Spiced Blackberry Muffins
Spiced Blackberry Muffins
Sometimes, little things can just improve your day. For me, it was starting the day with a mug of raspberry tea and a warm blackberry muffin. I had some beautiful fresh blackberries, and decided to make muffins with some of them. So happy that I did.
I used a recipe I had made before, but decided to add cinnamon and nutmeg to the batter. I also dipped the tops of the warm muffins in melted butter and a spiced sugar mixture to finish them off. So good. So very, very good.
Spiced Blackberry Muffins
1 c. milk
1 egg
¼ c. oil
2 c. flour
1/3 c. sugar
1 T. Baking powder
¾ t. salt
½ t. each cinnamon and nutmeg
1 c. blackberries, I used fresh but frozen would work, too.
Topping:
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. each cinnamon and nutmeg
4 T. butter, melted
Beat together milk, egg and oil. Combine dry ingredients and add to milk mixture, stirring to just moisten flour. Fold in blackberries. Fill 12 paper lined muffin cups to 3/4 full. Bake in preheated 400-degree oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Combine sugar and spices in a small bowl. Place melted butter in another bowl. When muffins are removed from the oven carefully dip the top of a muffin in the melted butter and then in the spiced sugar. If muffins are too hot to hold wait a few minutes before dipping. Repeat with remaining muffins. Serve warm. Makes 12.
Fresh Blackberry Scones
Fresh Blackberry Scones
I was recently given some beautiful blackberries. I decided to make scones with some of them. Warm from the oven, with a cup of coffee, these are hard to beat.
While scones are traditionally served for breakfast or brunch, I often use them in a dessert. These scones make a great shortcake.
For dinner with a friend, I split the scones and filled them with some sliced peaches. I had tossed the peaches with a little sugar and some vanilla. We topped them off with a scoop of ice cream. Blackberry and peach shortcakes- bliss. 🙂
For shortcakes, just split scones add fill with some seasonal fruit, sweetened, if you like. Top with ice cream or whipped cream. Easy dessert and very tasty.
Here is the recipe for the scones.
Fresh Blackberry Scones
2 c. flour
1/3 c. sugar
1 T. baking powder
¾ t. salt
6 T. chilled butter
2 c. blackberries, fresh preferred, but you could use frozen
1 t. orange zest
2 large eggs
1/3 c. heavy cream or half and half
Mix dry ingredients together in bowl and cut in butter to resemble coarse crumbs. Toss in berries and zest. Beat together eggs and cream and stir into flour mixture. Mix very gently to avoid bruising berries. Use 1/2 cup ice cream scoop to scoop batter onto a baking sheet. Sprinkle with a little extra sugar, if you like. Bake in a preheated 375-degree oven for 22-24 minutes. Makes 10-12.
Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup
Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup
This is a great recipe for some of those fresh tomatoes. A simple soup, with lots of flavor, it is a favorite of mine. So much better than the canned tomato soup of my childhood.
I enjoy it served hot, but I also eat this soup cold. On a hot day, this soup, served chilled, is a wonderful change from a salad with dinner.
I prefer to use fresh tomatoes, but I have used my home canned tomatoes, in a pinch. If you want a stronger tomato flavor- use a couple extra tomatoes.
Cream of Fresh Tomato Soup
3 medium-sized ripe tomatoes
1 small onion, chopped fine
1 rib celery, chopped fine
3 whole cloves
1 small bay leaf
3 T. butter
3 T. flour
1 t. salt
3 c. milk or half and half
Peel and chop tomatoes. Place tomatoes in saucepan with onion, celery, cloves and bay leaf. Bring mixture to a boil; reduce heat and cover, simmering 15 minutes. Melt butter in a large saucepan then stir in flour and salt. Cook mixture until bubbly. Add milk and cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Puree tomato mixture through a strainer, food mill or in a blender or processor. Add to milk mixture and heat through. Serves 6.
Classic Pesto Sauce
Classic Pesto Sauce
I can’t make pesto without wanting to call it green spaghetti. I had friends over for dinner one night. Their son was about 4 at the time. I had made pesto and tossed it over hot spaghetti. The little boy wasn’t quite sure about the big, green plate of pasta. He did agree to try it. Turned out he really liked it, and after that, when he came for dinner, he would ask for “Aunt Judi’s green spaghetti”.
Pesto is most often made with basil, but there are a lot of variations out there. I must admit to being a big fan of the original. I make it often when I have fresh basil. I also freeze basil with olive oil, so I can make it all year long. Pesto can be tossed with pasta, rice, potatoes or other veggies. I also like it on chicken.
Pesto Sauce
1 c. tightly packed basil leaves
1/4 c. olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic
Salt to taste
1/2 c. pine nuts, sunflower seeds, pecans or walnuts
1 c. fresh grated Parmesan cheese
Combine all ingredients, except the cheese, in a blender and mix until smooth. Stir in the cheese and toss over hot, cooked pasta or use as a sauce on meat and poultry. Sauce will keep a few days in the fridge and makes about 1 1/2 cups, enough for 1 lb. of cooked pasta.
My Favorite Chocolate Frosting
Chocolate Frosting on a Chocolate Cupcake
When a friend asked for something chocolate for her birthday dessert, I knew I was going to make cupcakes. I also knew what frosting I was going to make to top them.
This frosting is really wonderful. Creamy, full of chocolate flavor and not too sweet. Dark chocolate is melted, then little cubes of cold butter are beaten in. The frosting is finished with some powdered sugar and a little vanilla.
Super simple to make, but so good. I used dark chocolate chips, but any dark or bittersweet chocolate could be used. If you are using a solid block of chocolate, break it up into pieces before melting. You can melt chocolate over a double boiler, or use your microwave. I used my microwave. I heated the chocolate for one minute, stirred it and heated 30 seconds longer. Be careful not to burn the chocolate, when using a microwave.
There is plenty of frosting to ice 24 cupcakes. You could frost up to 30 cupcakes, if you use less.
Here is the recipe.
My Favorite Chocolate Frosting
12 oz. bittersweet chocolate – you can use dark chocolate chips
1 c. cold butter, cut into cubes
1 c. powdered sugar- or a little more- if you like
2 t. vanilla
Melt chocolate and place in a mixing bowl. Let cool 2 minutes. With electric mixer on high speed, beat in the butter bits, adding about ¼ of them at a time. Beat until butter is melted, and incorporated into the chocolate. Beat in the powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat a few minutes, until frosting is creamy and smooth. Makes enough to generously frost an 8 or 9-inch layer cake or 24 cupcakes.
Sweet Cherry Jam
Sweet Cherry Jam
This must be a great year for cherries. They seem bigger than usual, and very sweet. I had picked up a lot of sweet cherries at the local market, more than I could eat fresh. I knew I wanted to do something to preserve some.
I combined some of the cherries with vodka to make a liqueur. I dehydrated a bunch, and I made another batch of spiced cherries. I also decided to use some of them to make jam.
While I normally make jam from sour cherries, I knew the sweet ones would work. Besides the cherries, sugar and pectin, this jam also contains lemon juice, vanilla and cinnamon. Those extra ingredients give the jam a more complex flavor and a little bit of a tang.
This may be one of my favorite jams ever!!! I was worried it would be too sweet, but it isn’t. The flavor of the cherries comes through as well at the flavor of the vanilla and cinnamon. Thinking I made need to buy more cherries and make another batch….
Here is the recipe. Enjoy.
Sweet Cherry Jam
4 c. chopped pitted sweet cherries, about 2 lbs.
6 T. powdered pectin
6 T. lemon juice
2 T. pure vanilla extract
1 t. cinnamon
4½ c. sugar
Wash jelly jars and lids and keep warm until ready to use. Place a large pot of water, with a rack, on to boil for the water bath. In large saucepan combine cherries with pectin, lemon juice, vanilla and cinnamon. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring often. Add the sugar and bring mixture back to a rolling boil, stirring often. Once the mixture gets to a full, rolling boil, cook for one minute longer, stirring constantly. Remove jam from heat and skim off any foam. Ladle hot jam into hot jars, filling to about 1/4 inch from the top. Wipe off rim and screw on the lids. Repeat with remaining jam. Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and let jar sit in canner 5 minutes before removing. Remove from water bath and allow jars to cool. Yield: about 6 half pint jars of jam.
Adapted from The Ball Blue Book
Homemade Vegetable Pasta
Veggie Pasta Linguine
Homemade pasta is so much fun to make and the flavor is worth the extra effort. I taught a pasta class a couple of nights ago. Everyone had a great time. We made several different veggie based pastas, including spinach, carrot and beet. The recipe is pretty simple. Cooked veggies and flour.
We combined the ingredients in a food processor, then let the dough rest before rolling. Once you are ready to roll out your pasta, the shape is up to you. You can hand roll the pasta, and cut into noodles. We used pasta makers to roll the dough, and then a cutting attachment for the angel hair pasta and linguine. Some dough was also used to make cheese stuffed ravioli, or combined with other pasta dough for more of a rainbow pasta.
We also had some egg based pasta dough and a parsley pasta dough.
Directions for mixing to dough is all the same- combine ingredients in a food processor and mix until dough forms into a ball. Allow to rest, covered, for 20 minutes, before rolling.
To cook fresh pasta, noodles are cooked in boiling, salted water for 1-2 minutes. Ravioli are cooked in boiling water for 3-5 minutes.
Mixed veggie pasta, ready to be cut
Spinach angel hair
Carrot and Spinach Ravioli
Parsley Linguine
Carrot Pasta
1 c. flour
1/3 c. cooked carrots
1-2 T. water, if needed
Beet Pasta
1 c. flour
1/3 c. cooked beets
1-2 T. water, if needed
Spinach Pasta
2 c. flour
1 10 oz. package frozen spinach, thawed, drained, reserving some of the liquid
Mix this dough as for other pastas, but don’t be too quick to add reserved liquid. While processing, you’ll get water out of the spinach. May require more kneading and rolling than other pasta dough. Be patient, it’s worth the work.
Parsley Pasta
1 c. flour
3 t. chopped fresh parsley
1 egg
1 T. oil, (optional)
2-4 T. water, if needed
Basic Pasta Dough
1 c. flour
1 egg
1 T. olive oil
1 T. water, if needed
Four Cheese Ravioli Filling
3 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
15 oz. whole milk ricotta cheese
8 oz. cream cheese
5 oz. shredded Parmesan cheese
Combine all ingredients and mix well. Chill until ready to use. This will fill dozens and dozens of ravioli. Extra filling can be frozen and used another time.
Duck with Cherry and Red Wine Sauce
Duck with Cherry and Red Wine sauce
As part of defrosting my freezer, I came upon a duck I had sort of forgotten. I was tempted to just put it back, save it for a special occasion. Than I realized, I didn’t need a special occasion for duck, I just had to want it. So I decided to cook it up.
Since cherries are in season, I used some of them to make a glaze for the duck. I also used red wine in the sauce. I could see using this sauce on pork, lamb or even chicken. Since my cherries were sweet, I didn’t add much honey to the sauce to sweeten it. If using tart cherries, you can add a bit more honey.
I will start with the recipe for the sauce.
Cherry and Red Wine Sauce
2 T. oil
1/2 c. minced shallots
2 c. pitted cherries
1/2 c. red wine- I used Merlot
1 cinnamon stick
salt and pepper to taste
1 T. honey
In skillet, saute shallots in oil until they start to turn golden brown. Add cherries, with any liquid they are in, and the wine and cinnamon stick. Cook until most of the liquid evaporates. Add the honey, season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook a few more minutes. Remove from heat and discard cinnamon stick.
Reducing the sauce
The Duck
1 duck
salt and pepper to taste
1 recipe cherry and red wine sauce
I cut off the extra fat and skin from the neck of the duck to save for rendering later. I also removed the wings and set aside for another use. I then cut the duck in half and placed it in a roasting pan on a rack. Season it with salt and pepper. Bake in a 425 degree oven for half an hour. Turn down heat to 350 and cook 30 minutes- duck will be almost done, at this point. To finish off the duck, I heated up a large skillet and put the duck in the skillet, skin side up. I poured the cherry sauce over the duck and cooked it with the lid on for 15 minutes. Then I took the lid off and turned the duck skin side down. On medium high heat I allowed the sauce to reduce. It also caramelized on the skin making a nice glaze.
Homemade Dill Pickles
Dill Pickles
People think homemade pickles are difficult to make. They really aren’t. These dill pickles are easier than most.
To make them, you start by putting dill and garlic in clean jars. Then you add the cukes, cover them with the brine, and process. Can’t get much simpler.
You can play around with the seasonings a bit. To make the dill pickles a little more fun, I added 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes to about half of the jars, for a spicy version.
To make the pickles crisper, you can add a fresh grape leaf to each jar with the spices. For best results, use really fresh cucumbers. Pickle them as soon after harvest as possible.
Easy Dill Pickles
30-40 pickling cucumbers, 5 inches long, scrubbed and ends trimmed off
¾ c. sugar
¾ c. canning or pickling salt (non-iodized)
1 quart vinegar
1 quart water
7 fresh dill heads
3 T. pickling spice
7 garlic cloves, peeled, optional
Mix together the sugar, salt, vinegar, water and pickling spices and bring to a boil. Cook 10 minutes. Place a dill head in the bottom of seven clean, hot pint jars. Add the garlic, if using. Meanwhile cut trimmed and washed cucumbers into halves or quarters lengthwise and pack upright into the jars. Trim the length, if needed to fit no higher than to the shoulder of the jar. Pour over the hot brine leaving ½ -inch of headspace. Wipe rims and screw on lids. Place in a simmering water bath and bring to a boil. Process for 10 minutes. Remove and cool. Makes 7 pints.
Spiced Bread and Butter Pickles
Spiced Bread and Butter Pickles
I am a big fan of homemade bread and butter pickles. I make several batches every year. Friends and family really like them, too. I get requests, every year, for these Spiced Bread and Butter Pickles.
While you should follow recipes for pickles carefully- those amounts of vinegar, salt, sugar etc., all are important for safety and a good end product, you can play around with seasonings a little.
In this case, I just add a teaspoon of red pepper flakes to each pint jar for the spicy version. Just enough of a kick. You might want to add a little more or less, according to your taste.
So here is the recipe for classic Bread and Butter Pickles- with the variation for Spiced included.
Bread and Butter Pickles*
6 quarts thinly sliced pickling cucumbers
6 medium onions, peeled and sliced thin
½ c. pickling salt
1½ quarts vinegar
4½ c. sugar
½ c. whole mustard seed
1 T. Pickling spice
1 T. celery seeds
Wash cucumbers and trim off ends before slicing. Place in non-reactive bowl
(stainless steel, enamel, plastic) add the onions and then salt and stir. Allow cucumbers and onions to sit in the salt for 3 hours. After 3 hours drain well, but do not rinse. Meanwhile combine remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Add cucumbers and onions and return to the boil. As soon as the mixture is boiling ladle into clean, hot pints jars, leaving a good ½ -inch of headspace. Wipe rims and screw on lids firmly. Place in boiling water bath and process for 10 minutes. Remove to counter and allow to cool naturally. Makes 12 pints.
* For Spiced Bread and Butter Pickles add 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes to each pint jar just before filling.
Note: These need a couple of weeks for the flavors to develop. They can also be made with firm, small zucchini.
Source: Putting Food By
