Overnight Fruit and Cream Cheese Danishes

 I have a raging sweet tooth - that should be no secret based on the recipes I've been posting lately - and a particularly soft spot for a well made breakfast pastry.  Bored of my usual fare, I grabbed a stack of old issues of Taste of Home magazine, and was pleased to spot a recipe for Overnight Cherry Danishes in the December/January 2010 issue (page 22).  I had a little birthday breakfast party scheduled for Friday morning and I just knew these would be perfect.

In evaluating the recipe, I saw immediately that it had a lot more yeast than I'd like, so I cut the amount in a little more than half and allowed for a bit more rise time at the end.  I find that I've become sensitive to large amounts of yeast and I prefer the texture and flavor of doughs that rise more slowly.  The dough is enriched with cream, butter and egg yolks, so the crumb is very soft.  It was an interesting dough to work with in that it does not require kneading, and in fact the kneading would encourage the formation of gluten strands and make the dough chewier, which is obviously not the desired result.  I was a little skeptical when I stirred it all together and had a shaggy sticky glob in my bowl, but by the morning, it had risen nicely.  Because of how moist it is, you have to work with it straight out of the refrigerator.  I took the big chunk of now firm and chilled dough, cut it into four equal pieces, and rolled each piece lightly in flour to make it easier to handle.  It was a nice texture to work with, and I could tell as I got to the last piece that as it starts to warm up it gets a bit sticky again.  Definitely don't let it sit around!

I added the cream cheese layer to the filling.  Definitely a must.  I also used homemade cherry preserves and a hastily thrown together homemade fresh blueberry filling rather than canned stuff.  If you haven't been around here very long, you may not know my hatred of high fructose corn syrup.  Nasty stuff.

Last of all, I had some leftover almond struesel topping from a batch of these delicious muffins, and I sprinkled it on about half of the pastries.  I loved it and thought it was a great addition.

The one thing I will do differently next time is to add a bit more fruit filling.  I put these together, then headed out on a nice 8 mile run, so by the time they went into the oven, they'd risen quite a bit more and the filling to pastry ratio shifted to a point of the filling looking skimpy.  We can't have that!  They tasted lovely, still, but I'd be even happier with a bit more fruit.

Plan on about 15 minutes of prep time the night before, and 30 minutes of prep + 60 minutes of rise time + 15ish minutes for baking the day of.  These remained very soft throughout the whole day.  I would even recommend this as a beginner recipe because the dough is so easy to handle.  Don't be put off by the length of the recipe, because it really was simple to put together and the results were so worth it.

Overnight Fruit and Cream Cheese Danishes
(adapted from Taste of Home magazine)

Dough:
2 t. active dry yeast
1/2 cup cream
1 1/2 cups milk
6 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 t. kosher salt
1 cup cold butter
6 egg yolks, beaten

Heat the cream and milk until warm, about 110 degrees.  Stir the yeast in and let it dissolve while you prepare the other dough ingredients.  In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar and salt, then cut the butter in with a pastry blender until crumbly.  Stir in the egg yolks and cream/milk/yeast mixture until it forms a soft sticky ball.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, prepare two baking sheets by misting lightly with cooking spray.  Remove the dough from the refrigerator and divide into four equal sections.  Lightly dust a work surface with flour and roll each dough chunk around until evenly lightly coated with flour.  Roll each chunk into a 12" x 4" rectangle, then cut into 1"x4" strips.  Pinch two strips together at one end, twist in opposite directions and pinch the other ends together.  Then bend the strip around to form a wreath and pinch to close.  Pinch together the center and press down to make a divot for filling.  Space 12 pastries evenly on each baking sheet for a total yield of 24.

Allow to rise for 45 - 60 minutes while you prepare the fillings below.

Cream Cheese Filling:

8 ounce package cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 t. vanilla extract

Beat the cream cheese until smooth, then beat in the remaining ingredients until well combined.   Make a little well in the middle of each pastry, pinching the middle of it together if necessary to close any gaps, and spoon a dollop of cream cheese filling into each.

Fruit Filling:


1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries or raspberries
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1 T. cornstarch

In a medium saucepan, stir together the sugar and cornstarch until well combined.  Stir in the water and berries, then bring to a low boil over medium low heat, stirring frequently.  Smash a few of the berries with the back of your spoon to release the juices, and simmer for a few minutes until thickened.  Remove from heat and allow to cool before using as pastry topping.  (I find that frozen berries actually work better for this than fresh berries.)

Alternatively, you may use prepared fruit preserves or any fruity pie filling of your choice.

Press the divot in the center of each pastry down again now that they have risen, and spoon a generous spoon full of fruit topping on to each pastry, on top of the cream cheese filling.

Optional Almond Struesel


1/3 cup flour
2 T. sugar
2 T. cold butter
1/3 cup sliced almonds
1/2 t. cinnamon

Place all ingredients in a small food processor and pulse until coarse crumbs form.  Sprinkle on top of the fruit filling.

Bake at 350 degrees for 14-16 minutes, or until lightly browned.  Allow to cool slightly, then drizzle with one of the glazes below.

Basic Glaze


2 T. melted butter
1 T. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1-3 T. milk, added in small amounts to reach drizzling consistency

OR

Lemon Cream Glaze (excellent on top of blueberry filling)

2 T. melted butter
2 T. cream
2 T. lemon juice
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Combine all ingredients together in a small bowl and whisk until smooth.

Creamy Pear or Apple Tart

This is a lovely combination of flavors and textures.  The original recipe comes from a Junior League of Denver cookbook I received for my wedding.  I have made it several times over the years, and am reminded why it's on the favorite list each time.  The nutmeg in the crust is unusual and delicious.  This time, I used freshly grated nutmeg and it added an extra pop to it.  The original recipe calls for apples, which is what I usually use, but the pears were calling my name at Costco and I succumbed...  The results were very tasty, and I actually think I like it better with pears.  I made this a few days ago for a party, and munched on some leftovers of it today and it was still great - the crust was not soggy, and the flavors had improved with time.  This was technically listed as a breakfast tart in the original cookbook, but it serves well as a dessert too.

If you've never invested in a tart pan, I highly recommend that you bite the bullet and spend the 15 or so bucks.  It is so much easier to make impressive looking desserts in a tart pan than any other pan - just press the crust into the fluted edging, and pop the outer rim off once it's ready to serve.  Voila!  Fancy dessert!  I now have three, two sizes of round pans and this rectangular pan.  I like 'em all.

Creamy Pear or Apple Tart

Crust:


1 ¼ cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
¼ t. nutmeg
½ t. baking powder
½ t. salt
½ cup butter, chilled
1 egg
1 T. milk

Filling:

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
¼ cup sugar
2 egg yolks (or one egg if you're lazy like me - I don't notice a difference)
½ t. vanilla

Topping:

2 large McIntosh, Fuji or Granny Smith apples, cored and thinly sliced OR 2 large pears, same treatment
1/3 cup sugar
½ t. cornstarch
½ t cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 10 inch tart pan or pie pan. In large bowl, combine the dry crust ingredients. Cut butter into flour mixture until crumbly. In small bowl, beat egg and milk and add to flour mixture. Blend until dough forms a ball and pat dough into prepared pan.

Blend cream cheese and ¼ cup sugar, then add egg yolks and vanilla and beat until smooth. Spread evenly over crust. Layer apples over cream cheese mixture in circular pattern, slightly overlapping slices. In small bowl, combine remaining topping ingredients and sprinkle over the apples.

Bake 30 minutes, reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees and bake for 10 more minutes or until golden brown.

This is best if served at room temperature or chilled.  It holds up well if made in advance, even up to two days in advance, and kept in the refrigerator.

Tropical Paradise Salad

I'm sick of winter.  I was hopeful that if I made a wild and springy salad, it would warm up outside, but I found myself eating the leftovers as I watched snow flakes flutter down.  It was delicious anyway :).  The dressing is something that I haphazardly threw together, tasting and adjusting as I went.  It's very likely that I'll come up with a different version in the future, but the basic bones of it were good.  Light and citrusy, which is what I was going for.  I made this for a crowd, and was able to prepare everything in advance and assemble it at the last minute.

Tropical Paradise Salad

1 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup granulated sugar
dash cayenne pepper
1/4 t. freshly ground sea salt
1/2 t. cinnamon

2 chicken breasts
3 T. honey
2 T. butter
freshly ground sea salt and pepper
1/2 t. dried tarragon

1 mango, peeled and diced
1 cup diced fresh pineapple
1 cup sliced sweet bell peppers (I used mini colorful sweet peppers found at Costco)
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 bag prewashed baby salad green mix
1 avocado, diced (and with a splash of lime juice if you're not going to eat it right away)

Dressing:
1/2 cup coconut milk
zest and juice of one lime
one orange, zested, and juice sqeezed out of half of it, fruit removed from the other half and added to the mix
2 T. honey
1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
1/2 cup pineapple juice
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

To make the almonds, heat a nonstick skillet over medium high heat, then add the almonds, cooking for 3-5 minutes and stirring a few times until they begin to toast.  Meanwhile, mix the sugar, cayenne, salt and cinnamon in a small bowl.  Sprinkle 3/4 of that mix evenly over the nuts, then wait until the sugar starts to liquify.  Stir gently until most of the sugar is melted and coating the nuts.  Remove from heat and immediately sprinkle the remaining sugar over them and stir until it's evenly distributed.  Immediately dump out onto a piece of parchment to let them cool.

You may certainly use prepared grilled chicken strips or diced rotisserie chicken as a time saver.  To prepare it the way I did (though I always prefer to grill - it was just too cold), add two chicken breasts right from the freezer into a large nonstick skillet with a tightly fitting lid.  Add 1/4 cup of water to the pan, and season the breasts with the salt, pepper and tarragon.  Put the lid on and simmer over medium low heat for about 20 minutes.  Remove the lid, put a pat of butter on each breast and a generous squirt of honey, put the lid back on for another 2-3 minutes until the juices begin to caramelize, then flip the breasts over and again put the lid on for another 2-3 minutes.  Remove the lid for the last 2-3 minutes to allow the juices to reduce into a lovely syrup.  Pull the pan off the burner and let the chicken rest for several minutes before dicing.

Assemble the salad by laying down the bed of lettuce on the bottom, then sprinkling the fruit, veggies, chicken, nuts and cheese on top.  Prepare the dressing by processing all of the ingredients but the oil in the blender.  Once the blender is spinning, add the oil in a thin stream.  This will help it emulsify nicely so that it won't separate later.  If you want a little bit of a kick, a couple drops of tabasco or a dash of cayenne will do the trick nicely.  A dab of dijon mustard would add a nice tang as well.

If you are not going to serve immediately, I recommend having the dressing separate.  This quantity will serve 4 main dish salads.

Moist and Chewy Granola Bars

When the weather is gray and murky, I turn to food blog surfing for comfort and inspiration.  Bring on the carbs, I say!  Smitten Kitchen posted a recipe for granola bars that caught my eye.  Just like everything else I cook, I used that recipe as a basic guideline and really just did my own thing.  I'm pleased to say that the pan of gooey nuts, craisins and oats turned into some really wonderfully tasty bars.  I'm not sure I can go quite as far as calling them truly healthy, because they do have butter and brown sugar in them, but I used a nice blend of whole wheat flour, oats, flax, pure almond butter, cashews, almonds and sunflower seeds to counteract them, and skipped the corn syrup in favor of honey and  maple syrup.  This is the sort of recipe that you can unleash your imagination for combination possibilities and be hard pressed to go wrong.  I'm thinking they're a great grab-n-go breakfast choice.

Moist and Chewy (and even mostly healthy) Granola Bars

Dry ingredient mix:

1 2/3 cup quick rolled oats

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/4 cup ground flax seed

2-3 cups your choice of nuts and dried fruits (I used sunflower seeds, cashews, almonds, coconut and craisins), chopped coarsely if desired

Wet ingredient mix:

6 T. melted butter

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1/3 cup peanut or almond butter

1 t. vanilla (optional)

Prepare an 8x8 square pan or an 11x7 rectangular pan by lining it in one direction with parchment paper, allowing some overhang for easy removal after baking.  Lightly mist the ends of the pan that are not covered with parchment.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients together until well combined.  In a small bowl, mix all of the wet ingredients together, then stir into the dry ingredient mixture until everything is uniformly coated.  Press into an even layer in the pan.

Bake the bars for 30 minutes, or until the edges and top are golden.  It will still yield to touch in the center, but will set up as it cools.  Allow it to cool in the pan for 20 minutes or so before gently lifting it out by the parchment paper overhang onto a wire rack.  Once it is entirely cool, cut into bars with a serrated knife.  Store in a tightly closed container.  SK says you can freeze these - I doubt they'll last long enough here for that to be an issue ;).

Cherry Christmas Scones

I made these last Christmas, sans the cherries and buttermilk. Alan has been hankering for them ever since and this was his special request for Christmas Even brunch. Like a lot of scones, they're a little shaggy and homely, but very tasty, especially right out of the oven. I did one batch with an egg wash to hold the lovely large sugar crystals on top (shown in picture) and another batch with buttermilk on top. Same taste, just obviously yellower with the egg. They're tasty plain, but marvelous with fruit jams and lemon curd.

Cherry Christmas Scones

Blend together:
3 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
zest of one orange

Cut in:
1 stick of cold butter

Stir in:
1/2 cup chopped dried cherries (preferably ones not processed with sulfur)
1+ cups buttermilk (you may need a tablespoon or two more than one cup in order to adequately moisten the dough)

Knead lightly about 10 times until the dough forms a ball. Pat into a round about 12 inches in diameter. Cut into 12 even wedges and separate them out at least a 1/2 inch. Brush the tops with either a little more buttermilk or else a beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

Cherry Almond White Chocolate Biscotti

I had it in my head that biscotti were somehow tricky to make. In a spate of blog surfing this week and wandering through several cooking blogs (of which I found many really great ones), I stumbled across Closet Cooking. Man, does that guy make gooood looking food. My kind of food. A little fussy but not so much that you don't feel like you can make it. Anyway, he posted several biscotti recipes, so I figured I'd give one a try. I modified his cranberry and pistachio biscotti to suit my own tastes and this is what I came up with. The beauty of biscotti is that so many great combinations of fruits and nuts can be stirred in. It was a truly simple recipe. The hardest part was just waiting for them to cook - they do take a while, so plan ahead. But stirring the dough together took literally 5 minutes. I dare you to make a batch. It's the perfect accompaniment to hot cocoa on a cold day.

Cherry Almond White Chocolate Biscotti

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

9 T. sugar

dash of salt

3 eggs

1 1/2 T. vegetable oil

1/3 cup dried cherries, chopped*

1/3 cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the dry ingredients excluding the nuts and cherries. In a small mixing bowl, whisk the eggs until beaten and stir in the vegetable oil. Pour the liquid into the flour mixture and stir until a dough forms, and stir in the nuts and fruit. On a parchment paper lined baking sheet (and I mean it - you really do want to do the parchment paper), pat the dough into a rectangle about 3-4 inches wide and 1/2-3/4 of an inch thick. The dough will spread sideways, so you'll wind up with biscotti longer than what you think. I found it helpful to lightly dust my hands in flour before shaping it to reduce the stickiness.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Allow to cool slightly so that you can handle it without burning yourself, then remove to a cutting board and slice into 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide slices. Lay the slices back on the parchment lined sheet and bake at 325 for 10 minutes each side. Remove to a rack to cool.

Melt the white chocolate chips in the microwave on medium power until smoothe, then drizzle with a fork over the bottom half of each biscotti. Allow to set up, then store in an airtight container.

**A word about cherries. All dried fruit, for that matter. Look at the label before you buy it, because many brands are processed with sulfur compounds, which in my opinion, impart a nasty after taste. I found dried montmorency cherries at Costco that were not processed with sulfur.

The sky's the limit with these. Have fun creating your own combinations. They make a great gift coupled with hot cocoa mix.

Pear Blueberry Crisp

I set out to make a Pear Pie, one of the sweet sensations of summer that I look forward to every year, but discovered that the bags of pears in my garage didn't have quite enough ripe ones to pull a pie together. People coming over for dinner a mere hour from that point caused me to invent a pear blueberry crisp that came out really amazing. The spike of lemon and hint of cinnamon perfectly complement the two fruits. I would recommend letting this dessert stand for 20-30 minutes before serving to allow the fruit filling to set up fully.

Crisp topping:

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup whole wheat or all purpose flour

2 cups quick cooking oats

1 t. ground cinnamon

1/4 cup ground flaxseed (optional)

Fruit filling:

5 large pears, peeled and diced

2 cups fresh blueberries

1 lemon, juiced and zested

1/4 - 1/3 cup sugar (depending on how sweet your fruit is)

3 T. cornstarch

1 t. cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Make the crisp topping by softening the butter and working in the rest of the ingredients until well combined and crumbly. Into a 9X13 pan, zest the lemon and squeeze the juice. Add the diced pears and toss gently until uniformly coated. Add the blueberries. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon until well mixed, then sprinkle evenly over the fruit. Stir gently until evenly distributed, then spread the crisp topping over the top in an even layer. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the filling is bubbly and the crisp topping is golden brown.

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Lime Shine Raspberries and Cream

I don't have a photo of these yet, because I haven't had the opportunity to make my own batch. I was served these at a brunch last week and they were just awesome. The ricotta adds an interesting texture dimension to the pancakes - more robust but still somehow light, and the lemon is the perfect counterpoint to the raspberries. The original recipe for the pancakes includes a sauteed apple topping, which I'm sure is equally good. I just can never turn down fruit and cream on top of pancakes.
~~~
Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
~~~
4 large eggs, separated
1 1/3 cups ricotta cheese
1 1/2 T. sugar
1 1/2 T. freshly grated lemon zest
1/2 cup all purpose flour
melted butter for brushing the griddle
~~~
In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, ricotta, sugar, zest and then the flour. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they hold stiff peaks. Whisk one fourth of the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the remaining whites gently but thoroughly. Heat a griddle over moderately high heat until drops of water scatter over the surface. Brush the griddle surface with melted butter, then pour 1/4 cup fulls of batter onto the griddle. Cook for 1-2 minutes each side, or until golden. Transfer the cooked pancakes to a heatproof platter and keep in a 200 degree oven until ready to serve.
~~~
Lime Shine Raspberries
~~~
Stir together:
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup boiling water
Then add:
1/4 c. + 2 T. fresh lime juice
~~~
Cool in the refrigerator then pour over fruit (may be used with any fruit).
~~~
Whipped cream
~~~
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 t. vanilla
2 c. confectioners sugar
~~~
Chill the bowl and beaters in the freezer for 10-15 minutes first. Then beat the cream on high speed until soft peaks form. Add the vanilla and confectioners sugar, and beat another minute or two until moderate peaks form. Serve immediately or freeze in dollops on parchment paper, then put in a freezer bag or airtight container and put back into the freezer for later use.

Banana spice waffles

These are a product of hey, I've got a bunch of browning bananas on my windowsill and I've got to do something with them. My family isn't much in to banana bread, so I decided to be all sneaky and put them into breakfast. The results were delicious, if I do say so myself. If I wanted to be all fancy, I could have doused them in caramel sauce with a dollop of whip cream and banana slices on the side. Naw. In too much of a hurry to get to church. They were just fine and dandy with a generous slab of butter and a drizzle of real maple syrup. I also think they'd be good with mini chocolate chips stirred into the batter. Use your imagination.

Mix together:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 T. sugar
2 1/2 T. baking powder
1/2 t. each cinnamon and cloves
dash salt

In a separate bowl, mash one banana very finely. Then stir in:
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs
2 T. molasses
1 2/3 cup milk

Fold into the dry ingredients, then cook per your waffle iron's directions. In our large four-square iron, this made 4 large waffles (a total of 16 squares).

Berry puffs with white chocolate cream

I was given a bunch of home grown blackberries just before hosting a baby shower, so I fiddled around with what to do with them until I came up with these. They were simple and very tasty, reminiscent of a shortcake. I also tried them with slices of strawberry and raspberries with equally good results. You can make the pastry puffs up to a day in advance, and the white chocolate cream also holds up well made in advance so that all you have to do right before serving is pipe the cream on and plop the berry in place - easy peasy.

1 package puff pastry, thawed at room temperature according to package directions
1 egg
raw sugar
4 ounces cream cheese
2/3 cup white chocolate chips
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
berries of your choice

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Unfold the pastry onto a baking sheet, then cut into 36 equal squares (approximately 1"). Separate the squares and spread them evenly out on the baking sheet. In a small bowl, whisk the egg with 1 t. water, then brush a light coating onto each pastry square. Sprinkle raw sugar on top, then bake until puffed and golden, about 10-14 minutes. Remove from baking sheet and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, allow the cream cheese to come to room temperature. Melt the white chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring well each time. Allow to rest for a few minutes until lukewarm. Beat the cream cheese until smooth, then beat in the white chocolate. In a separate bowl, beat the cream until moderately stiff peaks form. Then beat the white chocolate mixture and powdered sugar in until light and fluffy. Either use immediately or refrigerate until ready to assemble.

To assemble: split each pastry in half with a sharp knife. Pipe a generous dab of cream on the bottom, place a berry, and pipe a small dab of cream, then cap it off with the top of the pastry. Serve immediately.

Red, white and blue tart

This is a spinoff and simpler version of my favorite lemon curd and cream cheese tart. I was looking for a pronounced lemon flavor but without the fuss of making lemon curd (even though it's just so darn delicious, it's totally worth the effort...I just simply ran out of time). I used the same cookie base. If you want a finer, shortbread like texture, cut the butter in cold rather than smushing softened butter into the flour. I found that the texture of the crust improved and the lemon flavor deepened after a day in the fridge, which makes this a super duper make ahead recipe. As long as you dry your berries thoroughly before placing them on top and choose strawberries that aren't even a little bit mushy, it'll be fine.

Cookie crust:
1 ½ cups flour
¼ cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1/4 cup finely ground pecans or almonds, optional

Mix crust ingredients together until dough forms. Press firmly and evenly against the bottom and side of ungreased 10 or 11 inch tart pan. Bake 10-12 minutes or until light brown, cool.

Lemony cream cheese:

1 8 ounce brick cream cheese

zest and juice of one lemon

1/2 cup granulated sugar

Blueberries and strawberries, washed and thoroughly dried

Do NOT microwave the cream cheese. Beat it chilled. I promise it'll whip up fine given a few minutes and a little patience. If you nuke it, it'll go runny on you. Beat the cream cheese until it's lump free, then beat in the lemon juice and zest, and then the sugar. Beat for several minutes on high until it is fluffy and the sugar has dissolved sufficiently to no longer give a granular texture. (I used granulated rather than powdered sugar, because powdered sugar in small quantities added to cream cheese tends to contributed to runniness. Not sure why, but it consistently happens to me.) Spread into the cooled crust, arrange the berries over the top and chill for at least an hour before serving.

Luscious Lemon and Berry Tart

If you don't own a fluted tart pan, go buy one. Seriously. Target carries them for around 10 bucks-ish, and it will make all of your wildest dreams come true. Basically, it's the lazy man's way to dress up a dessert with very little effort - press your dough in and bake, and voila, you get pretty edges. Make sure you get one with a removable bottom so that you can easily pop the side ring off to serve it. I originally got this recipe from a Betty Crocker mini recipe book I grabbed at the grocery check stand years ago. I have modified it slightly, and also prefer to use my own homemade lemon curd rather than purchased pre-fab stuff. It's worth the effort, and really is not difficult. My one point of advice in making lemon curd is to have all of your ingredients prepped before you begin cooking, because it's hard to stir and separate 6 egg yolks at the same time.



Cookie crust:
1 ½ cups flour
¼ cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1/4 cup finely ground pecans or almonds, optional

Mix crust ingredients together until dough forms. Press firmly and evenly against the bottom and side of ungreased 10 or 11 inch tart pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until light brown, cool.

Lemon curd:
½ cup sugar
1 T. cornstarch
1 ½ t. finely shredded lemon peel
3 T. lemon juice
3 T. water
3 beaten egg yolks
¼ cup butter, cut up

In a medium saucepan, stir together sugar and cornstarch. Stir in lemon peel, juice and water. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Stir half of the lemon mixture into egg yolks. Return the egg yolk mixture to the saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture comes to a gentle boil. Cook and stir for 2 more minutes, then remove from heat. Add butter pieces, stirring until melted. Cover surface with plastic wrap so that it doesn’t form a skin, and chill until cool (at least 1-2 hours).

Beat 1-8 oz. brick of cream cheese into the lemon curd until smooth, and spread over the cooled crust. Chill for at least an hour, until ready to serve. Just before serving, arrange a mixture of berries and other desired fruit on top. I think it's really great with raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and strawberries. I couldn't find decent raspberries or blackberries yesterday, so that's why you see the plain jane version above. The kids had a great time helping arrange the berries. Happy eating!

Comfort food - Blackberry Crisp

In one of those all too frequent impulse buys at Costco, I found myself grabbing a large clamshell package of blackberries. They looked really good. Then I got home and realized that there was no way I could consume all of those raw by myself (the kids don't like them raw), so I started searching for the perfect recipe to use them in. I found a blackberry crisp recipe in Taste of Home and modified it slightly to suit my taste as well as to improve the nutrition profile. Really, I don't think adding flax seed and using whole wheat flour compensates terribly well for the sugar and butter, but it made me feel better about eating it. It earned enthusiastic thumbs up from my kids, hubby and friend, making it a crowd pleaser/keeper recipe. Here you go:

4 cups fresh or frozen blackberries
4 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoon cornstarch or Ultragel
1T. water
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 c. ground flaxseed
1/2 cup butter

Dump the blackberries into a 2 quart baking dish. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, cornstarch, water and lemon juice, then stir into the black berries until well combined. Spread the blackberries into an even layer.

In a small mixing bowl, soften the butter in the microwave. Then stir in the oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and flaxseed until well combined. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the top of the blackberries. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes, until the blackberry filling is bubbly and the topping is golden. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

What's for dinner?

Last night I made dinner for our good friends and neighbors since the hubby decided it was in his best interests to get his inflamed appendix out. For some reason, I always feel compelled to try out new recipes when I'm cooking for other people. Sometimes it comes out really well (like last night), and sometimes not so much. Murphy always hangs around my kitchen and it seems like at least one element of the dinner has to flop - last night it was my fool proof rolls. Oh well. The rest of it was really tasty, so I'm going to share my recipe finds with you.

The main dish was Spicy Honey Chicken, courtesy of Sara and Kate at The Daily Bite (please note that they've changed their address due to some crabby copyright laws - update your bookmarks accordingly). I actually purchased boneless skinless chicken thighs for the first time in my life for this recipe. Raw meat grosses me out, so I typically stick with the frozen pucks of chicken breast that don't resemble the actual bird. I was pleasantly surprised at how forgiving thighs are to barbecue. One of my big stresses in barbecuing chicken breasts is getting them cooked but not overcooked. Seems like the thin part of the breast is always dry and the thick part is still pink. The thighs cooked through nicely and were juicy and moist with a nicely caramelized exterior. Very worth the purchase, and I'm grateful to the fine fellas in the Harmon's butcher shop that took care of all the messy business for me. I cooked up 12 pieces of meat thinking mistakenly that I'd have leftovers to use later this week, but alas, they all got gobbled up. Ethan commented that it was a little "hot" for him, so I should probably go even easier on the cayenne next time I make it just for the kids' sake, but I thought it was just right.

Here's the recipe for you:

Spicy Honey Chicken

Rub:
2 t Garlic Powder
2 t Chili Powder
1 t Salt
1 t Ground Cumin
1 t paprika
1/4-1/2 t Cayenne pepper (depending on how hot you like it)
8 boneless skinless chicken thighs

*Just a quick note about the chicken. Even though I told you to use thighs, and it tastes better with thighs, I know some of you will ignore my advice and make it with breasts anyway because you’re afraid of chicken thighs. If you must, for best results pound the breasts thin, or butterfly them. Also you may want to drizzle with a bit of olive oil just before grilling. But seriously peeps, try the thighs.

Glaze:
6 T Honey
2 t Cider Vinegar

Combine first 6 ingredients (all the spices) in bowl and mix well. Use kitchen shears (or a pair of clean scissors) to trim off any excess fat from the chicken pieces. Toss chicken with spice rub to coat all sides well. Brush grill surface lightly with oil. Grill chicken a few minutes on each side, until cooked through.

Combine Honey and Vinegar in a small bowl, stirring well until combined. Brush mixture on chicken (both sides) in the final moments of grilling. Now because the glaze is sugar-based, you’ll want to turn the heat down so it doesn’t burn, but let it cook for a few minutes to caramelize.

If you don’t have a bbq, or just want to make it inside, cook it under the broiler and follow the same directions.

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What goes with chicken? Potatoes! Leigh Ann pointed me to this recipe on Pioneer Woman Cooks. I've bopped over to that site before, and found that she has some fabulous recipes. However, I get bogged down in her 30 photographs per recipe. My internet connection can't hack it. And it's difficult to sift all the way through it to get the actual recipe. Oh well. In any case, I haven't gotten over there on my own for a while, but when I saw Leigh Ann's posting about Crash Hot Potatoes, I just had to try them. I'm a total sucker for crispy tasty tidbits. These were fabulous! Even my I-only-like-my-potatoes-as-chips-or-fries boy liked them.

Crash Hot Potatoes

Baby new potatoes
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
Minced fresh rosemary

Boil as many potatoes as you want in salted water until they are fork tender. I found that I could fit 20 golf ball sized potatoes on one baking sheet. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450 degrees and drizzle a generous amount of olive oil on a jelly roll pan (I brushed mine around with a pastry brush to make sure I wouldn't have any sticking spuds). Drain the potatoes and space them evenly on the pan. Use a potato masher to crush each potato. It doesn't have to be super flat. The more texture the better. I just did one mash, and left them about 1/2-3/4" thick. Brush olive oil over the top surface of each potato (again, be generous), and sprinkle with salt, pepper and rosemary. Bake for 20-25 minutes until they are crispy and golden brown around the edges. These are so awesome you'll find yourself snitching them right off the pan!

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My kids' very favorite side dish is super simple. When they see me putting it together, I get to hear all sorts of compliments on my wonderful cooking and how much they love me. Therefore, I make it often.

Ethan and Rachel's Favorite Fruit Salad

6-7 cups cut up fresh fruit. Our favorite combination is pineapple, bananas, oranges, nectarines, mangos, strawberries and blueberries.
1 carton Yoplait vanilla yogurt

Toss it in a bowl and stir it all together. Yep, it's that simple.