Pie with nothing wrong

Pie with nothing wrong

I nailed it, the pie with nothing wrong in it! 

Gluten-free diary-free sugar-free vegan / parve crust

2 cups of Medjool dates 

2 cups of cashew nuts 

Lemon juice from 1/2 lemon

Vegetable oil (avocado, corn, grape, safflower - any vegetable oild without strong taste) - 1/4 cup

Vanilla extract - 1 tea spoon (optional) 

A pinch of salt

Blend dates with lemon juice, add cashews, salt, vanlla extract, oil and blend together. 
Press the paste against the bottom  and walls of the pan. 

Keep in the fridge for at least an hour, overnight or not at all. 

Gluten-free diary-free sugar-free vegan / parve filling

Genrous amount of cut cooked sweet squash

         For best results, use kabocha squash, delicata / sweet dumpling  squash

1 sour apple cut in small chunks

Mix together 

Cholesterol-free dairy-free meringue  --or-- egg-free sugar-free whipped cream

Egg whites from 3 eggs

Sugar powder or white sugar - 60 mg

Lemon juice

A pinch of salt

Cream of tartar or vinegar - small amount to stabalize the foam
Beat egg whites in a glass or metal bowl (no plastic)

Beat them slow, beat them faster, get some peaks before adding sugar  and other ingidients, 

beat the mix to get soft peaks, medium peaks or stiff peaks depending on your preference. 
Stiff peaks are nice for decore. 

--or--

Whip heavy cream (guess you can explore a vegan whipping cream option, I used a regular whipping cream / heavy cream) 

And now all together  

Start preheating the oven at 200F

Take the pan from the fride, add the filling, top with meringue

Bake for about 45 min 

--or--

Preheat the oven at 400F

Take the pan from the fride, add the filling 

Bake for abot 20 min

Cool

Add whipped cream on top

Bottomline 

Truth to be told, I almost nailed it down. 

It still contains either egg whites or dairy cream (unless you figure it out with coconut cream option). 

If egg whites are involved, you'll need sugar for meringue. But then it's parve. 

In any case the crust and the filling are vegan, parve and sugar-free.

 

Cheese Souffle

Souffle goes as a sweet dessert 

    if paired with black currant, 

    raspberry preserve, 

    orange jam 

    or fresh berries. 

It makes for a great savoury dish 

    if paired with truffles, 

    fried porcine 

    or portabella  mushrooms.

 

***

Take 3 large eggs and lightly beat with a fork.

Mix in ricotta (15 oz box). Take reduced fat option if this is your preference.  

Add grated lemon zest. 

Add a teaspoon of natural vanilla extract - strictly optional. 

Mix together. 

Add 2 table spoons of either 

        potato starch (gluten-free option but perfectly appropriate for any diet) 

        or wheat flour, 

topped with half-teaspoon of baking powder 

    and a pinch of salt. 

Mix into batter well. 

Add 1 measuring cup of grated cheese (Parmesan, or mix of few cheeses). 

Mix together with a spatula. 

***

Start heating the oven. 

Polish the bottom and sides of baking from with butter. 

Pout batter, helping yourself with spatula, into the form. 

Bake at 350F for about 40 minutes. 

Once  you almost like the colour, turn off the oven 

    and keep  souffle in there for 10 minutes. 

Take the form out and let souffle to cool down for at least 10 minutes, 

    placing the form on a rack.

Nudge souffle out of the form on a cutting board. 

Now you should be able to cut souffle with a knife. 

Serve warm.   

 

CranMuffins (CRANBERRY MUFFINS)

Season of fresh cranberries in New England.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup cranberries, quartered
• 8 tablespoons sugar, divided
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/3 cup cooking oil
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel, optional
• Cinnamon sugar

DIRECTIONS

Sprinkle cranberries with 2 tablespoons sugar; set aside. Sift remaining sugar, flour, baking powder and salt into large mixing bowl. In separate bowl, beat egg, milk and oil. Make a hole in center of dry ingredients; pour in liquid ingredients. Stir only until mixed; do not overmix. Add berries and lemon peel. Fill greased standard or extra-large muffin cups with mixture. Sprinkle tops of muffins with cinnamon-sugar. Bake at 400° about 18 minutes for standard-size muffins or about 22 minutes for extra-large muffins.

Yield: 12 standard-size

Originally published as Cranberry Muffins in Country February/March 1991.

Now, if you want to pretend it's healthy to eat 3-4 muffins with your evening tea, substitute sugar with brown sugar, substitute 1/2 flour with oats, I guess it will still taste good. And, of course, if you have a lot of physical activity, sports and otherwise, or you are a young child with quick metabolism, these muffins are exceptionally good. 

I halved cranberries,  not quartered, worked fine. Cinnamon sugar is just a mix of ground cinnamon and brown sugar. 

Quck meat pie

This particular one was cooked on the occasion of no food left, no time to go to the store... scraped whatever was available.
That is:  1 pound of ground beef (organic, and it probably it matters from taste perspective), 1 can of green peas, salt, black pepper, ground cloves,  ground ginger - and no onions, though I would've added chopped onion and 1/2 can of cord with 1/ can of green peas if I had the luxury to choose my ingredients. Mix them all.
For pie crist -- 2 eggs, whatever flour was left, which was about 6 table spoons, ~ 1/2 cup of iced water. Mix and flatten in round with pin roll.
Make this dough soft but strong enough to hold on the the sides of a pot.
Yes, I used aluminum pot which is also used for making pilaf.
A medium size one.
So place the filling into the dough and cover with the dough from the sides . Your pie will be most likely not fully covered which some windows left for the filling. Which is good. It will breath, it will start producing right smell to invoke appetite at the right time.
Bake for about 18-24 minutes at about 450-500F.