I really wanted to do a from-scratch apple pie video, complete with my Aunt Angela's famous homemade crust, but with my chicken wing video blowing up all over the web, and the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival this weekend demanding my time and attention, I took the easy way out (I'm looking at you Sandra Lee), and used a pre-made pie dough.
Besides, if you're not an experienced pie baker (and let's face it, you're not), there's nothing wrong with a little ready-to-use dough, as long as it's filled with this fantastic apple pie filling.
What will strike you about this filling is just how few ingredients go in it. Sliced apples baked with sugar taste really, really good, and we don't want to mess with that too much. For me, a little pinch of nutmeg and some cinnamon is all this timeless combination needs.
The other key here, compliments of my mother Pauline, is to use multiple types of apples. There are subtle differences in flavor and texture with the wide variety of baking apples (basically defined as anything except Red Delicious). This is a classic case of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts.
You can see the apple blend I used in the ingredient list below, but there are an endless number of combinations (not literally! I know how you math people are – you were so going to send me an email, weren't you?)
Anyway, I hope you give this delicious apple pie filling a try, and if you were going to shock the world and bake a homemade pie for dessert for one of the upcoming holiday meals, this would be a great choice. Enjoy!
Ingredients: 6-8 baking apples (depending on size) I used 2 Granny Smith, 2 Braeburn, 2 Fuji 1/2 lemon, juiced 1 cup white sugar 3 tbsp cornstarch 1/8 tsp nutmeg 1/2 tsp cinnamon very tiny pinch of salt 2 tbsp butter 1 egg, beaten ready to use pie dough (I used Pillsbury)
It's with much joy, pride, and humility (well, two out of three ain't bad) that I officially make the announcement this blog has won the "Best Video Blog" at the First Annual Foodbuzz Blog Awards! I think Homer Simpson put it best when he said, "Woo Hoo!"
I can't express how much all your support over the last year has meant to me, not because I can't find the words, but because I'm way too hung over. I also have to run off to the last event of the weekend, a farewell brunch at Restaurant LuLu, featuring a make-you-own Bloody Mary(s) bar, which should really help with this headache.
Speaking of which, I haven't had the time or brain waves to find any real photos of the event, so I grabbed this picture of some guy named Rick Best posing with a borrowed Oscar statue at 1989 Academy Awards to simulate the scene. A million thanks to Foodbuzz and everyone involved. Stay tuned for a recap and links to the other winners!
Here is the actual iPhone video footage I took of the announcement:
The Foodbuzz Blogger Festival begins in San Francisco tonight, and it's looking to be an amazing weekend of food, fun, and furious networking with fellow food bloggers from all over the country. I will be busy at events throughout the weekend, including the big awards dinner on Saturday night where Food Wishes has been nominated for "Best Video Blog."
Needless to say I'm very excited and just found out that nominees even get to wear a special gold laminated pass. That's very cool, but I was really hoping they would have used my suggestion that instead of the regular wine glasses, nominees would get to carry around and drink from jewel-encrusted pimp cups.
I'll be tweeting live from the event, in case you want to follow along, as well as taking lots of photos, and maybe even a little video. Stay tuned for updates, and have a fantastic weekend.
Have you ever been enjoying a nice pastrami sandwich and thought to yourself, "This is good, but I really wish it had some bones in it." Well, this recipe was an attempt to solve that age-old desire.
I've taken a spice rub traditionally used on a beef brisket to make pastrami, and applied it to America's favorite appetizer, chicken wings. This resulted in a pretty nice chicken wing recipe, which tasted nothing like pastrami.
I guess I'm asking for trouble calling it "Pastrami Wings." If your palette is set for some rich, fatty, smoky pastrami, you will be disappointed. As I joke in the video, a chicken ain't a cow, and no chicken wing will ever taste like real pastrami.
Having said that, so what? They're just chicken wings. Perfect for this time of year, since for sports fans this is the ultimate sweet spot on the calendar. You can watch baseball, football, basketball (I wish the Bay Area had a team), hockey (Go Sharks!), golf, and several other minor sports (like college football).
What better way to veg on the couch for 14 hours, than with a plate of chicken wings that don't taste like pastrami? Honey, can you grab me another beer? My fingers are all greasy. Enjoy!
Ingredients: 1 tbsp vegetable oil 2 1/2 pounds chicken wing sections 1/4 tsp white pepper 1 tbsp fresh ground black pepper 1 1/2 tbsp ground coriander 1 tbsp smoked paprika pinch of cayenne, optional 2 tsp kosher salt, or to taste 2 tsp flour *serve with Russian dressing as a dip
Note: I thought these were fairly mild, and would actually increase the spice amounts next time. If you experiment, please let me know the results!
I really wanted to do a from-scratch apple pie video, complete with my Aunt Angela's famous homemade crust, but with my chicken wing video blowing up all over the web, and the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival this weekend demanding my time and attention, I took the easy way out (I'm looking at you Sandra Lee), and used a pre-made pie dough.
The other key here, compliments of my mother Pauline, is to use multiple types of apples. There are subtle differences in flavor and texture with the wide variety of baking apples (basically defined as anything except Red Delicious). This is a classic case of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts.
