Rhubarb Pie

For the crust:
2 cups flour (260 g)
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), cut into small cubes
1/2 cup full-fat sour cream

Whisk together flour and salt. Using hands, work the butter into the flour mixture. Add sour cream and work in with a fork. Once it starts to clump, knead with hands until the dough comes together. Divide in two, form disks, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour.

For the filling:
6 cups rhubarb, small dice
1 1/3 cups sugar (290 g)
6 Tablespoons flour (54 g)
pinch kosher salt 
1 Tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Whisk together sugar and flour and salt. Sprinkle 1/4 of it over pastry in pie plate. Heap rhubarb over this mixture. Sprinkle with remaining sugar/flour/salt mixture. Dot with small pieces of butter. Cover with top crust. Crimp edges. (Optional: brush with egg/milk wash)

Place pie on lowest rack in oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Cover loosely with foil. Reduce oven temperature to 350 F, and continue baking for 40 to 45 minutes.

Serve warm or cold.

There is usually enough leftover pie crust for 2-3 hand pies:

Make mixture of 1/3 cup sugar and 2 Tablespoons of flour with tiny pinch of kosher salt. Save the leftover mixture for future use.  Roll out pie crust and cut into about 6" diameter circles. Sprinkle 1/2 T of the sugar/flour mixture on the dough. Add 1/4 cup chopped rhubarb. Cover with another 1/2 T of the sugar/flour mixture. Add a dot of butter. Fold over and use water to seal the edges. Use water and fold the edges again. Use a fork to press into the edges pulling toward the pie. Brush with egg/milk wash. Bake for 15 minutes at 450, then cover with foil and then continue baking at 350 for another 15 minutes.

You can air fry two hand pies at 350 for 10 minutes in pre-heated fryer. Butter the surface first.

We have successfully cooked two frozen hand pies in the air fryer at 350 for 15 minutes, flip, and then cook 6 more minutes to start, longer depending on how much color you want.

Blonde Volcano Cookies

Blonde Volcano Cookies

1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup butter
pinch kosher salt
1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon white sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups quick oats
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup peanut butter

In a medium saucepan, combine first 5 ingredients. At the beginning of a boil, let it boil for one minute. Remove from heat. Stir in oats. Wait 10 minutes. Stir in vanilla and peanut butter until completely combined. Place spoonfuls onto waxed paper. Shape into volcanoes if desired.

Optional:
Mix in 1/3 cup chopped salted peanuts.
Mix in 1/3 cup chocolate chips.

Mini chocolate chips will just melt if you stir them in, but if you spread the cookie base into a pan and then sprinkle chocolate chips on top (I suppose mini or regular), give them a little press, let cool, cut into squares, that might work well. And a mixture of chopped salted peanuts and chocolate chips might be delicious. After all, you are the Jim Hopper of your warm cookie topper.* :) Peanuts/pretzels/chocolate chips--hmmmm. Someone tell me if this works.

This essentially a half batch of volcano cookies.

*Channeling Chef John. :)

Lemon Glaze

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1-2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice\
1 1/2 Tablespoons melted butter
1-2 Tablespoons whole milk
pinch salt

Excellent on  Lemon Blueberry Sweet Rolls, but you will need to double or triple the batch.

Eggnog

4 egg yolks
3 Tablespoons sugar
2 cups half and half
1 cup whole milk
1/2 Tablespoon vanilla
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

In the bowl of a stand mixer beat together the egg yolks and sugar until the yolks lighten in color and the sugar is completely dissolved. Add the half and half, milk, vanilla, and nutmeg and stir to combine. Chill and serve.

Simply Sweet Single Serving:
1 egg yolk
Scant Tablespoon sugar
3/4 cup half and half
1/4 Tablespoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, whisk together:

3 3/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon all spice
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

In a stand mixer, using the flat beater attachment, cream until fluffy (scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times):

1 cup softened butter
1 1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar

To the creamed mixture, add:

1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs (mix after each egg, scraping down the bowl)

Add flour mixture. Mix until just combined, scraping down the bowl as needed. (To avoid flour flying everywhere, at the beginning, turn the mixer on and off until ... the flour won't fly anymore.)

To make rolling sugar, in a small bowl, whisk together:

1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Use a medium cookie scoop to form cookie, cover in rolling sugar. Place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  Cook for 8-9 minutes. Let stand on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes after removing the sheet from the oven. Move to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Inspired by Chef John's Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles.

Jeff's Rice and Chicken

Bring a pot of water to a boil (a lot).

Turn the heat down to medium (or just lower than medium).

Dump in the rice (no measuring, maybe a generous pound of rice).

Put the lid on.  If it froths, crack the lid a little.

Let it simmer for 7 minutes.

Turn off the heat and strain the rice (just tip the pan and use the lid to keep the rice from falling out).



In the crock pot, put a large can of cream of chicken soup.

Mix in an Alfredo seasoning packet.

Cut up a half a stick of butter and toss it in.

Lay 4 frozen, boneless, skinless chicken breasts on top.

Pour in a California Blend of frozen vegetables on top.

Cook on low for five hours or high for three hours (prefers low and stir mid-way).

White/Wheat Bread

Put in the bread maker pan in this order:

1 cup hot tap water
9 grams yeast (3/4 Tablespoon)
30 grams brown sugar (1/2 of 1/3 of a cup)
42 grams neutral oil ( 1/2 of 1/3 of a cup)
150 grams white flour (1 cup, fluffed)
200 grams wheat flour (1 1/4 cup, fluffed)
18 grams vital wheat gluten (2 Tablespoons)
12 grams salt (1/2 Tablespoon)
1/2 Tablespoon lemon juice

Let the bread machine run through the entire kneading process.  As soon as that is done (20 minutes) , with oiled hands, shape the dough and place in a parchment paper lined bread pan.  The dough should have a slight covering of oil.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until the dough is an inch or two above the pan. (Place in a warm oven for 15 minutes, remove to counter, preheat the oven to 350 degrees).

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 28 minutes. Cover with a foil tent and bake 4 more minutes. Turn out the bread onto a wire rack and brush all sides with melted butter.

Adapted from a recipe at Mel's Kitchen Cafe.