sprinklefingers

this is a great, great read on how mark bittman became a cook.

there’s seriously something about a man who cooks (and does it well) for his family.

my favorite bit:

And the crying need to figure out a career while being a responsible husband and father as newly defined in the early postfeminist years pushed me in ways that journalism school or even a newspaper job never could have. I was perfectly capable of showing up in the kitchen every day at five or five thirty, armed to cook, but I was equally perfectly incapable of showing up at an office every morning, armed to listen to a boss’s bullshit. I know, because I tried.

…i want to go do this.

a few weeks spent ‘planting a garden, baking some bread, cooking a meal for friends, canning some jam, tending some bees, growing some eggs…’ sounds like heaven to me.

and while my schedule is currently jam-packed with all the details that go in to opening a new bakery, you should go visit kate hill at camont. you should take excellent notes and report back to me!

i spent the morning with a great group of ladies. i taught them to make pie pastry. a very fun way to spend a morning, indeed.

because you can’t invite a group of women over without providing a few delicious snacks, i made some teeny tiny ‘pies’ using the same pastry i would be teaching the ladies to make. we had caramelized onion with gruyere, blueberry with crumble top AND pumpkin with pecan. tasty AND educational. just how i like it.

these teeny pies are perfect for the upcoming holiday season (or in-full-swing holiday season, depending upon how you look at it.) little bites of perfect pastry filled with sweet or savory delights - great with coffee OR champagne. perfect for your in-laws or your best ladies. in a word: versatile. in another word (or words): you should have a party and make these.

teeny, tiny versatile pies
makes 12-14
(you could squeeze a few more teeny pies out of the dough if you gather your scraps and re-roll them a few times. please note: you completely sacrifice the quality of your pastry by doing this, but it will yield quite a few additional teeny pies. just be sure to flour your rolling surface and rolling pin as the butter starts to melt.)

for all varieties of teeny pies you need:

• one batch perfect pie dough
• one 12-cup mini muffin pan
• 3” round biscuit cutter

to make caramelized onion & gruyere teeny pies you need:

• 2 large yellow onions
• 2 T butter
• kosher salt
• gruyere cheese
• crispy fried onions

1. preheat the oven to 225 degrees.
2. slice the onions medium-thin and place in a dutch oven.
3. add the butter to the onions.
4. place the dutch oven in the oven and leave there for 6-8 hours, stirring every once in a while to avoid burning. if your onions start to burn, put the lid on the pot to help trap in a bit of moisture.
5. at the end of cooking your onions will be brown. don’t stop cooking until they achieve this.
6. NOTE! you can also do this in a slow cooker! put the onions & butter in the cooker, place on the lid and cook for 6-8 hours. easy!
7. roll out the pie pastry until it’s a bit thicker than 1/4”. you’ll have (approximately) a 12” circle.
8. using the biscuit cutter, cut the pastry into 12 (or more) rounds.
9. nestle these rounds into the cups of the mini muffin tin. don’t force them all the way down in or you’ll risk making a hole in the pastry. refrigerate the pastry in the muffin tin for at least an hour (or overnight.)
10. once the pastry has rested, preheat the oven to 350.
11. fill each pastry cup with a forkful of onions, keeping in mind you’ll also be topping it with the cheese (so, that’s right, not too full.)
12. sprinkle each cup with a tiny pinch of kosher salt.
13. slice the cheese into thin strips - place two strips over the onions so that the onions are covered but not so the cheese is hanging over the edge of the pastry.
14. bake for 30 minutes.
15. remove the muffin tin from the oven and set on a rack.
16. immediately top each teeny pie with a few pinches of fried onions, gently pressing them into the cheese a bit.
17. allow to cool 5-8 minutes and then ease each teeny pie out of the tin using a knife or fork. cool on a rack to ensure the pastry stays flaky.
18. enjoy warm or at room temperature.

whoa. 18 steps. that’s a lot. let’s take a teeny break from teeny pies. i‘ll be back tomorrow to discuss blueberry and pumpkin.

photo of teeny pies!