Waking up wanting....

So the other night I woke up wanting.  Not necessarily for food or something tangible...just wanting.  I know this is a food blog and there is a food reference here somewhere.  I lay there a bit - a tad surprised.  I sleep pretty heavily and being awoken by a thought or dream is odd.  I brushed away this wanting and went back to sleep, but I woke with that same feeling.

Once something strikes me I tend to mull it over for a while...a few whys...some whats...and eventually an exploration for meaning.  The subject of wanting is difficult for me.  I have always equated it with something I am lacking.  I want bread with this soup because it is lacking by itself.  I want this move because the current location is lacking in itself.  Metaphors for every occasion.

But today I think wanting is just that - wanting.  I do not mean to discount wants.  I believe someone had a similar conversation with me once or twice...I seem to be 2 years behind. *thoughtful chuckle*  My wants are huge drivers.  I am currently changing my eating habits and they are all about wants.  So I guess waking up wanting in whatever sense is not surprising...food want or not.  So this is what I came to...

I want. And sometimes what I want is not available to me or good for me or...fill in blank.  So I simply can decide to want something else instead.  And because wanting is not about lacking something - it is just about wanting -  I do not have to feel badly about not fufilling it or feel the need to suffer over it, etc.

Sometimes I cannot have what I want - so I choose to want something else.

I want something I CAN have. Something I can feel good about having.

Grandmaster Champion BBQ at the Belted Cow

What an amazing evening.  I will give more details shortly on this Bite Club event but many thanks to Chef John Delpha of the Belted Cow and Suzanne Podheizer of 7 Days for a great event last night. The BBQ was amazing and the company smart and funny!

Here are some of the evening's highlights:

The Belted Cow - Table for 20

The Menu

A Southern Hunter's Brunch

The Chicken

The Pork Ribs - oops looks like I ate them too fast

The Pork

The Beef Brisket

more photos to come!

I Don't Like Mark Bittman

What?!?! Huh!?!?!?  That was my response to M's comment when I mentioned that I was going to make Mark Bittman's Spicy Shrimp for dinner.  I am living with an insane person.

Now Mark is not the most charismatic guy or the most handsome to look at but that man can cook.  In the space of a week, I have eaten two of his recipes and both were outstanding.  My stepmother got me into Mark with his Spicy Shrimp recipe.  It was so simple and was so fun to eat family style - I was hooked.  And then I started reading his column in the NY Times and it was ON. 

So here are the two recipes I tasted this week.  Spicy Shrimp and his Southwestern Sweet Potato Salad.  I have described my tweaks on the shrimp.  Enjoy!

Spicy Shrimp - Mark Bittman

My tweaks....up the cayenne by half a tsp if you love spicy and I add about 2 TB of butter dotted around the pan.  Serve with crusty french bread for dipping.  Use left over shrimp in a green salad with a Lime Honey Vinegarette.

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad - Mark Bittman

No more apple pie....

On September 27th, Shelburne Orchard hosted its 7th annual Pie Fest.  M and I entered two pies.  Well I made both but he supervised. LOL  We had been testing pies for over 4 weeks in preparation for the big day.

McIntosh, Pippin, Wolf, Paula Red....the list of apples goes on and on.  My dining room table was covered in apples.  I tried several kinds of crusts - All butter, butter and Crisco, butter and lard, butter and cream cheese.....butter butter butter.... The fillings were basic as the contest was a classic apple pie contest.  M kept wanting to get fancy and I think ultimately wore himself out.  For a man who does not like apples, he sure put away alot of apple pie.  The ultimate compliment I think and I thank him for his tenacity.

I had a couple of meltdowns.  Crust was not pretty enough...pie exhaustion.  But we finished at 4am the day of the contest.  Before I reveal the pics....here are my top tips.

• All butter is the way to go - though it is the most difficult crust to deal with
• Lattice tops DO count as double crust entries - we were not sure. 
• Lattice tops can hide alot of flaws
• Pyrex glass pie pans are the best - they allow for the crust to brown on the bottom
• I loved Pippin apples - firm and tasty - no falling apart in the pie
• Put sugar in your crust - no question just do it.
• Half and half wash over egg wash
• Murray River salt is awesome!

Now the pictures.....

My pie - Classic Apple Pie

M's "Pie"

The Competition

The Mother of All Pies

So the real question - did we win?  Sadly...no.  But I know my pie was up there with the best. The judges came back a few times to retaste my pie.  I need to work on my appearance...needs to be fancier.  I will post the recipes later this week.

But I am now sick of apple pie. I keep finding dough all over my kitchen and I still have a whole bowl of apples left.

Happy Autumn!

Shelburne Orchards Apple Pie Contest

I like pie.  But pie scares me.

I don't make pies.  Well, let me amend that.  I make pies but only with Pillsbury premade pie crust.  But usually I stay away from pies because I don't feel right about the cheat.  Same way I don't like cakes out of a box.

This contest challenged me to make my own crust.  M also joined in so we could do this together.  We visited the orchard yesterday to scope out the apples available and to taste their version of an apple pie.  The apple picking was lots of fun and their pie was...ok.  So we feel we have a chance.

The evening began with a dining room table piled with different apples.  M started on the filling spice mixture. He is very creative with tastes and loved mixing and then my tasting.  He didn't always love my taste "faces".  He loves ginger - I can only take ginger in moderation.

I had gathered pie crust recipes from a veteran pie maker - my step-mother and from a variety of favorite authors - Mark Bittman, America's Test Kitchen, etc.  But I admit I was intimidated.  My one and only pie crust attempt was in my early twenties and ended in disaster.  A crust that had no taste and a chocolate pudding that gushed out after the first cut.  My father and boyfriend at the time were very kind but I knew I made a mess of it.  Not to mention the 3 pounds of chicken breasts drowning in dijon mustard sauce that made us all pucker our faces.  I shudder just to think of it.

So I stood among a pile of butter, lard and Crisco waiting for the magic to begin.  The Joy of Cooking recipe required butter and Crisco. Crisco scares me, but people swear by it for crusts.  The second recipe was all butter.  The food processor is a godsend people.  Forget hand cutting - go get yourself a kitchen aid. 

Tips for a great crust:

• All fats need to be VERY VERY cold
• Use your food processor
• Watch the dough - it will tell you when it is ready
• Ice water is critical to bring it together
• Double your recipe

I rolled out the first crust and it was way to small for the double crust pie required by the contest.  So I pieced it together swearing to myself the whole time.  Oh if you don't know me...here is a unattractive flaw in my personality...

If I can't do something perfectly or close to perfect the first time I HATE DOING IT!!!!!!!

I usually can do things pretty good the first time...pie crust was not such a thing for me.  I was snippy and bitchy and exasperated.  M took a good beating like a champ and laughed at me for being a perfectionist.

I apologized.  And then the pie came out of the oven.  The crust looked good and tasted flakey and delicious.  Next time - double the recipe and voila!  I will take those 80 year grannies down. *smirk*

See M - I am close to perfect!  Lucky man.

More pies to come!

Love, Your Vermont Apple Pie Bitch - A