Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Vegetarian Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup

Was SO in the mood for this today (the soup AND the not really having to cook dinner):

16 oz split peas (rinsed)
4 medium carrots, peeled and diced
1 c white onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 bay leaf
1 Tbsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
6 c hot water

1. Layer ingredients in order listed above. Do not stir.
2. Cover and cook until peas are soft. High: 4-5 hrs or Low: 8-10 hrs.
3. Remove bay leaf & garlic (if it has held together) before serving.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

chocolate cream pie


3 egg yolks
1 cup granulated sugar
3 Tbl. cocoa
1/3 c flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 c milk
2 Tbl. butter
1 tsp. vanilla

Separate and set aside 3 egg yolks in a small bowl.

In a medium saucepan, whisk together sugar, cocoa, flour, and salt. Add milk. Turn on the heat to high to get the mixture hot faster. Whisk continually to keep the cream from burning. Just before it starts to boil, turn it down to medium and continue to stir. Once it is boiling, allow it to boil for 2 minutes.

Take it off the heat and pour a moderate amount of hot mixture into the egg yolks. Quickly whip the yolks and cream and pour it back into the pan while stirring constantly to avoid burning. Boil 2 min longer. Remove from heat and turn off burner.

Add the butter and vanilla. Stir well and immediately pour into cooled pie crust (deep dish, if you're pre-buying like me!). Cover w/ plastic wrap, making sure the wrap touches the surface of the pie (this acts as a synthetic film so your pie won't get one). Put in fridge for several hours to set.

*don't double the recipe. I tried it once and ended up with two impossibly runny pies.

Whipped Cream:
In mixing bowl, whip together until stiff peaks form:
1 c whipping cream
1/4 c powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

(*for Christmas pies, crush up candy canes to fold into the whipped cream).