Pie lovin'

I rewatched Waitress the other day and felt the urge to make pies! Online I found some recipes for Jenna's pies. I decided on the Falling In Love Chocolate Mousse pie simply because I hardly had to buy any ingredients and it sounded great. 

While at the grocery store I called my mom with a question and upon hearing I was making a pie she insisted I make 2, the second being a Strawberry Cream Pie that she made recently. I had made 2 pie crusts and strawberry pie sounded good as well, so I made both!

We tried both pies after supper tonight and both were great! Omman and I both liked the strawberry one better, but if you were in the mood for chocolate the other would really hit the spot. Both are pretty rich. 

In the past I have made mostly apple pies, maybe a strawberry once, but always double crust pies with filling baked in. This then was the first time I baked a crust by itself to fill with a cold filling. I love the creaminess of both these pies and definately want to make more pies this way.

Falling In Love Chocolate Mousse Pie

9-inch baked pastry shell

1 (14 oz) can condensed milk (not evaporated)

2/3 C water

1 (4 serving) pkg chocolate pudding mix (not instant) Note: I only found a pkg that made 6 servings so I just used 2/3 of it.

1 oz square unsweetened chocolate

2 C (1 pint) whipping cream, stiffly whipped

In large saucepan, combine condensed milk, water and pudding mix; mix well. Add chocolate. Over medium heat, cook and stir rapidly until chocolate melts and mixture thickens. Remove from heat, beat until smooth. Cool. Chill thoroughly; stir. Fold in whipped cream. Pour into prepared pastry shell. Chill 4 hours until set.

Serves 8

Strawberry Cream Pie

8 oz cream cheese

1/3 C sugar

1/4 tsp almond extract

1 C whipping cream

4 C strawberries

1 Tbs shortening

some chocolate to melt and drizzle (I used 4 oz squares)

Beat cream cheese until fluffy. Add sugar and almond extract and blend well. In separate bowl beat 1 C cream until it is fluffy. Fold the cream into the cream cheese mixture. Pour this into the prepared crust. Arrange strawberries on top, points up. Chill while preparing the chocolte. Meanwhile, melt 1 Tbs shortening with some chocolate. Maybe let it cool just a bit so its not too warm, then take the pie out and drizzle the chocolate over it. Chill and serve!

Serves 8

Stir Fried Chicken with Bok Choy and Crispy Chinese Noodle Cake = Heavenly!

The other weekend we were watching America's Test Kitchen and they made this stir fry that looked good and served it over a noodle cake which looked intriguing! It is true that we don't eat chicken, but as it happens I have been making a wheat gluten based chicken style seitan very frequently as of late. I went to the Farmers' Market to get some red bell peppers and bok choy and then made it up! 

Well, I made it again tonight and it was once again amazing! Thought I would take some photos and share the recipe with you.

Note: I seem to recall in the episode they were jazzing off about this being a "1 pot recipe," however, there were 2 pots (1 to boil the noodles and 1 for the rest of the steps), and there were many prep bowls! When all the ingredients are prepped it all comes together so easily and deliciously though, so it is totally worth it!

Iron Cupcake Battle Basil!

Kari: Thai Basil Seed Cupcake

I read about Iron Cupcake and decided to give it a shot this month! Voting takes place here. Check out the Iron Cupcake blog for all the great gifts from their generous sponsors!

I took my inspiration for my cupcake recipe from an interesting recipe I found for a Thai Basil Seed Drink, Nam Manglak. I purchased a canned version at my favorite local Asian grocer. While the recipe calls for Rose Water my canned version was very honey tasting. I chose to make a honey chiffon cake from a recipe I found here. 

I filled it with a basil cream filling and the basil seeds which were swollen in water per the drink recipe. 

Finally I dipped the cupcakes in a honey glaze taken from another chiffon cake recipe I had tried out, then topped it off with a sugared basil leaf. Done!