Happy New Year!

Well, we survived the holiday season! As you can tell from my lack of posts, it's been a busy one. I thought for my first post of the new year I'd share some recipes I found over the holidays.

I was looking for a "real" crueler, which is a type of doughnut that has an eggy cake rather than a raised cake. Turns out what I wanted was a French crueler, which is made from pate a choux. I haven't got it quite right; I suspect that the texture I'm looking for inside happens when you bake the dough, not fry it, but I learned how to make beignets. It seems every culinary tradition has some kind of fried dough; this one is French.

Pate a Choux is the pastry dough used to make cream puff and eclair casings. I've seen it worked with when I was in catering, but I've never made it. It was remarkably easy, just follow the directions meticulously. I found a dandy visual guide at Culinary Alchemy. The recipe is from Foodista.

Beignets

Oil for frying
1 cup flour
4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 cup water or milk
1/3 cup butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs at room temperature

In a large heavy skillet or deep-fat fryer, heat 3 inches oil to 350 degrees.

Meanwhile, combine flour, sugar and nutmeg, set aside. In medium saucepan heat water or milk, butter and salt over medium heat until boiling and butter is melted. Add vanilla, then add flour mixture all at once. Stir briskly with a wooden spoon until mixture leaves sides of pan and forms a ball. Continue stirring a few minutes more to dry. Remove from heat and beat until slightly cooled. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Using 2 spoons, shape a generous tablespoon dough into an oblong and drop into hot oil. Fry 3 or 4 at a time, turning beignets as they rise to the surface. Fry 3 to 4 minutes, until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle immediately with sifted confectioners' sugar. Repeat with remaining batter.

Because of my current bagel obsession, I have been following LoveMyPhilly on Twitter. I discovered Philly's Cheesecake Customizer that way, the results from which inspired this recipe. I started by making peach pie filling (I halved the recipe) out of those canned peaches.

Peach Walnut Cheesecake

Crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp sugar

Cheesecake batter:
2 8oz packages cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
3 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup peach pie filling
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Topping:
1/2 cup peach pie filling
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, with the ends extending well over the sides. Mix crust ingredients; press firmly into the bottom of the pan and bake for 10 minutes.

Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition until just blended. Fold in sour cream. Stir in pie filling and nuts. Pour over crust. Sprinkle with remaining walnuts and top with remaining pie filling.

Bake 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool completely and refrigerate at least 4 hours. Use foil handles to lift cheesecake from pan before serving. Refrigerate leftovers.

Last but not least, a really simple brunchy-type thing that we had the day after Christmas and there wasn't a single crumb left. This is easily adaptable: I've made it with sausage crumbles and pepperjack cheese and I think smoked ham and asiago cheese would work well too. Here's the original recipe from Grouprecipes.

Bacon-Cheese Pull-Aparts

1 egg
2 Tbsp milk
1 can refrigerated biscuits
1 2.1 oz package precooked bacon, cut into small pieces
3 oz (3/4c) shredded Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup finely chopped green onions

Heat oven to 350F. Spray an 11x7 or 12x8 inch glass baking dish with cooking spray. In a large bowl beat tge egg and milk until smooth. Separate the biscuits into individuals and cut each one into quarters. Gently stir the biscuit pieces into the egg mixture to coat evenly. Fold in bacon, cheese and onions. Spoon the mixture into the baking dish, arranging the biscuit pieces in a single layer.

Bake at 350F for 23 to 28 minutes or until golden brown. Cut into squares.

Feelin' Peachy

I was looking in the pantry this evening and noticed we've got a wealth of canned peaches courtesy of TEFAP. Yum, peaches! I grew up on canned fruit because in Alaska in the 70's we didn't get the freshest produce unless it was grown in-state, and tree fruit doesn't do very well here.

Now, when you're on a budget something you should consider is how many mouths you can feed with your food. A can of peaches (if you believe the label) is 3 1/2 servings. Doesn't go very far. Here's two recipes for turning canned peaches into yummy deserts that serve well more than three people!

Canned Peach Pie

The trick here is to make the syrup from the cans into something thicker so you have pie filling instead of nasty dried-out peaches. The original recipe is for and old fashioned deep dish pie with only a top crust; I use a top and bottom crust. I'd guess you'd use 3 - 15 ounce cans for a regular pie pan.

2 - 29 ounce cans or 4 - 15 ounce cans of peaches
2 cups juice from the canned peaches
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Drain the juice from the canned peaches into a measuring cup. You need two cups; just add some water if you're short.

In a very large saucepan, combine the cornstarch, sugar and nutmeg. Gradually stir in the peach liquid, and the lemon juice. Stir to dissolve the cornstarch. Heat the mixture over medium heat, stirring very frequently. Bring the mixture to a boil and boil for at least a minute, or until the mixture is very thick. Remove the pan from the heat and gently stir in the canned peaches. The mixture will thin out some.

Line a pie pan with an uncooked pie crust. Turn the thick peach filling into the pie crust and top with a second pie crust. Crimp the edges together (a fork works well, though some people like to pinch it to make fluting). Pierce the top crust a few times to let steam out.

Bake it at 425° for about an hour. The top will be golden brown, the filling will be bubbly, and it will be very hot. Allow it to cool for a little bit before serving.

I overfilled this pie - it bubbled over and got filling juice everywhere. Fortunately I was thinking ahead and baked it on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper! You could probably reduce the recipe to 3 to 3 1/2 cans of peaches easily.

Peach Upside Down Cake

This works just as well with canned apricots, nectarines, and other pit fruit. You really don't need peach halves, slices can also be arranged prettily. I've never bothered with the maraschino cherries as I never have them in the house. You can also pass on the orange zest if you don't have a fresh orange to grate, but the flavor of the cake is brighter with it. And I think it makes a good breakfast too!

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 cups canned peach slices, drained
6 maraschino cherries, halved
1/3 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel
1/2 cup orange juice

Spread butter in bottom of 8-inch round cake pan and sprinkle with brown sugar. Arrange peaches and cherries on brown sugar. Cream the shortening and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add the egg and beat well. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together; add to creamed mixture alternately with mixture of the orange peel and juice. Pour batter over peaches, taking care not to disturb fruit. Bake at 350° for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.. Cool for 10 minutes. Invert over serving plate and remove cake pan

Okay, by now everyone knows that I'm lazy and use pre-made pie crust whenever I can afford it. I do make my own crust, I swear. I found a wonderful guide on everything you ever wanted to know about pie crust (and then some) that you might like to read if you'd like to make your own or have a fear of pie crust. Making the Perfect Crust.