My daughter has recently become obsessed with lolilipops. At first I was really nervous about the whole thing. She tends to get really excited about them and shoves them in her mouth all at once, I was convinced she was going to choke, especially since she doesn't sit still. Then I got over that, and my new fear was that her teeth were going to rot out of her mouth, but she seems to be okay and I got over that. Now it's that every time we go into the local corner store, I can't get out of there without buying a lolilipop. I know, I know. Just say no. Well sometimes no doesn't work, and sometimes I just want the quick and easy solution. I think my daughter knows that. Did I mention she's into manipulating situations? I know, I know! My daughter is brilliant. Anyway, I've been cooking/baking/whatever a lot recently, and I thought I report of some of the kitchen endeavors.
Plum muffin tin pies
I love fresh fruit, and in the summer I tend to over buy whatever is in season because I love the smell, the feel and the taste of fruit, and I love that I can get such a variety of local fruit during this time because I know it won't last come winter. So with that in mind, I had a whole bag of plums that were really on their way out. I wanted to eat them, but I knew I couldn't eat ALL of them. We were having some people over for dinner that night, and I hadn't really thought of a dessert. I opened my freezer, cabinets and then voila! Was hit with an amazing idea. Mini plum pies. I had pie crust dough in the freezer. So how would I make these since I didn't have mini pie dishes? Muffin tin! Brilliant (My daughter gets it from me). This is what I used:
-4 medium sized plums (or however many people you are serving)
-1 pie crust cut into circles meant to be just a little bigger than your fruit (I used a cookie cutter I had)
-1 teaspoon of honey per pie + 1 tablespoon
-pinch of nutmeg per pie
-2 shots of Amaretto
-6 cloves
-crushed walnuts, 1/2 a small bag from the baking section
I cut out my dough (For 4 pies you'll need 8 circles) and set aside. I then lightly buttered a muffin tin. I then pitted my fruit. I did this by cutting the fruit in half and then edging my knife carefully around the pit into it pops out without much effort. I then set aside 4 halves (or 2 whole plums, however you want to do it). I covered the skin side with one of the dough circles. Add a teaspoon of honey to the pitted area and some crushed walnuts. Then place another dough circle and press two dough circles together. Place in buttered muffin tin with pitted side up. Continue to do this to each serving, creating mini pies. Bake in a 350 F oven for 15-20 minutes depending on the heat of your oven. While pies are baking, in a small saucepan, add 2 whole plums (or 4 halves, sliced), tablespoon of honey, Amaretto and cloves and let reduce for about 8 minutes. Set aside to thicken. When pies are ready pour sauce over and serve immediately. If you want to make the pies ahead of time, you can do so, I thought the sauce really added something special and brought out the flavor of the ripened plums. Therefore I would recommend you make the sauce right before you are about to serve which will also warm up the pies a bit.
Baked, Husked Corn
As you may have gathered, the summer is a time of overbuying produce in our house, and I had bought some beautiful corn at a farmers market. I wanted to cook it, but hadn't figured out what I was making for dinner yet. I also wanted Zara to help me shuck the corn and prepare it as this is something I have really good memories of as a child. So we pulled up the stool, and decided to shuck only partially so we could steam the corn in the husks (in the oven!). We first pulled off all the 'hair', as we pulled back the husk, as far as we could get it without detaching it. Then we rubbed fresh garlic, butter, salt, pepper into the putter. We then rolled each ear in a little garam massala spice mixture and then pulled with husks back up. We then popped a small amount of butter before we tied the top of each ear with a bit of kitchen twine. (We soaked the twine while we were husking). We then popped these in the oven for about 15 minutes at 375 F. DELICIOUS. Seriously, try it with whatever seasoning you want. I made it and then was inspired to make a curry, (which I decided as we were husking) which was delicious!
Chicken, Sweet Potato Curry
So not to sound like a broken record, but I had bouth a whole bunch of sweet potatos at a farmers market, and I had two leftover that had seen better days. As I was making the above corn, I decided they would be the basis of my curry. I had defrosted some chicken, and the chicken sweet potato curry a la Erin was born. I'm sure you can do this with whatever curry substitute you have (jar, pouch mix) but I really like to try to make mine if I can. I tend to take my inspiration from Madhur Jaffrey because I love her recipes and find them really easy to follow and are consistantly fantastic. I won't type out the recipe here for fear of copyright. But I used the Creamy chicken korma with almonds recipe. I takes 3 steps. It's amazing. But you can buy a pretty good korma mix in your ethnic section in the grocery store. I added sweet potato, chicken, ginger, onions and tomatos to mine!
Monday, August 27, 2012
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Two Days in a Row!
So I'm actually posting two days in a row, which I consider a personal win. I absolutely have been taking pictures of everything I'm writing about, but of course, as soon as I do one thing, something else happens. I can't find the cord that connects the camera to the computer, so hopefully I'll find where that is soon, and post pictures. Anyway, to the food.
Fig Honey Cornbread
I wanted to make something sweet for a family I was dropping food off for (they had just had a baby), but not too sweet, and I wanted it 'to go' with what I was making them for dinner..(Empanadas). I always seem to have an overabundance of either cornmeal or those cheap Jiffy cornbread mixes you can buy at the grocery store 6 for $2 or something like that. So I decided I would make a sweet cornbread. I also had some green figs (which I am obsessed with during summer), which were starting to get past their peak, so I thought, why not mix these two fantastic things together, right?
So what do you need?
2 boxes of Jiffy cornbread mix. Make to box directions (obviously doubling for the two boxes)
6-8 whole green figs, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons good honey (or whatever you have really)
1 pinch of nutmeg
1 pinch of cinnamon
Once you've mixed the cornbread mix together, add honey, nutmeg and cinnamon. Then gently fold in figs. Bake to the box instructions.
If you like making things look a little fancy (and who doesn't) before you throw these in the oven, sprinkly a little cinnamon and sugar on top. This makes a sweet, slightly crunchy top. Amazing! Z helped me with every single part of this recipe. Instead of chopping the figs, we pulled them apart. It's messier, but who doesn't love messy with kids?
Amaretto Coffee
Okay, so this one is sort of a no-brainer, and it's not very child friendly (although it has been known to help make YOU more child friendly). I was having an...interesting day...full of temper tantrums and the like. I was exhausted. I was frustrated, I really need coffee, and a drink. I almost always have amaretto on hand. It's great to add to make a quick sauce for a dessert, and I love it over ice at night instead of dessert, especially in winter. Well I took a cup of coffee, made to my particular specifications (half and half, about a teaspoon) and added a good glug of amaretto to it. Oh My God. Amazing. There is this beautiful nutty flavor to the coffee with a little zing but not enough to make you feel tipsy, or, anything other than a little bit nicer to my child. Try it, you'll like it!
Baked Fish and Chips
I have a newish friend that my husband and I have been meeting each week for the past month or so to cook one another a type of cuisine. One of us hosts and cooks the majority of the meal and the other brings drink and either an app or a dessert appropriate to the cuisine chosen. The week that I recently hosted it was the opening ceremonies for the Olympics (I know this is a bit off). So we held an English feast. Being American, I thought it would be funny, if we did a take on fish and chips (instead of making a pie or a pasty). It helped that we happened to have fish and sweet potatos from a recent grocery trip.
What you'll need:
Dependent on the amount of people you are serving. We had 4, so I used 8 small pieces of hake
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
salt and pepper to taste
4 medium sized sweet potatos
1/2 cup olive oil
Beat egg and add water in small bowl
put flour in a small bowl
put breadcrumbs in a small bowl
Dip each piece of fish in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs. Put fish on a glass dish that is lightly brushed with about a tablespoon of olive oil.
Preheat oven to 400 F
Set fish aside when completed
Cut the tips of of each potato. Wash. Roughly cut potato. I recommend, cut in half, then in half again then half again. You should be able to cut the potatos in half one more time forming rough steak chips (or fries). Put on a lipped cookie sheet. Add remaining olive oil and season with salt and pepper (and whatever else you like, Old Bay? Steak Seasoning?) Pop chips and fish in the oven for 15 minutes. Check. My oven was finished cooking at this time, but it burns hot. I would check and then see if you fish and chips are done, if not, bake another 5-10 minutes as needed.
Fig Honey Cornbread
I wanted to make something sweet for a family I was dropping food off for (they had just had a baby), but not too sweet, and I wanted it 'to go' with what I was making them for dinner..(Empanadas). I always seem to have an overabundance of either cornmeal or those cheap Jiffy cornbread mixes you can buy at the grocery store 6 for $2 or something like that. So I decided I would make a sweet cornbread. I also had some green figs (which I am obsessed with during summer), which were starting to get past their peak, so I thought, why not mix these two fantastic things together, right?
So what do you need?
2 boxes of Jiffy cornbread mix. Make to box directions (obviously doubling for the two boxes)
6-8 whole green figs, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons good honey (or whatever you have really)
1 pinch of nutmeg
1 pinch of cinnamon
Once you've mixed the cornbread mix together, add honey, nutmeg and cinnamon. Then gently fold in figs. Bake to the box instructions.
If you like making things look a little fancy (and who doesn't) before you throw these in the oven, sprinkly a little cinnamon and sugar on top. This makes a sweet, slightly crunchy top. Amazing! Z helped me with every single part of this recipe. Instead of chopping the figs, we pulled them apart. It's messier, but who doesn't love messy with kids?
Amaretto Coffee
Okay, so this one is sort of a no-brainer, and it's not very child friendly (although it has been known to help make YOU more child friendly). I was having an...interesting day...full of temper tantrums and the like. I was exhausted. I was frustrated, I really need coffee, and a drink. I almost always have amaretto on hand. It's great to add to make a quick sauce for a dessert, and I love it over ice at night instead of dessert, especially in winter. Well I took a cup of coffee, made to my particular specifications (half and half, about a teaspoon) and added a good glug of amaretto to it. Oh My God. Amazing. There is this beautiful nutty flavor to the coffee with a little zing but not enough to make you feel tipsy, or, anything other than a little bit nicer to my child. Try it, you'll like it!
Baked Fish and Chips
I have a newish friend that my husband and I have been meeting each week for the past month or so to cook one another a type of cuisine. One of us hosts and cooks the majority of the meal and the other brings drink and either an app or a dessert appropriate to the cuisine chosen. The week that I recently hosted it was the opening ceremonies for the Olympics (I know this is a bit off). So we held an English feast. Being American, I thought it would be funny, if we did a take on fish and chips (instead of making a pie or a pasty). It helped that we happened to have fish and sweet potatos from a recent grocery trip.
What you'll need:
Dependent on the amount of people you are serving. We had 4, so I used 8 small pieces of hake
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
salt and pepper to taste
4 medium sized sweet potatos
1/2 cup olive oil
Beat egg and add water in small bowl
put flour in a small bowl
put breadcrumbs in a small bowl
Dip each piece of fish in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs. Put fish on a glass dish that is lightly brushed with about a tablespoon of olive oil.
Preheat oven to 400 F
Set fish aside when completed
Cut the tips of of each potato. Wash. Roughly cut potato. I recommend, cut in half, then in half again then half again. You should be able to cut the potatos in half one more time forming rough steak chips (or fries). Put on a lipped cookie sheet. Add remaining olive oil and season with salt and pepper (and whatever else you like, Old Bay? Steak Seasoning?) Pop chips and fish in the oven for 15 minutes. Check. My oven was finished cooking at this time, but it burns hot. I would check and then see if you fish and chips are done, if not, bake another 5-10 minutes as needed.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Finding Time
I know it often seems like an excuse that I "don't have time to blog daily'. And I have to be honest, before I had a kid, it would have absolutely been an excuse. I know tons of people who do so much everyday, and some days, I am that person. But there are days, days like today actually, when my child is so tempertastic that getting to the grocery store and back seems like a feat and a half and makes me long for the days that I was a working mom. (I mean really, getting to go to the bathroom by yourself, typing at a keyboard without a 'mommy hold me' whilst pulling on my arm, sounds like a dream!). But I chose to take this route, and most of the time, I don't regret it, but argh, the terrible two's are a time of testing one's sanity, working or not. So anyway, I haven't posted in a couple of days, use your imagination, I'm sure you will not come up with as many fantastical tempertantrum scenarios as what actually happened in real life. Go on, I challenge you :-)
Lemon Poppyseed Scones
I love scones. I mean I loved them before we moved to England, so, absolute dedication to my love of scones. I've made a ton of different types with varying success. So when I happened across a recipe that promised scones that didn't sit in the pit of your stomach, I decided to give it a go. My husband's favorite flavors are lemon poppyseed (anything), so I decided that is what I would do as I had a ton of lemons on hand, and thanks to a recent trip to the Atlantic Spice Company, some poppyseeds.
What you'll need:
3 cups of all purpose flour
1 cup of sugar
2-3 tablespoons of poppyseeds (depending on how much you like them)
1 tablespoons of baking powder
1 lemon, zested
1 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 sticks of chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg
1/3 cup milk (I would recommend 2% or whole, any more and you are introducing more water than milk into the recipe)
Preheat the oven to 375F
Mix flour, sugar, poppy seeds, baking powder, zest and salt together (can do in a processor, if you have been reading this blog, you know that I LOVE using my hands)
Add butter in batches and pinch together into flour mixture until you get a grainy feeling mix or 'meal'. Whisk together egg and lemon juice in a separate bowl. When they are combined add to the flour mixture. Now add the milk. This should form a sticky dough mixture. Flour your hands and a counter surface (or a large cutting board) and dump the dough out on your working surface. Knead dough until it is manageable and you can beat down to cut your scones. I like using cookie cutters so that I have a uniform shape (and I let my child pick out the cutter and cut them out). Make sure if you are using a cutter to flour it as you go. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 20-25 minutes. (I normally top the scones with some sugar and nutmeg before I put in the oven, but this is just my person preference)
Grilled Cheese with Pickle and Tomato
I have an affinity for grilled cheese, especially when I'm feeling a little nostalgic for New Jersey. (Not they they are related to NJ in any way, just my memories growing up I guess). I also love Branston's Pickle. It's an acquired taste, one that I picked up while pregnant in London. It was a craving that I can't quite get rid of. I love the vinegar taste. I thought I would make my sandwich a little more grown up, so I cut some extra sharp cheddar cheese, a tomato and buttered up my bread. I spread of layer of pickle on my sandwich and then arranged per my liking. It was delicious, and the crunch of the pickle and tomato was wonderful with the oozy cheese!
Pesto Pasta
So you may remember that I have been trying to grow herbs in a couple of windowboxes with a varying degree of success. But my basil has exploded. I mean take over the entire windowbox exploded. So I decided to make pesto, because who doesn't love pesto? You can make this your own by adding ingredients (or omitting) as you like! So this is what I used (this time);
2 handfuls of fresh basil
1 tablespoon pinenuts
1/2 cup of parm cheese
3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
Blend all the above ingredients until combined
While you are doing the above, make the pasta per the box or your personal preference. When down drain, reserving about a tablespoon of pasta water. Add pesto to pasta and serve while hot. Add more olive oil if needed.
Lemon Poppyseed Scones
I love scones. I mean I loved them before we moved to England, so, absolute dedication to my love of scones. I've made a ton of different types with varying success. So when I happened across a recipe that promised scones that didn't sit in the pit of your stomach, I decided to give it a go. My husband's favorite flavors are lemon poppyseed (anything), so I decided that is what I would do as I had a ton of lemons on hand, and thanks to a recent trip to the Atlantic Spice Company, some poppyseeds.
What you'll need:
3 cups of all purpose flour
1 cup of sugar
2-3 tablespoons of poppyseeds (depending on how much you like them)
1 tablespoons of baking powder
1 lemon, zested
1 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 sticks of chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg
1/3 cup milk (I would recommend 2% or whole, any more and you are introducing more water than milk into the recipe)
Preheat the oven to 375F
Mix flour, sugar, poppy seeds, baking powder, zest and salt together (can do in a processor, if you have been reading this blog, you know that I LOVE using my hands)
Add butter in batches and pinch together into flour mixture until you get a grainy feeling mix or 'meal'. Whisk together egg and lemon juice in a separate bowl. When they are combined add to the flour mixture. Now add the milk. This should form a sticky dough mixture. Flour your hands and a counter surface (or a large cutting board) and dump the dough out on your working surface. Knead dough until it is manageable and you can beat down to cut your scones. I like using cookie cutters so that I have a uniform shape (and I let my child pick out the cutter and cut them out). Make sure if you are using a cutter to flour it as you go. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 20-25 minutes. (I normally top the scones with some sugar and nutmeg before I put in the oven, but this is just my person preference)
Grilled Cheese with Pickle and Tomato
I have an affinity for grilled cheese, especially when I'm feeling a little nostalgic for New Jersey. (Not they they are related to NJ in any way, just my memories growing up I guess). I also love Branston's Pickle. It's an acquired taste, one that I picked up while pregnant in London. It was a craving that I can't quite get rid of. I love the vinegar taste. I thought I would make my sandwich a little more grown up, so I cut some extra sharp cheddar cheese, a tomato and buttered up my bread. I spread of layer of pickle on my sandwich and then arranged per my liking. It was delicious, and the crunch of the pickle and tomato was wonderful with the oozy cheese!
Pesto Pasta
So you may remember that I have been trying to grow herbs in a couple of windowboxes with a varying degree of success. But my basil has exploded. I mean take over the entire windowbox exploded. So I decided to make pesto, because who doesn't love pesto? You can make this your own by adding ingredients (or omitting) as you like! So this is what I used (this time);
2 handfuls of fresh basil
1 tablespoon pinenuts
1/2 cup of parm cheese
3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
Blend all the above ingredients until combined
While you are doing the above, make the pasta per the box or your personal preference. When down drain, reserving about a tablespoon of pasta water. Add pesto to pasta and serve while hot. Add more olive oil if needed.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Easy Cooking with Kids
I think a lot about cooking. I've come to realize how much I love it and how much apart of my personality it entails. During my daily, hourly, minutely (is that a word? It should be) thoughts of cooking, I'm often thinking of ways I can cook that allow my daughter to help. I want her to help because to me, cooking is something that helps showcase your love and intentions. Think of the movie Like Water for Chocolate. Depressing, I know, but so true. Any emotion you have truly can come through in your cooking. Whether it's trying to impress new friends, making something beautiful for your loved one, or emitting fun for your kids, cooking is something that CAN be easy, and fun. Novel, I know. But that's my deep thought for the day. Not so deep, but exceptionally true. Part of the whole idea behind this year long project is to not only show myself that I can make something different, everyday, but I can have my child, during a developmentally difficult phase in her life (the terrible two's) help me make and eat these hopefully beautiful delicious things (unless I'm just making an alcoholic beverage, then, sorry, I've still made something, but I obviously needed a pick me up :-)!
Today I wanted to focus on things that I like to make for others. I have 3 recipes that are relatively easy, and can be presented beautifully and one, I gave as a gift to my father last father's day from my daughter.
Goats Cheese, Plum and Basil Brushetta
So this isn't a combination that I would have thought of naturally (well I would have, but I don't think most would). I had some beautiful cranberry walnut bread that needed to be eaten, I had just bought a large amount of unripe plums and the basil I had been growing in my windowbox had actually taken off. Oh, and we were going to a friends house for dinner, and I was bringing the appetizer, but my daughter had been throwing a fit for going on two hours. I looked in my fridge and was honestly stumped. I then had an overwhelming desire to eat one of the plums, knowing they were very unripe. So I cut a piece of the bread, dipped it in goats cheese and put some plum slices on it. Why? Because I love all of those things, so I figured, this would be a decent lunch!. And Oh My God. It was delicious. And not just delicious because I was hungry. Honest to God delicious. So I thought about it a little more, and started slicing my bread and arranging on a plate. I then spread some pepper crusted goats cheese that I bought at Trader Joe's, on the bread. I had let the cheese come to room temperature so it was easy to spread. I then sliced the plums thinly and lined each bread slice with about 4 pieces of plum. I then topped with basil and drizzled with a teeny bit of olive oil. These were SUCH a bit at the dinner! They were gone in under 10 minutes and everyone was raving about the idea. I felt exceptionally smug. I googled it to make sure it hadn't been done before. It hadn't. BOOM. I created a recipe that wasn't one I just modified. LOVE IT!
How did my daughter help? She spread the cheese and placed the basil.
Guac
So everyone has their verson of guacamole. And I admit fully that I have never been to California, Mexico, or any southwestern state (absolutely despicable, I agree. I'm trying to remedy soon). This appetizer or side dish is something that I've grown up with, and I love avocados. I just do. I could eat them on everything (and when I get them, I pretty much do). So my guac always is lightly seasoned, heavy of the green stuff. I like the pop of color other vegetables provide, so I make sure when I'm making this to have some of these on hand for my visual requirements!
4 large ripe avocados
1 large nice red tomato (vine ripened if you can get it) chopped
1 medium red onion chopped
1 roasted red pepper
salt and pepper to taste
1 large lemon
Peel the avocados. An italian friend showed me the easiest way to peel a avocado is to score all the way around and separate the halves. Then peel the back off the avocado, leaving all of the beautiful green insides. Then when you are slicing, the pip will fall right out. Stick these all in a bowl and mash with a fork. Roll your lemon to get the juices flowing. Slice in half and take out as many pips as you can. Zest half the lemon into the avocados and then squeeze the juice out of both sides careful not to allow and pips to come out. Add chopped vegetables, omit those you don't like, add others instead, like corn! Salt and pepper to taste. My mom uses a lime instead of a lemon, it's personal preference, use what you like most! Now for a secret punch. If you are serving at an adult only party, add a splash of tequila for a kick!
So how did Z help? Mashing the avocados of course! She's starting to get the hang of the peeling as well!
Grandpa Greg's Granola
My dad loves granola. Loves it. I wanted to give him something unique for father's day from Zara, that she could actually say she 'made'. Then it came to me. Make him granola. It's something that she could really make most of, and he would LOVE it. (And if he loved it, I could give him the recipe to make himself! Double win!)
What will you need?
4 cups rolled oats (I use Quaker Oats)
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup sliced almonds
3/4 cups vegetable oil
1/2 cup honey
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup dried blueberries
1 cup sunflower seeds
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
Preheat oven to 350F
Toss oats, coconut, almonds and sunflower seeds together. In another bowl, toss honey and oil together. Add wet mixture to oat mixture and toss, adding cinnamon and nutmeg until mixture is covered. Dump mixture onto lipped baking sheet that is covered with parchment paper. Bake for 30 minutes or until mixture turns a golden brown (and smells delicious). Make sure you stir the mixture every 2-5 minutes so it doesn't burn! Remove and cool. Add dried fruit and stir. Store in airtight container. I presented this to my father in a large mason jar that we had decorated together. It was sweet and delicious!
Today I wanted to focus on things that I like to make for others. I have 3 recipes that are relatively easy, and can be presented beautifully and one, I gave as a gift to my father last father's day from my daughter.
Goats Cheese, Plum and Basil Brushetta
So this isn't a combination that I would have thought of naturally (well I would have, but I don't think most would). I had some beautiful cranberry walnut bread that needed to be eaten, I had just bought a large amount of unripe plums and the basil I had been growing in my windowbox had actually taken off. Oh, and we were going to a friends house for dinner, and I was bringing the appetizer, but my daughter had been throwing a fit for going on two hours. I looked in my fridge and was honestly stumped. I then had an overwhelming desire to eat one of the plums, knowing they were very unripe. So I cut a piece of the bread, dipped it in goats cheese and put some plum slices on it. Why? Because I love all of those things, so I figured, this would be a decent lunch!. And Oh My God. It was delicious. And not just delicious because I was hungry. Honest to God delicious. So I thought about it a little more, and started slicing my bread and arranging on a plate. I then spread some pepper crusted goats cheese that I bought at Trader Joe's, on the bread. I had let the cheese come to room temperature so it was easy to spread. I then sliced the plums thinly and lined each bread slice with about 4 pieces of plum. I then topped with basil and drizzled with a teeny bit of olive oil. These were SUCH a bit at the dinner! They were gone in under 10 minutes and everyone was raving about the idea. I felt exceptionally smug. I googled it to make sure it hadn't been done before. It hadn't. BOOM. I created a recipe that wasn't one I just modified. LOVE IT!
How did my daughter help? She spread the cheese and placed the basil.
Guac
So everyone has their verson of guacamole. And I admit fully that I have never been to California, Mexico, or any southwestern state (absolutely despicable, I agree. I'm trying to remedy soon). This appetizer or side dish is something that I've grown up with, and I love avocados. I just do. I could eat them on everything (and when I get them, I pretty much do). So my guac always is lightly seasoned, heavy of the green stuff. I like the pop of color other vegetables provide, so I make sure when I'm making this to have some of these on hand for my visual requirements!
4 large ripe avocados
1 large nice red tomato (vine ripened if you can get it) chopped
1 medium red onion chopped
1 roasted red pepper
salt and pepper to taste
1 large lemon
Peel the avocados. An italian friend showed me the easiest way to peel a avocado is to score all the way around and separate the halves. Then peel the back off the avocado, leaving all of the beautiful green insides. Then when you are slicing, the pip will fall right out. Stick these all in a bowl and mash with a fork. Roll your lemon to get the juices flowing. Slice in half and take out as many pips as you can. Zest half the lemon into the avocados and then squeeze the juice out of both sides careful not to allow and pips to come out. Add chopped vegetables, omit those you don't like, add others instead, like corn! Salt and pepper to taste. My mom uses a lime instead of a lemon, it's personal preference, use what you like most! Now for a secret punch. If you are serving at an adult only party, add a splash of tequila for a kick!
So how did Z help? Mashing the avocados of course! She's starting to get the hang of the peeling as well!
Grandpa Greg's Granola
My dad loves granola. Loves it. I wanted to give him something unique for father's day from Zara, that she could actually say she 'made'. Then it came to me. Make him granola. It's something that she could really make most of, and he would LOVE it. (And if he loved it, I could give him the recipe to make himself! Double win!)
What will you need?
4 cups rolled oats (I use Quaker Oats)
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup sliced almonds
3/4 cups vegetable oil
1/2 cup honey
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup dried blueberries
1 cup sunflower seeds
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
Preheat oven to 350F
Toss oats, coconut, almonds and sunflower seeds together. In another bowl, toss honey and oil together. Add wet mixture to oat mixture and toss, adding cinnamon and nutmeg until mixture is covered. Dump mixture onto lipped baking sheet that is covered with parchment paper. Bake for 30 minutes or until mixture turns a golden brown (and smells delicious). Make sure you stir the mixture every 2-5 minutes so it doesn't burn! Remove and cool. Add dried fruit and stir. Store in airtight container. I presented this to my father in a large mason jar that we had decorated together. It was sweet and delicious!
Monday, August 13, 2012
Black Bean Extravaganza
I always keep a lot of canned and dried beans in my cabinet. My siblings think it has something to do with me being the eldest and the fact that my mom also stockpiles (and my mom stockpiles because she grew up in the 60's...and probably that is what HER mom did...but I digress). So whenever I want something comforting, easy and inexpensive, I look to my bean supply and figure out what to make. In my last post I told you about a new bean salad, but my tried and trues have got to be Black Beans and Rice, Empanadas, and a new one to me (but not to my tastebuds) the taquito.
Black Bean & Cheese Empanadas
This is a GREAT recipe to give away, as it's a little time consuming to make, but I typically double the recipe and have enough little 'pockets' to throw some in the freezer, and have on hand for a quick meal or lunch for my husband to take to work. (He is leftover KING).
You can really add what you want and like to this mixture, obviously there are the basics. I vary this each time depending on what I have in my cabinet or fridge. This time my empanadas had:
Johnny Cakes
These are great little additions to a meal and can be made with the above, although I prefer to have them when having a large salad OR a soup or stew. But we were having some people over and I was CRAVING them. I happened to have a mix of them and just whipped it up. I find it's something that a lot of people haven't had before, but are familiar with the taste and texture so it feels comforting. A Johnny cake is basically a friend biscuit. You can either get a mix in the ethnic section of your grocery store, or make from scratch. They have a cornmeal and milk base and can be made flat or like a biscuit. Serve them sweet or savory and feel free to add cheese or herbs to the mixture to spice it up!
Add oil to frying pan and allow to heat up until when you put a fork in small bubbles appear around the fork. Drop in the batter by the spoonful and do about 4 dollops at a time (4 cakes). Fry for about 30 seconds and flip. Cakes should be a golden brown color. Transfer to a paper toweled plate and let cool. Serve when warm.
How did Zara help? Well she helped me mix the batter! While she doesn't LOVE getting her hands dirty, I usually add some cheese to this mixture so when she gets bored she can shred and then eat cheese!
Black Bean & Squash Taquitos
So we were going to a friend's for dinner and the theme was 'Mexican'. I had a bit of my empanada mixture left and I wanted to use it up. So I sliced up some squash that I had bought at a local farmers market (really any type of squash will do as long as you slice it thinly. I sauteed for just a couple minutes in some vegetable oil until soft and then I added my leftover bean mixture to heat through. In another pan I took a package full of corn tortillas and 'fried' each one until pliable, about 30 seconds. I then took them out of the oil and spooned some of the bean/squash mixture along the middle and rolled tightly immediately. I then placed into a long glass dish. I did this until all of my tortillas were gone. I then baked in a preheated 400 F oven for 25 minutes or until crispy. This is a fabulous starter or great as a main with a salad. How did my daughter help? Well she picked out the squash and as I sliced the squash I let her throw it into the saute pan (with supervision of course!)
Black Bean & Cheese Empanadas
This is a GREAT recipe to give away, as it's a little time consuming to make, but I typically double the recipe and have enough little 'pockets' to throw some in the freezer, and have on hand for a quick meal or lunch for my husband to take to work. (He is leftover KING).
You can really add what you want and like to this mixture, obviously there are the basics. I vary this each time depending on what I have in my cabinet or fridge. This time my empanadas had:
- 3 cans of black beans, washed and drained
- green pimento olives. I use about 10 large sliced thin
- 2 cloves of garlic chopped finely but not minced (which is just my preference, mince away!)
- 1 large white or yellow onion, minced
- 2 packages of Goya Empanada discs. You can get these in the frozen section of your grocery store in the 'ethnic foods section' (ridiculous, I know, but there it is). These come in white and a reddish color. I've used both but find that the white looks a little more appetizing for savory.
- about 1/2 cup of vegetable oil for frying
- 10-20 cubes of cheese (I use pepper jack)
- 1 small can of chopped tomatoes
- salt and pepper to taste
Johnny Cakes
These are great little additions to a meal and can be made with the above, although I prefer to have them when having a large salad OR a soup or stew. But we were having some people over and I was CRAVING them. I happened to have a mix of them and just whipped it up. I find it's something that a lot of people haven't had before, but are familiar with the taste and texture so it feels comforting. A Johnny cake is basically a friend biscuit. You can either get a mix in the ethnic section of your grocery store, or make from scratch. They have a cornmeal and milk base and can be made flat or like a biscuit. Serve them sweet or savory and feel free to add cheese or herbs to the mixture to spice it up!
- 2 cups cornmeal
- pinch of salt
- 4 tablespoons of butter (I prefer unsalted)
- 1 cup milk (I use 2% because it's what I have in my fridge, use what you have, but I would suggest that the smaller the percent, the more water instead of milk you are adding to your mixture, so your cakes will have a slightly different consistency)
- hot water
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil for frying
Add oil to frying pan and allow to heat up until when you put a fork in small bubbles appear around the fork. Drop in the batter by the spoonful and do about 4 dollops at a time (4 cakes). Fry for about 30 seconds and flip. Cakes should be a golden brown color. Transfer to a paper toweled plate and let cool. Serve when warm.
How did Zara help? Well she helped me mix the batter! While she doesn't LOVE getting her hands dirty, I usually add some cheese to this mixture so when she gets bored she can shred and then eat cheese!
Black Bean & Squash Taquitos
So we were going to a friend's for dinner and the theme was 'Mexican'. I had a bit of my empanada mixture left and I wanted to use it up. So I sliced up some squash that I had bought at a local farmers market (really any type of squash will do as long as you slice it thinly. I sauteed for just a couple minutes in some vegetable oil until soft and then I added my leftover bean mixture to heat through. In another pan I took a package full of corn tortillas and 'fried' each one until pliable, about 30 seconds. I then took them out of the oil and spooned some of the bean/squash mixture along the middle and rolled tightly immediately. I then placed into a long glass dish. I did this until all of my tortillas were gone. I then baked in a preheated 400 F oven for 25 minutes or until crispy. This is a fabulous starter or great as a main with a salad. How did my daughter help? Well she picked out the squash and as I sliced the squash I let her throw it into the saute pan (with supervision of course!)
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Hot Hot Hot
Well this weekend has been HOT!. I'm sure not down south hot, or even New York City hot, but up here in the New England I expect a cooler summer. Well New England has not delivered. It's hot, muggy, and requiring several outfit changes for both myself and my child (I can't speak for my husband, he either likes feeling his own sweat, or doesn't sweat as much as we do...both possible).
Of course this didn't stop me from cooking and baking, especially since we are now hunkering down and trying to track all of our spending, live by a budget (oh-my-god. This is SO hard for us!) in order to see if we can save to have some sort of down payment so the mortgage people don't laugh at us when we go to get pre-approved...) So my cooking and shopping skills have come in handy, as has the ability to keep my daughter busy while cooking or actually helping me cook (which has become more of a reality the older she is getting.)
So while I'm catching up on what I've been making, I'm STILL making, and, the items are DELICIOUS. Be jealous.
Tortellini Caprese
This is one I stole from my mom, with modifications (as I think everyone should put their own stamp of what they are making depending on what they like, or are in the mood for).
This one is SO easy, SO tasty and everyone ate it. All of it. There were no leftovers. Did I mention Zara helped? Because she did. She actually made a large part of the stove-less portion of this dish. She was so excited and it was nice to be able to talk her through what I was doing as I was doing it and have her pay attention. So here goes;
Strawberry Surprise Cupcakes
My daughter loves pink cupcakes (and cake, and well, anything pink for that matter). So when I was cooking for a mom that had recently given birth, I decided to bring dessert, because, well if I had given birth I'd want dessert. Not only that, but we were having some people over for dinner that we had never had over before, so I wanted to make something Zara would eat, something easy, and something that was pretty foolproof to serve as a dessert, but looked impressive (and, something that Z could help me make).
So I used a pink or strawberry cake mix, made per the directions (although I always use a little less oil, just because, I do. I actually don't have a healthful reason for it, I've always done it, my cupcakes and cakes are always still moist and delicious, so I've never seen a reason to deviate.). I sprayed my cupcake tin, and then spooned 1/3 of the way full. I then added a frozen whole strawberry to the center of the cupcake batter, and added another spoonful of batter. I baked per the box instructions and voila! I decorated with chocolate icing (it was what I had) and then covered with pink sprinkles (per Zara's request). These cupcakes were beautiful looking and when you bit into them they had a pleasant burst of strawberry goodness. They were a HUGE hit not only from the mom and her older children, but the people we had over. Double win. So what did Zara do? She helped me mix all of the ingredients together. We do this together. I bought a small whisk and she uses that and I use a fork. That way I can ensure everything is mixed properly, and she can help! She also placed the strawberries in the center and added the sprinkles!
Chickpea Salad
Since moving to Plymouth I have joined a book club (I know, I know SO Suburbia) and there are a ton of different types of people who attend, that have different food tastes as well as requirements. One of the food restrictions is gluten free. Now this doesn't mean you have to only bring gluten free things to book club, but I always feel like if I can, then more people can enjoy more of the food. We were also at the end of the month and hadn't gone grocery shopping in awhile, and my husband had the car, so I was limited to what was in my cabinets. So I found two cans of chickpeas, and decided to make a summer salad.
Of course this didn't stop me from cooking and baking, especially since we are now hunkering down and trying to track all of our spending, live by a budget (oh-my-god. This is SO hard for us!) in order to see if we can save to have some sort of down payment so the mortgage people don't laugh at us when we go to get pre-approved...) So my cooking and shopping skills have come in handy, as has the ability to keep my daughter busy while cooking or actually helping me cook (which has become more of a reality the older she is getting.)
So while I'm catching up on what I've been making, I'm STILL making, and, the items are DELICIOUS. Be jealous.
Tortellini Caprese
This is one I stole from my mom, with modifications (as I think everyone should put their own stamp of what they are making depending on what they like, or are in the mood for).
This one is SO easy, SO tasty and everyone ate it. All of it. There were no leftovers. Did I mention Zara helped? Because she did. She actually made a large part of the stove-less portion of this dish. She was so excited and it was nice to be able to talk her through what I was doing as I was doing it and have her pay attention. So here goes;
- 1 package of frozen tortellini
- 1 container grape tomatoes (we actually used tomatoes that some friends brought us from their garden which was super appreciated and amazing. I need to get a green thumb. Maybe that will be my next project. I'll update you provided I haven't killed my violet...)
- Mozzerella Cheese. I used a nice chunk from a piece that was from the cheese section at the grocery store as opposed to the square hunk you can find by the string cheese. I just cut this up in small pieces about the size of a quarter, but to be honest I got a bit lazy and started tearing it by the end, which allowed me to have Zara help.
- 1 bunch of basil. If you can find both purple and green it makes a really beautiful plate, but use whatever you can get your hands on. Fresh basil is a must for this dish.
- Salt and pepper to taste
Strawberry Surprise Cupcakes
My daughter loves pink cupcakes (and cake, and well, anything pink for that matter). So when I was cooking for a mom that had recently given birth, I decided to bring dessert, because, well if I had given birth I'd want dessert. Not only that, but we were having some people over for dinner that we had never had over before, so I wanted to make something Zara would eat, something easy, and something that was pretty foolproof to serve as a dessert, but looked impressive (and, something that Z could help me make).
So I used a pink or strawberry cake mix, made per the directions (although I always use a little less oil, just because, I do. I actually don't have a healthful reason for it, I've always done it, my cupcakes and cakes are always still moist and delicious, so I've never seen a reason to deviate.). I sprayed my cupcake tin, and then spooned 1/3 of the way full. I then added a frozen whole strawberry to the center of the cupcake batter, and added another spoonful of batter. I baked per the box instructions and voila! I decorated with chocolate icing (it was what I had) and then covered with pink sprinkles (per Zara's request). These cupcakes were beautiful looking and when you bit into them they had a pleasant burst of strawberry goodness. They were a HUGE hit not only from the mom and her older children, but the people we had over. Double win. So what did Zara do? She helped me mix all of the ingredients together. We do this together. I bought a small whisk and she uses that and I use a fork. That way I can ensure everything is mixed properly, and she can help! She also placed the strawberries in the center and added the sprinkles!
Chickpea Salad
Since moving to Plymouth I have joined a book club (I know, I know SO Suburbia) and there are a ton of different types of people who attend, that have different food tastes as well as requirements. One of the food restrictions is gluten free. Now this doesn't mean you have to only bring gluten free things to book club, but I always feel like if I can, then more people can enjoy more of the food. We were also at the end of the month and hadn't gone grocery shopping in awhile, and my husband had the car, so I was limited to what was in my cabinets. So I found two cans of chickpeas, and decided to make a summer salad.
- 2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- salt to taste
- a good glug of olive oil (about 3-5 tbl)
- 1/4 cup parm cheese (I'm sure other hard cheeses would work well too)
- I've been growing some herbs in a windowbox, and decided to use all of them. So I used; a sprig of mint, chopped, a sprig of basil chopped, a sprig of oregano chopped and a handful of chives chopped.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Back...after a long drought
So I have no excuse for not blogging except that I have a two-year old who is Bossy Bossy Bossypants. (I now know why Tina Fey named her book that).
Good news IS, I actually have been writing down the recipes that I have made since my last post and now, and will sort of do what I did before (a trend? Maybe) of posting several recipes at once. I WILL post pictures (I have surprisingly actually been taking pictures, I'm just working off two computers and a cell phone, so I don't have my shit together to upload them right now...but they're there, so it'll happen...promise.
I'm also thinking of maybe doing a video of some of the recipes to show you all how easy they recipes are, and how most of the time, my two year old is in the kitchen with me, often helping.
Goats Cheese, Leek Omelet.
So we have a friend that recently had a baby, her second, and totally to her credit she is rocking it. Making it look super easy (and might I add, making me feel even more like a super flustered mom...oops!) :-) I invited her over for lunch so our kids could play together, I could her baby and she could...eat...relax...whatever. I made the kids a quick lunch and wanted to do something quick, healthy and delicious for us, that I could cook in under 5 minutes including prep. I had bought some fabulous leeks at the Stephen's Field farmers market last week and wanted to use them before they got all soggy, so I washed and trimmed the leek and then chopped it up and separated (as that is how I like to eat them). I had bought a trio of goats cheese from Trader Joes (because I knew my husband would be traveling a lot this month and I LOVE goats cheese, and he hates it, so...yay for goats cheese!) which I decided to crumble into the omelet. I beat 2 eggs together, added a little bit of half and half, salt and pepper and put in the pan. It took about 2 minutes, I flipped it over diner style to get it nicley yellowey brown on both sides and served with a green salad. It was delicious, she said I should be a chef, my inner ego glowed, I told myself I HAD to start blogging more regularly. Then I promptly forgot.
Potato / Onion Pizza.
This is a momma Mell-Taylor staple, I feel like I've mentioned this before, but no, I haven't. Okay, so refer to one of my previous posts for potato cheddar pizza. It's pretty much the same thing ( I obviously make a lot of pizza) I use store-bought pizza dough, although making pizza dough yourself is fairly painless, I just find that with Zara, I need the extra minutes not in the kitchen, and voila! Store bought is the way to go for me. So store bought dough. Work it with a little flour to stretch, I don't use a rolling pin primarily because I don't have one, but there is something about getting your hands into the ingredients and really feeling them, makes me love cooking that much more (and really, if I'm honest with myself, makes me love watching those I love liking the food I serve). So stretch out the dough to how you want your pizza to look, knowing that when you cook it, the dough will shrink a little bit (if you know how to not have it do that, PLEASE, let me know!). I then sauteed potatos and onions on the stove (which is different from before, but I wanted Z to help me stir) added some garlic, salt and pepper until the potatos were cooked through. Cook the pizza dough with some olive oil for 10 minutes. I added some rosemary and had rubbed garlic on the dough before I cooked. Remove from oven, remove rosemary and added potato, onion mixture. Cook for 20 minutes until the dough looks pretty 'done' but not burnt. (Do all this cooking on a cookie sheet.) Remove pizza from cookie sheet directly onto the rack. Cook for 10 minutes. Take out of oven, then grate some parmesan cheese over the top, slice and serve.
Ginger Tangergine Curd Pie in a cookie crust.
Okay I know, this actually sounds pretty disgusting. Bare with me. My husband loves fruit curds. Especially lemon and key lime. Fruit curds are my least favorite dessert. Ever. Never met a fruit curd I liked. (And I am a dessert person). So when I came across Stonewall Kitchen's Ginger Tangerine curd at the Atlantic Spice company, I sort of did a double take. I like those two flavors...a lot. So I bought it (it didn't hurt that it was 25% off) and it sat in my cabinet. Then we were having people over for dinner, who were relatively new friends, and if you know me, you know I like to have all my courses covered when you eat at my house (appetizer, main, salad and dessert). SO, I was sort of flustered looking through my cabinet where I came across rainbow chip cookies that had seen better days and the aforementioned fruit curd. And an idea popped into my head. So I made a makeshift cookie crust. This is EASY, I actually do it everytime I have old cookies in our cabinet, which is surprising how often that is. We tend to buy cookies in bulk when Z decides she likes something, and then she is instantly over it, we really need to STOP buying in bulk obviously! Anyway, you crush up the cookies (put it in a plastic ziploc bag, let your child crush it. Z LOVES it!) add some sugar, I tend to vary the amount depending on the type of cookie. This time, I added about half a cup of sugar, which I sifted through with a fork. Then I added about 3 tablespoons of melted butter. Stir together and then dump into a pie dish. Press down with the bottom of a spoon (Again, I like to use my hands and then my knuckles, because I like to feel (and test) my food). Put in the fridge for 10-20 minutes to let chill and set. Take out and I just added the curd right from the jar. Ghetto? Sort of. Amazing. Absolutely. DO it. Buy this stuff. It's amazing. I am a fruit curd convert (almost). And, no baking. Double amazing.
Good news IS, I actually have been writing down the recipes that I have made since my last post and now, and will sort of do what I did before (a trend? Maybe) of posting several recipes at once. I WILL post pictures (I have surprisingly actually been taking pictures, I'm just working off two computers and a cell phone, so I don't have my shit together to upload them right now...but they're there, so it'll happen...promise.
I'm also thinking of maybe doing a video of some of the recipes to show you all how easy they recipes are, and how most of the time, my two year old is in the kitchen with me, often helping.
Goats Cheese, Leek Omelet.
So we have a friend that recently had a baby, her second, and totally to her credit she is rocking it. Making it look super easy (and might I add, making me feel even more like a super flustered mom...oops!) :-) I invited her over for lunch so our kids could play together, I could her baby and she could...eat...relax...whatever. I made the kids a quick lunch and wanted to do something quick, healthy and delicious for us, that I could cook in under 5 minutes including prep. I had bought some fabulous leeks at the Stephen's Field farmers market last week and wanted to use them before they got all soggy, so I washed and trimmed the leek and then chopped it up and separated (as that is how I like to eat them). I had bought a trio of goats cheese from Trader Joes (because I knew my husband would be traveling a lot this month and I LOVE goats cheese, and he hates it, so...yay for goats cheese!) which I decided to crumble into the omelet. I beat 2 eggs together, added a little bit of half and half, salt and pepper and put in the pan. It took about 2 minutes, I flipped it over diner style to get it nicley yellowey brown on both sides and served with a green salad. It was delicious, she said I should be a chef, my inner ego glowed, I told myself I HAD to start blogging more regularly. Then I promptly forgot.
Potato / Onion Pizza.
This is a momma Mell-Taylor staple, I feel like I've mentioned this before, but no, I haven't. Okay, so refer to one of my previous posts for potato cheddar pizza. It's pretty much the same thing ( I obviously make a lot of pizza) I use store-bought pizza dough, although making pizza dough yourself is fairly painless, I just find that with Zara, I need the extra minutes not in the kitchen, and voila! Store bought is the way to go for me. So store bought dough. Work it with a little flour to stretch, I don't use a rolling pin primarily because I don't have one, but there is something about getting your hands into the ingredients and really feeling them, makes me love cooking that much more (and really, if I'm honest with myself, makes me love watching those I love liking the food I serve). So stretch out the dough to how you want your pizza to look, knowing that when you cook it, the dough will shrink a little bit (if you know how to not have it do that, PLEASE, let me know!). I then sauteed potatos and onions on the stove (which is different from before, but I wanted Z to help me stir) added some garlic, salt and pepper until the potatos were cooked through. Cook the pizza dough with some olive oil for 10 minutes. I added some rosemary and had rubbed garlic on the dough before I cooked. Remove from oven, remove rosemary and added potato, onion mixture. Cook for 20 minutes until the dough looks pretty 'done' but not burnt. (Do all this cooking on a cookie sheet.) Remove pizza from cookie sheet directly onto the rack. Cook for 10 minutes. Take out of oven, then grate some parmesan cheese over the top, slice and serve.
Ginger Tangergine Curd Pie in a cookie crust.
Okay I know, this actually sounds pretty disgusting. Bare with me. My husband loves fruit curds. Especially lemon and key lime. Fruit curds are my least favorite dessert. Ever. Never met a fruit curd I liked. (And I am a dessert person). So when I came across Stonewall Kitchen's Ginger Tangerine curd at the Atlantic Spice company, I sort of did a double take. I like those two flavors...a lot. So I bought it (it didn't hurt that it was 25% off) and it sat in my cabinet. Then we were having people over for dinner, who were relatively new friends, and if you know me, you know I like to have all my courses covered when you eat at my house (appetizer, main, salad and dessert). SO, I was sort of flustered looking through my cabinet where I came across rainbow chip cookies that had seen better days and the aforementioned fruit curd. And an idea popped into my head. So I made a makeshift cookie crust. This is EASY, I actually do it everytime I have old cookies in our cabinet, which is surprising how often that is. We tend to buy cookies in bulk when Z decides she likes something, and then she is instantly over it, we really need to STOP buying in bulk obviously! Anyway, you crush up the cookies (put it in a plastic ziploc bag, let your child crush it. Z LOVES it!) add some sugar, I tend to vary the amount depending on the type of cookie. This time, I added about half a cup of sugar, which I sifted through with a fork. Then I added about 3 tablespoons of melted butter. Stir together and then dump into a pie dish. Press down with the bottom of a spoon (Again, I like to use my hands and then my knuckles, because I like to feel (and test) my food). Put in the fridge for 10-20 minutes to let chill and set. Take out and I just added the curd right from the jar. Ghetto? Sort of. Amazing. Absolutely. DO it. Buy this stuff. It's amazing. I am a fruit curd convert (almost). And, no baking. Double amazing.
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