When I was young my mom always made this one lasagna. I would smell it in the house and run downstairs. Tasting her filling, her sauce, everything I could get my hands on. Impatient as I was, I would always burn my tongue on the filling.
Somehow my mom stopped making it. When I asked her the recipe some years ago, she couldn't find it. But now, many years later I relived memories. By making my moms lasagna with my own twist.
My moms lasagna
for 4-6 servings
5-6 carrots
Half a celery
3 onions
3 cloves of garlic
500 grams of ground beef
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 package of tomatosauce
1 pack of lasagna sheets
seasoning 100 grams of grated cheese
Clean and cut the carrots, celery and onion bite size. Using a foodprocessor, chop up the vegetables and the garlic. In a heated pan, loose the ground beef until it is done. Add the vegetables and let it cok for around 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and sauce to the meat and vegetables and bring to a simmer.
Béchamel sauce
50 grams of butter
50 grams of flour
500 ml of milk
In the meantime, preheat the oven to 180C. In a small saucepan start melting the butter. Add the flour and whisk till it start forming a thick doughy texture. Slowly add a bit of milk and keep whisking. Keep stirring the sauce, adding milk in little by little. Cooking it all the way through, thickening it up and season well. Save a little bit of milk until the end. When thick, set aside for now. Mai's twist
1 zucchini
1 tablespoon of Italian Herbs
2 cloves of garlic
1 mozzarella ball
Using a peeler, make thin length way slices of the zucchini. Sprinkle with some oil, season and grill them using a grill-pan. When done, set aside and sprinkle with some more oil, italian herbs and chopped up garlic.
Assembling the Lasagna
In a greased baking dish, scoop 1-2 soup spoons of sauce. Using your spoon, make it an even layer of sauce. Cover with lasagna sheets. Repeat once. On your second layer of sheets place the zucchini and spread evenly. Slice or tear half the mozzarella and spread in between the zucchini. Cover with lasagna sheet, sauce, lasagna sheet and sauce again.
Using your last bit of milk, reheat your béchamel. Give it some time to thicken up again. Then pour over your lasagna. Covering all the sauce. Sprinkle with the grated cheese and sliced left over mozzarella.
Place in the middle of the pre-heated oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, check if the pasta is done. If desired, put it under the grill for a few minutes to brown of the béchamel cover. I would recommend resting the lasagna for 5 minutes before serving. This will make the lasagna firm up and sets the sauce.
On my lobster hooping trip we caught 6 lobsters, Californian Spiny Lobsters to be correct. The one bigger then the other. Together weighing over 10 kilo's/22 pounds.
What do you do if God gives you lobsters? You feast!
With so many lobsters you have a lot of options, here are two recipes!
Steamed lobster
This one is pretty easy. Because you will steam the whole lobster, you don't have to clean the outside. If you decide to clean the outside, just a quick rubdown, make sure to kill or numb your spiny lobster. You don't want the spikes to get you now. Put them under some running water and stick a knife in their chest. Still be carefull, they're feisty!
Fill a big pot with water, let it come to a boil. Add ginger, onions and a lot of salt. If you killed your lobsters this should be easy, if not, they will move, splash water out, make a scene. So put them in, upside down, head first. Boiling them should take around 20 minutes. Take them out, let them cool for a bit.
Now you can do what you want. Cut it in half, pick at it, grill the tail. Eat it with butter, or olive oil. Take it apart and use it for gumbo, lobster pot pie. The sky is the limit. Oh, don't forget to get rid of the guts!
Why a lobster should be fresh?
Lobsters are interesting creatures. The reason we eat them fresh is because when they die a bacteria inside the lobster starts infecting the meat. Not a great thing to eat!
Why a lobster self caught is yummier then in a restaurant?
The moment a lobster is caught and placed in a tank, he stops eating food. The lobster starts starving himself and start eating from his own flesh. Making restaurant lobsters always skinnier and less meaty since the moment they we're caught. Asian Lobster (with green onion and ginger)
Lobster
Flour
Seasoning
Vegetable oil for frying
This is the way my family prepares lobster and crab. In my opinion lobster doesn't need a sauce or anything. But for some it does.
Kill your lobsters and give them a good scrub down. No cut and clean the lobster. First take of the tail, split the head and tail. Get rid of the tail fins and antennas. Take out all the guts, brains and other insides. You will recognize the meat from the rest, the meat is clear and firm, the rest isn't. If you would like to make a sauce, keep the guts and brains. These will be the star players in your sauce.
Once you cut and cleaned it, give it a quick rinse. Toss in seasoned flour and fry in hot boiling oil until done. For me here it ends, I love lobster like this. Clean and full of flavor.
up: How to disassemble a lobster
down: Asian Lobster, without sauce, straight from the fryer
But some people want Asian lobster with green onion and ginger sauce.
This is what you need:
Guts and brains from your lobster
A couple of shallots
A bunch of green onions
Fresh ginger
Clean the onions and ginger. Cut them into strips or pieces around an inch. Heat some oil in a big pan and stirfry the onions and ginger. Add some seasoning. When almost done toss in the lobster guts and brains. Mix in with the vegetables and simmer for a few minutes. When the sauce is done it should be thick. Piece by piece swipe through the pieces of hot lobster.
up: How to make lobster gut sauce down: Asian lobster with green onion and ginger
Lobster is not something you should enjoy alone! So invite some friends or family to enjoy it with you!
Since my arrival in LA my cousin's husband is talking about his lobster hooping. Lobster is a very foreign and exotic crustatean for me. Shrimp are so common that it's not so interesting anymore, but lobster still feel high class and expensive for me. So when my cousins husband said he catches his own, I didn't hesitated. I wanted to go!
For some years one of my guilty pleasures is watching 'The Deadliest Catch', a documentary about fishermen fishing for spider crab. Although lobster hooping on a low scale, just for fun is not so scary, cold and hard work as fishing for crab or even lobster out on the open water. My lobster hooping adventure ended up being just as exciting and scary as The Deadliest Catch.
up: Me and my dad in front of the boat before hitting the water
down: Me and my nephew prepping bait on the boat
At the harbor I put myself in my banana suit and layered up. The boat hit the water and working began. Together with my little nephew I prepared the bait. Filling up the cases with chopped up sardines and salmon heads. The moment we hit open water, the power of the boat's motor became feel able. Hitting some waves and feeling the wind hitting my face.
After a fast ride we arrived in the Long Beach Harbor. We looked for places to drop our hoops and after we dropped all the hoops, an hour later, we went back to the first hoop. The Californian law doesn't allow for closed traps, so the moment you get up the hoop, you need to pull as fast as possible. This makes the lobster (hopefully) or other caught animals pushed to the bottom of the hoop, giving it no change to swim away.
Pulling up the first basket I got an idea of what was waiting for me. No lobster, but some crab and an octopus. It was such a rush, I saw octopus before, but always in aquariums, so feeling it in my hand was exciting! I was excited to do the second one, ending up with around the same catch.
As we progressed we had some empty hoops, supposedly because a seal or sea-lion played around with our bait and hoops. And then we hit the jackpot! I pulled up a 30-40 feet deep hoop, pushing my muscle limit. When it surfaced a huge lobster became visible. Holding it up at his antennas his strength became visible. He sizzed, moving his whole mouth and flapping his tail at me.
I saw live lobsters before, in Chinese restaurants and supermarkets. But never did I have to touch or hold a living specimen. It didn't look like the lobsters you see in restaurants. It had no claws and a lot of spikes, covering his antennas, head and sides of his tail.
Lob·ster, Maine and Californian from Artist book 2014, Los Angeles
In the next three or so hours we caught one after another, going bigger and bigger. Making all of us more thrilled. I felt like a little girl, going to the garden and collecting my own grown strawberries, times a 100! Coming to an end, I noticed I got tired. And the empty hoops don't really give you an energy boost.
We we're warned for incoming fog around midnight. So when we noticed some fog around 10.30pm. We decided to make a last round and go back to the harbor. Hoping to beat the fog. Within minutes after leaving the fog-less area, we ran into a layer of fog. It still looked ok, we could see lights of a big boat in the distance.
The closer the lights came, the more confused I was. I'm not a water person, so being on a boat is not an ordinary thing. I kept asking what kind and what part of the boat we saw. The answer never came. The kit boat was now so close, that I saw somebody walk out of the control chamber. I realized in a split second, we're facing the side of a boat. I looked to my left and saw a small light, suddenly the whole outline of the boat started to shape. We we're running for the side of a huge tugboat!
I don't remember what I yelled out, but we made a sharp U-turn. Causing some big waves in the water around us. From that point I was alert, focused. The next hour or so the fog became thicker and thicker. Until you could just see a few feet away from the boat. My little nephew got so scared that he just knocked out in the back.
Finally we entered our harbor. Slowly the bouys became visible, de harbor, the docks. Everyone was relived, we made it back safely. All my excitement from hooping had made place for pumping adrenaline of being scared and alert. No finally save I realized how tired I was and sat down for the first time since we left our fishing spot.
We arrived at the dock. Preparing to step on the dock, I noticed a sealion head at the back of the boat. It was so close and big, we all looked at it. Suddenly it jumped up, showing his teeth and body. My curiosity immediately turned into fear. He was jumping up just where my 10 year old nephew was sleeping. We tried to wake him and pulled him up. He didn't wake until he saw that huge sealion jump up on the side of the boat. I screamed like a little girl, yelling that we weren't safe. My nephew started freaking out too, both of us yelling and screaming.
'Blackfish' trailer
I saw sealions before, from a far in the wild and up close in SeaWorld and in the Dutch version of seaworld. Where the trainers walk around with the sealions in this clowns-act. But this was a wild animal, probably not trained and bigger than us humans. It also didn't help that I saw the documentary 'Blackfish' a week before my fishing trip. A documentary about a killer whale, that since his captivity killed (and supposedly eaten) three people.
This documentary made such an impression that my trust issues with animals
worsened. So being eye tot eye with this huge sealion, this big male,
wild sealion scared the crap out of me. I was convinced that if one of
us made a wrong move he would grab us and eat us. The sealion swam
around the boat, going under the dock, surfacing again, jumping up
again.
At this point I stood in the cooler, in the middle of the boat. Holding on to the windshield. My dad went on the dock and, in my opinion started to provoke the sealion. Clapping in his hands and talking to this huge animal. I yelled that he should stop, that it was a wild animal and that if he wanted to could just jump on the dock or boat and grab you.
Even after we left the boat and the dock, the sealion waited. Swimming around the boat. All the way until we drove the trailer (with boat) out of the water again. Until the very end I wasn't sure if the sealion would come on land and just grab one of us.
Away from the dock, loading station and most important, away from the sealion. We changed into some warm dry clothes and got ready for the ride back. At home we unloaded our catch, cleaned up and tried to get rid of the fish smell. Of to bed, tomorrow waits a lobsterfeast!
Catch of the day:
6 lobsters ,weighing up to 10 kg /22 lbs, the heaviest one weigh over 5 lbs
Yesterday my cousin, her boys and I flew to her sister (yes, another cousin) and her family up in San Francisco. When I told my little niece (aka my mini me), she told her sisters and brother: "Auntie Mai Linh is going to Dancers Disco!" It took me some time to understand what she was saying and what she meant. But after saying it out loud, I heard what she was talking about. Dancers Disco almost looks like San Francisco!
up: View on the Golden Gate and Downtown from Alcatraz Island, today
down: Christmas tree on Fisherman's Wharf, today
For Christmas I was planning on making boxes of baked goods to give to
my aunties, uncles and my grandma. So I figured to make some test
batches. After baking for hours and hours I made a lot of cookies! A double batch of oatmeal cookies from scratch and a batch of snickerdoodles from a box. I ended baking with making some plain and cranberry scones. After seeing the dozens of cookies and scones I choose to bring some to Dancers Disco aka San Francisco, to share with my cousins and their families.
The Snickerdoodle cookies went to my nieces Christmas party at school, with frosting and sprinkles. And half of the cookie and scone batches I left at home. For my 姐姐(big sister aka older cousin) and the kids to enjoy. The scones are just my normal sweetened scone recipe, with some added cranberries. And the Oatmeal cookies, they are fabulous! Maybe if you read my other oatmeal cookie recipe (Going bananas for Oatmeal cookies), you've heard about my obsession with these cookies.
"Ever since I visited my family in Callie in the summer of 2012 I'm
hooked on oatmeal cookies. But I never had the guts to try it myself. I
remember the sweet sugary tasty delights I ate during my months in CA."
So here they are, the recipe to this divine yummy! So staying true to my little niece, I name this recipe after her idea of San Francisco.
Dancers Disco Oatmeal Cookies (San Francisco Oatmeal Cookies) About 4 dozen cookies
1 cup (2 sticks) of butter, softened
1 1/2 cups of light brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup of all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of salt
3 cups of rolled oats
1 1/3 cup (half the package) of Heath Bits 'O Brickle Toffee Bits
1 cup of Sweetened Coconut Flakes
1 cup of dried cranberries (or dried cherries)
Note: For all your Dutchies (and other non-Americans), I'm not sure if
you can find all the ingredients at your local market. So the moment I get home I'll
try to look for substitutes! And also for a healthier variation on this
beloved cookie! Just stay tuned....
Heat oven to 375°F/ 190°C. Lightly grease cookie sheet or line with parchment paper. Beat butter, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla until well blended. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; beat until blended.
Stir in oats, toffee bits and coconut, if desired, with spoon. Drop dough by rounded teaspoons about 2 inches apart onto prepared sheet. The dough can be pretty thick, so press the dough a bit down. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 1 minute; remove to wire rack.
I brought my cousin 1 1/2 box of cookies and 1/2 a box of scones. Now, not even 24 hours later, there is 1 scone left and around 1/2 a box of cookies. That's how good they are! Enjoy!
Asian Market is Asian Market, where ever I am they will always look the same. The only difference; outside China, the signs have English (or Dutch, or French, Korean, etc etc) translation. I've been to many Asian markets in my life. Holland, France, America and China, almost everywhere I stay for a longer time I end up in a Asian Market. I always wonder around, be amazed with all the products, produce and
other nicknacks. Take my time to find familiar things and be astonished
by new things. Reading labels, finding out that every sauce in the
Chinese kitchen is made from soybeans. That curry pastes are not always vegetarian. That the Asian taste is enhanced with E-numbers and MSG.
For many years my family and I go to this big warehouse on a industrial
site. There is a huge (for Dutch scale) Asian Market/Warehouse 'Tai
Pan'. As a child (and even now) I spend most of my time there along the
freezers. They leave all the crazy goodies there. Frog legs, durian,
all kinds of frozen fish and seafood, ducks. I can still wonder along
the freezer and the aisles.
人人乐 (ren ren le) was my daily supermarket I went to in China.
Ren Ren Le or translated Everyone Happy (translated word by word meaning people people happy). And I guess everybody was happy with this supermarket. They will catering to all your needs. Close by the university campus, great hours, with a fresh produce dept, fish, meat, deli, bakery, toiletries, kitchenware, clothes, you name it! They had a crazy candy department. With flavors I never imagined, durian, jackfruit, red date and more craziness. Like dried meats and tofu and seasoned spicy chicken feet!
But most of my wondering along Asian market aisles happens in LA. From Delmar market, to Hawaii market, Korean markets, Hong Kong Plaza, and many, many many more! Duck tongs, intestines and organs, turtles, seaweeds, fishheads, octopus and roots I never saw before and all kinds of kitchenware and utensils.
Made you curious? Look up your local Asian Market and take some time to take a look! If you're an Asian food lover, these markets would definitely make 人人乐 (everybody happy, pinyin: ren ren le)
up: I found this picture in the stacks and boxes of pictures we have. My dad is an amateur photographer, always taking pictures, analog and digital. So I guess this is one of his pictures. Asian market around Rosemead, LA County, Januari 1990
middle: Emy and I in the Korean supermarket, astonished by it's products and seafood department. Greenlang, Rowland Haight, California, June 2012
down: Fresh food department of the Ren Ren Le, Na'nan District, Chongqing, Februari 2013
Here are some of my favorite Asian Markets:
Tai Pan Oriental Foods Laagraven 2B
3439 LG Nieuwegein
THE NETHERLANDS
Toko Tjiau Jiang
Croeselaan 199-203
3521 BM Utrecht
THE NETHERLANDS
Dun Yong
Stormsteeg 9
1021 BD Amsterdam
THE NETHERLANDS
Ren Ren Le
Located next to the CTBU (Chongqing Technologie & Business University, 重庆工商大学) entrance & 五工里 lightrail (wugongli) station
Wikipedia's defintition:Chinglish (sometimes spelled as Chingrish) refers to spoken or written English language that is influenced by the Chinese language.
The term "Chinglish" is commonly applied to
ungrammatical or nonsensical English in Chinese contexts, and may have pejorative
or deprecating connotations. Other terms uses to descrive the phenomenon
include "Chinese English", "China English" and
"Sinicezed English". The degree to which a Chinese variety of English
exists or can be considered legitimate to dispute. Or maybe a little different.
In the end English and Chinese are two totally different languages. Even if they create a Chinatown in LA, making a part of America a little bit of China. Chinese is still Chinese and English is still English. No resembles, in sounds, speaking, movement and writing.
Although it may not always look different.
So now and then the differences become incredibly clear. For example
when you go grocery shopping. The stores look the same, smells the same
and still nobody will speak a word of English. And then you end up in a
Chinese poulterer. Endless rows of chickens, in almost every color
possible. Big signs with many pictures of poulty, all the different varieties. Chinese chicken, corn chicken, purple chicken, Peking duck, quail, etc etc.
up: Chinese Chicken in LA County, december 2013
down: Chinese Chicken in Chongqing province, april 2013
The
amount of meat on the chicken is incredible. Chicken almost start to
look like turkeys. No matter how the chicken is prepared, there will
always be a lot of meat. It made me think back, to my time in Chongqing,
when food was flowing but meat was always sort of scarce. With scarce I
don't mean that meat was hard to come by. But somehow, everytime I'd
order chicken or a chicken dish, I ended up with more bones than meat.
Like they cut off all the meat for other uses and only give you bones,
with a skin of meat.
Maybe it is not that weird. Although both countries are huge and thrive on mass production.
America
is still the king of 'Big, Bigger, Biggest', XL McDonald's menu's and
the American dream. Where money rolls and food overflows. And China, rumored to take over the world, is still a county that is developing and battling to feed all their people. Making their take on chicken (maybe) slightly different?
Being in Chongqing or Los Angeles isn't all that different. In a way I think the Chinese or even Asian community in Los Angeles
are still living in their home country. Although they adopted the
American Dream and his citizenship, they can still live in the Asian
community they grew up in.
Before I left for China, some
people advised me to take a cultural course. So the difference in
culture wouldn't be so big. Many people warned me for cultural shock and
having problems fitting in. Arriving in China, I had no problem with
the culture. No shock, but fitting in was an other problem.
Now
being back in Los Angeles, again surrounded by Chinese. It doesn't look
that different. They have the same problems with traffic, the same kind
of markets, the same language. Most Chinese speak Chinese, most Americans speak English. The few
some in the overlapping area speak both. And some think they speak the
other language.
Mai's definition: Ching·lishChinese English, when a native Chinese speaker thinks they're speaking English.
In the end, still nobody understand each other.
There are still to many dialects. Where the people in Chongqing don't
understand the Beijing dialect. Here in-laws can't communicate, or
grandparents with their grandkids.
up: Bowl, cups and teapots in Tongren, Chongqing, China - June 2013
down: Bowls and tongs in Rosemead, Los Angeles County, California, USA - December 2013
Everywhere I look I still find the same kind of scenes. It is in the way they hang their laundry, arrange their kitchen, stack their shelves, their kitchenware, their movements.
The biggest difference between LA and CQ is not the culture, not the language barrier. The difference lies in the fitting in. China is a country build on family and connections. I think this strong believe in family and bounds is rooted in all raised Asians. So the difference between LA and CQ isn't something visible, it is family. The key element of fitting into an Asian community, something that wasn't there in Chongqing. But will always be here in Los Angeles.
Yesterday we had baked catfish for lunch and dinner! Last year when I visited my family, my friend Emy and I were treated to this feast. While Emy and I rolled eggrolls, my cousin baked fish and prepared all the sides. Because it was summer, we cleared out the front yard and had ourselves a nice front yard dinner.
My cousin's husband is a fishing fanatic! So last year our catfish meal was triggered by his large catch of catfish. I remember, walking to the bathroom and seeing the mother-in-law rubbing a fish. I got intrigued and stayed in the kitchen for over an hour. In her best Chinglish she explained what she was doing.
Apparently the catfish is a very interesting fish. It has no scales but a this slimy skin. It looks more like a mammal then a fish, it is very meaty and less bones then a normal fish. The mother-in-law showed me how to clean the fish. By putting it in hot boiling water, the slimy skin will be easier to clean. Rubbing it down with a scourer until the skin goes from dark to white. Then chopping off the fins and whiskers. Getting rid of the guts inside and as a final blow, off with his head!
top 4 picture: Last years catfish catch. Cleaning catfish in the kitchen, West Covina, July 2012
down: Four of the eight catfish from the Asian market, cleaned and all, West Covina, December 2013
December is already here and with that the cold is coming in. So this time no yard, just a cozy inside meal. Apparently for baked catfish, you need fresh catfish. All the frozen self caught catfish in the garage where out of bounce. My cousin and I had a early morning, went to the Asian market and bought 8(!) life catfish. Again I went through the whole cleaning process.
At home, we quickly started prepping for lunch. Cutting veggies, picking mints, chopping peanuts, setting up the table. With the fishheads my cousin made a sweet and sour soup.
Sweet and Sour soup, on top the bowl, below the preps
Baked catfish itself is not so much work. But all the sides make it very time consuming. It is just like Banh Trang or springrolls. Eating baked catfish is just like Banh Trang. The table is filled with food. Steaming bowls of water and rice paper. Wrap, roll and dip!
Mouthwatering? Well Catfish is not easy to come by in Holland, definitely fresh ones. But now worries, it looks a lot like Banh Trang with a big fish! So If you want to eat something similar, with meats or vegetarian or vegan, with all the sides, check out my DIY Springroll-rollfeast chapter! Enjoy!
Since my arrival in America I've been so busy. If I'm not helping out with the kids, or visiting grandma, my cousin will sweep me away for a trip to Mexico or Vegas. My days are filled with yelling kids, Chinese and great food, self made and in restaurants.
It is not that I want to keep it to myself, but I just never seem to have the time to sit down and write. So as a small teaser I show some of my food experiences here and I will tell you what is coming for this holiday month.
Breakfast on our stateroom balcony, on our cruise to Ensenada Mexico
Santaclaus is coming to town. Slowly the sunshine state is turning itself to a winter wonder land. Huge christmas trees and decorated palmtrees. Such a weird difference. Tomorrow my cousin and I will pick out a Christmas tree, my dad and I will hang the lights and it will be the start of the annual food tree!
Normally featuring Twinkies, Candy canes and all other delights and snacks. This year I will add to this feast tree with some homemade cookies and perhaps some other baked goods.
The first christmas tree of the year. This huge tree at The Grove in LA is complete with flying Santa and his reindeers.
After Thanksgiving last month, I think my cousins are planning a more Asian style Christmas dinner. I'll get my hands on the Pho Ga (Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup) recipe, Shrimp rolls and my favorite spring rolls. And best of all, I will get the vegetarian versions from my aunt!
For my grandma, aunts and uncles I will make a Christmas Baked goods basket. I will fill you in on my Christmas themed baked goods, like cranberry scones and cookies. Stay tuned, no recipes for now. Just some pictures of the Christmas trees and some food pics!
up: Family dinner at Grandma's, my aunt made Banh Xeo
down: Out for dinner at my dads favorite restaurant, Japanese surasi bowl, Sashimi covering sushi rice
down: Supposedly a real and tallest Christmas tree, located in Citadel Outlets up: Christmas tree in Vegas
Yesterday was Thanksgiving. I never celebrated Thanksgiving, just because we never celebrate it in Holland. It was a very exciting day. A few days of prep and a full day of cooking prepared a feast for 60 something people.
Just like always, my cousins prepared an almost outrages
feast. We had three turkeys, a prime rib and many many sides. Salads,
shrimp rolls, corn bread, beans, squash, mash, corn, rice, pork verde,
salsa, stuffing. With a great bar on the side and a huge dessert table,
filled with pies, fruits, cakes, cookies and asian desserts.
My first Thanksgiving, Woodland Hills California One of the Turkeys, the venue and the beginning of the dessert table
For years and years my mom makes apple pies for every occasion. Birthdays, friends coming over, holidays. So when my cousin visited us many years ago, of course there was an apple pie. My cousin and her hubby loved it. When my brother and I spend our summer in 2008 in LA our family requested self baked Dutch apple pie. My brother and I slaved away and found the best recipe.
In the summer of 2012 when I visited the family again, my friend and I made an apple pie for Independence day. Tweaking with the recipe and adding some strawberries and almonds, with a American flag decoration.
4th of July Dutch Apple Pie
This time was my first time baking with some assistance of my two nieces. They love to cook an bake and want to help with everything in the kitchen. The helped me peel the apples and mix the apple mixture. We all had a blast baking. After the house filled itself with the warm cinnamon and apple smell, my cousin and I went out shopping. When I came back, one of my apple pies was picked. My other cousin and the girls just couldn't wait to taste the pie!
Dutch Apple Pie for the crust
5 cups of all purpose flour
1 1/4 cup of powdered sugar
2 1/2 sticks of butter, cold and cut in cubes
1 lemon, zest
2 large eggs, beaten
Splash of milk
Sieve the flour and sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the butter and work it in. Rubbing the butter between your fingers until you end up with a fine, crumbly mixture. At this point you can add some flavorings, so you can add you lemon zest.
Add the eggs and milk, work it into the mixture gently until you have a ball of dough. Try not to overwork the pastry to much. Flour the ball, put in a bowl and cover. Put in the fridge for at least half an hour.
for the filling
5 big apples
1 cup of sugar
2-3 tablespoons of cinnamon
1 cups of raisins, soaked in hot water
1 lemon, zest and juice
Your choice of apples is very important for your pie. In Holland I would always recommend Goudreinetten. In the US I bake with Granny Smiths, but don't always like the tartness. So this time I used Fuji. It works out quit well. Most important is a firm apple, with a mild sweet-sour taste.
Peel and core the apples. Cut into cubes and mix with the lemon juice. This will stop the apples from browning. Mix in the sugar, cinnamon, zest and raisins. Until all the apples are coated. Taste, if your not happy with the taste add some more sugar or cinnamon.
I don't like raisins, so I always leave them out. You can add other fruits or nuts to make up for it, or just have a plain apple pie. I like to mix in blackberries, they will give your apple pie a purple filling. Or raspberries, for a pink filling. To get some crunch you can add almonds or walnuts.
for the assembly
Butter, for greasing
Sugar, for sprinkling the top
Baking tin
Rolling pin
Flour, for dusting
Beaten egg, for glazing
Preheat the oven to 350 F/ 180 C on baking. Grease the baking thin with butter and dust the inside with flour. This will make a non stick layer. Take 2/3 third of the pastry. Dust the surface and roll the pastry to under 1 cm thickness. Cover the bottom and sides of the tin with the pastry. Using a fork make holes in the bottom, this will help crisp up the bottom.
When the tin is totally lined with pastry, make sure there are no cracks. Add the apple fillings and make it even. Now get the rest of the dough and roll it out. Make strips around 2 cm wide. Lay them crisscross over the apple filling. Until you used all your dough and you have a pattern.
If this is tricky or you want kids to help, just let them roll the pastry into thin strips. And lay over the pie in the way explained above.
When done, brush the pastry with egg and sprinkle with sugar. This will help the coloring and makes your pie lovely golden brown. Put it in the middle of the over for an hour. Until the house starts smelling like baked apples. When done, let it rest outside the oven for at least half an hour.
After the big success of the apple pie yesterday,
my cousin
requested another apple pie for the second day of Thanksgiving
To spice
things up, I made a raspberry apple pie
Note: The biggest problem that I have in the US while baking apple pies, is the amount of liquid in the pie. After baking the apples release their juices and it stays in the pie. It doesn't solidify after cooling, so I normally pour most of the juice out of the pie.
Serve it up in slices, both warm and cold very tasty. Great with a scope of vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!
