Hoisin-Garlic Mushrooms & Pepper

Easy and tasty!

Ingredients
½ C hoisin sauce
2 T minced garlic*
¼ t crushed red pepper (or more if you like it hot)
24 oz whole fresh button or baby bella mushrooms
1 sweet red bell pepper

* That's about 6 cloves; or...I buy a jar of preminced garlic - saves time (and smelly fingers!) and still has very good flavor.

Directions
Trim dry ends off mushrooms; I cut the largest ones in half, but you can leave them all whole if you like. Cut bell pepper into large chunks; discard stem and seeds.

In crock pot/slow cooker, stir together hoison sauce, garlic and crushed red pepper. Add mushrooms and bell pepper chunks, stirring to coat with sauce.

Cover. Cook 2½-3 hours on high (or 5-6 hours on low). Use a slotted spoon to remove mushrooms and pepper chunks.

Serve...
...with decorative toothpicks as an appetizer
...over rice, polenta, quinoa, etc as a side dish

Cheesy-Mustard Cauliflower

Cauliflower's never been a favorite of mine. I don't particularly dislike it, it just has so little flavor on it's own. But in my ongoing efforts to up my veggie intake, I've tried a couple options lately, both of them roasted. The appeal of a toasted-roasted, golden, almost-crispy-crusted top of the florets makes cauliflower at least inviting in appearance. This one, with gruyere cheese and mustard, gives cauliflower the flavor boost it so desperately (in my opinion) needs!

Ingredients
1 head cauliflower
3 sprigs of thyme
6 garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp black peppercorns
2 stalks celery
1 shallot
zest of 1 lemon (large, wide strips is fine)
1 C dry white wine*
¼ C sugar
¼ C  + ½ tsp salt
2 T olive oil
3 T dijon mustard*
1 C shredded gruyere

* I used some homemade mustard I recently whipped up

Directions
Trim cauliflower, removing leaves and stem to level with bottom of florets. Rough chop celery and shallot. Preheat oven to 450° F.

Wrap 3 sprigs thyme, 3 cloves garlic - smashed, bay leaves, coriander and peppercorns in cheesecloth and tie to secure. (I only had ground coriander, so I added that to the water with the salt and sugar.)

In a large pot, combine celerty, shallot, lemon zest, wine, sugar, salt and cheesecloth bundle with enough water to submerge cauliflower. Bring to boil, whisking to dissolve sugar and salt. Reduce heat to simmer. Gently add cauliflower core-side down; cover, Simmer 12-15 minutes until fork tender. The top florets will be fine even if they're not submerged. Remove to baking sheet.

While cauliflower is boiling, 3 garlic cloves - thinly sliced, olive oil and ½ tsp salt in a small saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat 4-5 minutes until garlic begins to brown. Remove from heat; remove and discard garlic slices. Whisk in mustard. Brush two-thirds of the mustard mixture on cauliflower. Roast 30-40 minutes until florets are lightly browned and toasted.

Remove from oven; brush on remaining mustard; sprinkle with gruyere. Return to oven just long enough to melt cheese.

Garlic Roasted Cauliflower with Romesco Sauce

Cauliflower's never been a favorite of mine. I don't particularly dislike it, it just has so little flavor on it's own. It's rarely worth the effort. But I'm always looking for ways to increase my vegetable repertoire. When it's got the appeal of a roasty-toasty browned top, and thyme and garlic...well it was worth a try. The romesco sauce is another flavor boost, and the accompanying recipe made plenty for the cauliflower (I chose a smaller head) and it'll be fine for topping other veggies or roast potatoes or toasted garlic bread...

Ingredients
1 head cauliflower
6 sprigs of thyme
6 garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp black peppercorns
2 stalks celery
1 shallot
zest of 1 lemon (large, wide strips is fine)
1 C dry white wine*
¼ C sugar
¼ C  + ½ tsp salt
¼ C olive oil

Directions
Trim cauliflower, removing leaves and stem to level with bottom of florets. Rough chop celery and shallot. Preheat oven to 450° F.

Wrap 3 sprigs thyme, 3 cloves garlic - smashed, bay leaves, coriander and peppercorns in cheesecloth and tie to secure. (I only had ground coriander, so I added that to the water with the salt and sugar.)

In a large pot, combine celerty, shallot, lemon zest, wine, sugar, salt and cheesecloth bundle with enough water to submerge cauliflower. Bring to boil, whisking to dissolve sugar and salt. Reduce heat to simmer. Gently add cauliflower core-side down; cover, Simmer 12-15 minutes until fork tender. The top florets will be fine even if they're not submerged. Remove to baking sheet.

While cauliflower is boiling, combine 3 thyme sprigs, 3 garlic cloves - thinly sliced, olive oil and ½ tsp salt in a small saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat 4-5 minutes until garlic begins to brown. Remove from heat; discard thyme. Brush half the oil over cauliflower. Roast the whole head until browned, 30-40 minutes, brushing with oil again half way through.

Serve with Romesco Sauce.

Romesco Sauce

Ingredients
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3 T olive oil
 C blanched almonds*
2 tsp smoked paprika
pinch cayenne
1 12-oz jar roasted red peppers, drained
2 T sherry vinegar*
optional: bread crumbs

* I have nut allergies so I always make substitutions. I used pine nuts this time. I also substitued red wine vinegar this time as it's all I had on hand.

Directions
In small fry pan or sauce pan, cook sliced garlic in olive oil 3-5 minutes until it begins to brown. Add almonds (or pine nuts!), paprika and cayenne; continue cooking, stirring frequently, until nuts are toasted and golden (another 3-4 minutes).

Place drained, roasted red peppers and vinegar in blender with garlic, oil, nuts and spices; puree. (If it's a little thin... Romesco sauce is often thickened with bread, so feel free to throw in some bread or bread crumbs.) Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve with Garlic Roasted Cauliflower, roasted potatoes, fish, chicken...

Mustard

Cleaning out the kitchen, I found that I had two jars (both almost full) of powdered/ground mustard. I use it in few things I can think of off the top of my head, but two full jars is more than enough for quite some time. Had to dig a little, but found a recipe I had tucked away -- ripped from a Cook's Country. This is slightly adapted. It's got a good tang to it.

Ingredients
4 T mustard powder
4 T white wine vinegar
3 T brown sugar
2 T cornstarch
1½ t salt
¾ C water

Directions
Whisk together all ingredients in small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking frequently, until thickened. Add more water 1 tablespoon at a time, if needed to reach spreadable consistency -- but keep in mind it will thicken as it cools.

5 Cool (sparkling!) Drinks for Hot Summer Days

Cool drinks for hot summer days...or whenever! Personally, I love carbonated drinks; bring on the bubbles! But they can tend to have a lot of sugar (and sometimes caffeine) and the healthier versions can get kind of pricey. So...here are some homemade flavors; with a little extra effort ahead of time, you can have more control over the amount of sugar and keep costs down. I made a few of the base syrups and kept them in the refridgerator; with some seltzer or club soda on hand...easy to mix and enjoy spontaneously! If desired, you could substitute Prosecco or any other sparkling wine for an alcoholic version. Let these inspire other flavors as well...

Grapefruit Jalapeno Soda
Ingredients -- per 4-6 servings
2 C grapefruit juice
¼ C sugar -- more or less to taste
½ jalapeno*
seltzer or club soda

* more or less, with or without seeds...to your taste; I'm not a big jalapeno fan; I used 1/2 of a smaller jalapeno without seeds -- and wasn't sure I'd like it even then. But I love grapefruit...I used a grapefruit flavored seltzer with this one; and--to my taste--it was good!

Directions
Combine grapefruit juice, sugar and jalapeno (slice or dice it if you want to release more flavor) in a small saucepan. Bring to simmer for 5-10 minutes until syrupy. Let cool, then strain. Combine 2 or more ounces with seltzer or club soda and ice.

Sparkling Basil Lemonade
Ingredients -- per serving
2 oz frozen pink lemonade concentrate, thawed*
6 (about) torn basil leaves
seltzer, club soda or gingerale

* or make your own simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water, boiled to dissolve all the sugar) and mix with lemon juice.

Directions
Combine concentrate and torn basil leaves in a small saucepan and bring to boiling. Remove from heat; let cool, then strain. Combine 2 oz of syrup with 10 oz (more or less) club soda, some ice, and a fresh sprig of basil.

Minted Sparkling Limeade
Ingredients -- per 2 servings
2 oz each: lime juice and water
2 T sugar (more or less to taste)
6 (about) mint leaves
seltzer, club soda or gingerale

Directions
Combine lime juice, water and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to simmer for 5 minutes until syrupy. Stir in mint leaves, muddling slightly; let cool, then strain. Combine 2 oz of syrup with 10 oz (more or less) seltzer, club soda or gingerale, some ice, and a fresh sprig of mint.

Grape-Vanilla Soda
Ingredients -- per serving
2 oz frozen grape concentrate, thawed*
½ tsp vanilla extract
seltzer, club soda or Prosecco

Directions
Stir together the grape concentrate and vanilla in a glass. Add ice and seltzer, club soda or Prosecco.

Minted Sparkling Grapefruit Punch
Ingredients --  per 4-5 servings
 C loosely packed mint leaves
1-2 T sugar
3 C grapefruit juice
optional: 1 C vodka (personally, I'd prefer rum in this mix, but suit yourself!)
seltzer or club soda

Directions
Muddle mint leaves with sugar in the bottom of a pitcher. Add grapefruit juice (and vodka, if desired). Chill. If desired, strain out muddled mint leaves. Serve over ice with seltzer or club soda and a fresh mint sprig.

Blackberry Chocolate Pie

A traditional blackberry pie is delicious! Especially when I can pick the berries and make the pie the same day, which is possible right now. But I came across a recipe in Better Homes & Gardens for a Blueberry Chocolate Pie that inspired me...adding chocolate to anything is almost always a good idea! But I like blackberries better than blueberries -- and have ready access to them growing wild. The ingredients below for the crust are borrowed straight from BHG (as is their suggestion for a 'star topped pie' -- I think this was in their July issie). The rest is my own modification of a precooked blackberry pie filling...

Ingredients - Crust + Chocolate
½ C butter, softened
½ C sugar
½ tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
dash salt
1 egg yolk
¼ C sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
2 C flour
1 C semisweet chocolate pieces
coarse sugar (turbinado, demerara, sanding sugar...)

Directions - Crust + Chocolate
Whip butter 30 seconds; add sugar and cream together. Add baking powder, baking soda and salt; beat until combined. Add egg yolk, sour cream and vanilla; beat until combined. Stir in flour.

Divide dough in half. wrap and chill until easy to handle (1 hour).

Preheate oven to 450° F. Roll half dough on floured surface to 12" circle. Line 9" pie plate with dough; trim and flute edges as desired. Dock; line with foil (to prevent overbrowning). Bake 8 minutes; remove foil, bake 3-4 more minutes until golden. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle chocolate pieces over bottom of crust. If desired, once melted, spread into an even layer.

Reduce oven to 375° F. Roll remaining dough to 1/8" thickness (I like mine a little thicker). Cut into star shapes (or whatever shape inspires you!); arrange on parchment lined baking sheet. In a small bowl beat egg with 1 tablespoon water. Brush cuttouts with egg mixture, sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake 8-10 minutes or util edges are lightly browned.

Ingredients - Blackberry Filling
½ C sugar
3 T flour
¼ C lemon juice
6 C blackberries1 tsp vanilla

Directions - Blackberry Filling
In large saucepan, stir together sugar, flour and lemon juice. Add 4 C of the berries. Cook over medium heat, stirring gently, until bubbly and thickened. (If it's not thickening much, sprinkle in another tablespoon of flour; some berries are juicier than others.) Remove from heat. Gently stir in remaining berries. Spoon or pour into prepared crust.

Bake 18-20 minutes. Cover edges of pie crust with foil if necessary to prevent over-browning. Remove from oven; immediately, gently press star cutouts onto top of pie. Cool completely.

Dutch Baby

I've posted a recipe for Dutch Apple Pancake, but I've still wanted to try out a more basic and traditional Dutch Pancake (German pfannkuchen) or "Dutch Baby"...large or small. This one, from Victor Manca, a Seattle restaurant ownder in the early 1900's, looked worth a try. 

This Dutch Baby recipe is very similar to German Pancakes, but without sugar and with more flour. This Dutch Baby is more pancake like, while the German Pancakes are egg-ier. Both are good!

Ingredients (for 6 servings - in a large skillet, paella pan, or similar)
½ C butter
6 eggs
1½ C flour
½ tsp salt
1½ C milk
For serving: nutmeg, powdered sugar, lemon wedges, honey...

Ingredients (for 2 servings - in a small skillet, about 9")
2 T + 2 tsp butter
2 eggs
½ C flour
dash salt
½ C milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 425° F. Put butter in skillet, oven safe fry pan, paella pan, etc. and place in oven.

While butter melts, whisk eggs with flour and salt; slowly add milk while continuing whisking, until batter is smooth. Remove pan from oven; pour in batter. Return pan to oven and bake 20-25 minutes until panckae is puffy and well browned around the edges, golden on top.

Serve immediately.  ...it deflates quickly, so truly serve it immediately if you want guests to see it at it's most puffy and beautiful!

The Dutch Baby recipe's traditional serving suggesting is dusted with nutmeg then powdered sugar, and served with lemon wedges and/or a drizzle of honey. I had lemon wedges, but I also had a jar of lemon curd to use up...thinned just slightly, it ws delicious!

Sour Cream Blackberry Pie

Blackberries are in season! I love a traditional blackberry pie. All the same, I'm always curious to try new recipes. This single crust option was worth trying. Not as fruity, of course, as a traditional blackberry pie, but a relatively quick and easy alternative that leans slightly toward a cheesecake.

Ingredients
1 9" pie crust; par-baked (1/2 - 2/3 baked)
20 oz blackberries
8 oz sour cream
¾ C sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 T flour
¼ tsp salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350° F.

Combine sour cream, sugar, vanilla, flour, and salt in a bowl and mix until smooth. Fill par-baked crust with berries. Pour sour cream mixture over berries, stirring gently as needed to settle cream around berries. Bake 30 minutes (longer if frozen berries are used...up to 50 minutes) or until filling is set and bubbly.

Cool completely (2 hours); serve immediately or refrigerate.

Blackberry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Ingredients
4 C fresh blackberries
1¼ C sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1½ C half-and-half
1½ C heavy cream
½ tsp salt
1 egg and 3 egg yolks
6 oz mini semis-sweet chips or chopped chocolate

Directions
Cook blackberries with ¼ cup sugar in saucepan over low heat 20 minutes until blackberries are very soft, broken and syrupy. Strain through sieve, using a spoon or rubber scraper to press as much through as possible. Stir in vanilla; set aside. Discard seeds and remaining pulp.

In a small bowl, beat together egg and egg yolks; set aside.

In saucepan, combine half-and-half, cream and salt and bring just to simmer. Temper eggs: very slowly, pour at least a cup of hot liquid into the eggs, whisking constantly. Pour all of egg mixture back into saucepan with half-and-half and cream. Return to simmer, stirring constantly until thickened (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat; refrigerate 1-2 hours.

Churn in ice cream maker according to directions. Stir chocolate chips/chunks into ice cream; Spoon into air tight container and freeze several hours or overnight.

Brownies by Duff

I have a brownie recipe I love. But when two FoodNetwork chefs were facing off in a brownie battle, I thought it might be worth trying a new recipe. One was an iced brownie, which I'm not really a fan of. The other was a Duff Goldman recipe. As good as it is (and it makes a FAT brownie!), I still like my other brownie recipe better. But here it is all the same: Duff's "The" Brownie.  As written by himself...

Ingredients
1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons lightly packed brown sugar
3 extra-large eggs, plus 2 extra-large egg yolks
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or chunks

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and butter a 9-inch square pan. Lining it with parchment paper is helpful as well. In a double boiler or a heatproof bowl set over a small saucepan of simmering water, melt the butter and bittersweet chocolate together, stirring often to avoid scorching. Set it aside off the heat.

In a big bowl, whisk both sugars, the eggs and yolks. Whisk in the salt and vanilla. Add the melted butter and chocolate and whisk to just combine.

Gradually stir in the flour and mix until everything is combined and smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle displays as much goo on it as you want to see in the middle of those brownies!

Let the brownies cool in the pan on a rack for about 45 minutes. Brownies need time to set, and if you try to cut them while they are too warm, they will fall apart and ruin your day. Slice them at room temperature or colder, and if you want them warm, just put them in a hot oven for a minute or two.  Serve the brownies with ice cream, duh!

Carrot - Scallion - Snow Pea Salad

Using up shoestring carrots from Carrot Fries a few days ago. Got this idea from FoodNetwork...

Ingredients
10 oz bag shredded carrots
2 C snow peas (or sugar snap peas)
4 scallions
Asian sesame dressing (¼ - ½ cup)
2 C crisp/dry chow mein noodles
1 T sesame seeds

Directions
Julienne the peas; slice the scallions very thinly (on the bias). Toss carrots, peas and scallions with dressing. Add chow mein noodles and toss just before serving. Garnish with sesame seeds.

This was crisp and fresh and, depending on the dressing you use...delicious! I think the same combination of veggies and crunchy noodles would be great with a honey-soy-rice vinegar dressing. And maybe some julienned red pepper for color and flavor...

Shoestring Carrot Fries

Ingredients

oil for frying (about 2 cups)

10 oz bag shoestring carrots

1 T apple cider vinegar

1 T fresh orange juice

1 T orange zest

2 T finely chopped fresh mint leaves

salt to taste

Directions

Lay paper towels (a couple layers) in a 9x13" pan or a over large plate. Spread shoestring carrots evenly over paper towels; allow them to dry and come to room temp (about ½ hour*).

* water/moisture makes the oil spatter, so letting the carrots dry first is helpful to reduce that; also, cold carrots quickly drop the temperature of the oil...which means they'll absorb more oil rather than fry up nice and crispy

While carrots are drying and coming to room temp...

Finely chop mint leaves; zest orange and squeeze enough of orange to produce 1 tablespoon juice. Mix cider vinegar and orange juice in a food-safe (clean!) spray bottle.

Place the oil in a deep pot/saucepan over medium high heat until it reaches 350° F. Add a handful of carrots; stir occasionally, frying about 3 minutes or until crispy. (Work in batches -- don't try to fry them all at once; the temperature will drop below 325° F, and your oil may boil up...or up and over the top of your pot!) Thicker cut carrots will take a little longer to fry...  Remove with a slotted spoon onto paper towel lined plate (or back into the 9x13" pan). Make sure temperature of oil returns to 350° F between batches. 

Spray carrots with vinegar & orange juice; sprinkle with salt, orange zest and mint leaves.