Celebrating Simplicity

After a long break from recipe blogging, I am excited to be back and to introduce a new member of my family. This new addition has been long awaited and I am happy to call it my own…

My brand new cuisinart food processor was a gift for my birthday. I am trying to think of recipes that require a food processor, just so I can play with my new toy. I decided, for my first round using my food processor, I would make an apple crisp. Rather than doing a plain old pie I decided to make them bite sized. These little pies would be great as an addition to your fall party.

Bite Sized Apple Pies

Topping:
1 cup Oatmeal
1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 stick butter, chilled

Filling:
6-8 Medium Honey Crisp Apples (or another firm, tart, cooking apple)
1/2 stick Butter
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1 Tbsp Cornstarch
1 Tbsp Cold Water

1 recipe Pie Crust

Place all topping ingredients in the bowl of the food processor. You can easily do this by hand, I just really wanted to use my new food processor! Blitz a few times until ingredients are well combined.

Peel and dice apples. Saute in a medium pan over medium heat, with butter. Cook until nearly soft. Add brown sugar and cinnamon. Combine cornstarch and water and pour into simmering apple mixture. Cook, while stirring until well thickened. Turn off heat and allow to cook slightly.

Roll out chilled pie crust and cut into circles. Be sure to cut one then double check that the circle size works for the size of your muffin pan. Place circles in greased muffin tin, be sure not to pierce holes in the bottom. You can use mini muffin tins for bite sized treats or regular for something more substantial. Spoon filling into dough cups, all the way to the top. Place one spoon full of topping over that. Press the topping gently so the crumbs don’t fall off of your pies. Bakes pies at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes then serve warm.

If you are in a rush and don’t want to make all of these components from scratch you can:

Use pre-rolled purchased pie crust
Use canned apple filling
Give the recipe to someone who likes to cook and invite yourself over for dinner

~SD

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
2 large Red Bell Peppers
1 tsp Olive Oil
4 Roma Tomatoes
1 Onion
1 clove Garlic
1/2 Jalapeño Pepper
1 cup Chicken Stock
1/2 cup Pine Nuts
Kosher Salt to Taste

Rinse red peppers. Coat with olive oil. Place peppers directly over the open flame of a gas burner, or grill. Allow the skin to turn black, turn the peppers so they darken each side.

Remove from stove and immediately place peppers in a bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Allow pepper to steam, and cool. Once cooled, peel peppers under running water. Remove stem and seeds.

Core and slice Roma tomatoes. Peel one clove of garlic. Remove the stem and seeds of 1/2 of a jalapeño pepper. Place prepared vegetables, along with cleaned roasted peppers in a small sauce pan along with chicken stock.

Allow mixture to boil, stirring frequently for 1/2 hour. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Puree mixture in a food processor with pine nuts. Season to taste.

~SD

Quick Pear Tart
1 prepared Pizza Crust (plain)
1/4 cup Cream Cheese, at room temperature
1 Tbsp Brown Sugar
2 Pears, peeled and sliced thin
1/4 cup Powdered Sugar
1 tsp Milk

In a small bowl, combine cream cheese and brown sugar. Stir together to mix well. Spread cream cheese mixture over prepared pizza crust. Arrange pears on top over cream cheese spread. Bake at 450 degrees unti lightly golden, about ten minutes.

In another small bowl whisk powdered sugar together with milk. Drizzle icing over warm pear tart.

This late into summer we have so many fresh veggies and fruit coming in season. Right now some of my very favorites are at their peak. Sweet corn, tomatoes, peaches and blackberries! I can’t seem to get enough. Try this recipe for blackberry buttermilk coffee cake to fulfill your berry cravings!

Blackberry Buttermilk Coffee Cake

2 cups All Purpose Flour
2 cups Brown Sugar
1/2 cup softened butter
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1 Egg
1 c. Buttermilk
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 cup Fresh Blackberries

Combine the flour, butter and brown sugar. Mix well with an electric hand mixer, until all ingredients are incorporated. Reserve 1 cup of the crumbs for the topping. Add the remaining ingredients (except berries) to the batter, and mix until smooth. Pour into greased 9×9 pan. Sprinkle berries over the top of the cake batter.

Then, sprinkle the crumb mixture over the top of the berries.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the middle of the cake. If it comes at clean, the cake is done. Serve warm.

~SD

Green Bean season is here at last! This recipe for sautéed green beans is simple, yet has intense flavor. Simmering the beans in water helps to keep them perfectly al dente. You can use fresh or frozen green beans for this recipe- but this time of year fresh beans are so much better.

Sauteed Green Beans

2.5 lbs Fresh Green Beans
1 cup Water
3 Tbsp Butter
1 tsp Garlic, chopped

Wash beans, then remove both ends- be careful not to take off too much.

Place trimmed beans in a large sauté pan with ½ cup water. On high heat simmer beans until water has evaporated. Add the remaining water and repeat.

In the meantime, melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Simmer butter until browned, then add garlic and remove from heat.

Pour browned butter over green beans and serve.

~SD

I try to serve bread with every dinner. This recipe for cheddar biscuits is a great variation to plain old bread and butter.
Makes 8 biscuits

2 cups Self Rising Flour
¼ cup Vegetable Shortening
¾ cup Cheddar Cheese, shredded
¼ cup Green Onions, finely chopped
½ - ¾ cup Buttermilk

Start by combining self rising flour and vegetable shortening in a medium sized mixing bowl. Work the shortening into the flour with your hands. Gather a handful of both shortening and flour between the palms of your hands, and lightly sift the mixture back into the bowl. Repeat this step until the shortening is well incorporated. This can also be done by sifting the flour with one hand, as shown.

Next add the shredded cheddar cheese and chopped onions the flour mixture. Toss with a wooden spoon to blend. Begin pouring buttermilk into the flour mixture, a ½ cup at a time. Blend gently with a wooden spoon. If dough looks dry, add the remaining buttermilk. Be careful not to over mix the dough, or the biscuits will be tough. Stir only long enough for the flour to absorb the liquids.
Spoon biscuit dough onto a lightly greased sheet pan. Do so by filling a large spoon with about a ¼ cup of dough, the scraping the dough onto the sheet with a smaller spoon. Space each biscuit about ½ inch apart.

Bake at 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes, watching carefully. The tops will be golden brown when the biscuits are done. Best served straight out of the oven.

~SD

The mild flavor of shrimp lends itself well to marinades. This recipe is light and fresh tasting and is great on the grill. If you don’t have a grill (or it’s the middle of winter!) simply cook the shrimp in a sauté pan for 1 minute on each side.

Honey Lime Grilled Shrimp

½ cup Olive Oil
3 Tbsp Honey
Juice of 1 Lime
¼ tsp Red Pepper Flakes
Pinch of Salt
40 Shrimp, peeled with tails removed
8 Skewers

Soak the skewers, if they are made of wood, in a cup of water for at least a ½ an hour. If the skewers are too long for the glass, flip them over halfway through soaking. This prevents the skewers from burning on the grill.

In a shallow dish combine oil, honey, lime juice, red pepper flakes and salt.
Place 5 pieces of shrimp on each skewer. When putting shrimp on the skewer, be sure to go through both the body and tail (as shown) so they are secure.

Place prepared skewers in the marinade and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Flip the skewers half way through to soak both sides of the shrimp.

Preheat grill to medium heat. Place skewers on cleaned grill plates. Because of the oil in the marinade they will flame for a few seconds. Cook on each side for one minute. Raw shrimp is gray in color, and cooked shrimp will be light pink. Serve immediately.

~SD

I know so many people who struggle to integrate veggies into their dinner menus. It is so easy to go straight to steak and potatoes. This time of year it is easy to try new vegetables, since so much will be in season. Right now asparagus is in its prime, although you can generally get it any time of year. This recipe for roasted asparagus is the simplest way to get some veggies into your diet. It takes about 15 minutes total to prepare, and is a crowd pleaser.

Roasted Asparagus

1 bunch Asparagus
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/4 tsp Kosher Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper

Rinse, then cut the asparagus about 3 inches up the stock. The ends tend to be stringy and tough.

Line the asparagus on a sheet pan, in one layer. Drizzle with olive oil, season and coat.

Roast for 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees.

~SD

When it comes to produce, these days, it is so easy to find what you want, when you want it. Anyone can go to their local grocery and find summer squash in the middle of winter, brussel sprouts in the heat of summer or even strawberries whenever you like. I have fallen for these “out of season” berries. They look so bright and red. They are huge, like berries on steroids! So, why not try ‘em? Each time I fall for the allure of year round berries I regret it. Once they have arrived in my far away land from someplace warm, they loose all of their flavor appeal. Cut into a strawberry in January and instead of a soft, deep red flesh, you get hard and white. Oh how what a drag! The good news is, local strawberries are in season right now! I would not have known this if our neighbors had not brought my family some this week. These berries are deceiving to the eye. Early season strawberries are much smaller, but boy do they taste sweet! Take a trip to your neighborhood truck patch or grocery store and pick up some of the summers first berries!

Quick Berry Cheesecake

1 cup Graham Cracker Crumbs
¼ cup Sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon
2 Tbsp Butter, melted

8 oz Cream Cheese, at room temperature
1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
¼ cup Sugar
¼ tsp Lemon Juice
1 tsp Vanilla

1 ½ cups Berries
¼ cup Sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small mixing bowl combine cracker crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Transfer to an ungreased sheet pan and bake for ten minutes. This will toast the crumbs and blend the flavors of the sugar and cinnamon in well. Melt 2 tbsp of butter and mix into cooled crumb mixture. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat softened cream cheese with an electric hand mixer. Scrap the sides of the bowl with a spatula every now and then to ensure all of the cheese is being whipped. Mix for about two minutes on high speed. Scrape the sides of the bowl, then pour in heavy cream and turn speed to medium. Whip for another two minutes, mixer should be smooth and fluffy. Add sugar, lemon juice and vanilla and beat for one more minute. Set aside.

Prepare berries by washing and slicing them. Place sliced berries in a small bowl and toss with sugar. If you are using something like blackberries, or blueberries simply rinse them and toss in sugar, gently.

Begin layering by placing graham cracker crumbs in the bottom of a medium sized, shallow serving dish. Next, spread cream cheese topping. Top with sugared berries and chill before serving. The berries tend to release a lot of juice when they are sliced sugar. If there is a lot of liquid in your berry bowl, discard it and just spread the berries over your cheesecake.

~SD

When I was younger my mom would buy us crazy seek and find books like I Spy and Where’s Waldo. I did not like them then. I do not like them now. I am horrible at seeing “beyond” the picture and finding a thimble, tiny horse or guy dressed in red stripes! Now, in my later years, I have a similar problem. It is Morel Mushroom season. The woods in my area are abuzz with people, noses to the ground, hunting the infamous sponge mushroom. Of course, I attempt to hunt mushrooms- more than I ever attempted Where’s Waldo. The difference here is that there is food at the end of this game! Not just any food, the best, most coveted springtime treat!

Let’s play a game of I Spy, shall we?

Look at this picture and what do you see?

Now, look a bit closer… there it is! A perfect, fresh yellow morel!

This time of year you can find a few types of sponge mushrooms, like this gray colored one. I find these rather hard to hunt, because they blend very well into the background.

There are so many theories on where one can hunt for morel mushrooms, so many that I can’t begin to tell you. If you are eager to play a little I Spy for yourself, google Morels, or ask an old timer where to find them in your area. Many people have “secret spots” to find mushrooms… so don’t expect to get a treasure map!

These little beauties are very easy to prepare when you have collected enough to eat. First, split them in half length wise. Soak them in salted water in the fridge over night. This helps to rid them of any little bugs and dirt particles. I am sure there are fancy ways to prepare morels. Around these parts, however, there is only one way. Fried. In butter. Period. Simply dip them in seasoned flour and fry them until they are crispy. If you want to get adventurous with your finds, that works too. Just don’t bring any to my house! We like ‘em Fried!

~ SD