 tbsp flour
• 3 tbsp oil (any kind, I like non-extra-virgin olive oil for this)
  
• 1/4 cup vinegar (red wine, apple cider are good choices)
  
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano

Preparation

1. Remove stems and seeds from chilies, peel garlic
2. Steam chilies and garlic for 20-30 minutes
3. Split chilies and garlic into three portions and puree each portion, along with 1/2 cup water in a blender
4. Pour each batch of puree through a strainer into a bowl, pushing with a scraper or spoon
5. Return the pulp to the blender along with 1 cup water, puree
6. Pass this last batch through the strainer and then scrape the bottom of the strainer
7. In a saucepan, make a nut-colored roux with the flour and oil (Stir flour and oil over medium-low heat until the mixture is nut brown)
   
8. Remove the roux from the heat, and let it cool for a few minutes, then add the puree to the pan
9. Bring to a simmer (cover it with a screen!) and let it bubble away for 10 minutes or so.
10. Add the rest of the ingredients and let it simmer for another 10 minutes
11. Thin by adding water, thicken by reducing

Notes

• If you do not cool the roux, the sauce will splatter all over your kitchen. It can eject close to 3 or 4 tbsp of sauce! I am not joking. And, what it is flinging is pureed chilies, not something that is super easy to clean up. Wear an apron and DO NOT add the puree to a really hot pan!
• Use a screen over your pot. This is a super easy recipe, but it will fill your mind with bad memories and make you never want to do it again if you don't use a screen and if you add the puree to a hot pot. Epically if you get a drop of hot chile puree in your eye. I thought the time that I scratched the inside of my nose right after chopping fresh chilies was bad, oh my god.
• Steaming garlic and chilies smells so good.