Asian Meatball Soup
I am not great at making Chinese or Japanese food, but I would like to be. (Mainly because Chinese food is a favorite of my husband and my sister.) This Asian meatball soup is one of those recipes that makes me feel like I am …
Butter makes it better
I am not great at making Chinese or Japanese food, but I would like to be. (Mainly because Chinese food is a favorite of my husband and my sister.) This Asian meatball soup is one of those recipes that makes me feel like I am …
I love macaroni and cheese. I would eat the normal Kraft macaroni and cheese as a meal regularly, but I feel that’s frowned upon. So with that, I bring you my mom’s full-meal macaroni and cheese. With this dish comes the concept of making a …
After making pie dough, you need something to put in it! Continuing with our pre-Thanksgiving pie theme, let’s talk about this classic apple pie.
Not every apple pie is created equal. This classic apple pie is simple, but lovely in its simplicity. The crust is flaky and rich, but it doesn’t overwhelm the filling. The filling is dense and spiced, but it’s freshened up with a touch of lemon. This version of classic apple pie is easy to add variations to, but it’s beautiful by itself. As my brother-in-law said, “Most apple pies need ice cream to eat them with, but this one is good enough to eat by himself.” Trust me, that’s high praise from him.
A few notes. These quantities make enough to fill one apple pie, but you can easily double it. As for what apples to use, you can use any firm apple. Honeycrisps are my gold standard, so I used them for this recipe, but you can also use Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, Pink Lady, etc. There are many possibilities, and your local store is sure to have at least one of them.
Please also note that I’m not going into the intricacies of making pie dough in this post; but I did in the previous post, which you can find at this link. Good luck!
For the pie crust:
For the apple pie filling
Place your cored and sliced apples in a large pot. Add 1/2 cup sugar, the lemon juice, and 1/2 cup water, and cook for about 20 minutes. Add the salt, cornstarch, nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon zest, and 1/2 cup sugar, and stir. Cook until the mixture thickens.
While the filling is cooking, make and roll out your crust. Place one crust in the bottom of a 9-inch pie pan, and pour in your fresh apple filling. Roll out the top crust and place it on your pie, cutting off the excess and crimping the edges. Brush your pie with milk and sprinkle lightly with sugar. Make decorative cuts in the top to help vent the pie. Bake your pie at 450 degrees F for 15-20 minutes, then at 350 degrees F until brown (usually not longer than the 20 minutes). Enjoy!
Whenever it starts getting cold and gross outside, I always want to stay in and bake. Unfortunately, watching the Great British Bake-off only fuels this obsession. Luckily, pie is the perfect thing to bake for max coziness. Need to whip something up for a party? …
I’m not as fanatical about pumpkin spice as some people are, but there’s something irresistible about this pumpkin swirl bread. It’s rich and moist, but the pumpkin spice gives it a little frisson of excitement. Whether you eat this for breakfast, lunch, or dessert, you …
I’m back! Sorry for the break, but it’s amazing what a trip to Disneyland and a work-intensive Halloween costume can do to derail a blog. Luckily, we ate well enough that I didn’t miss Buttery Basics too much!
But after that Disneyland trip, I could definitely use a salad. Hence this gorgeous harvest chicken salad.
I think that the best salads are the ones that don’t taste like salads( like this one). This salad’s vegetables are tossed with herbs, caramelized, and covered in a lovely honey balsamic dressing. This salad still has greens, but I chose to use butter lettuce. If you’re not familiar with butter lettuce, it has a mild flavor and a soft mouthfeel. It feels like a small and cherished luxury to me, but romaine lettuce or spinach would be equally yummy.
With the butternut squash, Honeycrisp apple, and honey balsamic dressing, this harvest chicken salad feels like the best of fall all rolled into one filling, healthy delight. Enjoy!
For harvest chicken salad:
For honey balsamic dressing:
Begin by brining the chicken. Place your chicken in a large bowl, add the salt, and cover with water. Cover the bowl and set aside for fifteen minutes. When the time is up, remove the chicken, pat with a paper towel to dry, and bake on a sheet pan at 425 for 25-30 minutes or until done.
Next, prepare the butternut squash by placing it in a large bowl and covering with olive oil, thyme, and rosemary. Toss to coat. Bake on a sheet pan at 425 F for 40-50 minutes, or until soft and slightly caramelized.
In the meantime, make your honey balsamic dressing by whisking all ingredients together.
When your chicken and squash are done, assemble the salad by heaping everything together and drizzling on the dressing (in an aesthetically pleasing way, of course). Enjoy!