Ingredient: aged cheddar cheese, grated

Sweet Onion Pie w/ Ritz Cracker Crust

Ritz Crackers are a universal favorite. They’ve been a comforting fixture in grocery stores for well over 80 years. Ritz are the perfect balance of salty, crispy, and buttery.

When Ritz crackers were released in 1934, the name was associated with the epitome of luxury. Anything calling itself Ritz in the 1930s was advertising itself as high-class. Many people think that Nabisco invented vintage ‘mock apple pie’. Nabisco was obviously not the creator, as mock apple pie recipes have been found as far back as the 19th century, when they were usually made with saltines or water crackers, but definitely played a huge part in the popularity of the creation. The buttery cracker rounds appeared on the market in 1934 and they were an instant hit. By 1935, the National Biscuit Company (or Nabisco) had sold 5 billion units of crackers. Shortly thereafter, the recipe for mock apple pie appeared on the back of the boxes. The recipe came at the perfect time due to apples being expensive during the Great Depression.

Ritz taste buttery, toasty, and salty. Apples taste sweet, sour, and juicy. You wouldn’t think that you could make a convincing fake apple pie filling with Ritz crackers, but it actually works. The secret is the cream of tartar, a powdered acid that’s produced as part of the winemaking process. Since cream of tartar comes from grapes, it has a fruity flavor that infuses the crackers and makes them taste vaguely like apples.

While they are great to eat them on their own, it seems there are many ways to use them in recipes, so we can enjoy them for whole meals and even as leftovers the next day, instead of for the mere 10 seconds it takes to get through a whole cracker sleeve. Crumbled Ritz make amazing toppings for  casseroles, main courses, side dishes and desserts. Ritz can bring buttery flavor and a slightly flaky but ultimately crunchy texture to just about anything, so the real question is, why wouldn’t you want to make good use of them?

This sweet onion pie is a great way to showcase sweet onions. It’s salty, a little sweet & cheesy.

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 Sweet Onion Pie w/ Ritz Cracker Crust
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Cuisine American
Keyword sweet onion pie w/ Ritz cracker crust
Servings
Ingredients
Cuisine American
Keyword sweet onion pie w/ Ritz cracker crust
Servings
Ingredients
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
Instructions
  1. Place 2 Tbsp butter in a large pan & cook onions over a medium heat until starting to soften. You want the onion to still have a little bite so be careful not to overcook. Remove from heat.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 F.
  3. Combine cracker crumbs with 5 Tbsp melted butter & press into bottom & up the sides of a lightly greased 9-inch pie pan. Spoon onions on top of crust.
  4. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, salt, pepper & Tabasco sauce. Pour mixture over onions. Sprinkle with cheese & paprika.
  5. Bake for 30 minutes.

Beef & Potato Wellington

Today, November 24th, our neighbors to the south in the USA, are celebrating their Thanksgiving Day. It encompasses both religious and secular aspects … being both a harvest festival and a festival of family.

Here in Canada, we have already enjoyed our Thanksgiving in October but I thought it would be nice to acknowledge their holiday with posting a special meal.

While a classic beef wellington makes for a elegant dinner, it is easy to re-create a Wellington into a gourmet, hearty meal but on a more reasonable every day budget & time frame. Rather than using an expensive steak cut, this beef wellington recipe uses inexpensive ground beef and puff pastry sheets. The ground meat can be changed to ground pork, chicken, turkey or sausage. The list of additions to the meat is endless ranging from mushrooms to cheese. Some bacon mixed with the beef gives the dish that nice bacon impact that is very tasty.

This classic beef wellington-revisited is not only delicious but decadent. It is so good with a mushroom gravy.

Print Recipe
 Beef & Potato Wellington
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Rate this recipe!
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword beef mushroom wellington
Servings
Ingredients
Puff Pastry
Filling
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword beef mushroom wellington
Servings
Ingredients
Puff Pastry
Filling
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
Instructions
  1. Thaw puff pastry overnight in refrigerator. Cook potatoes & mash with grated cheese, salt & garlic powder. On a piece of parchment paper, roll potato/cheese mixture into a log shape. Set aside, keeping warm.
  2. In a large saucepan, cook bacon until browned but not real crisp; drain on paper towel then chop & set aside.
  3. Sauté onions, mushrooms & garlic in bacon drippings; set aside. Add beef to saucepan & scramble fry until browned, stirring to break up & moisture has evaporated. Remove from heat.
  4. Add vegetables back to saucepan along with flour, beef broth powder, beaten egg, bacon & seasonings. Combine well.
  5. Preheat oven to 375 F.
  6. On a sheet of parchment paper, roll out puff pastry thin but not so it will break when filled. On one end (which becomes the center underneath the roll) spoon a layer of meat mixture. Next, lay the mashed potato 'log' on top. Spoon the rest of the meat mixture on top & around the sides, lightly patting it into the potato log.
  7. Taking hold of the pastry (that is already tucked underneath), wrap it over top & tuck the edge in underneath to join up with the other pastry edge. Pinch together the open ends, leaving a bit of a gap to allow steam to escape.
  8. Make egg wash & brush liberally over pastry. Lift the 'wellington', using the parchment paper to a baking sheet.
  9. Bake for about 45 minutes or until nicely browned. Remove from oven, cover lightly with a sheet of foil for about 10 minutes. Slice & serve with a mushroom gravy if you wish.