Iced Café Au Lait

June 18, 2013 in Beverages, SUMMER

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I’ve just gotta get this one off my chest. I’ve been dying to share a simple iced coffee with you. I don’t know why, really. Everyone probably already knows about this. You’re probably sipping an icy café au lait while skimming this very read. There are some wonderful examples, like this one, around the web, and I’m not saying mine is any better.

I’ve just been catching glimpses of my Toddy Cold Brew on the shelf in the pantry all Winter and Spring, until it got hot enough outside and I finally cleared enough space in my fridge to justify hauling it out and making iced coffee. So I thought I’d share since the days are long and warm and coffee really is a serious necessity sometimes.

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It’s so nice the way this is just waiting for you in the refrigerator in the mornings, so it’s even easier than brewing a pot of hot coffee. It’s less acidic  and better tasting too.

This week is a big week of to-dos for us. We are preparing for our big family reunion, followed immediately by our departure to Montana in the big ol’ RV. We’ll be gone for about a month. That’s a crazy long time to be gone and when I think about packing and getting all of us ready…and the laundry and the suitcases…I get a headache. I need coffee this week. Iced Coffee…with milk (or half-and-half, as the case certainly should be).

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A handy trick I learned from a little coffee shop nearby, is to use ice cube trays and freeze leftover coffee from the pot. Put these coffee-ice cubes in your iced café au lait instead of regular ice cubes to keep your coffee from getting watered down when the ice melts  (My photos don’t show the coffee ice cubes).

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Now, here’s what I do in my iced coffee…feel free to alter. I love this French Vanilla-flavored half-and-half and I love it especially for iced coffee. Organic Valley also makes it in Hazelnut flavor, which, for me is a fun change-up every once-in-awhile.

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 Put yourself a large container of icy coffee concentrate in the fridge for your week of to-dos…or perhaps your week of total relaxation…whichever it may be. Iced Café au lait works for either just as well. Just be sure to sit for a minute and enjoy it! How do you take your cold coffee?

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Iced Café Au Lait

Ingredients

    Cold Brew Coffee Concentrate
  • 12 oz. coarsely ground dark roast coffee
  • 8 Cups cold water
    • Iced Café Au Lait
  • 6 oz. coffee concentrate
  • 1 cup ice cubes or coffee ice cubes
  • 1/2 Tablespoon sugar AND
  • 6 Oz. half-and-half OR
  • 6 oz. French Vanilla half-and-half (no sugar needed with this option)

Instructions

  1. In a large container or cold brew system, steep coffee in water for 8-12 hours, according to instructions.
  2. Strain and store coffee concentrate in refrigerator.
  3. Pour 6 oz. coffee concentrate into a 12 oz. glass
  4. Stir in sugar, if using.
  5. Load glass with ice cubes
  6. Pour in half and half and stir.
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Parmesan Zucchini and Onion Bread Pudding with Prosciutto

June 13, 2013 in Dinner, Summer Suppers

Parmesan Bread Pudding

My kiddo, my three-year-old, is a little fish swimmer!

Remember last week, how I told you I was sorting through family stories and putting together a book? Well, I finally finished it. It’s at the printer as we speak. During the time I was working on it, my parents stepped in and kept the kids. It was wonderful of them. Part of the reason for this was that my mom had signed Harper up for swimming lessons with  a really great teacher near them.  She had so much fun every day and has since been showing off her love of the water and swimming as often as possible.

 

After missing those kiddos for nearly a week, but a bit refreshed, having gotten some closets cleaned out and big chunks of herald editing out of the way, we headed down on a Friday morning to surprise Harper by picking her up from her lesson. We get such a kick out of little things like that.

Since my mom and dad had been so busy with chasing our fast crawly-walker around while handling a three-year-old’s moodiness for five days, we thought we’d bring lunch…

I whipped this little guy together before we left home, called my mom to have her turn on her oven when we were almost there, and threw it in before lunch.  I love that it’s a one pan meal. It fed everyone with some left over for mom and dad to have another day. Kids got their vegetables; There was cheese and bread and meat and a whole lot of flavor.

This would be a great potluck dish for anyone heading to weekly potlucks during the summer months….anyone? It can be a side dish or a whole meal, and by all means, feel free to change up the veggies and meat or keep it vegetarian. Asparagus would be delicious. Broccoli is delicious. I’ve had it before. Serve it with a side salad or a fruit salad- the prosciutto goes nicely with cantaloupe. Tomatoes seem like they would be a really good addition.  Play with it and let me know what you come up with…

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I hope you are having a wonderful summer! While our fishies are spending as much time around water as possible in the warm weather, we’ve also enjoyed a fun family camping trip and plan to do a little horseback riding soon.

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Parmesan Zucchini and Onion Bread Pudding with Prosciutto

adapted from bon appetit

Ingredients

  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 Tablespoon butter
  • 1 large sweet onion, such as a vidalia, sliced into strands
  • 3 medium zucchinis
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • Italian loaf white bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 8 cups)
  • 6 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 1 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided
  • 3 oz prosciutto cut into 1-inch cubes (about 6 long slices)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°
  2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter and olive oil together.
  3. Add the sliced onion and cook for about five minutes, until tender and beginning to caramelize.
  4. Add the zucchini and salt and pepper; cook three-five minutes more.
  5. Add garlic and continue to cook for about two more minutes. Set aside.
  6. In a medium bowl, combine eggs, heavy cream, and milk. Pour over the cubed bread in a large bowl.
  7. Stir in zucchini mixture and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese.
  8. Spread into a 9x13 baking pan. Top with 1/2 cup more of parmesan cheese and prosciutto.
  9. Bake for 45 minutes and turn on broiler; cook for 1-2 minutes until golden.
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Sharp Cheddar Hushpuppies

June 7, 2013 in Dinner, Southern, Summer Suppers

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This week I’ve been sifting through stacks of family news and stories; musings from a family I admire…My family.

Perhaps you don’t hear, everyday, of a Family Herald; a tradition started many years ago by a cousin who publishes beautiful books of family history. You may not hear often of a family where the descendants of two, married in 1891, multiplied into somewhere around 200 people, still gather each year on the dates closest to their June wedding anniversary, eat the same meals, and basque in the (albeit humid) warmth of tradition for nearly four days. If such craziness is normal to you, then we should get together and have a conversation and a hug…as a matter of fact, we probably will do that in a couple of weeks because it is likely you are my Russell relative.

Well, the reason I am sifting through all the news of these people to whom I’m related this week is that I am the new editor to this Herald, compiling not only news of this past year but stories of generations handing down traditions to those who follow, tenderly and gently with anticipation of their perpetual thriving.

Recipes are a part of tradition…

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…so I made these hushpuppies from the worn index card written in my Grandmother’s cursive.

The story of my Grandmother, Carolyn, is a long one with many chapters. She was the baby, the fifteenth child, of this well-known, southern political family. She married a preacher from the Ozark mountains of Arkansas. She taught me to play Spite& Malice with a deck of cards and to stand up for the things I believe in.

I like things that make me think of her, in her kitchen, surrounded by her five children, cooking food she knew they enjoyed. Her recipe indicates that these were often served with fried fish. So, I made her hushpuppies to go along with some almond flour-dredged Alaskan cod and a remoulade slaw the other night.

It was a fitting meal for this week as I am spending many hours formatting and copying and pasting, writing some of my own stories and thoughts, and preparing this Herald for print. Procrastinating, as we Russells are known for (so I have a good, genetic excuse), has me up late the past few nights and falling a bit behind on my twice-a-week post hopes for this space. Sorry about that.

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A special thanks to my loving Aunt Sally, who holds onto everything until she finds for it the perfect home, for sending this and other recipes from her mother.

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Sharp Cheddar Hushpuppies

From my Grandmother Carolyn. On the back of the card she writes, "This recipe comes from a Sporting (?) magazine."

Ingredients

  • 2 Cups yellow cornmeal
  • 1 Tablespoon flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 6 Tablespoons chopped onion
  • 1/2 lb. sharp cheddar cheese (such as Cabot), grated
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 1/2 Cups buttermilk

Instructions

  1. Mix all dry ingredients.
  2. Add onion, cheese, then egg and buttermilk. Stir Well.
  3. Drop by spoonfuls into deep hot fat where fish are cooking (or have cooked)
  4. When done they will float.
  5. Drain on paper
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Sauteéd Shrimp with Basil Orzo

June 3, 2013 in Seafood, Summer Suppers

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There is a small community of us who have just had a major job benefit yanked from our lives for a few months. From late August through the end of May, our boarding school community, including teachers and their families, are welcomed and encouraged to eat meals in the campus dining hall, free of charge. That means that while, yes, I write a food blog, I have been under no pressure to provide nightly dinners or very many daily lunches for this little clan of four.

Someone seasoned in boarding school life once told us, long ago, that to refuse to eat in the dining hall is like refusing a part of your paycheck. It’s not really something we can afford to do, plus not having to clean supper dishes on the reg is a perk with which I have no complaints. And I might add, contrary to some student complaint, the food isn’t half bad either.

So, while I truly enjoy  and look forward to the process of planning and making food, the summer hits quickly and unexpectedly when it comes to the dining hall closing. Suddenly, every meal plan is on me. More importantly, groceries are expensive! Yet when I have just a few short months to cook daily for my family, I like to do it well.

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Just as we are used to doing throughout the rest of the year, many of the summer meals around this campus are shared ones. This shrimp and orzo supper was concocted by my favorite cooking buddy, Elisa, and myself one late afternoon; children splashing in a backyard kiddie pool and cold beverages in our hands.

Laid back.

Good food.

Cheers to remembered summer dishes and sharing new ones with friends…

…Now to shuffle the budget a smidgen in order to accomodate such frivolity!

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Sauteéd Shrimp with Basil Orzo

Recipe from Elisa Hopkins

Ingredients

  • 1 pound of peeled and deveined shrimp
  • 2 Tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 3 Tablespoons butter (2 for orzo, 1 for shrimp)
  • 1 Tablespoon of olive oil
  • 1 cup uncooked orzo pasta (I used 1/2 cup of whole wheat orzo and 1/2 cup durum wheat semolina orzo -this is not necessary but it adds color, depth, and nutrition to this dish)
  • 14.5 ounces of vegetable broth (Rapunzel Vegan Vegetable Bouillon with Sea Salt & Herbs is great)
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning
  • 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Instructions

  1. Peel, devein, and rinse shrimp.
  2. Marinate in lemon juice and refrigerate until you are ready to cook.
  3. Melt butter in heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in orzo and sautée until lightly browned.
  4. Stir in vegetable stock and bring to boil. Cover. Reduce heat and simmer until orzo is tender and liquid is absorbed, 15 – 20 minutes (times may vary depending on what type of orzo you use – the mix I used required 15 minutes in order for the liquid to absorb)
  5. Set aside.
  6. Season shrimp with Tony Chachere’s to taste.
  7. Heat skillet on medium high, add 1 tablespooon butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sauteé shrimp for 2 – 3 minutes per side – until pink with golden hints – Do not move shrimp while they are cooking – the secret to getting them golden is leaving them alone.
  8. Season cooked orzo with salt and pepper.
  9. Mix in parmesan cheese and basil.
  10. Transfer to shallow bowl.
  11. Garnish shrimp with basil sprigs
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Hazelnut Brownie Bars

May 30, 2013 in baking, Dessert

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Sometimes I’m not sure I have a blog-worthy recipe until I take something somewhere to share. Friends at a party provide the best confirmation that something is delicious, don’t they?  Of course, in this first circumstance, all the delicious credit is due to Jenny from the Bake or Break blog, which actually confirms it’s gonna be good. I looked everywhere I could, with limited time, for raw hazelnuts, but couldn’t find them. I simply substituted with walnuts and merrily drove to my friend Helen’s “Down South meets Down Under” potluck party, where many fine souls gathered to honor Helen’s friends visiting from Australia.

After a hearty dinner, we all stood in happy little groups filled with focused conversation as the rain drizzled down outside of Helen’s grandfather’s fishing cabin. From the screened porch, you could hear the spring frogs peeping behind the murmur of old friends catching up and new ones being made.

“MC! This brownie tart! Oh my gosh!” exclaimed one or two people before I finally made my way back to the kitchen where one lone slice remained alongside other desserts. Instead of taking the last piece, I snagged a lump of chocolate and crust that had fallen between slices. It was  good! Amidst explaining about how I couldn’t get a hold of hazelnuts and people commenting that it was the best thing they’d ever had, I guess I realized I needed to make it again.

My search for hazelnuts didn’t last too much longer. I found them, appropriately, in a great health food store nearby called “Roomful of Nuts,” and before I knew it, I had made it again to take to book club. This time I accidentally baked it too long, but it still made people decidedly happy.

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And so it was that had I baked this recipe twice as a tart before I decided to put a little spin on the brownie and make it into bars. Consider it, if you will, a mash-up. Just as my favorite mash-up from Glee kinda gave me goosebumps (don’t laugh!), this gently rich dessert, handy for any outdoor gathering…or anything, really… sorta makes me swoon. Combining the rich gooeyness of Deb‘s favorite brownies with Jenny’s wonderful, hazelnutty idea turned out to be a really delicious thing. I’m positive now that many others would agree.

So this pleasant evening, my friends and I sat in the grass talking and watching the children play while we shared these brownie bars and rejoiced at more daylight, allowing us to avoid chores waiting for us at home.

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How are you enjoying the extra hours of daylight? Any favorite Glee mash-ups?

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Hazelnut Brownie Bars

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Serving Size: 12 bars

This is more-or-less a mash-up of the Hazelnut Brownie Tart by BakeorBreak, and SmittenKitchen's favorite brownie recipe.

Ingredients

    For the crust
  • about 50 vanilla wafer cookies
  • 1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted
  • pinch of salt
  • 7 Tablespoons butter, melted, plus 1 Tablespoon for greasing pan
    • For the Brownie
  • 3 ounces good quality, unsweetened, dark chocolate (such as Ghirardelli 100% bars), roughly chopped
  • 1/2 cup butter (1 stick or 8 Tablespoons)
  • 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted and chopped
  • lightly sweetened whipped cream for topping (*optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°
  2. In a food processor, combine wafer cookies, 1/2 cup hazelnuts, pinch of salt, and process until fine.
  3. In a microwaveable bowl, melt 7 tablespoons of butter and grease an 8X8 square baking dish with remaining 1 Tablespoon.
  4. Drizzle melted butter into food processor until fine crumbs are moist.
  5. Press into greased baking dish and bake for 15 minutes.
  6. In same microwaveable bowl, melt 1 stick butter and chocolate in 30-second intervals, stirring in-between.
  7. Pour into larger mixing bowl and whisk in sugar, eggs, vanilla and salt.
  8. Stir in the flour gently with a rubber spatula.
  9. Add chopped hazelnuts and combine.
  10. Pour on top of crust and bake for another 35-40 minutes (until edges just begin to pull away from dish). Allow to cool.
  11. Cut into 12 bars.
  12. Top with lightly sweetened, whipped cream, if desired.
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Roasted Asparagus Eggs Benedict

May 23, 2013 in Breakfast, brunch, Spring

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For all you gardeners out there, I think it’s time to start a conversation on the topic. Sadly, neither Brian nor I have had the time to plant a single garden item this year, which saddens me. But as we have teetered back and forth with our decision for the kids and me to travel back to Montana this year as Brian finishes up a graduate degree (hooray!!!), we’ve finally landed on going; therefore, we will not be here to do much with a garden anyway. Today, my friends, I made us promise each other that next summer we will plan one little vacation amidst a relaxing yet productive summer. at. home. It’s at that point that I am really setting forth goals to finally have an awesome summer garden. This year, though, those poor little beds are going to have to wait.

One bed, however, is just brimming with life over the past few weeks. Our asparagus, which we planted three years ago, are just darting up day after day. Last year we roasted them and made warm spring dips, gave them away, and I think Harper might have actually just eaten some straight out of the garden. This year,honestly, we let the majority of them go and missed harvesting oodles. I know, what is our deal? …next year. next year.

But with just a few stalks, I honed in on a perfectly pleasant little breakfast dish; one of those things I order at restaurants just about everywhere I can, just to compare with others in the search for the best eggs benedict in the world. A homemade version might just sit right on top of the list when done right.

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It’s kind of undeniable that the hollandaise is what makes eggs benedict such a favorite.  I’ve tried my hand at several different, extremely simplified versions of the sauce, but I stumbled onto Alton Brown’s technique and found it, while uncomplicated, very delicious, and excitingly unique- meaning you can’t pinpoint every ingredient in one taste like you can with other simple recipes. Asparagus in place of meat just adds such a crispness and- gosh, I’ll just say it- healthiness that will make you feel better.

For not having much of a garden to speak of this year, it’s lovely that one little crop will just pop up on its own, early in the season, to beckon me to make breakfast. What are your gardens looking like right now?

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PS- Don’t forget you can make your own english muffins to use for this recipe- click here!

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Roasted Asparagus Eggs Benedict

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 17 minutes

Serving Size: 4

Ingredients

  • 15-20 asparagus stalks, tough ends removed
  • 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • 4 fresh eggs, poached (see the Alton Brown link for a how-to on perfectly poached eggs)
  • 4 english muffins, sliced in half
    • Hollandaise Sauce
  • 3 fresh egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon water
  • 1/4 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • 2-3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, divided
  • 12 Tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks butter)

Instructions

  1. Make the Hollandaise Sauce:
  2. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine egg yolks and water. Whisk until smooth and light in color, about 2 minutes.
  3. Add sugar and continue to whisk for 3-5 minutes, until you can see streaks when you pull a spoon through the mixture. Remove from heat.
  4. Add butter 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking until it is melted in, returning to heat to ensure it all melts.
  5. Add salt, lemon juice, and cayenne pepper. Whisk to combine. Place in warmed thermos to keep fresh (can save up to an hour)
  6. Preheat oven to 450°
  7. Spread asparagus stalks onto a baking sheet
  8. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and rub around to coat
  9. Place into oven for 8-10 minutes, until tender and browning
  10. Set aside
  11. Using the same baking sheet, place english muffin slices in oven for 5 minutes, or until golden.
  12. If cooled, warm your poached eggs in boiling water, turned off, for two minutes.
  13. On a plate, top toasted english muffins with 4-5 stalks of asparagus, top with poached egg, and drizzle with 1/8-1/4 cup warm Hollandaise sauce.
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Simple Carrot Salad

May 22, 2013 in Salad, Spring

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My kids are sick. Nothing awful, but I feel like they need some extra love and attention this week. Especially Sam. He has bronchitis. Poor guy. In light of this information, and the fact that productivity and I don’t really get along that well anyway, I’m keeping things simple in the kitchen today. Thankfully simple still means awesome…

This dish was inspired by the French-Style Carrot Salad at EverybodyLikesSandwiches.com, along with the extra large bag o’ carrots in my fridge today. Don’t be fooled into thinking that because I called it simple, it will bore your taste buds. It offers such a light, fresh flavor for spring! I decided to add dill to the dressing, in hopes that it would compliment the lemony zing, and it added wonderful character. Using the Julienne Peeler for this was fine, but I do wish I had hauled out my mandoline for the julienning of the carrots and made enough to last a week. I made long strands, making the photographs look just a little like a plate of spaghetti, but I actually think the really fine texture gave a bit of elegance to our meal. It’s also easy to pile onto a fork and shove into your mouth, incase elegance wasn’t on your list of things you wanted from this salad. This will be a picnic favorite this summer, as it packs up nicely into a lidded container.

Simplicity is wonderful at times; times like these when the week just requires more of me than I can muster. It’s nice to remember that simple can still taste delicious!

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Simple Carrot Salad

adapted from Everybody Loves Sandwiches

Ingredients

  • 5 medium carrots, julienned
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or pressed
  • 1/2 lemon, juiced
  • 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
  • 2 teaspoons dried dill or 1 Tablespoon fresh Dill
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Press garlic into a small bowl.
  2. Juice the lemon into the bowl and whisk in olive oil.
  3. Mix in dill and salt and pepper, and add carrots. Toss to coat completely.
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Fresh Strawberry Pie

May 17, 2013 in Dessert, Spring

 Strawberry Pie Slice

Every year when the market right down the street opens up with fresh strawberries grown out back in their fields, I often find myself swimming in more juicy berries than I can put into jam and fruit salads, over cakes with cream,  or even into toddlers’ mouths.  I’ll still buy as many as I can, because each year, this season is fleeting; it’s over before I’m ready. As National Strawberry Month just sort of breezes right on by, I thought sharing this pie with you might just be the best idea ever.

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Despite the newly-acquired burden of needing to mow the lawn every spare two hours one may or may not have on hand, this month offers the perfect weather for finding moments to spend talking with friends and sitting in the grass. I’ve been doing as much of that as I can these past few days. Though for some reason, every time I set Sam in the lush grass, he is determined to find something concrete and dangerous to play on instead. While, on the other hand, Harper cannot stay out of it, prefacing each and every practice cartwheel with a demanding, ”Watch this!! Watch!” It’s a little exhausting, but who am I to complain?

The perfect weather begs of you to put this pie- with its classic sweetness, resting atop a thin, lemony cream cheese bed and buttery crust- into your life right now. To share it with friends, to be in awe of these ruby red strawberries ripening nearby, and to sit in the grass and take deep breaths at the blueness of the sky.

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These May days won’t last forever. The heat will slowly stifle the strawberry mayhem at the market, and new produce will fill the shelves. The sky won’t be quite as blue and the leaves not quite as green in a few weeks. So for now, I will savor the abundant need for lawn-mowing and the toddler escapes; the constant cartwheel applause, and the strawberry pie.

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Fresh Strawberry Pie

adapted from Betty Crocker Kitchens

Ingredients

    For the Pie Crust
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 4 to 6 tablespoons ice water
    • For the Filling
  • 1 ½ Quarts Strawberries (about 6 cups), hulled, largest ones cut in half
  • 1 Cup Sugar
  • 3 Tablespoons Cornstarch
  • ½ Cup Water
  • 1 (3 oz) package cream cheese, softened
  • 1 teaspoon grated Lemon Zest

Instructions

  1. In medium bowl, mix flour and salt.
  2. Cut in butter, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until particles are size of small peas.
  3. Sprinkle with cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost cleans sides of bowl (1 to 2 teaspoons more water can be added if necessary).
  4. Gather pastry into a ball. Shape into flattened round on lightly floured surface. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate about 45 minutes or until dough is firm and cold, yet pliable. If your refrigerate for longer, let it soften before rolling.
  5. Heat oven to 475°F.
  6. Roll out your pie dough into a ¼ inch-thick circle.
  7. Gently place into pie plate, trimming extra from sides.
  8. Fold dough under and flute as desired.
  9. Prick bottom and side of pastry thoroughly with fork.
  10. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown. Cool on cooling rack.
  11. In small bowl, mash enough strawberries to measure 1 cup.
  12. In 2-quart saucepan, mix sugar and cornstarch.
  13. Gradually stir in 1/2 cup water and mashed strawberries (add 1 or 2 drops food color if deeper red color is desired).
  14. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils.
  15. Boil and stir 1 minute; cool.
  16. In medium bowl, beat cream cheese and lemon peel until smooth.
  17. Spread evenly into pie crust.
  18. Top with remaining fresh strawberries.
  19. Pour cooked strawberry mixture over top.
  20. Refrigerate until set, about 3 hours.
  21. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.
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Cornmeal Scones with Sweet Heirloom Tomato Jam

May 14, 2013 in baking, brunch, Southern

Cornmeal Scones and Heirloom Tomato Jam

While both of my children were sleeping today; deep, played-hard-at-the-playground sleeps, I had the doors open and a gentle breeze floating through the house. The screens allowed in the smell of outside- of May air, freshly cut grass, sky, and warm mountain dirt.  If the feel of the air today wasn’t enough to bring a peace and a comfort to settle me, the aroma of this food being made certainly was.

I kept walking over to the stovetop as the tomatoes reduced to a jam, wafting the steam into my nostrils. These little heirloom tomatoes simmering in warm sugar, cinnamon, and a touch of cayenne brought me back to something I couldn’t pinpoint. It was comforting. I had never tried these recipes before, but they brought a southernness with them that I realize is indeed quite familiar to me.

It started with these beautiful miniature heirloom tomatoes I found. Gosh, aren’t they gorgeous?

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Sweetened with sugar and spiced with cinnamon and just that twinge of heat, these reduced down into a nice tomatoey-sweet jam that oozed right over these delicate cornmeal scones. These. Scones. They aren’t sweet. Well, just barely. Just sweet enough. They are soft, giving the resistance any good scone should against your bite, while embodying southern cornbread at the same time.

…Am I getting all maudlin about scones and jam? But it was that smell today- and that fresh air- and those quiet moments just cooking to myself in the sublte breeze…

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I love that food can be experienced; that the atmosphere around it has so much to do with how well it is enjoyed. I love that my husband walked in from work as the smell from these scones and this tomato jam were still in the air. I love that I immediately popped  a jam-covered scone in his mouth to try. …Maybe for him it wasn’t quite the bliss I felt, but then, he had been at work all day and had just ridden home. I think he still had today’s mail in his hands. While he liked his snack, the quiet of the sleeping babes and the warmish breeze hadn’t made him gush about them. Or, maybe it’s just me.

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Do you get sentimental about food? Don’t you love tastes and smells more in certain circumstances- even if they’re kind of no big deal, like having your windows open and a quiet house?

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Cornmeal Scones with Sweet Heirloom Tomato Jam

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Yield: 16 Scones, 1.5 cups Jam

Adapted from Better Homes&Gardens

Ingredients

    For the Cornmeal Scones
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup yellow cornmeal
  • 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter, coarsely shredded with grater
  • 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons buttermilk
  • coarse sugar
    • For the Sweet Heirloom Tomato Jam
  • 1 1/2 pounds miniature heirloom tomatoes and/or cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (*optional)

Instructions

    Cornmeal Scones
  1. Preheat oven to 425° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
  3. Add shredded butter and whisk until coarse crumbles form.
  4. Make a well in the center of the four-butter mixture and pour in 1 cup buttermilk. Combine until moistened and forms a ball. Add 1 Tablespoon of buttermilk if needed.
  5. Turn onto floured surface and knead several times.
  6. Form into an 8" circle, 1" thick. Cut into 8 wedges, then again into 16 triangles.
  7. Place on baking sheet and brush with remaining Tablespoon buttermilk and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
  8. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until lightly browned; cool scones on a wire rack.
    9. Sweet Heirloom Tomato Jam
  9. In medium saucepan, combine tomatoes, sugar, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil stirring often.
  10. Reduce heat; cook, uncovered, over medium-low heat for 45 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally.
  11. Remove from heat, transfer to a bowl to cool.
  12. Serve or store covered in refrigerator up to 3 days.
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Gramma Kluska’s Pierogis {and a Mother’s Day story}

May 9, 2013 in Dinner, Guest Posts, Life

kate-2013

Katie writes on Mondays and Thursdays at texasnorth.com. She is a Texan by birth, a Michigander by marriage, and a farmer by Divine Humor.  Kate never- never- has the right shoes on for chasing wayward cattle.  She believes in Sunday School and likes to roast marshmallows after dark. 

 

 

My Grandmother, Betty, is a mystery to me.

She was born in 1927, lost both parents before she was 5 and grew up with her grandparents in the farmland outside of Pittsburgh. The day she graduated from high school she hopped a bus to Cleveland and took a job at White Motors. She met my grandfather on a blind date and they had two children- my mother and my aunt. She used to wear an orange fedora.

It has taken years to piece together the few sentences of her story that I now have. Partly because it wasn’t table conversation…death and divorce and love lost, heartache and crippling arthritis and living on social security for thirty-five years…and largely because I waited so long to ask. I have spent the last ten years trying to make up for lost time- asking questions here, pouring over pictures and family memories there. Though dementia and pain have tempered her, and I am more often called Suzy than Katie, I know that there is a story there that is the beginning of my own.

I have her hands.

Perhaps I am finally old enough to appreciate the brave, brutally honest, and scrappy stock I come from…now that I am a mother myself and think more about others than I did as a teen. She was single and tough and often silent…and I told myself we had nothing in common.

But I look at that orange fedora on my shelf…

and I look at my hands-her hands- typing…

and I think maybe, just maybe, part of the mystery in me can be explained through her.

It’s never too late to look back.

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Gramma Betty with Cousin Joe
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Gramma Kluska’s Pierogis

Ingredients

    Dough
  • 1 beaten egg
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 Tablespoons sour cream
  • 2 1/2 cups flour (slowly added until you can knead it)
    • Pierogi Filling
  • Mashed potatoes (creamy, not lumpy, add cream instead of milk and grated cheddar cheese)
  • Maybe a touch of sauteéd onion
  • Or fill with sweetened sour kraut
  • Others fill with meat or prunes but I never made those

Instructions

  1. Combine ingredients for dough, adding flour last, slowly, until you can knead it.
  2. Cut dough into circles, fill, seal/press to make a half circle (Should be half the size of your fist)
  3. Drop in boiling water like dumplings
  4. Take out when they float and then fry in butter
  5. Serve with sour cream
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