Photos of Food

So I had a bunch of pictures on the camera of food that I've made recently, so here's a nice big post of them!

The shepherd's pie that I made for dinner on Friday, using leftover beef from the chili Thursday.

A close-up of the layers in the shepherd's pie. Ground beef, then frozen corn and peas, then mashed potatoes -- all baked until golden brown.

Making Vanilla Rhubarb Compote in order to make a rhubarb pie. I'm using chopped, frozen rhubarb.

After stewing and cooking down the 1.5 lbs of rhubarb (minus one cup or so), sugar, molasses and vanilla to a smooth texture.

After taking the compote off the heat, I stirred in the remaining cup or so of frozen rhubarb -- as it was frozen, I tried to submerge it in the compote and left it overnight.

Making awesome pie crust using the magic technique of grating frozen butter rather than using a pastry cutter.

I forgot to take a picture of the bottom crust, the layer of crushed corn flakes (to absorb excess moisture), and the filling added. But here's the top crust prior to trimming and crimping.

Crimped and with vents sliced in. I always tuck the top crust between the bottom crust and the pie pan, to ensure that it doesn't leak, and then crimp it between my fingers to seal.

All baked!

I also made "cookies" using the excess pie crust and cinnamon sugar -- the best part of baking!

Rhubarb

So I bought four bunches of rhubarb today, and I'm trying to decide what recipes I want to make. I've narrowed it down a bit, but still!

Rhubarb Cornmeal Tart -- I'm DEFINITELY making this!

Rhubarb Streusel Muffins

Fresh Rhubarb Breast of Chicken (wtf is up with that name?!)

Summer Savory Rhubarb Soup

Rhubarb Vodka

Rhubarb Wine

Vanilla Rhubarb Jam

Rhubarb Krack

Rhubeena

Big Crumb Coffee Cake with Rhubarb

Rhubarb Ginger Syrup

Cavalier Ginger and Rhubarb Ketchup

Victorian BBQ Sauce

Final Decision

Based upon how much rhubarb I have, and what I want to eat most, I've decided to make the following:

rhubarb cornmeal tart
lentil rhubarb soup
cavalier ginger and rhubarb ketchup (halve the recipe for two pints)
victorian BBQ sauce (halve the recipe for two pints)
rhubarb-ginger syrup
big crumb coffeecake
rhubarb streusel muffins

I'd need to buy another 10 lbs. of rhubarb to make the rest of the recipes as listed.

My grocery list for these items:

-- powdered sugar (I believe I finally worked through all of my powdered sugar!)
-- butter
-- milk
-- white cornmeal or semolina
-- carrots?
-- celery
-- onions
-- sour cream (2 c.)
-- white wine vinegar
-- ginger (2 "knobs" + 1 c.)
-- dried chilis
-- raisins
-- pint jars
-- eggs
-- baking soda

Additional Grocery List:

-- ravioli
-- potatoes
-- tomato sauce (opened the last jar!)
-- buttermilk
-- fruits/veggies
-- cheddar
-- mozzarella

Farmers Market and Vinegars

My second Farmer's Market spoils: four bunches of rhubarb (shit is tasty yo), goat cheese, half dozen eggs, and two bottles of crack BBQ sauce from Burnin' Love Sauces

My chive vinegar after about 6 days.

My Spiced Fig Vinegar after about 6 days.

Belated Rhubarb Tarts in Jars Photos!

It has been brought to my attention that I neglected to post the pictures of the rhubarb tarts that I made for the BBQ last week. So, with much delay, here they are! (In case you are wondering, they were a huge hit! So try this today!)

Just the crust in the jars. Because I'm using 15 oz. PB jars, and that's a wee bit difficult to get the dough in, I cut a circle to put on the bottom, and then rolled the jar along a rectangle of dough to create that shape.

Some corn flakes crumbled in the bottom to attempt to mop up any excess liquid.

A close up of the rhubarb compote cooling, with the extra raw pieces thrown in for texture.

Both jars filled prior to baking and sprinkled with sugar. I just took a bigger piece of dough and attempted to crimp it. Semi-successful.

After baking!

Rhubarb Tarts in Jars :-D

Using this simple recipe for using rhubarb and using a basic pie crust (2 c. flour, 1/2 c. butter, 1/3-1/2 c. olive oil, 1 tsp. sugar, 1 tsp. salt, water) I've made little rhubarb tarts in PB jars.

I searched high and low for the pint or half pint jelly jars. (I saw some on the side of the road two weeks ago, and did Mister let me take them home? "Wait until you have a use for them" grrr) But, I pretty much always have PB jars, so instead of four cute little tarts for the picnic tonight, I have two big tarts. (There will be pictures later.)

What I am bringing to the picnic:

-- jug of mojitos
-- pulled pork from this recipe, only slow cooked
-- buns
-- pickles
-- BBQ sauce
-- tarts
-- cups and plates