Classic Diner-Style Chocolate Pie for Pi Day!

Happy Pi Day! (and incase you have no idea what I'm talking about, today's date is 3/14...get it?)  What better way to celebrate than with, of course, pie.

And let me tell you...THIS is the one to pick.  Run to the store NOW, get what you need, fly home and make it.  You will love me for it, without question.

Have you seen, or read, The Help?  If so, you'll know exactly why I chose this as the dish to represent that movie at my 24x24 party.  Naturally, I left the "special" ingredient out, and headed over to Baked: Explorations for the real deal.

O.M.G.

Not much else to say except you may feel like nothing will ever top this pie...besides some whipped cream :)



Classic Diner-Style Chocolate Pie
from Baked: Explorations

for the chocolate cookie crust:
30 chocolate wafer cookies
1 tablespoon sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

for the chocolate filling:
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons chocolate malt (like Ovaltine)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cornstarch
5 egg yolks
2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
5 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 ounces milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons whiskey
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

whipped cream

for the crust:  Grind cookies in food processor until consistency is of fine powder (about 1 1/2 cups).  Put crumbs in bowl and mix in sugar.

Pour butter in and mix well until combined.  Mixture will be wet.  Turn onto 9 inch pie plate and press into bottom and sides.  Freeze while making filling.

for the filling:  Whisk sugar, malt, salt and cornstarch in pot.  Add yolks and whisk until combined.  Mixture will look like thick paste.  Slowly pour milk and cream in, whisking constantly.  Bring to boil over medium heat while whisking to prevent bottom from burning.  Boil for 30 seconds then remove from heat.

Add chocolates, whiskey and vanilla.  Whisk until combined.  Continue whisking for a few minutes to cool mixture slightly.  Let stand for 15 minutes.  If skin forms, whisk before pouring into pie shell.

Refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving.  Top with whipped cream.

Linked to: Tastetastic Thursday
                  Sweet Tooth Friday

Salty Sweet Candied Peanuts

Ah, the ballgame.  One of my favorite past times.  All my life I've been a huge sports fan...and yes, I mean HUGE.  I don't think anyone else can say they knew a 7 year old girl who memorized all the stats of each player on her favorite baseball team, hmmm? 

Although we are partial season ticket holders, I rarely get to any games these days.  Life just gets in the way.  But, I'll be sure to teach my little girl how to appreciate the beauty of baseball.  She already wears her pink Yankees hat with pride :)

This delicious snack was the dish I chose to represent "Moneyball" at my 24x24 party.  And it should come with a warning label.  No joke.

Ignore the bad picture and concentrate on the virtual deliciousness.  This is a home run!

Salty Sweet Candied Peanuts

from Everybody Likes Sandwiches

2 cups salted peanuts (or whatever nuts you like)

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup water

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix peanuts, sugar and water together in a large pot.  Cook over medium high heat, stirring frequently.  You'll notice the mixture will start to look sticky.  Keep stirring, through when it turns dark, until it becomes golden brown in color.  Remove from heat.

Stir in salt and cinnamon.  Line a baking sheet with parchment or silpat and dump nuts on top.  Let cool and break apart.  Keep in airtight container.  

Linked to: Sweets for a Saturday

Pineapple Coconut Ice Cream

"The Descendants" takes place in Hawaii, so as part of my 24x24 party last weekend I knew the dish I'd choose to represent it would be something tropical.  Since the movie ends with the family sitting on the couch eating ice cream, I thought merging both ideas would be pretty cool.

And so was the outcome.

All we needed was some palm trees and we would have been all set ;)

Pineapple Coconut Ice Cream
from A Sweet Pea Chef

1 can (15 ounces) cream of coconut
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons pineapple juice
1 cup coconut flakes, plus 1/4 cup for garnish
3/4 cup finely chopped fresh pineapple (or canned crushed pineapple)

Combine first 4 ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  Add coconut flakes and stir.  Pour into ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer's instructions.  When there is about 5 minutes left, add pineapple.

Freeze in airtight container for at least 5 hours (preferably overnight).  Top with coconut flakes (toast them if you like by baking in a 325 degree oven for about 15 minutes, moving them around every 5 minutes, on a parchment lined baking sheet).

Linked to: Sweets for a Saturday

Raw Kale Salad with Walnuts, Pecorino & Lemon

Kale is everywhere these days.  I find it funny that over 20 years ago, when I was waiting tables at a family restaurant while in college, we used it as a garnish for plates.  No one would even dream of eating it.  Now, it's one of the famous "super foods" that's all the craze.   And I will proudly say that I'm a fan.

This salad was delicious.  It was the dish that represented the movie "War Horse" for my 24x24 party.  In the film, the horse owner was a farmer, so I wanted to choose a farm to table dish to represent it.

Crunch, crunch.

So eat up and make Dr. Oz proud! :)

Raw Kale Salad with Walnuts, Pecorino & Lemon
slightly adapted from Amateur Gourmet

1 bunch kale, stemmed, washed and torn into pieces
1 cup walnut pieces
2 lemons
grated pecorino romano cheese
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Put kale in a bowl.  Place walnuts in a dry skillet and toast until fragrant and warm.  Remove and chop.

Zest both lemons and add to kale.  Toss in walnuts, then juice lemons over the mixture.  Add oil (a generous amount, or else however much you like), salt and pepper, then toss.

Add cheese in (again, as much as you like) and toss salad several times to ensure everything is coated.  Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking.

Juice Box Wings

Another dish featured at my 24x24 party was this one, which represented "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close", a movie that I'm pretty sure would have me bawling about 10 minutes in.   The star of the film is a boy who lost his father in the World Trade Center on 9/11.  Enough said.

Through my research on the film I found that he drank a lot of juice, so, I thought I'd incorporate that into whatever dish I chose.  These wings were perfect since they were a finger food, like many of the others...and how could you possibly go wrong with wings in the first place anyway?

These are a big crowd pleaser and honestly, my 3 year old daughter could throw these together.  Easy is an understatement.  Yum!

Juice Box Wings
2 pounds chicken wings
2 cups orange juice
2 cups soy sauce
2 teaspoons garlic powder


Combine all ingredients, making sure wings are completely coated.  Marinate overnight.


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place wings and juice in baking dish and bake for about 60 minutes.

Linked to: Tastetastic Thursday

Mini Croques Monsieur

Well, by now we know which picture took home the Academy Award.  I have no idea if this dish accurately represents the winning film, but I didn't want to stay up until the end of the show and then write my post :)

If you read my blog post yesterday you got a recap of all of the dishes I made for my 24x24 party.  The first recipe I'm sharing is what I made to represent the film "Midnight in Paris".  This delicious sandwich is perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner, and is very easy to make.  I'm wishing I had one right about now, as I sit here and watch Billy Crystal kick off the show...

Stay tuned for more of my party recipes in the next few weeks.  Hope your favorites took home Oscars last night!

Mini Croques Monsieur
slightly adapted from Kitchen Illiterate

12 thin slices cut from French baguette
ham
fontina cheese (use whatever cheese you like, but I HIGHLY recommend fontina)
dijon mustard
3 eggs
salt and pepper
butter

Beat eggs in a bowl and add salt and pepper.  Set aside.

Assemble sandwiches by spreading mustard on each side of bread, then add cheese and ham.  Melt butter in a skillet.  Generously immerse sandwiches in egg and place in skillet.  Cook for about 5 minutes on each side, until cheese is melted.  Serve immediately.

Foodbuzz 24x24: A Tribute to the Best Picture Oscar Nominees of 2012!

I was so excited when I received the email from Foodbuzz that my 24x24 proposal had been accepted this month!  Planning a menu and party around a theme is always fun, and I had a blast with this concept.

For those of you not familiar with 24x24, it's a virtual party sponsored by Foodbuzz each month, where 24 bloggers' proposals are chosen to be executed in the same day.  Since the assigned party date was the day before the Academy Awards, I thought it would be fun to come up with an event based on it.  Then I thought, why not devote one dish to each movie nominated for Best Picture?  Awesome.  Except, I hadn't seen any of the movies...

Frank and I have never been big movie goers...and now our trips to the theater are to see whatever Disney film is playing.  But, we love watching movies at home, and I LOVE watching the Oscars...especially the Red Carpet portion :)  So, I did a little research on each film and came up with rough ideas for each of them, finalized the menu, went shopping, and got to work.

My family got together and enjoyed the feast (like we do most weekends anyway!) while listening to tunes from our favorite movie soundtracks.  The dishes were mostly of the picky/finger food variety, which was what I wanted, since there were 9 of them.  I wanted everyone to enjoy a little portion of each.

All of the recipes will be featured in the next few weeks, but the dishes were as follows (alphabetized by movie title):

For "The Artist" - Crostini with Goat Cheese and Olive Tapenade.  I went with something black and white since, well, that's what the movie is :)

For "The Descendants" - Pineapple Coconut Ice Cream.  It brought us right back to Hawaii.

For "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" - Juice Box Wings, based on the juice boxes that Thomas Horn's character is seen drinking throughout the movie.

For "The Help" - Chocolate Pie.  If you read the book or saw the movie, you definitely know why this dish was a no-brainer.

For "Hugo" - Herb Mushroom Quiche with Puff Pastry, shaped as hearts to match the key ring that is significant in the film.

For "Midnight in Paris" - Mini Croques Monsieur.  When in Paris...

For "Moneyball" - Salty Sweet Candied Peanuts.  A fun spin on ballpark food!

For "The Tree of Life" - Death By Chili.  I thought a comfort food dish was fitting based on the movie, and made an extra batch of my chili that won FOUR awards at a competition I was in the week before the party!  Much more to come on this...

And finally, for "War Horse" - Raw Kale Salad with Walnuts, Pecorino & Lemon, a farm to table dish which is appropriate for this movie's theme.

We had a great time - it really was a lot of fun!  I can't wait to share all of the recipes with you.  Enjoy the Oscars!