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Posts Tagged ‘fruit’

Appetizers

November 2, 2010

Carmelized Onion and Apple Tartlets
Posted by Chammer

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I made this as an appetizer for Bunco, but I wanted to make it my own.  Lots of recipes called for Puff Pastry dough, and if they called for tart dough, they didn’t have apples or something.  So, I read a bunch of recipes and came up with this one.  It is tasty!

For the dough:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. sugar
  • 12 Tbs. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 7 Tbs. ice water

For the topping:

  • 1 1/2 TBSP Olive Oil
  • 1 TBSP Butter
  • 2 small onions
  • 2 Granny Smith apples
  • 1 TBSP Balsamic vinegar
  • Kosher salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
  • 1 egg yolk
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and sugar. Using a pastry blender or in a food processor, cut in the butter until pea-size crumbs form.  Add the water 1 Tbs. at a time and mix with your hands, adding more water as needed until the dough comes together. It should be moist but not sticky.Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, divide into 2 balls and shape each into a 5-inch disk. Cover separately with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

While tart dough is chilling, cut onions into thin strips.  Peel and dice apples into 1/4 inch cubes.  In a heavy skillet with a lid, heat olive oil and butter  over medium-low heat.  Cook onion, covered but stirring occasionaly, for 10 minutes, until it begins to have a golden hue.  Remove lid and add apples.  Cook another 10 minutes, or until apples are softened but still have some bite, and onions are a deep golden color.  Stir in balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper.  Remove from heat.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out each dough disk to 1/8 inch thick.  Using a cookie cutter, cut dough into rounds. Transfer rounds to parchment-lined baking sheets and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Remove rounds from refrigerator and par-bake rounds for six minutes.
While rounds are baking, combine ricotta and egg yolk in a small bowl.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for 3-4 minutes.  Then, top with 1 tsp ricotta mixture and 1 to 1 1/2 TBSP onion mixture.  Return to oven and bake for another 8-10 minutes, or until rounds are golden brown along the edges and filling is heated through.
Makes 24 tartlet rounds.  Enjoy!

Breakfast

July 25, 2010

Breakfast for Dinner…aka BEST PANCAKES EVER!
Posted by Chammer

Tags: , , ,

I watched Anne Burrell make this on the show Bets got me hooked on, Secrets of a Restaurant Chef. So good! I made it for Will and we enjoyed Mimosas too! :o)

Lemon and Ricotta Pancakes with Strawberry Coulis

Strawberry coulis:

  • 1 quart strawberries, topped and quartered
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup orange juice

Pancakes:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus a pinch for egg whites
  • 1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
  • 4 eggs, separated
  • 1 heaping cup ricotta cheese
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 2 Meyer lemons, zested and juiced
  • Butter, for cooking the pancakes
  • Powdered sugar, for dusting

Directions

Strawberries:

Toss the strawberries with the sugar and orange juice. Cover and let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.

After the berries and sugar have macerated and become very juicy, remove 1/2 of the berry mixture, put it in a food processor and puree until smooth. Return it to the rest of the berries and reserve until ready to use.

Pancakes:

Sift together all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In another bowl, combine the egg yolks, ricotta, milk and lemon zest and juice, and mix until it becomes homogeneous. Make a well in the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients to the well and whisk until combined.

Preheat a griddle.

In another bowl, using a whisk or electric mixer, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt to stiff peaks. Fold the egg whites into the flour mixture in thirds. Do this quickly and gently so the pancakes will be light and fluffy.

Melt small pats of butter onto the preheated griddle, and spread it around with a paper towel to remove any excess butter. Spoon or ladle the pancake batter onto the prepared griddle to desired size of the pancake. When the top of the pancake is full of holes, like bubbles have risen to the surface and burst, the pancake is ready to flip. Flip the cakes and cook until the bottom is golden brown.

Remove the pancakes from the grill to serving plates. Top with the macerated strawberry coulis and garnish with powdered sugar.

What a flapjack!

Baked Eggs with Sausage and Mushrooms

Ingredients

  • Extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, smashed
  • Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 pound fennel sausage, casings removed
  • 1 pound cremini mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
  • Kosher salt
  • 4 sage leaves, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 8 eggs
  • 6 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated

Directions

Special equipment: 8 (6-ounce) ramekins

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Coat a large saute pan with olive oil, add the garlic cloves and the crushed red pepper and bring to a medium heat. When the garlic has become golden brown and very aromatic, remove it and discard, it has fulfilled its garlic destiny. Add the sausage and brown.

Once, nicely browned, add the mushrooms and season with kosher salt. When the mushrooms have softened, add in the sage and white wine. Cook until the wine has almost been absorbed. Turn off the heat and reserve.

Brush 8 individual ramekins with olive oil. Divide the sausage mixture equally among the ramekins and press gently into the bottom. Top each with an egg. Sprinkle each egg with a couple drops of olive oil and arrange on a baking sheet. Bake for 8 minutes. Sprinkle each egg lightly with Gruyere cheese and bake until the cheese is brown and bubbly and the egg whites are cooked and the yolks are still runny, about 5 minutes

Serve with grilled bread rubbed with garlic, if desired.

Now that’s an egg!

Desserts

February 8, 2010

Apple Brown Betty
Posted by Ellie Mae

Tags: ,

I finally cooked! And I used the simplest recipe I could find. And I didn’t change a thing, except I have a small oven so I have a small baking dish so I had to use less ingredients. I still used 3 apples with my 5 slices of bread and it was nice and appley. I wouldn’t recommend cutting down on the apples. I also didn’t measure the sugar, so I bet I bet I used a bit less than 1 cup. So actually, I did change it, a little. Mine came out nice and mushy and sugar-y, but you gotta really bake it if you want those crusty corners to fight over with your guests. That’s what I intend to do next time.

Here’s the recipe courtesy of Pioneer Woman:

Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 45 Minutes Difficulty: Easy Servings: 8

Ingredients
3 whole Apples, Preferably Granny Smith
7 slices Wheat Bread
¾ cups Regular Salted Butter
1-½ cup Packed Brown Sugar
3 Tablespoons (to 4 Tablespoons) Water
Preparation Instructions
Peel and thinly slice 3 apples. Slice bread into a small dice, or tear into very small pieces.
Coat a small baking dish or pie plate with butter. Then add 1/3 of the brown sugar, 1/3 of the apple slices, and 1/3 of the breadcrumbs. Repeat these layers twice more, ending with breadcrumbs.
Slice butter and lay slices all over the top of the breadcrumbs. Sprinkle dish with water and a little more brown sugar, and bake in a 375-degree oven, covered in foil, until done – about 45 minutes. Remove foil in last few minutes of baking to brown the top.

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