Strawberry Mint Popsicles

The hottest days of the summer are on the way.  Now is the time to pick fresh strawberries and tuck some into the freezer for warm weather treats such as smoothies, sangria, or these delicious strawberry mint popsicles.  This unusual recipe calls for cooking the berries and sugar first to bring out the sweet jammy flavor, adding some lemonade and mint and  then cooling and freezing the mixure.   I hope you will have fun picking berries now and enjoy a delicious popsicle cool down during the hot days this summer.

Strawberry Mint Popsicles
Strawberries (about 1 quart)
1 cup lemonade or limeade
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon fresh chopped mint
Plastic popsicles molds for freezing
Hull and chop enough fresh strawberries to make 3 cups
Add 1/2 cup sugar to the berries and let stand about 5 minutes
Place in a shallow pan and cook until the berries soften and juice run freely
Add 1 cup lemonade or limeade
Allow to cool and then add mint
Place in popsicle molds and freeze

Peanut Butter and Jelly Snack Cakes

I love the references to snack cakes or “busy day” cakes in my 1940s and 1950s vintage cookbooks.  Even the busiest mistress of the house still needed to whip up a little something for her brood. Some fast food packaged muffin will never meet the daunting task of chasing away the horrible after-school hungries in this house.  In the spirit of the busy day cake, I  have made up my own favorite speedy snack recipes and the current favorite is Peanut Butter and Jelly Snack Cakes.  I bake them in a bar shaped muffin tin but standard muffin tin works fine too.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Snack Cakes
1 cup flour
2/3 cup sugar
5 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs
2 1/2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
strawberry jam (home-made or store bought)

Melt butter and peanut butter together in microwave or small pan and then cool slightly
Stir in milk and eggs
In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder
Add butter mixture to flour mixture and stir to combine but do not over mix
Fill each muffin cup part way, add a teaspoon of jam, and then add remaining batter covering the jam.
Bake for about 15 minutes until risen and golden brown
Serve warm or cool, plain or topped with berry frosting (below)

Berry Frosting
3 tablespoons butter
2 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons strawberry jam
2 teaspoons milk

Vanilla Mint Biscuits

Many times over the years I have seen the question posted on garden mailing lists or asked at horticulture lectures; “Is mint easy to grow?”  Veteran gardeners laugh at this and answer with some version of “easy to grow yes; easy to stop growing NO”.  There is a corner of my garden that I have named ”the land of ill-behaving plants”.  This is where I sequester the mints, lemon balm, oregano,  and others that hatch evil plans for garden world domination.   Here in their little corner of the world they can stretch out runners and roots and spread all they wish.  In the third year of this garden bed, I have sufficient mint to make Mojitos to sip on the patio for the entire summer and still have plenty for cooking , baking, and drying for winter.
This weekend I picked a bit of the tender mint tops, chopped them and tossed them into the vanilla biscuits recipe I use for strawberry shortcake.  I was a luscious combination and I can’t wait for the strawberry season to begin!
Here is the recipe and I would love to hear any other ideas you have for using my abundance of mint.

Vanilla Mint Drop Biscuits
1 cup flour
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup butter (melted)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
finely chopped fresh mint

Heat oven to 425 degrees
Mix flour, sugar, baking powder in a bowl
Mix melted butter, buttermilk, and vanilla in a measuring cup or small bowl
Pour buttermilk mixture into flour mixture and stir to combine (do not over mix)
Gently stir in mint
Make six equal mounts of biscuit dough in a round ungreased cakepan and bake for 12-15 minutes until light golden on top and bottom of buscuits

Strawberry Stuffed Muffins

Considering that we are two months away from strawberry season in New England, I made some pretty darn delicious strawberry vanilla preserves from California berries.  Oh hush my fellow local food lovers!  This would not be something I would ever do when the farmers market and my garden are brimming with the scent of ripe berries but I needed to perfect a recipe for my canning class and pioneer spirited women must make do with what was available.    
Early Tuesday morning I did a baking sprint, preparing muffins, brownies, honey cornbread, and chocolate chip squares for a meeting where I was also presenting.  The way I viewed it, if my talk bored the folks, at least they would be able to munch on tasty treats to quell the ennui. 
I started making the simple buttery muffins that I fill with lemon curd but when I finished the batter I realized that I had run out of homemade curd (someone had eaten the last bit and I am afraid it might just have been me).  I spotted the strawberry jam waiting patiently to be enjoyed and I swept it from the fridge and spooned a bit into each muffin.  The results were splendid!
The meeting resulted in some excellent business conversations and leads and several requests for the recipe for my strawberry jam filled muffins.

Strawberry Stuffed Muffins
1 cup flour
2/3 cup sugar
5 tablespoons butter, melted
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of cinnamon
strawberry preserves

Heat oven to 350 degrees
Grease a 12 cup muffin tin or line with paper baking cups
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and cinnamon in a large bowl
Mix eggs, milk, cooled melted butter together
Pour egg mixture into dry ingredients, mix until combined but do not over mix
Let batter stand for five minutes and then scoop into prepared muffin tin
Tuck about a teaspoon of strawberry preserves into each muffin
Bake for about 20 minutes until risen and light brown around edges
Serve warm or cool

They’re So Fluffy!

My friend Michelle who writes the blog Fun & Fearless in Beantown was pouting over the lack of poof in her otherwise quite tasty popovers.  She is a fantastic cook and her food photos induce Pavlovian drooling at a glance but she was seeking some help with her puzzling popover problem.  I am never one to let a friend feel deflated, so I am sharing my recipe for Cheddar Horseradish Popovers which has always yielded great results for me with no post oven letdown.  It is the perfect brunch treat for a crowd since you can make several batches ahead of time and freeze them.  Michelle and everyone; I hope you enjoy making these and that they rise to your high expectations!

Cheddar Horseradish Popovers
1 cup flour
2 eggs
1 cup whole milk
2/3 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon grated horseradish (or more to taste)

Heat oven to 425
Butter a 6 cup popover pan or 8 cups of a standard muffin tin
Mix milk, eggs, butter, horseradish
Measure flour into a bowl w pour spout or large measuring cup
Add to wet ingredients to flour and mix just to combine
Stir in cheese gently
Fill cups of the pan 3/4 full
Bake for about 20 minutes until puffed
Turn over down to 350 and bake another 10 minutes
As soon as the popovers come out of the oven, poke them gently with a fork to release steam

Sweet Passover Popovers

Every year  at Passover I made traditional favorites but I also try to create one or two new dishes for my family and friends.  This year in addition to holding our usual big seder dinner, we are planning to have a Passover brunch toward the end of the holiday.  I love popovers for brunch so I decided to try my hand at creating a tasty version with matzo cake flour.  They came out delicious and I now have several dozen tucked into the freezer to heat and serve with homemade strawberry jam at our brunch.  Also, on our menu will be omelettes, homemade gravlox, and cranberry matzo meal pancakes.

Below is the recipe for Sweet Passover Popovers which can be made in a standard muffin tin.  They will not puff quite as much as traditional popovers but will be light, eggy, and delicious.

Sweet Passover Popovers
1 cup matzo cake flour (not matzo meal!)
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups whole milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar
pinch of cinnamon

Heat the oven to 450 degrees
Mix together the dry ingredients in a large bowl (preferably one with a pouring spout)
Mix together wet ingredients
Add the wet to the dry ingredients
Mix until just well combined (do not overmix)
Grease a 12 cup muffin tin
Pour batter evenly into 10 cups
Bake for 15 minutes
Turn oven down to 350 degrees and bake for about 10 minutes more
Poke each popover gently with a fork to allow steam to escape
Serve hot or room temp or cool and freeze

 

Mad for Meringues

Sometimes I get on these cooking kicks; making one type of food over and over until my family cries for mercy.  I have made about a dozen batches of meringues in the last month and so far they are just shouting for more.  Sunshine-filled citrus mini cookies, mexican chocolate hearts filled with berries and cream,  mocha mounds, vanilla bean baby Pavlovas, and lemonade flavored ducks are a few of the variations of shapes and flavors I have tried.   

Fresh farm eggs have been flying from the farmers market to the mixer to the stove at lightning speed.  The whites staring in the meringue show and the yolks making appearances in such favorites as custard tarts, creme caramel, and a gigantic batch of lemon curd. 

There are many basic recipes for meringues out there but this one has worked well for me over many batches of quality assurance crunching.

Sunshine Meringues
4 egg whites (please use fresh local eggs at room temp)
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon lemon & lime zest
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 teaspoon lemon or lime juice or a mix of both
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Heat oven to 225 degrees
Cover two baking trays with parchment paper
Mix cornstarch and sugar
Beat the egg whites with cream of tartar until fluffy soft peaks begin to form
Slowly add the sugar mixture to the eggs while continuing to beat briskly
Mix in the lemon juice and zest
Use a small cookie scoop to place mounds of meringue on the baking trays or fill a pastry bag and pipe out little dollops
Bake for an hour until crisp outside keeping the oven closed 
Shut off the oven but leave the oven light on and the door closed for three hours
The meringues are now ready to eat or store in a air-tight container

Cocktails and Cookies

One of the joys of the Twitter community are the group conversations that are held on many topics.  Some friends invited me to a Tweetchat about cocktails (hashtag #drinkup if you want to join in) and this particular chat was about the delights of rum.

Today started out with piles of snow keeping me indoors yet again;  this long cold winter becoming more tedious every day.  To ward off cabin fever, I decided to bake some cookies.  As I pondered my recipe choices,  last night’s murmurings about hot buttered rum and dark rum-infused island flavors came floating into my mind.  I grabbed a bottle of dark rum and some honey and since I longed for tropical breezes, I cut my cookies into little palm trees.  Here is the recipe for my Rum and Honey Shortbread in case you need it to warm up a snowy day. 

Rum and Honey Shortbread
2 cups flour
1 stick butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 tablespoons dark rum
Pinch of cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
Pinch of ground ginger

Heat oven to 350 degrees
Cream together slightly softened butter and sugar and honey and rum
Stir together flour and spices
Add flour to the butter mixture and mix to make a soft dough
Roll out dough on a floured board to 1/4 thickness
Cut cookies in desired shapes
Bake until edges are just barely browned

Babka By Committee

A blizzard was coating the trees outside my kitchen window with billowy frosting but inside the house it was dry and toasty warm.  I shuttled trays of cookies from counter to oven to cooling racks; a few detouring into my mouth.

Since I was not going out anytime soon, it the perfect time to make a yeast bread and I had been craving babka since the weather had turned cold.    I grew up in New York City where babka was the queen of Jewish breads.  If you were visiting someone for brunch or making a shiva* call, you would always stop by the bakery on your way and pick up a chocolate babka or its more subdued and traditional cousin, the cinnamon strusel babka.

I couldn’t decide which flavor to make so I left it up to my foodie pals on Twitter to  make the choice for me.  I should have know who I was dealing with as the leading votes were ”combine the two” and “make both”.  So here is my rather untraditional cinnamon chocolate walnut babka recipe or Babka By Committee.

 Chocolate Walnut Cinnamon Babka
Dough
3 cups flour
1/2 cup milk
6 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

 Filling
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2 ounces milk chocolate
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons sugar mixed with 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Melt butter and chocolate until smooth, allow to cool slightly

Topping 
1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoons sugar mixed with sprinkle of cinnamon 

Heat oven to 350 degrees
Heat butter and milk in a small pan until very warm-butter does not need to melt completely
Mix yeast, sugar, cinnamon, and milk and butter mixture in a large bowl or stand mixer
Add 1/2 cup of flour and mix well
Beat together eggs and sour cream
Add to the dough in the mixer and blend well
Add 2 cups flour and mix for a sticky soft dough
Turn out onto a floured board and knead about another 1/2 cup of flour into the dough until it is no longer sticky but still soft and easy to work
Form dough into a ball
Grease a large bowl and the top of the dough and allow to rise until doubled covered with a towel for about 1 hour
Pat the dough into a rectangle about 9″x12″
Spread cooled chocolate (see filling below) on the dough leaving a strip of dough the short length without chocolate
Sprinkle with nuts and cinnamon sugar
Roll up jelly roll style from the short end
Place in a baking pan and allow to rest for about 20 minutes
Brush with egg and water mixture and sprinkle with more cinnamon sugar
Bake for about 50 minutes until golden brown and hollow sounding when tapped
Allow to cool before slicing 

*a Jewish custom to visit and bring food to the house of a family in mourning for seven days after the funeral

Oatmeal and Leek Bread

The chill in the air and the snow on the ground had me craving foods that are hearty and sustaining.  Hardly anything makes me feel more secure and cozy than the smell of fresh-baked bread dancing through the house so I set to baking.  I first reached for one of my trusted recipes but then decided to play with an idea that I have carried around for a while. 

Some time ago, at an Irish-style pub, I tasted a delicious Leek and Oatmeal Soup.  I have since learned that it is a very old recipe called Brotchan Foltchep.  I was struck with the thought that the flavors of oatmeal, leeks, and broth would work really well in a bread.  While it might not make up for all of the cookies and candies that marched through my kitchen during the holidays,  I decided to add the bonus of making it a vegan and fat-free loaf.

After a few tries, I came up with a delicious recipe which I hope you will try it and enjoy!

Oatmeal and Leek Bread
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 cup vegetable broth (low salt prefered)
3/4 cup leeks cut in half and into thin slices
1/4 cup old-fashioned oatmeal
1 package rapid rise yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
non-stick spray

Place oats in a food processor with steel blade and process until broken but still coarse-do not reduce to powder
Combine 1 cup flour, yeast, oats, and sugar in a mixer or bowl
Mix in broth
Add additional flour to make a soft dough
Knead by hand, adding more flour as needed until dough is smooth and not sticky (at least 5 minutes)
Set dough to rise in a bowl sprayed with non-stick spray
When dough has doubled in size, pat into a rectangle about 12″ x 9″
Heat oven to 350 degrees
Sprinkle the leeks over the dough leaving an inch of space on the far long end
Roll up the long end jelly roll fashion
Spray a loaf pan with non-stick spray
Place rolled loaf in pan seam side down
Let rest for about 10 minutes
Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through