Vanilla Cream Pie

September 2025

Recipe from The Perfect Pie, Americas Test Kitchen, 2019, p. 46; also available online

Flipping through the ATK Pie book, looking for something we haven't tried it, I came across this recipe for a vanilla cream pie. We enjoy several chocolate cream pie recipes from ATK and this inspired me to try their recipe for a vanilla cream pie.

The recipe for all-butter pie dough was used to make a one-crust pie. After chilling the dough was baked blind. It was a warm day and the dough had softened after rolling and so was not fluted. For the filling sugar, cornstarch, and salt were whisked together. Evaporated milk was whisked into the mixture, followed by egg yolks, and finally milk. A vanilla bean was split in two and the contents and the bean were added to the sugar mixture. It was brought to a simmer while being whisked until it reached 180° (which happened very quickly). Off heat butter was whisked in. The brandy specified in the recipe was not used. After a brief cooling period the vanilla bean was removed and the filling was poured into the cooled crust. The pie was covered with oiled parchment paper and chilled in the refrigerator. 

The pie was good and we enjoyed eating it for dessert for four nights. It was very smooth, creamy, and flavorful. I ate it with whipped cream while Diane had it plain. While the pie was good I don't expect I will make it again. The recipe was wasteful, using only a small fraction of a can of evaporated milk. Also, the recipe specifies using half a vanilla bean. One bean cost $20 so I used a whole bean since I had no plans to make something to use the other half bean. It also took some time to make the pie including the four hour chilling time after everything was assembled. 

Cheese Quesadillas for Two

August 2025

Recipe from Cook's Illustrated, May 2023

Quesadillas have been called Mexican grilled cheese sandwiches and this test of the techniques described in this Cook's Illustrated article live up to that description. The magazine article describes several variations with more complex fillings than the simple cheese filling used here. I hope to try some other fillings and I'll try to amend this post with comments.

The recipe is for two quesadillas but we found that one satisfied our dinner appetites. Four ounces of Monterey Jack cheese was grated then spread over half of a large, 10", flour tortilla. The tortilla was folded over the cheese and pressed to seal. Vegetable oil (¼ cup) was heated in a 12-inch nonstick skillet. The tortilla was cooked in the oil until both sides were browned. It was then placed on a wire rack lined with paper towels, sliced into wedges, and served. Total time was about 20 minutes! 

This was a good and very quick dinner. The quesadillas were crispy on the outside with warm gooey cheese on the inside. The recipe called for the cooked quesadilla to be sprinkled with salt. We didn't do that and found it to be salty enough from the cheese. We ate the cheese quesadillas with refried beans and avocado mixed with fresh salsa.

Filling 2: a combination of ham, Gruyère cheese, and Swiss cheese made a nice quesadilla. The mild cheeses, though, did not hold up well next to the strong flavor of the ham, but that's probably okay.

Filling 3: Chicken, Mushroom, and Poblano Quesadillas I made a few changes to the ingredients: I used 1 instead of 2 poblano chiles, medium rather than sharp cheddar cheese, and omitted canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce. Sliced cremini mushrooms, diced poblano chile, and water were cooked until almost dry then oil and salt were added and the mixture cooked to brown the mushrooms. Shredded rotisserie chicken, cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese, cumin and salt were added to the cooked mushrooms then used to fill the quesadillas before cooking them as described above. It took about one hour to prepare these quesadillas and the recipe made enough for 4 dinners for the two of us. The result was more filling and more suitable for a dinner than cheese quesadillas. They were tasty perhaps a little bland so it might be worth increasing the poblanos.

Corn Chowder for Two

 August 2025

Recipe from Cook's Country, August 2025

I have made corn chowder several times, usually in the cooler months when we have more soup for dinner. One recipe uses canned cream-style corn. The other recipe uses fresh sweet corn, though since I made it in January it is questionable just how fresh the corn was. Recently I saw this new recipe demonstrated on the Cook's Country TV show. Since fresh corn is now available and the recipe was for a modest amount of chowder I decided to give it a try.

I made a few changes to the published recipe. I omitted the jalapeño chile as we are not fond of spicy foods. I also omitted the cilantro as the small amount listed in the recipe didn't justify buying a whole bunch, most of which would go to waste. Kernels were cut from two ears of white corn and the cobs were scraped to get additional corn pulp. Two slices of coarsely chopped bacon was cooked in a two-quart sauce pan to render the fat and crisp the bacon. A finely chopped onion, salt, and pepper were added and cooked to soften the onion. A minced garlic clove and dried oregano were added and cooked until fragrant. A tablespoon of AP flour was stirred in and cooked for a minute. Two cups of chicken broth were whisked in then a chopped red potato was added. The mixture was simmered until the potato was tender then heavy cream, the corn kernels, and corn pulp were stirred in and simmered until the corn was tender.  It took just over an hour to make this chowder, about half of the time was for prep. It made enough for the two of us to have two dinners which is a good quantity,

The chowder was good. The corn was sweet and plentiful. For the first meal we both thought it had a pretty strong bacon flavor and that it was too salty. When we had it as a leftover the flavors were better balanced, the bacon flavor was not so prominent and it wasn't nearly as salty. If we have this again we might use half the bacon or not eat it on the day it was prepared. It might also be worth trying it with frozen sweet corn.

Bourbon Chicken

 August 2025

Recipe from Cook's Country, August 2021

I learned about this recipe from an episode of Cook's Country on PBS. Bourbon chicken is apparently served in many mall food courts and some chain restaurants, though I don't recall seeing it. However it looked good on the TV show, the recipe had no exotic ingredients, and it looked to be easy to prepare so it was worth trying.

The recipe is for 2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs . For the two of us I bought 1.15 pounds of chicken and halved the other ingredients. For the sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, water, bourbon, toasted sesame oil, and pepper were whisked in a measuring cup, heated in the microwave, then whisked again to ensure all the sugar was dissolved. The chicken was cut into bit-sized pieces then tossed with cornstarch and some of the soy mixture, a process called velveting which helps keep the chicken tender and thickens the sauce. The chicken was browned in a 10" skillet. Grated ginger and minced garlic were cooked until just fragrant and the soy sauce mixture was added. It was brought to a boil and cooked until syrupy. Off heat some cider vinegar was added. The preparation time was 40 minutes.

This recipe made chicken for two dinners. It lived up to its promise of being easy and quick to prepare. Moreover it tastes good. The teriyaki-like sauce has a lot of flavor and the chicken is tender and juicy. It was a little salty, probably from the soy sauce; this could be addressed by using a low-sodium soy sauce.