I have been on a bit of a bender lately, a highly fattening creamy joy ride. No half and half for my steaming cup 'o joe, only pure unadulterated cream (schlagobers here in Austria). Watching the lovely white tendrils curl into my first mug of coffee this morning got me wondering about milk and all its derivations. Before milk is homogenized, the lighter cream rises to the top and is skimmed off. The amount of butterfat in the cream determines the stability of the cream and how well it will whip. The higher the fat content, the easier it is to whip.

In the United State, the low-down on high fat cream is something like this:

Half and Half (Cream is mixed with Whole milk) 12% fat

Single Cream or Light Cream 20% fat

Whipping Cream 30% fat

Heavy Cream 36% fat

Double Cream 48%

The English enjoy the guilty pleasure of clotted cream at 55-60% fat. Unpasteurized milk is heated and the savory goodness is skimmed off the top.

Sour Cream is a 12% fat cream that has been exposed to a bacterial culture which causes it to sour. Similarly Creme Fraiche is 20% fat, but it is unpasturized, so it naturally contains the souring bacteria.

Butter is also made from cream. It is churned to separate the butterfat from the buttermilk.

There seems to be a glut of strawberries on the market right now. We've been enjoying them nightly topped with whipped cream. As I don't own a blender, I've been doing it by hand. I keep telling myself that the effort of whipping burns off the fat.

Loaded Baked Potato Quiche

Loaded Baked Potato Quiche

I woke up early today and have company in town and I wanted to make a easy breakfast that everyone would like-Loaded Baked Potato Quiche! You just can't go wrong with that! Check it out! This is a great recipe to use leftover mashed potatoes in if you have 2 cups of it hanging out in your fridge or peel two medium sized potatoes and get started from scratch.

Ingredients: Serves 4-6

2 peeled, diced and boil till soft potatoes

4tbs of butter

3/4 cup of milk

5 beaten eggs

2tsp sour cream

1 pie crust unbaked

1 cup of shredded cheddar

1/4 cup of crumbled cooked bacon

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375

Peel, dice and boil potatoes until soft

In a mixing bowl mash potatoes with butter, 1/4 cup of milk, sour cream, salt , pepper and onion powder until creamy and smooth

In separate mixing bowl beat eggs with 1/2 cup of milk and a dash of salt and pepper

Unroll pie crust and place in a 9 inch pie pan

Add potato mixture and spread evenly

Add cheese and bacon

Add egg mixture

Bake on middle rack for 35-40 minutes until cooked through and center is firm

Serve warm!

Cracking the Nut

"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire"...for 29 Christmas seasons I have sung these these lyrics, but until this year, I had never had a chestnut. I never questioned why a nut so popular in our musical history no longer graces our tables. Once upon a time, one in every four Appalachian hardwoods was a chestnut tree, but in 1904, a fungus was discovered growing on some Asian Chestnut trees in Long Island. The blight spread fast and deadly through the chestnut population. By 1945, nearly 4 billion chestnut trees had been wiped out, and the romantic chestnut was merely a melodic memory.

In Europe, however, the sweet chestnut is growing strong and still a traditional dinner delight. Here in Lower Austria, the nuts are traditionally soaked in wine before they are roasted. When roasted, the chestnuts becomes meaty and sweet with a baked potato texture. Chestnuts can also be dried and milled into a non-rising flour. Because I desperately miss peanut butter, I decided to try to make chestnut butter. I boiled the nuts in their shells for about 20 minutes. The boiled meat fell apart as I pealed the shells. I mashed 2 lbs of chestnuts hearts into a puree and added a tsp of vanilla, 1 cup of whipping cream, and 1 cup of sugar. I then let it boil down for about an hour, until the texture was buttery and thick.

One final note: Beware of the impersonators. Don't confuse the sweet chestnut with the inedible and slightly poisonous horse chestnut. Sweet Chestnuts have a slight point at the top, but horse chestnuts are rounded. I wasted an hour gathering the wrong nut. I didn't discover my mistake until I got them home and threw them into the oven. They were awful! I was terribly disappointed and the whole apartment stank. My European neighbors recognized the smell and came upstairs to laugh at me. We discovered that the chestnuts explode in a satisfying manner when tossed out the window, thus the evening was saved.

Apple Pie With Crumb Topping

In the freezer, lived a lonely little ol' pie crust. It was my first and only attempt, thus far. It was there because apple pie takes a lot more time to make then I had when I set out to make it. So until now, I had only got as far as the crust. One day I will make an apple pie from start to finish, but until then I am glad that pie crusts freeze so well.

I used this recipe and substituted apple juice for the water, thanks for the tip Alton Brown, but you could also use any frozen pie crust that you like, which makes life easier and tastes almost as good.

The filling was adapted from this recipe and I choose to top it with a crumb topping from a recipe I made last summer for Sour Cherry Crumb Cakes, which was so good that I want to top everything I possibly can with it.

You put it all the pieces together and you have a yummy Apple Pie with Crumb Topping that is well worth the effort, and not nearly as hard to make as I made it sound.

Apple Pie with Crumb Topping
adapted from these three recipes- 1, 2, 3

Pie Crust

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for work surface
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces
• 2 to 4 tablespoons apple juice

Directions

In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, and sugar. Add butter, and cut in with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal , with just a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining. I just used a fork, I have also heard a food processor comes in handy for this too.

Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons ice apple juice, and continue to work dough with pastry blender until crumbly but holds together when squeezed with fingers (if needed, add up to 2 tablespoons more apple juice, 1 tablespoon at a time). Don't overwork, your pie will not be happy.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface; form into a 3/4-inch-thick disk. Wrap tightly in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour. This is where I lost interest, so I placed the wrapped dough into a resealable plastic bag, and stuck it in the freezer (and leave it there for up to 3 months), when you finally feel like making pie again, just thaw in the refrigerator before rolling, and start baking.

Crumb Topping

• 2 ounces (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
  
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Stir together butter, flour, sugars, salt, and cinnamon, set aside.

Pie Filling

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 pounds of 1/4-1/2 inch thick slices of peeled and cored good cooking apples such as Granny Smith, Pippin, or Golden Delicious. (about 5-6 apples I used 2 medium sized of each variety)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine sugar, flour and spices in large bowl. Use your hands and mix in the apples so they are well coated, then add vanilla extract.

Remove crust from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. Sprinkle some flour on top of the disk. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12 inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, use a metal spatula to check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. Add a few sprinkles of flour if necessary to keep the dough from sticking. Gently fold in half. Place on to a 9-inch pie plate, lining up the fold with the center of the pan. Gently unfold and press down to line the pie dish with the dough.

Spoon in apple filling, mounding slightly in center.

Roll edges of dough over to form edge of crust, there are fancy ways of crimping the edge but again my impatience got the best of me and I wound up just rolling over. I like to say that it gives it a nice rustic look. Either way it tastes the same to me.

Top it with the crumb mixture and bake at 350 degrees for about 35- 40 minutes until the crust has a nice golden brown color, the juices are bubbly, and your apartment smells like you just baked an apple pie.

Oh yeah, you did.

Transfer to rack and let stand 1 hour. Serve pie warm or at room temperature and it is even better topped with vanilla ice cream or dollop of cinnamon maple whipped cream, Enjoy!

My Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Pie

My chicken, broccoli and rice pie- Here is another one pot meal that is easy and satisfying. Most of my pictures did not come out but the instructions and photos are very similar to my chicken pot pie which is posted under January's recipes. So here is a recipe that is a spin on a familiar chicken & rice casserole. The original casserole pops up constantly when I search for recipe inspiration only in my opinion making some changes and putting it in a pie crust improves it (pie crusts improve just about everything).

Ingredients: Serves 6

two unbaked pie crusts
1.5 cups of shredded chicken
1.5 cups of chopped steamed broccoli
1.5 cups of white or brown cooked rice
1 jar of Alfredo sauce
1/2 cup nonfat milk
3/4 cup of shredded cheddar
2 tbs of grated Romano cheese
1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375
Mix chicken , rice and broccoli in a bowl
Add sauce, milk, cheese, and seasoning
The mixture should be thick
Roll out one pie crust and place it in a 9 inch pie pan
Fill with mixture spreading evenly
Place other pie crust on top and seal
Baste top of pie with a little bit of olive oil
Bake at 375 for 35-40 minute until crust browns
Serve and savor!

Fresh Pizza Frittata

Fresh Pizza Frittata

So if you made the Warm Tomato, Avocado, Arugula Salad you just might have some Compari tomatoes left. Now here's what you do with them. Make a Fresh pizza frittata! It is super high in protein and low fat plus get that pizza craving in at the beginning or end of your day

Ingredients: Serves 2

4-6 sliced thin Compari tomatoes sprinkled with olive oil and sea salt

2 beaten eggs

2 beaten egg whites

1/4 cup non-fat milk

5-8 shakes of fresh black pepper

5-8 shakes of sea salt

3 shakes of garlic powder

1 shake of dried basil

1/2 cup of shredded Italian mixed cheese

1/8 cup of Romano cheese

Directions: start to finish 15 minutes

Heat broiler on high

Spray a baking pan with non-stick spray

Slice tomatoes thin and add salt and olive oil

Broil tomatoes on high on middle rack for 8 -10 minutes without burning

Meanwhile whisk eggs, egg whites, milk and seasonings in a bowl

Heat a non-stick sprayed skillet and add egg mixture cooking on med heat

Cook eggs evenly with out burning and loosen slightly with spatula

Once mostly solidifying remove from heat

Add roasted tomatoes to top of eggs

Top with cheeses

Place entire pan back under broiler for 2.5 minutes until browning

Serve immediately

Warm Tomato, Avacado and Arugula Sala

Okay I have been trying to get back into last years bathing suit so some of my up and coming recipes might be low fat and healthy but don't despair! I also believe in moderation so some high calorie mouth-watering pasta dishes will always be part of my future too! For this dish use Compari tomatoes if you can find them. They are so amazing in this salad. Also to turn this into a complete meal add some grilled chicken and dinner is served or do what I did and just serve it as a side salad. It's all good!

Ingredients: Serves 4

6-8 Compari tomatoes sliced in half and roasted

4 cups of arugula or one bag

1 avocado sliced

1/4 cup of thinly sliced red onion

1.5 tbs of feta cheese

3 tbs extra virgin olive oil

1 tbs balsamic vinegar

1 tbs lemon juice

Directions:

Slice tomatoes, sprinkle with salt and olive oil and place in a non-stick sprayed pan

Roast on middle rack at 400 for 20 minutes (should be wilting and juicy but not burned)

Rinse and toss arugula with onions and avocado

Remove tomatoes from oven and sprinkle with feta cheese

Add tomatoes, cheese and any pan dripping to top of salad

Mix a bowl of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice and alittle fresh black pepper and sea salt

Pour evenly over salad and serve right away!