TWD: Thanksgiving Twofer Pie

Rob Base was right! It does take two to make it outta site. This week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection is Thanksgiving Twofer Pie as chosen by the lovely Vibi. You have to check out her blog! She lives in France and you can read her blog either in French or English. How smart is that?!

Well, that's only the second most smart thing I know about Vibi. The first is that she chose this pie. This is now my most favorite pie ever. EVER. But, I am getting ahead of myself.

First the dough. Man, was it a pain in the arse. It took the two of us to make it right (catch the theme??) and get it into the dish correctly. But, once it was in the dish, it baked up gorgeously!

The pumpkin filling was a complete breeze, I actually thought I had done something wrong it was so easy!

Then I layered on the pecans, poured on the gooey topping and popped it into the oven. After the stated baking time, my knife wasn't coming out clean so I kept it in and checked every few minutes or so until it was done. I think I added about 15 minutes to the cooking time and never had to foil the crust or tent the top. This pie was a piece of cake!

When it came out of the oven, it looked and smelled amazing! I wanted to dive right in but myself wait until it had cooled to room temperature. The top of the pie looked like a caramelized candy coated dream.

The hubs ate his with a scoop of vanilla ice cream while I enjoyed mine with a (giant) dollop of home whipped cream.

Overall, the hubs and I could not believe how delicious this pie was. At one point, I looked at him and he was staring at the pie, shaking his head. I gave him a quizzical look and he just said "How? How can the flavors go together so perfectly?"

That's when I started dancing and singing :

It Takes Two - the Twofer Remix

(With apologies to Rob Base, lyrics by me!)

It takes two to make a thing go right

It takes two to make it outta sight

It takes two to make a thing go right

Pumpkin and nuts make it outta sight!

Bake it! I want some pie right now.

I'm Rachel B and I came to get down.

I'm not internationally known.

But I'm known to whip cream into foam

Cause I get tasty, I mean outrageous,

stay away from me, the calories are dangerous.
Cause I love dinner, you know I'm a winner

If you do the dishes, I'll give you a ten'er.

My hubby loves me, coworkers adore me

They eat right and they never bore me.

I make pie all day long

The reason why, man, I don't know

So let's go, cause

It takes two to make a thing go right

Pumpkin and nuts make it outta sight

It takes two to make a thing go right
Pumpkin and nuts make it outta sight

Cut it!

Check out the other bakers (but give them until Thursday) and show some thankful love!

Apple Cranberry Cobbler

Last week, hubs told me that he volunteered me to make a dessert for his work potluck. Normally, I would have just made my TWD recipe for the week but I wasn't really in the mood to make a pie. So, I searched online and found a recipe for apple cranberry cobbler. It looked easy and sounded DELISH.

I baked one up for his potluck and it smelled so good that I decided to make one for my office, too. It got gobbled up at my work but unfortunately, teacher related duties kept my hubby from his potluck and no one put my cobbler out. So, we ended up with an entire cobbler to eat by ourselves at home! But it was sooo good, the only one complaining is my waistline...

The sweet/tart combo and the amazing sweet biscuity topping was mouthwatering! It was one my favorite things I've made recently and I think it may become a holiday tradition. (PS It goes great with ice cream.)

Apple Cranberry Cobbler

(allrecipes.com/pictures by me)

5 cups thinly sliced peeled tart apples (I used Granny Smiths)

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries (I used fresh)

3 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup water

2 tablespoons butter or margarine (I used butter)

Topping:

3/4 cup all purpose flour

2 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup cold butter or margarine (I used butter)

1/4 cup milk

In a large saucepan, combine the apples, sugar, cranberries, tapioca, cinnamon, and water. Let stand for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture comes to a full boil. Cook and stir 3 minutes longer.

Pour into a greased 2-qt. baking dish. Dot with butter.

In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the butter until crumbly. Stir in milk to form a soft dough. Drop dough by tablespoon fulls over hot apple mixture.

Bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until topping in golden brown and a toothpick inserted into topping comes out clean.

If you love sweet/tart things. Make this now. DO IT!

A delicious trifecta

I was looking for pork chop inspiration when I came across a recipe for Italian pork chops. Thinking along those lines, I figured that I might give risotto a shot. I rounded it out with some broccoli. A really long time later, I had one of the best dinners I have made in a while.

I've never made risotto before and I was nervous because I've heard it is a picky dish. It did take some time, but I was really patient with it and it was SO GOOD. Seriously, I might have eaten until I exploded but thankfully, the hubs staged an intervention and saved me from death by cheesy rice. Totally worth the nearly 40 minutes of constant stirring.

The pork chops were basically a version of garlic cheddar chicken but with crackers (not breadcrumbs) and pork. They also look giant because they had a bone in them. But, OMG were they good!

The hubs said this was the best dinner ever. And, I believed him.

Italian Pork Chops (allrecipes.com)

2 cups crushed saltine crackers
1-1/3 cups grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons Italian-style seasoning
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
2/3 cup butter, melted
4 pork chops

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

In a medium bowl, combine the crushed saltines, Parmesan cheese, Italian-style seasoning and garlic powder and mix together well.
Dip the chops in the melted butter and then dredge each chop in the cracker mixture, coating all sides thoroughly. Place the chops in a 9x13 inch baking dish.

Bake at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) for 30 to 40 minutes, or until internal pork temperature reaches 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).

Parmesan Risotto

5 to 6 cups chicken stock

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small onion, minced

1 1/2 cups Arborio Rice

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

Salt and pepper

2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Bring the stock to a simmer in a saucepan.

Heat the olive oil in a 3-quart saucepan and cook the onion over medium heat, stirring until the onion is golden but not brown--about 3-5 minutes.Add the rice and stir to coat the rice.

Turn the heat to medium-high, add about 1/2 cup of the stock and keep the mixture boiling, stirring constantly. As soon as the stock has been absorbed, add another 1/2 cup of stock and stir. The risotto must keep boiling, but it must not stick to the pot. The whole cooking process may take 25-30 minutes. Once all the stock has been absorbed, and the risotto is tender, remove the pan from the heat and quickly stir in the butter and Parmesan.

Steamed broccoli

Get some broccoli and steam it until it is tender but still crisp. Yum!