Posted in July 2011 …

Jul 11 2011
2 Comments
Non-Bento, Snacks

Stupid Easy Desserts For Guests

Now you’ve gone and done it. You’ve invited actual people to your actual house for an actual meal with actual food.

Sure, you can pick up a fast-food bucket of fried chicken, sprinkle it lightly all over with paprika, put them on a wire rack above a baking sheet, stick it in a 200′ oven and hide the trash as though your life depended on it and have the main course covered. (WHO WOULD DO SUCH A THING?!) Make your own coleslaw yesterday (bag o’ premade slaw + ranch dressing, friend) and you’re pretty much morally obligated to say you home-made the whole spread, is my philosophy.

Sure, you can set out goat cheese, sliced chives, and rounds of toast and call it a day for the appetizers. Employing a strong hand with the gin will ensure the evening is remembered in a haze which could very well be misconstrued as delicious.

When you are running low on time, you never, ever attempt to make something from scratch, of course, because that is invariably the moment that everything will stick or burn or congeal or fail to congeal.

No!

You pick up something that is already warm- a pizza, a bucket of fried chicken, two rotisserie chickens from the deli department, in their little sacks- and you employ shocking behavior to hide their base origins. You put them on your own baking sheets, pans, racks, whatever they would normally be on had you cooked them yourself, and bung them into a warm oven to be brought out and exclaimed over.

(Rotisserie chickens are particularly useful in this regard, as you can stick two of them on one V-roasting tray, slice up some lemons to scatter in or on them, shove thyme or rosemary or something up their little butts and cover with freshly ground pepper before slamming into the oven at 200′ 10 minutes before your guests show up.)

All that is well and good, and practicing sleight-of-hand with takeaway trash will serve you in good stead when time becomes An Issue. One thing it can sometimes be hard to fake, though, is a decent dessert.

Putting a small amount of effort into your dessert can very well trick people into thinking you’ve knocked yourself out on their behalf when in fact you have spent approximately three minutes catering to their well-being.

This little collection, stolen shamelessly from a large number of places, will not fail, will taste good, and will look ten times more clever than they, in fact, are.

Onward!

——————————————-

The Mincemeat Situation
(which you call a ‘Brandied Compote’ to your guests)

  • 1 jar of Mincemeat, which is found near the baking goods/chocolate chips/dried coconut area of your friendly local grocer. It may be labeled ‘Nonesuch’; I’m not at liberty to say why
  • 1 bottle of Brandy (at least a step above the very cheapest thing you can find, natch)
  • 1-2 pints of the very best vanilla ice cream you can afford

Don’t be alarmed about the mincemeat. It’s really just dried fruits and nuts chopped fine, sweetened, and cooked down a bit. You can make a pie out of it with the leftovers in the jar if you feel frugal, or you can just throw the half-full thing away after the party.

Stir 2 tablespoons of brandy into 1/2 cup of mincemeat and microwave in 20 second increments, stirring and tasting betweentimes until it’s warmed through but not scalding.

Put one dainty scoop of ice cream into one dainty little dish, top with two spoonfuls of the mincemeat business, and serve immediately before it melts all to hell.

It has the benefit of tasting a little exotic and grown-up while simultaneously being just ice cream, which nearly everyone likes.

And on the plus side you can pick up the brandy when you’re getting your guest wine, or gin, depending on how much artificially generated goodwill your feast is going to require.

The Strawberry and Cream Cheese Situation
(Government name: ‘Fresh Strawberries with Vanilla Cream’)

As big a container of strawberries as you can find, rinsed and patted dry but not cut up in any way
1 block of cream cheese
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/8 teaspoon Vanilla extract
3/4 cup of heavy whipping cream

Put the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla into the bowl of your electric mixer and beat until smooth and well combined. Add the whipping cream and beat for a few minutes longer until the mixture is a loose dip consistency (add more whipping cream if you want it still looser). Parcel out the strawberries onto plates and give everyone their own little container of dip.

Note, if you will, the impressive simplicity of this arrangement!

Why would you spend your time cutting the tops off of those strawberries, or- heaven forfend!- cutting them into quarters? No, no, a thousand times, no! Strawberries look quite charming as-is, and piled on a small dessert plate next to a stylish little bowl of dip, each person can do the work themselves.

Lovely.

If you feel you really must cut up those strawberries or have no charming dip bowls, quarter the berries and layer them with the cream cheese into tall glasses as a parfait. As Donkey says, ain’t nobody don’t like a parfait.

The Chocolate Cake Situation
(aka ‘Chocolate Hazelnut Sandwiches’)

You can buy a decent chocolate cake almost anywhere, so this is only to be used if it’s important you look like a good cook and not a cake-buying cheater. You will, of course, still be a cake-buying cheater, but you won’t look like one. Essential distinction.

  • 1 plain pound cake (fresh from the bakery section, not frozen)
  • 1 jar of Nutella
  • 1 can of squirt cream- real cream if you please, not that awful, awful fake-o junk
  • 1 small package of any berry that suits you
  • 2-3 tablespoons of powdered sugar

This is what you do:

You take that pound cake and you slice it in half from pole to pole, so that you end up with the top crust half and the bottom crust half.

Heat that Nutella in a microwave-safe bowl for, say, ten seconds. Stir it a bit and give it another 5 seconds until it’s really quite drippy and pourable.

Pour your Nutella all over the bottom half of the pound cake, using a knife to smear it to the edges. Try not to trickle too much over the side, but don’t lose sleep over it if you do. If you have flashbacks to every PB&J you’ve ever made, you’re doing it right.

Set the top of the poundcake back onto the bottom half. Slice that sucker into thin-ish little fingers.

Set one or two fingers on a darling little desert plate. Squeeze out a swirl of whipped cream. Set three berries cunningly against the whole mess. Dust the whole plate with powdered sugar (yes, right up to the edges. Do this in the sink, obviously). Stick a tiny leaf of mint in the whipped cream business if you feel particularly fancy.

Serve it forth with a palpable air of smugness.

——————————————-

With any luck, your excellent desert-making skills will get you invited over to someone else’s house every now and then, where you will not be required to pretend to cook, will not have to wash the dishes, and can graciously pretend not to notice the takeaway containers peeking out of the trash bin.

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Jul 07 2011
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Non-Bento, Snacks

Dreambars

Adapted from ‘The Joy of Cooking’, Irma Rombauer, with additional comments in parentheses.

Dreambars

Dream Bars
Serves 12

INGREDIENTS

  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans or walnuts
  • 1 cup flaked or shredded sweetened coconut
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2/3 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

PREPARATION

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 11×7″ 2 quart rectangular baking pan
  2. with foil, allowing it to overhang the two narrow ends of the pan by about
  3. 2″. (You will be tempted to NOT line the thing with foil but merely spray it with nonstick spray. Do not do this. However, you can spray the tinfoil with cooking spray after you line it, which makes life easier later.)
  4. Using an electric mixer (or a stand mixer- even better!), beat together 1/4 cup butter, 2 tablespoons sugar, egg yolk and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla. (Really beat the everloving crap out of it- 7 minutes is not too long)
  5. Stir in 3/4 cup flour and then knead. (aka keep mixering it, but just until it becomes homogenized)
  6. Firmly press the dough into the pan to form a smooth, even layer. (pile it on in there and then use the back of your fingers to cram it into place- using the back of a spoon, you can make it nice and smooth, but this is not required. You’re basically making a big shortbread cookie here- which is slightly less complicated than making a PB&J sandwich- and then cooking it a bit to form the bottom crust of the bars. Pro tip: If you decide you’re tired of cooking at this point, you can just bake this base for 20 minutes and call it a day and eat what comes out as cookies.)
  7. Bake for 10 minutes. Set aside.
  8. Spread the coconut and nuts in a baking pan and toast in oven, stirring occasionally, 7-10 minutes, or until coconut is very lightly browned. Set aside. (Don’t skip this step or your cookies will taste very bland. You can stick them in at the same time that you’re cooking the base, btw. And don’t burn them. Err on the side of less cooked or your house will never stop stinking like nuts flambe.)
  9. Meanwhile, beat together, 2 eggs, brown sugar, 1 1/2 tablespoons flour, baking powder, salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla. (With the mixer, natch, hand mixing is for suckers.)
  10. Stir the coconut-nut mixture into the egg mixture. Spread the mixture evenly over the dough. (okay, so when the nuts/coconut come out of the oven, they’ll be really, really hot. If you put them into the egg mixture hot, they’ll scramble your eggs- that is bad. So either cool the nuts for a while or else set your electric mixer on med-high speed and very, very slowly add the nuts. That tempers the eggs to a higher temp without scrambling them.)
  11. Bake on middle oven rack for 20-25 minutes, or until the top is firm and golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out slightly wet. (Because you just happen to have a toothpick on hand, right? No. Just give the pan a little shake; if the center wobbles at all keep it in for 5 more minutes; if it doesn’t, take it out.)
  12. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool to warm.
  13. While the bars are warm, mix together the icing: 2 tablespoons butter, powdered sugar, lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.
  14. If necessary, stir in enough water to yield a spreadable consistency. (Don’t do this.)
  15. Spread the icing evenly over the top. (When you drop it- gently!- on top of the warm cake, the stiff icing will turn into complete liquid, kind of like butter on hot toast, but faster.)
  16. Let stand until thoroughly cool and the icing sets (put it in the fridge to speed that up). Using the overhang foil as handles, lift the bar to a cutting board.
  17. Carefully peel off the foil. Cut into bars. (Get a fork. Take it into the tub with you and eat it all.)
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Jul 07 2011
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Dinner, Non-Bento

Grilled Asian Porkchops with Lemon Couscous Salad

Each summer I wish I had a grill. Almost every hot, sticky night the smell of charcoal, hamburgers and steaks covers the city, but- alas!- urban living, cost, and space precludes a Weberish investment for many of us. Last summer, though, I finally broke down and purchased a cast-iron Lodge stovetop grill, and I’ve never looked back.

You’ll hardly miss the smoky outdoor flavor, and you definitely won’t miss the cleanup. Buy a model that covers two burners, not just one. Some revers to become a griddle, for Saturday morning for pancakes.

Be sure to preheat your grill for at least ten minutes over medium heat before applying your porkchops; for two chops, you’ll only need to turn on one burner.

If you have no grill and haven’t been convinced to buy a grill pan, just put them under the broiler for 5-7 minutes per side.

Plum Sauce and Silicon Brush

Brush on the plum sauce near the end of cooking; if we tried to use it in the initial marinade, it would burn before the chops cooked through. Adding the plum sauce to the chops near the end of cooking and giving each side a quick sear caramelizes the sweet glaze without turning the pork into a lump of charcoal.

The couscous salad is a particular time-saver, as it can be made ages in advance and hang out in the fridge for up to four days with no ill effects to it or you.

TOOL TIP

It’s worth noting that whenever you buy herbs in bunches, particularly parsley or basil, you can treat them just as you would a bunch of flowers. Stick them into a vase or glass, fill it with water, and set it on the counter; the herbs will stay fresh for ages.

You can extend their lives by clipping off any leaves below the water line, changing the water every two days, and trimming the ends of the stalks every three days, if they last that long. You’ll remember to use them, too, if they’re up in your field of vision and not crammed in the crisper. I use an old half-pint milk bottle- it’s just the right size- but even a short drinking glass will serve you well.

Grilled Asian Porkchops with Lemony Couscous Salad

Serves 2.

INGREDIENTS

Lemon Couscous Salad

Couscous

  • 1 cup couscous
  • 2 cups water
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 4-5 leaves of basil, chopped fine
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  •  2 campari or plum tomatoes, quartered
  • 3 tablespoons sesame seeds
  • 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Porkchops

  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1-2 teaspoons sriracha sauce (you know, the one with the rooster on the bottle)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 bone-in pork chops, patted dry
  • 2 tablespoons plum sauce in a small bowl

PREPARATION

Couscous

  1. Stir the couscous, water and salt in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for  2 minutes and leave it in there for now. Stash it in the fridge at this point, covered with plastic wrap, if you’re making the salad in advance.
  2. In another bowl, whisk the lemon juice, garlic, basil, oil, and pepper to combine and set aside.
  3. When the couscous has cooled enough to touch, separate it either by rubbing it between your fingers or fluffing with a fork.
  4. Add the tomatoes, cheese, sesame seeds and dressing over the couscous, tossing and drizzling and then tossing more, until well coated. If it looks a little dry, add more olive oil. Serve warm with the chops, or chill overnight.

Grilled Asian Porkchops with Lemon Couscous Salad

Porkchops

  1. Put the soy sauce, sriracha, oil and pork chops in a large Ziploc bag. Close it up and mix gently to combine, then place in the fridge (on a plate or container in case you spring a leak). Let rest for at least an hour and up to overnight.
  2. Heat and oil your grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. Grill for 4-5 minutes per side, depending on thickness. You want them to be about 2 minutes from doneness.
  3. Brush one side of the chop with the plum sauce and grill, plum-side-down, for one minute. Flip and repeat with the other side for another minute.
  4. Remove from the heat and serve with additional plum sauce for dipping.
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Jul 05 2011
2 Comments
Non-Bento, Snacks

Vintage Cheddar Apple Pie

I don’t think this exact recipe has roots in the past- I made it up one freezing cold day after a long hike in the Massachusetts backwoods necessitated immediate infusions of fat and sugar- but the flavors of it are.

Apple pie was a common breakfast food in America in the 18th and 19th centuries, particularly in the Midwest, and was often served with a big slice of cheese. It wasn’t as sugary as the apple pies we know today, and- as is nearly always the case with American frontier cookery- has its roots in Scottish and English cookery.

The salty, sharp flavor of the cheddar coupled with the spicy sweetness of the apples makes for an incredibly tempting and Fall-flavored pie. I particularly like to make it around- but not at!- Thanksgiving; it’s just too heavy to eat after a meal of turkey and mashed potatoes. However, the day after Thanksgiving, as an accompaniment to turkey sandwiches? …! You could always embrae the pioneer spirit and serve it for breakfast with an additional wedge of cheese; the only caveat is that you’ll need to clear your own lower forty before working off a tenth of it.

To ensure a non-soggy bottom, the apples here are mixed with the sugar and drained in a colander; the juices are then reduced and added back to the pie to eliminate excess moisture, a trick I picked up from the Splendid Table.

It’s almost a shame to share the recipe here, since it is so unbelievably bad for you, and so completely delicious that it’s practically impossible not to eat half the pie in one sitting, which will render you quite literally incapable of complex thought or speech of any kind.

You have been warned.

INGREDIENTS

Crust:
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup cream cheese, very cold and cut into cubes
- 1 cup butter (2 sticks), very cold and cut into cubes, plus 2 tbs more for filling
- 3/4 cup of shredded white or yellow cheddar cheese
-  4 ounces of very cold apple cider

Filling:
- 6 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced in 1/4″ moons
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- the juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tsp cinammon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg (fresh, if you please)
- 1/8 tsp cloves
- pinch of salt

PREPARATION

Crust:
1. Toss the flour, salt, cream cheese, and butter into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until pea-sized lumps appear.
2. Add the 3/4 cups of cheese and turn the processor to ‘On’; add the cider in a steady trickle through the feed tube until the mixture just comes together.
3. Remove the lump of dough and separate it into two halves; flatten each half into a rough disc (quickly, you don’t want your hands to melt the butter) and cover each with plastic wrap. Stash them in the fridge as you make the…

Filling:
4. Put the cored/sliced apples in a mixing bowl and toss with the brown sugar, salt, lemon juice and spices.
5. Pour the mixture into a colander and set it over the same mixing bowl. Let it drain in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, and up to 1 hour.
6. Roll out your two discs of pie dough to a thickness of 1/8″. If you feel fancy, lay them on a cookie sheet with a sheet of wax paper between each and chill for another 15 minutes in the fridge.
7. Pour the accumulated juices into a saucepan and boil until reduced to a thick syrup, about 15 minutes (don’t let it burn!). Preheat oven to 400′.
8. Grease a 9″ pie pan and lay your bottom crust gently into it.Put apples into bottom crust, pour in reduced juices, and dot with butter.
9. Put apples into bottom crust, pour in reduced juices, and dot with butter. Layer the top crust over the filling and crimp the edges to seal. Cut four small vents in the top, decoratively if you are so inclined. Brush with an egg beaten with a squirt of water, also if so inclined.
10. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, until the crust is light brown and the apples are tender when stuck with a knife.
11. Remove the pie when it just begins to head towards golden brown on top; sprinkle the reserved 1/3 cup of cheese on top and return to the oven for an addition 5-10 minutes, or until the cheese has melted but not browned.
12. Serve slightly warm just as it is, or with a scoop of caramel ice cream.

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Jul 04 2011
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Dinner, Non-Bento

Simple Spring Risotto

Risotto is the perfect dish to make when you’re spending a lot of time in the kitchen. Listening to a great 3-hour podcast? Risotto. Sipping wine and staring out the window with nothing to do? Risotto. Waiting for the oven to cycle through a self-cleaning? Risotto.

You get the idea.

Risotto is, essentially, a short-grained, high-starch rice that slowly sautés on the stovetop, soaking up more and more liquid until it becomes creamy with the mixture of released starch and added liquid. Short-grained and expensive Arborio rice is the top choice for making risotto. However- and this is an important, horrible secret I wish to share- you can make it with regular, old long-grained rice with almost the exact same results.

I don’t know about you, but I rarely have that confluence of circumstances that results in having (a) a lot of time in the kitchen with (b) some Arborio rice to hand. I generally keep a pretty good supply of the regular old stuff, though, and swear on my nonstick skillet that the end results will be completely edible and delicious despite not costing an arm and a leg.

Frozen vegetables will perform admirably in this application, though if it happens to be spring and you happen to be loaded with fresh produce, do feel free to go nuts and feel self-righteous all in the same breath.

INGREDIENTS

- 1/2 cup of white wine, plus 1 1/2 cups, separated
- 1 1/2 cups rice (Arborio if you feel precise, regular long-grained rice if you do not)
- 1 onion, diced very fine
- 5 cups of chicken stock, which you keep in your tea kettle (or a saucepan, though it isn’t nearly as much fun) on low heat
- 1/2 cup of frozen peas
- 6 – 8 oz of mushrooms, sliced
- 1 bunch asparagus, fresh- steamed in the microwave for 4 minutes, or frozen- prepared according to the instructions on the package
- Salt and pepper
- Parmesan cheese, shaved

PREPARATION

1. Pour yourself a glass of white wine (3/4 cup) and turn on the radio.
2. Mix 1 cup of the white wine with the chicken stock in a large bowl and set aside.
2. Heat  the butter and olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat until the butter melts, foams, and then stops foaming.
3. Reduce the heat to medium and add the rice and onion. Stir to coat the rice in the butter/oil mixture; sauté until the rice is very slightly golden and smells nutty, about 3 minutes.
4. Add 1/2 cup of the wine. Stir constantly until all of the liquid has been absorbed by the rice.
5. Add 1/2 cup of the stock and stir every minute or so until the liquid is absorbed.
6. Pour yourself another (3/4 cup) glass of wine.
7. Continue adding 1/2 cup of the stock and stirring until the risotto looks extremely creamy and no more stock will be absorbed, anywhere from 45 to 60 minutes. Taste it regularly near the end to ensure the rice grains are  not hard at the center.
8. When the risotto is cooked to your personal satisfaction, add:
- 1/2 cup frozen peas (don’t bother thawing them)
- the mushrooms, which you have sauteed in a little butter in another skillet
- the asparagus, which you cut on the bias (diagonal) into 1/2 inch slices
- salt and pepper to taste
9. Stir all of the ingredients together until the peas have warmed through.
10. Serve on warm plates topped with Parmesan and, of course, more white wine.

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Jul 04 2011
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Non-Bento, Snacks

Rum Old-Fashioned

This variation on the Old Fashioned is my husband’s invention and a twist on the classic Old Fashioned. He recommends making the lime base in large quantites and storing it in a pitcher in the fridge in advance of parties. If you follow his mass production approach, 1 measure of the lime mixture will serve as the base for one drink.

Note that- being more rum than lime- this cocktail is powerful stuff!

Makes one cocktail.

INGREDIENTS

- 1/2 measure of water
- Dash of Angostura Bitters
- 1 teaspoon of Rose’s Sweetened Lime Juice
- 1 teaspoon of powdered sugar
- 3 cubes of ice
- 2 measures of white rum (such as Bacardi)
- 1/2 measure of dark, spiced rum (such as Kraken)

PREPARATION

1. Stir water, bitters, and lime juice and sugar. Stir in the bottom of your cocktail shaker until the sugar is dissolved.
2. Pour mixture into a chilled highball glass and add ice.
3. Pour the white rum into the highball glass and stir gently.
4. Slowly and carefully float (pour over the back of a spoon) the dark rum over the white rum mixture.
5. Garnish with a slice of lime and drink slowly… slowly!

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Jul 04 2011
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Dinner, Non-Bento

Hearty Spanish Chorizo Soup

This warming and slightly spicy soup is perfect for warding off chilly nights. Served with slices of a rustic loaf (spread it with butter and minced garlic, wrapped in foil, and heated in the oven for 20 minutes) and a red Spanish Rioja, it becomes a hearty meal perfect for guests.

INGREDIENTS

- 1-2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 pounds of Spanish chorizo or other spicy sausage, sliced into 1/2″ rounds
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped roughly
- 2 cloves of garlic, diced
- 1 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 1/2 tsp
- 1 14 oz. jar of roasted red peppers, sliced lengthwise
- 1 8 oz. can of diced tomatoes (fire-roasted tomatoes work very well here)
- 2 Russet potatoes, peeled and cut into large dice
- 4 cups of chicken stock
- 1/2 cup shredded Manchego cheese (optional)

PREPARATION

1. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large saucepan.
2. Sautee the sausage slices and onion until the onions are transparent and the sausages are just starting to brown.
3. Add the garlic, paprika and stir occasionally until the garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute.
4. Add red peppers, the tomatoes (with their juice), and potatoes. Cover with chicken stock.
5. Turn the heat to low and simmer  for 1 1/2 hour, stirring infrequently. Ladle into warmed bowls and top with shredded Manchego cheese, if desired. Serve with warm garlic bread.


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Jul 04 2011
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Non-Bento, Snacks

Short & Sweet: Shortbread Cookies For Every Day

Making cookies can be the most unbelievable chore: rolling, cutting, dipping, sweeping, chilling, icing- it’s enough to make you stop before you’ve started.

Shortbread is the perfect cookie to throw together when you forsee an evening without any phone calls or interruptions, curled up with a good book and a cup of tea (you did send the kids to camp and ‘forget’ to charge your cell phone, right?). None of that time should be wasted with fussy cookies. Five minutes of preparation and 50 in the oven will have you on the couch and under your coziest blanket with your very own plate of warm, buttery shortbread in no time.

And, no: You are by no means required to share.

INGREDIENTS

2 sticks of room-temperature butter
2 cups of all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp of salt
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1/2 cup of powdered sugar (optional)

PREPARATION

1. Preheat the oven to 375′.
2. Throw the butter into a stand mixer or, using a hand mixer, beat the butter until it is lighter in color and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. Add in the flour, salt and granulated sugar and beat to combine.
4. Using the back of your fingers or the back of a spoon, press the mixture into an 8″ buttered pie or cake pan. If desired, smooth the top with the back of the spoon, and decorate by poking the top with the tines of a fork.
5. Bake for 50 minutes, until the top is golden brown.
6. Let cool slightly, then turn out of the pan and cut into wedges. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.

VARIATIONS

If you feel particularly energetic, mix into batter in Step 3 one or more of the following:

- 1/2 cup of chocolate chips
- 1/3 cup of diced soft caramels
- 1/2 cup of diced dried fruit, such as apricots or raisins
-  1/2 teaspoon of Almond Extract
- 1/2 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 cup of chopped nuts, such as walnuts or pecans
- 1/3 cup of pistachios

As a bonus, this recipe can be pressed into the bottom and up the sides of a pie tin and baked for 10 minutes at 350′ to then be filled as normal to serve as the crust for any kind of pie.

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