Mentor Camp- Snack Day
Tiger Paws
It was all about the tiger paws in camp today. Biscuit dough brushed with melted butter, dipped in cinnamon sugar and adorned with slivered almond “claws” and then baked. We also made yogurt and fruit cups with fresh peaches and topped with homemade granola. Mexican Pizzas were a big hit and we finished off the day making a trail mix.
Peach and yogurt cup with granola
Mexican Pizza
Lemonade Biscuits
Lemonade Biscuits
I know it sounds odd but these are some of the lightest biscuits I ever made- and easy, too. They aren’t sweet, as you might imagine, but do have a slight lemon flavor. Great with almost any savory dish I could see using these as the base for strawberry shortcake, too.
Lemonade Biscuits
3 c. flour
4 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 c. heavy whipping cream
1 c. prepared lemonade
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Add cream and lemonade and stir gently until dough just holds together. Using flour on a board, gently knead the dough using gentle pressure until it just holds together. Dough will be sticky. Press or roll out about 1/2 inch thick and cut out with 2 inch biscuit cutter. Re-roll scraps. You should get 20-24 biscuits. Place on baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom and light brown on the top. Cool on wire rack.
Swiss Chard Gnudi
Swiss Chard Gnudi
I love Swiss Chard and have been enjoying a lot of it lately. It is abundant at local farm markets and in my yard. I decided to use some of my chard to make gnudi. What are gnudi? They are little dumplings. Gnudi are similar to gnocchi but you use ricotta cheese instead of the potatoes. When done right they are tender and light. These were like little pillows of flavor. I just served mine tossed in butter and topped with fresh grated Parmesan cheese. If you are trying to get your family to eat more greens- try making these.
Swiss Chard Gnudi
1 lb. Swiss chard, stem ends trimmed
1 c. whole milk ricotta
½ c. grated Parmesan cheese plus extra for sprinkling
¼ c. dried minced onion
1 egg
½ t. coarse salt
¼ t. fresh ground pepper
1/8 t. ground nutmeg
¾ c. flour, plus extra for rolling
Butter
Grated Parmesan cheese
Cut chard leaves from each side of center stem. Cook chard leaves in large pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 3 minutes. Drain; cool. Squeeze chard leaves until very dry; place in processor. Using on/off turns, finely chop chard. Add ricotta, ½ cup Parmesan, onion, egg, coarse salt, pepper, and nutmeg; process to blend. Transfer mixture to medium bowl. Add ¾ cup flour; stir to blend. Cover and refrigerate dough overnight.
Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Spoon some flour onto large plate. Working in batches, drop heaping teaspoonfuls gnudi dough (size of small walnuts) onto plate with flour to form about 36 gnudi. Using floured hands, gently shape each into 1 1/2-inch-long, 1/2-inch-thick oval. Tap off excess flour; transfer gnudi to prepared baking sheet. They can be made 2 hours ahead. Cover and chill. Bring large wide pot of salted water to boil. Slide gnudi into pot; cook until they float to the top, about 4-5 minutes. They are very tender so remove from water gently. Toss cooked gnudi in butter and sprinkle with cheese. Serves 4.
Counter Blender
This picture is from the kitchen at Wildwood, where I often teach. Never much paid attention to it until the other day. It’s a built in blender motor and switch. I was curious so I turned the switch and the motor still works!!! Have no idea if a newer blender would work but I think I am going to give it a try. Kinda cool, although I see limitations. If the motor goes probably impossible to fix. Then again, I have no idea how old it is, but it still works. Any idea when these were made and installed? Any body ever have one They are going to be remodeling the kitchen soon so I am sure it will be pulled out.
If you unscrew this knob there is an attachment for the blender inside.
Lemonade Cheesecake Squares
Lemonade Cheesecake Squares
I always enjoy the combination of lemon and cheesecake. I wanted a new recipe and decided to jazz up the flavor with lemonade both in the filling and as a glaze on top. The end result is just what I had hoped for. Creamy, not too sweet and a pop of lemon flavor from the glaze. I also wanted to add more texture to the crust so I added some oats in addition to the graham crackers and baked this cheesecake in a 9×13-inch pan. You could serve it with a few berries on top, if you like. Here is the recipe.
Lemonade Cheesecake Squares
Crust:
¾ c. butter (1½ sticks)
1 ¼ c. graham cracker crumbs
1 c. oatmeal, old-fashioned or quick cooking
¼ t. salt
Filling:
2 (8oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
¾ c. frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed*
3 T. flour
2 eggs
2 t. grated lemon peel
Glaze:
¾ c. frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed*
2½ T. cornstarch
Heat oven to 350-degrees. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan. Beat together butter with the rest of crust ingredients. Press into bottom of prepared pan and bake 20 minutes. Beat cream cheese, lemonade and flour until fluffy. Stir in eggs and peel. Pour over crust and bake for 25 minutes, or until set. Cool then add the glaze. To make the glaze: in small saucepan combine the lemonade with the cornstarch. Heat together over medium heat until mixture becomes thickened and bubbly, stirring constantly. Pour over cheesecake. Store covered in fridge. Makes 24 squares.
*You can use store bought frozen lemonade concentrate or here is the recipe I use to make my own.
Homemade Lemonade Concentrate
1 1/3 c. lemon juice- fresh or bottled
1 c. sugar
lemon zest, optional
Combine ingredients and stir until sugar is dissolved. Freeze until ready to use. Makes a little over 1 1/2 cups. To use: combine three parts water to one part concentrate.
Homemade Lemonade Mix
Homemade Lemonade Concentrate
Lemonade will always be a favorite summertime drink for me. I make it plain or sometimes with berries added. I like the convenience of those frozen lemonade concentrates but I prefer using fresh squeezed lemon juice. I started making my own concentrate a few years ago when I got a whole case of lemons from a friend. I juiced the lemons and froze much of the juice just plain. There was still a lot of juice. I decided I might as well try to make some lemonade concentrate, too. I went to the store and read the ingredients on several brands of frozen lemonade concentrate. High fructose corn syrup and concentrated lemon juice. Well I decided that wasn’t going to work for me so I did something radical. I stirred some sugar together with lemon juice until the sugar dissolved. There didn’t seem to be much point in adding water- that would defeat the purpose of it being a concentrate. Then I just froze the juice/sugar mixture.
Sometimes I freeze a whole batch together either in a plastic container or in a Ziploc bag. I also froze some of this lemonade mix in ice cube trays. That way once frozen I could pop the cubes into bags and just take out what I needed at the time. I’ll often add some lemon zest, too. Don’t toss all that zest, either. If you are going to be juicing a lot of lemon just for the juice, zest them first- and freeze or dry the zest for later use.
Well here is the recipe for my lemonade concentrate.
Homemade Lemonade Concentrate
1 1/3 c. lemon juice- fresh or bottled
1 c. sugar*
lemon zest, optional
Combine ingredients and stir until sugar is dissolved. Freeze until ready to use. Makes a little over 1 1/2 cups. To use: combine three parts water to one part concentrate.
* You can use honey instead of sugar- but only use 1/2 c. honey as it is much sweeter than sugar.
Mustard Potato Salad
Mustard Potato Salad
For a recent dinner with friends I was doing a potato salad. I love potato salad and always try to do something different. This time I went with an old stand by. It was the way I remember my Mom making it when I was a kid. I didn’t like mustard back then, but I sure liked it in her potato salad. The plan was for me to make a home made Bavarian mustard with beer in it- but alas time got the better of me so I used a nice whole grain mustard. Just a few ingredients but the flavors worked well together. Mom knew what she was doing. Here is the version I made.
Mustard Potato Salad
4 lbs. potatoes- I used Klondike Rose and I did not peel them
4 hard cooked eggs, peeled and chopped
1 sweet pepper, seeded and chopped
1 c. mayo- maybe a little less
1/4 c. prepared mustard
salt and pepper to taste
dash of hot sauce
Bake whole potatoes until tender and allow to cool. Cube potatoes into large bowl and combine with remaining ingredients. Chill until ready to serve. Serves 8.
Plants for Sale
Chameleon Plant- Hauttunyia Cordata
I have been teaching cooking classes all week in Mentor. Every day this week as I pull out of the parking lot at Wildwood after class I pass a house with a Plants for Sale sign out front. The sign says .50-$1.00. I decided to stop today after class. What a fun time I had. It isn’t a business, just a person selling a few plants. They have mostly perennials, many that like shade. Daylilies, hostas, several different ground covers, giant marigolds. Most things are in the 1-2 dollar range, some are 50 cents.
I got a plant called the Chameleon Plant. It is a shade and moisture loving ground cover that by some accounts can be invasive. I have a friend who has grown it for years and says it is not a problem for her. It is also edible. I am planning on making a shady area I have more edible plants so adding hosta and more daylilies to my yard.
The lady was very nice so I thought I’d pass on the info if any of you are interested. I don’t have the exact address. Pretty sure it is 7742 Little Mountain Road in Mentor. Its just across the street from Wildwood and has a big sign so hard to miss even if the address is wrong.
Cooking with Herbs Class
Lovage
I will be teaching a class on Cooking with Herbs this Monday at the Wellness Center in Rocky River. Registration information follows.
Cooking with herbs (and spices) can enhance even the simplest of foods. It can also be a way to reduce the use of salt in cooking. In this class you’ll learn the basics of cooking with herbs, both fresh and dried. Buying, preserving and storing herbs will be discussed as well as extending their shelf life. There will be a cooking demo and plenty of food to taste and recipes to take home.
The class runs from 7-9 pm. Located at 3035 Wooster Rd., in Rocky River, the Wellness Center is operated by Fairview Hospital, a Cleveland Clinic hospital. For more information, or to register for classes, visit fairviewhospital.org/wellnesscenter or call 440-356-0670.
