Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

My kitchen overflowed with cherry tomatoes last week as my 2 plants hanging halfway off the deck have finally decided to produce! The plants look like they are ready for the compost heap, but after inspecting the trailing vines, I found lots of bright red tomatoes that were sun ripened and ready for picking! What to do with all these little guys? You can only eat so many salads! Then I remembered something I read on Pinterest... here we go again...

The tomatoes were cut in half, placed on a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet cut side up, drizzled with olive oil (just a tiny little bit!), sprinkled with sea salt and roasted at 200 degrees for about 4 hours. It was almost overnight, but thanks to DH, I turned them off before going to bed!
The next morning, I put them in a jar (Oh, dear! They shrunk up so much that they fit into a small jar!!) and covered them with olive oil (thanks to my son-in-law for Trader Giotto's). I added a large clove of garlic, sliced, and a few sprigs of rosemary. You can sprinkle them with herbs as they are baking, if you prefer. The little jar is still sitting on the counter, but I haved used them several times this week.

One night, I tossed them into olive oil, red pepper, parlsey, garlic, shrimp, lemon juice and a dash of white wine. Cooked this until the shrimp were done - about 3 minutes - and tossed with angel hair pasta. YUMMM!

Another day, I added the drained tomatoes to a turkey and mozzarella panini. And finally, I added them to stuffed tomatoes. Don't laugh, the roasted tomatoes added a new dimension to the baked stuffed tomatoes. The roasted tomatoes are sweet and almost caramelized. They make a great addition to many dishes... use your imagination and enjoy!

Pear Clafouti

Clafouti is a traditional French dish made by pouring pancake-like batter over fruit - easy to make!
Traditionally, it's made with cherries but pears are in season and beautiful this fall. It's a perfect time to try Ina Garten's recipe for Pear Clafouti.

Every time I type clafouti, I hear Julia Childs saying (in her unmistakable voice) cla-foo-tay'! And I smile! Did you see the movie Julie and Julia? We were in Paris after it came out and saw the movie poster on a circular "billboard" on the street. Of course, I saw the movie - several times! I'm not that crazy about Julia, but I do love Paris!!

So, here is Ina's recipe for Pear Clafouti. Bake it in a quiche pan, if you still have one. Or you can use a pie plate or any round casserole dish. It needs to be eaten warm, sprinkled with powdered sugar and DH would dollop it with whipped cream.

Pear Clafouti
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temp
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
3 large eggs, room temp
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups heavy cream (it IS French!)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 to 3 firm, but ripe Bartlett pears, peeled, cored and sliced
Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 10x1 1/2-inch round baking dish and sprinkle bottom and sides with 1 tablespoon sugar.

Beat eggs and 1/3 cups sugar in the bowl of electric mixer on medium high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. On low speed, mix in flour, cream, vanilla, lemon zest and salt. Set aside for 10 minutes.

Arrange pear slices in a single layer in the prepared pan. Make them pretty.... pinwheel or spiral.
Pour the batter over the pears and bake until the top is golden brown and custard is firm, 35 to 45 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve warm!

           

Salted Caramel Cupcakes

Salted caramel. Have you notice that this is one of THE most popular flavors? I like sweet and salty and so does my daughter, Kelley. For her birthday at our house this weekend, I made these cupcakes. I found them on the blog "Sprinkle Bakes" via Pinterest. (I also "borrowed" her photo complete with caramel frou frou!) They are "from scratch" (unlike the box variety that most home cooks call "homemade" these days!) and improve with age. I'm not going to kid you, they are NOT quick and easy, but they ARE well worth the effort. I knew Kelley would love them too and appreciate the effort. After all, she is the cupcake Queen having her own baking business for several years. I was really nervous making them, especially when it was time to frost! Her decorating skills are on an entirely different level than mine thanks to instruction from master cake baker/decorator Eileen Carter. But, Mama always said I didn't have sense enough to think there was anything I couldn't do, so I spent a good part of the day Friday baking these beauties!

Wouldn't you do anything for your children? I would. I love my two better than anything you can name. They are such very different people, but both are dear to me in their own way. Kelley and I have been buddies since she was little. She's a fantastic mom, loving wife and dear daughter/friend. I am so proud of the young woman she has become, but I do wish she would stop having birthdays!!!

Here's the recipe, but as you would expect, I made a few changes! The original was Triple Salted Caramel Cupcakes. I had already made 2 batches of caramel and was not about to make the 3rd just for decoration. If you want to go that far, go to the blog and get the entire recipe. I'm giving you the Double Salted Caramel version! Pay attention to where the recipes call for unsalted or salted butter. NO SUBSTITUTES! ( I also did NOT say this recipe is inexpensive to make!)

Confession: I burned the 2nd batch of caramel! PHEW!! If that happens, throw it out and start over.

Cupcakes
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon SEA SALT
1 stick UNSALTED butter, room temperature
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons firmly packed light brown sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line muffin pans with papers. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
Cream butter and brown sugar on medium- high speed of electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla. Mix well. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour. Beat well after each addition.

Fill muffin pans 2/3 full. Bake for 25 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool for 10 minutes; remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks.

Salted Caramel Filling
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons SALTED butter, cubed
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon heavy cream, room temperature

Melt sugar in heavy bottom pan over medium high heat. Whisk the sugar as it melts and cook until it becomes a deep amber color (shiny new penny color for me). Add butter and stir until melted. Pour in the heavy cream (mixture will foam and pop!) and whisk until you get a smooth sauce. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

Cut a small round piece (plug) from the top of each cupcake. Pour in 1 teaspoon caramel sauce and replace the cake piece. Set aside.

Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 stick SALTED butter
1 stick UNSALTED butter
1/2 teaspoon SEA SALT
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Combine sugar and water in heavy bottom saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook without stirring until mixture turns a deep amber color (shiny new penny, again). Remove from heat and slowly add in cream and vanilla. Set aside to cool for 20 minutes or until it is just barely warm but still pourable.
Beat butters and salt in large bowl of electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar and mix until thoroughly combined.  Add caramel; beat on medium- high speed until light and airy and completely mixed (about 2 minutes). Mixture should be ready to use immediately. If it is runny, refrigerate until creamy. (Your caramel was too hot!). Top caramel-filled cupcakes with frosting.

Milky Way Ice Cream

Wow! Did I ever get a hard time over the Fish Tacos and Watermelon Salsa recipes! And from the same "friend" who complained that I was making all of us fat with the desserts. You know, some people are just never satisfied! JUST KIDDING, Betts!

 Meanwhile, I found this yummy looking ice cream recipe and thought it sounded like something the DH would love! We are real ice cream fans at our house -have I said that before?  Hardly a week goes by that there is not either commercial ice cream (Blue Belle is our absolute favorite) or homemade ice cream in our freezer. DH is one of "those people" who can eat dessert every nite and not gain an ounce. Don't you just hate them??? And since we both love chocolate... Get out the Cuisinart countertop ice cream maker. Oh, we probably should have never bought one of these... but it is sooooo easy and convenient! Maybe too convenient? I borrowed one from a friend, then bought a larger model for us! Why fool around with 1 quart of ice cream when you can make 1/2 gallon just as easy? Goes right along with my aversion to recipes for bar cookies made in a 9-inch square pan! If you're going to work, make it worth it!

Since our ice cream maker is larger than the original recipe calls for, I made a few changes. I'll give you the 1 quart recipe and tell you what I added for our 1/2 gallon freezer. I find that simply doubling the recipes does not always work. I usually end up with an extra cup or so of liquid. One time I put it all in the freezer (even though it was over the fill line) and what a mess I had! It froze and oozed out the top! We HAD to get spoons and eat it as it came over the top! LOL!

Milky Way Ice Cream

5 Fun Size Milky Way candy bars, about 4 oz., unwrapped and chopped
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk (I used the entire can- what do you do with 1/2 can ??)
1 cup whole milk (I used 2 cups of 2%)
1 cup 1/2 and 1/2 (I used 1 cup 1/2 and 1/2)
I added 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (because we like lots of chocolate!)
and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place candy bars and sweetened condensed milk in a large glass bowl over boiling water. Do not let water touch bottom of bowl. Stir until candy bars melt. Add chocolate chips and stir until melted.
Remove the bowl from the saucepan and add milk, 1/2 and 1/2 and vanilla. Stir to combine.
Chill until COLD. ( I set mine in a larger bowl filled with ice to speed it up.)

Churn mixture in ice cream maker until soft serve consistency. Transfer to airtight container and freeze for at least 2 hours. (Yea, like THAT happened in this house!)

You can make this in an electric churn or hand crank churn, if you wish.

NOTE: I did not add the milk to the hot mixture and had to reheat the cooled mixture in order to get the milk to combine with the melted candy! So, follow the instructions!!)

Fish Tacos with Watermelon Salsa

Hot summer weather begs for lighter food and different combinations of ingredients. With fruit in abundance, it seems a shame not us find new ways to use it. Watermelon is a traditional summer fruit that is easy to find and relatively cheap (considering the amount of fruit from one melon). Of course, these days NOTHING is cheap. I sent my DH (dear husband) to the grocery store for 2 items and he came home declaring that there needs to be a checkout lane for those folks needing to apply for a loan to pay for their groceries. He doesn't go to the grocery store often, obviously! But, I digress....

Try combining a mild fish like Talipia with watermelon salsa in these Fish Tacos. It's a nice light taste and very colorful. Add slaw or oven roasted potatoes and you've got a meal. I like to have the salsa leftover to serve with chips, so sometimes I double the salsa recipe. Cook the fish on a grill or in a skillet. Either way, a good rule of thumb for cooking fish is 10 minutes cooking time per 1-inch of thickness. Easy way to chop cilantro or parsley: wash and place in a small glass (I use a small juice glass). Use kitchen scissors and hold them perpendicular to the countertop. Cut down into the glass and you will chop without making a mess! You'll be surprised at how easy this recipe is to prepare and your family just might find a new favorite!

Fish Tacos with Watermelon Salsa
4 cups diced watermelon, remove seeds!
1/2 cup chopped red onion (or Vidalia when in season)
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 limes, juiced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced (or as much as you like!)
1/2 teaspoon salt
Combine ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.

1 pound skinless fillet of sea bass, talipia or other mild fish
1 teaspoon chipolte chile powder
1 romaine lettuce heart, thinly sliced (or substitute iceberg lettuce)
8 corn tortillas
1 avocado, sliced, optional
Lime wedges

Preheat large skillet . Sprinkle both side of fish with chile powder, sprinkle with salt and drizzle with oil. Brush the skillet with oil and add fish. Cook 4 to 5 minutes on each side depending on thickness of fish. Transfer to a platter, cool slightly and break into bite size pieces.

Warm the tortillas in the skillet. Fill with fish, watermelon salsa, avocado (if desired) and lettuce. Serve with lime wedges.

Blueberry Coffee Cake

The latest copy of Bon Appetit arrived in my mailbox a few days ago and this recipe looked sooo yummy! I happened to have some blueberries in the refrig that "needed" to be eaten and since they were a little tart, this coffee cake looked perfect! I've been painting a lot lately (watercolor, not walls) and felt guilty that I haven't cooked much, so this was my peace offering. OH, wait! I made brownies for the roofers Monday. Does that count?? Anyway, I've rearranged the recipe a little (very poorly written ingredient list and directions!). Make this the day before you plan to serve it (Unless you get up hours before breakfast!). And be prepared to wash some dishes. But, it is worth it - it is sooooo good! I haven't tried this, but I think you could make muffins from the batter... assemble the same way as the coffee cake using muffin pans.. maybe Texas sized?

Yes, I said roofers.  We had hail damage and thanks to our neighbors having theirs appraised by the same insurance co. we are getting a new roof also. This is week 2. What was the old TV show with Darrell, Darrell and their other brother, Darrell?? Well.. I know where they are now. They're in the mtns of North Georgia/Western NC working on our roof!! They are a hoot! I gave them Banana Bread last week and on Monday one said, "That Banana Bread you made us was mighty good....(grin, hint, hint)". So, yesterday, I baked Double Chocolate Brownies.We may never get rid of them!!! Darrell took one bite and said, "Them ain't out'a no box!"  Bingo! They're good guys, lots of fun and doing a good job. We have a contractor who has been working on this house every year for the 8 yrs we've lived here who deals with them. We don't have to worry about anything except keeping them happy and full!!!

Here are a few tips for this recipe before you get started:
Substitute for 1 cup buttermilk: 1 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar in measuring cup then fill with milk. Set aside for 5 minutes. Works like a dream!

I didn't use pecans in my topping. Personal preference. But it worked fine without them. Substitute other nuts of your choice. The original recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt in the topping. IF you like sweet/salty taste, add it. If not, leave it out.

Panko crumbs were tossed with the blueberries. If you have them, fine. Don't go out and buy them just for this recipe. Leave them out and move on!

I baked mine in an 8x8-inch metal pan (as the recipe directed) but think it would be much nicer in a glass baking dish. The recipe said to line the pan with parchment paper. Not sure why. Now I have to cut squares and lift it off the paper... ???? Leave off the parchment paper and grease the pan well. If you use a glass dish, lower the oven temp by 25 degrees. And if your metal dish is dark, lower the oven temp 25 degrees.

Old-fashioned Blueberry Coffee Cake
Crumb Topping
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped toasted pecans
3 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch cubes

Cake
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons sugar
2 cups fresh blueberries
1 tablespoon Panko

Make the crumb topping (Can be made up to 5 days ahead and refrigerated.)
Combine flour and sugar in a small mixing bowl. Add butter; using your fingers to work butter into the flour mixture until large, moist crumbs begin to form. Stir in pecans. Set aside.

Make the cake layer
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine butter and sugar in the large bowl of electric mixer. Beat until light and fluffy (3-4 minutes). Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and beat well. Beat mixture an additional 3-4 minutes.

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Sift (or use a whisk to combine) dry ingredients. Add to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Pour half of mixture into a greased 8x8-inch baking pan. Combine 3 tablespoons sugar and 3 tablespoons cinnamon. Sprinkle over first layer of batter. Spoon on remaining batter. Toss blueberries with Panko, if desired. Scatter evenly over batter. Sprinkle crumb mixture over blueberries.

Bake 45 minutes or until top is golden brown and wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool completely in pan. Cut into squares and serve. (Recipe says 8-12 servings. NOT at our house!)
Photo from Bon Appetite.

Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies

It always makes me smile when people ask for recipes or ask for advice on recipes they've tried. I think back to my County Extension Agent days when we answered cooking questions over the telephone. We spent a LOT of time trouble shooting recipes and suggesting substitutions. It was a consumer service and one we provided with pleasure. It was almost like teaching a class with no classroom!

Then there were my days teaching in a Home Ec classroom...oh, dear me! What an experience! If the students had a successful cooking lab, I let them have a "free" lab day on Fridays. They could bring food from home to prepare in the lab. Food plus teenagers equals a good day. So, the 2 kitchens of boys (4 in each group) pooled their resources and brought several rolls of refrigerator sugar cookie dough. They went about their business getting the dough ready to go into the oven amid a lot of giggles and laughter. I thought they were having waayy too much fun, but let it go.. it was Friday and they were 9th grade kids. They had cookies in the oven in both kitchens and when the timer on both went off at the same time, I walked over to one oven and started to open the oven door. Their faces went white. They became silent. They looked horrified. I was stumped until I opened the oven door and saw the cookies. The boys had shaped their dough into male body parts - sugar cookie penis!!!! I calmly removed the cookie sheet from the oven, set it on the stove top and walked into the large walk-in pantry and laughed until I cried! I had 2 choices: report them to the office and send them all to ISS (in school suspension) or ignore it . I chose the latter. I never saw the cookies again and never had a moment's trouble from those boys the entire year!

This week, I'm baking cookies for our church to give to incoming students at Young Harris College. I clued the girls sitting behind us in church Sunday in to the generosity of the ladies of our congregation. I assured them to stick with us because we would feed them well! I'm sure they will love homemade cookies!

One of my favorite cookie recipes is a chewy oatmeal cookie (especially for my friend, Mary M.). You can add whatever you like to the basic dough. I'm adding M&M's, nuts and chocolate chips this week. If I were making it for me, I'd add dried cranberries and dark chocolate chips. Or you can add 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon to the flour mixture, leave out the chocolate and add raisins. Make the dough ahead and refrigerate it for the best shaped cookies. When the dough is  refrigerated, the cookies tend to spread less. No suspicious shapes here!

Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup butter flavored Crisco
1 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar (or half brown and half white sugar)
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups uncooked regular oats (NOT instant!)
1 (12-oz) pkg chocolate chunks
1 cup chopped  nuts

Cream butter, Crisco and sugar at medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, beating well.
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl, stirring to blend. Add oats; stir well. Add dry mixture to creamed mixture, mixing at low speed just until dry ingredients are no longer visible. Stir in chocolate chunks and nuts. Refrigerate  OR drop by rounded tablespoons 2-inches apart on parchment lined baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until brown around the edges. Cool on pan for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool completely. Store in airtight container.
Yield: 30 to 36 cookies.