Sasha's Kitchen: Key Lime Pie Cupcakes

These may be one of my favorite batches of cupcakes yet. They taste *exactly* like a little bit of key lime pie, which from my point of view, is just a little bit of heaven packed into a cupcake. I've kind of gone onto this kick of making a lot of pies lately. Click here for my apple pie, and a strawberry rhubarb pie will be posted soon. But what if I could convert each of these delicious pies into bite sized cupcakes that had the essence of each pie? Stay tuned for more of these recipes, because I really think they work out well.  As weird as it sounds, there's nothing better than crust on a cupcake because it breaks up the cupcake so you don't have too much of the same thing, which is the whole point of eating cupcake (rather than cake) in the first place. I decorated some of the cupcakes by making two peas in a peapod out of fondant, but that really is not part of the key lime theme, as I was just having some fun. I can't wait to try out the Boston Cream Pie cupcakes after Passover ends to continue with the pie-as-cupcake trend.

Sasha's Key Lime Pie Cupcakes (makes about 15)
Graham Cracker Crust
3/4 cups pulverized graham crackers
2 T granulated sugar
3 T melted butter

Key Lime Cupcakes
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 T baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup of butter at room temperature (about 2/3 of a stick)
3/4 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 T lime zest
2 T T key lime juice (you can buy Key Lime Juice at Whole Foods)

Key Lime Pie Pastry Filling
5 oz mascarpone cheese or regular cream cheese
3 oz key lime juice
3 oz sweetened condensed milk

Key Lime Frosting
1 1/2 sticks of butter at room temperature
1 small box of confectioner's sugar (about 3-4 cups)
3 T key lime juice
drop of green or yellow gel-based food coloring

Decorations (optional)
Green fondant
white fondant
black food marker

First, combine the ingredients for the crust and press about 1 Tablespoon of the graham cracker mixture into each mold in a cupcake tray filled with cupcake liners. Bake at 300 for about 12 minutes until slightly firm.  Next, prepare the key lime cupcake mixture. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Beat the butter and sugar on medium high speed in a stand mixer for about three minutes. Then beat in the eggs. Add the lime zest and mix throughout. Then alternate adding the buttermilk and dry ingredients, and finally add the key lime juice at then end. Divide among the cupcakes, filling each about 3/4 of the way to the top. Bake at 350 for about 25-30 minutes (this time depends on how hot your oven runs) until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely.

While the cupcakes are baking, make the key lime pastry cream, by blending the key lime juice, condensed milk and cream cheese or mascarpone. Chill for about 45 minutes before using. Then, once the cupcakes are cool, use a fine tip attached to a pastry bag to "inject" the key lime pastry cream into the center of each cupcake.

Next, beat together the ingredients for the frosting and dye the frosting with a gel base food coloring - generally either green or yellow. Use a frosting bag to apply the frosting to each cupcake.

Key lime pie coming up - and yes, they taste just like a little bite of the best key lime pie ever!

Sasha's Kitchen: Key Lime Pie Cupcakes

From Amasea's Kitchen in Sun Valley: Chipotle-marinated tuna and panko-fried asparagus

I'm on a more-fish kick. I'm not sure if it's a health thing, or a variety thing, or what, but I want to eat more fish.

So at Atkinson's Market in Bellevue yesterday, I got two kinds of fish. Two whole frozen tilapia (I've been reading about how to make excellent roasted whole fish) for -- get this! -- $2.74(!!!), and two fillets of what was marketed as yellowfin tuna, but is usually marketed as ahi, for about $8. Since they didn't have any ahi steaks still frozen, I took the ones that had thawed, knowing I'd have to use them soon, and put the frozen whole fish in the freezer. Keep an eye out for what I do with those.

I also got, last week, my first issue of Food & Wine magazine, which my husband had ordered for me for Valentine's Day. Yes, it took that long to finally, finally get here. Seriously, what takes so long to change a mailing list?
Based on that first issue, I'm not entirely thrilled by the magazine because (as the issue was explicit about) it was addressing eating as part of world travel, and I just got back from only my second true international trip (I went to Indonesia when I was 13, and to New Zealand last month for our honeymoon, 19 years later. No offense to my Canadian friends and relatives, but when you live in US state that fronts Canada, Canadian travel almost doesn't count). I'm not exactly a true world traveller, and being stuck in Idaho, I feel even more "Americanified" than I am at heart.

I went on my go-to food website, Epicurious.com, and searched "yellowfin tuna." Here are the Sicilian and Spiced Taco recipes that came up, which I was inspired by and combined.
I made a marinade for the tuna steaks that was basically olive oil, lime juice, a medium-sized chipotle pepper in adobo, a small can of anchovies, three large cloves of garlic, pepper and a little rose wine (because that's what I had open in the fridge), all pureed fairly finely together. The chipotles and garlic played a stronger part than they did in the recipes because my husband loves both, and I adore garlic and have been building up my tolerance to/love of spice over the last few years. The fish steaks hung out in the marinade in the fridge for a couple hours, in part because I had to go to the store for more ingredients.

From Food & Wine, I was inspired by this recipe to panko-fry some baby asparagus, to go along with the fish. I followed it fairly carefully, though I found that with the baby asparagus, there was less coverage with the flour-egg-panko mixture, especially after a dozen stalks. The first batch turned out beautifully, but the later batches were much clumpier and less like the magazine pictures (as you can probably tell from my photos). I'm interested to try this with larger stalks of asparagus, because of the balance of softer asparagus flesh versus crispier panko crust.

I also made some garlic bread -- I need to post about my variants on garlic bread and their relative successes someday soon -- and my husband grilled the tuna on the gas grill, because it is finally (FINALLY!) not snowed-in/too-chilly to grill. I think the temperature of the grill might not have been quite high enough, because the tuna grilled pretty evenly through. I prefer a rather rare tuna in the center, but he likes a more cooked one, so we ended up in the middle, with it still a bit pink and fleshy in the middle but well-done on the edges.

I melted a tablespoon or two of butter and added some flour and then the remaining marinade, to make a sauce for the fish. It turned out too thick, so more rose wine went in (to thin it out) and eventually a bit of half-and-half (to mellow out the chipotle). I cigar-cut a few leaves of basil as a garnish, which complemented the fish and sauce quite well, and plated up all four elements. To great acclaim from my husband, who loved the spice and heat as well as the flavor, which makes me eager to try similar mixtures with fish in the future.

The first picture above is the pre-fried asparagus on the left, and the fried asparagus on the right; the grilling tuna; the completed plate (I apologize that the yellow tablecloth makes the yellow tones in the food almost disappear, but I adore yellow and orange in my kitchen and dining room, especially during the drab fall/winter/spring months).

From Amasea's Kitchen in Sun Valley: Chipotle-marinated tuna and panko-fried asparagus

Sasha's Kitchen: Moroccan Beef Tagine with Honey, Apricots and Butternut Squash

I recently received a gift card from ShopRite to do some holiday grocery shopping, and discovered that ShopRite had a huge selection of Kosher meats that were perfect for Passover. I picked up a cut of Kosher pot roast, that looked to be perfect for cooking for a holiday meal. I decided to use it in preparing a moroccan beef tagine, a lovely, cinnamon and fruit flavored Moroccan dish that is named after the type of pot it is traditionally cooked in. When we were in Paris last summer, I had hoped to try some of the tagines at many of Paris's Northern African restaurants but we didn't have time, and the one I had really wanted to try was closed for August vacation.  Never mind, it's actually not that hard to make at home, and you will have plenty of leftovers from this meal to avoid having to cook the next night. This would be perfect with couscous, which I left out since it's Passover now. The process for cooking the meat, as well as the high quality cut of Kosher pot roast from ShopRite that I used resulted in a very tender dish. Yum! This is perfect for just about any holiday meal, and was a big hit with my husband.

Sasha's Beef Tagine
2 lb lean pot roast or shoulder roast
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp coriander
3 T extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 large cloves of garlic, diced
1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken stock
pinch of saffron threads
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 14oz can diced tomatoes
1 cup dried apricots, halved
2 T honey
1/4 tsp pepper
1 granny smith apple peeled and diced
1/3 cup almond slivers
2 cups chopped butternut squash

Cut the beef pot roast or shoulder roast into 1 1/2 inch cubes using a butcher's knife. Place in a bowl. Mix 1 1/2 tsp of the cinnamon with the ginger, salt, coriander and turmeric (be careful, as turmeric stains), and toss to coat the meat. Add 3 T of olive oil to your dutch oven and cook the mean until browned on all sides over high heat, for about five minutes. Add the diced onions and cook over medium heat for about three minutes, before adding the garlic and cooking for another minute. Add the diced tomatoes, chicken stock and saffron, and bring the mixture to a boil. I used a bottle of lovely Spanish saffron brought home from Madrid. Bring to a boil and the reduce to medium low, and cook, covered, for about an hour and a half, until cooked through and tender.

Strain out the meat/tomatoes/onion and reserve the broth. Return the broth to the pot. Add the apricots (after soaking the apricots first in hot water for half an hour). Add the butternut squash and diced apple, as well as 2 tablespoons of honey and a tablespoon of cinnamon. I have some great honey that was made by a family friend who raises his own bees and makes his own honey, so I used that. Simmer for about 20 minutes until the squash is tender (but not mushy) and the sauce thickens a bit. Then add the beef back to the dutch oven. Serve hot.

Sasha's Kitchen: Moroccan Beef Tagine with Honey, Apricots and Butternut Squash

Sasha's Kitchen: Passover Chocolate Orange Brownies

Here's a delicious Passover dessert recipe that I wanted to share with all of you folks who are struggling to keep Passover and can't do your usual baking this week. I am always quite critical of Passover baked goods, but this recipe actually turned out really good and wasn't too heavy, which is the flaw with most Passover baking experiments. I was really pleased with how these turned out and will certainly make them again next year. The orange zest added a bit of lovely orange flavor which is perfect in combination with the chocolate. Stay tuned for an upcoming roast recipe made with some of my favorite products that I got at ShopRite for the holiday as part of my participation in the Potluck blog panel.

Sasha's Passover Chocolate Orange Brownies
6 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped (you can weigh it out on a baker's scale if you have one, or just estimate)
1/3 cup canola oil (or 1 stick melted butter or margarine - I used canola oil which is what I recommend)
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1/8 tsp salt
zest of half of a large orange, freshly grated
3/4 cup finely ground matzo meal (or matzo cake meal)

Here's a bit of a money saving trick - you don't need to get all fancy and buy matzo cake meal specially to bake this recipe, as you can just put regular matzo meal in the food processor. Alternatively, you can buy finely ground matzo meal like I did, which works perfectly for both these brownies and for my signature matzo ball soup.

Preheat the oven to 350 and grease a 9 inch square brownie pan, or line with wax paper. Melt the chocolate and canola oil/ margarine/butter in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water (you can also use a double boiler if you have one), stirring until smooth. Remove from hear and whisk to combine in full. Beat the eggs, sugar and salt in a stand mixer or handheld mixer at high speed until pale and thick, Beat in the chocolate on low speed. Stir in the matzo meal until blended, and mix in the orange zest.

Spread the batter in your prepared baking pan and bake until firm and a toothpick comes out clean, about 3 minutes. Allow to cool and slice. If you used wax paper (rather than Pam, you can just invert the brownies into a platter and slice).

Sasha's Kitchen: Passover Chocolate Orange Brownies

Sasha's Kitchen: Apple-Sweet Potato Matzo Kugel

Tonight, for the second night of Passover, I am sharing a new recipe that I tried out for our second night seder - an apple sweet potato matzo kugel. There's two types of kugels for passover, and egg noodle kugel like the one I made last year, and matzo kugel. This kugel was fantastic, and shows why I prefer a matzo kugel to a noodle kugel. This recipe has already been requested by one of my family members, so I am posting it right away on A Kitchen In Brooklyn. The apples, cinnamon, raisins and sweet potato give quite a bit of flavor to the matzo in this kugel.

Sasha's Apple-Sweet Potato Matzo Kugel
3 large gala apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1 small sweet potato, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup apple cider
5 plain matzos
6 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 1/2 T canola oil
3/4 cup raisons
2 T butter or margarine, cut into small pieces (I used butter)

Preheat the oven to 350. Combine the apples, sweet potato , cider and brown sugar in a bowl and set aside.  Break up the matzo into 2-3 inch pieces, and soak in one cup of warm water until soft but not mushy. The matzo should absorb the water. Beat the eggs with a whisk, and add the salt, granulated sugar, cinnamon, canola oil and raisons. Add the matzo to the egg mixture, and add in the apple mixture. Combine the three mixtures, and add to a well greased casserole dish (a 9x4 or 10x4 casserole). Dot with the 2T of butter or margarine along the top. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove the kugel from the oven and cool. Serve slightly warm.

Sasha's Kitchen: Apple-Sweet Potato Matzo Kugel

Sasha's Kitchen: Spring Vegetable Risotto

Spring is in the air, which means that Passover is around the corner - no leavened bread or items that can be used to make bread for eight days (or in my lazy case, six or seven). This also means no rice, grains, corn etc. But, before Passover starts tomorrow tonight, I decided to get in one more fabulous grain dish, and one that is just *oh*so*perfect* for spring, a spring vegetable risotto. Thus, this was our Sunday night dinner. Risotto is fairly simple to make and vary recipes once you get the technique down of slowly cooking the risotto while reducing the wine and chicken broth. At that point, you can pretty much add just about anything to risotto. I have made the gamut of risottos, from tomato thyme risotto to asparagus risotto to various mushroom risottos to even truffle risotto. This time, I decided to prepare a risotto that is inspired by the spring - one that uses just about ever fresh spring vegetable that I could get my hands on (plus some pattypan squash, which is more of a summer vegetable, but I couldn't resist). This turned a delicious risotto that is perfect for the springtime, and also pretty healthy as well.

Sasha's Spring Vegetable Risotto
1 1/2 cups arborio (risotto) rice
4 cups of low sodium chicken stock
2/3 cup white wine
2/3 cup thinly sliced sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes)
1 1/2  cups sweet peas or English peas
1 1/3 cup thinly sliced pattypan squash (stems sliced off)
1 large handfulls fresh baby spinach
8 stalks white asparagus, chopped into small pieces, bottom ends of stalk discarded
2 cloves of garlic, diced
4 T olive oil
6 sprigs of thyme
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

First, prepare the vegetables to they will be read to add to the risotto at the right time. The different vegetables will take different amount of times to cook, so it is important to add them in the proper order. First, slice the sunchokes and saute over medium to medium-high heat in 2 tablespoons oil for about ten minutes. Then add the pattypan squash and saute over medium heat for another five minutes before adding the white asparagus, garlic and peas. Saute until everything is just cooked (but not overcooked and mushy) for about 5 to 10 more minutes. If you need to, you can add additional olive oil to the pan.

Meanwhile, prepare the risotto by adding the arborio rice to the remaining tow tablespoons of olive oil, cooking for a couple of minutes over medium heat. Add the white wine over medium heat and allow the wine to reduce for about five minutes, at least by half, before adding the first cup of chicken stock. Simmer over medium heat to reduce each cup of chicken stock before adding the next. You should need about three and a half to four cups in total (about one quart). Once the last cup of chicken stock is almost reduced, stir in the vegetables. Add two large handfulls of baby spinach, which will shrink a couple minutes after it is added to the pot. Continue until the chicken stock is reduced to the texture of risotto (not too runny) and then stir in the parmesan cheese (you can leave this out if you prefer ). Serve hot. Note: you can use vegetable or mushroom stock in lieu of chicken stock to make this dish vegetarian.

Sasha's Kitchen: Spring Vegetable Risotto

Sasha's Kitchen: Tie Dye Grateful Dead Cupcakes

My first concert that I went to was in the eighth grade and it was a Grateful Dead concert at the old Rich Stadium in Buffalo, NY, only a couple years before Jerry Garcia died. I've always been a fan of both 60-/70s music, and also 90s music (which was kind of a throwback in many ways), so I'm still a big fan of the Dead. I am now digressing quite a bit from cooking, you are probably thinking. But, it was the Grateful Dead that inspired my latest cupcake design. These aren't  dancing bear cupcakes, but they are tie dye vanilla cupcakes, that were inspired by the psychedelic look of the Dead. I added a peace sign on some of them for good measure. The recipe makes a dozen, and I probably should add, that they are Grateful Dead cupcakes in look only, as they are really just vanilla cupcakes.

Sasha's Tie Dye Grateful Dead Cupcakes
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup skim milk
4 gel food coloring colors in pink, green blue and yellow

Sasha's Vanilla Buttercream
1 1/2 sticks of butter
1 small box confectioner's sugar
2 T of heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
drop of pink food coloring

To make the cupcakes, beat the butter and sugar in the basin of the mixer on high until blended, about three minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and alternate adding the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder) with the milk. Divide the batter into four bowls and color each deeply with the food coloring. Fill each cupcake liner with a little under a tablespoon of each color, layered on top, and swirl gently using a toothpick. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes (this varies from oven to oven) until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

To frost the cupcakes, beat the butter and confectioners sugar, with the cream until smooth (you really can't beat it too long). Then add food coloring and vanilla. Frost using a frosting bag with a flared tip. The peace sign, I drew on top using a tube of sparkly Wilton food coloring.

I leave you with the music to one of my favorite Grateful Dead songs, China Cat Sunflower.

Sasha's Kitchen: Tie Dye Grateful Dead Cupcakes

Sasha's Kitchen: Creamed Sweet Potato Grits with Veal

I love southern grits, and last night for dinner, I decided that the new Anson Mills Carolina grits that I had picked up the last time I was at the Brooklyn Kitchen would be a good complement to a veal dish that I was making. I decided to incorporate some sweet potato into the grits, and pretty much came up with the rest as I prepared the grits. The end result was a creamy accompaniment to the veal, with a bit of texture and sweetness from the sweet potatoes. I also used ancho chile powder and paprika to give the grits some flavor, and just a hint of smokiness. These grits make for a perfect side dish with almost anything, and they are not that difficult to make - similar to making risotto. If you choose to make this recipe, do not substitute instant grits! Anson Mills grits are the best grits out there - they are the one that all the fancy restaurants use. I suggest Carolina, but they make a variety of different types of grits with slightly different textures, so feel free to experiment. 


Sasha's Creamed Sweet Potato Grits
1-2 small sweet potatoes or yams, peeled and chopped
2 cups of water
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup skim milk
1/2 cup heavy cream (or you can continue using milk, if you prefer)
1/2 tsp ancho chile powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1 scallion, diced
pepper to taste


To prepare the grits, dice the sweet potato after peeling and saute in olive oil for about 15 minutes. In the meantime, add the salt and the water to the grits and bring to a boil, and continue to boil for about 5 minutes or so until the grits absorb a large amount of the water. Then add the milk, and continue cooking on medium heat (lower than a boil) until the milk reduces. Then add the cream, and continue doing the same. Towards the end of the process, add in the sweet potato and the scallions, about 10 minutes before the cooking is done. I wasn't initially sure how long it was going to take me to cook the grits to the right consistency, since I had not looked that up online prior to starting. My husband mentioned that according to the movie My Cousin Vinny, it takes 20 minutes to make grits, and these are "regular" creamy grits, as "no self-respecting southerner would make instant grits. " At any rate, it probably took me in the range of 20-25 minutes, and they were terrific. 


I served the grits with a veal prepared piccata style - with lemon and white wine.

Veal with Lemon and White Wine1/2 cup flour
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
6 veal scallops (about 1 lb)
1 1/2 T canola oil
1 cup dry white wine
2/3 cup low sodium chicken stock
2 cloves garlic (diced)
3 T of lemon juice


Combine the flour, 1 1/2 tsp of salt and the pepper in a bowl.  Quickly dredge the veal scallops in the seasoned flour mixture, shaking to remove any excess flour.

Heat the pan and add 1 1/2 T of the butter to the skillet.  Sear the veal until golden brown on all sides, about 45 seconds to 1 minute on each side. Set aside.

Add the wine to the pan and bring to a boil.  When the wine has reduced by half, add the chicken stock, diced garlic and lemon juice.  Cook for 3-5 minutes before returning the veal to the pan. The flour from the veal will thicken the sauce.  Cook as desired for another minute or two until the veal is done. Serve the veal with the grits, a bit of sliced roasted red pepper and a bit of lemon.

Sasha's Kitchen: Creamed Sweet Potato Grits with Veal

Sasha's Kitchen: Oxtail Bourguignon

I love boeuf bourguignon. It is one of my favorite French dishes, and we had the best boeuf bourguignon when we were in Paris on vacation in August. I have made the dish before, but this time I decided to try a variation of the Bon Appetit recipe for oxtail bourguignon. I made a bunch of minor changes, the most significant that I substituted organic turkey bacon for regular bacon, because, being Jewish, well, that's how I roll (or, is it don't roll, as per the Big Lebowski?) Anyhow, if I was to use regular bacon for this recipe, you are supposed to use only the fat. However, turkey bacon is much healthier and does not use load's of far, so instead I used canola oil, and added the turkey bacon in as part of the dish. Oxtail is a great meat to cool with in a stew of this nature, and it is a nice, inexpensive cut of meat. I bought mine from Fresh Direct.

Oxtail Bourguignon (derived from this recipe)
8 slices of organic turkey bacon
olive oil or canola oil
3 large fresh parsley sprigs
2 large bay leaves
3 large fresh thyme sprigs
1 T plus 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 T butter
1/4 tsp nutmeg
4 lbs meaty oxtail pieces, trimmed of excess fat
2 cups chopped onions
2 cups of baby carrots
4 large cloves garlic, peeled; 1 minced and 3 left whole
1 3/4 cups beef broth

1 1/2 cups red burgundy wine (I used an inexpensive Pinot Noir)
1 lb baby bella mushrooms, cut into 1/4 inch slices
6 small shallots, peeled and diced

Cool the turkey bacon until brown and crisp. Transfer to plate, and add some canola or olive oil to the dutch oven. Place parsley, thyme and bay leaves in a sachet. Meanwhile, combine the melted butter and tablespoon of flour into a paste and set aside. This will be used later to thicken.

Combine the 1 1/2 cups of flour wtih the sat, 1/2 tsp of pepper and nutmeg and toss the oxtails in it to coat. Working in batches, sear the oxtail in canola oil until brown on all sides, about six minutes in total for each batch.

Add the chopped onions, carrots and minced garlic to the pot and saute for about 6 minutes until the onions are soft. Return the oxtails to the pot and add the bouquet, broth and wine. At this point, I also returned the turkey bacon to the pot, since I wanted it to be part of the dish (just too good to waste!). Bring to a boil, and then cover and simmer in the Dutch Oven until the meat is almost tender. This took about two and a half hours for me. At this point, mix in the mushrooms, shallots (I preferred mine diced rather than blanched), carrot chunks and whole garlic cloves. The return to a boil and then simmer for about 30-45 minutes.  Skim off any excess fat, and stir the flour paste into the stew. Simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, stirring occasionally for about 6 to 8 minutes. Season wtih salt and pepper and serve.

Sasha's Kitchen: Oxtail Bourguignon

Sasha's Kitchen: Homemade Sour Honey-Infused Pickles

This was my second attempt at pickle making. My first resulted in some quite good half sour pickles, although I have quite a bit to still learn about the chemistry of pickle making. Thus the result of these turned out to be a bit more on the sour side than I initially planned, but they were still quite good. Changing the balance of vinegar and water could give a bit of a more half-sour variant next time. The honey infusion with the sour pickle taste was quite lovely, and this is a great treat to make with organic local honey and farmers market cucumbers during the summer. A bit of tumeric gives a lovely bright yellow-green color. But beware of getting tumeric or pickle juice on your counter top, as it stains! This is loosely based on a recipe I found in Andrea Chesman's book on pickling.

Sasha's Homemade Sour Honey Infused Pickles
1 gallon (or full large stockpot)  plus 1 cup of water
1/3 cup Kosher salt
6 large ripe cucumbers, cut into spears (each cucumber should make 8 spears)
2 medium sized onions, sliced
3 cups apple cider vinegar
1 cup of honey
2/3 cup of high quality maple syrup
1 1/2 T mustard seeds, whole
1 tsp tumeric
2 tsp celery seeds
3 sprigs of thyme

Combine the gallon of cold water and the salt and soak the cucumbers and onions in the refrigerator overnight. The next morning, drain away the water. Combine the remaining cup of water with the other ingredients and bring to a boil. Then, remove from the heat, and add the cucumbers and onions. Reduce to a simmer and simmer for 10-15 minutes, before canning in sterile jars.

Sasha's Kitchen: Homemade Sour Honey-Infused Pickles

Sasha's Kitchen: Best Apple Pie - A Stepwise Primer

I've been making pies, from apple to blueberry for some time, and really good pies at that. But I knew they could be better and crispier, so I took a pie tutorial class to work on my pie crust technique last weekend at The Brooklyn Kitchen in Williamsburg. The class was really helpful. Although my pies had always been good, the crusts were too thick and oftentimes not as crispy as the perfect pie would be. This didn't actually require changing the ingredients but changing the way that I work and prepare the crust. I had been making the dough in my mixer, which is fine, I suppose. But a pie crust, as I learned, is much better when worked by hand. The better crust, the more rustic crust, should be worked as little as possible. Thus, it is not necessary to beat in every chunk of butter using an artisan mixer. The crust will be better, and crisper, if there are chunks of the butter in the dough, as the dough needs to be combined just enough so that it will hold together when you roll it out. I was really pleased with the apple pie that I made using the refined techniques in the class. I plan to make another one very soon with the first fruits of spring in a couple weeks - for a strawberry rhubarb pie!

Pie Crust Formula (works for any fruit pie)
2 1/4 cups AP flour
hefty pinch of granulated kosher salt
pinch of sugar
1 cup (two sticks) of cold butter
1/4 cup ice water (can adjust slightly as needed)

It is very important that the butter be cold. You can use any cold fat source (butter, shortening or lard) but it must be cold. I've always used butter and when worked properly, it makes for a fabulous crispy crust in my opinion, so read on.

Cut the cold butter into cubes and scatter in the dry mixture. Gently incorporate the butter partially into the flour using your hands, snapping the butter cubes between the thumb and middle finger. Splash the ice water into the mixture. Do not put the water all in one place, but scattered throughout. Add more water if needed (a tablespoon or two) until the dough can just hold together when you squeeze it. Lumps of butter are not a problem here, but a blessing. Remember, you want to work the dough with your hands as little as possible, or so I learned. In the past, I had been overworking the dough.

Form two balls (one for the top lattice and one for the bottom). Wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for exactly 20 minutes for the fat (the butter) to firm up.

To roll out the dough, you will need a well floured surface. Roll with a rolling pin to 1/8 of an inch thick. I had not been rolling thin enough. Another important trick: if you have had problems with the dough sticking even with plenty of flour, be sure to rotate the dough. You should do one or two rolls only, then turn a quarter of a turn with each roll or two.  If you are constantly turning as you roll, this will ensure that you can roll it to the desired 1/4 inch thickness. You will want to have a large circle (or as close to a circle as possible) that extends well beyond the borders of the pie dish. Use the pie dish to eyeball the size.

Use a pyrex glass pie plate. The Brooklyn Kitchen supplied those and I recommend this over ceramic ones like I previously used. It distributes the heat more evenly and doesn't require any Pam. Gently fold the dough circle in half and lift into the pie plate, then unfolding. Press into the glass pie dish, and trim the edges with a pair of pastry scissors. I had not been trimming before, which is fine (it's all about aesthetics), but this made the pie look so much more professional. Leave about an inch at the edges, and pinch upwards to form the rim of the pie (another trick I leaned how to do that the class).

For the fruit portion - you can use this to make any fruit pie, depending on what is in season. The key is that you always want to have about four cups of fruit, and resist the tendency to heap the fruit. The fruit should be about 1/4 inch lower than the pie pan. This is another thing I may have been over-doing in the past. This will ensure the fruit and pie crust cook at the same rates.

A basic fruit filling works best for me. It should basically consist of the fruit, some lemon, any spices you plan to use, and some sugar, being sure not to overdo the sugar. You want to showcase the fruit, remember, you are not making candy. That's my criticism of the Bill Yosses (White House pastry chef) apple pie (and the rare harsh criticism you will hear from me of the Obama administration). It just uses way, way too much sugar in the crust and in the filling. You just don't need it. Trust me.

Apple Filling (from Joy of Cooking)
2 1/2 lbs of apples (5-6 total) - I prefer macintosh or gala
3/4 cups of sugar
2-3 T AP flour
1 T lemon juice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (I may prefer closer to 1 tsp, to be honest and 1/4 tsp of nutmeg)
1/4 tsp Kosher salt

Prepare the filling and fill the pie with about 4 cups of the filling. You may have a bit leftover and as I leaned in the class, resist the temptation to put in ever last drop heaved over the top of the pie.

For the top of the pie, roll out the second ball of dough the same way as the first, expect into more of a rectangle. To create the lattice cut into 8 or nine long strips. Place four or five strips along the top of the pie, and weave in (lifting up either evens or odds accordingly to do so) the other strips going the other way. I like to do a 4 X 5, personally, but its up to you.

Glaze the top of the pie. You can use various combinations of eggs, egg yolks, cream and milk to achieve the desired color. I usually do a plain egg gloss. Brush on gently with a pastry brush. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

Before this point you should have the oven preheated (sorry I forgot to mention earlier) to 425. Cover the pie with a piece of foil (loosely) which will keep the top from burning. Bake for 30 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 and cook for another 30-45 minutes. The amount of time will depend on how hot your oven runs. Mine runs reasonably hot, so it took me 35 minutes. The pie is done when the apple is tender when poked through with a knife. Don't overdo it, as you are not trying to make applesauce. I removed the foil about 15 minutes before the pie was done to get the color on top of the pie that I desired. Allow to cool, and serve.

Needless to say, this tasted amazing and might just be my best apple pie yet!

Sasha's Kitchen: Best Apple Pie - A Stepwise Primer

Sasha's Kitchen: Root Beer Float Cupcakes

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I love root beer, from Saranac to Virgils to plain classic A&W. So when I saw that had bottles of root beer extract for sale at The Brooklyn Kitchen in Williamsburg a couple weeks ago, I knew that root beer cupcakes would be my next cupcake.  I figured I could make a rootbeer flavored cupcake, combine with a bit of chocolate (in the form of chocolate chips) and decorate it like a sundae or a float - with some root beer flavored frosting, whipped cream, little straws, and a cherry on top - kind of a cross between a float and a sundae, I suppose. Just a note - whipped cream will break down in a couple hours, so I don't recommend adding the whipped cream, cherry and straw until you are ready to serve the cupcakes. I was really happy with how these came out - I think they are pretty darn cute. The chocolate chips with the root beer cupcakes worked out well. Without them, it might have a bit too much rootbeer so this gives them some texture and varies the flavors a bit in a nice, complementary way.

Sasha's Root Beer Float Cupcakes

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp root beer extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup of milk

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips with a tsp of flour to coat

Sasha's Root Beer Buttercream

1 1/2 sticks of butter

1 small box (about four cups) of confectioner's sugar

1 T milk

1 tsp root beer extract

For Decorating

Jar of maraschino cocktail cherries

whipped cream

long striped straws, cut into small pieces

To make the cupcakes, beat the butter with the sugar in the basin of your stand mixer until well blended and slightly lightened in color, about three minutes. Beat in the eggs, vanilla extract and root beer extract. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and alternate adding the milk and the dry ingredients. Beat until combined. Toss the chocolate chips with a teaspoon of flour (this keeps them suspended, rather than sinking to the bottom of the cupcakes) and stir them into the mixture with a spoon. Fill cupcake liners in a silicon cupcake tray about 3/4 full. 

Bake at 350, in a preheated oven. This should take about 30-35 minutes, but it will vary with your oven. You know they are done when a toothpick comes out clean, which is before they will start to brown.

Tp make the frosting, beat the butter and confectioner's sugary until whipped and creamy, on the highest speed of the mixer, for about 3-5 minutes. Beat in the root beer extract, which will give the frosting a light root beer flavor, as well as a lovely ivory color. If the color is not ivory enough for you, you can add some Ivory colored gel food color (Americolor carries one, which I used a drop of).

Frost the cupcakes using a frosting bag. When you are ready to serve them, top with the whipped cream, cherry and slide in a bit of the straw, after trimming with scissors. Happy Sunday!

Sasha's Kitchen: Root Beer Float Cupcakes