Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Loaf

I went for a second day of blueberry picking so I would have fresh berries for this Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Loaf.  I prepared it yesterday and it turned out great.  It is simple to prepare, using only a bowl and a whisk and spoon.  The lemon zest is a delightful compliment to the blueberries.  The loaf is like a pound cake and with the lemon syrup, it is very moist.  I either removed the cake from the pan too soon or the berries made it heavy (I used an extra half cup) and I had a slight baking fail when some of the cake remained in the pan.  I simply pressed it back into place and poured the syrup on, with a piece of waxed paper under the cooling rack to catch what dripped off.  After completely cooling on the rack I flipped it over and added the syrup that was on the wax paper.  You could no longer tell that the cake had fallen apart.  Next time I will let it cool completely in the pan and just pour the syrup on top.  The recipe says to brush the syrup and I guess that will give a more even distribution than pouring.  I skipped the glaze since the cake seemed decadent enough.

Spicy Breading

In a quest to maintain my weight, I am eating "whole" foods that I prepare myself while pushing out processed foods.  I normally achieve this by cooking on Sundays and eating the left overs for lunch.  I am bucking the typical American diet of small breakfast, medium lunch and large dinner by inverting that.  It's the BREAKFAST LIKE A KING, LUNCH LIKE A PRINCE, DINNER LIKE A PAUPER plan.  I have lunch and dinner figured out but having a big breakfast is more like a decent breakfast and then a snack of trail mix a couple of hours later due to my lack of time and eating so early in the mornings.

Besides eating more fruits and vegetables I am eating more fish.  I bought a bag of individually frozen fillets (some type of white fish, I cannot remember which) and I baked the first batch.  Easy to do, healthy, but boring.  I saw this recipe for shrimp and decided the breading would be great on my fish.  Yes, it means frying which is not as healthy as baking but it would mean I enjoyed the taste.  I modified the shrimp version as below and pan fried in about 2 tbs of butter and 2 tbs of oil for 4 fillets over 2 batches.

Breading:

1 cup Flour 

1 teaspoon Onion Bits or Onion Powder

1 teaspoon Garlic Powder

1 teaspoon Dried Thyme

1 teaspoon Dried Oregano

1 teaspoon Rosemary

1 teaspoon Cumin

1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

1 tablespoon Kosher Salt 

Mix all of the above on a plate/platter and dredge fish on both sides.  Fry in the butter and oil for about 3 minutes per side, for a golden brown.  Make sure cooked through by testing if it is flaky before removing.  

This is also a great way to use up all your spices! 

Whole Wheat Apple Muffins

I had left over diced apples in the freezer and I wanted to make a "healthy" muffin, using whole wheat.  This recipe for Whole Wheat Apple Muffins uses equal parts whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour.  That is a good ratio as more whole wheat flour would have pushed these muffins from tasty to saw-dusty.  The brown sugar on the top makes for a nice crust and the cinnamon flavor makes it taste like apple pie.  I found the muffins were best when served warm, so put in the microwave for 30 seconds.  Next time I make these, I will add walnuts for heartiness and white raisins as a nice complimenting flavor.

Lemon Blueberry Crunch Muffins

Recently, I picked blueberries with my parents at the Moorehead Blueberry Farm.  You have to get there early (7:00 am) to not only beat the heat but beat the hordes of people.  When we left around 8:30 it was packed.  The farm is big enough that once you are picking the crowds are not an issue, but parking is.

I made this blueberry muffin recipe because I was intrigued by the topping of butter, lemon juice and sugar.  How simple yet ingenious!  I also learned something new from this recipe:  you can make cake flour by combining cornstarch and all-purpose flour!  Directions to do so are on the cornstarch box.  Since I also know how to make buttermilk by combining milk with vinegar or lemon juice, I do not think I will ever buy buttermilk or cake flour again!

Orzo with Shrimp and Tiny Peas

I have been craving pasta and I wanted to use up some frozen shrimp so I found this recipe for Orzo with Shrimp and Tiny Peas.  I LOVE peas and the lemon zest and juice in this recipe make it taste like summer.  I am not a huge fan of tarragon though I wanted to make the recipe as is.  The tarragon had a very mild flavor when chopped fine and next time I will add more. 

The lemon flavor dominates, which is a good thing.  The peas are crunchy and blend well with the mild shrimp and orzo.  

I was able to put this together in about 30 minutes, including having to thaw the shrimp and peas.  I think tomorrow it will taste even more flavorful as all the ingredients blend.  It should make great leftovers, served either cold or hot.

White Bean and Turkey Chili

Janet made this low calorie chili.  It is a good recipe for using up all those cans in the pantry!

White Bean and Turkey Chili (modifies by Janet in bold)

• Yield: 8 servings (serving size: about 1 cup)

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 yellow onion chopped
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 (15.8-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (15.8-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (15.8-ounce) can refined beans
• 2 1.2 cups fat-free, less-sodium vegetable broth
• 3 cups chopped ground turkey
• 1 (15.8-ounce) can chopped tomatoes, drained

Preparation

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and ground turkey; sauté 10 minutes or until tender and golden. Add chili powder, garlic, and cumin; sauté for 2 minutes. Add oregano and kidney and black beans; cook for 30 seconds. Add broth; bring to a simmer. Cook 20 minutes.

Add refried beans and chopped tomatoes  cook 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat.

May 2012

We met at Mary's house on May 20, 2012.  All Gourmet Gals were in attendance, including Mary's guest, Sue.  

Appetizer:  Tonya, Antipasto Kabobs

Salad:  Janet, Feta, Strawberry and Almond Salad

Sides:  Angie, Scalloped Tomatoes and Collard Greens

Main dish:  Mary, Emeril's Seafood Mac-n-Cheese 

Dessert:  Carol, Berry Tart

Cocktail:  Jennifer, Limoncelle and Proscecco Cooler with Raspberries and Mint

Jennifer started us off with a tangy and bubbly cocktail called Limoncelle and Proscecco Cooler.  She garnished it with fresh raspberries and mint.  It was both visually lovely and refreshing.

 For our appetizer, Tonya brought a beautiful platter of Antipasto Kabobs. There were tortellini, cherry tomatoes, marinated mozzarella balls, salami, pepperoni and olives.  In between the kabob components were parsley sprigs and the plate was also garnished with parsley.  The salty olives and meats played well with the mild cheese and tomatoes.

Janet brought a summer salad with a sweet and tangy dressing.  The strawberries, feta and smoked almonds in the salad gave it both a freshness and nice crunch.  I really enjoyed the dressing and it would be tasty on other salads that call for a sweet dressing.

Since the main course of Emiril's Seafood Mac-n-Cheese was rich, I wanted the side dishes to be vegetables.  I prepared Scalloped Tomatoes and Collard Greens.  The scalloped tomatoes were cooked more than called for and became one layer of sweet tomatoes.  There are homemade croutons mixed with the tomatoes, along with fresh basil.  Some of the reviews of the recipe said that the croutons became soggy bread chunks and I did notice that as soon as the tomatoes hit the croutons, they broke down.  It may have been the bread I used but I still cannot imagine any toasted bread standing up to watery tomatoes.  Since I increased the cooking time the croutons did blend in with the tomatoes.  However, next time I think I will sprinkle bread crumbs on top and skip the croutons all together.

The collards greens were simple to make and flavorful and nicely complimented the mac-n-cheese.  In the mac-n-cheese we used both shrimp and lobster.  Mary steamed 4 lobsters and picked out the meat, which was not a simple task.  We also used shrimp that we cut in half.  Onions and garlic were sauteed and a white sauce was made and then the cooked macaroni and cheeses were added.  All was baked in the oven with a buttery topping of Panko bread crumbs.  It turned out creamy and decadent.  The noodles were firm and there was a piece of seafood in every bite.  The recipe was both comfort food and fancy enough to make it company worthy!

We concluded our meal with Carol's Berry Tart.  The berries were beautifully arranged, standing up, and covered with a sweet glaze.  The filling was mildly sweet and did not distract from the berries.  The crust was flaky and delicate. All three components of the tart; the crust, filling and topping came together in a delicious dessert that was not heavy.  It definitely was a show stopper and I could imagine modifying the recipe and using different berries or even combing berries like raspberries and black berries or strawberries and blueberries.

Berry Tart          

Damian Mandola and Johnny Carrabba

Pastry

For One 8 or 9 inch tart Tart

1 1/4 cups Flour

2 tablespoons sugar

pinch of salt

6 ounces butter

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

2 tablespoons softened cream cheese

Combine flour, sugar and salt, cut in butter with flat blade of mixer.  Blend well.  Add vinegar and softened cream cheese and blend.  Shape dough into a round.  Wrap in plastic wrap.  Chill.  If pastry is at room temperature, it will be too soft to roll out.  If frozen, too hard to roll out.

Line tart pan with pastry dough.  Use foil with pie weights or beans to line pastry and blind bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.

Note:  Even chilled, this dough is really soft.  I did roll it out, but had to put in the tart pan and pat it together because it came apart. 

Filling

3 egg yolks

6 tablespoons softened butter

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup almond powder*

1/3 cup powdered sugar*

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

* Almond powder: Grind blanched almonds (whole, slivered, or whatever you have around) in Cuisinart until finely ground.  Add equal amount of powdered sugar and grind again until powdered.

(Central Market sells almond flour (this is just the ground almonds) in the bulk section.  You would still need to mix it with the equal part of powdered sugar.) 

1.  Beat egg yolks with wire whip in mixer until pale yellow.

2.  In separate bowl, cream butter and sugar with flat blade of mixer.  Blend in yolks.  Add remaining ingredients.  Mix well.  

3.  Put filling in partially baked pastry.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, until lightly browned.  Cool to room temperature.  (My tart was browned before 20 minutes).

Topping

Fresh Fruit

Kirsh

Currant/Raspberry jelly/jam

4.  Top with fresh fruit, such as raspberries or blueberries, ideally arranged in concentric circles.  

5.  Glaze  - 1/2 jar currant jelly (red or black) melted on burner with 1 tablespoon Kirsh.  Brush glaze gently on with silicone pastry brush.  (I used seedless raspberry jam).

6.  Chill till serving.  Tarts only last 1 - 2  days. (but probably will be gone in an hour!!)