A Rare Dessert Recipe and some non-recipes

Sticking my head up

Feb 21, 2024

I have been buried in a project for which I’ve had to learn a few new skills. It has been great fun and I will announce it in a day or two but first my fingers felt the need for the keyboard, and a glimpse of the sunlight outside of my digital cave.

Ok, this dessert might not be the most seasonal but we’ve been trying since Thanksgiving to perfect it. We tried different versions from all the usual suspects but none of them was quite right. We pronounced the recipe done with this latest version!

Ernie’s Apple Pie Bars (gluten-free)

FOR DOUGH
1 cup butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla (if you want to use two I wouldn’t complain…I love vanilla)
2 cups flour (we used King Arthur’s gluten free one to one)
1/2 t salt

FOR FILLING
3 T butter
1/3 c brown sugar
2 Tb lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 t salt
4-5 apples (we like a mix of Granny Smith and something sweeter like a Gala or Fuji)

Preheat oven to 350.

Make filling first so it has time to cool. Peel and dice apples into small (1/2 inch or so) pieces. Melt the 3T butter in a large skillet, then add all ingredients and cook until apples are softened and are becoming syrupy. Set aside to cool.

Put the cup of butter (sliced into smaller pieces), brown sugar, and vanilla in food processor and mix until combined. Add flour and salt and process until it comes together in a rough ball. Work it with your hands until it’s fully combined. Then take a little over half of it and pat it into a 9 inch square baking dish. Add the filling and then crumble the rest of the dough over the top. Bake at 350 for 40 to 50 minutes. Cool before slicing.

Right around the Superbowl is a great time to find shrimp pretty cheap. New Year’s Eve is a close second. Schnucks had 31-40 wild gulf shrimp for $5.99! Ernie patiently peeled and cleaned them all. Then we just dusted them with cornstarch, salt and pepper and threw them in a pan with a bit of olive oil. Medium high heat for just 2-3 minutes. We had them with a failed rice dish of which I will say no more. The next day we dumped the leftover rice and used the leftover shrimp on a salad that night. A bed of mixed greens, some avocado, a drizzle of olive oil and salt and then some crushed smoked almonds. We just happened to have the smoked almonds but they added so much that I may have to keep them in the house. It was heavenly and much better than my failed rice dish could have possibly been.

Ernie got some beautiful vegetables from Farmer Greg.

Shrimp was $6.99 the next week so we did it again. Greens, avocado, smoked almonds and shrimp. Sadly it is back up to $13.99 now. Oh, this would be nice with some raw fennel too…maybe citrus?

We had leftover shrimp from our salads and some leftover white rice (from Chinese that Ann and Bob brought over on Friday) so we made our most successful fried rice ever. I never seem to have much luck with it. This time I read a bit of Serious Eats and tried to take it to heart.

A little vegetable oil, high heat. A couple of eggs, some diced broccoli stems and leaves. Just teaspoon or two of soy sauce and sesame oil and I cooked until the rice was almost dry. No soggy fried rice! A little salt as there wasn’t enough soy sauce to season it all. Delightful.

Crocuses in February. hmmmm.