Foodie Friday-Molasses Bars

Molasses Bars*

1/2 C sugar

1/2 C oil

1/2 C dark molasses

1 egg

1 3/4 C unbleached flour

3/4 t baking soda

3/4 t cinnamon

3/4 t ginger

1/4 t nutmeg

1/4 t cloves

1/4 t salt

1/4 C boiling water

1/2 C raisins 

2 T course sugar to sprinkle on the top, if desired

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Combine sugar, oil, and molasses; blend well. Add egg, blending well. Add flour, baking soda, spices and salt; mix well. Add boiling water stirring gently till well blended. Stir in raisins. Spread into a well greased 13 X 9 pan, sprinkle with sugar, and bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool and cut into bars. 

Yield: 36 bars

*adapted from Pillsbury Best Cookies 

I have baked this recipe in my mini muffin pan; baking for about 10 minutes. They come out really cute. 

To me nothing says fall and the holidays better than spicy, molasses treats. I love them in all forms; cookies, cakes, sweet breads, scones ... hum, I think Andy needs to try making a gingerbread ice cream!!

~Michele

Foodie Friday: Goat Cheese Ice Cream w/ Balatons!!

Yes, the goat cheese is for real and it is fabulous. It tastes like cheese cake ice cream and worth effort!
Andy

• 2 cups 2% milk
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• about 6 ounces fresh goat cheese (chèvre)
• 1/4 teaspoon French Grey Sea Salt
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup finely chopped dried balaton cherries

Thoroughly mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl. Mix with a softened silicon/rubber spatula the goat cheese and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. 

Combine the remaining milk, the cream, and sugar in a large (4-quart) saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat and boil for 4 minutes--careful not to let it boil over. Remove from the heat and whisk in the cornstarch mix. Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, whisking, until slightly thickened; about 1 minute then remove from the heat.

Slowly whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese mixture until smooth. Cover the bowl and let stand in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours.

Pour the chilled base into the frozen canister (we use a Donvier ice cream maker) and spin until thick and creamy adding a couple of spoonful's of the chopped cherries with each turn. Eat when thick and freeze any leftover sealed with an airtight lid. If you are like us, this won’t last long!

NOTES: Yes, we use Shetler's for all milk! We have not found a local provider of goat cheese yet, but will keep trying. Cream Cheese is made with cow's milk and the goat milk equivalent is chèvre or goat cheese. Balaton cherries are not as sweet as regular dried cherries, but much stronger on flavor. Fortunately, we live in the cherry capital and can get local dried balatons.

Lastly, a big thanks to Jeni's Ice Cream for the inspiration!
http://www.jenis.com/goat-cheese-with-red-cherries-pint/

Andy

Foodie Friday - Cashew Stir Fry

If you frequent this blog, you know I love Asian food and especially stir fries. Here is a nice one. 
Andy


Main Ingredients

• 10 oz or so of cubed firm tofu, patted dry
• 1/2 c chopped red pepper
• 1 celery stalk, sliced
• 3 chopped carrots
• 1/2 c chopped onion

Sauce

• 3/4 tsp (hot) red pepper flakes
• 3/4 c orange-mango juice
• 3 tbs low-sodium soy sauce/tamari 
• 2 tsp corn starch
• 2/3 c cashews

Your choice of bedding: quinoa, mixed greens, brown rice, etc. 

Mix sauce in 2 cup measuring mug and set aside. 

Stir fry main ingredients on med-hi starting with the firmest and longest cooking item. In this recipe, use this order: carrots, celery, onion and red pepper. When the carrots get about half way done then add the next ingredient and so on. 

Once you add the tofu stir fry it for several minutes. Then, stir the sauce very well and pour over the food in the wok. Let simmer for several minutes, stirring frequently, until it slightly thickens and slightly browns. Remove the wok from the heat and spoon a serving over your bedding of choice: quinoa, mixed greens, brown rice, etc. 

Foodie Friday - Uncle Jim's Shortbread

Growing up, I spent a lot of time with my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins. (I have mentioned my cousins in earlier posts. They create beautiful sweaters and more; "Cherry Belle Designs." Check out their latest creations.) It wasn't until recently that I learned Uncle Jim's favorite cookie is shortbread. Wonder why I never knew that ... probably we were busy being "kids" and not paying much attention to what the "grown-ups" liked. I now call this recipe "Uncle Jim's Shortbread." I wish we didn't live over 900 miles apart, so I could share these cookies with him more often. 

Classic Shortbread*

1/2 C butter; at room temperature

1/3 C powdered sugar

1/4 t vanilla

1 C flour

Use the back of a wooden spoon to cream the butter until it's light and fluffy. Blend in sugar and then add vanilla. Work in the flour and knead, just a bit, until the dough is smooth. 

Press, firmly, into a well greased "Brown Bag" shortbread mold or an 8 1/2 inch pie plate. Using a fork dot the top of shortbread with tiny holes.  

 Bake at 325 degrees for 27 - 30 minutes or until lightly browned. (Original recipe calls for baking 30 -35 minutes ... so other ovens may require that longer baking time. Cookie should be browned all the way to the center or the center will not be done and it will stick to the pan.) 

 Cool on a rack for about 10 minutes before loosening the edges with a knife. Then I lay a cutting board on top of the pan and invert it. (Test the pan first to see if it is still hot. You may need to use potholders.) Hopefully your cookie will come out with ease. If not, set the board on the counter and gently tap the bottom of the pan. Cut the shortbread while it's still warm. 

I usually double this recipe, because it gets nibbled up pretty fast in our house. Also, it freezes well. 

*recipe from: "Brown Bag Cookie Art Shortbread Book"

Happy Baking

~Michele

Foodie Friday: Heirlooms!

Just a quick post in honor of the heirloom tomato. I love them and they're in season! I'll actually eat so many of these that I get canker sores. Terrible I know, but it's for the love of good food!

This is a quick, easy picnic salad to assemble and then head to the beach.

Andy

Add quantities of the items below to your taste and number to feed!  ;->

• Heirloom tomatoes, chopped
• Mixed greens, torn to bite-size
• Sweet onion, diced
• Avocado, small chunks
• Red pepper, chopped
• Pines nuts
• Goat cheese
• Fustini's Butter Olive Oil and Ginger-Honey White Balsamic with dashes of black pepper and French Grey Seal Salt.

Foodie Friday - Banana Muffins

We love bananas and always have some on hand. But this time of year, with all the local fruit coming in, the poor bananas never seem to get eaten. I've been freezing a lot of the overripe ones and some "way too ripe" had to hit the compost pile. I decided to bake muffins with this weeks overripe ones.

Simple Banana Muffins

2 farm fresh eggs
1/2 C buttermilk (I used Shelters)
1/3 C vegetable oil
1 C mashed overripe bananas (2 -2/12 medium bananas)
7/8 C organic sugar*
1 3/4 C spelt flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon

*original recipe called for 1 1/2 C sugar and I cut it down to 7/8 C. I think the muffins were still too sweet, next time I would just use 1/2 C sugar.

Preheat oven to 325. In a large mixing bowl, slightly beat the eggs. Add the buttermilk, oil, and bananas and mix till well combined. Combine dry ingredients and fold into wet; being careful not to overmix. At this point you could fold in nuts or chocolate chips if disired.

Grease and flour muffin cups and fill about 3/4 full. Makes about 15 muffins. I made 12 muffins and used one mini loaf pan for the extra batter. Bake 15 - 20 minutes for muffins and the mini loaf bakes 25 - 30 depending on the size of your pan.

I enjoyed a warm muffin with some "Food for Thought" jam. Notice the neat handcrafted spoon that I got for Andy at one of our favorite galleries; "The Painted Bird."

~Michele

Pound Cake

Of course, if you frequent this blog you know we'd try this with caramel!

Easy Buttermilk Pound Cake

• 3 C flour
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 2/3 C sugar
• 1 C butter
• 1 T vanilla
• 4 eggs (From our friends at Isadore Farm.)
• 1 C buttermilk (Shelter's, of course!)

In a large mixing bowl beat butter, sugar, and vanilla till light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.


Combine the flour, baking powder and salt and gradually beat in to the butter mixture, alternately with the buttermilk, until well blended.


Pour into a greased and floured 10 inch bundt pan and bake at 325 for about one hour. I have found even though the cake looks done and a toothpick comes out clean, it still needs to bake until top is quite brown. Otherwise the center is not cooked properly. Cool for about 15 minutes before removing cake from pan. Completely cool and serve as desired.

Notes: Sometimes we add mini chocolate chips. Another nice change is a teaspoon of almond extract and a splash of vanilla. This is a pretty good size recipe so I use it often, at Christmas, for gifts. I get 4 - 5 small loaf cakes. (At Christmas I sometimes, although not earth friendly, buy foil loaf pans to save time with clean up.) I have used this recipe for mini muffins too. Sprinkle the tops with cinnamon and sugar and bake 15 -18 minutes.

It's also great with local fresh strawberries--which just came in!