Lessons Learned from a Not-so-Delicious Apple Pie...

Post & Photo: Alexis

Disclaimer: Although I thoroughly enjoy cooking, baking, and trying new recipes, I am still a newlywed and very much an amateur chef. Like Erin says, "I'm not a great chef, but I am a great collector of recipes." As I've mentioned before, I'm a serial recipe tester and always want to run before I walk. There are times the outcome has been surprisingly awesome, but more often than not, it turns out that valuable lessons are learned. A prime example of this would be the gorgeous, Food and Wine-ready Maple Apple Pie recipe I found a few weeks ago. I  must have spent a solid hour carving out the beautiful Nordic-style design on the crust! But sometimes looks can be deceiving. Here are a few lessons I learned from the beautiful, but not-so-delicious apple pie... 

1. Do not overwork the dough. You'll end up with the chewiest, impossible-to-cut pie crust. 
2. Follow your instincts when you read a recipe that calls for both a cup of maple syrup and a cup of sugar. You are probably correct in thinking that this is far too sweet a combination.
3. Bon Appétit gives great advice: even when it seems like too much, increase the amount of apples the recipe calls for and roast them separately before baking them in the pie. You'll avoid the shrinking pie problem and have a healthy, full-looking pie!
4. Try out the recipe before entering it into a pie baking contest...

Professional "Dabblers"

Post: Alexis
Photos: Alexis & Mitchell Morfas

I first met Erin when I visited her icon studio in hopes of learning the sacred art of iconography. While we did speak about icons that day, we also covered a myriad of subjects and found that we share many of the same passions: most notably our passion for food and hospitality! When Erin later shared her vision with me for the cookbook, Hospitality and Joy, we immediately found ourselves collaborating. Two years later, we have launched the cookbook pre-sale and you are reading the start of our Hospitality and Joy blog! This project has become our baby as we work nights and weekends or grab a few minutes at lunch to share ideas and plan the next shoot! 

Naturally, I've been blessed to spend much time with Erin during the planning and shooting process of the cookbook. It didn't take long for us to realize that we share the same blessing/curse of the "do it all" syndrome. We love so many different things and want to do EVERYTHING! I think she would wholeheartedly agree with me when I say that one of the biggest struggles in my life is that I don't have enough time or energy in my day to do, read, learn, and experience all of the things that I want to! Not only do we share a wide variety of creative interests and deep love for the Holy Orthodox Church, we often times find that we almost mirror each other in thought, habit, and all-around work ethic. We have many ideas and are always eager to turn them into action!

That being said, it was natural, perhaps even inevitable, that our conversation in her icon studio would lead to our collaboration on the cookbook and ultimately to the creation of this blog! The cookbook is a tribute to Erin's beloved Sitey (her grandmother) and an anthology of her hosting secrets and most popular recipes. The blog provides both Erin and I with a sharing space for the recipes and moments of our everyday lives. Our initial conversation over the sacred art of iconography has developed into a friendship and creative partnership that we hope will glorify God and inspire you to create memorable moments around your table.    

Brunch at Bet L'mssih

Post & Photos: Alexis

One Saturday morning this past February, my husband and I were eating breakfast together. Being that I'm a serial recipe tester, I made something new, thought it looked wonderful in the skillet, and of course, wanted to photograph and Instagram it. At that point in time, we had only been married three months, so when I decided to create a "Place" for our home on Facebook/Instagram, I realized that I technically shouldn't call it the "Campbell Casa" anymore. Rassem told me that "The Home of the El Massih's" or the "El Massih's home" in Arabic is "Bet L'mssih". I loved the way it sounded so much - like a sophisticated, fancy restaurant or even a cozy, French Country home. Why I thought this? I have no idea, but it spun into a conversation about how we would invite our friends and family to stay at "Bet L'mssih" and feed them eggs from the chickens in our backyard with Labneh, zaatar, coffee, and fresh bread straight from the oven. We both love any excuse to gather our friends and family, so naturally this "someday" conversation turned into a "tomorrow" conversation. We hosted brunch at Bet L'mssih the very next day after Sunday liturgy and served this Breakfast Shakshuka:

The meal and Instagram photo that started all of it...

Six months later, when hosting brunch again, I introduced a couple of Campbell family classics to the El Massih's table: Mama's Honeybun Cake and Homemade Granola. 

---

Mama's Honeybun Cake

For the cake:
    1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
    1 cup sugar
    2 tsp baking powder
    1/2 tsp baking soda
    1/4 tsp kosher salt
    3/4 cup oil
    1 - 8oz. sour cream
    4 eggs
    1 tsp. vanilla

For the swirl topping:
    1 cup brown sugar
    1 tsp. cinnamon
    1 cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)

For the glaze:
    2 cups confectioner's sugar
    1 tsp. vanilla
    4 Tbsp. milk

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 13x9 in. pan and set aside. Mix the cake ingredients well using an electric mixer. Pour batter into the prepared pan. In a small bowl, mix together the ingredients for the swirl topping. Sprinkle the mixture on top of the cake batter and swirl into the cake with a fork. Bake for 40-45 minutes.

When there is two to three minutes left on the timer, prepare the glaze by mixing the confectioner's sugar, vanilla, and milk together. After the cake is fully cooked, take the cake out of the oven, place on a cooling rack, and pour the glaze over while the cake is still hot. Leave cake to cool. Enjoy!

---

Homemade Granola

5 1/4 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup wheatgerm
3/4 cup shredded coconut
3/4 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup pepitas
1 cup almonds
1 cup hazelnuts, skinned
4 Tbsp canola oil or sunflower oil
4 Tbsp honey
4 Tbsp maple syrup
1 3/4 cups raisins

*makes about 12 cups*

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 

Combine the oats, wheatgerm, coconut, seeds, and nuts in a large bowl, then divide this mixture in half, leaving half in the large bowl and setting aside the other half, covered, in a smaller bowl. 

Heat the oil, honey and maple syrup in a saucepan over low-medium heat for five to six minutes until the mixture is thin and runny, then pour it over the oat mixture in the large bowl. Mix really well with a spoon until well-coated but not too clumped together; if the mixture looks a bit wet, mix in some of the reserved dry oat mixture.

Divide the wet oat mixture between the prepared sheets, then bake for about one hour, shaking the sheets occasionally to make sure the  mixture cooks evenly. It should be a luscious golden color when it's done - take care not to let it darken too much. 

Remove the sheets from the oven and let the mixture cool completely, then tip it into a large bowl and combine with the reserved dry oat mixture and raisins. 

Serve in individual bowls with cold milk poured over and extra honey drizzled on top. Store the leftovers in an airtight container for up to two weeks. 

*Recipe adapted from What Katie Ate* 

Kitchen Sink Carbonara

Post: Erin
Photos: Alexis

I made this quick and whimsical dish a few months ago when I was visiting my husband’s family in Colorado. I usually travel armed with a handful of my family’s favorite recipes, but this trip extended well beyond the number of recipes I brought, so I just started improvising.

One particular evening was more like an episode of Chopped than Giada at Home. There was no plan for dinner, and no time to run to the grocery store. My sister-in-law lives right next door to my mother- and father-in-law, so, I had two mostly-empty refrigerators to raid. Between them, I found one link of spicy chicken sausage, a few slices of bacon, one pork chop and a frozen chicken breast. As I pondered what this could become, I remembered seeing peas in the freezer and a box of pasta in the pantry…sounds like Carbonara to me!

---

Kitchen Sink Carbonara

And so, Kitchen Sink Carbonara was born.

The Pasta
     1 pound box of buccatelli (this is my new favorite pasta with its thicker-than-spaghetti shape and a hole running down the center to trap a little of the sauce!)
     
The Kitchen Sink
     ½ pound bacon, cut into ½ inch pieces
     2 cloves garlic, sliced
     1 boneless pork chop, cut into ½ inch cubes
     1-2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (2 if they’re small), cut into ½ inch cubes
     1 large link spicy chicken sausage, casing removed, broken into pieces
     ½ cup frozen peas (or fresh…even better!)
     
The Sauce
     3 eggs, slightly beaten, room temp
     1  cup grated parmesan cheese + more for garnish
     Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
     3 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced (substitute fresh snipped chives for a milder taste)
     About ¼ cup reserved pasta water
     
First Things First…
Set the eggs out and bring to room temp about a half hour before beginning (if you’re like me and rarely plan ahead, just place the eggs in a bowl of warm water for about 5 minutes while you’re prepping the rest of the recipe.)  Once the eggs are room temperature, crack them into a bowl and beat them gently; then whisk in the grated parmesan cheese. Set aside.

Fill a stockpot with water, salt generously, and bring to a boil so it will be ready for your pasta.

For the Kitchen Sink…
Using a cast iron skillet on medium heat, cook the bacon until crispy. Use a slotted spoon to remove the bacon from the drippings and set aside to drain on a paper towel. 

Reduce heat to low and add the sliced garlic to the bacon drippings; cook for about a minute until golden. Careful not to burn – burnt garlic is not yummy! When the garlic looks golden, use your slotted spoon to remove it from the drippings. You can put it with the cooked bacon if you want bits of garlic in your final dish, or, if you are feeding a group that doesn’t like too much garlic, you can discard them. In any case, your drippings now have a lovely garlic essence which will be a delicious note in your final pasta dish! Drain most (but not all) of the drippings into a small bowl until ready to use.

Your skillet should still have a nice coating of drippings on the bottom, so back onto stove it goes, medium-high this time. You should cook each of your meats separately as they will take varying times to cook properly. I have a little trick that makes them brown and caramelized on the outside but juicy on the inside. The same trick applies to both pork and chicken. When the skillet is nice and hot, toss in your cubed chicken and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Sear the cubes on all 4 sides, turning as necessary. When the chicken is seared nicely, but still pink in the middle, carefully add about 2 tablespoons of water and cover quickly with a lid (if you don’t have a lid that fits your skillet, an upside down metal mixing bowl works well as a dome, or I’ve even used a dinner plate in a pinch!). I say carefully because it will spatter a bit and once “lidded”, it will spew a little steam. (For the record, you never add water to hot grease, as that is a fire hazard, but in this case, your chicken is not floating in grease!) This technique will make your meat juicy and tender. Leave it “lidded” only for about a minute or two, then remove the lid and let the rest of the liquid cook off (you don’t want your meat to boil or it will become tough). As soon as the chicken is done, remove to a bowl, cover with foil, and set aside. 

Repeat this process with the pork. You may need a few spoons of the bacon drippings for the bottom of your pan for this second round of meat. 

Once the chicken and pork are cooked, covered, and set aside, cook the sausage in the same skillet until brown. You won’t need the water-and-dome trick for this one as it will stay plenty moist, just be sure that the sausage is completely cooked through per package instructions. Add cooked sausage to your bowl of chicken and pork. 

For the Pasta…
If you’re really savvy, you can cook your pasta while you’re cooking the meats just to cut down on time. It’s up to you and how well you juggle!  You just don’t want your pasta done before your meat, as assembly has to happen while the pasta is steaming hot.
Follow the instructions on the box and boil the pasta in salted water until al dente. BUT, about 2 minutes BEFORE the pasta is done cooking, toss in your frozen peas (earlier if using fresh peas.) Reserving about ¼ cup of the pasta water in a separate bowl, drain the pasta/peas and quickly toss them back into the pot.

For the Sauce…
As soon as your drained pasta is back in the pot (and off the heat so your eggs don’t scramble) pour the egg and cheese mixture over the top and using tongs, thoroughly toss the pasta with the egg mixture. The eggs will cook as they come into contact with the hot pasta and will create a creamy sauce with the melted parmesan cheese. You may want to add a touch of the pasta water to achieve a creamier sauce. Then, toss in all of your cooked meats, bacon and most of the scallions and toss again. Cover with a lid for about a minute just to be sure that the egg sauce is cooked. 

Finally, pour into a large serving bowl, garnish with remaining scallions and parmesan cheese and enjoy!