Sunday, September 28, 2008

Fall means pie


My friend Dave had a dinner party tonight that had a Thanksgiving theme so I made a caramel apple pie. I was home in Sebastopol this weekend and picked some apples from my moms' apple tree. We also went on the Sonoma County Farm Trails and picked our own apples. The apples I used were from my moms' yard, what we learned are Vermont green, an heirloom variety. Delicious!

My pie crust recipe is already posted, so here's the filling:
5 c (about 6 medium tart apples diced)
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 C sugar


Caramel filling
1 stick butter (1/2 C)
1 cup brown sugar
2/3 C flour

Mix the apples, cinnamon and sugar. Mix the caramel filling. Layer in the pie crust.

BONUS - add caramel candies for added deliciousness.

Friday, September 12, 2008

100 Things to Eat Before you Die

The Omnivore's Hundred is an eclectic and entirely subjective list of 100 items that Andrew Wheeler, co-author of the British food blog Very Good Taste, thinks every omnivore should try at least once in his life.

He offered this list as the starting point for a game, along the following rules:
1. Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2. Bold all the items you’ve eaten 
3. Cross out any items that you would never consider eating. (I italicized) Things I want to try have an asterisk. 
4. Optional extra: post a comment on Very Good Taste, linking to your results.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea 
3. Huevos rancheros 
4. Steak tartare*
5. Crocodile 
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Phở 
13. PB&J sandwich 
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart 

16. Epoisses*
17. Black truffle*
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes 
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries

23. Foie gras (totally unethical)
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese (gross)
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper *
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters (gross)
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda*
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl 
33. Salted lassi 
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float 

36. Cognac with a fat cigar 
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O

39. Gumbo*
40. Oxtail (maybe if i was desperate or didn't know)
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects  (ants once in a muffin - unintentionally)
43. Phaal*
44. Goat’s milk 
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/€80/$120 or more 
46. Fugu (aka puffer fish - that's just lame)
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel*
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi 
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal 
56. Spaetzle

57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine 
60. Carob chips 
61. S’mores

62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin  (ummm.. the clay?)
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini (I've had them seperately. I don't like caviar but i'll take the blini.)
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill 
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie (barf)
78. Snail (ditto)
79. Lapsang souchong*
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict

83. Pocky 
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant***
85. Kobe beef*
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate*
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa*
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano*
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor*
98. Polenta (only my favorite food on the planet)
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee*
100. Snake