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OK. Full steam ahead with the fall food fiesta!
One of my signature entrees is Orange-Sage Chicken. Originally from Family Circle, it's a recipe I've been making since I first moved to Michigan in '02; I actually planted sage in the garden expressly to have a supply for this dish. Timing the sauce can be tricky, especially on an electric stove, but over a gas stove the sauce usually takes a couple of minutes to whip up-- just as the instructions indicate. I serve it with a brown rice or wild rice pilaf; those often take a while to cook, so I recommend putting the rice on before preparing the chicken. Pounding the chicken breasts flat, or slicing them in half, is also recommended. Anyway, it's absolutely delicious and a real family-pleaser.
Then for dessert. My most excellent spouse found this recipe for and wanted it... very much! So I made it, rye-flour pie crust and all. This, for those of you who don't know the frustration of pie crust, was a real labor of love. The "30 min prep time" listed in the recipe is a tremendous understatement when the crust is taken into account, as the crust as to chill for more than twice that time to be rollable. Also, you get twice as much dough as you need for the crust, so I'll be making a date custard pie out of my beloved Fannie Farmer book with the other half.
As far as Maple Buttermilk Pie goes... it's really a custard pie. Silken, yellow, and charming-- and mostly tasting of lemon. The uncooked custard tasted almost exactly like the batter for my favorite Lemon Buttermilk Pound Cake! I didn't have and couldn't find "Grade B" maple syrup at short notice, so I used a mixture of Medium and Light syrup from a favorite Canadian farm of mine, and the lighter syrup was probably too delicate. The maple taste was an undertone and didn't dominate the lemon. The right grade of syrup would've made a difference, I'm sure-- Canadian Light pretty much equates to Vermont Fancy, the wrong end of the taste spectrum.
[I bet you had no idea maple syrup was this complicated!]
I would definitely make the pie again, but only with the proper syrup on hand. In the meantime, I have that date custard pie to make, and six cups of U-pick raspberries to deal with before they all go moldy.
I didn't even get into what a P-I-T-A it is to bake an empty pie shell when you don't have any pie weights! I ended up being thankful to the grain moths for ruining my supply of Camargue rice.
One of my signature entrees is Orange-Sage Chicken. Originally from Family Circle, it's a recipe I've been making since I first moved to Michigan in '02; I actually planted sage in the garden expressly to have a supply for this dish. Timing the sauce can be tricky, especially on an electric stove, but over a gas stove the sauce usually takes a couple of minutes to whip up-- just as the instructions indicate. I serve it with a brown rice or wild rice pilaf; those often take a while to cook, so I recommend putting the rice on before preparing the chicken. Pounding the chicken breasts flat, or slicing them in half, is also recommended. Anyway, it's absolutely delicious and a real family-pleaser.
Then for dessert. My most excellent spouse found this recipe for and wanted it... very much! So I made it, rye-flour pie crust and all. This, for those of you who don't know the frustration of pie crust, was a real labor of love. The "30 min prep time" listed in the recipe is a tremendous understatement when the crust is taken into account, as the crust as to chill for more than twice that time to be rollable. Also, you get twice as much dough as you need for the crust, so I'll be making a date custard pie out of my beloved Fannie Farmer book with the other half.
As far as Maple Buttermilk Pie goes... it's really a custard pie. Silken, yellow, and charming-- and mostly tasting of lemon. The uncooked custard tasted almost exactly like the batter for my favorite Lemon Buttermilk Pound Cake! I didn't have and couldn't find "Grade B" maple syrup at short notice, so I used a mixture of Medium and Light syrup from a favorite Canadian farm of mine, and the lighter syrup was probably too delicate. The maple taste was an undertone and didn't dominate the lemon. The right grade of syrup would've made a difference, I'm sure-- Canadian Light pretty much equates to Vermont Fancy, the wrong end of the taste spectrum.
[I bet you had no idea maple syrup was this complicated!]
I would definitely make the pie again, but only with the proper syrup on hand. In the meantime, I have that date custard pie to make, and six cups of U-pick raspberries to deal with before they all go moldy.
I didn't even get into what a P-I-T-A it is to bake an empty pie shell when you don't have any pie weights! I ended up being thankful to the grain moths for ruining my supply of Camargue rice.
