The Frugal Gourmom

I should have taken more/better quality photos, but I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out. Turns out? It’s faaantastic. Like, the best apple pie I’ve ever had. Seriously. ‘Tis the season for apple pie…so get some!!!!

Ingredients

CRUST

FILLING

• 4 large honeycrisp apples – peeled, cored, sliced into 1/4″ slices and quartered. I have a nice peeler/corer/slicer to do this for me, but I enjoy doing it by hand sometimes.
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• about 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 tsp freshly grated ginger
• 1 tbsp corn starch combined with 3 tbsp cold water

CRUST INSTRUCTIONS:

Make the dough first.

Cut the sticks of butter into 1/2-inch cubes and place in the freezer for 15 minutes to an hour (the longer the better) so that they become thoroughly chilled.

Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add ice water 1 Tbsp at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it’s ready. If the dough doesn’t hold together, add a little more water and pulse again.

Remove dough from machine and place in a mound on a clean surface. Gently shape into 2 discs. Knead the dough just enough to form the discs, do not over-knead. You should be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. These small chunks of butter are what will allow the resulting crust to be flaky. Sprinkle a little flour around the discs. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

FILLING INSTRUCTIONS:

Peel, core, slice and quarter the apples. Toss in a bit of lemon juice if you have it. Get a large skillet out and put it on med-high heat. Put all of the apple slices in the pan. Top with the sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and butter. Combine and cook for about 5 minutes. The apples will soften and you will have a deeeelicious sauce in the bottom of the pan. Add in the cornstarch/water mixture when the apples are soft, yet still a bit firm and the juice is bubbling/boiling. Combine well- it will thicken. Remove from heat, put in a bowl and refrigerate for at least an hour. It should be about room temperature when it goes into the pie.

When the dough is cold & rolled and the filling is room temp and thickened…it’s time to make pie.

Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften just enough to make rolling out a bit easier. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. If necessary, add a few sprinkles of flour under the dough to keep the dough from sticking.

Carefully place onto a 9-inch pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish – I personally like it more rustic looking.

Add filling to the pie.

Roll out second disk of dough, as before. Gently place onto the top of the filling in the pie. Pinch top and bottom of dough rounds firmly together. Trim excess dough with kitchen shears, leaving a 3/4 inch overhang. Fold the edge of the top piece of dough over and under the edge of the bottom piece of dough, pressing together. Flute edges using thumb and forefinger.

Slice a couple vents in the top and brush with a mixture of egg and a dash of milk to give a nice sheen.

Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. I removed mine when the crust was golden brown and the filling started bubbling out of the crust edge on one side.

It is soooo flaky and buttery. Sweet and spiced. It is autumnal and exactly how I felt today.

I cannot emphasize the flakyness and buttery-goodness of this crust enough.  

I made this up yesterday and hoped for the best. It turned out fantastic. I love Thai flavors, so I combined my favorite ones and waited. It was worth the wait and is super easy to get going if you have a busy day.

Ingredients

• 2-3 chicken breasts – I buy the huge pack at Sam’s Club and pack into freezer bags.
• 1 can of coconut milk – best price is at Aldi
• 1 tbsp minced garlic – I buy in bulk at Sam’s Club. Best price for it.
• 1 tbsp minced ginger – I have a jar in  the fridge for when I don’t have fresh.
• 2 tbsp minced lemongrass – I just keep a jar on hand – it was $3 but keeps in the fridge for a long time.
• 2 limes – zested and juiced
• 1 tbsp mild yellow curry powder – very mild and very cheap at Cost Plus World Market
• 1/2 cup of crushed, canned pineapple with juice

• Assorted veggies to stir fry – I used red onion, garden poblano pepper, red bell pepper, thinly shaved carrots, mushrooms and green onions.
• Rice to serve the dish over

Set the crock pot to low (in the morning) and spray with non-stick spray. Lay the chicken breasts in the bottom. Add the garlic, ginger, lemongrass, curry powder, coconut milk, lime juice + zest and pineapple. Add a pinch of salt, combine and cover.

Let it cook on low for about 6-8 hours or high for about 4.

When the chicken is cooked, remove from sauce and dice into about 1″ chunks. It will be very tender (a little dry, but we’re going to fix that) – take your diced chicken and add it back into the crock pot with the sauce.

Make your rice now. It’ll take about 15 minutes.

Now get  out your wok or large skillet.  Stir fry your veggies in a bit of olive oil…make sure the pan is hot and you add your veggies in order of their cooking time.

I steamed my fresh broccoli in the microwave first with a bit of water. I used thinly sliced garden poblano (for some kick), sweet red bell peppers, mushrooms (that I had to cook separately because my hubby is picky and won’t eat them), red onions, shaved carrot (that I did on my box grater), garlic and green onion (I used the whiter part in the stir fry and the green parts for the garnish).

Layer your plate with the rice on the bottom, the veggies in the middle and the chicken and sauce ladeled over the top.

It’s tender, silky, sweet, spicy, tart, fresh and just out of this world. I swear I can change over you stubborn-minded curry haters. This was a winner winner, chicken dinner.

Instructions

Preheat the oven (or grill) to 375 degrees.

Wash and dice up the potatoes in a 1/2″ dice. This would also work well with Yukon Gold potatoes.

Smell your rosemary. Mmmmm. Smells good, eh? Take the leaves off of the stalks and mince them up well. Sprinkle over the ‘taters.

Mince up the garlic and toss on the pile.

Season with salt & pepper.

Drizzle with olive oil.

Get your hands dirty and toss those potatoes up so all of the flavorings are spread evenly throughout the little cubes of goodness.

Wrap up in a nice little foil packet and throw in the oven. They’ll take about 30-40 minutes in the oven. If you are grilling, they may take less time if you have a really hot grill.

I prefer to do them in the oven so the rosemary and garlic don’t burn. They are creamy, fragrant, flavorful and about the simplest and best side dish for some steak or grilled chicken. I got so sidetracked by the wonderful potatoes that I forgot to take an “after” picture. Trust me. They are guuuuuuuuuud.

I had some friends over the night we had these and served them family style with some steaks…2 plates, 6 forks, lots of “mmmmmm’s” and not a single morsel left.

Cooking time (duration): 45 minutes

Diet type: Vegan