Cooking with Missy: Pumpkin Pie with Pecan topping

With the holidays getting closer and me seeing more and more delicious things come out at the bakery I have to improvise and make them at home or pay out through the nose shopping. I'd rather spend the money on gifts and use my time to make the food and it also gives me a chance to test out recipes for Thanksgiving and see if they make the cut for the family meal.

This pie will retail at close to $15 for a whole pie or $3.50 a slice at places like Cracker Barrel. So why not stay in and have a fun day with the kids cooking?

I had most the ingredients sitting in my cupboard so I didn't have to pick up any extra stuff from the grocery store this trip but I think you could do most of this for under $5 at Aldi's. It may cost a little more through some of the upscale grocery stores like Krogers or Publix, but also the spices and sugar will last through other recipes.

Pecan topped pumpkin pie

ingredients

1 recipe Deep-Dish Pie Pastry
1-1/4 cups coarsely chopped pecans, walnuts, or hazelnuts
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 15-ounce can pumpkin
1-1/2 cups half-and-half or light cream or one 12-ounce can evaporated milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1-1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare Deep-Dish Pie Pastry. Mix pecans and brown sugar in small bowl; place 3/4 cup pecan mixture in bottom of pie shell. Reserve remaining pecan mixture for topping. Combine pumpkin, half-and-half, granulated sugar, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, and salt in large bowl; mix well. Pour into prepared pie shell.
2.Bake for 50 minutes or until just set in center. Add butter to remaining pecan mixture; stir until moistened. Sprinkle pie filling with pecan mixture; bake for 10 minutes more or until topping bubbles around edges. Cool on wire rack.
3.Makes 8 slices
4.Deep-Dish Pie Pastry: In a medium bowl stir together 1-1/2 cups flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in 6 tablespoons shortening until pieces are pea-size. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon cold water over part of the flour mixture; gently toss with fork. Push moistened dough to the side of bowl. Repeat, using 1 tablespoon water at a time until all the flour mixture is moistened (about 5 to 6 tablespoons cold water). Form into a ball. On lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 13-inch circle. Ease pastry into a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate. Trim and crimp edge, as desired. Set aside.

Pictures to follow later. :)

This recipe was borrowed from Better Homes and Gardens.

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/food/recipes/pecan-topped-pumpkin-pie-538239/

Cooking with Missy: Basic Pie shell

Any good southern cook has this recipe memorized. You can use it in so many ways, with a fruit filling fresh from the garden to the standard family favorite of Chicken pot pie.

My grandmother taught me how to make the best crust with the flakiest lightest texture ever. The real trick to keeping your crust perfect is not over working the flour and using very cold ingredients. Chill your water in the freezer before you make this and it will turn out perfect every time. If the dough starts to get too warm, put the whole bowl in the fridge for a few minutes and then go back to rlling it out and cooking it.


Basic Pie shell recipe

Ingredients:
•1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
•1/4 teaspoon salt
•1/2 cup lard or vegetable shortening, or combination of shortening and butter, chilled
•3 tablespoons ice water


Preparation:

Sift together the flour and salt; sift again. Cut in the shortening or lard with a pastry blender or two knives until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Add ice water a tablespoon at a time (approximately 3 tablespoons in all), stirring the dough around the bowl with a fork. As soon as it is moist enough to gather into a ball, wrap in wax paper and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Handle the dough as little as possible. Roll half of the pastry dough out on a floured surface to about 1/8-inch thickness. The pastry should be about 1 1/2 inches larger than the the pie plate. Repeat with the other half of dough for a double crust pie, or freeze the remaining dough for a future pie. Makes enough for a double crust for a 9- or 10-inch pie, or two single crusts.
If recipe calls for a pre-baked crust, prick the pie shell with a fork and bake in a preheated 350° oven for about 3 minutes; remove from the oven and prick some more if the crust is puffing up. Return to the oven and bake 5 minutes longer. Place on a wire rack to cool, then fill as recipe directs.

Cooking with Missy: Melts in Your Mouth BBQ Ribs Step 2

BBQ Ribs - Simple Super Soft Ribs [Recipe 003]
I cooked/baked some very simple ribs. My mother came up with this recipe and it is very versatile. You can definitely modify it to your liking.

Simple Super Soft Ribs
There are three main steps to making these ribs:
• Boiling the ribs
• Slathering the ribs in your choice of BBQ sauce
• Baking the ribs

Get some ribs and cut off most of the fat. Lightly cover the ribs in salt, coating all the meat. Repeat with pepper and garlic powder. Once this is done, put all the ribs in a large pot and fill it with water so that all the meat is covered. Add a little bit more salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Bring the water to a boil and let it boil until the meat is soft. This make take 2 or more hours. Once the meat is soft enough, turn off the flame and let the ribs cool enough for handling. Preheat your oven to 375F.

Now, brush (more like dab since the meat can just disintigrate since it's so soft) your choice of BBQ sauce liberally all over the meat.

Arrange the BBQ coated ribs in a baking pan that can accomodate all the ribs placed side by side. Do not stack the ribs. At this point you can pour a little more BBQ sauce over the ribs. Cover the baking pan with foil completely.

Place the ribs in the oven and let them bake for about 30 minutes. At around 30 minutes check to see if the BBQ on the ribs has dried or not. If it has, brush on more BBQ sauce from the pan. Now remove the foil and turn off the oven. Let the ribs stay in the oven for 10-15 minutes allowing the BBQ sauce to dry a little. After the sauce has dried a little, you're done!

Enjoy!

Cooking with Missy: Kansas City Ribs

Yeah, you think I'm cheap? I am not sure you know the emenaing of the word... My grandmother lived through the Great Depression and she was a real tightwad. When she (generously) took us out to eat as children we weren't allowed to order drinks.

It's been a tradition to not tolerate waste. I have it ingrained in my brain so deep that I am afraid to throw out those little packets of ketchup. Not that I have a clue what to do with them besides put them on french fries.

So, I found this recipe for a great BBQ sauce that uses up a whole cup of ketchup. Yay! I finally found a use for those little packets

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutesYield: Makes about 2 cups
Ingredients:
•1 cup ketchup
•1/4 cup water
•1/4 cup vinegar
•1/4 cup brown sugar
•3 tablespoons olive oil
•2 tablespoons paprika
•1 tablespoon chili powder
•2 cloves garlic, minced
•1 teaspoon cayenne
Preparation:
Heat oil in a saucepan. Add garlic and sauté until brown. Add remaining ingredients and reduce heat. Simmer for 15 minutes until thickened.