I made a pie!

Recent events in our house have made it difficult for me to keep up with the blog, and I apologize for that to you all. Mostly what is going on is that - for lack of subtlety - is that things are pretty tight around here right now. I don't have the flexibility to experiment with ingredients like I really want to, and cooking the same things night after night makes for some pretty bland blogging. Thankfully I recently had the cause and the ability to break out of this banal cycle for a night and make something that I felt was truly worth writing about.

One of the things that ALWAYS goes over well in this house is pie. Any kind of pie will work, but the three main kinds that really get people excited are Key Lime Pie, Pumpkin Pie, and Apple Pie. It's not quite pumpkin pie season yet, and Key Lime was not on my radar, but we had a glut of apples kicking around the house and a few were starting to look a little peaky, so I decided to use them all up in one fell swoop. 

I ended up with a mix of apples for the pie, and it seemed to work out pretty well that way. I used some Golden Delicious, a Gala, and rounded it out with some Granny Smiths. I made the pie crust myself using a blend of whole wheat flour and white flour, and outside of that I pretty much followed THIS RECIPE exactly. I did end up using my white sugar and molasses trick for the brown sugar in the topping, but as with my other brown sugar substitutions you couldn't tell at all. As for the taste, well...

...there were two pieces gone before I could think to snap a picture. I do have to say that if you are looking for a one-crust apple pie this is a great recipe to start off with. Instructions are simple and clear, there are no crazy ingredients, and the resulting pie is absolutely tasty. I did not include walnuts or raisins in the pie, due to some previous disagreements about the use of raisins, but if you feel like they work for you and your family I would highly suggest adding them in. 

What is the favorite pie in your household? Let me know on Facebook or in the comments below!

So, about that quiche...

Sometimes it's good to remember that old saying - "You can't judge a book by it's cover." Such was the case with the quiche I made last night. You may remember me posting the teaser picture on Facebook. If not, here is the picture again. 

Finished zucchini and onion quiche.

It looked great - until I started to cut into it. It turns out that even though I had cooked it long enough, the inside was still very loose and runny. In an effort to mitigate any potential for undercooked eggs, I baked it for an additional 7 minutes longer than was suggested, but it did not do anything to help the consistency. The quiche just would simply not stay together.

This is not to say it wasn't delicious. Three zucchini and half an onion cooked up and stuck in a quiche with some sharp cheddar cheese was sufficient to make it taste fantastic. And ultimately that's what I am going for - I'm not competing on Iron Chef where I lose points for presentation. Though as I ate my dinner I thought back to what exactly made my normally perfect quiche fall apart this time. Then I remembered my prep, and how much I cooked the zucchini. Zucchini, like many fruits and vegetables, contains a surprising amount of water. When I pre-cooked the zucchini and onion, I did not cook them fully. My thought was that I didn't want them to get overcooked when they cooked again inside the quiche, but when they cooked once again inside the quiche they gave off a lot of water which threw off the balance of the custard and in fact broke it up. 

This was what my slice of quiche looked like...

Well, you live and learn. Tip to all of you that I have learned the hard way - cook your vegetables FULLY before putting them into your quiche.

Quick tips for juicy BBQ chicken

Wow does the time fly by!

Eat a popsicle with chopsticks? Well, if you want to...

Just two years ago today my wife and I went to the hospital and welcomed our second son to the world. He is so full of personality and opinions now, and such a beautiful young boy and we are blessed to have him in our lives. So what better way to celebrate a summer baby than by having a cookout for a birthday party! It was a small event yesterday, but we all enjoyed the shade, a wading pool, a water table, and most especially central air!

One thing I made for us yesterday was barbecue chicken. This is SUCH a trap food in so many ways that some people avoid cooking it at all, because when they do they make a couple of critical mistakes. Fortunately I can give you some easy ways to get around three mistakes I see and hear often and cook juicy, tasty, and safe barbecue chicken.

Mistake 1: Undercooking your chicken.
Chicken MUST be cooked through to avoid the potential for food-borne illnesses, specifically salmonella. I have had food poisoning before (not from something I cooked, thankfully) and it was definitely not a fun experience. The first thing I will say is that your grill needs to be super-hot before you even put the chicken on the grill. Get it up to around 500 degrees or so and then add your meat to the equation. This will also help prevent the food sticking to the grill. The other is to get yourself one of these:

It is a quick-read thermometer and it is a must-have for any kitchen. You can get them in digital or analog and they are a must for cooking any kind of poultry. Make sure you get the meat to at least 165 degrees. If you want to be safe you can go to 180, but too much more than and you will get into the next mistake.

Mistake 2: Overcooking your chicken. 
I know I know - it's almost a Catch-22 with these two. You don't want to undercook the meat, but too much and it just about turns into tire rubber with sauce. The first thing to do is make sure you're not cooking pieces of chicken that are too big. Huge pieces - specifically chicken breast cuts - are just too big and can easily end up overcooked on the outside and undercooked in the middle. Cut them into smaller chunks to make sure that they can cook evenly. The second thing that you can do gives you a little more middle ground to land in. It just requires a little preparation and some very basic ingredients.

Brine cooling in the fridge.

Basic Brine:

• 2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
• 2 cups ice water
• 2 TBSP Kosher Salt
• 1 TBSP Brown sugar
• 1/2 TSP minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns

I include the final two ingredients, but you an leave them out, change them for something else, or even add to them to change how you want your meat to taste. Add all of the ingredients to a stockpot except the ice water and bring to a boil. Cool the brine slightly and add to the ice water. Put the brine liquid into the fridge to cool completely. Once the brine is cooled completely soak your chicken in the brine for at least an hour, more if you want to give some more flavor. One great thing about this brine is that you can use it on more than just chicken. Pork, steak, any meat you want to cook can be brined. It is a great way to add flavor and juiciness to any meat dish - grilled, broiled, or sautéed. 

Mistake 3: Burning the Sauce.

Barbecue sauce is some of the best stuff there is, and whether you make it yourself or buy it in bulk it is what makes barbecue chicken so finger-lickin' good. So why would you want to burn it to the grill or have it get all black and sticky on your chicken? Easy answer - don't. Start the chicken on the grill WITHOUT sauce and make sure the outside is cooked completely before starting to add sauce. Use that brush that came with your grill kit and dump some sauce in a bowl and slather it on. Personally I use a coffee cup because it has a great handle to help me hold the sauce while I am painting it on the chicken. 

If you can avoid these three major mistakes you will end up with some delicious and crowd-pleasing barbecue chicken at your next cookout. How do you sauce your chicken? Is it homemade, or do you have a favorite brand of BBQ sauce that you swear by? Let me know in the comments below or on Facebook!