Ma What's For Dinner?

So you all know that I went berry picking with the kiddos.  They had a blast and can’t wait for the berry seasons, apple seasons, corn seasons, etc that are upcoming.  But to go with my farm fresh strawberries we went on down to the old town farmer’s market.  I was so excited.  Our town’s first farmer’s market of the season…

Well to say that I was disappointed is an understatement.  I know it’s not a huge town but it apparantly boasts quite a number of farms here and to see three tiny little stalls was, well, heartbreaking.  So I picked up some rhubarb to couple with my berries and some dandelion leaves that you’ll be seeing in a yummy recipe or two upcoming and went home dejected.

Welcome to the small town I guess.  Not like back in LA.  Apparantly there are a boat load of bigger ones around.  We’ll have to check those out…soon!  I did make a yummy pie though.  Check it out.

For the pie crust:

1 cup butter (2 sticks), cubed and chilled + 2 T cut into small pieces

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus more for dusting

1 t salt

3 T sugar

8 to 12 tablespoons ice water

2 T cream

1 T sugar in the raw

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Put 2 sticks of butter, flour, salt and sugar in the food processor, and pulse lightly just until the mixture resembles wet sand. Add the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing briefly after each spoonful of water. Keep adding water until the dough just begins to gather into larger clumps. Transfer dough onto counter and split into two equal portions. Wrap each of them separately in plastic wrap and allow to chill in fridge for at least 30 minutes.  You can do this the day before if you want.

Remove 1 portion from the fridge to a flour coated surface. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to a 10-inch round. Gently fit the rolled dough into a 9-inch pie pan, and refrigerate while you prepare the pie ingredients.  

For the filling:

3 1/2 cups rhubarb sliced

1 16 oz container strawberries hulled &  halved

1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 t ground cinnamon

1 t vanilla extract

1/2 t nutmeg

1/4 t salt

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix to coat well.  Set aside.

Pull the first crust in the pie plate out of the fridge and fill with berry mixture.  Top with remaining cut up butter.  Top with rolled out second pie crust and crimp edges decoratively.  Cut a few slits into the top of your pie to allow the steam to escape.  Brush top dough with cream and sprinkle with sugar in the raw.  Place pie on a baking sheet and slide into your 400 degree oven.  Cook for 15 minutes then turn oven down to 350.  Cook for an additional 45-55 minutes, or until golden brown.

Serve warm with whip cream or ice cream.  So so good!!

Hey there Tuesday pals.  If you’re here from FMBT and TTA please leave me a note and let me know where I can find you and return the love!

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I can’t believe it!  What a great day!  I’ve been tickled!

Holly over there at 504 Main has chosen me for the amazing honor to kick off her awesome Tickled Pink!

I’m thrilled, I’m touched, I’m quite simply…

TICKLED PINK!

Thanks, Holly I love ya girl.

You’ve got to to check out her blog, she rocks!

So this is a recipe that tickles me, you’ve seen it before, but it’s a winner….

If you’ve been following along you know that I am a sucker for a good shepherd’s pie, or cottage pie as my mum (you know she’s a Brit right?) would insist as it’s only a shepherd’s pie if it’s ground lamb, yadda yadda yadda.  Anyway, I’m flipping through this magazine that someone left at my house, it had food on the cover so you know I’m gonna read it, and this guy had made an italian sausage version of one of my fave pies.  Well his was sort of boring so I took it on, embellished it a bit and came up with this all new amazing dish! You’re going to love it.

Serves: 8  Prep Time:  20 minutes  Bake time: 1 hour 20 minutes

1 unbaked store bought pie crust

1 lb bulk italian sausage

1/2 lb ground beef

1 onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, diced

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

1 T worcestshire sauce

2 cups leftover mashed potatoes

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1/2 cup cream cheese

2 T melted butter

1/4 cup sour cream

1 T dried oregano, divided

1/2 t dried parsley

1/2 t dried basil

1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1/2 t garlic powder

S&P

1 cup shredded cheddar and mozzarella cheese combined

cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup fresh basil, shredded

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Lay the pie crust into a pie plate and cover with heavy duty tin foil.  Bake at 450 for 7 minutes.  Remove from oven, remove foil and set aside.  Reduce the oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium skillet, brown the sausage and beef over medium high heat.  When browned, add in your onions, garlic, and 1/2 T oregano.  Allow the onions to soften, about 5-7 minutes.  Stir in worcestshire sauce, tomato sauce, and season with S&P.  Allow to simmer on low while you prepare the potatoes.

In a large bowl combine potato with egg, cream cheese, cottage cheese, melted butter, sour cream, oregano, parsley, basil, garlic powder, and parmesan cheese.  Season with S&P.

Transfer the sausage mixture into the bottom of the pie crust.  Top with potato mixture.  Bake at 375 for 50 minutes.  Remove and sprinkle with cheese and return to oven for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Arrange tomatoes around the sides of the pie and add basil to the middle.  Serve with salad.  It’s amazing.

I saw a version of this in a magazine and thought, what a great idea. I embellished it a bit and came up with this amazing dish! You’re going to love it!

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