Sour Orange Pie

The rules I made up for provoking recipe magazine exploration, using multi-sided dice to randomly compel trying something new, would normally require me to make just one recipe from the chosen issue...but as long as a 2017 Cook's Country was on the counter, I had to satisfy the urge to bring out another tasty possibility. This past Monday's gathering of the crew for Labor Day was just the avenue to see what we thought of sour orange pie. It is essentially a key lime pie (graham cracker crust) or an Atlantic Beach pie (the lemon version of key lime with a Ritz crust!) but with a definite leaning toward Meyer lemons because it combines orange and lemon flavors—on an animal cracker crust. I doubt I would ever prefer it over our treasured Atlantic Beach pie but I'm glad I gave it a go.

And once more that evening, Sumner found his happy place at the feet of all these folks he loves, while lightly tapped those dessert forks on the china above him.

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"Sour Orange Pie," by Katie Leaird. In Cook's Country, February/March 2017, p. 17.

New Jersey Crumb Buns

It's taken me a couple of months to finally get around to it, but last Saturday's dessert of New Jersey Crumb Buns came from a roll of the Dungeons & Dragons dice. (This is the gimmick I use to force me to pull out some saved recipe magazine and see what I might make from it that I'd not tried before.) This sweet take on a coffee cake was not so involved that it precluded making them alongside the somewhat tricky main dinner feature from that night. The verdict? These tasty treats were a pleasant surprise.

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"New Jersey Crumb Buns," by Katie Leaird. In Cook's Country, February/March 2017, p. 20-21.

Meal No. 3885: A Popover Breakfast

As we entered the blistering summer-starting heatwave the weekend before last, I utilized that Sunday afternoon indoors time to whip up an odd supper. Blame the dice roll game that we use to get me digging back into the recipes magazine archive, which pointed me to a limited set of options from Cook’s Illustrated and a simple recipe for popovers.

I’d tried these over 13 years ago without finding much to crow about, and I was not expecting much better this time. But were they ever some gorgeous popovers when I pulled them from the oven!

With no way to predict success or failure, I went ahead and compensated with chile-rubbed bacon and some Gruyère cheesy scrambled eggs, though. Two popovers proved too much and the plates were not quite cleaned…but there was just enough satisfaction to deem the night a success.

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”No-Fail Popovers,” by Andrea Geary. In Cook’s Illustrated, Number 168 [January & February 2021], p. 14-15.

"Chile-Rubbed Bacon," by Rick Martinez. In "D.I.Y. B.L.T. O.M.G.: Bake Better Bacon (Upgrade Idea No. 1)," Bon Appétit, July 2016, p. 44.

Meal No. 3852: Frisco Patty Melts

There were four of us at the dinner table this past Sunday, and I reached back into the archives for a one-time regular favorite: Frisco patty melts. Their return was enhanced by balsamic caramelized red and sweet onions, and instead of the simpler burger sauce, I got closer to the Mickey D's special sauce that we all know is really just Thousand Island dressing.

I first piloted these in 2012, for Meal No. 598, and then these diner specialties really were a staple here for years and years...but the last offical appearance of them was over 2000 meals ago, for Meal No. 1832 back in 2017. Oh, sure: I did a different take when I had some fluffy focaccia a couple of years ago, but that's just not the same thing.

This resurrected version of patty melts did have a bonus item: chile-rubbed baked bacon. Now, I might maintain that a particular idea is clever even if it ends up not bearing a tremendous amount of fruit. Such is the case with my Dungeons & Dragon dice roll to trick me into digging back into the ginormous storehouse of recipe magazines. Back in late September, the random roll compelled me to reach for a July 2016 issue of Bon Appétit, and that bacon is because I finally selected one of the options therein. It ain’t sexy, but it fits the cleverness bill for exploiting the culinary treasuries that might otherwise remain hidden and unknown.

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"Chile-Rubbed Bacon," by Rick Martinez. In "D.I.Y. B.L.T. O.M.G.: Bake Better Bacon (Upgrade Idea No. 1)," Bon Appétit, July 2016, p. 44.

Meal No. 3710: Pappardelle with Bolognese Sauce

Last Tuesday saw the marvelous return of an out-of-town house favorite: Bradley. As mentioned in relation to his other recent visit, he's much closer now, thanks to the wise hiring decision of Appalachian State University. It will be a high priority to try to be at the ready whenever he says he's got time to run down here from Boone. For our dinner, I'd prepped a few days before a hearty bolognese sauce, and then tucked it away to set up for a day or so. Leading up to dinnertime, I boiled the pappardelle to serve as the wide-noodled receivers of that meaty goodness. A mess of salad went along with the main feature, with a choice of homemade Thousand Island or honey mustard dressings.

With high hopes and great anticipation, I chose a new recipe trial for dessert: Boston Cream Pie. It was a multi-day affair to put it together, beginning with pastry cream that I whipped up and stowed in the fridge on Sunday. On Monday night, I made the cake layers, giving them time to cool before letting them join the pastry cream for an overnight chill. Tuesday morning I assembled the cake and put it back in the fridge. Later that morning, I made the ganache for the topping, applied it, and once more put it away to fully chill before serving that night after dinner.

This version was a disappointment, which may have in part been the fault of my lesser kitchen equipment. The sweet cake layers were tasty but had gone a bit dry, becoming battle-pitched in resisting the slicing and serving function required to present it to the diners. I'll give kudos to the pastry cream and ganache, though: I was sold on 'em both.

And why this dessert? Well, the latest D&D dice roll to force more variety in kitchen endeavors dictated an April 2011 issue of either Cooking Light or Quick Cooking magazines...but I only have issues of those from around 2003. My rule is to go either to my top-tier and fullest sets—Cook’s Illustrated or Cook’s Country—for any dice roll misfires like this, and CI won out. Hence, this choice of Boston Cream Pie.

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"Homemade Bolognese Sauce," from Holly Nilsson of SpendwithPennies.com. [Published 17 January 2023]

"Thousand Island Dressing," which was based on a version from Graybert on GeniusKitchen.com.

“Boston Cream Pie,” by Andrea Geary. In Cook’s Illustrated, Number 109 [March & April 2011], p. 14-15.

Meal No. 3700: Murgh Makhani

On the somber day of September 11th last week, the household was graced with a gorgeous soul for dinner who brings with her always both light and joy. Amy has been central to Roediger House life for over 15 years, and here as summer wraps up, she's joining us for several Wednesday nights while her husband is tied up with some work-related endeavors. That night, the dinner menu included murgh makhani, also known as "butter chicken," which brings a fullness of flavor and a touch of heat. I also roasted some cumin-coriander cauliflower, as it seemed a complimentary side, and of course there was plenty of basmati rice for that grandly-spiced tomato-garlic-ginger sauce that adorns it all.

The latest rolling of the Dungeons & Dragons recipe-selection dice brought me to the March 2016 issue of Food & Wine, and the recipe I decided to try was lemon-blueberry yogurt loaf cake, with a zingy-zangy tingly-tangy lemon glaze. That was our evening finisher before Amy departed; we rather liked it! Also: I wish I'd made the glaze thicker, because I ended up with a bit of a mess.

In the spirit of noting how great it's been to have Amy as a friend this last decade and a half, I dug back into the photo archives. I think this is my earliest picture of her, from a movie night gathering on 28 June 2009:

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"Finger Lickin' Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani)," by Marzia Aziz of Little Spice Jar.

Cauliflower adapted from "Roasted Cauliflower," from Cuisine at Home, Issue 85 (February 2011), p. 15.

"Lemon-Blueberry Yogurt Loaf Cake," from Justin Chapple in Food & Wine, March 2016, p. 108.

Meal No. 3691: Beef Chow Fun

As long as I'd pulled a particular 2018 issue of Cuisine at Home from the shelf, after our random dinner decision dice roll a few weeks ago, I thought it might guide me for a second night in a row over the Labor Day Weekend. That Saturday night, which was also the final day of August, I substituted ribeye for flank steak (gotta go with what's on sale!) but otherwise was pretty faithful to this first-time attempt of Beef Chow Fun. Those 'round the table said it was good, but I'm pretty sure it took a lot more work than my other stir-fry and wok meals and was not as good as those others. I won't expect to see this one show up again, but you don't know till you give it a go!

Since it was a Saturday night with out-of-town guests, and we are all the stay-at-home types, a movie was called for. In this case, it was A Quiet Place: Day One. But I also had to have dessert, you know. A homemade peach cobbler plus homemade vanilla sweet milk ice cream were an ideal combo as we trudged slowly into the final weeks of summertime.

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"Beef Chow Fun," in Cuisine at Home, Issue No. 128 (March/April 2018), p. 10-11.

"Old-Fashioned Peach Cobbler," by Patty Catalano on TheKitchn.com. [Published 06 August 2024]

"Sweet Milk Ice Cream," published in the King Arthur Flour catalogue some years ago, but no longer available on their website.

Meal No. 3690: Saffron Chicken Tagine

On the occasion of my second dice roll for dinner options, chance settled on the March/April 2018 edition of Cuisine at Home. My rule is to try to make something from the recipes I'd already identified as interesting, and with friends Mark and Jeremy here for the Labor Day Weekend—and knowing they'd be willing to be experimented on—the dinner from that issue was saffron chicken tagine. Lots of Mediterranean-style spices coated cubes of boneless chicken thighs, and a broth-based simmer was enhanced with additional flavorful add-ins, resulting in delicious bite upon bite. I also adapted a recipe for couscous from that same issue, modifying it to our tastes and using quinoa instead. A quick need of a second side meant I used canned green beans as a fall-back option. We all rather liked how it turned out.

While the easier schedule that August has permitted me means that weekend weather variation is unlikely to complicate things, I did feel for the folks who'd had high hopes for a hospitable holiday break...but it started a tad rough with storms on the Friday before Labor Day. We dodged that storm bullet on Saturday until late night, when it was a raucous line of thunderstorms that rolled through. Sunday mostly righted itself, with the barest intrusion of light showers. There was plenty to do inside, as is always the case!

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Adapted from "Saffron Chicken Tagine with Peas & Artichokes," in Cuisine at Home, Issue No. 128 (March/April 2018), p. 56-57.

Adapted from "Honey-Raisin Couscous," in Cuisine at Home, Issue No. 128 (March/April 2018), p. 57.

The Grand Adventure of Kouign-Amann

With tremendous self-satisfaction at what felt like another clever notion, the Dungeons & Dragons 12-sided dice were rolled on Father’s Day Sunday morning, and what turned up was the directive to reach for the April 2014 issue of Bon Appétit magazine. This proved to be an enormously unfortuitous gift of chance: the only appealing recipe at all in the entire issue was also a rather involved and challenging one.

But this is the tactic I’d decided to experiment with to increase variety in my kitchen endeavors, and I didn’t want to stumble straight out of the gate.

While there are other shelves in the house filled with a ridiculous assortment of cookbooks, this is the primary cabinet of periodicals...and it is rather ridiculous, isn’t it? Thousands of recipes, lots of great options, plenty of ideas that I would enjoy at least trying...and this multi-sided dice scheme is how I figured I’d force myself to dig into them.

Anyway...once determined by those dastardly dice that my task was to undertake such a temperamental and demanding laminated pastry, I tackled for the first time Kouign-Amann, a sweet cousin perhaps to the lovely croissant. And here I'd like to note: even when the ingredients list is uncomplicated, so much depends on technique and timing, of course. When one blows one of the fundamental or foundational elements of a crafted creation like this, the failure is baked in from the get-go. I'm sure that's what resulted from my inexpert blending of that essential butter block, and why there were enormous chunks of it instead of a smooth layer of lamination within the multiple layers emerging from the many roll-and-folds I did.

Taking much of the last Monday in June, which is when I finally got up the courage to take it on, and carrying over into a final bake and serve on Tuesday morning, this glorious creation was a sight to behold and a wonder to consume. Seriously: tons more involved than croissants, cronuts, or regular Danish pastries, and yet still so gorgeous even with my amateur's infectious imperfections, these confections earned affections and that ain't no joke.

Technically, in this form, they are called "Kouignettes." And Kouign-Amann in general has been described in various ways, including "The Perfect Pastry" or, as Chef John Mitzewich puts it: "The World's Most Difficult and Best Pastry." Here at the Roediger House we shall just all hail the mighty Kouign-Amann!

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"The Project: Kouign-Amann," by Claire Saffitz in Bon Appétit, April 2014, p. 43-47. See also: "How to Make Kouign-Amann, A Step-by-Step Guide," by Claire Saffitz on BonAppetit.com. [Published 27 March 2014]