Posted: 02 Jan 2021 02:00 AM PST

So I have a slight pie problem. Well, a pie plate problem, to be more specific. Including the gorgeous, 9-inch custom engraved glass pie plate I received for Christmas, my collection is now up to eight dedicated pie-holding vessels. And they each have a place in my kitchen.

Pie plates are generally made from one of three materials: glass, metal or ceramic. All of those behave somewhat differently in the oven, and each has its pros and cons.

Tempered glass pie plates — think of that classic and well-used Pyrex dish that's been in the family for years — are solid, all-around performers, but with a few catches.

The glass heats reasonably fast in the oven, allowing butter to melt quickly and provide enough steam to create respectable flaky, well-browned layers. But if you've ever blind-baked a crust in glass, you've probably seen this happen: Glass is super slick, and the dough struggles to cling to the surface, resulting in a crust that shrinks away from the edges.

On ExpressNews.com: See what recipes we're creating and cooking here. Bookmark the page!

Lining the crust with foil and dropping in pie weights can help hold the dough in place. Many people use dried beans rather than dedicated pie weights. Personally, I keep a jar of old pennies around for the task.

Thin metal pie plates — you're most likely to find aluminum with a nonstick coating in stores these days — heat the quickest and give crusts the best browning. Sometimes that's ideal, especially for quick-cooking pies made with pre-cooked fillings or cooking blind- or par-baked crusts.

The downside? Well, for starters there's a risk of burning the crust of any kind of pie that needs a long time to bake, such as a pie made with fresh slices of raw apple that take time to soften. And that nonstick coating doesn't take kindly to knives, meaning it's likely to get damaged when you're cutting a slice.

Ceramic pie plates certainly look the best. They are sold in an wide range of colors and sport elegant fluted edges — and usually have a price tag to match those fetching charms. They generally tend to be a bit deeper as well. This makes them ideal for larger pies — and you can bring them to the table in a dish that's stylish and showy.

On ExpressNews.com: 4 pecan pies to make now that it's pecan season in Texas and San Antonio

But because ceramic plates are so much thicker than their glass and metal counterparts, they tend to heat much slower. This means the bottom of of your crust may never brown up as nicely or develop the same kind of flakiness as in glass or metal.

Whatever type of plate you chose, bear this in mind: Every pie is perfect, and nobody's going to turn down a freshly baked slice.

If you're craving a wholesome and healthy meal to nosh on before that pie hits the table, we've got your back. This week we've been cooking from a collection of new health-focused cookbooks to ring in the new year on a lighter note. Consider any of the following recipes before digging into that delectable dessert.

Recipe: Black-Eyed Pea Salad with Peaches and Pecans

Recipe: Roasted Sweet Corn Soup

Recipe: Straight Fire Mac and Cheese

Recipe: Broccoli Salad with Pickled Cranberries and Herb Yogurt Dressing

Recipe: Chicken Larb Bowls

Recipe: Alfredo Cauliflower Casserole

pstephen@express-news.net | Twitter: @pjbites | Instagram: @pjstephen

Getting Cooking in the New Year with the Robbinsville Community Cookbook - TAPinto.net

Posted: 01 Jan 2021 10:22 AM PST

ROBBINSVILLE, NJ -- Ring in the new year with new recipes from fellow friends and neighbors in Robbinsville. The Ability Tree Community Cookbook is ready for cooks to find their newest favorite recipes passed down from one generation to the next by local families.

The 76-page cookbook is chock-full of 135 recipes ranging from appetizers, entrées and desserts along with kitchen and recipe tips and guides. Gluten free and vegetarian dishes are included making recipes available for everyone. Readers will enjoy recipes from many cultures which reflect the diversity found in Robbinsville's community.

Recipes were collected by Ability Tree volunteer, and Robbinsville High School student, Amanda Steele beginning in spring of 2020. She said she wanted to "do more to benefit both the charity and (her) community" and was inspired to start the cookbook since her family loves to cook.

Cooking is an important part of the Steele household as is her passion for her community. At the time when recipes were being collected, Steele told TAPinto Hamilton/Robbinsville that "this cookbook is a great way to unite the community using food, a central part of all of our lives, cultures, and histories. By sending in a recipe, community members would not only be sharing a part of their lives with their neighbors, but benefiting a truly deserving charity."

All proceeds for the sale of the cookbook directly to the Ability Tree NJ, a faith-based 501(c)3 non-profit organization that helps to create inclusive, supportive communities where anyone affected by disability can enjoy healthy relationships in their neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, and places of worship. Ability Tree reaches out to families with special needs through recreation, education, support, and training (R.E.S.T.). Programs include recreation and respite nights for children with special needs and their siblings, sibling scholarships for graduating seniors, and helping community organizations and events become more accessible.

The Robbinsville Community Cookbook can be purchased on Ability Tree's website for $18.

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Know a story we should share with readers? Email Editors Elizabeth Meyers and tell her about it.

What to Cook This Weekend - The New York Times

Posted: 01 Jan 2021 07:30 AM PST

Good morning. You aren't, I hope, struggling this morning after a night of excess, considering your options at the crossroads of madness and death. If 2020 gave us anything it was an excuse — an order, really — not to gather on New Year's Eve for its sad, sentimental dance of forced cheer and sweet Champagne, its endless hours before that dreadful song. Here we are in a new year, still very much like the last one, though there's light now at the end of the tunnel and we dare to be hopeful sometimes, particularly today. We feel good, despite all!

So maybe celebrate a little in the kitchen today? I'd love to make this roast pork with milk for dinner tonight, eat it with rice and some roasted squash, then consume this flaming baba au rhum (above) that you can start making just as soon as you're done reading here.

You might prefer mapo tofu, or Sicilian-style citrus salad, or pressure-cooker black bean soup. And if 2020 was the year of sourdough, I think this one may be strong for simple crusty bread, no starter required. You could get started on that today — and make a second loaf later in the weekend. I like it particularly to mop up this amazing beef stew.

For some, the next few days will be filled with resolutions: to eat more salads, maybe, more whole grains, more vegan food more often. But don't beat yourself up about it. The best advice I've ever heard in the matter of eating more healthily is simply to cook for yourself. You can eat fried chicken and cheeseburgers and French fries and chocolate cake and coconut cream pie all you like if only you make the dishes from scratch. Because you're not going to do that a lot, I promise you. Most of the time it'll be vegetarian skillet chili or pasta with marinara sauce. Rest easy.

(But if you are looking for a project this weekend? Let it be one that bridges the divide between health and heartiness: bone broth, courtesy of the chef Marco Canora, which Julia Moskin wrote about in 2015. A hot cup of that every morning could be your 2021 in a glass.)

There are many thousands more recipes waiting for your attention on NYT Cooking. Go explore the site and apps, and save the recipes you like. (You can do that even with recipes that don't come from us, using this cool tool our engineers built.) Then rate the ones you've made. You can even leave notes on them, if you've got a hack or a substitution you'd like to remember, or to share with fellow subscribers. (Subscriptions support NYT Cooking and allow us to continue doing this work that we love. If you're able to do so, I hope you will subscribe to NYT Cooking today.)

And like the lifeguards at Bondi Beach, we'll be standing by to help if you get caught in a recipe rip tide, or find yourself confused by our site and apps. Just sing out to cookingcare@nytimes.com. Someone will get back to you.

Now, it has nothing at all to do with food and it's very long and complicated, but it's absolutely worth reading this Ann Patchett situation in Harper's, on Tom Hanks, a new friendship, psilocybin and a whole lot more.

Likewise, you need to luxuriate in Rachel Handler's hilarious and very real Grub Street investigation into our annoying bucatini shortage.

The dark lord Jon Pareles put me on to Elle King's single, "Another You," and I pass that bitter deliciousness along to you.

Finally, I wish you all the joy of a better year, with lots of good cooking in it. We will, just as we did in 2020, get through this together. I'll see you on Sunday.

from What to Cook https://ift.tt/353mA39

Health Wealth

Paul’s Cooking Tips: Everything you need to know about pie plates - San Antonio Express-News

Paul’s Cooking Tips: Everything you need to know about pie plates - San Antonio Express-News

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