10 Minute Fruit Tart

This weekend was, well, far from what I expect of a weekend. Very little relaxing and yet very little accomplished. Most of our time was committed to other people, with very little left to ourselves, most of which went to sleep. Saturday was my father-in-law's birthday and we'd made plans to have dinner at their place Sunday night. They asked us on Saturday to bring the fruit tart that he wanted for dessert. I said sure thing, and then promptly didn't concern myself with it again until Sunday morning. We had a very late night Saturday, so we slept in quite a bit. When I arose I popped open my netbook to check the weekly ads for our grocery errands. And then I realized that most of the stores were closed for Easter. I'm a genius. Now, not only can I not buy my regular groceries, but I can't find the fruit tart that my father-in-law requested for his birthday. Luckily there was a Kroger in our neighborhood that was open, but they of course didn't have any fruit tarts in their bakery. Now I was faced with having to come up with something on my own. Let's be honest here, this tart isn't anything amazing. I more or less pulled a Sandra Lee on this one, which I'm not very excited about. But, it came together quickly, easily, and everyone really enjoyed it. So, I figured why not share it? It's getting warmer, and with warmer weather comes more picnics and cookouts. Maybe you'll need a quick dessert, and maybe this will be it. I'm going to give you the rundown of what I did and how I did it to get this thing together in 10 minutes, not so much a recipe as a process I guess.

10 Minute Fruit Tart

1 9 inch prepared graham cracker crust
1 large box instant vanilla pudding
3 cups milk
1 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pint strawberries, sliced
1 pint blueberries
1 pint raspberries

• Put the bowl you'll use for making whipped cream in the fridge to chill. Put your milk in the freezer. Rinse and pick over your berries.
• Take your milk out of the freezer; put your cream in the freezer. Combine your pudding mix and cold milk and follow the pudding's instructions; mine said to beat for 2 minutes, let set for at least 5. Once done beating put the bowl of pudding in the refrigerator. Remove your empty bowl and whipping cream from the fridge and freezer.
• Beat the whipping cream on medium-high until soft peaks form. Sprinkle the sugar and vanilla over the cream, and beat again until soft peaks form, being careful not to over-whip.
• Put your whipped cream in the refrigerator. Slice your strawberries to your desired size. By now the pudding should be set. Spread pudding evenly into the pie crust. Top with your fruit, in whatever design you'd like.
• If you want to go the extra step, I used a piping bag to pipe some of my whipped cream on top. I had some fruit leftover, and obviously plenty of whipped cream, which we topped the plated slices with at dinner. You could also spread a layer of whipped cream on top of the pudding and then top with the fruit, or keep all the whipped cream for the side. Whatever tickles your fancy.

My notes: Popping my milk, cream, and bowls in the fridge and freezer just helped things come together a little more quickly. Especially since I started on this as soon as I returned from the store, so my dairy products had been out of the cooler for a little while by that point. Homemade whipped cream takes so little time to make and I think it adds at least a little something to a dessert that relies so much on shortcut goods.

Comfort Food

After a difficult night in the kitchen on Wednesday I was ready for something easy and comforting. Thursday night I went with what is probably the most comforting recipe in my repertoire, Bolognese Pie. I made Bolognese Sauce a few weeks ago, so I had the extra sauce I needed for the pie in the freezer. I did however forget to thaw it in the fridge, so I had to thaw it in cool water, which too awhile. That aside, this was the easy recipe that it normally is. I have posted about Bolognese Pie on here before, having used it as a blog event entry. That time I adjusted the recipe, covering the top completely with the biscuit dough. This time I followed the original recipe, dropping the dough across the bolognese mixture. Josh was very happy to see this fresh out of the oven when he got home, since this is definitely one of his faves. We were both comforted after our long day.

Waiter, There's Something In My....Pie again?

So, I was actually intending to make this Monday night as a WTSIM entry, which had a deadline of being posted before today. I figured I could still get it done last night, and be in just under the clock. Well, last night kind of sucked, for reasons that's aren't important. Just many little annoyances as soon as I got home. And once dinner finished just in time to eat while watching Dancing With The Stars, I just didn't have the energy to get back up again. So I just figured I'd be missing the event. But, lo and behold I found out today that the deadline had been extended through the end of the week. Hurrah! So, this month's WTSIM is being hosted by The Passionate Cook with an Easter theme. So, in thinking of something that says Easter to me I immediately thought of spanakopita. We have an Easter dinner every year with Josh's mom and spanakopita is a main feature for me. Then I thought of the Spinach Pie I saw on an episode of Everyday Food a month or so ago. It was like a disassembled spanakopita, and called out to me from the start. And so my WTSIM entry was born. Trust me when I tell you that this dish is pretty delish. I'm actually eating the leftovers while I'm typing this entry!

Spinach Pie
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 12
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
4 medium onions, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
Coarse salt and ground pepper
6 10 oz. boxes frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 pound feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup dried plain breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons dried dill
8 large eggs, lightly beaten
8 oz. frozen phyllo sheets, thawed and thinly sliced

• Make the filling: In a large nonstick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. Add onions, and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and 2 teaspoons salt; cook until garlic is tender, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Transfer mixture to a large bowl; stir in spinach, feta, Parmesan, breadcrumbs, dill, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Fold in eggs until combined.
• Divide mixture evenly between two 9-inch springform pans or two 9 1/2-inch deep-dish pie plates; press firmly to flatten.
• Make the topping: In a large bowl, gently toss sliced phyllo to separate, then toss with remaining 1/2 cup oil until coated.
• Divide phyllo between pies, covering the tops evenly and completely. (To freeze, cover pies tightly with plastic wrap, being careful not to flatten topping. Bake within 3 months; do not thaw first.)
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees;. Bake until heated through and topping is golden brown, about 1 hour 15 minutes for frozen pie (30 minutes for unfrozen pie).

My notes: I understandably enjoyed this recipe, noting my existing adoration for spanakopita. Josh really liked it. He said "mmmm" without me asking him what he thought first. I cut this recipe in half because I don't have springform pans just lying around, waiting to be popped into the freezer. I was a little low on feta, so I compensated with a smidge more Parmesan, and I have no idea how to figure out those 4 oz. of phyllo. I figured it would be 1/4 of the 16 oz. package I had, but that turned out to be too little, and it seemed like it took more like half the package to get the job done. Maybe I didn't separate the first batch of sheets well enough. Either way, it's good. I'd never complain of a dish being too light and flaky. :) Oh also, I divided our one pie which should serve 6 into quarters instead. This was the only thing I was serving last night so bigger portions were fine, and it made it easier to divvy up for dinner and lunchtime leftovers.

Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot Pieeee

Strangely, two recipes in a row remind me of television comedy. We heart David Cross. Anyhoo, I had a terrible day yesterday, but this recipe came out pretty darn good. Although I did burn my pinkie finger when taking it out of the oven, which sucked. It's been a busy day already, and it will probably only get worse, so I'm just gonna get this up on here and get back to work. Oh, and the pic is courtesy of the Kraft Foods website, cause I didn't get around to taking a pic of mine. It wouldn't have been pretty, even if I had, ha.

Deep Dish Chicken Pot Pie
Recipe from Kraft Foods; Serves 6
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" pieces
1/4 cup Kraft Light Done Right Zesty Italian Dressing
4 oz. Neufchatel cheese, cubed
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup fat-free reduced sodium chicken broth
1 10 oz. frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
1 refrigerated pie crust (1/2 of 15 oz. package)

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook chicken in dressing in large skillet on medium heat 2 minutes. Add Neufchatel cheese; cook and stir until melted. Add flour; mix well. Add broth and vegetables; simmer 5 minutes.
• Pour mixture into deep dish 10" pie plate. Arrange pie crust over filling; flute edges. Cut four slits in crust to allow steam to escape.
• Bake 30 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

My notes: I forgot to thaw my veggies, so I just nuked them for 2 minutes, which worked fine. I also discovered I had no idea how to flute the edges of the pie crust, as I have actually never made a pie before. I managed, but it's wasn't as pretty as it could have been, so I guess I've got some research to do. This is a little tangier than what we are familiar with as far as pot pies go, due to the Italian dressing and cheese. We both enjoyed the dinner, but it wasn't as filling as I thought it would be, so I would suggest serving with a salad, or following with a light dessert.

Waiter, There's Something In My....

So, I didn't intend to wait a week to get this posted, but it's been a busy few days. This is my entry for the new-ish event, Waiter, There's Something In My... , which has been created by Cook Sister, thepassionatecook, and Spitoon Extra. This is just round #2, and the theme is Pie. Sweet, savory, hot, cold, as long as it's covered it counts. So, since I was leaving on Thursday I decided that the night before I would make one of Josh's favorite meals, Bolognese Pie with Biscuit Topping. I tweaked it so it would fit into the event guidelines, and it came out great. Not terribly photogenic, but delicious. Instead of dropping the biscuit dough across the top, I spread it over the entire casserole dish. And that's pretty much the only way this differed from the recipe, which was of course from Everyday Food. I might should have cooked it for a little less time with the dough being thinner, but it tasted delicious anyway. This is actually a leftover meal, using the remaining sauce from a dinner of Spaghetti with Bolognese Sauce. I love it because I can freeze the leftover sauce, and then aside from picking up some zucchini, I have a meal I can put together pretty quickly at a later date.

Bolognese Pie
Recipe from Everyday Food; Serves 4








For the Meat Base:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 lb. medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise, cut crosswise into 3/4 chunks
4 cups leftover Bolognese Sauce

For the Biscuit Topping:
1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Make the meat base: Heat the oil in a 10-inch oven-proof skillet, over medium-high heat. Add zucchini; cook, stirring, until golden and just beginning to soften, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in leftover Bolognese Sauce until warmed through, about 3 minutes. Cover to keep warm.
• Make the biscuit: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, thyme, and salt. Using a pastry blender, or fork, or your fingers, work in butter until pea-size clumps form. Stir in milk and cheese until dough just comes together.
• Spoon dough over beef mixture in 8 small mounds, about 1 inch apart. Bake until meat mixture is bubbling and topping is golden brown (a toothpick inserted in the center of a biscuit should come out clean), about 25 minutes. Serve immediately.

My notes: Aside from adjusting this recipe to be a covered pie, I typically change up the cooking containers. I didn't have an oven-proof skillet when I previously made this recipe, so I typically heat the meat base in a skillet and transfer to an 8-inch glass casserole dish to bake. I now have a nice cast iron skillet that I could use, but I wanted to use the casserole dish to help ensure the innards of the pie would be well disguised.