French Cherry Tart

I took a break and happen to get Laura Calder on the Cooking Channel.  She is so refreshing and I love to watch her" French Food at Home".  Unfortunately she is not on each day and seems to get moved around a lot on the network.

This tart  was super easy to make.  The worst part of the tart was pitting the cherries.  I can  managed to get Steve to do prep if it involves dessert so I did not have to worry about the cherry pitting.  He also just cracked a bag of hazelnuts with the hope for a dessert the I made him last year.  God bless him because I hate to crack nuts!!

This recipe calls for a tart pan but I used a 9 inch spring form pan.

 

 

The texture was similar to a soft cheese cake .  The crust has sugar in it and was somewhat cookie

like.  I am not a crust fan but this was tasty.  On the show she cooks the crust first but in the recipe it does not indicate to do so.  I did not cook the crust first and it came out fine.  The dough for the crust got soft when I was rolling out so I popped it into the freezer and then finished the crust by patting it in. hint: roll dough between wax or parchment paper.  Also the baking time is a bit longer, more like 40 minutes.

 

I would think almost any fruit could be substituted such as blackberries, raspberries fresh peaches etc.

 

 

Click here for the recipe:.http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/laura-calder/cherry-tart.html

 

Do not file this away make it.  A great recipe to make if you are short on time and company is coming.

Crab Cakes

Yes, I have returned.  I am adjusting to cooking for two and so I have not been cook booking.  Actually we have had days in our house where the closest thing to cooking was making coffee in the morning. 

In a few weeks I am going with a friend to see a cooking demo by Michael Symon from the food channel.  I do not have any books by him so I visited Amazon to get a book or two for him to autograph.  Today one of the books arrived, Michael's Genuine Food Down to Earth Food For People Who Love to Eat.  Wonderful recipes except it was not Michael Symon but Michael Schwartz.  This Michael is a James Beard Award winner.  Well, if I have to make a screw up this was one that turned out good.

Looking through the book, I found a recipe for crab cakes.  We had eaten at Lindy's  in German Village and Steve had amazing crab cakes.  Very little filler and a lot of crab. Now I am not a seafood cook so what was in them I really did not know, but they were excellent.

 The recipe in the book seemed simple and the picture look like there was a lot of crab and little filler. I had  a large can of crab in the refrigerator so I decide to give it a try.  I went to the store to pick up what I needed.  I was sure I had Old Bay at home but when I started to make them , oops, no Old Bay.  I searched the cupboard and pantry for something to substitute for it and settled on Durkee's Grill Creations, Gourmet for chicken and fish.  It worked very nicely.  When you coat the crab cakes , the recipe called for Panko.  All the plain panko had been used up so I used an oriental blend with sesame , ginger, and garlic.  This was another good substitute.

The recipe called for two egg yolks for binding but next time I think I will use three as they had a hard time staying together when coating.

Here is my adaptation of Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes.

1 can of (16 oz)  crab meat                                               
6 tablespoons unsalted butter                                       
1 small shallot                                                               
1 teaspoon Durkee's Grill Creations                               
1 teaspoon fine sea salt and 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper                                          
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/3 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup chives, finely chopped
2 large eggs
1 cup panko, oriental
2 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup canola oil

Put the crab in a bowl and pick through for any shells, then set aside. Combine the butter and  shallot in a small pot over medium heat.  When the butter is melted, add Grill Creations, salt, pepper, and mustard.  Stir together, remove from heat, add cream and blend well.  Pour the mixture over the crab.  Add the chives. Fold together gently so not to mash the crab. Cover with plastic and put in the refrigerator for 1 hour or over night.  The mixture will appear wet but the crab will absorb the moisture. 

When ready to cook, form the crab mixture into 6 patties.  I used a large ice cream scoop to measure it out.  Put flour in one bowl, eggs and two tablespoon water that have been whisked together in bowl two and the panko in the third bowl. Dredge, dip, dredge very gently. Carefully place three patties in a skillet that has been heated with half the butter and oil.    Brown for three or four minutes.  Repeat with the last three patties.  Enjoy
.
I am planning on making his Grilled Bacon Wrapped Peaches with aged Balsamic and piave vecchio cheese tomorrow.  I love this book and I am sure you will, too.

Check it out at: http://www.amazon.com/Michaels-Genuine-Food-Down---Earth/dp/0307591379/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1375147186&sr=8-6&keywords

Going to the bar!

I still have plenty of mulberries even with the wind and stormy weather that has gone through here.  So yesterday  when I went out  to pick some more mulberries, I went past the currant bushes and they were full of red, ripe, succulent berries.  So busy, busy purple hands from the mulberries picked a large pan of currants for jelly.

When my parents bought their house in Lorain, there were currant bushes growing in the backyard along with many other things.  Dad would always wait for them to grow ripe with fruit.  He had to fight the birds for them, so he would sit outside with his badminton racquet, swat cabbage moths and swing it wildly at the birds. This  made for an entertaining view.  When he would catch us laughing, he would tell us to come try it. Then he got to laugh. Let me tell you that swatting the cabbage moths is no easy task as they go every which way.   I challenge you to try it!

I do not have problems with birds because they are all in the mulberry tree.  They leave the currants, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries alone.  Another good reason to have a mulberry tree.  (If you live near me I have a beautiful sapling that needs a home or it will be soon be pulled out and dumped over the hill.  So if you are interested, let me know.  I also have two small ones that are going to need new homes, too.

Yesterday, I made fruit bars.   The recipe was adapted from the blog site, TastyKitchens.com and was added to that site by kelly dee.  Her recipe was Blueberry Rhubarb Bars. I made Rhubarb-Mulberry- Strawberry Bars.  I am a firm believer that anytime you use fruit in a 9x12 dish you should have 8 cups of fruit or more.

Here is my adaptation. preheat oven 350 degree F

 

Ingredients :

4 cups of rhubarb  cut into 1/2 inch pieces
3 cups of mulberries, stems removed (I use scissors)
1 cup cut up fresh strawberries
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup water

1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons corn starch

 1 1/2 cup AP flour
1 1/2 cups Quick cooking oats
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a small bowl, whisk the sugar and corn starch.  Set aside.

Combine he first  5 ingredients in a large sauce pan and  cook over medium heat until fruit is soft. Mash with a potato masher to smooth out large chunks. add sugar and cornstarch mixture.  Continue to stir until thickened.

While mixture is cooking,combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl, until well mixed and crumbly to make the crust.  Reserve a cup and a half for topping. Spray a 9x12 pan and press remaining crust mixture in the pan.

Pour the thickened fruit mixture over the crust.  Top with reserved mixture.  Bake 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.  Enjoy.

Three Berry Crisp

Walked over by the mulberry tree this morning and the fruit is just falling off the tree ( with the help of the birds).  The tree is about 65 feet tall so there is plenty to share with them.  Picked about two cups and will get some more tomorrow.  I couldn't decide what to make with them so I hit a search engine to find a recipe that had mulberries and rhubarb.  I had picked some rhubarb the day before.

I found a recipe that was called Three Berry Crisp.  It was on Food.com.  Why it is called three berry when it only calls for strawberries I cannot tell you.  It is okay because I didn't use strawberries nor did I use three berries. But it was quite tasty.

Here I s my adaptation of the recipe.

 Three Berry Crisp
  
Ingredients :
3 medium apples,sliced
2 cups of mulberries
4 cups rhubarb, cut into pieces
3 tablespoons sugar
 3 tablespoons flour
1 slight teaspoon cinnamon

Topping:
3 envelopes of maple cinnamon instant oatmeal
1/3 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons melted butter

Directions:
Spray a 5 quart baking dish and lay apples in the bottom.
Add berries and rhubarb on top of apples.
Mix together the sugar, flour and cinnamon, stir gently through the fruit
Mix together topping ingredients until integrated, sprinkle over fruit.

Bake 350 F for 1 hour

Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.  Enjoy!

I chose to use the instant oatmeal because I did not have any regular oats.  It worked really well and I probably will do it again. It is a quick and good way to use up the oatmeal that does not get eaten in the summer.

OOPS!! Sudden wind and rain are attacking the mulberry tree( and everything outside).  It is near the pond so I guess the vegan fish will have some mulberries.

 No power, no internet, no post for now.  30% chance of rain!!!

Aw, Mom meatballs again????

I learned at a very young age that if you rename food it will be eaten.  My brother was always the picky eater.  He hated lots of thing but especially onions.  My mom would cook onions and tell him that they were ooyons.  Down the hatch they went. YUM!!

My husband hates turkey but he loves pork burgers.  I buy Jennie O turkey patties, take them out of the box and put them in a zip lock bag.  Instant pork burgers.  He loves them.

Well, my youngest daughter hates meatloaf.  It does not pass her lips. Meatloaf  makes me cringe but the hubby loves it, so after 24 years I broke down and made some.

I got the recipe from watching Ree Drummond on the Food Channel.  She made a meatloaf wrapped in bacon and then sauced it.  She claimed that everyone always liked it.  Okay, Maybe?  I will give this baby a try.  Yelp, she was correct.  Everyone at the dinner table loved it. 

 I made the recipe but I made them into large meatballs, wrapped them with bacon and put her magical sauce (left out the hot stuff) on it.  Baked them for 40 minutes added more sauce and then cooked them for 20 more minutes on 400 degrees to make sure the bacon was done.

Ate them with corn on  the cob and fresh fruit salad.  So good!

Eating leftovers tonight.  This is a definite make again food.

For the recipe go to :
foodnetwork.com , click chefs at the top, click Ree 'Drummond picture, and click her top recipes. Download. This is a don't pass up recipe.

Enjoy!

Beef Meatballs and Sauce with Rigatono

Yes, I am still alive.  I've been busy with the outdoor stuff and  when I  come in, I am not in the mood to cook anything but simple standbys.  Sunday, my friend , Sandy and I are going to Kingsdale Giant Eagle in Columbus to see Alex Guarnaschelli from the Food Channel.  So I had to get her book and make something from it (plus it was cheaper on line than it would be there).  It is titled, Old School Comfort Food.  The way I learned to Cook.  This book is very refreshing.  The introduction gives you insight to where she comes from and how it influenced her cooking. 

The book stars out with snacks.  Some are simple  such as a English muffin with tomato slices and cheddar ( not inspirational but kind of a sign that says, Hey, it is okay to make something simple as long as you enjoy it).  She also had some others that I am more than willing to try such as pickled grapes with prosciutto and baked clams with bacon.

The salad section has some really interesting recipes.  I would estimate that out of the ten recipes I would make eight of them.  Marinated asparagus spears, baked potato salad are among them.

The meat section varies from beef meatballs and sauce with rigatoni to bacon wrapped pork chops with apple and Brussels sprouts.


Poultry was not quite as interesting as the meat.  I think I will try the brined and roasted whole chicken and Cornish hens on the grill.

When you live in the heartland of the country fresh seafood is not something you can always get at the local grocery.  But I think mussels with white mushrooms and hazelnuts and scallop gratin with scallions is on my to do list.

The veggie section is always my favorite  The roasted Brussels sprouts and the mashed potato "Chantilly" read and look mouth watering.

And then there is dessert.  I never met a dessert that I did not like and  I am sure that these are all test worthy. MMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmm!

No,  that is not the end.  Alex gives us a section titled, Sunday Brunch Dishes from my mom's pantry to yours.  This really is a great section. When you have those unexpected guest or know someone is coming over but you are not sure when, then this is a really go to section.

Her last section is a titled, made it from scratch for the fridge door.  Now when you run out of an item and the store doesn't carry it , you can make it.  Easy pickles, barbecue sauce, homemade ricotta  and more.Throughout this book, Alex gives us glimpses of what makes her the chef that she is.

I had to look around to see what I had to make one of  Alex's recipe.  Ta da!   Beef Meatballs and sauce with rigatoni. Only I used whole grain spaghetti.  Sorry Alex but  I just did no want to make the
trip into town for rigatoni.   The consensus was that the favor was phenomenal but it needed to be a thicker sauce.  They are just use to that thick Mids sauce.  It was voted as a make again.  Really worth the effort!

 

 

You can get this recipe at foodtv.com and type in the name of the recipe.  There are many of the recipes from this book in Alex's top 100 recipe.  Enjoy!!

Oatmeal cookies

The hubby was craving cookies so 'I told him to find a recipe he wanted.  Oatmeal cookies???? Okie dokie that is fine with me.  The recipe is from a paperback titled, Southern Living Cookies Cookbook.  It has an array of recipes including Bar cookies, Drop cookies, refrigerator cookies , rolled cookies, and shape cookies. 

These cookies were super quick and easy.  The recipe ,Oatmeal Macaroons, actually seemed pretty healthy.  It called for salad oil (I used canola oil), only 1/2 cup flour and 1 egg. The only thing I disagreed with was that it made 3 1/2  dozen cookies.  I used a small scoop to make equal size cookies and came out with 25.  OF course if you count them there is only 24 because one fell apart and I had to hide it in my mouth. MMMM!

Here is my adaptation :

1/2 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon almond flavoring
1 egg, well beaten (domestic violence!)
1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1 cup regular oats, uncooked

Beat oil and sugar together. Add extract and beaten egg. Mix well.  In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and whisk to mix.  Add to sugar -oil mixture.  Stir in oats and chips.
Drop by teaspoon or use a small scoop,  Bake 379 degrees for 10 -12 minutes.  My oven acts up so it took 15 minutes.  Cool for a minute then put on cooling rack.
Click here for the cookbook $.01 wow!! 

 

http://www.amazon.com/Southern-Living-Cookies-Cookbook-Sturges/dp/B001PEM6BG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1367958462&sr=8-2&keywords=southern+living+cookies+cookbook