Apple Pie

Josh had made up a big batch of his mom's pie dough and made a few pumpkin pies and I used the rest to make this apple pie recipe for Thanksgiving Dinner at Jo & Aidan's. It turned out beautifully and was soo good.
The recipe for the apple pie is here.

Broccoli with Garlic Butter and Cashews
1 1/2 pounds fresh broccoli, cut into bite size pieces

1/3 c butter
1 T brown sugar
3 T soy sauce
2 t white vinegar
1/4 t ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 c. chopped salted cashews.

Cook broccoli - I like to steam it, but you could also boil it.
While broccoli is cooking:
Melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat.
Mix in the brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, pepper & garlic.
Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat.
Mix in the cashews and pour the sauce over the broccoli.
Serve immediately.


So yummy! I found this recipe here

Custard Tarts

SO SIMPLE, BUT TRULY AMAZING. THESE TARTS CAN BE MADE VERY SMALL AND STILL SATISFY BECAUSE OF THEIR RICHNESS.

12 frozen 3-inch tart shells
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup whipping cream
1 t vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake shells for 8 minutes.

Mix all ingredients and add to cooked tart shells. Cook filled tarts for 20 minutes. The filling will be set on the sides but loose in the middle.

Place tarts in the fridge for 1 hour to a day.

Topping ideas:
Any favourite will do, but we used thinly sliced apples coated lightly in sugar and cinnamon. We topped each tart and then broiled them until the apples were soft and golden.

Baked Potato Soup

You can't go wrong with this comfort food soup... from Cooking Light so you don't have to feel guilty about serving or eating it!

Ingredients

4 baking potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds)
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
6 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
1 cup (4 ounces) reduced-fat shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup reduced-fat sour cream
3/4 cup chopped green onions, divided
6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400°.

Pierce potatoes with a fork; bake at 400° for 1 hour or until tender. Cool. Peel potatoes; coarsely mash. Discard skins.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Place flour in a large Dutch oven; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly (about 8 minutes). Add mashed potatoes, 3/4 cup cheese, salt, and pepper, stirring until cheese melts. Remove from heat.

Stir in sour cream and 1/2 cup onions. Cook over low heat 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated (do not boil). Sprinkle each serving with cheese, onions, and bacon.

Oat Bran Muffins

Oat Bran Muffins

1/2 c. dark brown sugar
1 1/2 c. oat bran
1 1/2 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. cinnamon
2 eggs
1 c. applesauce
4 T. vegetable oil

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400. Line or grease 12 muffin cups
2. Blend together dry ingredients. Add eggs, applesauce and oil. Mix until well-blended.
3. Spoon into muffin cups, let sit 10 min.
4. Bake for 15 min. or until golden brown.

I made these muffins this morning and was really impressed, they are healthy and they tasted yummy! I found the recipe here. There are all sorts of suggestions in the comments on allrecipes on how to make them even healthier if you want. I also sliced up an apple and put one slice one top of each muffin before baking for some extra apple flavour.

Belgian Chocolate Torte

CRUST:
1 cup flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Whisk together flour and cocoa. Separately, beat sugar and butter with a mixer. Add egg. Combine with flour mixture, mixing until a soft dough froms. If it is too soft, put in fridge for 10 minutes. When ready, press dough into a greased flan/torte pan with removable sides, using your thumbs to work it up the sides. Refridgerate for 15 minutes until chilled, weight down with a pie weight or foil and dried bean/rice. Bake for 1o minutes. Let cool.

FILLING:
3/4 cup whipping cream
5 oz semi-sweet belgian chocolate (or another high-quality chocolate)
2 T sugar
pinch salt
1 egg

Decrease oven to 325 degrees.
Heat cream in a saucepan over medium heat until warm, not allowing to rise to a simmer. Remove from heat and stir in pieces of chocolate, sugar and salt until smooth. Separately, whisk egg until smooth and add to chocolate mixture.
Pour filling into cooled crust Bake for 15-20 minutes or until surface is glassy. If cracks begin to form, remove immediately. Cool on rack. Top with favourite nuts. (Pecans, I say.)

This can be refridgerated for up to two days, but it is far better made and served fresh.

Torte Recipe?

So, Jo, how 'bout you type out that delicious torte recipe for me? (my husband is still talking about it!) It was sooooo good!
Thanks,
Niki