Salsa Muffins

I love Salsa! Just saying that, has a nice Latino beat playing in my head. But it's true, I love salsa in any type of form and hotness. Personally for me I love really hot salsa. Growing up in Cajun country, you develop a taste for all things hot. My husband and I have one section of a cabinet over our stove that is dedicated to hot sauces. There are a few that just a drop gives whatever you are cooking a KICK!

When the summer season is at it's peak, that's when I'll make some homemade salsa using great local veggies; some from area farmers and some right from our own garden. Depending on the mood I'm in when I'm making the salsa will determine if the salsa is chunky or pureed. When I was in Mexico many moons ago, the owner of La Pasado and his wife made homemade salsa. I got to hang out in the kitchen and see how it was done. The type of salsa they made was more of a pureed salsa but it was very hot and very delicious. Whenever I make a pureed salsa, I use the techniques that Victor and Sonja use to make their salsa.

With family visiting and with a ton of tomatoes from our garden being ready to pick, it is salsa time. Making medium and hot salsa to use with chips, in/on dinner dishes, or in a breakfast omelet, there comes a time when you need to come up with another way to use salsa. I decided to add it to my basic corn muffin recipe. Enjoy this delicious recipe. I might just have to have a Mexican night and make more of these muffins along with tamales, tacos, and other delicious dishes.

Ingredients: 1 c flour, 1 c cornmeal, 1 TBSP baking powder, 1.5 tsp ground cumin, .5 tsp sea salt, 3 TBSP sugar, 1 egg, .5 c milk*, 1/3 c canola oil, 3/4 c chunky salsa*

Instructions: (1) Preheat oven to 400F and prepare a 6 or 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray or paper liners. (2) In a large bowl, whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sea salt, and cumin. (3) In a medium bowl, whisk egg, sugar, mil, and oil until well blended. Stir in salsa. (4) Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir until just blended. (5) Divide batter evenly amongst prepare muffin cups and bake for 25 minutes or until tops are golden and toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pan for a few minutes on a wire rack before transferring them to the rack and cooling completely.

*Try to use at least 1% milk. Most of the time I'm using fat-free milk but in my corn muffins I always use whole milk or even buttermilk.
*If you don't want to make your own salsa, a bottle of a chunky tomato sauce will do. I love Pace but there are some great chunky salsas out there. Don't be afraid to try a flavored salsa like say Chipotle.

Raspberry Lemon Corn Muffins

Raspberries are currently being found at local farmer's markets along with other delicious fruits like plums, peaches, blueberries, red currants and blackberries. The next several blogs will focus on these particular fruits.

Here's a recipe for Raspberry Lemon Corn Muffins. I like corn muffins, plain, with sour cream added to the batter, jelly put in between layers of batter, jalapenos, etc. I figured I would try adding raspberries and using up the last lemon in the bowl.  The tartness of the berries and the lemons definitely makes you pucker but the color of the raspberries against the corn muffin is pretty. I think if I make these again, I would add a little more sugar so it wasn't so tart but they were still go none the less. Enjoy.

Ingredients:  1 c flour, 1 c yellow cornmeal, 1 TBSP baking powder, .5 tsp sea salt, 3/4 c sugar, 2 eggs, .5 c unsalted butter, melted, 3/4 c milk, 2 TBSP grated lemon zest, 1.5 c raspberries, turbinado sugar for topping

Instructions:   Preheat oven to 400 and prepare muffin tin with muffin liners or cooking spray.  1. In a large bowl, whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder and sea salt. 2. In a medium bowl, whisk sugar, eggs, milk, butter, and zest until well blended. 3. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir until just blended. Fold in raspberries. 4. Divide batter evenly amongst prepared muffin cups and sprinkle each muffin with turbinado sugar. Bake for 16 minutes or until tops are golden brown and toothpick comes out clean when inserted. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for a few minutes then turn out onto the rack and cool completely.


*I usually invert the muffins while in the pan so the bottoms don't steam while they are cooling in the pan before turning out onto the wire rack to cool completely.

Strawberry Sorbet

Summertime is my favorite time of the year. I grew up in Louisiana so I enjoy the hot, humid weather. I love the smell of fresh cut grass, the hum of  the insects jumping from one flower to another in the garden, fresh produce at the local farmers markets or out of my garden, the smell of the ocean in the air, the flight of a butterfly, and of course, berries. I love all types of berries. Summertime for me starts with arrival of strawberries and continues on through raspberries, cherries, blackberries, and blueberry seasons.

Living in Louisiana, when it was hot or even if it wasn't, my favorite treat was a Sno-ball or as non-Southerners would call, a Snowcone. We're not talking a Hawaiian Ice or a snowball off an ice cream truck that is so hard it breaks your teeth. We are talking about a New Orleans Style Sno-Ball. Large blocks of ice are shaved on a machine called the Southern New Orleans snow maker and then stuffed in a Styrofoam cup and a funnel is used to make the top of it. The ice is a perfect consistency between chunky ice and very soft ice. The Hansen family from New Orleans invented this machine and if you travel to New Orleans, you can stop in at their shop, Hansen's Sno-Bliz Sweet Shop, located in the 4800 block of Tchoupitoulas. Syrup, not just water and sugar mixed, is then added to the top of the cone. The syrup is boiled and consists of pure cane sugar, water, and flavoring. My favorite Sno-ball combination was Cherry, Coconut, and Blue Raspberry. The sno-ball was a very patriotic creation. Some other choices that are added to sno-balls, besides syrup, are ice cream, cream, or chocolate. I wasn't really big on adding cream to my sno-ball but friends of mine where.  I mentioned to my husband about maybe doing a Sno-ball machine during my summer markets and he, being a Northerner, thinks that it really wouldn't take off. Maybe I'll get the machine just for me so that I can have sno-balls whenever I want instead of when I head south for a visit.

A few posts this month have been centered around Strawberries. Since I can't have a sno-ball, I figured I would go to the next best thing, sorbet. I love sorbet over sherbet. Whole Fruit has some amazing sorbets and I recently tried some sorbets from a company called Ciao Bella. I love the Lemon Zest and the Blood Orange. They have many more flavors and I just hope my local store will start to carry them.  Sometimes I'll make a fruit Sorbet. It can be done using an ice cream machine or not and is fairly simple and easy to do.

Sorbet became very popular in the 19th and 20th centuries as a palate cleaner between meals. It's usually referred to as Intermezzo, which translates into "in between the work." Sorbets  are usually known as ice and have a softer consistency than sherbets, which contain milk and sometimes eggs. Fruit sorbets usually consists of 3 ingredients: water, sugar, and fruit. Other ingredients can be added based on the type of sorbet you want.

Here's a recipe for Strawberry Sorbet. Enjoy.

Ingredients: 1/3 c water, 1/3 cup sugar, 2.5 c or 1 pound of fresh/frozen strawberries*, 1 TBSP lemon juice.

Instructions: (1) Place sugar and water in a small saucepan and over low heat, stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Boil the mixture for one minute then remove from the heat. Pour sugar syrup into a heatproof container and place in fridge until completely chilled.* (2) Process strawberries in a food processor until pureed. Transfer puree to a large bowl and add the lemon juice and place bowl in the fridge until thoroughly chilled. (3) Once syrup and strawberry puree are completely chilled, combine simple syrup with the strawberries. Transfer to a chilled container of an ice cream machine* and process according to the manufacturer's instructions. Once made, transfer sorbet to a chilled container and store in the freezer.

*Local strawberries at farmers markets are the best since they have flavor and sweetness. If you can't obtain fresh, local strawberries, use frozen ones. Usually the strawberries at a grocery store lack flavor and sweetness though they look all read and shinny.
*If you taste the sorbet after freezing and the amount of sugar isn't right, adjust the level of sugar syrup. Add some syrup if there is too little sugar in the sorbet or add water if there is too much sugar in the sorbet. Refreeze the sorbet.
*Since it takes time to make the syrup, make a large quantity and store in the fridge so you have it ready to go when you want to make more sorbet.
*If you don't have a machine, pour mixture into a stainless steel pan (8", 9"...). The metal will help the sorbet to freeze faster. You can use a glass pan if you want it will just take longer. Cover the sorbet with plastic wrap and place in freezer. After 3-4 hours, remove sorbet from freezer and let it stand at room temperature until partially thawed. Transfer partially thawed sorbet to a food processor and process to break up large ice crystals. This gives the sorbet a fluffy texture. Place sorbet back in the pan and refreeze for 3 hours or up to several days.

Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Cream Cheese Popovers

Photo taken from Doughmesstic.com

I love brown sugar and I love cinnamon. I loved the Cinnamon poptarts growing up and could really care less about the other flavors. Since the school year is coming to a close, I will have more time to make different breakfast creations besides cereal or oatmeal; that's my goal and wish anyway. Awhile back I made some sugary popovers and loved them. I decided to try some other popovers and went searching for some recipes. I found a website called Doughmesstic.com and right there on the menu tab was a link for the Popover Project. Susan, the owner/blogger/baker of the site, is making popovers once a week for the entire year. I saw this recipe off her site and just knew I had to try it out.

Have a great week.

Ingredients: 1 c flour, 1/3 c brown sugar, 1.5 TBSP cinnamon, pinch of salt, 3 TBSP sugar, 2 tsp vanilla, 3 TBSP butter, 4 oz. cream cheese, 3 eggs, and 1 c milk

Instructions: (1) Preheat oven to 375F. (2) Divide butter evenly amongst Popover Pan cups. If you don't have a popover pan, you can use either a 6c or 12c muffin tin but you will end up using all the 12 muffin cups. Place pan in the oven for 3-5 minutes while making the batter. (3) In a medium bowl, beat eggs, vanilla, milk, and brown sugar. Whisk in  flour and cinnamon and divide batter amongst prepared cups. (4) Combine cream cheese and sugar and spoon evenly into cups. (4) Place in oven and bake for 5 minutes at 375 then reduce oven to 350 and continue baking for 20 minutes. Serve with syrup, a sprinkle of powder sugar, ice cream...whatever you want.

*It's better to have the cream cheese softened so the sugar incorporates nicely.

Apple Turnovers

One of the items we will be offering at the markets are our turnovers. Since we use seasonally ingredients, we will be offering a variety of turnovers and throughout the summer, these options will change. One of the turnovers we will almost always have will be our Apple Turnovers. These remind me of the old Hostess fruit pies but without the Comstock fruit fillings.

We use our traditional buttery pie crust recipe for all turnovers. My granddad Nestor would also use this recipe for his pies. I have fond memories of him making pies for the holidays or when we visited. We don't use lard like he use to but the taste is still amazing. I usually use this crust for all my items that require a crust: quiche, chicken pot pies, jelly rolls, etc.  The filling uses granny smith apples. I love tart apples and use them in a lot of my apple recipes. I add spices to them for that perfect filling and honestly, can eat just the filling by itself.

Since I can't give you my granddad's crust recipe, I figured I would grab a recipe for turnovers that is fast and easy to make and is also delicious. This recipe is from Food Network.com and is by Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, copyrighted 2006.  Enjoy.

Ingredients:  1 tsp grated orange zest, 3 TBSPs fresh orange juice, 1.25 lb tart apples, 3 TBSPs dried cherries, 3 TBSPs sugar, 1 TBSP flour, .25 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg,  sea salt, 1 package of puff pastry, egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 TBSP water)

Instructions: (1) Preheat oven to 400 F and line baking sheet with parchment paper. (2) Combine zest and juice in a large mixing bowl. Peel and core apples and cut into 3/4" dice pieces. Add to juice then combine cherries, sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a pinch of sea salt. (3) Flour a surface and roll out defrosted puff pastry sheet into a 12x12" square. Cut into 4 smaller squares and chill until ready to use. (4) Brush egg wash over a pastry square and add 1/3 of the apple mixture on 1/2 of the square. Fold over diagonally and press edges closed with a fork. Add turnovers to prepared sheet,. Bush egg wash over the top of the pastries and sprinkle with sugar. Cut two slices into the tops of each pastry to vent and bake for 20 minutes until golden brown and puffy. Serve warm or at room temperature.


* Instead of traditional diagonal turnovers you can make a circles and fold over the circles for a semi-circle shape.
* You can omit the cherries and add other dried fruit like cranberries, raisins, figs, etc. or just have the apples.

Strawberries -n- Cream Scones

Strawberries are hitting the local farmers markets and I'm overloading on Strawberries. Sometimes I forget about them being in the fridge and then get some overripe strawberries. When this happens, I usually make a glaze or a strawberry smoothie but this time, I figured I would make strawberry scones. I've enjoyed eating a local chain stores orange scones and have tried their strawberries and cream scones. I figured I would "reverse engineer" the scones and make them at home. The other day I did the orange scones and absolutely loved them. They were nice and moist and popped with orange flavor. I decided to try making the strawberries and cream scones.

Scones are a small British quick bread that traditionally hails from Scotland and Southwest England. Originally the scone was round and flat and baked on a griddle then cut into triangle-like quadrants. Today in Scotland, the large round cake is called a bannock while the quadrants are called scones. You can find scones in a round, biscuit like shape, square shape, or the traditional triangle shape. Scones are the basic component of tea. Devonshire cream, clotted cream, and lemon curd are usually served at teas and used to spread on the scones. Jellies and preserves are also used.

Enjoy this recipe for Strawberries and Cream Scones. If you are adventurous, you can make some lemon curd or some clotted cream to enjoy with your scones.

Ingredients: 2 c flour, 1 TBSP baking powder, 3 TBSP sugar, .5 tsp sea salt, 5 TBSP cold unsalted butter, 1 tsp lemon zest, 1 c diced strawberries, .25 c strawberry preserves, 1 c heavy cream, 1 TBSP lemon juice, .75 c sifted powdered sugar

Instructions: (1) Preheat oven to 425F. (2) Place flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a food processor and pulse for 6 1-second pulses. (3) Sprinkle butter, that has been cut into 1/4" cubes, evenly over mixture. Add lemon zest and cover and process for 12 1-second pulses. (4) Transfer dough to a large bowl and mix in strawberries. Add heavy cream and mix the dough with your hands until the dough forms. (5) Knead gently the dough by hand until it comes together into a rough ball and divide dough into 2 equal pieces. (6)Lightly flour your hands and shape dough into 2 8-inch rounds. Spread preserves over one round leaving about .5" plain border. Place the other round on top and seal the edges. Cut the dough into 8 wedges using a pizza cutter or a sharp knife. (7) Place wedges on a baking sheet and bake until tops of scones are lightly brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer to wire rack. (8) Make a lemon icing by adding lemon and powder sugar until you form a thick opaque icing. Drizzle over scones and serve.

*I usually will add some strawberry puree to help make the frosting instead of using lemon juice.

Strawberry Glaze

The end of May, beginning of June starts up the strawberry season. I love strawberries especially just picked out of the garden. We purchase local strawberries from several farms to use in our products. Some products we offer that feature strawberries are: Strawberry Bread, Strawberry Muffins, Farmers' Market Muffins, Strawberry Shortcake, Glory cupcakes, Strawberry cupcakes and Strawberry scones. We even offer a seasonal berry tart that uses not only local strawberries but other berries.

One thing I love making is a Strawberry glaze. This is a fast and easy way to fancy up a plain cheesecake, pound cake, or even cupcakes. Since Strawberry season is starting, I figured I would post the recipe I use for my glaze. It's delicious and very fast and easy to make. Enjoy!

Ingredients: 4 c strawberries, .5 c sugar, 4.5 tsp cornstarch, .25 c water, 1 TBSP butter, 2 tsp lemon juice

Instructions: (1) Dissolve the cornstarch in the quarter cup of water. (2) Crush enough strawberries to make 1 cup of pulp. (3) Add pulp, cornstarch mixture, and sugar to a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until mixture boils and thickens and is clear. (4) Remove from heat and add butter and lemon juice and cool to room temperature.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

My grandmother always made a rhubarb pie or bread or muffins when the rhubarb in granddad's garden would sprout. One summer, prior to her fixin' the pie, us cousins tried some rhubarb. Needless to say it left a very nasty impression in our mouths. For the longest time, I would never eat anything that had rhubarb in it because of that memory associated with the taste. I decided to make some rhubarb pie one season when a customer asked for it at a market. I used grandma's recipe and even had a slice of pie later in the day. I'm still not a huge fan of rhubarb but at least I know I can stomach it if I had to.

The recipe listed below is the recipe given to me by my grandmother years ago. You will need a pie crust recipe (the flakier the better) or a store-bought pie crust. Pillsbury makes a non-frozen pie crust that you can purchase and my mother-in-law will sometimes use it when she isn't making it from scratch. I use my granddad Nestor's pie crust recipe. This is a very flaky and buttery recipe that he always used when making his pies. Sorry, not sharing this family secret with you.  Enjoy the pie!


Ingredients: 3/4 c  sugar, 1/3 c flour, 1 tsp  ground Cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground cloves, 1 lb. fresh rhubarb*, 1 pt. strawberries, 2 TBSPs butter


Instructions: (1)Preheat oven to 425F. Mix sugar, flour, cinnamon and cloves in a bowl. (2) Wash rhubarb and trim off ends. Cut rhubarb into 1" pieces. Wash and hull strawberries; cut in half. (3) Place rhubarb and strawberries in a large bowl and sprinkle with sugar mixture. Toss to mix. Let stand about 15 minutes then toss again. (4) Spoon rhubarb-strawberry mixture into a deep dish 9" pie pan or a baking dish that already has pie crust in it. Cut up butter into small cubes and place on top of mixture in the pan/dish.(5) Cover with another pie crust or make a fancy lattice top. Cook for 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown and juices bubble up.


*You want about 6 c of cut-up rhubarb. To prevent the edges of the crust from burning, you can line them with aluminum foil and remove it the last 10 minutes.

Raspberry Shortbread

When I hear the word shortbread, I think of men in kilts, bagpipes, and Walkers Shortbread. Shortbread is a classic Scottish dessert that consists of three basic ingredients: flour, sugar, and butter. (Butter, my favorite!) This dessert resulted from medieval biscuit bread, which was a twice-baked, enriched bread roll dusted with sugar and spices and hardened into a hard, dry, sweetened biscuit called a rusk. Shortbread can be found in as a large circle, individual rounds, or cut as fingers.

Either way you slice it, shortbread is delicious. We are trying out a few recipes for shortbread and since I'm enjoying way too much shortbread, I figured I would do a recipe on the subject. This recipe actually comes from Epicurious.com. It's not the recipe we use, but it is still a tasty treat and is fairly easy to make. The only time consuming factor is the freezing of the dough for a few hours or overnight. If you have to make and eat these all in one day, make the dough in the morning and bake in the afternoon/evening. I just made the dough and left if overnight and baked a tray of these the next day. Enjoy.



Ingredients:  1 lb. butter, room temperature, 4 egg yolks, 4 c flour, 2 c sugar, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp sea salt, 1 c raspberry jam, room temperature,  1/2 c powdered sugar

Instructions: (1) Cream butter in a mixer then add egg yolks and mix well. (2) In a medium bowl, add sugar, flour, baking powder, sea salt and whisk. (3) Add sugar mixture to butter mixture and mix until incorporated. (4) Turn dough out onto a floured surface and form 2 balls. Place each ball in plastic wrap and freeze for 2 hours or overnight. (5) Preheat oven to 350F. Take one roll of dough out of the oven and grate it by hand or with a grating disk in a food processor. Evenly cover a 9x13" baking pan or a 10" tart pan with the shreds of dough. (6) Spread jam, using the back of a spoon, to within 1/2-inch of the edge all the way around. Grate other ball of dough over the entire surface of jam. (7) Bake for 30-40 minutes until lightly brown. Sprinkle with powdered sugar as soon as they come out of the oven and cool on a wire rack. Cut into squares with a serrated knife.

*I use homemade raspberry jam from raspberries we grow in our garden. I particularly like the jam with seeds. The grating of the shortbread doesn't have to be a fine grate, coarse works best. I sprinkle a little more than a dusting of powdered sugar on the finished project. I think that comes from eating beignets when I lived in Louisiana.

Blueberry Muffins with Sugar Mace Topping

The farmer's market season official kicks of this weekend here along the South Shore with the opening day market for Hingham. Come June, more markets in the Plymouth and Bristol counties will be open for business. We're looking forward to this upcoming season and in celebration for the season, I decided to use up some of our last season blueberries to make room for more fresh, seasonal berries. The topping isn't a traditional sugar, crumb, or streusel. It's a mace topping, an ingredient that I usually use when making things with ginger to give it an extra bite! Enjoy this recipe.

Ingredients: 1 2/3 c flour, .5 c yellow cornmeal, 2 tsp baking powder, .5 tsp baking soda, .5 tsp ground mace, .25 tsp sea salt, 2/3 c brown sugar (packed), 2 eggs, 1 c milk, 1/3 c butter (melted), 1 c blueberries, 2 TBSP granulated sugar, .25 tsp ground mace

Instructions: (1) Preheat oven to 400F and prep a 12-c or 6-c muffin pan with liners or cooking spray. (2) In a large bowl, whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder and soda, mace and sea salt. (3) In a medium bowl, whisk sugar, eggs, milk, and butter until well blended. (4) Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir until just blended. Fold in blueberries. Divide batter amongst prepared muffin cups evenly. (5) In a small bowl, mix sugar and mace and sprinkle over muffin tops. Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes or until tops are golden brown and toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pan for a few minutes then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

*Sometimes when huckleberries are in season, I'll substitute huckleberries for the blueberries. They are a little smaller and less sweet than the blueberries. Also, wild blueberries also work.
*I always use unsalted butter and let the eggs come to room temperature before using them in any recipe.
*If you are feeling really indulgent, you can make a maple butter to spread on the muffins. Use .5 c of unsalted butter at room temperature and 3 TBSP of pure maple syrup. Cream the butter and syrup together until combined.

Brownies

Brownies, the delicious cake-like treat that can have many different fillings in it and each type of brownie still taste good. Nowadays, you can purchase cute brownie cutters for certain shapes, use decorating tips to make an everyday brownie look special, or pop them on a stick. Brownies are pretty versatile. I asked my fellow coworkers what I should bake tonight and the overall census was brownies. So brownies it is.

Making brownies from scratch really isn't hard but to be honest with you, I've been known to use a box mix when I've wanted brownies because I really didn't want to have to go through all the steps. I just wanted to add eggs, water and some oil, mix it around and throw it into a pan and slide the pan into an oven and then enjoy a nice hot brownie with a glass of milk 30 minutes later. If you are honest with  yourself, you've done it too.

A funny story regarding brownies. Several years ago my husband got the urge to make brownies; he was looking for a chocolate fix. He whipped up a batch of brownies and added cherries to the mix. For 30 minutes all he could think about was having a brownie. The aroma was divine and I even started counting down the time until the brownies were ready. The timer goes off, Bob takes out the brownies and then says, "Um, Joy?!" The "Um, Joy" was comical. I came down stairs and joined Bob at the stove. They smelled delicious, my mouth instantly starting watering, the whole Pavlov's dog thing, when I looked down into the dish. I tried to ask a question without laughing. You see, brownies didn't rise at all. I asked him to tell me what ingredients he used. He rattled off the ingredients and definitely put baking powder in the mix. I asked him, "Did you put eggs in it?" Bob gave me this grimace expression, "No?" Well, that would do it. He was totally bummed because he so wanted brownies. Even now when he goes to make brownies, I always remind him to "Not forget the eggs!"

Enjoy this recipe. Feel free to add whatever you want to the mix. You really can't destroy a brownie, unless you forget the eggs!

Ingredients:  1 cup of butter, 2 c sugar, 4 large eggs, .5 c water, 1 tsp pure vanilla, 1 c flour, 3/4 c cocoa powder, 1 tsp baking powder, .5 tsp sea salt, 1 c chopped walnuts*, 4 oz. semisweet chocolate chips*

Instructions: (1) Preheat oven to 350 and prep a glass or metal baking pan* with cooking spray. (2) In a heavy, large, saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Remove from heat and cool slightly. (3) Add sugar and blend well. (4) Add eggs, one at a time, whisking after each addition. (5) Add water and vanilla and mix well. (6) Add flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; stir to blend. (7) Fold in walnuts and chocolate then spread into prepared dish/pan. Bake until cake springs back and toothpick comes out slightly clean (a few crumbs sticking to toothpick), approximately 27-30 minutes. Let cool slightly before cutting. Serve slightly warm or cool completely.

*Depending on the dish/pan you use, the cook time might be longer. For dark or coated pans, decrease the heat to 325F. I usually use a 13"x9" nonstick pan and it takes about 30 minutes at 325F. I've used a glass 9"x9" pan it takes about 40 minutes for the brownies to cook.
* You can add anything to your mixture. If you just want chocolate brownies with nothing added, skip the beginning part of step 7. Dried fruit, chocolate chips, drops of peanut butter are all delicious. You can even frost the brownies after they cool completely with whatever frosting you want.
*We make these peanut butter brownies. They are a layer of chocolate cake-like brownies, topped with a peanut butter buttercream, and coated with melted chocolate. They are one big sugar high but they are very delicious.
*Another idea can be making S'more browines. Bake brownies like you normally would, just as soon as they come out of the oven, spread about 2 cups of mini marshmallows and 1 c of chocolate chips  on top of the brownies and put back in the oven for about 2 minutes to melt. Take out the brownies and add graham crackers to the top of the hot, melted marshmallows/chocolate and press down slightly. Cool completely and cut into servings around the graham crackers.

No Bake Cookies

Last week I headed home to spend some time with my folks. My mom and dad are retiring soon and will be moving to the Ohio area to be near the grandkids. No matter where my folks put down roots, it will always be home because that's where they are.

One of our 'homes' was in Louisiana. I moved my junior year of high school for Virginia. Before I digress, there were many experiences in Louisiana that still stand out in my mind. Between the food, the atmosphere, the music, and the friends, I can pick a pleasant memory anytime I want to take a trip down memory lane. Since this is blog is about food, I'll share a past time treasure with you.

A lady at our church, Ms. Barbara Blackwell, would make cookies for giving away. You could be having a rough day, been in an accident, had your heart broken, whatever, food always made it better. Ms. Barbara would give away brown lunch bags filled with her no bake cookies. Sometimes they would still be warm. These cookies were addicting. They wouldn't last the drive home in our family. When I think about Louisiana, these cookies come to mind.

Since I've been back from visiting my family last week, I'm cooking and baking foods that I remember eating or even turning my nose up at when I was younger. Most are Southern dinner dishes but I'm baking a few dessert dishes. I figured I would whip up a batch of no bake cookies because they are fast and easy to make and I can enjoy them with a glass of milk while I sit and enjoy the weather. I've played around with recipe to make Vegan no-bake cookies and even an gluten-free version. The sugar-free version is still being worked on.

Enjoy this trip down memory lane. Thank you Ms. Barbara for the recipe and for delicious bags of cookies when I needed them.

Ingredients:  1 stick butter (melted), .5 c cocoa powder, 3 c oats, .5 c peanut butter, 2 c sugar, .5 c milk, 1 tsp pure vanilla

Instructions:  (1) Melt butter in a medium sized cooking pan. Once melted, add cocoa sugar and milk and whisk til well-blended. Cook on the stove until bubbles form around the sides of the pan. (2) Remove from heat and add oats, peanut butter, and vanilla. Drop on to wax paper and let cool.

*I usually use a large ice cream scooper to drop uniform cookies on the paper and then will slightly press them down so the cookie doesn't cool raised.
*I've been known to also add coconut to my mixture for a chocolate coconut  cookie, which is quite delicious. 

Pootsin

Vernon Roger used to be an anchor for WAFB-TV and hosted the Roger At Large series. Vernon put together a cookbook called "Roger's Cajun Cookbook". All recipes in the cookbook were demonstrated by Vernon in his "Roger's Cookout" segments.

Pootsin is a different type of bread pudding. Not  Poutine, which is basically fries with melted cheese and gravy on them. I'm not usually a bread pudding type of person but since I tried some while in Utila, Honduras, I'm trying other types of bread pudding recipes.  This recipe has coconut and pineapple in it, so it's got my vote. Enjoy.

Ingredients: 8 slices of old bread, 3 bananas (chopped), 1 c coconut, 3 eggs (separated), 1.5 tsp vanilla extract, 1 c evaporated milk, 4 c milk, .5 can crushed pineapple, 1.5 c sugar + 4 TBSP, .5 tsp baking soda

Instructions:  (1)Preheat oven to 375F. Heat milk and pour over bread which has been broken-up and is in a mixing bowl and mix together. (2) Add egg yokes, pineapple, coconut, vanilla, evaporated milk, baking soda, 1.5 c sugar, and bananas. Mix well. (3) Pour mixture into a 11x13" baking dish or several pans that have been buttered and bake for about 1 hour or until it begins to brown. (4) Beat egg whites with 4 TBSP sugar and pour over pies and return to oven, which has been turned to 350F until topping begins to brown.

Supreme Banana Pudding

For the last few days, I've been enjoying time with my family that are currently still living in the South. Prior to coming home, a friend of mine in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana area posted a question on Facebook regarding Banana Pudding. She wanted to know if it was just a Southern thing or did people in the North also enjoy it. All of us chimed in on our thoughts; some where down right hilarious, while others just made you shake your head.

Since I came home to grab some more recipes out of the family vault, I figured I would grab a banana pudding recipe from a lady I called 'grandma' while living in Louisiana. Mrs. Fisher, or Ms. Euince, attended Baton Rouge First Church of the Nazarene. Her husband always had a peppermint disc for me every Sunday morning. Both of them were very loving and for someone who's grandparents lived far away in West Virginia, they, along with the Hendersons, helped fill the grandparent gap.

This is her Banana Pudding recipe. I don't like bananas and never did. Grandma Wilks found that out the hard way, that's another story from my childhood in Louisiana. I would eat Ms. Euince's pudding though, just not the banana chunks. Enjoy this little bit of Southern goodness.

Ingredients: 2 large boxes of instant pudding, 5 cups cold milk, 8 oz sour cream, 9 oz. box of cool whip mix, 8 bananas, 1 box of vanilla wafers, 1 bowl of cool whip, pecans (optional)

Instructions: (1) Beat together pudding and milk. When thick, add sour cream and 1 carton of cool whip. Mix together. (2) Stir in sliced bananas and pour into a dish of your choice*(3) Stick wafers into the pudding mixture and spread cool whip on top. Add pecans if you want.

*I usually use a Trifle bowl but sometimes I'll use a 11x13" dish. I also sometimes layer wafers and banana slices between the pudding. When I get adventurous, I'll make the pudding from scratch and also make a meringue to go on top.

Chai Spice Muffins

 

I am a teetotaler. I love tea. I never learned to enjoy the taste of coffee. It smells good when it brews but that bitter aftertaste just doesn't do it for me. I'm happy with a nice black, green, red, or white tea in the morning. Because I enjoy tea so much, I have a lot of different varieties, both in loose-leaf or bagged from all over the place. Needless to say, I need a shelf in the pantry just for my teas. One tea I enjoy is my Masala Chai. A friend of mine brought me back a bag of Masala Chai from a nice tea shoppe in New York City. I usually don't put milk in my tea but when I'm drinking Chai, I do. 

Not to long ago, I made some chai cupcakes and figured I would make some chai muffins when I had time. Well, I had time this past weekend and I decided to experiment with my cupcake recipe and make some muffins but not just any muffins; Chai Spice Gluten-Free muffins. Next time I make these, I'll add like a chai concentrate or add some more spices to the mix but for a trial run, these weren't bad.

Enjoy.

Ingredients: 1 3/4 c gluten-free flour*, 1.5 tsp baking powder, 1.5 tsp ground ginger, 1 tsp cinnamon, .5 tsp cardamom, .5 sea salt, .5 xanthan gum, 1/8 tsp ground cloves, 3/4 c light brown sugar, packed, 3/4 c unsalted butter, softened, 3 eggs, .25 c milk, 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Instructions: (1) Preheat oven to 350F and prep a 12-c or 6-c muffin pan with liners or cooking spray. (2) In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, salt, xanthan gum, and cloves. (3) Beat brown sugar and butter in a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well blended. Beat in milk and vanilla until blended. (4) Add flour mixture to egg mixture  and stir with a spoon until just blended. Divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups and bake for about 22-27 minutes or until tops are golden brown and toothpick comes out clean. Let muffins cool pan for a few minutes then completely on a wire rack.

*I some times use a brown rice flour blend with making gluten-free muffins. Here's a recipe I use and it usually makes about 3 cups.  2 c finely ground brown rice flour,  2/3 c potato starch, 1/3 c tapioca starch. Items can be purchased at some grocery stores in their organic aisle or at specialty health food stores. 

 

Almond Agave Muffins

We try to incorporate a lot of local products and organic products into our baked goods. Sometimes this is impossible. There are no local farmers growing bananas or coconut. When we aren't using organic cane sugar, we use honey from a local vendor and also agave nectar. Agave nectar has been used centuries and it is finally catching on and growing very popular in Western countries. The appeal to agave is due in part to its very low glycemic index. You get the sweetness but not the blood sugar spike that comes from other sugars. It can be used interchangeably with honey, thought agave nectar doesn't have quite the viscosity that honey does. 

We're in the process of making more items to showcase in the upcoming market season and be able to offer on-line through our store. I decided to use agave nectar in a recipe I had for almond muffins and liked it. There are a few things I would change next time, but I was very pleased with the first test batch.

Enjoy this recipe for a Superfood muffin that you can feel good about eating.

Ingredients: 1 c sliced almonds, .5 tsp cinnamon, 2 TBSP agave, 1.5 c whole wheat flour, 2 tsp baking powder, .5 tsp sea salt, 2 eggs, .75 c mashed ripe bananas, .5 c coconut oil*, .5 c agave, 1/3 c milk, .25 tsp pure almond extract

Ingredients:  (1) Preheat oven to 350 and prep a 12-c or 6-c muffin pan with cooking spray or liners. (2) In a small bowl, combine sliced almonds, cinnamon, and 2 Tbsp agave and toss until evenly coated. Set aside. (3) Whisk flour, sea salt, and powder in a large bowl. (4) In a med. bowl, whisk eggs, bananas, oil, agave, milk and extract until well blended. (5) Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir until just blended. Divide batter amongst muffin cups and sprinkle topping on top. (6) Bake for 28 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for a few minutes then transfer to a rack and cool completely.


*You can use canola oil instead of coconut oil.
*Adding blueberries or raspberries take these muffins up a notch.

Easter Braids

My Italian mother-in-law has certain holiday treats that she makes. Usually these treats are made at Christmas time or for Easter. If you even think about making these family treats at other times of the year, you will usually get the 'eye'. Of course she broke this rule when she made her Easter Italian cookies one year for Thanksgiving because of the grandson's asked of it. So I guess, these special treats can be made anytime of the year, however, I'll probably still be afraid of getting the 'eye' and will only stick to making them during Christmas or Easter.

I've mastered making the Easter Italian cookies and Spritz cookies but still have a few more items to perfect. I've learned to ask Mom H about recipes she gave my husband and I when we got married because sometimes she 'forgets' to put in a certain ingredient or a technique. Another aunt and I wonder if this is on purpose so those of us that have married into the family fail at making one of these family recipes.

I know better to post one of her recipes so I picked a recipe that is close to what Mom H uses to make her Easter Braids. She doesn't make them in a ring nor does she dye the eggs that are used. I decided to do them differently than what she does. Hopefully this doesn't mean I'll get the 'eye' next time I see her.  Enjoy and don't worry, Mom H won't give you the 'eye'.

Ingredients: 1 package rapid rise instant yeast, 1.25 c milk, pinch of salt, .5 c butter, 2 eggs (beaten), .5 c sugar, 3.5 c flour, 1 egg beaten with 1 tsp water, Raw eggs (dyed or not)

Instructions: (1) In a small pan, warm milk and butter on the stove to melt the butter but don't boil or make the mixture too hot. It can kill the yeast if it is too hot when poured in #3. (2) In a large bowl, whisk yeast, salt, eggs, and sugar. (3) Add warm butter mixture to large bowl. Add half the amount of flour and mix until smooth (using a mixture with a dough hook is best). Add remaining amount of flour until stiff. (If you have to add more flour to form a stiff dough, do so.) (5) Kneed until smooth either with dough hook or on a board sprinkled with flour. Place in a greased bowl and cover and set in a warm area to double in size, about 1 hour. (6) Punch down dough and divide into 12 pieces. Roll each piece to 1" thickness, about 14" long. Take 2 pieces and 'braid' them forming a loop/circle. Add to a cookie sheet spread with Pam or with parchment paper or silicon mat and cover and let rise. (7) Add egg to the middle and brush egg wash on to bread. Bake at 350 until golden brown, about 20 min.

*Eggs can be dyed without cooking, just make sure to not crack the eggs. Eggs will cook while the bread is baking. Eggs can be eaten just make sure to store finished bread in fridge to keep eggs safe for consumption.

*Add sprinkles to tops of bread before baking to add a celebratory flare.

Sugary Popovers

Popovers are great. They remind me of these donuts I use to get when I was a kid. Light and airy and covered sugar. To make popovers hallow, the batter has to be poured into a hot pan before it is placed into a hot oven. The pan and the oven cause the batter to steam, which causes the popovers to be puffy and filled with air. One sure way of causing the popovers to crash is to open the oven door. This will cause the heat to escape and the popovers to deflate; only open the door when they are just about ready.
Enjoy this recipe. I used brown sugar instead of white sugar but they still taste delicious. They are best served warm and with a glass of milk.

Ingredients: 2 c flour, .5 tsp sea salt, .25 tsp ground cinnamon, 2 TBSP + .5 c light brown sugar (packed), 2 c milk*, 4 eggs, .5 stick of butter

Instructions: (1) Preheat oven to 425F and make sure rack is in the center of the oven. Prep a popover pan or a muffin pan with butter and place in oven until hot. (2) Whisk flour, salt, cinnamon, and 2 TBSPs of brown sugar in a small bowl. (3) Whisk milk (room temperature), eggs, and 2 TBSPs melted butter in a medium bowl. (4) Gradually add the flour mixture to the milk mixture and whisk until combined. (5) Remove hot pan from oven and pour batter into cups to the rim. Bake for 20 min. then turn temperature down to 325 and continue to bake for another 40 min or until popovers are completely browned and poufy. Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes or until cool enough to handle. (6) Place .5 c of brown sugar in a small bowl. Brush remaining butter on the tops of the popovers and remove them from the pan. Toss them, one at a time, in the brown sugar, coating each popover completely. Serve immediately if possible or within 3 hours.

Guinness Muffins

Irish Eyes are smiling. Guinness, invented back in the 1700s by Arthur Guinness, is a dark, thick, stout beer. Some people love a pint of Guinness. I'm not one of those people. I'm not really a beer drinker in general. This recipe is for those friends of mine, Irish or not, who enjoy a nice pint of beer. These muffins have a distinctive taste. Trust me, if you don't like Guinness you will probably not like these muffins.


Ingredients: 2 c flour, 1 c rye flour, 1 tsp caraway seeds, .5 tsp baking soda, .5 tsp sea salt, .25 c dark brown sugar (packed), .25 c butter (melted)*, 12oz Guinness or another dark beer*

Instructions: (1) Preheat oven to 350 and prepare a 12-c or 6-c muffin pan with cooking spray or liners. (2) Whisk flour, rye, caraway seeds, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. (3) In a medium bowl, whisk brown sugar and butter until blended. (3) Add brown sugar mixture and Guinness to flour mixture and stir until just blended. (4) Divide batter amongst the prepared muffin cups and bake until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean, about 26 minutes. Let cool in pan for a few minutes and serve warm or let cool completely on a wire rack.

*To reduce the risk of having a thick head when poured, chill the bottle or can of beer well.

Brown Bread Muffins

The most famous New England bread is Brown Bread. It is blend of wheat and cornmeal and sometimes rye. The bread is usually steamed, often in cans. B&M offers brown bread with or without raisins. I never knew about brown bread until I moved to Boston and was dating my husband. Sometimes for Sunday dinner, there would be brown bread.  Being a Southerner, we would have buttermilk biscuits on the dinner table. Being north of the Mason Dixon line, I had to get use to bread out of a can.  These muffins are a version of the traditional Boston Brown Bread. Since St. Patty's Day is this weekend, I figured I would try a few recipes in between preparing for a wedding this week. Hope you enjoy the recipe and the next few to follow.


Ingredients: 1c whole wheat flour, .5 c cornmeal, 1.5 tsp baking soda, 3/4 tsp sea salt, 1/3 c dark brown sugar (packed), 1 egg, 1/3 c dark molasses, 1/3 c canola oil, 1 c buttermilk, 1 c raisins*

Instructions: (1) Preheat oven to 400 and prep a 12-c or 6-c muffin pan with cooking spray or paper linings. (2) Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. (3) In a medium bowl, whisk brown sugar, egg, molasses and oil until well blended. Whisk in buttermilk until blended. (3) Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir just until blended. Fold in raisins. (4) Divide batter equally amongst prepared muffin cups. Bake until toothpick comes out clean, about 16 minutes (longer if using a bigger pan). Cool in a pan for a few minutes and serve while still warm or transfer to a rack and cool completely.

*I opted not to have raisins in my brown bread.