Marble Rye Croutons

A tasty part of salad is the crunchy crouton. Decided to make these when there were a few slices of marble rye left. Cut into cubes, placed on a large baking sheet, sprinkle of really good olive oil and fragrant mixture of thyme, rosemary & oregano seasoning--baked until crispy. Very good and easy too.

Apple Cranberry Pie

Don't touch that pie! It was the last piece of evidence that it existed and I wanted a picture. It was a really good pie and the first fruit pie I had made without following someone's recipe. It had the perfect balance of sweet apples and tart cranberries. We have been eating cranberries -- craving cranberries since before Thanksgiving. I have been buying them in 3 pound bags at Costco to satisfy the hunger. They have appeared in sweet and savory dishes and we love them. Here goes the recipe as I made it and if you decide to make a similar pie you may want to adjust the sugar according to the sweetness of your apples.

Crust--

2 Cups AP Flour

2/3 Cup Canola Oil

1/3 Cup Buttermilk

Pinch of Salt

1/4 Tsp freshly Grated Nutmeg

Mix dry ingredients.

Mix wet ingredients and add to dry.

Combine until a ball of dough can be formed.

Divide in half and roll into rounds between pieces of plastic wrap or wax paper.

Place one round in the bottom of 9" pie plate & reserve the other round for topping the fruit once it is added to the pie plate.

Filling--

6 or 7 Gala Apples (I was short 1 Gala so I used 1 Honey Crisp) peeled and sliced thinly

1 Cup Cranberries

2/3 Cup Sugar

1/3 Cup AP Flour

1 Tsp Saigon Cinnamon

1/4 Tsp Freshly Grated Nutmeg

1 jar (4 plus ounces) of baby Apple/Cran Juice

Pinch of Salt

4 Tbsp Butter

In a large bowl combine apples/cranberries with juice. Combine dry ingredients and stir into apple/cranberry mixture. Pour into pastry lined pie plate, top with butter, and top with remaining pastry round. Crimp edges and prick top of pastry with knife or fork to allow steam to escape. Brush pastry with a little buttermilk and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.

Bake in a 425 degree preheated oven for 15 minutes. Reduce oven to 325 and bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown (and probably bubbling over!). I always bake fruit pies on a cookie sheet to catch spills. Mom always said a fruit pie isn't ready until it bubbles over and generally she is right.

Lentils & Quinoa

I love following the recipes of others. It is a challenge to see if I can create what someone else has created. Do my efforts meet the standard? Sometimes. Sometimes adding my own ideas make the recipe a failure, or interesting or even a success. I also like just cooking with things I have that I enjoy eating and making it up as I go along. Baking isn't as easy when following that path. Sometimes I imagine I can create biscuits from scratch with no recipe like my Great Grandmother did.

This lentil and quinoa dish was one of those creations that included just the things I liked that I had on hand. No special recipe. The bite and texture of the two main ingredients was the start. I added shallots, carrot, mushroom, small sweet peppers and parsley all browned in olive oil and cooked until the lentils and quinoa were still firm in vegetable broth. The result was a success for me. Sometimes not using a recipe is ok.

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

This cake is truly delicious. Melts in your mouth & is very adaptable. I first read the recipe at Simply Anne's. Had to try it--with a few changes. The original recipe used dried mango & real eggs.

Recipe

8 T butter, room temp

6 oz. cream cheese, room temp

1/2 t salt

1 C sugar

2 t baking powder

2 C cake flour

1 C egg substitute

2 t lemon zest

2 oz. chopped dried apricots

2 T lime juice

Glaze--

5 t lime juice

1 C powdered sugar-sifted

Preheat oven to 350 F

Directions--

Combine flour, salt, baking powder, sugar & zest. In a separate bowl, beat cream cheese & butter until soft & fluffy. Add egg sub 1/4 @ a time, beating after each addition. Add lime juice & mix. Add flour until just combined & fold in dried apricots. Pour batter into a greased 9x5 loaf pan & bake for about 50-60 minutes depending on your oven. Toothpick should come out clean when baked through. Introduce lime juice to sifted powdered sugar & use only the amount that makes the glaze the consistency you desire. Make holes in cake w/toothpick & pour glaze over top.

Note--am already planning different versions of this cake--using all lemon, all lime, w/ cranberries or blueberries or even mini chocolate chips &/or pecans. It is a truly moist & delicious cake that would make a great back drop for fresh strawberries & whipped cream.

Raspberry Fried Pies

After nummerous requests, I finally made fried pies. They turned out well & were light & flakey. I used purchased pie dough & a cookie cutter to make some of the pies & free formed a couple with the dough left from cutting the shapes. The filling was made from cooking 2 cups of frozen raspberries with 1/3 cup of sugar, pinch of salt, 2 tablespoons of raspberry preserves, 1/4 cup of water & 3 tablespoons of corn starch until thickened. Cooled the filling a bit, cut out the shapes, put a spoonful in the centers & closed the top layers with a bit of water around the edges & sealed with the tines of a fork, then deep fried them in canola oil. I don't have a deep fryer so I used a heavy metal pot with a couple of inches oil heated to medium on the cook top. They fried very quickly. After draining on paper towels & a sprinkle of powdered sugar they were ready. Very quick & easy. Family said they would want them again, so, that equals a thumbs up around here. Happy New year!

Potatoes & Ham

Simple Sunday supper for us last night--all on one plate. A bowl of potatoes cubed & fried in olive oil, butter, pepper & onion flakes along with some delicious cubed ham baked for Saturday supper. Added a simple salad of iceburg lettuce & avacado with only a squeeze of lemon juice and a Gala apple for dessert & it was a wrap for our evening meal. Easy & delicious comfort food.

Gingerbread!!!!

Actually, Gingerbread & Lemon Curd Trifle with Blackberry Sauce to be exact. My first attempt at home made gingerbread & my first trifle & it was a hit today. Tangy, lemony & creamy all at once. Great flavor combinations and a thumbs up from everyone at the table. This was a creation of Bobby Flay shown earlier this month on Food Network & one I will make again. The only changes I made from the original were to use pomegranite liquer instead of framboise & egg substutue & it didn't hurt the outcome at all. I assembled the trifle yesterday & refrigerated until it's unveiling at the table today.

Gingerbread Cake:

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

3 cups ap flour

2 tbsp ground ginger

2 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

3 tbsp minced crystalized ginger

10 tbsp (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp

1 cup brown sugar

3 large eggs

1 cup molasses

1 cup boiling water

2 1/2 tsp grated lemon peel

Lemon Curd Filling, recipe follows

Blackberry Sauce, recipe follows

Position rack in center of oven & preheat to 350 degrees F.

Spray 1 half-sheet pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper; spray paper. Sift flour & next 6 ingredients into medium bowl. Mix in crystalized ginger. Using an electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in brown sugar. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Gradually beat in molasses, followed by 1 cup boiling water. Mix in grated lemon peel. Gradually mix in dry ingredients. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake until a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the pan sides. Turn out onto a rack & peel off paper. Cool & cut into 1-inch cubes.

To assemble:

Using a trifle bowl, start with an even layer of gingerbread cubes, top with 1/3 of the lemon curd mixture, and 1/3 of the blackberry sauce. Repeat 2 more times. Top with remaining whipped cream. Cover & refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight before serving.

Lemon Curd Filling:

2 (11-ounce) jars prepared lemon curd

2 cups heavy cream, sweetened with sugar & vanilla, beaten to soft peaks

Place lemon curd in a large bowl. Fold in half of the whipped cream until combined. Refrigerate if not using immediately. Reserve remaining whipped cream for the top of the trifle.

Blackberry Sauce:

2 pints fresh blackberries, or 1 bag frozen blackberries, thawed

1/4 cup sugar

Pinch salt

2 tbsp framboise (raspberry liquer)

1 tablesponn fresh squeezed lemon juice

Place blackberries, sugar & salt in a medium saucepan & cook until the berries are soft & the sugar has melted. Transfer to a blender & blend until smooth. Poor through a strainer into a bowl. Stir in the framboise & lemon juice. Set aside until ready to use.

Next time I will make half the gingerbread recipe as I had plenty left over after assembly -- which is not a bad thing! If you make the original cake recipe, you will need a VERY large bowl.