Crack Pie

What do Guthrie, Oklahoma and New York City have in common?

Crack Pie!

We travel through the entire state of Oklahoma to visit relatives in Kansas.

We stop mid way for lunch in Guthrie.

Guthrie is a charming old town filled with Antique Shops, Cafes, a Tea Room and our favorite discovery, Katie's Diner. Katie was the daughter of the original owners.

The owners, Aileen and Von are the nicest people and that's one of the reasons that Katie's Diner is always busy and the food is always great.

The menu is down home cookin' and the atmosphere is as American as Apple Pie!

Kaycee is on the wait staff and she's always there when we go and that's only twice a year for us, so she's established, always in a good mood and can handle a crowd!

Several years ago we discovered the diner and there was a sign on the wall  behind the register that advertised Crack Pie as one of the Pie choices. 

We ordered it and it is so good, you leave wanting more...... hence the name I suppose.

I asked Aileen if she would share the recipe and she told us that she found the recipe in an issue of Bon Appetit  Magazine and the pastry chef that created it was named Christina Tosi from New York City.

When I returned home I did my research and found out the story behind the pie and the baker!

Christina Tosi has become one of my favorite, up and coming, pastry chefs in America.

She is part of the staff that opened Momofuku Milk Bar in 2004 and her creations are innovative and far out!

She wrote and published her first book in 2011. It's titled:( MILK, Momofuku Milk Bar)

The recipes are like no others, original, contemporary and Christina has concepts about pastry and baking like no other chef I have ever read about. 

The next time we passed through Guthrie and ate at the diner, we bought an entire Crack Pie and took it to Kansas. Needless to say it was a hit.

On our way back to Texas, we stopped again and had lunch, talked about Crack Pie. I told Aileen I thought she should buy a pie case to highlight all of her incredible pies, and especially Crack Pie. She told me that pie cases are expensive and space was limited. I gave her some money and told her to save up for a pie case.

The next time we went back to the diner ......... Aileen and Von had a Pie Case!

We recently stopped at Katie's Diner and I told Aileen about my blog and asked her permission to tell the story about how we discovered a New York City baker's incredible Crack Pie in an incredible Diner in Guthrie, Oklahoma!

Thank you to Aileen, Von and Kaycee for doing what you do and doing it well.

We will always stop at Katie's Diner as long as we travel from Texas to Kansas!

I don't have permission to photograph the recipe from the book and it's too long to re print so you can look online. ( I final posted the recipe, you can find it here on the blog under)  Crack Pie / Cristina Tosi and Momofuku Milk Bar).

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Cabbage Soup

This is definitely one of my favorite soups
A Best of the Best recipe!
It's a great comfort soup

NOTE:
If you want to thin it, add additional V-8 Juice. You can simply add additional water too.

Here are some other OPTIONS that I have found will make this even more delicious.

I've added:

2 Green Bell Peppers, roughly chopped.

3 Zucchini, unpeeled and cut into chunks.

For additional  Spice, I add some Zing Zang,  prepared Bloody Mary Mix.

Cabbage Soup:

1 large Cabbage, shredded
6 C Water
1/4 C Veggie Chicken Powder . For non vegetarians I would use 6 C of Chicken Stock or the Water Seasoned with Chicken Bouillon Cubes.
2 Onions, roughly chopped
6 Ribs of Celery, chopped
1 Shallot, chopped
6 Carrots,  peeled and roughly chopped
6 Green Onions, slice the entire onion
1 small can of Tomato Paste
1 envelope of Onion Soup Mix....  You know the brand!
3 dashes of Balsamic Vinegar
6 Cloves Garlic, chopped
Juice of 1 Lemon
2 C V8 Juice
1 - 28 ounce can of Diced Tomatoes with the juice
salt/pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a large stockpot and bring to a boil.
Reduce Heat and Simmer 1 hour
Remove from Heat and allow to sit 1 Hour
Salt and Pepper to Taste.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Sweet Bell Pepper Soup

I use the mixed miniature red,yellow and orange peppers.

This is a Best of the Best Recipe!

8 TBS (Stick of Butter)
1 large Onion, chopped
2 TBS Paprika
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Dried Basil or Cilantro
2 pounds of miniature peppers, seeded and halved
5 C of Broth, your choice
1 tsp salt
1 pint of Half and Half

In a 5 qt. stockpot over medium heat,
melt Butter,add Onion,Paprika,Cumin,Basil. Stir often cooking for about 10 minutes.
Add Peppers and cook 10 minutes
Add Broth and Salt and simmer until Peppers are tender, about 30 minutes
Cool Completely
Blend in a Blender
Remove to a pan, add Half and Half and simmer to heat.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Red Pepper and Smoked Gouda Cheese Soup

This is one of the soups we had in Kansas last weekend.

It was purchased, so I did not have a recipe.
I created this one. This is truly an original recipe as I keep making changes to it.

Here's the final recipe and it's a Best of the Best Recipe.

I have another favorite Mixed Bell Pepper Soup that I will post later.

1 TBS Olive Oil
1 C diced Onion
2 Cloves of Garlic, minced
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Pepper
1 1/2 tsp. dried Thyme
2 tsp. Paprika
1/8 tsp Sugar
1 - 14.5 ounce can diced canned Tomatoes, drained
2 - large  Red Bell Peppers, diced
1- 16 ounce jar of Roasted Red Peppers, drained  and roughly chopped
2 - 26 ounce cans of Tomato Soup
1 Quart of Whole Milk ( 4 C)
1 C of Heavy Cream
2 C Smoked Gouda Cheese, shredded

Heat oil: in a soup pot,
Saute Onion and Garlic until softened
Add:
Salt
Pepper
Thyme
Paprika
Sugar
Add diced Red Bell Peppers and continue to saute until they are softened.
Add the Tomato Soup and simmer about 25 minutes.

Strain the mixture , reserving the solids and the liquid separately. Return the liquid to the soup pot.
Place the solids in a processor and puree until smooth.
Whisk this mixture into the reserved liquid.
Add the diced tomatoes and the diced Roasted Red Peppers.
Continue to simmer for 10 minutes on low heat, do not boil
Whisk in Milk and Cream
Continue to simmer.
Stir in Cheese just until it melts.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Baked Creamed Spinach

I love Spinach,
I love Cream of Mushroom Soup,
I love French Fried Onions,
I love Casseroles.
I love a good Vegetarian Dish.
This recipe is very appealing to me.

Baked Creamed Spinach

2 packages (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
2 cans (10 3/4 oz.) cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
4 packages (10 oz.) frozen spinach, thawed and very well drained
2 cans (2.8 oz.) French fried onions
2/3 C saltine crackers, crushed (about 16 crackers)
1/4 C butter or margarine, melted

In a bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth
Add soup and mix well
Stir in spinach and onions
Transfer to a greased 2 1/2 quart baking dish
Combine crushed crackers and butter together and sprinkle over spinach mixture
Bake uncovered at 325 degrees for 35 minutes or
until top is golden brown and casserole is heated throughout


Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Cooking this weekend, and Quilting!

I've been busy and it takes time to keep up with a blog. For those that don't know me, I'm also a Quilter and I have a piece that was just accepted for an art exhibit in February. The piece isn't completed (my quilting friends will totally understand this) so I'll  be very busy this weekend. I have to turn it in at the end of the month.

We went out of town last weekend, but I was inspired to add some new posts.
We went to Kansas to visit family.

My wife grew up on a Mennonite Farm and the neighboring countryside has many Amish Farms.
We go to an Amish Bulk Food store to stock up on products for the pantry.
I bought all of the ingredients to make my 70's Granola, so that will be made this weekend. I'll share photos.

We also stop at our favorite Diner in Oklahoma and I have a story to share about a Pie we ate there for the first time and how it's connected to one of my favorite pastry chefs in New York City.
I'll write about that this weekend and post the Pie recipe.

We get together with family when we're in Kansas and meals are an important part of the visit.
My wife, my mother in law and sister's in law are excellent cooks, we could easily create a family cookbook.
This time we had some incredible soup that was not homemade but purchased, that doesn't make it any less important to blog about. I was able to research several soup recipes and came up with my own, I'll post that too.

It's always a good time when we spend it sharing family memories and food!

It will be a very busy weekend of cooking and quilting!

More to come..........

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

2 tsp Olive Oil
1/2 C Chopped Green Onions
3/4 C Cooked Brown Rice
1 Clove of Garlic, chopped
1/2 C Canned Black Beans, drained
a pinch of Salt
a pinch of Cayenne
1 Bell Pepper ( any color) halved and seeded
4 TBS Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese

Heat Oil in a saute pan
Cook onions until soft
Add:
Rice
Garlic
Beans
Salt
Cayenne
Combine well and cook for another minute
Add 2 TBS of the Cheese and stuff the Pepper halves.
Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!