TWD- Black and Blueberry Mini-Tart Cookies with Ginger Syrup and Lemon, Mango and Strawberry Sorbet

This week's recipe, La Palette's Strawberry Tart, was picked by Marie over at A Year at Oak Cottage. I love looking at her blog and was excited about this pick, but we have been eating tons of strawberries every day and I wanted to switch it up a little bit. The original recipe pairs the tart dough with strawberry jam and fresh strawberries. Easy enough! As a group we have decided to stop posting the recipe every week, because we believe every one out there would benefit from owning this book. Dorie has posted this particular recipe at Serious Eats, so check it out. Dorie mentions that this tart tastes great with other berries and I wanted to make this berry recipe I saw, so I decided to make the tart dough into cookies, or little tarts and serve them with lemon, mango, and strawberry sorbet, topped with Black and Blue Berries in Ginger Syrup (recipe below). I used pecans in the tart dough and the combinations of berries and sorbet was amazing. Go to Tuesdays with Dorie to see what else everyone came up with this week! I also made the French Chocolate Brownies from last week because everyone's looked so good, and I am posting it today.

I made 6 mini (but really quite large) cookies
I served some as the base for the sorbet and berries and turned some into cookies on the side for parfait glasses
This is really what my 3-year old did with the glass and then she said "I gotta have some more of that!" It really was that tasty.
Black and Blue Berries in Ginger Syrup (from Health Magazine)

2 cups water

2 1/2 cups blackberries, divided

1/3 cup turbinado or granulated sugar

2 (1-inch) pieces peeled fresh ginger, thinly sliced

2 (3-inch) strips lime zest

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 cups blueberries

2 cups lemon sorbet (optional)

1. Bring 2 cups water, 1/2 cup blackberries, sugar, ginger, and lime zest to a boil over medium-high heat in a saucepan, stirring just until sugar is dissolved. Boil for 5 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat, and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Pour mixture through a fine strainer set over a bowl; don't press on solids. Reserve the syrup, discarding the blackberries. Then stir in the lime juice.
2. Add the remaining 2 cups blackberries and blueberries to the syrup. Serve over 1/2 cup lemon sorbet, if desired.

TWD-French Chocolate Brownies

Okay, after looking at tons of different versions of these French Brownies last week, I actually went downstairs, on Tuesday, and threw them together. I couldn't resist, after reading about all the incredible fruit combinations and my brother was here for the day- he said he wanted a treat. No one was disappointed. I added frozen raspberries to the batter, made raspberry coulis and added a little bit of it to some Cool Whip. I used 1 oz bittersweet chocolate, 1 oz semi-sweet and 4 oz of milk chocolate because that is what I had. I baked it in a 8-inch round cake pan and then served it like cake. I turned it upside down (thanks peabody) and it was devoured.












French Chocolate Brownies



Adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours



1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons; 6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into 12 pieces
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sugar




Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 300°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, butter the foil, place the pan on a baking sheet, and set aside.Whisk together the flour, salt and cinnamon, if you're using it.



Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Slowly and gently melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and add the butter, stirring so that it melts. It's important that the chocolate and butter not get very hot. However, if the butter is not melting, you can put the bowl back over the still-hot water for a minute. If you've got a couple of little bits of unmelted butter, leave them—it's better to have a few bits than to overheat the whole. Set the chocolate aside for the moment. Working with a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until they are thick and pale, about 2 minutes. Lower the mixer speed and pour in the chocolate-butter, mixing only until it is incorporated—you'll have a thick, creamy batter. Add the dry ingredients and mix at low speed for about 30 seconds—the dry ingredients won't be completely incorporated and that's fine. Finish folding in the dry ingredients by hand with a rubber spatula, then fold in the raisins along with any liquid remaining in the pan.




Scrape the batter into the pan and bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top is dry and crackled and a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and allow the brownies to cool to warm or room temperature. Carefully lift the brownies out of the pan, using the foil edges as handles, and transfer to a cutting board. With a long-bladed knife, cut the brownies into 16 squares, each roughly 2 inches on a side, taking care not to cut through the foil.




Raspberry Coulis



1-2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries, if frozen partially thawed



Place raspberries in blender. Puree and add sugar to taste. Strain seeds out with a strainer.

Apple Pancakes

Updated Photo- 1/11/11
It is Alphabet Days at our house (again). So we are eating things that start with A today. I have made these Apple Pancakes a bunch of times and they are delicious. My husband loves them, which means I will make them again and again. We served them with maple syrup, strawberries, powdered sugar, and they are so easy to make. I doubled the recipe and made it in a 9*13-inch pan and it served 5 adults (1 teenage boy) and 3 kids.

German Apple Pancakes from Martha Stewart Kids Magazine

Ingredients

2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cut into pieces (about 1 pound)

1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2/3 cup flour

5 tablespoons granulated sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided

3 eggs
3/4 cup whole milk

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a 8-inch pan with cooking spray or you can use melted butter. Sprinkle with granulated sugar.
2. Peel, core,and slice each apple into twelve wedges, then cut each wedge into three pieces. Toss with brown sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice.
3. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the apples and saute, turning occasionally, for 10 to 12 minutes, until caramelized. Remove pan from stove; let cool 5 minutes. Spread apples in prepared pan.
4. Place flour, salt, granulated sugar, 2T melted butter, eggs, and milk in the bowl of a food processor. Process for 3 minutes.
5. Pour batter over apples. Place tin in oven and lower heat to 400 degrees. Bake 20-25 minutes. Pancakes will puff up during last 5 minutes of baking.
6.Take pan from oven and turn it over on a flat surface to remove pancakes. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve immediately.

Toffee Apple Dip

This is a recipe that was shared at our last Chefs-in Training get together. A bunch of women in my neighborhood take turns hosting at their house and show us a couple of recipes.
This was easy to throw together and I made a couple of changes due to what I had on hand.
Toffee Apple Dip
1 8-oz pkg. 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
brown sugar to taste (1/4 cup or less) I just put in a handful and then tasted it
handful of white sugar
1 T vanilla extract
1 cup marshmallow creme
1 1/2 cups Cool Whip
3/4 pkg. Heath Toffee pieces

Mix cream cheese, sugars, and vanilla in a bowl until smooth. Fold in marshmallow creme (you might have to use a mixer). Fold in Cool Whip. Add toffee bits and stir. Refrigerate for 30 minutes and serve with granny smith apples.

Double Nutella Cookies

I just wanted a quick and easy cookie. My brother was eating Nutella spread on whole wheat bread and I thought I remembered a 3 ingredient cookie made with Nutella. I got on the internet and found it and whipped it up. This just might be the easiest cookie recipe I have ever tried.

Double Nutella Cookies

1 cup Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)
1 extra-large egg
1 cup self-rising cake flour, plus additional for dusting (see note below)

1.Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Mix 1/2 cup Nutella and the egg with an electric mixer until well combined. Slowly add 1 cup of flour until a wet dough is formed. Transfer the dough to a flour-dusted board.
3. Knead gently, adding a bit more flour if necessary; dough will be sticky. Roll dough into 18 balls, flouring your hands as needed to make rolling easier. Place on parchment-lined baking sheet, several inches apart.
4. Bake 12 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes. Split cookies in half horizontally using a sharp, serrated knife . Spread bottom with 1 teaspoon Nutella, replace top and press firmly. Let cool completely. Store in a tightly covered tin.

note I didn't have self-rising cake flour, so I mixed 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt with regular cake flour before adding it.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Muffin Taste Test

I promised I would give her one more chance. Her, being Jeanne Jones, a woman who people send recipes to, so that she can "lighten" them without losing the taste and flavor. These recipes are featured every Wed. in the local paper. She rewrites the recipes and after this second chance, I am beginning to wonder if anyone bothers to test the recipes she lightens. Maybe the mistake is the fact that they print both the original and the reworked recipe. If you just tried the light one, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. But, I like doing taste tests with both the recipes and after this second chance, I don't think I will try it again. A couple of months ago, I tried a reworked pumpkin dessert, making the original as well, and no one could the light version. Same deal herem except the low-fat muffins were edible (and enjoyed by some). The orginal recipe produced a great looking and tasting muffin, the low-fat was gray (I couldn't stand to post a picture) and I could definitely tell a difference in the batter. I say if you are going to have a treat, have a good one!

STRAWBERRY RHUBARB MUFFINS

1 cup strawberries, chopped

1 cup rhubarb, chopped

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup whipping cream (I used a combination of whole milk and melted butter instead)

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, melted

Sugar-cinnamon mix

Preheat oven to 375 F. Combine strawberries, rhubarb and sugar. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir in cream, eggs and vanilla until well-blended. Add strawberry mixture to flour, baking powder and salt mixture. Add butter and stir just until mixed. Spoon into 16 greased muffin cups. Sprinkle with sugar-cinnamon mix. Bake 14 to 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Makes 12 muffins.

REDUCED-FAT STRAWBERRY RHUBARB MUFFINS
1 cup strawberries, chopped

1 cup rhubarb, chopped

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup oat flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons canola oil

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray 16 muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray, or line with paper cups. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, combine the strawberries, rhubarb and sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes, then stir again.
3. Combine the flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, lightly beat the egg. Beat in the buttermilk, vanilla and oil. Add the strawberry mixture and mix well.
5. Pour the flour mixture in and stir just until moistened. Fill the muffin cups about 3/4 full. Combine the cinnamon and sugar, and sprinkle the tops of the muffins. Bake 15 to 18 minutes, testing by lightly pressing on the top of the muffin; if it springs back, it's done. Makes 16 muffins.

Sauteed Spinach with Parmesan and Lemon

The other day I had the opportunity to quadruple wash some freshly picked spinach. It was dirty work, but soo worth it. I love spinach in anything, but it is so good by itself. It shines when prepared simply with few ingredients.

Sauteed Spinach with Parmesan and Lemon

fresh spinach

half a lemon

fresh parmesan

black pepper

garlic sea salt grinder

Heat an electric skillet over medium heat (300 degrees). Spray with cooking spray. Add spinach and saute. Squeeze juice of lemon over spinach, season with pepper and salt. Saute only until completely wilted. Remove from pan. Grate fresh parmesan over spinach

Sweet and Sour Stir Fry

I usually don't use pre-made sauces, but we had some leftover from another dish, so I decided to use it up. This was a great stir fry. Lots of veggies-so tasty!

Sweet-and-Sour Stir-Fry adapted fromParents Magazine
Ingredients
2 cups broccoli florets
1 medium yellow pepper, cut into strips

1 cup snow peas
2 green onions, sliced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
12 ounces boneless sirloin pork chops, cut into bite size pieces
1/2 cup bottled stir-fry sauce (I used Kikkoman)
Hot cooked rice
1 medium orange, peeled

Directions
1. In a large nonstick skillet, cook broccoli, pepper, and onions in hot oil over medium-high heat for 4 minutes or until crisp-tender. Transfer from the skillet to a medium bowl.
2. Add pork to skillet and stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes or until done. You may need to add a few drops of oil to prevent sticking. Return the vegetables to skillet; add sauce. Stir to coat and heat through. Serve over rice garnished with orange sections

TWD-Madeleines

First of all, I have to say how excited I am that I finally figured out how to take close-up pics without it turning out blurry! Yippie! Second, the reason I did Madeleines this week is because I was busy packing and moving and packed my cocoa and all my chocolate was at my mom's, so I thought I would try these instead, in a mini-muffin pan because I was dying to try them. They were chosen by Tara of Smells Like Home. Everyone else made French Chocolate Brownies, chosen by Di of Di's Kitchen Notebook, so go to Tuesday's with Dorie, to see how they turned out. By the way, these were incredible!

My helper was supposed to be sprinkling on the powdered sugar, but got sneaky and wanted to try one instead.

Traditional Madeleines
Source: Dorie Greenspan, Baking: From My Home to Yours
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
½ cup sugar
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
¾ stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Working in a mixer bowl, or in a large bowl, rub the sugar and lemon zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the eggs to the bowl. Working with the whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat the eggs and sugar together on medium-high speed until pale, thick and light, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. With a rubber spatula, very gently fold in the dry ingredients, followed by the melted butter. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the batter and refrigerate it for at least 3 hours, or for up to 2 days. This long chill period will help the batter form the hump that is characteristic of madeleines. (For convenience, you can spoon the batter into the madeleine molds, cover and refrigerate, then bake the cookies directly from the fridge; see below for instructions on prepping the pans.)
GETTING READY TO BAKE:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter 12 full-size madeleine molds, or up to 36 mini madeleine molds, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. Or, if you have a nonstick pan (or pans), give it a light coating of vegetable cooking spray. If you have a silicone pan, no prep is needed. Place the pan(s) on a baking sheet.
Spoon the batter into the molds, filling each one almost to the top. Don’t worry about spreading the batter evenly, the oven’s heat will take care of that. Bake large madeleines for 11 to 13 minutes, and minis for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they are golden and the tops spring back when touched. Remove the pan(s) from the oven and release the madeleines from the molds by rapping the edge of the pan against the counter. Gently pry any recalcitrant madeleines from the pan using your fingers or a butter knife. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool to just warm or to room temperature.
If you are making minis and have more batter, bake the next batch(es), making certain that you cool, then properly prepare the pan(s) before baking.
Just before serving, dust the madeleines with confectioners’ sugar.
Makes 12 large or 36 mini cookies

Blueberry Papaya Smoothie (Milkshake)

Growing up my mom would always make us milkshakes, only they weren't really milkshakes because they didn't have any ice cream in them. We just called them milkshakes, but now I realize they were really smoothies. They were never too sweet, just a combination of skim milk, frozen fruit and maybe a little sugar. Sometimes she used yogurt and now we always have frozen sliced bananas, just in case. My husband does not like it when I make these and call it a milkshake, but I still do. This one was just a combo of some of the frozen fruit we had in the freezer at the moment and it was yummy! The measurements are just a guess because I was just adding it as I went.

Blueberry Papaya Smoothie
2 cups skim milk
1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries
1 cup frozen papaya chunks
1 banana, sliced and frozen
3/4 cup frozen Cool Whip
a dash or sprinkle of sugar
Combine milk and fruit in blender. Blend until smooth. Add Cool Whip and sugar, if desired. Add more fruit or milk until the desired thickness is reached.

Salmon Salad Stacks with Sea Scallops

Once again, I needed something quick and easy. This recipe originally said to grill the salmon but I broiled it instead. We also had some sea scallops that I marinated in the Greek Vinaigrette and sauted in a pan.

Salmon Salad Stacks From Every Day with Rachael Ray

Four 6-ounce salmon fillets, with skin
1/2 cup store-bought vinaigrette (i used Greek)
1 head green-leaf lettuce, thinly sliced crosswise
1/2 cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
1 avocado—halved and thinly sliced lengthwise
1 carrot, shredded
1/2 cup alfalfa sprouts
1. Preheat a grill to medium. Place the salmon in a resealable plastic bag and pour in 1/4 cup vinaigrette. Let stand for 10 minutes.

2. Place the salmon skin side down on the grill, cover and cook, turning once, until lightly charred, about 6 minutes. Or place on a broiler pan and broil for 5-7 minutes or until fish flakes with a fork.

3. Mound the lettuce on 4 plates, then top each with a piece of salmon and some cucumber, avocado and carrot. Drizzle each stack with 1 tablespoon vinaigrette and top with sprouts.

Meatball Marinara Pita Pocket

Since we have been packing and moving this past week, I needed something fast and easy, that also tasted great. I usually make my own meatballs, but I found some lean turkey italian seasoned meatballs at the store that were on sale and decided to try them. Yum! I bought marinara sauce and added a can of beans, then pureed it so there were no big pieces of tomato (for my husband) and no visible sign of beans (for my daughter). Add some shredded zucchini to the sauce and you have got a great, healthy, fast dinner.


Meatball Marinara Pita Pocket

12 lean turkey meatballs with Italian seasoning

1 jar marinara sauce

1-15 oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini

4-6 pitas, cut in half

shredded mozzarella cheese

Place sauce and beans in blender and puree. Put sauce into a large skillet and add meatballs and zucchini. Heat until warm over medium heat. Cut meatballs in half (makes it easier to eat). Open a pita half and spoon a few meatball halves and sauce into the pita. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and serve.

Easy and Delicious Minestrone Soup

This is a delicious soup that you can throw together in the morning and let it simmer all day. We love this soup with warm breadsticks and it is even better the next day!

Minestrone

3/4 pd mild sausage

4 cups water

2 beef bouilllon cubes

1 large onion, chopped

2 medium carrots, sliced

2 medium celery ribs, diced

1- 16 oz can tomatoes, pureed

2- 8 oz cans tomato sauce

2 tsps crushed dried parsley flakes

1/2 tsp crushed dried basil

1/2 tsp crushed dried oregano

salt and pepper to taste

garlic salt to taste

1-15 oz can garbanzo beans

1-8 oz can cut green beans, undrained

2/3 cup uncooked wide noodles or other pasta

Brown pork sausage in a dutch oven; drain. Dissolve bouillon cubes in water. Add onions, carrots, celery, tomatoes, tomato sauce, parsley, and seasonings. Simmer, covered, for 4 to 6 hours. Thirty minutes before serving time, add beans and noodles. Simmer until noodles are tender. Makes 8 servings.