I’ll never share a recipe with you that I don’t feel is worth your time. In my opinion, they’re all outstanding. But some are even better than others. Some I get jittery and excited just thinking about (nerdy, right?) and can’t hardly wait to post. Like this one. It is extra outstanding. I’ve concluded that Manchego is going to be good any way you have it. But cut it into little squares and toss it with baby spinach, crispy apple cubes, Marcona almonds (a new treat I discovered), and a honey-lemon vinaigrette, and it’s a tantalizing experience.
About those almonds: “The Marcona variety of almond, which is shorter, rounder, sweeter, and more delicate in texture than other varieties, originated in Spain and is becoming popular in North America and other parts of the world” (Wikipedia). Until I just looked this up I didn’t realize that Marcona almonds came from Spain. It makes sense. Manchego is a Spanish sheep’s milk cheese and nestled in a bed of greens with its native brother, Marcona, it feels right at home. Perhaps I’ll call this my Spanish Spinach salad.
INGREDIENTS baby spinach Braeburn or Granny Smith apple, cored and cubed Manchego, cubed salted Marcona almonds
Honey-Lemon Vinaigrette: 1 tsp. honey 1 lemon, juiced (I used a small lemon-no more than 2 Tbsp. juice. If you use a larger lemon you will probably need to add more honey to balance the taste.) 1 Tbsp. water 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil salt and pepper, to taste
8/15/09: Ah, what can I say, strawberry cupcakes? We have an ambivalent relationship. Should I tell them how much I long for you, how when you are not around I desire your moist center and fluffy frosting. And then once I have you I cannot stop myself from consuming all of you, at once. I am uninhibited in your presence. So much so that our encounters always leave me feeling regret. Regret that I couldn’t stop after just one taste. And sick, overwhelmed by your sweetness and the fact that I licked up every last crumb and you are gone. I will miss you. Until I once again succumb to temptation and invite you back into my life. It’s inevitable. And I’d say, worth it!
2/23/09: The vibrant pink color and subtle strawberry flavor of these cupcakes both come form using real, fresh strawberries! I was so excited that I found this recipe and couldn’t wait to try it out! They not only turned out stunning, but just as anticipated, they tasted divine! I totally agree with Dustin’s comment that they “actually tasted even better than they looked!” And in my opinion, when it comes to cake, that’s rare. I’m betting you could make them using frozen berries in the off-season. If you have a bunch of fresh strawberries and you are making the sauce, why not make extra and freeze it? It could be thawed out for cupcakes on the spot!
INGREDIENTS
For the Cupcakes:
1 1/3 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cup strawberry sauce
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
For the Strawberry Sauce:
2 cups fresh strawberries, stem removed
sugar, to taste
For the Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
3 1/2- 4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup strawberry sauce
DIRECTIONS
1. For the Strawberry Sauce, macerate strawberries with about 1-2 Tbsp. sugar for 15 minutes. Put strawberries in a small saucepan and heat under medium heat with lid on. Cook strawberries for approximately 15 minutes till strawberries cook down and become soft and saucy. Adjust sweetness with sugar until you get the desired sweetness. Using a hand blender (or a food processor), puree until you get the desired smoothness or chunkiness. Cool before using in recipe.
2. For the cupcakes, preheat oven to 350 F. Grab a large bowl and beat the butter and the sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Measure out milk and strawberry sauce together.
3. Add about a fourth of the flour to the butter mixture and beat to combine. Add about one third the milk mixture and beat until combined. Repeat, alternating flour and milk and ending with the flour mixture. Scoop into cupcake papers about 3/4 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
4. For Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting, bring cheese and butter to room temperature. Sift powdered sugar into a bowl. Beat butter and cheese at medium speed until creamy. Add half of the sugar, beat until combined. Add strawberry sauce until you achieve the right color and flavor but making sure not to add too much or the frosting will be too soft. Gradually add any remaining sugar until you get to the consistency and sweetness you like.
5. Remove the cupcakes from the oven when they are done (a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.) Cool them on a wire rack completely before frosting.
I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen, who adapted it from All Recipes, and I did a little tinkering of my own. I tried it two ways: with classic white sugar and white flour and a “healthified” version with natural cane sugar and whole wheat. (The latter still contains a full stick of butter so it still doesn’t exactly fall within the health food realm.) I split the pan right down the middle, half whole wheat and the other half not.
It was an experiment of sorts. As you can see, the whole wheat crust was a deeper golden brown, hinting at its whole grain goodness. The test was to see how different they tasted. I made the mistake of telling my guests the difference, and predictably, they avoided the whole wheat bars. I munched on both (with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream on the side, yum!) and didn’t think either stood out as better than the other. But sometimes I worry that I’m slightly jaded, being accustomed to the taste of whole wheat. My husband though, who is brutally honest in his culinary opinions, happily gobbled up the leftovers with no discrimination. According to him- brown or white- the taste was the same. So there you have it… either way you make ’em, you’ll have blueberry bliss!
INGREDIENTS 1 cup white sugar (or evaporated cane sugar) 1 tsp. baking powder 3 cups all-purpose flour (or whole wheat pastry flour) 1 cup cold butter (2 sticks) 1 egg 1/4 tsp. salt Zest and juice of 1 lemon 4 cups fresh blueberries 1/2 cup white sugar (or evaporated cane sugar) 4 tsp. cornstarch
DIRECTIONS 1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease a 9×13 inch baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, stir together sugar, baking powder, and flour. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan.
3. In a separate bowl stir together sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Top with the remaining dough crumbles.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 30-45 minutes, until the top is slightly browned. Cool before cutting into squares.
I’ve been eyeing the bottles of POM juice at the grocery for some time now, trying to figure out what use I could put that much pomegranate juice to (besides just drinking it of course). Pure pomegranate juice is expensive and I didn’t want to have any excuse to waste it. On our trip to the Outer Banks last week we had lunch at a little gourmet deli where I ordered a spinach salad and pomegranate blueberry vinaigrette. After one bite I knew I had to create my own! While I found the vinaigrette recipe on a web search (at Oprah.com of all places), I put together my own ingredients for the salad base. Baby spinach, semi-firm pears, tart dried cranberries, crumbled feta cheese, and crunchy walnuts combine beautifully together. The bright ruby pomegranate vinaigrette is aromatic, sweet, and my favorite dressing yet! I’ve had this salad every day now since I first made it. I can’t stop eating it. I can’t stop thinking about eating it. Thank goodness there is some left from dinner last night…lunch can’t come soon enough! Because I’ve still barely made a dent in the bottle of POM sitting cheerily on the top shelf of my fridge, there will be more pomegranate recipes to come. I’ll probably experiment with a few more dressings as well. Until then, happy POM dreams!
INGREDIENTS
6 oz. baby spinach
2 ripe (but still firm) Bartlett pears, thinly sliced
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup dried cranberries
Vinaigrette:
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp. pomegranate juice
1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tsp. honey
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
DIRECTIONS
1. Divide spinach among 4 serving bowls. Top with pears, walnuts, feta, and cranberries.
2. To make the vinaigrette combine pomegranate juice, vinegar, honey in a small bowl. While whisking, drizzle in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
NOTE: DO NOT use a food processor to make this dressing. It will completely change the color and texture of the dressing- it just doesn’t work!
3. Serve salad drizzled with vinaigrette, or on the side.
Thanks to Jackie for this recipe! Preparing the dip required considerable discipline, which I apparently lack. You MUST taste for sweetness, so you know how much sugar to add. Well, one taste was not enough and I lost track of how many spoonfuls I had snuck before it was served! And that was before the fruit came out. Anyway, I ate a lot of fruit dip on Saturday morning. I used Greek yogurt, so my dip had a thicker consistency. Regular yogurt will give you a lighter and fluffier result. You could experiment with different flavors of yogurt (vanilla or lemon, etc.) but be sure to reduce or omit the sugar, as flavored yogurt is often very sweet already. Serve with a vast array of plump, ripe, juicy fruits.
Fruit Dip
INGREDIENTS 8 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature 8 oz. plain yogurt (or you can use vanilla and reduce the sugar) 1 tsp. vanilla extract lemon zest, to taste sugar or honey, to taste (I used 3 Tbsp.)
DIRECTIONS 1. In a small bowl, blend all ingredients until creamy and serve with fruit.
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