Christina's Sweet Cherry Pie

adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Dough for a double-crust pie

4 cups pitted fresh cherries (about 2 1/2 pounds unpitted)

4 tablespoons cornstarch (4 teaspoons xanthan gum)

2/3 to 3/4 cup sugar (adjust this according to the sweetness of your cherries)

1/8 teaspoon salt

Juice of half a lemon

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

zest of one orange

1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cut into small bits

1 egg, beaten with 2 tablespoons water

Coarse sugar, for decoration

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Stir together the cherries, cornstarch, sugar, salt, lemon, almond extract and orange zest gently together in a large bowl.

Roll out half of chilled dough (use larger piece, if you’ve divided them unevenly) on a floured work surface to 13-inch round. Gently place it in 9-inch pie pan, either by rolling it around the rolling pin and unrolling it over the pan or by folding it into quarters and unfolding it in the pan. Trim edges to a half-inch overhang.

Spoon filling into pie crust, discarding the majority of the liquid that has pooled in the bowl. Dot the filling with the bits of cold butter.

Roll out the remaining dough into a 12-inch round on a lightly floured surface, drape it over the filling, and trim it, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Fold the overhang under the bottom crust, pressing the edge to seal it, and crimp the edge decoratively. Brush the egg wash over over pie crust, then sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Cut slits in the crust with a sharp knife, forming steam vents, and bake the pie in the middle of the oven for 25 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350°F. and bake the pie for 25 to 30 minutes more, or until the crust is golden. Let the pie cool on a rack.

Christina's Breakfast Quinoa

2 cups almond milk, rice milk or water

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Zest from 1 orange (I didn't have one, so I used 1 TBSP orange concentrate)

1 cup quinoa

3 T honey

1/4 C pecans, walnuts or almonds

fresh or frozen fruit (optional)

yogurt, milk or cream (optional)

Bring liquid and quinoa and cinnamon (and orange) to a boil, then set heat to medium low for 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and let rest 5 minutes. Add fresh berries. Top with nuts and honey, fruit and yogurt. Yummy!

Christina's Rhubarb Crisp

from marthastewart.com

• 12 tablespoons chilled (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, plus more for ramekins or baking dish
• 1 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 2 pounds (6 large stalks) rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (6 cups)
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
• Juice of 1 orange
• 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter six 8-ounce ramekins (or a 2 1/2-quart shallow casserole), and set aside. Make crumb mixture: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and oats. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut in chilled butter until mixture comes together into clumps, about 4 to 5 minutes; set aside.

In a large bowl, stir to combine rhubarb, zest, orange juice, and vanilla seeds. In a small bowl, combine sugar and cornstarch; sprinkle over rhubarb until just coated. Pour 1 cup rhubarb mixture into each ramekin, and top with 1/2 cup crumb mixture. Bake until the rhubarb is tender when pierced with the tip of a knife, about 30 minutes (or about 45 minutes for the casserole). Transfer from oven to a cooling rack. Let cool slightly, and serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Christina's Fennel and Fruit Salad, Two Ways

from Make and Takes

1 large fennel bulb, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 Granny Smith apple, cored and diced (peeled or unpeeled)
1/2 cup green onions, white and tender green parts only, sliced
juice 1 large navel orange (reserve zest for another use)
1-2 tsp. poppy seeds
dried cherries or cranberries
goat cheese or blue cheese, crumbled
drizzle of olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
a handful of raw walnuts or pecans

Toss the fennel, celery, apple, green onions, cranberries, cheese and walnuts together in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the orange juice, olive oil, poppy seeds (if using) and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Drizzle the dressing over the veggies and fruit. Put a few big spoonfuls of the basic salad on a bed of greens and mix in.

Chicken Salad Recipe:

To the basic salad add:

A big spoonful of sour cream and/or mayo or yogurt (1/4 cup or so)
Chopped fronds of the fennel, to taste, but about 2 Tbsp. is great
A bit of grated orange zest
Cooked chicken (1-2 cups, canned or leftover is fine)

Serve on little rolls or croissants, or on its own, or on a bed of greens.

Christina's Orange/White Chocolate Molasses Cookie Variation

To the wet ingredients of the molasses cookies add the zest from 3 large oranges. 


Melt some white chocolate, about a half bag of white chocolate chips, melting in the microwave in 30 second intervals until melted and smooth. Take the cooled cookies and dip the edges in the chocolate; shake in the air a bit to let excess chocolate drip off. Lay the cookies on waxed paper or parchment until the chocolate is hardened. 

Christina's Plum Upside-Down Cake

from Simply Recipes by Elise

Ben does not like fruit desserts, but he requests this over and over! It does need some slightly sweetened whipped cream or heavy cream drizzled on it to cut the tartness a bit.

10 Tbsp butter, softened
1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
4 plums, pitted and sliced
5 Tbsp buttermilk OR 4 Tbsp milk plus 2 teaspoons milk and 1 teaspoon lemon juice
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Zest of 1/2 an orange (or one clementine!)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 Preheat oven to 350°F. Melt 6 Tbsp of the butter in a deep dish pie plate in the microwave. Add brown sugar and whisk until smooth. Arrange a layer of plum slices on top.
2 If you are not using buttermilk, combine milk and lemon juice in a small bowl (the mixture will curdle), set aside. In a separate bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
3 Use an electric mixer to beat together the remaining 4 Tbsp butter with the granulated sugar and orange zest. Add the eggs and vanilla, mix to combine. Alternately add the dry flour mixture and the buttermilk (or lemon soured milk) mixture to the batter.
4 Pour batter on top of plums. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until cakes are firm to the touch, and a toothpick or skewer inserted in the center does not come out with raw batter on it. (Might be wet from plum juice.)
5 Remove from oven and let cool on a rack until no longer hot to the touch. Run a paring knife around the edges of the pie plate. Invert onto a plate and gently lift off of the plate.

Makes 6-8 individual servings, depending on how you slice it.

Christina's Orange Thai Beef Skewers

from Our Best Bites

Here's the thing: once again, this is not authentic Thai. But it's pretty darn good. 

1 orange

1/4 C soy sauce

1/4 C seasoned rice wine vinegar

1 T honey

1T sesame oil

1 t ground ginger

1 t coriander

4 cloves garlic

2-4 t Sriracha chili sauce*

1 1/2 lb flank steak (or whatever you've got) skewers (if using wood/bamboo make sure to soak them in water for at least 30 minutes before use.)

*Again, if you don't have it, just throw in some crushed red pepper or cayenne.

In small bowl, zest your orange. Cut the orange in half and juice into the bowl. You should have at least 1/4 C orange juice.To the orange mixture, add soy sauce, vinegar, honey, sesame oil, ginger, coriander, and garlic. Add Sriracha/spice to your taste. Whisk.

Take the flank steak and slice it across the grain into about 1/4" slices. It helps to pop the steak into the freezer for 20 minutes or so before hand. Place steak in a zip-lock bag and pour the marinade in. Allow to sit in refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

After time has elapsed, remove steak from fridge and place into bowl. Thread steak onto skewers and discard additional marinade (or save some for basting, if you want to). The original recipe explains how to grill these. I don't have a grill. I put them under the broiler for about 5 minutes per side and they turned out great.

Serves 4-6, depending on if you use these as an appetizer or part of a main course. The best way, of course, is to serve them with sticky rice and peanut dipping sauce. 

Christina's Steak and Mango Salad

from Our Best Bites

1lb steak (the original recipe said flank steak... I don't know the difference between the cuts, so I used whatever we had and it was good)
1 head romaine lettuce or green-lettuce mix 
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 mangoes, sliced
2 avocados sliced
cilantro sprigs for garnish
1/2 C caramelized macadamia nuts (optional, I left them out and they were fine)

Dressing and Marinade


Side note: I thought this made a great marinade, but was lacking as a dressing. I think I would add some grated onion, more brown sugar, orange zest and maybe even a little teriyaki sauce (just a little!) to the dressing. I think pineapple juice could also be good.

1/2 C fresh squeezed orange juice
6 T fresh lime juice
6 T soy sauce
1/2 C brown sugar
1 1/2 T fresh ginger or 1 1/2 tsp dried ginger (I used dried since I don't like ginger chunks.)
3 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
1 C olive oil

In a bowl, whisk together the orange juice, lime juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, and garlic (and any extra ingredients you might be tossing in). Whisk until sugar is dissolved. Continue whisking while slowly drizzling in the olive oil until combined. Reserve about 3/4 C* (you could also just choose to add any ingredients to this reserved mix as it will be the dressing) and place the rest of the mixture in a zip-lock bag.

*Important note: Make sure when you're pouring out the 3/4 C you are constantly mixing the mixture to assure even distribution of ingredients.

Lightly score the steak in a diagonal pattern on both sides. Place steak in the zip-lock bag with marinade and leave in fridge for at least 8 hours, preferably overnight.

Caramelize the macadamia nuts, if you want to add them. Basically you saute them in 2 T brown sugar, 1/2 T light corn syrup, 1/2 T butter and 1/8 tsp cinnamon (optional) for about 5 minutes or until they smell fragrant. Like I said, I didn't do this. No nuts and no time. 
Remove steak from fridge about 30 minutes prior to cooking and leave at room temperature. You'll want to let the dressing portion to sit at room temp during this time as well. Heat grill (or grill pan for those of us without grills) to med-high heat. Remove steak from bag and let any excess marinade drip off if cooking on a grill. If using a grill pan, cook it right in the marinade. Cook steak for about 5-8 minutes on each side or until done. In order to stay tender, steak should still be pink in the middle, but nicely seared on the outside. When done, remove from grill and wait at least 5 minutes before cutting to let the juices redistribute. Then slice into thin slices.

Divide lettuce onto plates and top with slices of mango, avocado, and red onion. Add steak slices and drizzle with dressing. Sprinkle macadamia nuts on top and garnish with cilantro.

Lorri's Carrot Souffle

Adapted from Emeril Lagasse
3 pounds carrots, chopped
6 large eggs
1 cups packed light brown sugar
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of salt


Topping:
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 by 13-inch casserole.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add the carrots, and cook until tender, about 15 minutes; drain. Combine the carrots with the remaining ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Depending on the size of your processor, you may need to so this in batches.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared casserole.

Combine the brown sugar, pecans, flour, and butter in a medium bowl. Stir to blend. Scatter the mixture over the top of the casserole and bake until the topping is lightly browned, 55 minutes to 1 hour.

Lorri's Cranberry Shortbread

adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies book

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup finely chopped dried cranberries or cherries
zest of half an orange

Directions

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees.with a rack in center. Combine butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, flour, zest, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Beat with a wooden spoon until combined but not too creamy. (I did it in my KitchenAide until the dough started to come together.) Stir in dried cranberries.
2. Pat dough evenly into an 8- or 9-inch-square baking pan. (Line with parchment paper for easy removal.) Bake until just beginning to turn golden, about 30 minutes. Place pan on cooling rack until cool enough to touch, about 20 minutes. Run knife around edges, remove shortbread, and transfer, right side up, to work surface.

Christina's Citrus Garlic Shrimp Pasta

from All Recipes

1 (16 ounce) package linguini pasta
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup orange juice
1/3 cup lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, peeled
5 teaspoons grated lemon peel
4 teaspoons grated orange peel
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
Shredded Parmesan cheese

Cook linguine according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a blender or food processor, combine the next eight ingredients; cover and process until blended. Pour into a large skillet; heat through.

Add the shrimp; cook for 5 minutes or until shrimp turn pink. Drain linguine; toss with shrimp mixture. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and parsley if desired.

Christina's Orange Poppyseed Cookies

from Simply Recipes by Elise

2/3 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of butter, room temperature
1 egg, room temperature
1 tablespoon of orange zest
1 1/4 cup of flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon of poppy seeds

Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add the egg and the orange zest, beat for thirty seconds, scraping down the bowl part way through to ensure even mixing.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly sift it into the butter mixture until just combined. Fold in the poppy seeds.

Place heaping teaspoonfuls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or Silpat, allowing them space as they will spread as they bake.

Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes or until just turning golden around the edges. Remove from oven. Let sit on the baking sheet for a minute or two to let the cookies solidify a bit, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

Christina's Chocolate Babka

from Smitten Kitchen

Dough
4 1/4 cups (530 grams) all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons instant yeast
Grated zest of 1 small lemon or half an orange (optional)
3 large eggs
1/2 cup water (cold is fine) and up to 1 to 2 tablespoons extra, if needed
3/4 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
2/3 cup unsalted butter (150 grams or 5.3 ounces) at room temperature
Sunflower or other neutral oil (coconut), for greasing

Filling
4 1/2 ounces (130 grams) dark chocolate (or approximately 3/4 cup chocolate chips)
1/2 cup (120 grams) unsalted butter, cold is fine
Scant 1/2 cup (50 grams) powdered sugar
1/3 cup (30 grams) cocoa powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Streusel Topping
3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
2/3 cups all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

In a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, and butter. Using a fork, stir until fully combined with clumps ranging in size from crumbs to 1 inch.

Make the dough: Combine the flour, sugar, yeast and zest in the bottom of the bowl of a stand mixer. Add eggs and 1/4 cup water, mixing with the dough hook until it comes together; this may take a couple minutes. It’s okay if it’s on the dry side, but if it doesn’t come together at all, add extra water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough forms a mass. With the mixer on low, add the salt, then the butter, a spoonful at a time, mixing until it’s incorporated into the dough. Then, mix on medium speed for 10 minutes until dough is completely smooth; you’ll need to scrape the bowl down a few times. I usually found that after 10 minutes, the dough began to pull away from the sides of the bowl. If it doesn’t, you can add 1 tablespoon extra flour to help this along.

Coat a large bowl with oil (or scrape the dough out onto a counter and oil this one) and place dough inside, cover with plastic and refrigerate. Leave in fridge for at least half a day, preferably overnight.

[To make this on the same day, see my fourth note below.]

Make filling: Melt butter and chocolate together until smooth. Stir in powdered sugar and cocoa; mixture should form a spreadable paste. Add cinnamon, if desired. [If you're wondering what happened to the pecans and granulated sugar, see my third note below.]

Assemble loaves: Coat two 9-by-4-inch (2 1/4 or 1kg) loaf pans with oil or butter, and line the bottom of each with a rectangle of parchment paper. Take half of dough from fridge (leave the other half chilled). Roll out on a well-floured counter to about a 10-inch width (the side closest to you) and as long in length (away from you) as you can when rolling it thin, likely 10 to 12 inches.

Spread half of chocolate mixture evenly over the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border all around. Brush the end farthest away from you with water. Roll the dough up with the filling into a long, tight cigar. Seal the dampened end onto the log. I found that transferring the log to a lightly floured baking tray in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes made it much, much easier to cut cleanly in half. Repeat with second dough.

Trim last 1/2-inch off each end of log. Gently cut the log in half lenghtwise and lay them next to each other on the counter, cut sides up. Pinch the top ends gently together. Lift one side over the next, forming a twist and trying to keep the cut sides facing out (because they’re pretty). Don’t worry if this step makes a mess, just transfer the twist as best as you can into the prepared loaf pan. In one batch, mine was long enough to “S” inside the pan and I nested the trimmed ends of the log in the openings. Even if you don’t (and choose to bake them separately in a little pan, as I did in other batches), the dough will fill in any gaps by the time it’s done rising and baking, so don’t worry.

Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise another 1 to 1 1/2 hours at room temperature. Repeat process with second loaf.

Heat oven to 375°F (190°C). Remove towels. Crumble 1/2 of streusel topping over each loaf. Place each loaf on the middle rack of your oven. Bake for 30 minutes, but there’s no harm in checking for doneness at 25 minutes. A skewer inserted into an underbaked babka will feel stretchy/rubbery inside and may come back with dough on it. When fully baked, you’ll feel almost no resistance.

Christina's Cranberry Pork Chops

1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
4 pork loin chops (about 12 ounces total)
2 teaspoons cooking oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings
2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1 teaspoon finely shredded orange peel
1/2 teaspoon ground sage
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. In a small bowl stir together pepper and celery salt; rub onto both sides of chops. In a medium skillet heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook chops and onion rings in hot oil until chops are browned, turning once. Carefully add the 2 tablespoons water to skillet. Cover and cook over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes more or until no pink remains and juices run clear. Transfer chops to serving plates; keep warm. Remove onions from juices with a slotted spoon; set aside.
2. Meanwhile, for the sauce, in a medium saucepan combine the cranberries, the 3 tablespoons water, the orange juice concentrate, orange peel, sage, and salt. Cook and stir over medium heat about 10 minutes or until the cranberries plump and mixture thickens. Stir in the onions; heat through. Remove from heat.
3. To serve, spoon about 1/4 cup sauce over each pork chop. Makes 4 servings.

Christina's Orange Cranberry Muffins

1 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened, plus more for preparing the muffin tin
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
2/3 cup granulated sugar, plus up to 1 tablespoon for topping the muffins, if desired
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2/3 cup milk
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Put the cranberries and orange juice in a small saucepan, and bring just to a simmer over medium heat. Remove berries from the heat, and set aside to cool and plump.
Lightly brush a 12-muffin tin with butter. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.
In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with an electric hand-held mixer in a large bowl, cream the butter, orange zest, and 2/3 cup sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Remove the bowl from the mixer.
Fold the flour in 3 parts into the butter mixture, alternating with the milk in 2 parts, until just combined. Fold in the cranberries. Do not over mix. Divide the batter evenly into the muffin tin and sprinkle the tops with sugar. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Cool muffins in the pan on a rack. Serve warm.

Christina's Honey Mustard Chicken

1/3 C dijon mustard
1/3 C honey
1 TBSP dried dill
1 tsp freshly grated orange peel
1 2.5 pound chicken, quartered

Preheat oven to 400.

Combine mustard and honey in small bowl. Stir in dill and orange peel.

Line a baking sheet with foil. Place chicken skin side down on pan. Brush sauce onto chicken, coating well.

Turn chicken over. Gently pull back skin and brush meat with sauce. Pull skin back over sauce.

Brush skin with remaining sauce. Bake until juices run clear when thickest part of meat is pierced with a knife, about 30 minutes.

We like this served with mashed potatoes and veggies.