Apple Butter Hand Pies

I have only one complaint about this recipe, and it's that these mini-pies can't hold any more apple butter.  So I spread more on top of a hand pie like it's toast.  But spoon more apple butter inside and it just squeezes out the sides when the pastry is folded up.  The crust is nice too, made tender and slightly tangy with the addition of cream cheese, and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.  It comes out softer than your usual pie crust, almost like a cookie.  The pies are also good reheated in the toaster oven the day after.

The apple butter took some time to make, but not much work.  I used 6 pounds of Galas from the farmers market.  It was my first taste ever of apple butter, and I found it to be somewhere between applesauce and apple pie filling, and nicely spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and clove.  You won't use it all up in the pies like the recipe indicates, but that's all right with me: The apple butter is also great on top of pancakes, or as part of a grilled cheese sandwich.  I think pear butter has to be next on my list.

Caramelized Pear Ice Cream

I've never had pear ice cream, and didn't know it could be this good.  The pear is refreshing, but the caramelization gives it a buttery flavor and creaminess, without any butter.  For this recipe in The Perfect Scoop, David Lebovitz recommends Comice or Bartlett pears, which he says have a heady, roselike aroma when ripe.  I found beautiful and fragrant red Comice pears at the grocery store.

I also made his recipe for Salted Butter Caramel Sauce to drizzle on top, but it's totally unnecessary and kind of redundant.  Joe's really been enjoying the caramel as a topping for vanilla ice cream, and the sauce is really easy to make.  But the Pear-Caramel Ice Cream is delicious all on its own.

This post was shared with:
Tea Party Tuesday
Sweet Treats Thursday
Sweet Tooth Friday
Sweets for a Saturday

Chipotle Chicken and Rice

This dish has gone through several incarnations, but its origins were in a dish called Pollo Estofado.  I liked this chicken and rice dish from my sister's ex, and made some changes for convenience and personal taste.  He served rice on the side in addition to potatoes in the dish; I was looking to avoid carb overload so I threw out the potatoes, and decided the green bell peppers should go too.  In the end, I browned the chicken with aromatics, then cooked the rice in the same saute pan -- the chicken ends up infusing the rice with its flavor.  Frozen peas are stirred in at the end and warmed through, adding a bright green.

But now I have one more revision.  Inspired by a similar Martha Stewart recipe I saw online that looked hopelessly fussy, I added chipotles to my dish for added flavor and heat.  The two chipotles made the spice level barely warm, so I would use four next time.  Point of reference: I'm a spice wimp, so if you like it hot you may want to amp it up with even more chiles.

Shredded Pork in Red Chili

As much as I complain about the ending of summer, it's always exciting when the time to make cold-weather comfort food arrives.  This recipe seemed like the answer to that pork loin stashed in my freezer, and I was intrigued by the idea of a pork chili.  In my hurry, I shaved an hour off the cook time and the meat was still fall-apart tender.

I made a few changes.  For one, the recipe doesn't say how much hominy to use, so I just left it out.  Also, I'm not fond of yuca and didn't have any, so I substituted a sweet potato.  I felt the sweet potato absorbed too much salty flavor, and might be inclined to leave it out or cook it separately next time.  And as a spice wuss I cut down on the dried chiles and chipotle.  The verdict: Joe was crazy about this dish, and I thought it was OK.  It was good, but I didn't feel wowed, like something was missing.  And not just the tongue-sear from omitting some chiles.  I might give it another go, now that we're officially in Dutch oven season.

Sarabeth's Maple Muffins

Muffins often don't impress me, but the recipe for these Maple Muffins caught my eye right away.  Joe got me Sarabeth's Bakery: From My Home to Yours as one of my Christmas gifts a year ago, and I was drawn to the photo with the golden sides and crackly tops.  I also love maple syrup as a flavoring.  On first bite, I was surprised because I expected a more assertive maple flavor.  But it's more subtle, kind of lightly perfumed with maple, and the walnuts taste a little salty by comparison.  Winner.

An additional bonus was how easy the recipe was.  Especially compared with the Pains au Chocolat (chocolate croissants) and Pains aux Raisins I made from the book earlier this year!  A negative?  Pure maple syrup is an expensive ingredient, and the Grade B (it's superior to Grade A) this recipe calls for isn't always sold in supermarkets.  My tip is to buy it at Trader Joe's if there's a location near you, since it had the Grade B available and was more affordable.

Also worth mentioning is that I made these in a cupcake pan, and the leftover batter in mini brioche molds.  I don't own a muffin pan, and even I have a limit with how much I cram in my kitchen.  Sarabeth writes that she's not a fan of paper muffin liners, and I have to agree because the muffins got the most beautiful, golden brown sides without them.  If you also opt for a cupcake pan, cut the cooking time short by 5 minutes.

Finally, the recipe also calls for some whole wheat flour.  I like King Arthur's White Whole Wheat Flour because it's got all the nutrition of whole wheat, but its taste and consistency are closer to plain white flour.  The difference is that it's made from the white wheat berry instead of the red wheat berry, which is used for the more common whole wheat flour in stores.

This post was shared with:
Tea Party Tuesday
Sweet Treats Thursday
Sweet Tooth Friday
Sweets for a Saturday

"Austen" Cucumber Tea Sandwiches

I have not been able to get these sandwiches out of my head!  Rebecca from my Austen in Boston book club makes some awesome sandwiches, but these are my favorite, hands down.  Rebecca calls them "Austen in Boston" English Cucumber Tea Sandwiches.  We enjoyed them at our last picnic, and they are so good with a cup of tea -- with cream and sugar, of course.

This post also appears at Boston Tea Party.

Cucumber sandwiches are simple, but these get some complexity from herbs and good-quality bread.  Rebecca uses Ezekiel Bran for Life bread, but my store didn't have any so I went with Nature's Pride Nutty Oat (strangely, the packaging says it has a nutty flavor but no nuts, and it's 100% natural).  Even Joe loved the nutty oat, and he isn't always keen on the 12-grain-type breads I bring home.  Plus I think ordinary white bread is too bland for something as mild as cucumber.

Using a mandoline gives you uniform slices

The slices are paper-thin

Rebecca also uses organic cream cheese, nothing artificial.  I went with neufchatel cheese, which tastes just like cream cheese but has a third less fat.  Philadelphia makes one.  I went with the English seedless cucumber she recommended -- it has less water and seeds than regular cucumber -- as well as the dill.  Rebecca recommends dried chives as an alternative and says they're better than fresh.  I used both dill and fresh chives, since I have chives growing in my garden and personally love them fresh.

Slathering cream cheese on half of the bread

Slightly overlap layers of cucumber, then repeat once

These few ingredients make up a sandwich both delicate for tea and snacking, but hearty enough to fill you up, to my surprise.  Now, I once made cucumber sandwiches on this blog way back when, but in retrospect I didn't have a great formula.  You need the right ratio of cucumber slices to cream cheese to bread, and this recipe has it.  I foresee many chilly afternoons with these babies and a hot pot of tea.

Afternoon Tea at the Boston Public Library

I had afternoon tea with my Austen in Boston book club at the Boston Public Library at Copley Square.  This review also appears at Boston Tea Party.

The main branch of the Boston Public Library at Copley Square sure sounds like the perfect place for afternoon tea: historical architecture, a courtyard complete with fountain, murals by John Singer Sargent, scores of books for Austen lovers like us.  In general, it did not disappoint.

The atmosphere was more casual and relaxing than the local hotels that serve tea.  You don't have to dress up much, or sit up very straight.  There is no maître d' or harpist.  The room is beautifully and classically decorated.  But on a Friday afternoon few of the tables were occupied so most of them were not set, leaving the room feeling slightly empty.

The polka dot china was cute, but the plain white teapots, sugar holder, and creamer were a disappointment.  The food was good, and the caterer is new-ish.  At $22.50 plus tax and tip (the 18% gratuity is included in the check), it's more affordable than tea at most hotels, though it seemed like less food.  But after more cups of tea, I felt positively full.

The watercress sandwich with lemon aioli was surprisingly and pleasantly fragrant.  The caper on the smoked salmon was a nice touch, the apricot chicken salad sandwich was all right, and the cucumber and herb cream cheese was traditional but always a favorite.  The crumbled bacon and tomato sandwich was an unusual addition to tea, but so good.

The blackberry and peach tart had the perfect balance of sweet and tart in a crisp pastry shell.  The raspberry and lemon cream tart was simple but delicious.  I'd been wondering, "What the heck is a chocolate sinclair?"  It turned out to be an ultra-rich and dense chocolate cake, and the small size was just right for the intensity of the chocolate.

The currant scones were served with Devonshire clotted cream and four fruit marmalade.  The only problem with them?  I wanted more.

I had the Ceylon tea and was happy with it.  Kirk's peach and ginger tea smelled good.  Erica and Karen seemed to like their teas, but I forgot to ask for their verdicts.

In my personal ranking of Boston-area tea venues, this one is around the top.  The food at the library wins over Hallowed Herbs in Quincy and the Four Seasons, is about the same as the Langham, and almost as good as the Taj.  The ambiance is better than the Four Seasons, Hallowed Herbs, and Langham, but not the Taj (if going by the room alone).  But for a more relaxed and unfussy feel (and Kirk was a fan of this), the library wins over the Taj.  The service was good.  The company is always excellent.  ;)  My verdict: Visit it!

I'm tacking on the additional thoughts of Kirk:
Wonderful review, Shirley! I agree! My tea (it was a black tea)  was more peach than ginger in taste, which was fine by me (lol, I'm more peach than ginger, err  more of a fan of Marianne (ok Maryanne is the common spelling, but as this is a Jane Austen bookclub..,) than Ginger). Yes, what a wonderful nose the tea had! Maybe that was the ginger. I thought I had the best seat in the room. To my right eye, the corridor and courtyard.To my left, the delightful company. :) Speaking of the corridor, it was amusing when two women stopped in the corridor to check out what we were eating and waved at us! That certainly added to the relaxed feeling I had (try that at the Taj). I don't normally like to be observed eating, but it was perfectly fine there. I was impressed that the manager was willing to do a Tea only option for one member of our party who wasn't sure about eating. I certainly enjoyed the food...did have a slight "reaction" to the cucumber (lol, Rebecca's was much better last
Sunday!). I agree about the bacon and tomato. Loved the salmon and caper as well. I would be delighted to go back in a couple months!