BlakeBakes Real Butterscotch Pudding

Real butterscotch pudding is my latest contribution on BlakeBakes. Go here for the recipe. While your there check out all the other Blake Bakers!

This pudding is for grown-ups.

Figs...way beyond the Newton

Growing up I think the extent of my experience with figs was probably a Fig Newton. I wasn't very fond of the Newton, so thought that I didn't care for figs. Thankfully as I got older and more willing to try new things I gave figs another try. Yum they are sweet, juicy and delicious!

We've got a huge fig tree at the farm, and it's loaded with juicy ripe figs right now. I've been eating as many as I can hold, right off the tree, but I love to cook with them as well.
Figs are an extremely versatile fruit to cook with, great in both sweet and savory dishes. Figs and goat cheese are a match made in heaven, at least in my opinion. It's that perfect combo of sweet and salty, and eaten warm from the grill...amazing!

Grilled Figs with Rosemary and Goat Cheese
Source: O magazine 2004
INGREDIENTS
6 to 10 long rosemary branches
3 ounces soft mild goat cheese, room temperature
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
18 ripe figs

Preheat and oil an outdoor grill or ridged grill pan over medium heat. Immerse rosemary branches in water and soak 30 minutes before grilling.

In a small bowl, stir together goat cheese, honey and minced rosemary.

Place a 1/4-inch plain pastry tip in a small pastry bag or in snipped corner of a self-sealing plastic bag; fill bag with goat cheese mixture. Poke bottom end of each fig with pastry tip and squeeze about 1 teaspoon goat cheese mixture into each fruit.

Drain rosemary branches. Drive a metal or wooden skewer through center of each fig, then remove. Thread 2 to 3 figs onto each rosemary branch.

Grill figs over medium heat, turning constantly, until they just begin to brown, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat and place whole branches on serving plate, or cut branches between each fig and serve individually.

If stuffing each fig is too labor intensive, simply cut each fig in half and place a dollop of the goat cheese mixture on top. You have to watch them carefully on the grill but you get the same flavors without all the work.

>

Happy 1st Birthday!

I have recently discovered (and become mildly obsessed with) food blogs. I found myself reading them for hours and trying to find a reason to make things like Woopie Pies and cold-brewed coffee(which is awesome by the way). It's crack for the foodie! So I thought I'd give it a try. The adventure begins...
That was my very first post from one year ago. Wow I can't believe it's been a year already. I've been looking back on my journey through food so far and what an adventure it's been! My very first recipe was this Luscious Berry tart. I realized that I promised to post the recipe but never actually did. I doubt anyone noticed. I had about 2 readers at that point!
So one year later here's that recipe I promised.

Luscious Blueberry Tart
Lori Longbotham
Pastry:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoon granulated white sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled, and cut into 1 inch (2.54 cm) pieces

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 - 2 tablespoons ice water

Filling:

2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

1/4 cup granulated white sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour

Garnish:

2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Confectioners sugar

Pastry: In your food processor, place the flour, salt, and sugar and process until combined. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal (about 15 seconds). In a small bowl, whisk the egg and vanilla. Then gradually pour in a steady stream, with the motor running, through the feed tube until the pastry just holds together when pinched. Add water, if necessary. Do not process more than about 30 seconds.

Transfer the pastry to an 11 inch (28 cm) fluted tart pan, and press evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Cover and place in the refrigerator while you prepare the blueberry topping.

Preheat the oven to 425.

In a large bowl combine the sugar and flour. Add 2 1/2 cups of fresh blueberries and toss to coat. Remove the chilled pastry from the refrigerator and evenly pour in the blueberries and sugar/flour mixture. Place the tart pan on a large baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue to bake until the pastry is golden brown (about 30 - 35 minutes). (Halfway through the baking time, stir the berries if there is any flour on them.) Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Top with the remaining 2 1/2 cups of blueberries, pressing them gently into the hot blueberry jam. Let the tart cool to room temperature before serving. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with softly whipped cream or ice cream. Cover and store leftovers in the refrigerator.

Makes one - 11 inch (28 cm) tart
I topped it with some freshly whipped cream. Divine!

Plum Cake Tatin

Plums were on sale at the market this week. They looked so juicy and delicious that I scooped up a bag full. I didn't know exactly what I was going to do with them, but they looked great and they were on sale. As I've said before, I sometimes get carried away with a bargain.(By the way, I still have some dates in the freezer!) So, I came home with about 10 plums.
Later that day I had the TV on the Food Network. Is there any other channel?? I tend to leave it on while I'm doing stuff around the house. (unless Sandra Lee is on ARGG, I'll just leave it at that!)
So the Barefoot Contessa was on and making a plum cake tatin. I just knew we were switched at birth. Ina I think I was met to live your life!
Anyway, having attempted a tart tatin for the first time this fall, I thought I'd like to give this a try. This cake is really more like an upside down cake. It actually much easier than a tatin, so don't let the name intimidate you. The tatin part of this cake is the caramelized sugar that you pour over the fruit. So pretty!

The cake part is very simple, so this cake comes together much quicker than a tart tatin, but it's still very tasty.
Ingredients
6 tablespoons (3⁄4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing the dish
10 to 12 purple "prune" plums, cut in half and pitted
1 3⁄4 cups granulated sugar, divided
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1⁄3 cup sour cream
1⁄2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1⁄2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder
1⁄4 teaspoon kosher salt
Confectioners' sugar


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter a 9-inch glass pie dish and arrange the plums in the dish, cut side down.
Combine 1 cup of the granulated sugar and 1⁄3 cup water in a small saucepan and cook over high heat until it turns a warm amber color, about 360 degrees on a candy thermometer. Swirl the pan but don't stir. Pour evenly over the plums.

Meanwhile, cream the 6 tablespoons of butter and the remaining 3⁄4 cup of granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, until light and fluffy. Lower the speed and beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the sour cream, zest, and vanilla and mix until combined. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and, with the mixer on low speed, add it to the butter mixture. Mix only until combined.

Pour the cake batter evenly over the plums and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes, then invert the cake onto a flat plate. If a plum sticks, ease it out and replace it in the design on top of the cake. Serve warm or at room temperature, dusted with confectioners' sugar or freshly whipped cream.

Blueberry Nectarine Crisp and an award

I love crisps of any kind. Apple in the fall, strawberry rhubarb in the spring, and any combo of fresh fruit in the summer. They're quick and easy. The hardest part of making a crisp is waiting for it to come out of the oven! This is a basic crisp recipe. You can use any combination of fruit that you'd like or have on hand. Frozen fruit works equally as well. I used nectarines, blueberries and blackberries in my crisp.
2 oz. (4 Tbs.) unsalted butter, softened; more for the pan
3 oz. (2/3 cup) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. table salt
2/3 cup coarsely chopped pecans
3 cups (about 1 lb.) room-temperature blueberries, washed and drained on paper towels (I used half blackberries and half blueberries)
3 medium peaches (about 1 lb.), halved, pitted, and sliced 1/2 inch thick (I substituted nectarines)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 Tbs. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg


how to make

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 375°F. Lightly butter a 9-inch square metal or ceramic baking pan.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and 1/8 tsp. of the salt. With your fingers, work the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture readily clumps together when pressed. Mix in the pecans.

In a large bowl, toss the blueberries and peaches. In a small bowl, combine the granulated sugar with the cornstarch, nutmeg, and the remaining 1/8 tsp. salt and toss this mixture with the fruit.

Spread the fruit into the prepared baking pan. Pressing the streusel into small lumps, sprinkle it over the fruit. Bake until the fruit is bubbling in the center and the topping is crisp and well browned, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool slightly and serve warm.


serving suggestions:
I love this crisp served with vanilla ice cream.

From Fine Cooking


And now an award...

A couple of weeks ago Loulou of the wonderful Chez Loulou nominated me for the Arte Y Pico award. I was so flattered! My very first award woohoo. Thanks Loulou! Your blog always inspires me and makes me wish I lived in the South of France.

The terms of the award are:

1. You pick five blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contribute to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2.Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and the link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.


4. Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of Arte y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of the award.

There are so many talented people out there with such amazing blogs how do I pick just 5? In the end I decided to go with the blogs that inspire and challenge me to be more creative. So here goes...

Susan at Wild Yeast because I admire her bread making skills and she helps demystify working with yeast. I can't think of anything I like better than freshly baked bread!

Helen at Tartlette because she's a pasrty goddess. Every time I think she can't make a more beautiful confection, she blows me away with a new creation, each with equally beautiful photography.

Dhanddit of Dhanggit Kitchen is somewhere I can always go to find inspiration or just to drool. Her Friday's Dose of Chocolate posts make me want to lick my computer screen:)

Stephanie of a Whisk and a Spoon. Every delicious recipe is accompanied by a magazine cover worthy photo.

Katy at Sugar Laws because I love her writing,her posts usually make me laugh, and her recipes are inventive and fun.

Thanks again Loulou:)

Danish Debacle

Danish Braid was the Daring Baker's challenge this month. This is something I've always wanted to try but have never made. Everything started out really well. I made all my turns with no problems. Wow that was an upper body workout! The dough looked beautiful. I left mine in the refrigerator until the next morning so that I'd have fresh danish for breakfast. I rolled out the dough on my silicon mat cut the slits and filled the danish with Julia Childs triple berry jam and confectioner's cream. I braided the dough and everything looked really nice.
Then I realized that my braid was on the silicon mat and needed to be on the baking tray. !@#$%@#!!! I'd have to pick up my braid and move it! I put my silpat on the baking tray, slid a spatula under the braid and carefully transferred it to the baking tray to finish the rising process. It still looked okay at this point but the braid was not holding very well. Then it went into the hot oven...
*Note to self* Never move a braided danish stuffed full with berry and cream filling! This is what happens...

It still tasted incredibly delicious, but it looked like danish roadkill. The dough was perfect with hundreds of buttery layers and the filling OMG, amazing. So despite looking like it got hit by a car, the danish was really good. I learned a lot from this challenge, and got in quite the upper body workout! Check out all the other Daring Baker's danishes. Thanks Kelly and Ben for a great challenge! The recipe is long. You can find it here.

Blueberry Ice Cream

This is the blueberry ice cream we had at our last farm dinner. I used blueberries from our farm. They are small but very flavorful. The large This makes a very creamy ice cream. A full fat yogurt can be substituted for the half and half to make an equally delicious frozen yogurt.

Ingredients:
2 cups fresh blueberries or frozen blueberries (See Note)

3/4 cup water

1 cup sugar

1 cup half and half

1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

2 tsp vodka (optional)

Directions:
In a heavy 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the fresh blueberries, water and sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally to help dissolve the sugar. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and let stand for 30 minutes to steep.

Transfer the blueberry mixture to a food processor and process until smooth, about 1 minute. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and stir in vodka. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, at least 3 hours or up to 24 hours.

Add the cream and lemon juice to the blueberry puree and stir to combine. Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. Transfer the ice cream to a freezer-safe container. Cover and freeze until firm, at least 3 hours or up to 3 days, before serving. Makes about 1 quart.

Note: If using frozen blueberries, make the sugar syrup by combining the water and sugar in a saucepan, bringing the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, and cooking it until clear, about 1 minute. Put the frozen blueberries in a heatproof bowl and pour the syrup over them. Let cool and then transfer to the food processor. Proceed with the recipe.