Polenta and Basil and Cheese

I don't remember eating polenta when I was young. If we had spaghetti sauce, or 'gravy' if you're Italian I guess, Mom served it with spaghetti. 

I really, really like polenta. It's good by itself, a sort of variation of grits, and it's great as a base for roasted veggies, or a pork stew, or for any version of spaghetti sauce with a tomato base. If you chill it, it becomes a great side to warm up on a grill or in a cast iron skillet. The toasting of those corn bits gives it a different flavor than the soft version straight out of the pot.

This time we're doing a variation on the chilled polenta. Parmesan cheese, pepper and a bit of butter gets stirred into the soft, hot polenta, and then half of it gets poured into a greased pan, that gets topped with fresh basil leaves (which is why I'm making it now when my basil bush is really producing lots of fresh basil) and some mozzarella cheese, then that is topped with the rest of the polenta.

After that concoction chills to firm up, you cut it into portions and cook it until golden brown on a grill or in your cast iron skillet. The polenta gets a bit crusty and the cheese in the middle gets gooey. I like to heat a little spaghetti sauce in the microwave to spoon over the top since basil and tomato are such a great match of flavors. This can be a side dish or, with a larger portion, a full meal. Imagine that, plus a crisp green salad, maybe tossed with an Italian dressing...bliss! 

Grilled Cheese and Basil Polenta
Based on a Donna Hay (#40) recipe 

3 cups (750ml) water 
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (170g) instant polenta (I used an equal amount of regular polenta and cooked 10 minutes or so)

60g butter, chopped (I only used a tablespoon of butter)
½ cup (50g) finely grated parmesan
 freshly ground black pepper to taste
½ cup basil leaves
1 cup (100g) grated mozzarella
olive oil, for brushing

Place water in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to the boil. Stir in salt. Gradually whisk in the polenta and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat and stir through the butter, parmesan, and pepper. Pour half of the polenta into a 20cm square pan lined with non-stick baking paper and spread to smooth. (I used a 9-inch round pie pan, lined with foil and then sprayed with olive oil spray.) Top with the basil, mozzarella and remaining polenta. Refrigerate for 45 minutes or until set.
Cut into squares/rectangles/wedges and brush with oil. Heat a char-grill pan or barbecue over high heat. (I used my cast iron skillet, well heated) Cook the polenta for 3-4 minutes each side or until golden and the cheese has melted.

Serve topped with a generous serving of the pasta sauce or a ragu of your choice. A nice green salad completes the meal.

Unfamous Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

 There are a lot of chocolate chip cookies out there and lost of recipes. I've tried at least 5 or 6 of them but still have the original Toll House recipe as my go-to version. Even so, I'm always game to try a different version to see if I can find something better.

Last weekend I was in Redmond, WA, visiting K, A and R and we tried out a recipe that K received from her friend Tyler. He put a lot of time and effort into creating this recipe so that it is an ultimate version, using chocolate chunks rather than chips, plus a sprinkle of sea salt on top which is a nice contrast to the sweetness of the cookie and chocolate. These are pretty large cookies and they do need to chill at least 12 hours and, even better, up to 48 hours, after you have shaped them and before they are baked.

What a great cookie! Eat on still a bit warm from the oven and you get a close to classic Toll House flavor with the advantage of the perfect amount of crisp edges and golden bottom, plus a soft and slightly chewy center, plus lots and lots of chocolate chunks still soft and gooey from their time in the oven. Bliss for cookie lovers. Try it yourself.

We were careful to really follow the recipe, including using Kerry Gold butter and the Ghirardelli chocolate bars, which get hand chopped into just the right sized chunks. We browned the butter, but just lightly brown. We even purchased the real deal Maldon sea salt. The process is just as important as the ingredients, so read the recipe a couple of times and then pay attention and follow along just the way it's written, O.K.?

Here's to happy times eating extraordinary cookies. Thanks Tyler, for the recipe!

Tyler’s Unfamous Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Ingredients

Butter – 220 g (or 2 sticks/1 cup) nice (soft) – Plugra Extra Creamy unsalted or Kerry Gold

Granulated white sugar – 50g ( or around ¼ cup)

Dark brown sugar – 250g (or 1 ¼ cup)

Eggs – 2 large eggs + 1-2 more yolks

Vanilla extract – 4g (or 1 ¼ teaspoons)

Semi- sweet chocolate – 1 lb.- Ghirardelli Chocolate (4 bars)

All-Purpose Flour – 330g (or 2 1/3 cups

Baking Soda – ½ teaspoon

Baking Powder ¼ teaspoon

Non- iodized Salt – 7 g ( or 1 ¼ teaspoons)

Sea Salt Flakes – for topping after dough is mixed- Maldonado brand

 

Instructions

Roughly chop the chocolate bars into ½ inch squares. Transfer the chocolate into a colander or strainer with large holes and gently shake to remove the fine grains/flakes of chocolate so you are left with mostly the large chunks. Save all the sifted flakes and bits of chocolate for another recipe or as topping.

 Optional step: browning butter – this is not required, however it does add a slightly deeper, nuttier flavor to the cookie. In a light- bottomed pan, slowly brown the butter, insuring it does not burn. Once browned, immediately remove from heat and pour into a bowl, allowing the butter to completely cool and re-solidify before the next step.

In a stand mixer bowl, add ‘nice’ butter and the sugars. Using the paddle attachment, cream for 4-5 minutes on medium high.

Add in eggs and yolks and vanilla and cream the ingredients on high for another 1-2 minutes, pausing to scrape down the sides of the bowl halfway through. Creaming times will vary slightly based on the temperature of your ingredients.

Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, and table salt and mix on low for about 30 seconds. Reserve about 15-20 chocolate chunks and fold the rest into the mixture until well distributed.

Using a large ice cream scoop or a ½ cup measure, scoop cookies onto a parchment lined tray. Top with one of two reserved chocolate chunks and sprinkle with flaked salt to taste. Cover and refrigerate for 24 – 48 hours. 48 hours is ideal.

Preheat oven to 355 degrees F. Place cookies on parchment lined heavy baking sheet. Bake only 2 – 4 on a sheet since these are LARGE cookies and need room to spread. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the edges are golden brown, but soft and light colored in the middle. Let cool for one hour.

 Note: Can be baked from frozen – freeze dough balls. Keep dough in freezer while oven is preheating to 375 degrees F. Put directly from freezer into oven once heated to 375 degrees F and bake for 16 – 17 minutes.

First Zucchini of the Season

When you grow a veggie garden from seed or small starts, it's always exciting to see that your plants have started to produce vegetables that you can eat. Sweetie isn't that taken with veggies in general, but he always loves grilled zucchini. We finally were able to harvest a couple of nice ones and grill them to go with dinner. Because of the heat, we ate BBQ ribs from our local market, green beans from a neighbor, and those delicious zucchini! It's summer and this is the best part of it, in my opinion.

No recipe for this, really, because all we do is slice the zucchini lengthwise in two or three pieces (depending on how big they are), spray on some olive oil, sprinkle on pepper and a bit of garlic salt and grill them on both sides. I like mine al dente but they can be grilled longer if you prefer them that way.

Blueberry Season Muffins

July is the time for fresh blueberries in my neck of the woods. One of my favorite ways to enjoy blueberries is in a soft, fragrant, delicious muffin. They don't take long to make or bake and you can enjoy them warm.

A good muffin is tender and has a fairly open crumb, so they aren't really like a cake. Although it helps to have room temperature eggs, you melt the butter so you can decide to have muffins and then make them in a shorter time. Plop the eggs in some warm water while you melt the butter, let the eggs warm and the butter cool a bit while you prep the dry ingredients, warm the buttermilk on low in the microwave just enough to take the chill off, and you are good to go. A small amount of both whole wheat flour and rolled oats make these just a bit heartier than those with just all-purpose flour, plus the flavor improves...a win-win.

I like to sprinkle some sanding sugar over the tops of the muffins before they go into the oven. It adds some sweetness and different texture and is pretty, but it really is optional.

Usually I also include lemon zest for sparkle but didn't have one this time and they were still delicious!

Hearty Blueberry Muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup whole wheat flour
¼ cup rolled oats
1 cup granulated sugar
½ tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled a bit
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons egg substitute (or 2 medium eggs)
¾ cup buttermilk
1 cup fresh blueberries
sanding sugar (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F with rack in the middle of the oven. Grease 8 muffin cups or line 8 cups with cupcake papers.

In a large bowl combine the flours, oats, sugars, baking powder, baking soda and salt with a whisk.

In another bowl whisk together the melted butter, room temperature eggs, and buttermilk that is at room temperature.

Add the wet ingredient mixture to the dry ingredient mixture, stirring with a fork for a few strokes; just enough to incorporate 90% of the dry ingredients into the wet.

Add the blueberries and continue gently mixing just until ingredients are combined. Immediately scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin, dividing the batter as evenly as possible among the cups. Batter may come to top of cups.

 If desired, sprinkle a bit of sanding sugar (less that 1/4 teaspoon for each muffin) on top of each muffin's raw dough.

Bake for about 20 minutes, rotating the pan half way at 10 minutes. Muffins are done when the tops are golden brown and when a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean (well, there may be blueberry juice clinging to it, but no uncooked batter, OK?)

Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool some more if you can wait that long. Enjoy these muffins while still warm or serve within 12 hours for the moistest muffins. Wrap any remaining muffins airtight and store in the fridge.

Makes 6-8 muffins

Happy 4th of July!

 

Early Berries In An Upside-Down Cake

Late June is often when the olallieberries down the driveway are ripe and plentiful. It's always fun to try different recipes to highlight their great flavor and juiciness. For a recent meeting I made an upside-down cake that made good use of them, was enhanced with whole pecans, and made a delightful treat, good for any time of the day.

This is a single layer cake made with buttermilk, which gives a nice tang that offsets a bit of the sweetness of the topping, for a nice balance. I made it in a cast iron skillet, but if you melt the butter in a microwave oven or in a small pot on the stove, you can make it in a 9-inch square or round cake pan, too.

I combined a few different recipes to create this cake, so it's possible that the topping has a bit too much butter...but I liked it that way. I think it would work with 4, 5, or 6 tablespoons of butter in the topping, but the 4 tablespoons in the cake was just right.

Although I made this with olallieberries, blackberries are very similar and much easier to find, so I'm calling it Blackberry Upside-Down Cake.

Blackberry Upside-Down Cake

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter 
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon rum
1 pint blackberries, rinsed and drained - dry with paper towels if not fairly dry when drained
19-20 pecan halves
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tablespoons rum
1/2 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

On a sheet of waxed paper, or in a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

In a 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat, stir together the 1/4 cup butter and the light brown sugar until melted . Remove from the heat and stir in the rum. Arrange the blackberries over the butter/sugar/rum mixture in an even layer. Fit the pecan halves, curved side down, among the berries. Set aside.
(Alternately, melt the butter in a microwave oven or on the stove in a pot. Add the sugar, stir, and cook another minute. Stir in the rum and then pour into a 9-inch square or round cake pan. Arrange blackberries and pecans as above. Set aside and use just like the skillet with prepared blackberries below.)

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, combining thoroughly after each. Use a spatula to scrape the bowl and beaters as needed.

 Combine the rum and the buttermilk. Add 1/2 of the reserved dry ingredient mixture to the batter, beat just to combine. Add all of the rum and buttermilk and beat just to combine. Add the remaining dry ingredient mixture and beat until just combines. Use a spatula to scrap the bowl and beaters and beat again to combine the scrapings into the batter.

 Pour and scrape the batter over the prepared blackberries in the skillet. Smooth to even the batter. Place in the preheated oven and bake 40-45 minutes, or until the cake springs back when lightly touched in the center.

 Cool on a wire rack 15 minutes. Loosen the sides of the cake with a spatula or a knife. Place a large serving plate over the skillet and invert. Slowly lift the skillet to allow all the juices to drip onto the cake. If any part of the topping sticks to the skillet or cake pan, use a small offset spatula to return it to the cake top.

 Can be served warm or at room temperature.

Since this is a blog about my life as well as about baking and cooking, I have to share that this weekend Sweetie and I made a repair to the house by the sunspace that required a lift machine. A woodpecker decided that he or she should store their acorns in the corner of the outside of the sunspace so they pecked multiple holes, despite our efforts to scare them off. This happened a few months ago, but wedding and other plans delayed the repair. 

Sweetie said that it was full of acorns! He sprayed insecticide into  the space and then covered the hole with roofing tape to keep any moisture out (hopefully preventing sprouting of acorns!), then screwed two long metal plates made of flashing material over the area where the bird was fond of pecking. I had painted them earlier in the same gray as the house and followed up today by painting the caulking and the screws. The final touch was to add a multicolor pinwheel in a flag holder to  the area below the repair to discourage any further bird activity (no photo, sorry). The repair went up to the eaves, a bit higher than this photo.

Above is a photo of the machine. It was easy to operate and kind of fun since it went up and down, sideways and also swung around in a circle. The bucket was not easy to get in and out of and Sweetie tweaked his back getting out the final time. Fortunately we were done.

Start With Pesto

I know that mayonnaise is a favorite spread for a good sandwich, but I love this sandwich and it has no mayo and doesn't need any. It starts instead with pesto.

A favorite restaurant from my younger years had a great chicken sandwich which included chicken, melted mild cheese, roasted red peppers and pesto. It was served on focaccia bread and was delicious.

Recently I made a similar sandwich, but used slipper rolls (ciabatta rolls) instead of the focaccia bread. The chicken was actually left over grilled chicken thighs but this sandwich didn't seem like leftovers at all. The photo below give you an idea of how it looks inside. You can put the red peppers either under the chicken or over it.

Chicken Sandwich with Cheese, Red Pepper and Pesto

For each sandwich:

1 grilled chicken thigh or breast. If leftover, heat on half power in microwave until hot.
1 ciabatta roll, sliced so you have a top and bottom, toasted
about 2 tablespoons shredded jack or mozzarella or similar mild white cheese
about 2 tablespoons prepared pesto
2-3 strips roasted red pepper (from a jar is fine)

1) Slice the grilled, heated chicken into thin slices
2) Place the cheese on the toasted ciabatta roll bottom. Melt the cheese in the microwave or under a broiler. I use a toaster oven. When melted, top with the red pepper strips, which should almost cover the cheese.
3) Spread the pesto on the top slice of ciabatta roll. If roll has cooled, you could heat it a bit in the toaster oven which is warm from melting the cheese, or briefly use the microwave.
4) Place the warm chicken over the red pepper strips and then place the pesto enriched top over the chicken. Press down lightly and serve your sandwich. 

Happy Father's Day to Some Dads

 First, a toast to the father of my children, Charlie! He has done a wonderful job over the years of being the kind of Dad that everyone wishes for.

Then, a toast to Aaron, husband of our daughter and Dad of Raine, seen here with him at Bodega Head, plus of sons River and Landon. He has been a bedrock dad to Raine and a role model of what a Dad should be like.

Even though I should be scanning the older photos in my care so that I have resources for photos of years gone by, that hasn't happened enough, so there aren't many to choose from for my Dad and maternal Granddad, but here are one of each of them. My paternal grandfather died before I really knew him and I don't have any of him handy, either, but all of these men are loved even though they are gone.

This photo is of my Dad, Max, hugging one of my sisters, maybe even on Father's Day.

This one is of my maternal grand father Jim Mangan, smiling at K. They made quite a pair.

Wishing all Dads a most Happy Father's Day!

Fresh Peas

A friend who has a large veggie garden every year gave me a tour of it today and when we were done she and her husband gave us a bag of freshly picked green peas. She had been out of town for a week and returned a couple of days ago to a garden just brimming with peas ready to pick.

These were beautiful peas, tightly packed into their pods, and oh so sweet. I shelled about two cups worth to steam for our dinner and will probably do the same for tomorrow's dinner because peas, like fresh corn, tend to quickly go from sweet to starchy. Don't want to waste them!

Do you, dear reader, have a source for really fresh produce, perhaps your own garden? 

No recipe, really, for these peas. Once shelled I steamed them just long enough to heat them through, then applied about a teaspoon butter...that's it.  The photo below is of the shelled, uncooked peas.

Enjoying the Berries of Early June

I wish that I could say that I'm super concerned about using seasonal ingredients in my meals, but in truth I purchase raspberries and blueberries in winter knowing that someone has most likely shipped them from the southern hemisphere. The same is true of broccoli...I eat it year round when it's really a fall or winter veg.

That said, I do enjoy celebrating the arrival of local produce. Our local strawberry farm began selling their fruit in May, much later than usual due to the extended chilly spring and late rains. We just bought some on Thursday and then I discovered yesterday that the olallieberries  that grow down by the road are ripe...at about their usual time. We had a heat spell for a few days (high 90s) earlier in the week and that really pushed the ripening. This morning it was foggy and cool, so I filled up three pint baskets with gorgeous, huge, ripe olallieberries in short order. There were even a few that were over ripe already.

The best thing to do with ripe, seasonal berries like these are to enjoy them just as they are...well, after a quick wash to get rid of any dust or bugs...to enjoy their juiciness, tang and sweetness. I also like them on my morning cereal or with plain yogurt. 

Today we were invited by our neighbors across the street to come for dinner tonight. They lead very busy lives so we find that spur of the moment plans work best. I offered to bring a dessert with the berries. The great thing was that I had already planned to make scones to go with the berries and then planned to add a dollop of freshly whipped cream. So much nicer to have others to share it with!

These scones go together fairly quickly with about a 20 minute prep time and another 20 minutes for the baking. I used soy creamer instead of the heavy cream since I was saving the cream for whipping. I put the cut up butter in the freezer for a few minutes while I made the egg-creamer-almond extract mixture and the dry ingredient mixture. I baked them on pizza pans that I had lined with parchment paper. It wasn't in the recipe, but I also sprinkled some sparkling sugar over the tops of the scones since they were headed for dessert, but that's optional.

Do try these this summer while all the berries and stone fruits are plentiful and ripe and juicy. You'll be glad you did.

To make these shortcakes you put a scone on a plate, scoop about 1/3 cup berries on top, then add a large dollop whipped cream and serve. You will need:

1 pint whipping cream, chilled and whipped to soft peaks...with a teaspoon sugar added as you whip.
2 pints fresh berries - rinse and drain - if strawberries, hull, then slice - use all one kind or mix them
1/2 recipe Almond Cream Scones (save the other half for having with tea or freeze)

Almond Cream Scones
Cream Scones enriched with both almond flour and almond extract
a variation of two recipes in Dorie Greenspan's Baking: from my home to yours
"Perfect for every scone-able occasion"

1 large egg
2/3 cup cold heavy cream or Silk soy creamer
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1 cup almond flour
(or grind 1 cup blanched almonds and the following sugar in a food processor until finely ground)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and chilled

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat.

Stir the egg, cream and almond extract together. Set aside.

Whisk the flour, cake flour, almond flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. Drop in the butter and, using your fingers, toss to coat the pieces of butter with flour. Quickly, working with your fingertips or a pastry blender, cut and rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is pebbly. You'll have pea-size pieces, pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and pieces the size of everything in between...and that is just right.

Pour the egg and cream over the dry ingredients and stir with a fork just until the dough, which will be wet and sticky, comes together. Don't overdo it. Still in the bowl, gently knead the dough by hand, or turn it with a rubber spatula 8 to 10 times. If not sticky, add a tablespoon or two of heavy cream or soy creamer.
Lightly dust a work surface with flour and turn out the dough. Divide it in half. Working with one piece at a time, pat the dough into a rough circle that's about 5 inches in diameter, cut it into 6 wedges and place it on the baking sheet. (at this point, the scones can b e frozen on the baking sheet, then wrapped airtight. Don't defrost before baking - just add about 2 minutes to the baking time.)

Bake the scones for 20 -22 minutes, or until their tops are golden and firm. Keep an eye on them the last 5 minutes or so so they don't overbake.

Transfer them to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before serving, or wait for them to cool to room temperature.

Apricot Tart + Bakewell Tart = Amazing Deliciousness

 Way back when I was a Daring Baker, I made a Bakewell Tart, which has a shortbread crust, jam over that, then a frangipane...an almond filling sort of like a sponge cake. It was delicious.

A couple of times in the last 10 years I've also posted about an apricot tart that I love making. I use either a sweet cookie type dough or a ready made pie crust, either canned or fresh and peeled apricots, and a frangipane that's just a little denser than the Bakewell Tart.

This week I made a tart that was a combination of those two. It had a pie crust shaped into a tart pan and blind baked, a jam layer over that for flavor and to keep the tart bottom from getting soggy (the Bakewell part, along with the frangipane), fresh peeled and pitted apricots from our local farmstand...soo fragrant!...plus the denser frangipane. Except for having too much filling, (which went over the top of the shell and baked on, making it impossible to remove the tart pan sides and making it difficult to serve) it was an amazing combination and will be repeated.

I'm sure that you can make this with canned apricots, and you can use any flavor of jam that you like. If you have almond flour or meal you are half way to a wonderful filling! If you don't have almond flour or meal, use the same weight of almonds and grind them to a fine powder in your food processor, using some of the sugar to buffer the grinding so that you don't end up with a paste of almonds. Be sure to use the rest of the sugar in the filling...it's easy to forget.

This really is a great way to bake with apricots. I enjoy fresh apricots as is, but I think that cooking them really allows their awesome flavor to really shine. Because you get big pieces of the apricot in this tart, the tartness and robust flavor are fully experienced, enhanced by the sweet jam (mixed berry in this case) and the moist but not too sweet almond filling. Sweetie really liked the crust, too. It added just the perfect extra texture to the tart. A winner!

Bakewell Style Apricot Tart

Serves 8

1 pre-made pie crust like Pillsbury ReadyCrust or your favorite sweet tart dough for 1 crust

Unroll the pie crust  disc and place in a 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Fold t he excess dough in on itself at the sides, then press the double thickness of dough into the tart pan ridges. Press firmly until the dough reaches the top of the pan sides. If a little goes higher than the sides, remove it and save to patch any holes after initial baking. Keep the excess dough in the fridge.

Prick all over and freeze for at least 30 minutes, but longer is O.K.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Put the rack in the center of the oven.

Remove tart shell from freezer. Spray a sheet of foil with cooking spray/oil and put, oil side down on the tart, pressing down to mold the foil to the tart shape.

Bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil carefully and use the back of a spoon to gently press down any puffed crust. If necessary, use the extra dough from the fridge to patch any holes, then bake another few minutes. Let crust cool.

Prepare the frangipane filling, jam and apricots:

3 tablespoons soft butter or margarine

1/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

2 large eggs

3/4 cup almond flour or mixed nut flour (about 85 grams)

about 1/2 cup jam, preferably a berry or mixed berry jam

10 apricot halves, peeled and patted dry

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

To make the filling:  Beat together the butter, salt, sugar, flour, and almond extract.

Beat in the eggs, then add the almond flour, stirring just to combine.

To assemble the tart: Spread the jam evenly over the cooled crust. Spread about half the frangipane filling over the jam, using an offset spatula to even the top, if necessary.

Place the apricot halves in a pattern on top of the filling, pressing them down gently so the bottom of the fruit is covered. There may not be room for all of the halves...save any left for another use. Add as much of the rest of the filling as will fit in the tart without going over the sides. Place the tart on a pizza pan or other large baking sheet to catch any drips.

Bake the tart in the preheated 350 degree F oven for 45 to 40 minutes, until the top is lightly browned. Filling will puff up around the apricots.  Cool slightly or completely before serving. 

A Classic Party Cookie

 Have posted this recipe before, but sometimes it's good to remember recipes that have become classics. I first tried this one back in the 1970s. My mother-in-law gave me a subscription to Sunset Magazine for Christmas when I first moved to California. It really helped me get acclimated to the differences between here and the East Coast where I came from. One of the recipes that appealed to me was this one for super-sized cookies that get broken or cut apart for party food. Kids love them, so they became a favorite substitute for a birthday cake...you still have colorful toppings and some confectioners sugar icing...and they are far easier to make than a regular birthday cake or a bunch of cupcakes.

Today I brought one of the two that I baked yesterday to a gathering of women friends and they enjoyed it, too. One of the nice things is that you can break off a small piece or a larger one, depending on how much sweet treat you want, or you can go back for another piece, or both.

This is an easy recipe to make. It's basically a chocolate chip cookie recipe with the addition of some oatmeal.

The typical cookie is two cups of the batter, baked on a foil lined pizza pan - the foil needs to be sprayed with baking spray so that you can easily remove it once baked and cooled.

I shaped my dough into a heart shape for each cookie, sprinkled on mini-M&Ms, baked the cookies, cooled them, than decorated them with confectioner's sugar icing and both colorful sprinkles and yellow-gold sanding sugar. A neighboring family got the other one as a thank you for helping us out.

Sweetie loves raw cookie dough, so he helped out by eating some that didn't get baked.

Big Heart Party Cookies

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup brown sugar, light or dark, packed
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
½ cup quick rolled oats
2 cups (12-oz. package) semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)
½ cup dried fruit (I used dark cherries)

For circle or heart shaped cookie:
1 cup M & M candies in appropriate colors (optional but fun)
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons hot milk
Assorted cake decorations such as dragees, colored sugar, colored small shapes, chopped nuts, sprinkles

Combine flour, salt and baking soda in a small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl and beat until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape bowl and beaters. Gradually beat in flour and beat until mixed. Beat in oatmeal. Mixture will be stiff. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

Line a 12” pizza pan  or baking sheet with foil. Spray with cooking spray. For a big circle cookie if using the pizza pan, put 2 cups of the dough on the foil. Using floured fingers, shape dough into desired shape, either circle or heart. Smaller hearts on baking sheets use 1 cup dough each. Exaggerate the shape since cookie will spread. You can fit two smaller hearts per pan. Sprinkle M&Ms over dough shape and pat lightly into dough, if using.

Bake one sheet at a time in middle of oven for 10 - 18 minutes (depending on the size of the cookie) until golden brown. Let sit on sheet for 10 minutes, then slide shape on foil onto a cooling rack. Continue to bake the rest of the dough. You can make regular drop cookies with the remainder of the batter if desired.

Once the cookie has cooled, if you like you can decorate for a party! Mix the confectioners sugar and milk and drizzle over the cookie in a random pattern. If you like you can color the icing. While it is still wet, sprinkle cake decorations over as desired. 

Put decorated cookies on party platter and serve. Pieces can be broken off or you can cut it into portions.

A Spectacular Spring Pie

A dear friend of mine grows rhubarb. I probably should grow it myself since I really enjoy the tart deliciousness of it and it grows well here in Sonoma County. Since I don't, I was OK with asking her yesterday if I could have a stalk of it so that I could make Sweetie a pie. She actually had some already prepped in her freezer and insisted that I take that...so I did.

This morning the rhubarb had thawed, the pastry disc was softened from sitting on the counter overnight, and I prepped all the other ingredients. Morning pie is a rare and wonderful thing around here. While Sweetie enjoyed reading the Sunday Press Democrat paper, I first blind baked the pie crust. While that was in the oven I mixed together the filling. The wonderful part of that is that I was making up the filling as I went along! I started with 8 oz. of ricotta cheese, then added two eggs and some vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla and a couple of tablespoons of flour. After whisking that together until smooth, I added 1/4 cup of 1/2 and 1/2 and whisked that in. I now had a cheese based custard, so I folded in the rhubarb and berries. It looked perfect.

Once the blind baked crust cooled a bit and I removed the pie weights (which in my case are lentils that I keep just for blind baking purposes), I added the filling, smoothed it out, then sprinkled sanding sugar around the edges and about 2 inches into the middle of the pie, just for fun and a bit of texture. Amazingly, the filling filled the pie perfectly! I guess years of baking paid off.

Once baked the pie still had to cool a while so that I could slice it. Hot custard tends to slump and I wanted nice slices. The photo at the top is one of the first ones I cut...looks great, doesn't it?

The pie was truly wonderful...not too sweet, soft and tender filling with the nice mixture of fruit in every bite, enhanced by the crisp pastry crust. I hope you make this during the spring when the berries and rhubarb are fresh and at their peak. You can make this with all rhubarb if you like, using 4 cups, but if you do, I would increase the sugar by 1/4 cup. You can also make it with only rhubarb and strawberries, using 2 cups of each. I wouldn't recommend making it with only strawberries because they need the tartness of the rhubarb to really shine, but if all you have is strawberries, add up to 1 tablespoon of lemon zest to the sugar before adding the sugar to the custard. Rub the zest into the sugar until it looks like moist beach sand. That way the oils in the lemons zest will be distributed throughout the filling and that zing will complement the strawberries.

Spring Strawberry-Rhubarb-Raspberry Custard Pie
My own recipe - Serves 6-8

For the pie shell:
1 disc pie dough - I use Pillsbury ReadyCrust, but a 1 crust pie dough rolled into a 12-inch circle from your favorite pie dough recipe is even better
parchment paper
pie weights
9-inch pie pan

For the filling:
8 oz. ricotta cheese - I used Kite Hill non-dairy ricotta, but use what you like. If the ricotta has a lot of extra moisture, drain it for at least 1/2 hour in a colander or fine mesh strainer before using
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup 1/2 and 1/2 or non-dairy creamer (not milk)
2 cups rhubarb, washed & dried and sliced into 1/2-inch slices
1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, green tops removed and sliced, or, if large, diced
1/2 cup fresh raspberries, washed & dried
about 2-3 tablespoons sanding sugar (optional)

Prepare the pie dough by lining the pie pan with it, rolling out first if non 12-inches in diameter. Roll under excess dough at the edges and then flute to secure to the edge of the pie plate. Line with parchment and add pie weights. Bake in a preheated 400 degree F oven for 10-12 minutes, until very light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Remove parchment and pie weights.

For the filling, while the pie shell bakes, whisk in a large bowl the ricotta, eggs, flour, vanilla and sugar until smooth. Add the 1/2 & 1/2 or creamer and whisk to combine well. Fold in the prepared berries.

When the pie shell has cooled and the oven is preheated to 350 degrees F., place the filling in the pie shell, smooth with a spatula, and, if desired, sprinkle the sanding sugar in a band on top of the filling near the outer edge of the pie.

Bake in the preheated 350 degree F oven for about 45 minutes. Finished pie will have dark golden brown crust and filling will be firm and slightly puffed at the outer edges.

Let cool completely (or cool in the fridge) before cutting. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Jedi

When you purposefully set your wedding date for May the 4th...you certainly will get those who reference Star Wars and May the Force Be With You. When your whole immediate family are big fans of the Star Wars universe, there will likely be some references on the Big Day.

Just after dinner, the chef set up a station for making instant ice cream drops using a metal bowl and some sort of coolant that made steam. As the bride and groom stood together waiting for the ice cream mixture, someone brought them light sabers...a red and a green. They had a little fun with them before the ice cream drops were made...and here they are, bride and groom Jedi! 

I really will return to the usual posts, but couldn't resist this one.

Some More About the Wedding

I promised you some stories about the unexpected things that happened on May the 4th, and I have told you about the mix up on the bouquets and about the snow forcing a move inside for the ceremony, but that's not all...

Turns out that the amazing chef for the wedding dinner lives somewhere like Fresno. He had to make his way through all the crazy traffic and delays caused by the spring snow storm...which ended up bringing two feet of snow we were told...so he was well over an hour late. Fortunately the group had meshed by then and the consumption of the signature cocktail I mentioned in an earlier post, plus other adult libations as desired, led to a pretty mellow group. Once the chef arrived he quickly set up a beautiful cheese board and the fun began. Pretty soon there were bacon wrapped dates and pulled pork with a 12 hour mole sauce, sizzling shrimp, and much more...and these were just the appetizers!

Of course the late dinner meant that the whole evening ran late. It was well after 9 pm before the cake was cut. The bride (with a little help by yours truly on baking the cake layers) made her own wedding cake and it was delicious as well as lovely. The flower decorations were done by one of her talented LA friends. (see photo at top of post) The groom claims that he had one bite and the bride may not have actually eaten any of the cake! They did do the traditional cake cutting and, later, the first dance was late enough that the bride had changed into pjs. Good thing that almost all the guests were staying at the lodge. Sweetie and I sort of sledded down to lake level before the cake cutting, to where we were staying, and were glad to get there safely.

Because there were guests, including the groom, who really prefer pie to cake, and because the bride wanted everyone happy, a local bakery was chosen as the place to pick up an assortment of tarts and small pies. Due to a glitch, when Sweetie and I went to pick them up on the morning of the wedding, they had no record of the order! Fortunately, they were very accommodating and filled the whole orderexcept for the chocolate dipped strawberries once we found out what the order should have been. They were really delicious pastries and the bakery was not at fault in any way about the glitch. I highly recommend the Sugar Pine Bakery in South Lake Tahoe if you are in the neighborhood and want high quality and tasty baked goods, plus excellent customer service.

Sugar Pine Bakery, 3564 Lake Tahoe Blvd. G, South Lake Tahoe 96150    530 503-0560

You would think that we had reached our limit of things that could go wrong, wouldn't you? But, no, there was one more. Sunday morning some of the guests headed to the kitchen for some breakfast and found a large bear in the sink. The bear had eaten all the breakfast croissants and was probably thirsty! A quick thinking guest made himself large by waving his hands and shooed the bear out a side door! Guess that was a very memorable final glitch.

If you have gotten this far in the post you deserve some photos of the bride and groom. I think you'll like this one, and the ones following.

Sweetie looks pretty good escorting his daughter up to her groom, doesn't he?

Quick Dinner

 
Sometimes you need or want to fix dinner quickly. I was lucky this evening to have some leftover rotisserie chicken, some ricotta tortellini, some pesto sauce, some pine nuts from the freezer, and a few veggies on hand. Put together they made a delicious meal in a very short time. Sweetie was a very happy guy and said I can make this any time.

The first thing to do is to put a big pot of water on to boil to cook the tortellini. While that's coming to a boil, toast the pine nuts in a large skillet. It only takes a minute or two. Set those aside and chop some onion - I used green onion, but yellow or white works, too. Spray the same skillet you used to cook the pine nuts with a little olive oil, then add the onions and sauté, stirring often. While those are cooking, chop some tomato...I used about a half dozen grape tomatoes. Add those to the onions, stir, and let them begin to sauté, too. Cube into bite size pieces the cooked chicken. (You could also use cooked turkey, cooked Italian sausages.) 

By now the water should be really boiling. Add some salt, if desired, and then the tortellini. Stir them every few minutes to cook the pasta part evenly, but be gentle so the fillings stays inside.

Add the cubed chicken to the onion-tomato mixture and stir to combine. Turn the heat to the lowest setting, cover and let it all heat up.

Get ready to drain the pasta when it is cooked al dente and cook about a cup of frozen peas in the microwave. Check the pasta and when it is ready, drain and put into a large bowl. Add a big scoop of pesto sauce and stir to combine with the pasta. Add the chicken-onion-tomato mixture and the pine nuts and stir gently to combine.

Serve at once with the hot peas on the side.

I know that there are no actual measurements for this recipe. If you feel you need them, make a comment asking for that and I'll try to figure out the amounts I used, O.K?