Posts Tagged ‘fruit’

Blood oranges are in season right now, and I can’t resist the sweet, ruby-red fruit. It’s reminiscent of a large clementine (in flavor) or tangello – slightly less acidic than a normal orange with a sweeter edge to it. I assisted my food stylist friend Jackie last weekend and volunteered to make a nice breakfast pastry to bring in, so I figured some scones would fit the bill.

And oh me oh my, these are honestly the best scones I have ever had. They aren’t the dense, hard scones you find in your local chain coffee shop. Fragrant and light with the taste of blood oranges plus moist and airy from the use of buttermilk and plumped currants, they really are perfection. Be sure to use sparkling or raw sugar to get that good crunchy crust on top – it makes them extra extra divine.

Currants, pre-plump.

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-adjusts sword on my belt-

A challenge has been presented! And when a challenge is presented, I shall answer.

My friend Casey recently complimented my blog, but also lamented the lack of vegan-friendly recipes on my site. I’m not one to lie – I don’t eat vegan and rarely cook that way. If there are any vegan recipes on here, it’s purely coincidental. Until now. I promised Casey I would bake vegan, and now I face the gauntlet with this!

I didn’t want to cop out by saying grilled fruit with soy ice cream or coconut milk based pudding or something easy like that. I also didn’t want something that required a list of weird,  hard-to-find substitute ingredients.  I wanted to find something delicious to bake and have the treat just happen to be vegan. And here it is. It’s like a fig newton cookie or toaster strudel on crack. A chewy oatmeal crust with a thick and rich filling of dried figs and dates, sweetened with pure maple syrup. Topped with a super easy vanilla glaze, these are the perfect treat to follow dinner, or even start your day with a good cup of coffee. So here’s to you, Casey! I hope you like them.

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Merry Christmas, everyone!

We celebrate the happiest day of the year with plenty of red meat, traditional English sides, and a froufrou dessert I always like to tackle. Usually I make a cranberry upside down cake, but this year I wanted to try something different so I made a spin on a pear tatin, which was scrumptious to say the least. Plus chruscikis, cookies, hot apple cider, Holiday blend from The Roasterie and plenty of Usinger’s during the day.

Have a holly jolly holiday! I’ll be off in my food coma now, surrounded by DVDs and my family, but here’s a nice large selection of photos from our holiday. Enjoy! (recipes at the bottom if you’d like to scroll past!)

One of my biggest holiday indulgences.

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I am so, so excited about this post. I’m practically bouncing in my chair with glee writing this because not only have I been waiting months to finally try this idea out, but it turned out to be an amazing success.

There’s no big story as to where I got the inspiration for this dish. I was musing to Rach in late July that I wanted to get an ice cream maker and play with flavors, and I mentioned the idea of a peanut butter ice cream/concord grape sorbet sundae, like “PB & J” – how fun would that be!? And then because for me it’s over-the-top or nothing, I wanted to go a step further and play with the “sandwich” idea even more, came up with this.  Concord grape sorbet sandwiched between peanut butter cookies.  “PB & J” turned up to 11.

This is one of those desserts where I’m clinging onto summer by my fingernails, refusing to let go.  Ice cream and sorbet will soon be replaced with apple tarts and pumpkin breads, so this is my final hurrah.  The tricky thing here is concord grapes are only in season for about a month – during Sept/October, thus me waiting a few months before I was able to make this. I stubbornly wanted only concord grapes since that’s the classic jelly pairing with a PB & J sandwich.  I had to call around a bit before I found a few pints at a Whole Foods nearby and snatched them up tout de suite. The flavor of the sorbet is so intense, so childhood-reminiscent turned grown-up complex it’s perfect for the beginning of fall and that back-to-school feeling in the air.  Sandwiched between sweet, sugary-rich peanut butter cookies… it’s hard to describe just how awesome it tastes.  You’ll have to try it yourself (now! go!) to find out.

It seems fitting that a week long drought of posts would be quenched with something labeled “quick” since it reflects why  there was a drought at all.  Work has been taking it all out of me this week and the last thing I felt like doing upon dragging my feet through my apartment door was cooking, so thus the drought.  I have something extra-super-special I’m making this weekend that I’ve been looking forward to for months (which will be posted Monday) but for now, I whipped this together tonight and it was scrumptious.

My dad messaged me this afternoon asking what he should do with a few boneless, skinless chicken breasts since my mother is away at her 40th high school reunion in Milwaukee.  Being a man who will happily eat frozen pot pies and canned peaches every night, I began suggesting the easy recipe below and realized just how tasty it sounded to me. So I went ahead and made it for myself, determined to post something new before my epic post Monday.  And here it is.