… the total weight of all the tomatoes I pulled out of my garden today.

It took 3 bowls to measure the total weight of it all.

I picked most of the bigger non-ripened green tomatoes too, since the temperature here will start falling soon. At least I don’t have to eat them all at once…

This is a little treat that my mom would make when I was growing up. It’s not the traditional mooncake you’d see in the chinese supermarket so it’s not super popular, and I had a hell of a time finding a recipe for this. I asked my mom for her recipe, she sent me something with notes like “I don’t really remember this part” and “I think this is what I put in it.”

So, the Evie Network Test Kitchen went to work on deciphering this recipe, and after about 3 different tries and 60 minutes total in the oven, I’ve found the winning combination!

The dough on this mooncake very flaky, and traditionally made by rolling together alternating layers of oily dough and flour that has been stir-fried in oil. This crust has a very similar texture to puff pastry. For simplicity’s sake, I didn’t stir fry anything in oil because wow that seems overkill.
Dough:
Water Dough:
2 cups of flour
2/3 cup water
1 tbsp sugar

Oil Dough:
1 cup of flour
1/3 cup shortening (you should use lard for this, I just had extra shortening to use up)
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Filling:
1 lb ground pork
2 green onion stalks, minced
1 tbsp minced ginger
1 tbsp minced garlic
salt
pepper
Mix filling together and set aside.

			Mix the water dough and oil dough separately. Wrap the water dough in plastic and let sit for about 30 minutes to relax, this makes rolling easier.
			Separate the dough into 16 equal pieces. Keep them covered with the plastic wrap when you are working so they don’t get dried out. You could also roll all the dough at once ala puff pastry instead of each piece individually, but rolling big pieces of dough requires a lot of precision that I don’t quite have ;)
			Roll a piece of water dough out into a 2″ x 1″ rectangle, and place a piece of oil dough that is 1″ x 1″ on top. This doesn’t have to be precise, as long as you maintain a 2×1 ratio. You can also use a tri-fold which is what they use for classic french puff pastry – this would increase the layers as you fold the dough. But for mooncakes, a two fold is enough since we won’t be folding as much as puff pastry.
			Fold the other side over so it looks like a little dough taco. Use your rolling pin, and roll it again into a rectangle that maintains the 2×1 ratio. Fold the dough over and repeat the rolling process. Do this about 4 times. I experimented with more layers, but beyond 4 or 5 folds, it didn’t seem to add any extra texture difference in the dough. It could also be my awful rolling skills as well!
			Roll the dough out into a round, about 6″ in diameter. Place a generous amount of filling in the middle, and use the wrapping technique illustrated here. I do it a little differently by holding the entire thing in my hand, but it’s hard to explain without pictures, and hard to take pictures when both hands are occupied ;) You will need either some water or egg whites brushed around the perimeter of the dough to help it adhere when wrapping.
			Place the mooncake upside down so the smooth dough side is facing upwards. Shape it into a patty by patting it down. Arrange them on a well greased cookie sheet. Brush them with an egg wash (1 egg, with 1 tbsp of water), and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Traditionally you would put a red dot of food coloring on the top to signify the filling – because you don’t want to bite into a mooncake expecting a sweet filling, and then get a mouthful of meat.
			Eat the mooncake for the autumn festival!

The amazon 4 for 3 deal sucked me in again and I purchased a tart pan. Here is my very first tart. It was pretty delicious, I used a pretty basic crust recipe, and filled it with whatever that was in the fridge at the time. Those recipes are usually the best. And I totally just realized that I never poked my crust with the fork, but it still turned out ok. Next tart will have to use up the 50 metric tons of tomatoes that are about to ripen from my garden again.

Yummy Eggs, Trader Joe Sausage, and Zucchini Tart

Ingredients:

Crust

• 2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) unsalted butter, chilled
• 3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) vegetable shortening
• 5 tablespoons (2 1/2 ounces) ice water
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar

Filling

• 4 large eggs, beaten
• 1 cup (8 ounces) milk
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 medium zucchini, diced
• 3 precooked sausages, I used Trader Joe’s Jalapeno Chicken Sausage
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper, or to taste

Directions:

1. For the crust: In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour and salt. Cut in the butter and shortening, mixing quickly and lightly with a pastry knife, a mixer or your fingers until the mixture is crumbly. Make a well in the center of the pastry, and add the water, egg yolk and vinegar. Mix until the dough just holds together, adding an additional tablespoon of water only if necessary; the more water you use, the tougher your crust will be.
2. Pat the dough into a 10 or 11-inch removable-bottom tart pan. Prick it all over with a fork. Bake it in a preheated 350°F oven for 10 minutes. Remove it from the oven, and let cool.
3. For the filling: In a medium-sized bowl, beat together the eggs and milk, then stir in the cheese, add the rest of the ingredients and season to taste.
4. Pour the filling into the crust.
5. Bake the tart in a preheated 350°F oven for about 30 minutes, or until it’s set. Remove the tart from the oven, and cool to lukewarm before removing the bottom.

Yes, this is how much I suck at posting stuff on time. These pictures are from memorial day weekend. We had a few friends over, had some omgBBQ, and guest chef Travis brought over carrot cake muffins with a cream cheese frosting, and guest chef Sean made succulent ribs that melted in your mouth. I did not make any of this stuff, maybe chef Sean and chef Travis will part with their amazing recipes, and then again, maybe not….

What is better than making something out of pumpkin puree? Making 2 things out of pumpkin puree. First is a recipe I adapted from King Arthur Flour, mostly because I wanted white chocolate chips and macadamia cookies. These cookies are very moist and not at all crispy. They are almost like a muffin top.

I gave a bunch away to friends and coworkers, and this is the best testimonial ever.

“the cookies were wonderful; i gave one to rene… she demanded another, i put a few in a bag for her, she thanked me and took the larger bag of cookies you gave me and left me with the small bag :(

so i called her a whore.”

White Chocolate and Macadamia Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients:

• 9 1/2 ounces King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 8 ounces unsalted butter, softened
• 3 3/4 ounces brown sugar
• 3 1/2 ounces granulated sugar
• 15 ounces canned pumpkin
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 12 ounces white chocolate chips
• 6 ounces chopped macadamias

Directions:

For the cookies: Preheat the oven to 375°F. Spray baking sheets with cooking spray or line with parchment paper. Set aside.

1. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, soda, salt and spices in a medium bowl. Set aside.
2. With an electric mixer set on medium speed, cream together the butter and sugars. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla, beating well to blend.
3. Slowly add the dry ingredients, beating well to blend. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts.
4. Using a tablespoon scoop, drop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake on the middle oven rack for about 18 minutes, until edges are lightly browned. Let cool on the baking sheets 5 minutes before transferring to racks to cool.

Second on the menu with the leftover 15oz of pumpkin… a pumpkin holiday wreath bread! I followed the King Arthur Flour recipe pretty much exactly, I added a little cayenne pepper but you can’t even taste it.

And just like they suggested, the leftover wreath went to make pumpkin bread pudding!

Oh yes, this is another favorite of ours, actually one of the first recipes I’ve tried from epicurious.com. I’m not a huge fan of green onions, but this recipe pretty much made me love them and I’ve even started garnishing with green onions for the TASTE. I also love this recipe because you can crack open a bottle of wine because “the recipe calls for it”… Now this recipe comes with a Parmesan Crostini that I’ve never made until today because I have a surplus of tomatoes, and they were really tasty, but I’m not entirely sure they go with the dish 100%. I’m always changing recipes here and there, but this one I didn’t change much at all to the chicken recipe because it turned out so great the first time around. I do use chicken thighs instead of breasts because I find them more flavorful, and I use 1/2 cup of green onions instead of 1/4, and I usually put a bit more garlic in as well. For the crostini, I used heirloom tomatoes instead of plum, and I mixed a few tablespoons of parmesan cheese into the tomato paste itself for more flavor.

For crostini

• 12 1/4-inch-thick French bread baguette slices, toasted
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 12 thin slices plum tomato
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

For chicken

• 4 4-ounce skinless boneless chicken breasts
• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup finely chopped green onions (white and pale green parts only)
• 2 small garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup canned low-salt chicken broth
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

Make crostini:

1. Place bread on baking sheet. Spread tomato paste over. Top each with 1 tomato slice. Sprinkle cheese atop.

Make chicken:

1. Pound each chicken breast between sheets of plastic to 1/4-inch-thickness. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Place flour in bowl. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in large nonstick skillet over high heat. Lightly coat 2 chicken with flour; shake off excess. Transfer to skillet and cook until brown and cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to plate and tent with foil. Repeat with 1 teaspoon oil, flour and remaining chicken.
2. Heat 1/2 teaspoon oil in same skillet over low heat. Add green onions and garlic; sauté until tender, about 2 minutes. Stir in broth and wine scraping up any browned bits in skillet. Add lemon juice and 2 tablespoons parsley. Increase heat to high; boil until liquid is slightly reduced, about 3 minutes. Mix in lemon peel. Season with salt and pepper. Return chicken to skillet; simmer until heated through, turning to coat.
3. Meanwhile, preheat broiler. Broil crostini until cheese melts, watching closely, about 1 minute.
4. Transfer chicken to plates. Spoon pan juices over chicken. Sprinkle with remaining parsley. Serve with crostini.

This is one of my favorite recipes, slightly adapted from chef Gordon Ramsey’s scrambled eggs.

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• 2 tbsp of butter (a little more or less depending on how healthy I’m trying to eat)
• 1 tbsp of Creme Fraiche
• Salt
• Ground Pepper
• Chives

Directions:

1. Break eggs into a cold sauce pan and add the butter.
2. Turn on the heat to low-medium, stir the eggs with a spatula as it cooks until it begins to clump up. If it is cooking too fast, take it off the burner for a few seconds and keep stirring until desired consistency.
3. When the eggs are clumpy but still soft turn off the burner, add the creme fraiche, salt and pepper.
4. Garish with chives.

Serve with some bacon and toast! Chef Ramsey serves it with some crusty bread and tomatoes and mushrooms. Sean is allergic to mushrooms so I’ve never made it the way he does, but it looks super tasty as well.

Sometimes when I don’t have creme fraiche, I will substitute sour cream or shredded cheddar. The point is to lower the temperature of the eggs so they don’t get over cooked.