Cherry Blondies

The last thing I made with our freshly-picked cherries was this pan of cherry blondies. 

Ingredients (adapted from Chiles Peach Orchard):

• 1-1/3 c. flour
• 1-1/3 c. packed light brown sugar
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. coconut oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 c. pitted and halved fresh sweet cherries
• 1/2 c. chopped pecans (optional)

To make:

• Preheat oven to 325*
• Combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, oil, eggs and vanilla; mix on low speed of electric mixer until blended
• Mix 1 minute on medium speed (batter will be thick)
• Spread half of batter in oiled and floured 8x8-inch baking pan.
• Toss cherries in small amount of flour and scatter cherries over batter
• Spread remaining batter over cherries
• Sprinkle pecans over top
• Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean
• Cool on rack and cut into 16 pieces

Taste-wise, they were pretty good, though they were a bit weird texture-wise because I'm just not used to fruit in blondies/brownies.  My only real issue was determining whether they were done.  I think the juiciness of the cherries kind of threw things off a bit.  I think they'd be even better with chocolate or white chocolate in addition to/instead of the pecans. 

Yummy (and Easy) Pizza Sauce

We interrupt the regularly scheduled programming for a special recipe (I promise I have one more cherry recipe to share).

I have had a hard time finding a pizza sauce I like.  I used to like the Whole Foods stuff but lately it's been a bit bland.  I've tried the TJ's sauce in the cold case but found it lacking, and I decided to pass on the TJ's jarred sauce because of some unsavory additives.

Then today I had an idea!  I love TJ's bruschetta - it's the best I've found next to homemade.  So I grabbed a jar and decided to throw it in the blender (the bruschetta, not the jar) with some tomato paste I had leftover from a curry debacle earlier in the week (don't ask - let's just say it was edible but nowhere near as good as my sister-in-law's).  Yes, it's kinda cheating.  I could have done it from scratch.  But this was a lot quicker and easier, with no guesswork on spices.  Unfortunately I didn't measure anything, so the following are estimates.

Ingredients:

• Approximately 6 oz bruschetta
• 1-2 tbsp. tomato paste
• Splash of olive oil

Toss it all in the blender or a food processor and give it a whirl.  Adjust tomato paste and olive oil as needed.

It is so good!  And it's nice to have a starting place for homemade sauce.  When I have the chance, I'll try using my bruschetta recipe instead of cheating.

Pork Chops with Cherry Sauce

After a few days of chowing on fresh cherries, I decided I needed to incorporate them into a dinner somehow.  Cherries pair well with pork, so I went in search of a cherry sauce for some nice center cut pork chops I bought from Whole Foods.  I found a simple recipe but I didn't have any port (and I didn't feel like going out to find some), so I subbed pomegranate juice instead.

Cherry Sauce:

• 1 c. sweet cherries, pitted and halved
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 small shallot, minced
• 1/3 c. pomegranate juice
• 1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
• Salt & pepper

To make:

• Heat oil in small saucepan
• Saute minced shallot until softened
• Add cherries, pomegranate juice, and vinegar; cook until cherries soften and juice is reduced by about half
• Remove from heat, season with salt & pepper, and set aside until pork is finished

For the pork, I bought three center cut pork chops (they were maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of a pound each), rubbed them with salt, pepper, and a bit of thyme, and grilled them.  There was more than enough sauce for the three chops.

The picture isn't the best; something about the combination of shiny sauce, the light, the white plate, and the camera flash just conspired against me.  Oh well, you get the idea.

I enjoyed this.  It was a little sweet and a little tart, and it paired well with my cherry rice pilaf.

Kicking off Cherry Week - Cherry Pudding Cake

Summer is such a busy, fun time of year.  No wonder I haven't found time to update the blog!  One of our many fun activities this summer was cherry picking.  This was the first time for John and the kids, and my first time in many years.  We went with some friends and had a blast, even though the orchard was 1.5 hours from home.  We picked about 5.5 pounds and Samantha ate about a half-pound on the way home! 

The next day, I made muffins with cherries for breakfast and then made a cherry pudding cake.  I admit, I was skeptical when I first read the recipe, mainly because I could not imagine what would happen when I poured boiling water over it before putting it in the oven.  It sounds weird and looks weird, but trust me, it turns out great. 

Ingredients (slightly adapted from here):

• 2 c. sweet cherries, pitted
• 1 c. flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 1 ½ c. sugar
• ½ c. So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk
• 3 tbsp. Earth Balance butter, melted
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp. flour
• 1 c. boiling water

To make:

• Preheat oven to 350°F
• Place fruit in the bottom of a buttered 8x8 glass baking dish
• Combine 1 c. flour, baking powder, salt, and 3/4 c. sugar in a mixing bowl
• Add milk, butter, and vanilla
• Beat until smooth
• Spread batter over fruit
• Combine remaining sugar and 2 tbsp. flour and sprinkle over batter
• Pour boiling water over mixture 
• Bake 40-45 minutes or until tester comes out clean when inserted in center

It looks strange going into the oven but this is what it looks like when it comes out:

And it is soooooo good.



I think I'm going to try it with peaches next.  

Frittata

Last summer, I really got into making frittatas with the farm-fresh eggs and other yummy produce we got in our CSA box.  We called it "Frittata Friday."  I like to make it when we have company, too, because it is super easy, yummy, and makes a lot.  And I always get asked about my recipe.  Well, here goes . . . it's not really so much a recipe as a method.

Preheat broiler.  Saute a bunch of veggies (asparagus, mushrooms, zucchini, bell peppers, sundried tomatoes, and spinach are all good choices) on the stove in an oven-safe skillet.  You can even add some cooked pancetta or bacon or sausage if you want.  Season with salt and pepper.  Lightly beat eggs (use the number of eggs equal to the diameter of the skillet.  So 10 eggs for a 10" skillet, 12 for a 12", etc.).  Pour in skillet, stir, and cook until eggs are mostly set.  If you want, top with cheese of your choice (goat cheese is fantastic!) and broil until eggs are set and cheese is melted/lightly browned (keep a close eye, those sneaky broilers are notorious for burning things in an instant).

Removing the frittata from the pan can be tricky.  What I usually do is run a knife around the edge of the skillet, run a spatula up under the frittata to help loosen it from the skillet, place a cutting board on top of the skillet, flip, and say a little prayer that it comes out!  Since it's now upside-down, I put the serving plate on it and flip it back over, then slice into 8 pieces.

Red Velvet Cake Balls

Sadly, I can’t take credit for this idea – I got it from the Bakerella blog and made a few modifications.  My original plan was to make Bakerella's doggie cake pops for Samantha's birthday.  Then I remembered I had a newborn . . . so I scaled back my delusious of grandeur and settled on cake balls.  I still have hopes of making those cake pops someday. 

I wanted to make these because they seemed so much easier (read: less messy) for Samantha's friends at day care to eat than birthday cupcakes or cake.  I figured the teachers would be grateful.  And they were.  I also had requests for the recipe.  More than two months later, I'm finally getting around to typing the whole thing up. 

Cake (you can use a box mix but I prefer to make my own – adapted from The Joy of Baking):

• 2 ½ c. cake flour, sifted
• ½ tsp. salt
• 2 tbsp.  cocoa powder
• ½  c. unsalted butter, room temperature (I used Earth Balance soy-free)
• 1 ½ c. sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 c. buttermilk (I used 1 c. unsweetened So Delicious Coconut Milk Beverage “curdled” with 1 tbsp. distilled white vinegar)
• 2 tbsp. red food coloring
• 1 tsp. distilled white vinegar
• 1 tsp. baking soda

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 and place rack in center of oven.
• Butter a 9x13” cake pan/glass baking dish
• In a mixing bowl sift together the flour, salt, and cocoa powder. Set aside.
• Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes).
• Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes).
• Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.
• In a measuring cup whisk the buttermilk with the red food coloring.
• With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter mixture, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.
• In a small cup combine the vinegar and baking soda. Allow the mixture to fizz and then quickly fold into the cake batter. 
• Pour batter into buttered dish and smooth top with the back of a spatula. 
• Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 25 - 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean.
• Allow cake to completely cool.

Buttercream Frosting (again, you can use canned but I prefer homemade):

• 3 c. confectioners' sugar
• ½ c. butter (again, I used Eath Balance soy-free)
• ½ c. shortening
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1-2 tbsp. whipping cream (I used So Delicious French Vanilla Coconut Milk Creamer)

Directions:

• In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk, mix together sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well-blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.
• Add vanilla and cream (start with 1 tbsp. and add more if frosting seems too thick) and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute

Coating for cake balls:

• 12 oz semi-sweet chocolate morsels
• 2 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
• 1 tbsp. coconut oil (butter or canola/vegetable oil will work, too), optional

Making the cake balls:

• In a large bowl, crumble cake
• Mix in frosting until cake holds its form when rolled into a ball (it’s messy, but a lot easier to use your hands to mix in the frosting) (if you use canned, you’ll probably need about ¾ of a 16oz tub, with the homemade, I think I used most of it)

• Roll mixture into quarter-sized balls (I usually get 4 dozen) 

•  Place on parchment or wax lined cookie sheets and chill or freeze for several hours (I put mine in the deep freeze overnight – it really made dipping easier)
• Melt chocolate over double boiler or in microwave being careful not to get any water in it.  Stir in oil if necessary to thin enough to easily dip cake balls.
• Dip cake balls – I found it easiest to put the ball on a spoon, dip, then transfer back and forth between two spoons to make sure the ball was coated and to let excess drip off
• Place on parchment/wax lined cookie sheet to set - if decorating, be sure to do so before chocolate sets too much 

Store in an airtight container.

I got a ton of compliments on these.  They are sooo good and soooooo rich.  If you don't need all of them right away, I'd put any undipped cake balls in an airtight container and freeze them.  In fact, I have some in the freezer now . . .

Cherry Vanilla Granola

I have been obsessed with granola lately.  Seriously obesessed.  I posted a status on Facebook yesterday about that obsession and a friend asked me for the recipe, which I graciously shared with her.  Then I remembered . . . "hey, I have a blog I haven't updated lately."  So here it is:

Ingredients:

• 3 c. rolled oats
• 1 c. unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 c. seeds/nuts (I have been using 1/2 c. raw sunflower seeds and 1/2 c. raw pumpkin seeds lately)
• 1/4 c. coconut oil (or butter)
• 1/3 c. honey
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 c. dried montmorency cherries

To make:

• Preheat oven to 300
• Mix first three ingredients
• Melt coconut oil and honey on the stove
• Add salt and vanilla extract
• Stir honey mixture into oat mixture
• Spread on parchment lined baking sheet (foil works, but the granola does stick)
• Bake for about 30 minutes, until golden brown, gently stirring after 15 minutes
• Remove from oven and allow to cool
• Pour into airtight container and stir in dried cherries

Homemade granola allegedly lasts 3-4 weeks in an airtight container.  I haven't tested this theory.  Mine usually lasts 3-4 days before it's gone!