It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere Friday: The Spring Fling

The birds are chirping, the bees are buzzing, and it's 5 O'Clock Somewhere Friday---I'm in the mood for a Spring Fling.

This  rum drink is made with fresh rhubarb simple syrup and a hint of rosemary.   I got inspired by a daiquiri recipe that appeared in Bon Appetit several years ago that paired the two.  The  earthy herb cuts the sweetness of the rhubarb and it is really unusual and delicious.

Rhubarb simple syrup is a snap to make.  I chopped 2 stalks of rhubarb (about 2 cups) and added it to 1 1/2 cups water and 1 cup sugar in a sauce pan.  Bring to a boil and simmer for about 10 minutes.  Strain through a mesh strainer to remove all the rhubarb pulp, and return to the pan to reduce it a little further.  Boil gently for about 8 minutes, until the syrup has reduced and has thickened a bit.  I ended up with about 1 1/4 cups of syrup.  The color is beautiful.

Let the syrup cool and then refrigerate until ready to use.  It will keep at least a week, refrigerated.  You can use it on pancakes, ice cream, granola, oatmeal, or just mix it with sparkling water to make your own rhubarb soda!

Spring Fling
2 oz white rum
2 oz rhubarb simple syrup
2 oz fresh squeezed grapefruit juice (pink or white)
1 small sprig rosemary, plus 1 for garnish
lime wedge for garnish

• Remove the leaves from a sprig of rosemary and muddle, or lightly crush them at the bottom of a cocktail shaker.  Don't press too hard, rosemary is a very pungent herb, and you don't want it to overpower the drink.  Add the rum, simple syrup and grapefruit juice.  Add ice to fill the shaker and shake well, then strain over fresh ice in a tall glass.  Garnish with a lime wedge and a fresh sprig of rosemary.

Rhubarb Simple Syrup
makes about 1 1/4 cups
2 stalks fresh rhubarb, chopped
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup sugar

• Put the rhubarb, water and sugar in a sauce pan.  Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
• Boil gently for about 10 minutes.  
• Strain out the rhubarb, and put the syrup back on the stove to reduce a bit further.  Boil gently for about 5 to 8 minutes, until the syrup is reduced to about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2  cups. 
• Let cool and then put in a container with a lid and refrigerate until ready to use.

Have a great weekend.

Birthday Cake Doughnuts

Cake Batter, Funfetti, Birthday Cake, whatever you want to call them, these doughnuts are fun and festive.  What a nice way to wake up on the big day.

Birthdays are on my mind lately.  My youngest daughter is turning 21 next month, but she won't be home to celebrate it with us.  She goes straight from the end of her semester abroad to a summer internship.  I admire her determination and drive, but I also feel a little bit sorry for her, and for us.  There doesn't seem to be any time to just hang out anymore.  Everything is a scramble for her generation.

Wouldn't she have just squealed if I'd served her these when she was 7.  Or 12.  And I'm pretty certain she wouldn't turn up her nose at them even now. 

Birthday Cake Doughnuts
makes about 1 dozen full sized doughnuts
oven to 350F
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cups sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg (don't leave this out!)
1 cup buttermilk (you can use whole milk)
2 Tbsp butter, melted
2 large eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup sprinkles plus more for topping
for the glaze
1 1/4 cups confectioner's sugar
2 Tbsp milk or cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.  
• Add the buttermilk, eggs, melted butter and vanilla extract to the dry ingredients and mix just until combined.  Fold in the 1/3 cup sprinkles.
• Spray your non-stick doughnut pan and fill the holes about 3/4 of the way full.  An easy way to do this is to transfer the batter into a large baggie and cut a small hole in the corner.  Pipe the batter into the holes.  
• Bake for about 12-14 minutes until the doughnuts are dry on top and spring back when lightly touched.
• Let cool for a few minutes before removing from the pan.
• Make the glaze by mixing the sifted sugar with the milk and vanilla.  Add a little more milk if the glaze seems too thick.  Add more sugar if it seems too thin.  
• When the doughnuts are completely cool, dip them, top down, into the glaze.  Add sprinkles before the glaze sets up.

Notes:  This recipe is for the full sized baked doughnuts.  You can also use a mini doughnut pan like I did with my Espresso Glazed Whole Wheat Doughnuts.

I'm a closet sprinkle fiend.  I buy them whenever I see a new variety, and since they last forever, I have a little collection going.  I even made my own a couple of months ago.  

These doughnuts gave me a change to use up some of my stash.

I highly recommend making a batch of these for someone you love.  Birthdays come and go so quickly...

Spring Vegetable Skewers and Saffron Couscous

At least once a week I try to make a simple, no frills vegetarian dinner.  I clear out the extra veggies that have accumulated in the fridge, and I usually roast them, or stir fry them up and eat them with eggs, or something like that.  But you know what?   This is just as easy, and looks so much more appetizing.  It's the vegetarian version of my salmon and cherry tomato skewers from last week.  I'm getting hooked on this easy way to make a quick meal.  This time I served the skewers on top of a simple saffron couscous.

I used cherry tomatoes, colorful bell peppers, mushrooms, baby eggplant and zucchini, baby artichokes, some radicchio and red onion.  I think I even put on a couple of leftover stalks of asparagus.  Nothing required any special prep, except maybe the baby artichokes, which I rubbed with lemon juice to keep them from turning brown.

Everything is bite sized, so the skewers take just 15 minutes in a hot oven.  I drizzled them with olive oil and lemon, and gave them a good dose of salt and pepper before they went in. 

There's nothing earthshaking about these, but, like I said before, it's nice sometimes to get back in touch with the simple flavors straight from the garden.  A tomato shouldn't need anything more than some olive oil and a little salt and pepper to make us happy.  But it's harder and harder to appreciate the taste of foods in their original state because we're so used to eating out and buying prepared foods, all of which is loaded with other stuff to enhance our 'enjoyment' of it.  I'm retraining my taste buds with dinners like this one!

Spring Vegetable Skewers
oven to 450F  
cherry tomatoes
colorful bell peppers
cremini mushrooms
baby zucchini
baby eggplant
baby artichokes
radicchio
red onion
asparagus
olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and fresh cracked pepper

• Peel the tough outer leaves from the baby artichoke, cut off the stem and halve it.  Rub lemon juice on the cut edges to keep it from browning.
• Cut the rest of the vegetables in bite sized pieces.  Leave the cherry tomatoes whole.  Thread the veggies onto skewers.
• Lay out the skewers on a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet.  This will help with clean-up later.  
• Drizzle the skewers with olive oil and lemon, then sprinkle liberally with salt and fresh cracked pepper.
• Roast for 10 to 15 minutes until everything is tender and the tomatoes are starting to burst.

Saffron Couscous
serves 4
1 cup couscous
1 1/4 cups water
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp saffron threads
1/2 tsp salt

• Add the olive oil and salt to the water and bring to a simmer, then turn off the heat and add the saffron, crumbling the threads with your fingers as you add it.  Stir and let it steep for a few minutes.
• Bring the water to a boil, add the couscous and stir well.  Turn off the heat, cover, and let sit for 5 minutes.
• Fluff and serve.

Chunky Apricot Ice Cream

I can't stand to see my new ice cream maker sitting there unplugged!  As long as I've got potential ice cream ingredients hanging around, I can't help myself.  It's such a nice change from baking, too, where everything has to follow an exact formula.  Ice cream making is a forgiving, fluid process, just go with the flow and enjoy!

I didn't fool around with this one, there's a pound of fresh apricots in this recipe.  I didn't cook or peel them---there is so much flavor in the peels, and I was going for a fresh fruit taste.  Just a touch of sugar and a little lemon juice is all they needed.  At the last minute I threw in a few handfuls of chopped fruit to give it a chunky texture.  

Chunky Apricot Ice Cream
makes about 5 cups
1 lb fresh apricots, plus 3 or 4 more for chopping and adding at the end
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon

• Halve the pound of apricots and give them a rough chop.   Put them in the bowl of a food processor, add the lemon juice, and process until you have a smooth puree.  Pulse the machine and scrape down the sides as necessary.   Give the extra 3 or 4 apricots a rough chop and set aside.  You will add them into the ice cream later.
• Add the sugar to the cream and milk, and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.  This will take a couple of minutes.  Stir until you feel no more grains of sugar left.
• Combine the apricot puree and the cream mixture.  Whisk until it is competely mixed.  Refrigerate until very cold, at least 2 hours.
• Pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and run according to your machine's directions.  When the ice cream is thick and almost done, add in the reserved chopped apricot chunks, and let the machine run until they are well incorporated.
• When the ice cream is done, it will be very soft.  You can eat it as is, or put it in the freezer to firm up.  Take it out of the freezer 15 minutes before serving to allow it to soften enough to scoop.

Note:  Like any fresh fruit ice cream, this one is best served on the soft side.  The heavy amount of apricots means that it will be slightly icy when it gets rock hard. (There is a lot of water in fresh fruit which contributes to the icy texture)  Eat it within a few hours of being made, or let it sit out for a bit before scooping.  This is quite tart, which I like.  If you don't like that you can omit the lemon juice.

Like my Rhubarb ice cream, the color of this one is a soft, almost vintage looking hue.  It makes me aware of how much artificial food coloring goes into so much of the food we eat.  Don't be fooled by the subtle appearance, this ice cream packs a real apricot punch.
What's your favorite flavor??  I have to keep my machine busy...


One year ago today---

Fettuccine with Wild Mushrooms and Hazelnuts

Minimal Monday: Quick and Spicy Refrigerator Pickles

On this blog I've worked through most of the basic techniques and processes related to cooking and food prep: I've turned flour and water into bread with the help of yeast, I've harnessed enzymes to make cheese, and bacteria to make yogurt,  I've preserved, whipped, frothed, churned, infused, extracted, fermented, dehydrated, foraged, emulsified, and jellied, but, until today, I've never actually pickled anything.

Refrigerator pickles don't require sterilization, so they're a good first pickling project.  All you really need to do is heat the vinegar, salt and sugar until the solids dissolve, then add spices, pour the mixture over the cucumbers, seal and refrigerate.  You can eat them as soon as they're chilled!

I put together an especially spicy pickling mix, with whole spices and hot peppers.  Since these are quick pickles, I beefed up the flavorings to make up for the short marinating time.  Toasting the whole spices first deepens their flavor.  I don't strain them out, because I want them to keep flavoring the pickles as they sit in the jar.

You want to find small, unwaxed cucumbers. sometimes called pickling, or Kirby cucumbers. They are generally smaller, have thinner skin and fewer seeds.  If you want to use ready made pickling spice, use about 3 tablespoons in place of the whole spices.  Use wide mouth jars to make it easy to get your pickles in and out, I used Kerr wide mouth pint jars for this project.

Quick and Spicy Refrigerator Pickles
makes 2 wide mouth pint jars
about 8 small pickling cucumbers 
2 fresh Serrano chili peppers, thinly sliced, seeds and all.
fresh tarragon sprigs
2 bay leaves (fresh if you can find them)
2 cups white or white wine vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup kosher salt
1 Tbsp yellow mustard seeds
1 Tbsp rainbow pepper corns
1 tsp allspice berries
1 tsp whole coriander
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
6 cardamom pods

• Cut off the stem end of your cucumbers so that they fit inside your jars, with their tips ending just below the rim.  Cut them lengthwise into quarters.  Fit the cucumber spears tightly in the jars, with a couple of sprigs of tarragon, the bay leaves, and the Serrano pepper slices fitted in between the spaces. 
• Put the spices in a dry pan and toast over medium heat for a few minutes, shaking the pan often.  Set aside.
• In a saucepan, heat the vinegar, sugar and salt, stirring to dissolve the salt and sugar.  Heat to a simmer, then turn off the heat and add the spices.  Let cool.
• Pour the liquid into the jars, filling to cover the cucumber spears.  Make sure the spices get into the jars as well. 
• Cap the jars and refrigerate.  You can eat them right away, but they will be more flavorful the next day.  They will keep a couple of weeks in the refrigerator.

Have a great week!

Apricot Frangipane Crumble Bars

Sometimes it makes my head spin how fast the seasons come and go.  It's already apricot season again, if you can believe it.  I can't complain, though, because they're my favorite fruit for baking.  They have a firm texture, just enough juiciness, and a great tart flavor.  They work really well for bars like these because that flavor doesn't get muffled by all those wonderful frangipane crumbles

Truth is, when I eat apricots I think of my mom.  She died almost 21 years ago.  Way too early for her, and way too early for me.  An entire person could have grown up and blossomed in that gaping span of time.  I know that because she died just after my youngest daughter was born, and she's turning 21 next month.  

I think of my mom because the last thing I made for her right before she died was a fresh apricot tart.  Her cancer had hit that critical point where it was so widespread there was nothing anyone could do for her.  And because of all the medication and radiation treatments she had no appetite left for anything.  One of the things that bugged her the most was that nothing tasted good.  Nothing appealed to her, and it seemed like all the pleasures of life were slowly draining from her body and spirit.  But, as it turned out, she devoured my apricot tart, and it gave her one last unexpected burst of enjoyment.  That's the enduring detail, anyway, from those last few days that has stayed with me ever since. 

I remember climbing a ladder in my sister's back yard and plucking the best looking apricots from her tree.  I sliced them up, baked them in a tart and offered it to the woman who fed me so well for so many years.  I was the oldest of three daughters, and we didn't always see eye to eye, but I was faithfully the first one to the dinner table every night.  I was a good eater, and I appreciated her cooking.  How lucky that I had the privilege of giving her the last delicious bite she had on this earth.   

It just shows you the power that really good ingredients, cooked from scratch, can have.  Of course working with a passion and a purpose doesn't hurt.  If your apricots are ripe and vaguely local, these crumble bars won't disappoint you.  Frangipane is a classic French filling made with ground almonds.  The flavor and texture is one of the greats.  It's usually made with eggs, too, but I left them out because I'm going for a crisper shortbread texture in these bars.  If you're interested, this Chocolate Chip Frangipane with Bittersweet Ganache was an early recipe on my blog, and one of my favorites.

Apricot Frangipane Crumble Bars
oven to 350F
1 cup, 2 sticks, unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla paste or exract
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup almond flour, or almond meal (you can grind your own almonds in a processor)
about 6 or 7 apricots, thinly sliced
juice of 1/2 lemon
Crumble topping
(reserved 1 cup of the shortbread dough)
1/2 cup sliced almonds

• Cream the butter and sugar together until nice and fluffy.  Add in the extracts.
• Whisk together the salt, flour and almond meal, and add it slowly to the butter and sugar until you get a crumbly dough.  Reserve 1 cup of the mixture.
• Line an 8x8 inch square baking dish with parchment paper, with edges overlapping the sides if you want to remove the squares from the pan for easier cutting.  If not, lightly grease the pan.  Pat the dough into the bottom with your hands, or use the back of a measuring cup to tamp down the dough.  Don't pack it down super hard, just get it spread out and relatively flat.
• Arrange the apricot slices evenly over the top of the dough.  Double up a little if you want.
• Squeeze the lemon juice evenly over the apricots. 
• Make the crumble topping by mixing the sliced almonds with the reserved dough.  Lightly mix with your fingertips, forming large crumbs.  Scatter the crumbs evenly over the apricots.
• Bake for about 40 minutes until lightly golden.
• Cool slightly before cutting.
  

 

I've got a little series going of these fruit and nut crumble squares, and they've muscled out muffins and scones as my breakfast treat of choice.  Check out my Lemon Macadamia or Blackberry Pecan. 



Have a delicious Mother's Day Weekend!

Nutella Magic Shell

I have no idea what got into me today.  When it comes to this blog I'm not much of a planner or a list maker.  I like to keep the flow of inspiration free and unfettered, and my next  recipe is often a mystery, even to me, up until the last minute.  I'm not sure why I decided to make this today.  My daughters aren't home, my husband is away for the night, it's just me, and my dog.  And this Nutella Magic Shell.

Maybe there's something in the air.  It was right about this time last year that I originally wrote about Homemade Magic Shell.   I made a dark chocolate version and a white chocolate one.  It really is like magic---two simple ingredients combine after just seconds in a microwave, to become  a liquid sauce that hardens into a candy-like shell on contact with something cold, aka ice cream.  The white chocolate version was particularly beautiful draped over dark chocolate ice cream.  If you want the basic Magic Shell recipe, go to my original post.  I think everyone should know how to do it, even if you only make it once or twice.  (Which isn't likely, btw)

This version substitutes Nutella for the chocolate as the base for the sauce.  It's THE WORLD'S easiest project, and one of the most fun.  The secret to the magic is in the coconut oil, which solidifies at 74 degrees.  It hardens on contact with the cold ice cream, so whatever it's mixed with hardens too.  

Why make your own when you can easily pick it up a bottle at the supermarket?  You can bypass all the additives, and customize it for your (or your family's) taste.  Once you've melted up a batch of your homemade magic shell, it has a long shelf life, too.   It stays liquid at room temperature, so you can pour a little on your ice cream any time the mood strikes. 

Nutella Magic Shell
1 13 oz jar of Nutella
3 heaping Tbsp coconut oil (coconut oil is a solid at room temperature, so measure when solid)

• Put the Nutella and the coconut oil in a microwavable glass bowl.  Microwave for 30 seconds.  If the coconut oil is not completely melted, micro for another few seconds.  Stir the mixture until it is completely smooth.
• Pour into a jar with a tight fitting lid and store at room temperature until ready to use.
• Pour over ice cream and watch the magic happen!

One note: the type of coconut oil you use will affect how much coconut flavor comes through in your sauce.  I used virgin oil, which is unrefined, and it has a very strong coconut flavor.  If you want the Nutella flavor to dominate, use a refined coconut oil.  Both will work, and both are delicious, it just depends on your preference.

I've got a couple more tricks up my sleeve before I give up magic for the season...stay tuned!.