You call me a tart like it's a bad thing!

So, recently, I have been on a dessert kick. Mainly, a baked dessert kick. I blame my sister K for this one. Have you ever heard of Ree Drummond? Yeah, I hadn't either, until my sister sent me an email telling me to check her out. You should check her out, too. Click here to check out her site, The Pioneer Woman. Its really cool, but don't forget to come back here!

Good, now that you are back, I can continue. So, as I was saying, K sent me the link, with the instructions to check out her site. And so I did. And oh man, was I hooked! One of my favorite parts of her site was obviously the cooking part; the dessert part, in particular, actually. So while I was perusing through her site, I stumbled across a recipe for an apple tart. It sounds good, and very simple. But, just a little boring. So, I started thinking, and what follows is what I came up with, using her recipe as a jumping off point to start negotiations.

Making this tart is ridiculously easy. I had never even used puff pastry before making it, and I managed not to screw things up! That has to say something for the ease of it! Plus, it uses remarkably few ingredients! That is always a bonus. Really, you just have to think in twos. 

You can see that I really got into the whole 'think in twos' thing... plus, halves of things just look pretty, don't ya think?

Coring all of the fruit really might have been one of the hardest parts of this whole thing. But, only cause I almost sliced my palm open while coring an apple. Note to self, get an apple corer and a melon baller. Makes life easier.

The other hard part? Slicing everything really thinly. Not particularly difficult, but definitely time consuming.

The pears were easier to slice. I think it's the skin.

Looks pretty though! Red and green; reminds me of Christmas. And it is cold enough here. I swear! It's in the low 60's today! Burrr!

Since I was on the whole Christmas thing, and it is winter here, I decided to go with the traditional winter flavors. Brown sugar. Oh, and cinnamon and nutmeg, too.

 Gives you a warm fuzzy feeling when you start smelling everything mixed together. Also, when you do this, it creates this amazing, gooey, and very very delicious syrup that coats everything. Try a few this way, I promise you won't regret it! Just be sure to leave enough to cover the tart!

Speaking of the tart, I used frozen pre-made puff pastry here. Never used it before. I am now in love with it. Im gonna start coming up with new things to make in it. Also, you will notice the two different sizes there. I was experimenting here, doing the test run. I do have to say that after making both sizes, I like the smaller one best. Looks better on a serving plate.

So the trick to this tart is that you do the alternating layers of apple and pear, so that each bite yields pure deliciousness in your mouth. Also, do this because it looks pretty. Then, into the oven they go, for, seriously, like 20 minutes. Thats it! Easy peasy!

What comes out of the oven is this amazing looking tart. It looks like it took forever to make, and that can be your little secret when you share it at your next dinner party.

Another great thing about this tart? I bet you can totally change up the fruits for whatever happens to be in season at the time. Im sure strawberries and blueberries could work fine, or perhaps peaches? Yummers. Either way, make this, and love it. Just try not to eat all the fruit before you turn it into a tart.

xoxo Craig

Keep reading for the recipe.

My friends rock.

So please forgive yet another rambling post about my birthday, but I just have to tell you about this present! But, first, a little background. Growing up, there was very little that the children in my family would agree on. This made watching movies at home very difficult for my parents, cause someone was always going to be unhappy. Also, car trips weren't much fun either, on account of the various tastes in what my parents refered to as 'noise'. 

But, alas! There was one thing that the entire clan could agree on! In fact, I think that growing up, it may have been the only thing we all agreed on. And loved. I mean, really, really loved. Whether it was her movies, or her music, my family loved Dolly Parton. I think 9 to 5 and Steel Magnolia's were two of the most quoted movies in my family. So, when I heard that she was going on tour again, and that the tour was going to be coming to Sydney, I nearly wet myself with excitement. No, seriously. I actually called JP at work just to gush like an excited middle school girl. Well, I gushed in a manner that I would assume a middle school girl would gush in, seeing as I never was one. I wanted to go. Badly. So badly, in fact, that I may or may not have mentioned it all the time for a while.

Turns out, two of my very good friends were paying attention. 

So, it is off to the Hunter Valley come this November for JP, myself and our friends C&J, to see Dolly. Live. In concert.

I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS!!!! 

And, we booked this cute little cabin, on a vineyard, to stay at for that weekend. This is going to be 10 shades of awesome.

Thank you so much, C&J. You guys are freakin amazing! 

Back to food soon, I promise!

xoxo Craig

I would be proud to partake of your pecan pie.

So, I may or may not have mentioned a few times that it was recently my birthday. Now, the reason that this keeps coming up is because of my location in this world. Now, there are upsides and downsides to living overseas when your birthday rolls around. The downsides are pretty obvious: when you live on the opposite side of the world from your entire family, you do tend to notice their absences on your day of birth. Plus, there is the whole time difference thing, so when it's my birthday here, it's not there yet. Strange stuff. However, the upside is the presents! Because of the massive difference in location, and the small fact that everything needs to go through customs to get here, presents keep rolling in for about a week or two after. It is great!! It is like I get to keep celebrating! So, with that in mind, yesterday, I received a pretty neat gift from JP's Auntie B, whom you may remember from this post. Auntie B and I share a very strong love of southern food. We can sit and chatter about it until JP gets fed up and changes the subject (which, admittedly, doesn't take him long to do). Because of this shared love, Auntie B also seems to understand my total adoration of Paula Deen, who I often refer to as the Queen of Southern Cooking. Guess what came in the mail!

So you see that photo up there? Yeah, that would be the cookbook set from Paula's restaurant, The Lady & Sons. How totally awesome is that!?! All of Paula's best recipes, in a nice, compact two book set! This photo really shows exactly how I spent most of my morning; nose pressed to the books, pen handy for taking notes. Just a side note, JP laughs at me because I read cookbooks like they are the latest novel to hit Opera's Book Club. I'm talking cover to cover, here. So, in my excitement over these books, I thought I would surprise JP with something special when he got home from work. You know, a little touch of home. What better way to do that then to make him a Pecan Pie, from scratch!

So off to the shops I went! It was easy enough to find most of the things I needed. Actually, on this very rare occasion, I happened to randomly have mostly everything I needed, including the cane syrup that Paula called for. I mean, really! Who keeps cane syrup in their pantry? Oh wait, I do, apparently. So it turned out that all I really needed was a few eggs, some pecans, and the pie crust. Easy enough, I thought. Let me tell you: finding a pre-made frozen pie crust took me the better part of the afternoon, and a trip to all three of my grocery stores! Once I found them, I made sure to buy two, just in case.

Once I got back home from the Great Pie Crust Hunt of '11, I whipped up the filling while the oven preheated. Now, remember how I told you I bought two pie crusts?

Well, I am very glad that I did. You see this wonderful photo above of the pretty pre-cooked pie? Well, that is in the second crust.

You see, I might have overfilled the first crust, and then broke it while trying to scoop out some of the pecan goodness overflow. Told you I was glad I got two of them! But, here is the thing. I really really wish I had gotten three. You see, I may have mentioned in one of my very first posts about my stupid, tiny, annoying oven and its stupid fluctuating cook times. Well, this was one of those moments where it reared its ugly head and totally screwed up what I was cooking. I would show you the result of my first attempt of the pecan pie, but in my irritation over the charred remains of what was supposed to be a surprise for JP, I just chucked it into the bin. Now, remember a moment ago when I told you that I had got two of the crusts? Yeah, I suddenly started wishing that I had bought three. So back to the store I went. To the same check out girl, who looked at me and my basket of same ingredients, then looked back at me and said 'didn't go so well the first time, did it?'  I might have glared at her a little as I told her it was the oven's fault and that I had nothing to do with it.

So, back home, I once again whipped everything together and put it back in the oven. This time I was far more vigilant over the cooking process. You can tell... just look at that wonderful pie up there! Seriously though, I hung out in the kitchen the entire 45 minutes it took to cook. And I may have compulsively checked on it every 10 or 15 minutes. Regardless, it worked this time! 

Just look at that Pecan Pie! A true Southern delite, made by me, from scratch, from a Paula Deen recipe! What could be a better surprise for JP after his super ridiculously long day than coming home to a great big slice of this??

Oh yeah, only the fact that there is so much more of it for him to eat! Can you say breakfast!? Thanks again Auntie B!!

xoxo Craig

ps - Extra kudos to anyone that can name the movie the post title is from!! Leave your answers in the comments! 

Salmon meets Coconut. It's a happy union.

I love coming up with new things to make; mixing new flavors together and seeing what happens. This is why two of my totally amazing friends gave me this super sweet chef's hat for my birthday. Pretty awesome, if you ask me! And, total bonus, it's a real one too!

Trying to replicate things from restaurants is always a fun part of cooking. Sometimes, this works horribly. Take the time that I tried to do an eggplant parmesan thing that JP and I had had at some place or another. Good lord, I couldn't even swallow one bite. Neither could JP, and that is saying something, cause he tries to eat whatever I put in front of him. Now, in contrast, take the dinner that I made tonight. JP and I love those little Coconut Prawns that you can get at the cheesy seafood places. You know the ones; super crunchy and salty that you dip in that really sweet honey mustard sauce? Yeah, those! So anyways, we just love those little guys! In a quest to replicate the taste, but give it more substance than just a few little prawns, I thought I would give it a shot on some salmon.

So, I grabbed everything I thought I would need (this based purely on nothing more than my imagination, by the way). This included mustard and honey, of course, but then I let my mind wander to Asia. What would they use? What I came up with would surely enrage my friend Princess, who happens to be from China, but I would wager a bet that she would forgive me when she tried the dinner. Surprise ingredient of the night? Allspice. Yeup. Allspice. So, I mixed everything all up in a bowl, then made JP come and try it, to see if it tasted alright.

I always make him come taste things, just to make sure it isn't poison. I am confident that this is the right choice. So, on to some waiting salmon filets, and into a hot oven they went. I would show you this, but I forgot to take a picture, on account of how excited I was for dinner. Seriously, the topping was good enough to just eat straight. I had to take that spoon away from JP. Once they popped out, a mere 15 minutes later, I was thrilled and delighted. This was on two accounts. One, the smell in my apartment was to die for. I half expected to have my neighbors knock down my door for this one. The other reason was simply, well, just look at them! Wow!

Here; have a closer look! Just look at that color! The little crispy brown bits of coconut might have been my favorite.

Ah, hell, get even closer! Aren't you sad you can't smell that?? Yummers!!

Serve it up with simple sides. You want the salmon to be the stand out on this dinner. I went for lemon cous cous with peas and some spinach and onions sautéed with some soy sauce.

This dinner is so simple and easy to make. Add the bonus of the fact that I whipped the whole thing up in under 30 minutes, fridge to plate, and you have yourself a winner! Love it!

xoxo Craig

Keep reading for the recipe.

Turkey. The other bird meat.

I love to eat bird. It is healthy, and mostly a blank palate on which to lavish wonderful flavors. I especially like to bread it for some reason. How boring is that? I know, trust me. So, as a result of this tendency to bread my breast of bird, I have had to come up with fun new flavors to add into the mix. Throw a little cayenne pepper into the breadcrumbs, maybe some parmesan cheese, that type of thing. But these tricks, while effective, did little to really add to the taste of the bird, to help form the meal. I had to get creative. So, creative I did. I played around with several ideas, and mostly, they turned out kind of wrong. Finally, after many no so tasty dinners that JP dutifully sat through, it totally dawned on me. I was adding the flavor to the wrong part of the dish. When you add the extras to the breadcrumbs, while the flavors are more robust, they aren't really in the meat. But, when you add the flavors to the meat in the form of a mini-marinade a la egg wash, presto! So, with that in mind, I started to play around until I finally hit on a great, and surprising subtle, flavor combination. 

Rosemary and mustard work shockingly well together, in case you didn't know that. There is something about the sharp tang of the mustard that just works very much in harmony with the wonderful earthy taste of rosemary. I think it also has to do with the smells as well. I truly think that you eat with more than just you sense of taste. Also, I am obsessed with using a wholegrain mustard with dijon. I think it was a Giada De Laurentiis recipe that first got me started doing that; now I just can't quit! Well, it might have been Ina Garten. I'm not exactly sure to tell you the truth. I do know that it wasn't Paula Deen.

Also, lemon juice is a wonderful thing too. And I have absolutely no shame in using the stuff from the bottle. Saves me all that time squeezing and stuff for just a few splashes. It's ok; go ahead and pick up a bottle. No one will be any the wiser. Unless you take photos with the bottle in the background and then post said pictures to the interwebs.

So, back to the meat. I used turkey in this, but it would work just as well with chicken. And pork, actually. Whatever you choose to use, just make sure to submerge the meat in the egg mixture for at least 30 or so minutes. It really really helps.

I know this sounds odd, but for this version of breaded turkey, I would actually recommend that you use a plain breadcrumb. Yes, you read that correctly! It allows all the flavors of the rosemary and mustard to show through, as well as the flavor of the turkey. Sometimes the italian breadcrumbs just have too much of an intense flavor about them the overwhelms the other flavors in this. Also, turkey. How underrated is that? I mean, other than holidays, how often do you actually have turkey for dinner? If you are at my house, I would say about 2 to 4 times a month. I love it. It just has a more interesting flavor and texture than chicken, and you all know I love me some chicken!

Something I wanted to make sure you take note of: watch the pan. Sometimes I forget this, and then things get a little too hot. Oops. I told JP it was just extra flavor. He bought it, I think. Either way, make sure to not have the heat up too high like I did when you make this... you want it golden brown, not slightly burnt. If, however, you do overdo it a bit, don't panic! Just grab the spatula and flip em over and reduce the heat. It'll be fine.

See, look at all that 'flavor' on that. Yummers. 

Serve with some vegetables, and maybe those roasted mashed potatoes that I showed you the other day. Thats what I did, and it rocked out. 

xoxo Craig

Keep reading for the recipe

Get this deliciousness in your mouth. Like right now.

So first off, I wanted to apologize for being so absent the last little bit! You see, it was my birthday recently, and I got a bit selfish. I didn't want to cook dinner, I wanted to go out to dinner! And the birthday boy gets what he wants! Also, JP gave me a bouquet of spatulas. Love that man!

So, on to food! The other day, while tuning out some conversation or another, I inevitably started to daydream about food. More specifically, while I was off in my own little world and not paying attention to whomever was babbling on about something, I was thinking about something that Ina Garten said in one of her shows. She claims that roasting shrimp for shrimp cocktails is the single best way to add huge volumes of flavor to something that is otherwise rather bland. Somehow, my mind made the jump over to mashed potatoes. I'm guessing it's because of the similar preparation methods of boiling the crap out of the main ingredient, but I can't be sure. So, I started to think about how I make my roasted potatoes; lots of garlic and rosemary, some olive oil, salt and pepper. That sounds like way more flavor to me than what you get out of normal mashed potatoes. Hmm... The gears started turning. So, I'll tell you what I did. Cue theme music, and grab some potatoes! And garlic!

Then, rosemary! We need rosemary! 

Pretty, huh? So, I chopped it all up and tossed it together in a bowl. Added the necessary olive oil, salt and pepper that is pretty ubiquitous throughout all of my cooking.

Take a second to notice that I left the garlic cloves whole. There is reason for this: when you roast whole garlic cloves, something magical happens. The garlic turns all buttery and nutty and delicious and amazing and... excuse me, I'm starting to drool a bit. The thing is, I roasted this on pretty high heat. If I had chopped up the garlic, it would have just burned, and that doesn't make things taste very nice, does it?

So, into a roasting pan (of sorts. I have a small oven. Small pans are needed. Please don't laugh!)

Roast for a while, until the potatoes turn this amazing golden brown, and your house starts smelling of pure deliciousness. It will look amazing when you are done. I promise. Unless you burn it. Don't burn it. If you don't burn it, it will look like this:

So, into a big bowl everything goes. Potatoes, garlic cloves, leftover oil in the bottom. All of it. Then, add some butter.

And some buttermilk. This brings a fantastic tanginess to the potatoes that I just love. Also, it is low in fat. Not that it matters that much on something like this, but hey. Anything to help rationalize the portion sizes you will consume once you try these.

Mash it all together until you get to a consistency that you like. For me and JP, we like or potatoes more on the roughly smashed side. Just look at that wonderful flavor in there! You can see the roasted crust from the outside of the potatoes, and the wonderful rosemary! And, if the lighting weren't so terrible in my kitchen, you could also see the bits of roasted garlic too. But the lighting is pretty terrible, so you will just have to use your imagination for that. Sorry.

Finally, pile it high on a plate and start digging in. That is, if you can manage to stop eating it straight from the bowl. JP and I had a hard time with this step. Serve these potatoes with things that make you feel healthy, so you can justify the massive quantities that you will inevitably eat.

This really might be the cure to boring mashed potatoes. They were truly amazing. The flavor of the potato was so concentrated, and then the garlic just added this extra dimension that was out of this world! The rosemary brought wonderful balance to it as well. All of the flavors were just so dang vivid! Trust me, you really need to try this. I am so serious, these are hands down the best mashed potatoes I have ever made. And then eaten. And then gone back for seconds of. And then thirds. And I may have just barley restrained myself from licking the bowl clean.

xoxo Craig

Keep reading for the recipe

Kids eat the darnedest things. Adults do too, actually.

Hi everybody! (Hi Dr. Nick!) God I love The Simpsons.

Anyways, when I was a kid, I would pretty much eat anything my mom put in front of me, no matter what. Still am that way, actually. Gotta try it to see if you like it! As a result, one of my favorite sandwiches as a child was something that seriously disturbed most of my friends... liverwurst and pickle relish. I will happily admit that it was quite shocking looking, all brownish and mushy and strange. But, for whatever reason, I loved it! Luckily for you, my dear readers, this post isn't about that particular delicacy. It is about something similarly odd though.

I have the most vivd memory of coming into the kitchen one day in middle school. My oldest sister K was in there making an afternoon snack. Mmm, peanut butter sandwich, I thought. Ooo, with honey! And... banana? Wait, what?

Well, let me tell you. There are so many reasons to love this. The peanut butter is creamy goodness. The banana adds a wonderful buttery texture. And the honey. Oh man, the honey. It is sweet, and sticky, and just, well, delicious. You should totally make this. It is a great substitute for the tired and true PB&J. Here, I'll show you what I mean:

Look at all that creamy goodness. Really, don't be shy with it; just really pile it on there. The more, the merrier, I say!

Always make sure to use up all available bread space!

Drench..err... I mean drizzle on the honey!

If, like me, you really like honey, go ahead and drench it. It's totally worth it.

Try it. I promise that it is totally awesome. And you will enjoy it. Then, when you are throughly enjoying this wonderfully sticky deliciousness, take a moment and thank K for introducing me to this lovely little sandwich, so that I could share it with you!

xoxo Craig