Caramelized Onion and Apple Pizza

This tastes like fall! I love homemade pizzas its healthier and cheaper! I also found a new pre-fab crust, Mama Mary's Thin Crust, and you get two crusts for the price of one Boboli! 

Ingredients:

1 - Homemade or pre made pizza crust

1 - Apple (Fuji, Honeycrisp, etc.) - peeled and cored

1 - Sweet Yellow Onion - sliced into rings

4 - Slices of Bacon - cooked and crumbled

1/4 - 1/2 cup - Shredded Smoked Gouda

1/4 - 1/2 cup - Shredded Horseradish Cheddar

You could use whatever cheese(s) you wish these are two we had on hand

1 tbsp of Maple Syrup

2 tbsp - Olive Oil, divided

Start with caramelizing the onions as this can take 30-45 mins. Coat a saute pan with 1 tbsp of Olive Oil and turn heat to low to medium low depending on how hot your stove cooks. This is a low and slow cooking process to get that sweet and nutty flavor. Let the oil heat for a minute then throw the onions in and don't worry about breaking the rings up this will happen as they cook. You will need to stir these every few minutes to make sure they all cook evenly.

This is what they will look like about 20 mins later. Keep cooking until they are all golden brown. Go ahead and pre heat your oven to your crust's instructions.

After about 20 minutes of cooking

Once the onions are done you can place them in a bowl and put to the side. Then in the same pan turn up the heat just a bit to medium and throw the apple slices in and drizzle maple syrup over them. Let them cook for about 3-5 mins or until they just begin to soften.

Now lets assemble the pizza start by brushing the entire top of the pizza crust with 1 tbsp of olive oil. Then one layer of apples and onions and small sprinkling of cheese to help hold all the layers together. Then the rest of the apples and onions then bacon and cheese! 

Now just bake to your package or dough recipe instructions. 

Stay tuned for another pizza recipe with my favorite butternut squash!

Brines!

Lets talk about the most important step of cooking a turkey! Brine! Don't. Skip. This. Step.

Seriously, it changes things, the first meat we ever brined (is that a word?) was a pork tenderloin then we did a turkey for Friendsgiving. I introduced my mom to this cooking gem and even after cooking many wonderful Thanksgiving dinners over the years she even agreed this was the best turkey she'd ever placed on the table. Even if you barely know how to operate your oven I swear if you do this step you will have a juicy and delicious bird!

Brining is simple you are soaking a lean meat in a salty solution which over time absorbs into the meat causing it to retain the liquid which you can flavor with pretty much anything. The salty soak also actually changes the molecular structure of the meat but I don't understand the science so I'm not going to try and explain. If you are curious Google Alton Brown and brines, he can explain it.

First - Get a turkey.  A fresh turkey is always always better as the frozen birds are injected with a sodium solution and this makes it difficult to control the salt in your turkey. 

Second - Then you need to decide if you have enough refrigerator space to let your turkey sit in a brine bag/large pot in the fridge or if you are like me and do not have a 1200 sq ft refrigerator then a cooler will be dandy! Clean and rinse the cooler really well. Then I like to line mine with a large plastic bag or trash bag. They make brining bags you can use these but most likely you have another form of a bag and this will work just fine.

Third - Make your brine solution! I have posted two recipes below. The most important part is the ratio of salt and sugar the rest of the flavors are up to you so throw in your favorites!

Orange Rosemary Brine  

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman

3 cups - Apple Cider

1.5 - 2 gallons of Cold Water  

This can be less depending on your turkey size and if you are using the cooler method - I'll get to this at the end

4 - 6 Rosemary Sprigs 

1 1/2 cups - Kosher Salt

2 cups  - Brown Sugar

3 Orange Peels  

I also just throw the whole orange in after I peel

You can also add bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, garlic, thyme, etc. 

Throw all of your ingredients together in a large pot and cook over medium heat until the sugar and salt have completely dissolved. Then bring to a quick boil, turn off the heat and let cool. Completely. Note: If you are pressed for time. You can eliminate some water from the beginning then add ice in to cool the brine faster.

Remove the innards and rinse him off then place your turkey in your brining bag or cooler or whatever vessel you are using! Remember if you are not refrigerating it you MUST be using a cooler! Food safety people! Then pour your brine over and make sure its covered by the brine. If its not just add cold water. Now you wait, a minimum of 12 hours but I would suggest about 16 hours. 

*If you are using a cooler first I suggest the smallest one your turkey will fit it with room for the the brine. I eliminate liquid from the beginning and use about one gallon so that you can use ice to cool and to keep the cooler cold.

After 12-16 hours take the bird out, discard the brine and rinse the bird off. Then pat dry and cook your turkey!

I would also recommend this recipe:

Alton Brown's Brine

Bohemian Bull

It was Monday. I was on the way from work to the grocery store and some friends called asking if we wanted to go check out a new restaurant on James Island. This is always an exciting adventure as James Island isn't known for culinary cuisine. However in the past few years as Charleston itself is becoming a foodie mecca we've had some new ventures pop up. Some of these have been delicious and others total flops. 

The Bohemian Bull took the home of Jack's Cosmic Dogs on Folly Road but once you walk inside you would never know! The remodel, decor, atmosphere it was a whole new place. The outdoor area is huge equipped with bocce, cornhole, a huge firepit and ample seating.

The outside bar on the front side

The outdoor firepit area...check out the fence.

Here is a close up of the fence. Its made out of old pallets and dock pilings from Folly.

The walkway from the back

Now lets get to the drinks and food! I'm not a huge beer drinker but Chew is and he was very pleased! It was an extensive drink menu featuring many local spots like Westbrook, Free House, Frothy Beard, Coast, Holy City, Riverdog Breweries and my friends at Striped Pig Distillery. The food menu looked delicious but if you are watching calories I'd recommend not looking at this menu. We couldn't decide. It took us 20 minutes to order. I went with the truffle burger not part of my diet plan but oh it was so delicious! The bread is local from Normandy Farms and they source all the produce from Grow Food Carolina. Local. Love.

The Truffle Burger

BJ got the Folly Cheesesteak with Pickled Vegetables 

Great menus and food are one thing but service is huge in my book and the staff was amazing, friendly and knowledgeable. It was a Monday night and this place was packed and yet we never wait for a thing!

Candied Jalapenos

We had a lot of jalapenos and other peppers left in the garden and we had a freeze two nights ago. Its November and Charleston so this arctic chill was not normal or welcomed. Oh our entire heating & air system blew that night as well. It was superb timing! Okay back to the jalapenos...we picked them all so I had a giant bowl of peppers and since tomatoes are not in season salsa wasn't an option. Our friend Katie made some candied jalapenos last year that Chew is obsessed with so I decided to candy them all! As far as canning goes it was a pretty easy process!

Giant bowl of peppers! The little purple ones are called Purple Mayans I think they are so cute!

First step is to put on gloves! Second step is to remember that while the gloves protect your hands they do not protect your face even if it itches. I made this mistake. Then slice all of your jalapenos into even slices about 1/8 inch thick and discard the stems. Once everything is sliced you can place in a bowl to the side for later. Note: If you are going to use a water bath to can the jars (makes them shelf stable) then I would go ahead and start your water bath now. If not you can just keep the jars in your fridge.

Then start the syrup in a large pot. I use a dutch oven or a stock pot for most things sugary or syrupy having a thicker pot base means a smaller chance of me burning the sugar.

The syrup starting to boil

Then you add the jalapenos in

Now get all of your jars ready its time to fill 'em! See I told you this process is so easy!

You'll see later that I completely over estimated how many jars this would make

     Recipe:

• 3 lbs. Fresh Jalapenos
• 2 cups of Cider Vinegar
• 6 cups white granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric
• 1/2 tsp Celery Seed
• 3 tsp Minced Garlic
• 1 tsp Ground Cayenne Pepper

 
Remove the stems from the jalapeno peppers. Slice into 1/8 inch rounds and then place in a bowl and set aside. 

In a large pot, bring cider vinegar, white sugar, turmeric, celery seed, the minced garlic and cayenne pepper to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir every once in awhile to ensure the bottom isn’t burning. Add in the sliced jalapenos and simmer for 4 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the peppers, loading into clean, sterile canning jars to within 1/4 inch of the upper rim of the jar. Then turn the heat up to medium high under the pot with the syrup and bring to a full boil. Keeping at a rolling boil for 6 minutes. Again, stir every once in awhile to ensure the bottom isn’t burning.

Use a ladle to pour the boiling syrup into the jars over the jalapeno slices. Then use a chopstick or knife or something and poke it around in the jar a few times to make sure you don’t have a trapped air bubbles!
Adjust the level of the syrup if necessary. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean, damp paper towel and place new, two-piece lids to finger-tip tightness.

NOTE: If you do not want to can these to the point of shelf stable, you can simply put the jars in your refrigerator and use as needed. If you wish to can them, follow the instructions below.

To can, place jars in a hot water bath canner and cover with water by at least an inch. Bring the water to a full rolling boil. When it reaches a full rolling boil, set the timer for 10 minutes for half-pints or 15 minutes for pints. When timer goes off, use canning tongs to transfer the jars to a cooling rack. Leave them to cool, undisturbed, for 24 hours. When fully cooled, wipe them with a clean, make sure the rings are tight and then date and label.

This is the hard part! Allow jars to sit for at least two weeks so the flavors can meld all together. After two weeks they are ready to eat! Chew likes ‘em plain out of the jar and on just about anything. I’d get some cream cheese and a cracker kinda like pepper jelly! Enjoy!

Yields about 8 or 9 half pints.

Recipe from Katie at The Perks

I'm actually doing this!

I've been talking about starting my blog for about three years now. I procrastinate sometimes. I also like to start too many projects at once and then stress about which ones to finish first which typically results in me just starting another one. Well now that my 14 months of wedding planning are over and our large house projects are starting to wrap up I figured I needed a new activity!