Oven S'mores and Roasted Pork Loin

Today's entree of roasted pork loin.

It was a busy day at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral's Wednesday Community Meal. We served 371 meals and there was a constant line to get inside until the last half hour of our two-hour lunch service, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The first 140 guests were treated to an entree of roasted pork loin, rice and baked pears. The gorgeous lean pork loins were generously purchased by Trinity Episcopal Cathedral and turned out so tender and delicious. We seasoned them with a homemade rub made with cumin, chili powder, garlic and salt and then baked them in a 325-degree oven until they were done and the outsides were golden brown crispy goodness. Then of course we had to make the meal even better by utilizing the drippings to make a rich gravy.

For dessert we served S'mores made in the oven. We just set graham crackers on a sheetpan, topped them with a large marshmallow and then put them in the oven for 3 minutes until the marshmallows were hot and soft. Then all we did was add a piece of Hershey's milk chocolate and another graham cracker and we had a dessert that the guests loved.

Topping the hot marshmallows with chocolate. These just need another graham cracker and they'll be ready to serve.

It was also fun to witness volunteer Dean having his very first taste of a S'more. He's 74 and had never had one before!

Dean after having his very first taste of a S'more which he said was delicious. He's so much fun!

Later, we served enchiladas, salmon, fried fish, chicken skewers and meatloaf, all donated by Good Samaritan Hospital. We are so blessed to have them as a gleaning partner.

Salmon donated by Good Samaritan Hospital.

We also offered everyone soup and salad. Longtime volunteer Martha took on heating and serving the soup and volunteer John made the salads that were extra special today because they were topped with crispy bacon and Parmesan cheese. It was a great meal.

The salads.

Cinnamon Dark Chocolate Macarons

A generous dose of cinnamon makes these macarons warm, comforting, spicy, fragrant and the perfect partner for a filling of dark chocolate buttercream.

Fall and my affinity for Moonstruck's Mexican Hot Chocolate were my inspirations for making these.

Baking them made my house smell heavenly and I really like the look of the cinnamon flecked throughout the macaron shells. These are natural beauties and now one of my favorite flavors. The cinnamon shells would also be great with fillings of pumpkin and apple so please stay tuned for those. I'm feeling inspired!

Here's the recipe:

Cinnamon Dark Chocolate Macarons
180g ground almonds, sifted
270g powdered sugar, sifted

2 tablespoon ground cinnamon

150g egg whites, aged 2 to 4 days in the fridge and then brought to room temperature
100g granulated sugar

Line four heavy baking sheets with good quality parchment paper and set aside. Also, set aside two pastry bags for the piping of the macarons.

Sift together your ground almonds with the powdered sugar and cinnamon and set aside.

The almond meal, powdered sugar and cinnamon before sifting.

Whisk the egg whites (at room temperature) to glossy firm peaks adding the granulated sugar gradually in four parts.

Incorporate the dry ingredients into the beaten egg whites using a large rubber scraper.  Mix well. 

Fold the mixture with the rubber scraper by pulling down the sides and flipping the mixture over. Do this until you have a smooth mixture that falls like a “ribbon” off the scraper.

Transfer the mixture into the two piping bags. Use rubber bands to close the piping bags. Clip the tip of the bags, one at a time, and pipe small quarter sized rounds, leaving 1-inch of space between each because they spread as they set.

Closeup of the piped macarons.

The macarons need to set for about 30 minutes before baking.

Leave to set for about 30 minutes or until the top has formed a crust and is not sticky to the touch.

Incorporate the dry ingredients into the beaten egg whites using a large rubber scraper.  Mix well. 

While they are setting, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. A convection oven is preferable. 

Bake one sheet at a time in the center of the oven for about 11 minutes or until the cookie is firm, matte and doesn't wobble when touched.

The baked cinnamon macarons.

Leave on the baking tray until cool then lift them all off the parchment carefully. You may need to use a thin knife to help lift them off. Sort them into pairs and fill with dark chocolate buttercream.

Dark Chocolate Buttercream
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup dark cocoa powder
1/3 cup powdered sugar

Whip together all of the ingredients until they are smooth and light. Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag for the filling of the macarons. Keep the macarons stored in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve.

Sorted macarons that are ready to be filling.

Filling the macarons.

All done!

Fig Macarons

I love these fig macarons and have no idea why it took me so long to make them. The rich honey flavor of the fig buttercream is so satisfying between the soft and chewy almond shells.

Trust me, these are fig newtons to the nth degree! The filling was also quick and easy to make because I utilized good quality fig preserves.

The fig preserves that I used for the filling.

I tinted the buttercream with a bit of coloring to mimic the gorgeousness of the flesh of a fresh fig and also added a brushstroke of green to the top of the macarons using a paint made by mixing gel coloring with a bit of vodka.

Making paint with a bit of gel coloring mixed with vodka. I used Wilton brand moss green coloring.

I hope you like these as much as I do, here's the recipe:

Fig Macarons
180g ground almonds, sifted
270g powdered sugar, sifted
150g egg whites, aged 2 to 4 days in the fridge and then brought to room temperature
100g granulated sugar

Line four heavy baking sheets with good quality parchment paper and set aside. Also, set aside two pastry bags for the piping of the macarons.

Sift together your ground almonds with the powdered sugar and set aside.

Whisk the egg whites (at room temperature) to glossy firm peaks adding the granulated sugar gradually in four parts.

Incorporate the dry ingredients into the beaten egg whites using a large rubber scraper.  Mix well. 

Fold the mixture with the rubber scraper by pulling down the sides and flipping the mixture over. Do this until you have a smooth mixture that falls like a “ribbon” off the scraper.

Transfer the mixture into the two piping bags. Use rubber bands to close the piping bags. Clip the tip of the bags, one at a time, and pipe small quarter sized rounds, leaving 1-inch of space between each because they spread as they set.

Leave to set for about 30 minutes or until the top has formed a crust and is not sticky to the touch.

The macarons setting before baking.

While they are setting, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. A convection oven is preferable. 

Bake one sheet at a time in the center of the oven for about 11 minutes or until the cookie is firm, matte and doesn't wobble when touched.

Leave on the baking tray until cool then lift them all off the parchment carefully. You may need to use a thin knife to help lift them off. Sort them into pairs, add a brushstroke of green to the tops if desired and fill with fig buttercream.

I love it when the macaron shells lift right off the parchment but sometimes I have to use a think spatula to help ease them off.

After sorting the macarons into pairs, I added a brushstroke of green to the top of one in each set.

Fig Buttercream
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup fig preserves
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
red coloring, optional
brown coloring, optional

Whip together the butter, fig preserves and salt until the mixture is light and creamy. Tint if desired with a bit of red and brown coloring to mimic the flesh of a fresh fig.

Filling the macarons.

All done! Keep the macarons in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve them.

Chili Cheese Dogs And Crispy Potatoes

We weren't too busy at the Wednesday Community Meal today but guests who did join us for lunch at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in NW Portland enjoyed made-from-scratch chili cheese dogs and crispy oven-roasted potatoes.

We made the chili from donated dry beans that had soaked overnight, canned beans, onions and tomatoes. For seasoning, we added chili powder, cumin, garlic and salt and towards the end of cooking, snuck in some finely chopped kale for nutrition and color.

To serve, we added a scoop of the hot chili on top of an all-beef hotdog on a toasted bun and sprinkled on some cheese. It was a definite crowd pleaser — Quite a few guests asked for seconds and we were happy to oblige.

We served 272 meals today.

Mini Chocolate Cream Pies

A pie being enjoyed by my nephew Sam who is my official taste tester. He gave it thumbs up!

Mini Chocolate Cream Pies are delicious and so easy to serve because no utensils are needed. Guests can just pick a pie up and dive right in! These decadent pies were part of an assortment of 150 pies that I recently made for a wedding reception.

To make them, I used my favorite pie crust and chocolate cream pie recipes and pre-baked the crusts in muffin tins. I didn't have to grease or line the muffin tins for the crusts to easily lift out after baking. The only real trick is to not line the entire depth of the muffin tin with pie dough, you only want to line it two-thirds of the way up because you want pie-shaped pies, not muffin-shaped pies.

After baking, lift the crusts out, fill them with chocolate cream filling and let them cool for a bit before placing them in the refrigerator to chill for at least two hours.

Before serving, I garnished each pie with a dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkle of shaved dark chocolate.

Here's the recipe:

Mini Chocolate Cream Pies
(makes 18 to 20)

Crust:
3 cups flour
1 cup Crisco
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup ice water

In a large bowl, combine flour, salt and sugar. Add Crisco and using your fingers, break it into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs with some large pieces remaining.

Add the water, just a few tablespoons at a time until the dough is moist enough to pull together into a ball. Divide dough in half and roll out each half into a rectangle on a floured surface. Use a cutter to cut 4-inch rounds and place each one in a muffin tin,  pressing the dough into the bottom and evenly up the sides so that 2/3 of the tin is lined. Gather up the excess dough and repeat until all the dough is used. Chill the crusts in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes then bake in a 375-degree oven for about 12 minutes or until the crusts are baked thoroughly and golden brown.

The baked crusts.

Filling:

1 2/3 cups water

3 tablespoons cornstarch
5 tablespoons cocoa
1 (14 ounce) can eagle brand sweetened condensed milk
3 egg yolks, beaten
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
 

Directions:

In a medium-sized saucepan, use a whisk to mix the water and cornstarch and cocoa until smooth. Stir in Eagle Brand milk and the three egg yolks. 

 

Cook the mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly until it becomes thick. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla.

 

Let the mixture cool for 5 minutes before filling the baked pie shells. My favorite tool for this task is a 1-inch cookie scoop. 

 

Let the mini pies cool at room temperature for 15 minutes before transferring to the refrigerator. Let the pies chill for at least 2 hours before serving.

A dollop of whipped cream adds a nice touch to the chilled pies.

And, a sprinkle of shaved dark chocolate on top of the whipped cream makes them even better!

 

Mini Key Lime Pies

These mini Key Lime pies are part of an assortment of 150 pies I recently made for a wedding reception and no special pans are needed. I baked them in muffin tins!

During my first test run of making these, I struggled with getting the graham cracker crusts to hold together well. They kept crumbling apart as I was pressing them into the paper lined tins and it was eating up way too much of my time. My solution was to add an egg white to the mixture and it worked like a charm. It made the mixture so much easier to press into the tins and it made the baked crusts more stable.

The filling calls for Key Lime juice but if you don't have that you can use lime juice mixed with a bit of lemon juice. Key limes are more tart than regular limes and the substitution works just fine. 

Here's the recipe:

Mini Key Lime Pies
(makes 18 to 22)

Crust:
1/2 lb. graham crackers, crushed into fine crumbs
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
pinch fine sea salt
1 egg white

Preheat the oven to 350-degrees. I crushed the graham crackers using a food processor but you could also put them in a plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin. Place the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and sea salt in a large bowl and mix well. Add the melted butter and egg white and mix very well until the mixture holds together when pressed between your fingers.

Line a muffin pan with papers. Place a few tablespoons of the graham cracker mixture into each paper and press it firmly and evenly on the bottom and up the sides.

The crusts before baking.

Bake the crusts for 5 minutes and then set them aside to cool.

Filling:
2 tablespoons lime zest
1/2 cup Key Lime juice (if you don't have Key Lime juice, substitute a scant 1/2 cup ordinary lime juice mixed with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice)
2 egg yolks
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

In a large bowl with a whisk, mix together all of the filling ingredients. Whisk for a few minutes to make sure they are well-combined. Fill the prebaked graham cracker crusts 3/4 full. I used a 1-inch cookie scoop for this task and it worked well with minimal drips.

Adding the filling.

Bake the pies in the 350-degree oven for 10 minutes. Let the pies cool at room temperature and then place them in the refrigerator to chill for at least two hours.

All done. The crusts held together so well that the pies were easy to remove from the papers.

Before serving, garnish the tops with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream and a sprinkle of lime zest.

Wonderful Watermelon

Slices of the super watermelon that we served today. Look at that color!

Guests of the Wednesday Community Meal today were treated to thick slices of the best watermelon I think I've ever tasted. The organic melons from Hermiston, Oregon, were donated to us and they were crisp, juicy and super sweet — a real treat for everyone!

During our two-hour service we had quite a few requests for "extra watermelon please" and we were happy to oblige since we had plenty and we weren't too busy with it being the first Wednesday of the month.

In addition to the watermelon, we served entrees of chicken, turkey, salmon, chili cheese baked potatoes and pizza and of course there was also soup, salad and dessert.

One of the most popular desserts we served today was pound cake that we topped with baked apples and whipped cream. The apples came from Oregon Food Bank and were picked up by our volunteer gleaners. Today, volunteers Zane and Jan cored and sliced them, leaving the skins on, and then Zane tossed them with a bit of sugar and cinnamon and baked them until they were soft and caramelized. They made the kitchen smell so good and made our guests very happy.

Volunteer Mary Ann with a tray of desserts, including pound cake topped with baked apples and whipped cream.

Baked apple closeup.

We served 265 meals today.