Hello Again

Well, that was a fun idea. Like most things I try on a whim, I've let this blog fall to the wayside. Life is far different now than it was in 2009. For one thing, I have a working oven, but no microwave. I've also moved to Ohio, and I'm attending grad school at the Franciscan University of Steubenville. Eventually (God willing) I'll earn my Masters in Theology and Christian Ministry with a specialization in Catechetics, and they'll let me out into the world to teach about Catholicism and lead young hearts to heaven.

Something else has changed since moving to Ohio. Now that I'm surrounded by a wonderful community, I've developed a bit of what some of my good friends like to call a "baking problem." I bake constantly. At least every week, if not more often, I'll have something coming out of the oven, just waiting to be consumed by friends. There's a party this weekend? Oh, a Ladies' Bible Study? Roommate's friends are coming over? Let me just throw something together. And you know what? It's fantastic. I absolutely love this new hobby of mine. The best part about baking for friends is the look on their faces after they take the first bite of whatever I've whipped up for them. That look - full of satisfaction, gratefulness, and joy - is the fuel for the ever-growing fire of my addiction.

Enough about me - let's get to recipes!

Recently I made homemade pumpkin pie and it was a big hit. I used an all-butter recipe for pie crust and doubled it so that I would have some pre-made if I got the urge to make pie again. Guess what? I got the urge. However, I didn't want to deal with making another pumpkin pie (I didn't have all the ingredients anymore) and I honestly didn't have enough fruit in my house to fill my deep-dish pie pan. My solution? TINY PIES. Yes, I said it. Tiny pies.

I used whatever fruit I could find around the kitchen, which turned out to be frozen strawberries and my roommate's bananas (don't look at me like that, I asked permission). I thawed the strawberries and chopped the bananas so they'd be tiny. I feel like you could put any kind of filling in them and they would be super tasty, so feel free to experiment.

Also, here's the thing with the quantities - I really just eyeballed it on this one. If you want more precise measurements, you can Google the type of filling you're making and go with that, but you should be aware that you'll need less than they tell you to make for a full-sized pie.

RECIPE NOW!
Ingredients

1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust (See recipe above or use pre-made; ain't no shame in it!)

butter

Filling:

I used strawberry and banana, but you can do whatever filling your lovely heart desires. You can even buy pre-made filling, just note that you may have to cut the fruit a little smaller if you do this. Here's how I made mine.

about 1 cup chopped strawberries (maybe more?)

1 1/2 bananas, chopped pretty small

cornstarch (you can substitute flour)

a pinch of salt

sugar (I just poured some in until I thought it looked good. I'd say about 1/4 cup?)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a muffin tin with butter or nonstick spray.

2. Roll out the dough. Cut it into circles with a cookie cutter or just freehand. The yield should be about eight circles with some dough left over to top the pies. Place the circles of dough in the wells of a muffin tin. Make sure the circles are big enough that some crust sticks out over the top; you'll need that bit of crust to attach the upper pie crust.

3. Mix together the strawberries, bananas, cornstarch, salt and sugar to make the pie filling.

4. Fill your pies! Feel free to fill them almost to the top. Top them with a tiny pad of butter.

5. Cover the pie with the leftover pie crust dough. I did different kinds of toppings - the lattice top looks super cute, but covering the pie with crust is easier. Just make sure to cut vents for steam if you do it this way.

6. Bake for about 20 minutes.

7. Serve warm with ice cream, pretend you're a giant.

Voila! Tiny pies!

More recipes are coming soon, thank you for reading :D

<3 Katie

Chicken a la EASY

I've made this chicken a couple of ways, one of which was in a toaster oven. That's right, you heard me, a toaster oven. What can I say? When your gas company stands you up and your oven hasn't been operational since you've moved in, a person's gotta improvise. Don't judge.

The basics of this chicken dish are these: butter, bite-sized pieces of boneless skinless chicken breast, seasonings, and vegetables. The best part of this recipe is that you can do it on the stove top in a frying pan, or in the oven. Or toaster oven, if you're in to Jerry-Rigging things like me.

Ingredients
-butter, enough to cover the bottom of the pan or dish
-boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
-seasonings of your choosing
suggestions: salt and pepper, adobo, rosemary, basil
-vegetables, chopped
suggestions: onions, tomatoes, peppers

Directions
Stovetop
Turn the heat up to medium high. Add seasonings to chicken. A good way to do this is the "shake n' bake" method: put the dry ingredients and cut up chicken together in a plastic bag, and shake. Add butter to the pan, and let it melt. Add the seasoned chicken and veggies to the pan. Let the chicken and veggies cook together, stirring occasionally. Serve warm, and enjoy!
Oven
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Let the pan sit in the oven for a minute or two, to heat it up a bit. Season chicken as described above. Take the pan out of the oven, and put butter in it, letting the butter melt in the warm pan. Add the seasoned chicken and any veggies you want. Let the chicken bake for about 10 minutes, checking occasionally to make sure it's fully cooked. Serve warm, and enjoy!

This chicken recipe is so easy I made it up by accident. And it's super quick to make a serving for one or two people in the toaster oven. Hey, maybe you could make it and serve it with the delicious savory puff pastry that you've already mastered from the first post! Sounds tasty, doesn't it?

Happy cooking!

Welcome

Welcome to Das Schmeckt!



Here is where I will be recording all of my food-making experiments and adventures. I hope that by keeping tabs on what I'm doing, I'll be able to create tasty variations on all kinds of deliciousness. And, hopefully, they'll all taste good...schmeckt das ganz lecker!



And! To get the ball rolling, we'll start right now!



There is a certain formula I've been using lately. I discovered it in the Washington Post, but it's taken on a life of its own now. The formula goes as follows: tasty stuff+puff pastry folded into a pouch+baked in oven=CRAZY DELICIOUS. The variations are endless, which is why I refer to it as a formula rather than a recipe. I made two versions of these puff pastry treats last night, and both ended up ganz lecker.



SAVORY

Ingredients:

-two sheets puff pastry dough

-one half of a large tomato, chopped fairly small

-fresh basil, diced

-cheese of your choosing, grated. I used sharp cheddar, but mozzarella or another cheese with nice, savory flavor would work just as well.

-garlic salt



Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Let puff pastry thaw. Cut puff pastry sheets into four even squares each, making eight squares in total. Place a fairly equal amount of tomato, basil, and cheese in the center of each square. Sprinkle garlic salt on top. Fold the pastry together - fold up the corners and pinch together, then pinch the sides together sealing the "pouch." Wetting fingers with water helps seal the dough better, but is not necessary. Place on a slightly greased cookie sheet and bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.



SWEET

Ingredients:

-two sheets puff pastry dough

-four to six strawberries, chopped

-white chocolate chips

-cinnamon sugar



Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Let puff pastry thaw. Cut puff pastry sheets into four even squares each, making eight squares in total, OR Cut into thirds, making 18 squares total. Place a fairly equal amount of strawberries and white chocolate in the center of each square. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top. Fold the pastry together - fold up the corners and pinch together, then pinch the sides together sealing the "pouch." Wetting fingers with water helps seal the dough better, but is not necessary. Place on a slightly greased cookie sheet and bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.



Note: The pastries will likely separate slightly during the baking process. This is to be expected, and doesn't effect the taste of the pastries at all.



These pastries are a great side dish/dessert, and can even be the main course of a meal depending on the ingredients. I plan on trying a meat version soon, I'll make sure to record how it turns out. So it's goodbye for now my fellow food-venturers; see you next time, and until then, I hope all your experiements schmeckt lecker!