The Berry Best Berries

May is the month of the Strawberry! Everywhere I look, another community in Southern California is celebrating this luscious red fruit (see bottom of post for a listing of some of them). Strawberries should be on everyone's shopping list right now, and in California this is easy. Did you know that California supplies nearly 90% of the nation's strawberries?

For maximum flavor and to help support your local farmer, buy your berries at the farmer's market. For a fun thing to do with kids sometime, some farms offer "u-pick" opportunities. In fact, it can be fun for adults as well. A farm we have in our area offers tractor-led wagon rides through their fields where sampling of the produce is actually encouraged. There we got to taste freshly-picked, sun-kissed berries. It was a little warm from the sun, bursting with juice and with such an intense flavor, it far surpassed any berry I could have purchased from my local supermarket. It was incredible.

Strawberries are great in so many things, but one of my favorite ways to eat them is simply sliced and sprinkled with just a little bit of sugar to get the juices flowing. I let them sit out at room temperature for about half an hour and then top them with a little whipped cream. It's delicious and light.

Another way I like to eat them is in muffins. Strawberry and Ricotta Muffins are light and fluffy and divine to eat on a Sunday morning. Muffins are fun to make: they're easy and fast and really convenient to take with you as you head out the door in the morning. But muffins are best eaten the day they are made. I've also made strawberry muffins with walnuts but this time I wanted to make them with ricotta. If you're dairy free, you can just eliminate it or try coconut yogurt instead. Enjoy!

Strawberry and Ricotta Muffins

· 2 cups medium strawberries
· 3/4 cup ricotta
· 2 large eggs
· 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
· 10 Tbsp. butter melted and cooled, divided
· 2/3 cup sugar
· 1 tsp. lemon zest
· 2 cups flour (I use cake flour for a lighter texture)*
· 2 tsp. baking powder
· 1/2 tsp. salt
· 1/4 tsp. baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Gently wash, hull, and cut strawberries into quarters. 

2. Brush a 12-mold muffin tin with 2 Tbsp. melted butter. Set aside.

3. In a bowl, whisk together ricotta, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in remaining butter.

4. In a large bowl, use your fingertips to rub together sugar and lime zest until sugar is moist. Mix in flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Use a spatula to gently but quickly fold ricotta mixture into dry ingredients. Don’t overwork it. The batter will be thick and heavy. Stir in strawberries and spoon batter evenly into muffin tins. Bake until tops of muffins are golden and springy to the touch, about 20-25 minutes.

*You can make your own cake flour by substituting 2 Tbsp. of flour per cup of flour with corn starch. Or if you're on a gluten-free diet, substitute your favorite GF flour blend, ideally one that contains tapioca flour. It provides a nice light texture to baked goods, along with cornstarch and white rice flour.

Makes 12 muffins.
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Strawberries added to greens offers a fresh and different flavor element to salads, especially when the dressing consists of balsamic vinegar. My favorite is "fig balsamic" - slightly sweet  and perfect for a salad containing strawberries. Fruit, combined with nuts and cheese, dressed with a great vinaigrette, is perfect for a springtime lunch. Add a little sliced grilled chicken for a more substantial entree salad.

Strawberry, Hazelnut and Goat Cheese Salad

· 1/4 cup hazelnuts
· 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
· 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
· 1 tsp. dijon-style mustard
· 1 tsp. honey
· 1 clove garlic, minced
· 1 shallot, minced
· 1/4 tsp. salt
· 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
· 1 head butter lettuce, washed and torn into bite-size pieces
· 1 cup strawberries
· 1/4 cup goat cheese, crumbled

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put hazelnuts on a sheet pan and bake until toasted, about 10 minutes. Put nuts in a clean kitchen towel and rub vigorously to remove skins. (Don’t worry if not all of the skins come off.)

2. In a small bowl, whisk oil, vinegar, mustard, honey, garlic, shallot, salt, and pepper.

3. Gently wash, hull, and cut strawberries into quarters.

4. In a large bowl, toss lettuce, strawberries, and hazelnuts with enough dressing to coat evenly. Pile high onto salad plates and top with goat cheese. Serve immediately.

Makes 6 servings.

Local Southern California Strawberry events:
Through June - Tanaka Farms Strawberry Tours, Irvine, (949) 653-2100.
California Strawberry Festival, Oxnard, (888) 288-9242.
Garden Grove Strawberry Festival, Garden Grove, (714) 638-0981.
Vista Strawberry Festival, Vista.

Fruit Crisps

One of my favorite desserts is a Fruit Crisp. Living in California, there are so many fruits available nearly year round to choose from: nectarines, peaches, cherries, blueberries, raspberries, plums, apples.....and in any combination. I love these desserts because they are a great way to enjoy fruit, and are so easy to make. They are simply fruit plus a streusel topping, then baked until the fruit is bubbly and the topping is a nice golden brown. What could be better?

There are a few variations of the "crisp". A "crumble" is very similar while a "cobbler" uses a flour-based covering over the fruit. I prefer crisps and crumbles because of the addition of nuts and oats. I think those compliment the fruit the best.  Flour just seems to weigh it all down.

I once watched an Ina Garten episode on the Food Network where she made a "Plum Crumble" that sounded divine. I've made it a few times, sometimes varying the topping a bit. I cut the recipe in half because there are only 2 of us here. This is the full recipe. At this time of year you could substitute apples if you wish, depending on where you live. We can still get plums here in California. Our apples aren't quite ready yet.

Plum Crumble

Filling:
3 lbs. plums

1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup flour* (this helps thicken the sauce)
6 Tbsp. cassis (or any liqueur that compliments the fruit). Sub Calvados if you're using apples; Kirsch if you're using cherries; etc.

Mix together and put into a 12" x 8" baking dish.

Topping:
1 1/2 cups flour**
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup oats
1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
2 sticks cold butter, diced

Mix the topping ingredients in a food processor until crumbly.

Cover all the fruit with the topping, making clumps, otherwise it might dissolve into the fruit.

Bake 30 minutes at 375 F until topping is golden brown.

Recipe courtesy of Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa.

*If you're on a gluten free eating plan, substitute 1 Tbsp. corn starch (preferably organic, as corn is largely genetically modified in America) by mixing it in with the cassis.

**For a gluten-free option, you can use tapioca flour here.

5 ways to make Thanksgiving healthier

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and most of us eagerly await the annual tradition of stuffing ourselves like the French do their geese (fois gras anyone?). Granted, the holiday comes but once a year, so who can deny us the pleasure of breaking out those horribly unhealthy traditional recipes that we just "can't live without" at Thanksgiving? We've gotten so used to eating them year after year. But remember how you feel every year after you've indulged, not to mention the pounds you pack on every year between now and the New Year? Is it really worth it? If you said "hell, yeah", ok, I respect that. Then this article is not for you.

For the rest of us interested in eating well and not overdoing it, I believe we can still enjoy Thanksgiving (or any other food holiday) without depriving ourselves.

Here are my top 5 ways to make better choices while still enjoying yourself:

1. Perhaps the single most important thing you can do to reduce the carb load of a traditional Thanksgiving is by eating very, very small amounts of all the starchy stuff like rolls, mashed potatoes, stuffing, candied yams and pies. If you can muster the willpower, avoid them completely. While that's nearly impossible for most of us, make the carbs count. Go for the stuff you REALLY love, not the so-so foods that are just sitting there staring at you, but the things that you've really looked forward to and enjoy, and keep the quantities small. Eating fat along with a carb will keep blood sugar from spiking, so eat some if you're going to partake (butter on the bread, for instance).

2. Beware the appetizers! Steer clear of them. You will fill up quickly eating useless stuff, unless of course there are vegetables involved. Take a bite here and there if you must, but save yourself for dinner.

How cute is that? A turkey veg platter!

Focus on getting as many vegetables in you that you can. The unadulterated kind. The dishes that are healthy and still recognizable as vegetables. Not the green bean casserole drowning in cream of mushroom soup. That doesn't count as a veg. Fiber and antioxidants are your friends, and filling your plate with lots of them is by far the best thing you can do to minimize the damage.

3. Load up on the protein, i.e. the turkey. Next to vegetables, you should fill up on as much of that as you can. You can bet on a great night's sleep with all that tryptophan coursing through your veins, and you've gotten your protein needs met. Take advantage of eating a roasted turkey and don't skimp on it. It is so delicious and we don't usually eat it during the year, so indulge!

4. If you're doing any of the cooking, try to add nuts and seeds to some of the items. They offer healthy fats and fiber and belong so naturally on the Thanksgiving table. In fact, make a bowl of mixed nuts for an appetizer! Add almonds to green beans, walnuts to cranberry sauce, pecans to pie.........oh no, not that, sorry.

5. If you must have pie, then go for a small sliver of it just for the taste. Better yet, eat some berries with cream. Berries are low in sugar and are perhaps the best fruits we can eat. Here's what I'm bringing to my Thanksgiving potluck. I'm going to serve it along with whipped cream.

Mixed Berry Compote

Ingredients:

6 cups fresh or frozen, unsweetened berries (raspberries, strawberries, red currants, or a combination of these)

1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preparation:
For fresh berries: stem, wash and dry in collander. For frozen berries: thaw before using.
For a smooth pudding, process berries in a blender, 2 cups at a time, until pureed. For chunkier, process 4 cups, and chop the rest, blending with puree. Stir cornstarch in cold water until smooth. Combine berries and sugar in non-stick saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Stir cornstarch mixture again, then add into the berry mixture gradually, while still stirring. Reduce heat and let simmer for 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture starts to thicken. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice and vanilla. Pour into a serving bowl, or individual dessert bowls. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

Makes 4-6 servings.

This is traditionally garnished with a Vanilla Custard Sauce , but you may also use whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, or heavy cream.

*This is a German recipe and it's called Rote Gruetze.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Tools of the Trade: the Ice Cream Maker

It seems it’s been hot just about everywhere lately (at least in the northern hemisphere, that is). Where I live, we had a freak rainstorm last night after several days of the kind of typical dry 90 degree heat that southern California is used to, which turned our desert, dry heat into a muggy, humid mess. I don’t know how anyone can live in Florida. This sucks. Where are the hot, dry Santa Ana winds when you need them?

Anyway, there is only so much cold water and iced tea I can drink to cool down. My mind started racing for what else I could do. Then I remembered the ice cream maker. The other night I reached into the back of my cupboard and got it out, cleaned it and stuck it in the freezer, ready for inspiration. Actually I already had the inspiration – I was going to make coconut sorbet. 

I use the ice cream maker to mostly make frozen yogurt and sorbet. For last night’s coconut sorbet I had no recipe. I was in a hurry to get it going because I wanted it ready for after dinner, so I literally threw it together. I mean literally. I measured nothing. Felt like a witch making a brew – a pinch of this, a dash of that. But I’ll approximate what went into it. This made 2 servings of about 6-7 oz. each.

Coconut Sorbet

1 cup coconut milk (the runny kind that comes in a milk carton)

½ cup coconut milk (the thicker variety that comes in a can that you’d use for Indian or Thai dishes)

¼ cup simple syrup (easy – no need to heat this up to dissolve the sugar)

1 packet stevia

¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

I literally threw it all in, in that order, with the motor running. Then it spent about 30 minutes churning away while we grilled and then ate dinner. It could have been a little sweeter, but I’m cutting back on my sweets so another stevia packet would have probably done the trick. I could have reduced the coconut – maybe go a little less than ¼ cup. But otherwise, it was creamy and delightfully, refreshingly, cold!

My next frozen creation this weekend will likely be to use up some overripe plums I still have from last weekend’s farmers market, some vanilla yogurt and a little honey. I’ll just puree everything together in the blender first and then pour it into the ice cream maker. I’ll bet that will be good.

I just love how versatile the ice cream maker can be.  I have a smaller model (the 1.5 quart Krups La Glaciere on the left) because I prefer to make smaller batches more frequently and don’t have a large family to feed. There are certainly more sophisticated models out there but this one gets the job done. It comes with a bowl you place in the freezer. When that's ready, you pour your contents into the bowl, attach the motor to the lid and snap that into place, plug it in, then hit the green button at the top to start it. Super easy.

You can take whatever creamy base you have on hand (regular milk, almond milk, coconut milk, soy milk, even buttermilk) and mix in whatever you want (pureed fruit, chocolate chips, crushed cookies), and then whichever sweetener you like (cane sugar, honey, stevia, agave, or even Splenda or aspartame if you’re into that).  Then go to town whirling it all up. Here are a few things I've learned along the way:

Hard things like nuts should be added at the end as garnish, unless you crush them up fairly well. They can mess up the machine by getting caught if they are big enough chunks unless you keep a watchful eye on it.

You can add alcohol (rum, vodka, champagne, etc.) to your blend. Because of alcohol’s ultra-low freezing point it makes it easier to scoop (but don’t go overboard. Usually only 1-2 Tbsp. of it are needed).

Experiment with when to add the pureed fruit – either at the beginning or at the end after the milk’s been frozen. I think the fruit is better left unfrozen, and simply mashed with a little bit of sugar or honey and then swirled in after the milk has been frozen. But you can always swirl it in and then pop it into the freezer for about an hour just to stiffen it up a bit if you prefer.

One of my favorite things lately is pistachio gelato. A company called Ciao Bella makes a good one but I'm going to try to make it myself with a little less sugar. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

I hope you enjoy your summer and stay cool! Of course, if you have any frozen dessert ideas you'd like to share, please leave a comment.

Nature's Pharmacy

This was emailed to me from a friend in England recently. I thought it was very interesting and wanted to share it with you.

Apparently, Nature has provided all that we need for survival.

"A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye...and science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.

A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All of the research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart and blood food.

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.

A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three dozen neurotransmitters for brain function.

Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and they look exactly like the human kidneys.

Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

Avocadoes, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly nine months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).

Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm as well to overcome male sterility.

Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.

Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries.

Oranges, Grapefruits, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.

Onions look like the body's cells. Today's research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes. A working companion, Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body."

Nature's Pharmacy! Amazing!

Luscious Pears

Pears are such beautifully elegant fruits. The way they hang from the tree, so voluptuously, tempting you so seductively. I mean, look at that shape! (Reminds me a little of myself). 

Anyway, did you know that there are over 3,000 varieties of pears around the world? The most popular ones here in the U.S. are likely varieties you've heard of before: Bosc, Bartlett, and Anjou, but how about Comice, Concorde, Forelle, Seckel, and Starkrimson? They are new to me and I'll be trying to find some the next time I'm at the farmer's market.

Pears are not only delicious but super healthy and make a great snack. With only 100 calories a piece, they have no fat and a whopping 6 grams of fiber! They are a bit high in sugar, but are certainly a better choice than these pre-packaged "100 calorie" treat bags you can buy of cookies and other junk that aren't nearly as full of energy, enzymes and nutrition as these babies.

But which pears are best for which purpose? Most of those I've researched work great as is, or can hold up to cooking. The Anjou pear is great for snacking, cooking, and slicing into salads; the Bartlett is creamy, sweet and aromatic and is good fresh, canned, or added to a salad; the Bosc is honey sweet and great fresh or in cooking; the Comice is a dessert pear and is best paired with a good cheese for an after-dinner snack; the Concorde is vanilla sweet and can be heated or eaten fresh. You get the idea.

Pears are an elegant addition to salads. I like adding slices along with a strong creamy cheese, such as a bleu or gorgonzola, and a sprinkling of walnuts to a bed of lovely greens dressed with a champagne vinaigrette. Super. A really nice elegant simple salad.

I also like unfussy desserts that are not too sweet and pears, with their natural fruit sugar, are great just simply poached. Sometimes you'll see recipes for poached pears served alongside a dessert sauce called Creme Anglaise. It's an incredible sauce but takes a bit more time to prepare. The following recipe is just for the pears. Simple. Unfussy.

Poached Pears

1 lemon
3 cups red wine
1 cinnamon stick, 4 inches long
1/2 cup sugar
4 large perfumed pears (preferably Anjou)

Wash the lemon and wipe dry. Remove the zest in long strips, reserve the pulp for another use. Pour the wine into a large saucepan. Stir in the lemon zest, cinnamon stick and sugar. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.

Peel the pears, leaving them whole and the stem intact. Arrange on their sides in a flameproof deep-sided dish big enough to hold them without overlapping. Pour the wine mixture over them and poach for 20 minutes over gentle heat, turning often.

Drain the pears and set aside in a bowl. Boil the cooking liquid over high heat until reduced to about 1 cup of fragrant syrup. Remove the zest and cinnamon. Coat the pears with the wine syrup and let cool. Refrigerate for a few hours if you wish. I prefer them at room temperature.

Serves 4.

Variation: make the recipe with a sweet white wine such as a Riesling if you don't care for red wine or wish to keep the color intact (red wine will dye them purple).

For more pears recipes, check out this website. Rather a lot to choose from! http://www.calpear.com/

Magnificent Madeleines

One of my favorite cookies is the Madeleine. At once simple, yet elegant, they are understated perfection. I made them yesterday afternoon because I had a hankering for something cake-like and light and lemony. These fit the bill.

Traditionally molded in a pan with shell-shaped indentations for the batter, Madeleines are perhaps most famous for their association with involuntary memory in the Marcel Proust novel In Search of Lost Time, in which the narrator experiences an awakening upon tasting a madeleine dipped in tea:

"She sent out for one of those short, plump little cakes called petites madeleines, which look as though they had been moulded in the fluted scallop of a pilgrim's shell. And soon, mechanically, weary after a dull day with the prospect of a depressing morrow, I raised to my lips a spoonful of the tea in which I had soaked a morsel of the cake. No sooner had the warm liquid, and the crumbs with it, touched my palate than a shudder ran through my whole body, and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary changes that were taking place…at once the vicissitudes of life had become indifferent to me, its disasters innocuous, its brevity illusory…"

The Madeleine consists of common baking ingredients you likely have in your kitchen right now. I mean, what are most desserts made out of anyway but the usual eggs, sugar, flour, butter? Basically a Genoise cake batter, or French sponge cake, the Madeleine was traditionally eaten at afternoon tea. The basic recipe is just the above 4 basic ingredients, plus vanilla. But flavorings can also be added for a little twist. Lemon zest or orange zest are great additions and my favorite. I've also seen a French recipe that called for rose water but I don't care for anything rose-flavored and because I am a lemon-lover, that's my favorite version. It is not a lemon cookie; it has only the slightest hint of it, just enough to perk it up.

Though I've never been a fan of buying specialized baking pans meant for a specific purpose, this is the one formed pan I have purchased, and it has been well used. You can find Madeleine pans in any good cooking store such as Williams-Sonoma or Crate & Barrel, at Target, or online at amazon.com if you don't want to leave the house.

 

I hope you'll make these sometime. They are a lovely addition to any afternoon tea with friends or family, or while sitting in front of the television watching cooking shows......!!! The best thing about the Madeleine is that it is so simple to make. They are best eaten fresh, the same day they are made, when the outside has a little crust and the inside is moist and cake-like. YUM!

Madeleines

Melt 1/4 lb. (1 stick) butter, allow to cool.

Combine in a mixer:
3 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
then add:
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Mix on medium speed for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.

Meanwhile, sift the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch (or 1 1/4 cup cake flour in lieu of the above 2 items)
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Add the melted butter to the egg mixture first, then add the dry ingredients, all the while keeping mixer on low. When everything's incorporated, turn off mixer and stir in flavoring (1/3 cup shredded coconut or 1 tsp. lemon or orange zest, or 1/2 tsp. cinnamon).

If you're using a non-stick madeleine pan like I have, just brush pan with melted butter. If you have a regular pan, brush with butter, then dust with flour. Non-stick pan: bake 10 minutes. Regular pan, bake 10-12 minutes at 375F.

Makes about 24 cookies. Best eaten same day.

Ways with Citrus

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Winter is here and so are citrus fruits. My local farmer's markets are brimming right now with grapefruit, mandarin oranges, blood oranges, clementines, tangerines and lemons, and they are hard to resist. After all the sugary sweets of the holiday season, it's such a nice change to eat something naturally sweet from Mother Nature. Since citrus are acids, they are great detoxifiers after the excesses of the holidays.

I just love the burst of flavor that citrus adds. Even as a young child, I was immensely fond of lemons (and still am). One of my all-time favorite dressings is simply EVOO (extra virgin olive oil), lemon juice, salt and pepper. A simply dressed salad like that is just lovely. Lemon actually brightens the flavor of orange, so it may be a good idea to add them both to a dish.

But as much as I love lemons, as an homage to the county in which I live, Orange County, I want to start the new year off by celebrating oranges.

The fruit likely originated in Asia somewhere, and has undergone various genetic manipulations over the years in numerous countries, so there are many types of oranges available. In California though, the mostly widely cultivated varieties are navel and valencia oranges, the sorts you'll typically find in supermarkets. This is yet another reason to venture over to your farmer's market. Our local growers offer us variety and taste unmatched by supermarket chains.

Though Orange County was once nothing but acres and acres of ranch land and orange groves, now it's one master-planned community next to the other. But there are still pockets of orange groves to be found, perhaps left there from bygone times or newly planted as an homage to our namesake.

Either way, the orange is delicious in so many ways. I have included two recipes that I have made from a couple of cooking shows on the Food Channel, but I'd rather leave you thinking about how to substitute oranges and their juice into your cooking this season.

Slice orange wedges and avocados on top of your fresh green salads and add some tangerine juice in lieu of vinegar to your dressing (a little basil in this dressing makes it really great). Citrus juice is a great addition to vinaigrettes and marinades and adds a nice twist from the ordinary. Marinate your chicken or seafood in any types of citrus juice and some sesame oil for a lovely Asian-inspired flavor.

Though it's a little bit of work, it is an absolutely amazing salad: roasted beets with a reduction of orange and tangerine juice as a dressing. Topped with bleu cheese, this one will knock your socks off (click here for the recipe).

A little orange juice, cinnamon and honey blended into some plain yogurt makes a healthy dressing for fruit salad.

When making chocolate pudding, I sometimes add a little orange zest and cinnamon to it before it sets. It makes the dessert something you wouldn't ordinarily expect (click here for recipe).

When looking for ways to incorporate oranges, note that they pair nicely with the following: Armagnac, bananas, basil, chocolate, cinnamon, cloves, cranberries, cream and ice cream, grapefruit, honey, lemon, mint, olive oil and olives, onions, pomegranates, rosemary, vanilla, vinegar and walnuts.

I do have a recipe for an orange pound cake that I want to try.........if it's any good, I'll let you know. If you have any great uses for citrus or their juices, I'd love to hear from you.

Apple Season is here!

It's October, and so that means apples are at their peak right now in many parts of the country. Apple butter, apple juice, apple cider, apple pie, and caramel apples, it's all good! And of course, my absolute favorite combo since I was a kid: a fresh, crunchy apple paired with a really good white Cheddar (or aged Gouda): yum.

If you're in the Southern California area, there are some fun places to go to enjoy fresh picked apples, and some orchards will even let you pick your own, for a fee, of course. I can recommend a few.

Just east of Los Angeles, I recommend the town of Oak Glen. There is a great place up there called Riley's at Los Rios Rancho. I was there for the first time last year around this time. I loved it and hope to make it back this year to check out a few places we didn't get to. The Los Rios Rancho has a great store, of course selling all things apple, as well as a big lawn in front where you can have a picnic and enjoy a slice of apple pie fresh from their bakery...



Isn't this beautiful?

It's a great place to spend a few hours. They have an apple press where you can make your own...

...as well as lovely nature trails you can walk along, admiring the beauty of this mountain town and the fall foliage...

...a lovely display of pumpkins for sale...

...just a great place! Here is their website. You can see what apples they have available right now. Other places to visit up there (also listed as the city of Yucaipa): Law's Cider Mill & Ranch (I hear they have awesome caramel apples), Moms Country Orchards, Parrish Pioneer Ranch, & Willowbrook Apple Farm.

If you're nearer San Diego, you can head to Julian. They're also famous for their apples and the little town offers a few nice B&Bs to stay overnight, as well as shops and restaurants (and bakeries serving fresh apple pie). Check out their website for a listing of spots to get/buy/pick apples.

Around the Central Coast, Jack Creek Farms is a cute place to go. Next time I'm up there, I want to check out a few new places: Blue Sky Farm, SLO Creek Farms, or even the Ballard Apple Farm in Solvang on the way home.

Here's a nifty website if you want to read more about apples.

Now, for an outstanding Apple Tart recipe, you must try this one. Fresh apple slices sit above a cream cheese filling inside a cookie crust. It's best eaten the same day it's made, so invite some friends over and eat it up at one sitting.

Apple Tart

Preheat your oven to 400F.

Crust:
cream together:
1/2 cup softened butter (1 stick)
1/3 cup sugar
Add:
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup flour
Form into a ball. Press the crust into a 9" tart pan with a removable bottom (or a cake pan) with your fingers, coming up the sides of your pan. Prick the bottom with a fork. Bake blind for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the following:

Filling:

1 egg
8 oz. cream cheese (allow to come to room temp)
1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 cup sugar

Whisk (or use mixer) until very smooth.

Topping:
2 apples, sliced thinly, leave skins on

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Toss the above together.
Set aside for later: a handful of sliced almonds (or small walnut pieces) for on top.

When crust is done, remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. Spread cream cheese mixture into crust. Arrange apples on top in nice rings. Scatter nuts over apples.

Bake 35-40 minutes in 400F oven. Cool in pan. Then slice and enjoy!

Satisfying Smoothies

These nearly record-breaking temperatures we've been having (112 today where I live) put me in the mood for cold, refreshing, fruit smoothies. This always happens to me when it's super-hot. So this afternoon, I had a juice place make me one, which I wanted to sip as I was driving around in the heat running errands. But they are so easy to make at home, and in the summer especially I love making them for breakfast.

Smoothies are basically fruit-based blended drinks, whipped up in a blender. They get their thick texture from blending fruit or fruit juice with banana, yogurt or ice. The fun in making smoothies is selecting whatever fruit(s) are in season and what you like to eat. 

In addition to the fruit, all kinds of things can be added to smoothies to make them healthier: soy or whey-based protein powders, spirulina, herbal extracts, wheat germ or ground flaxseeds, amino acids, immune-boosting nutrients and even liquid vitamins. But unfortunately, I have found most of these healthy additives alter the flavor of the smoothie, taking away from instead of adding to the flavor of the fruit. I've certainly added my share of these healthy ingredients to my breakfast smoothies, and you can if you like, but lately I've become a smoothie purist and prefer to make the fruit the star of the show.

The best smoothie is made up of fruit that is REALLY ripe. Because of its higher sugar content it makes blending that much easier. I usually use plain, lowfat, organic yogurt, but I've seen recipes that suggest using  frozen yogurt (I imagine like plain vanilla or some fruit flavor). Or, of course, if you avoid dairy, you can use alternative like rice milk, almond milk (works nicely with a lot of fruit especially apricots and peaches), soy milk, coconut milk or coconut cream (particularly delicious and great for those tropically-inspired creations).

This year my favorite fruit has been peaches and nectarines so this recipe is one of my favorite:

Peaches Galore

1 peach, peeled, pitted, chopped
1 ripe banana
3-4 oz. peach juice (or orange juice if you can't find peach)
3-4 oz. plain yogurt
1 Tbsp. honey (depending on ripeness of the peach)
3-4 ice cubes

Whirl everything together in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a tall glass. Serves 1.

I haven't made this one but it sounds refreshing for hot days:

Melon Smoothie

3/4 cup seeded and chopped watermelon*
3/4 cup seeded and chopped very ripe honeydew melon or canteloupe*
juice of 1 lime
3-4 ice cubes

* In peak melon season, you might want to select 3-4 different kinds of melon, whatever you find. Recipe called for yogurt, but that doesn't sound right to me. I think it would be better with just the melon juice. Serves 2.


This one takes you away to a tropical island (if only for a few minutes):

Mango Fusion

2 mangoes, peeled, pitted, chopped
juice of 1 small lime
6 oz. vanilla lowfat yogurt
2 Tbsp. honey
8-10 ice cubes

Serves 2.

What about berries? Whirl them with red currant juice, a banana, and yogurt. Like tropical fruit? Take pineapple juice, add fresh papaya, mango & banana, lime juice, and coconut milk. How about fresh kiwi, pineapple juice and yogurt? The combinations are endless.

Mmmhhh, I'm cooling off already!

What to do with all those cherries!

Last week I purchased a large bag of lovely-looking cherries, but again, mesmerized by their beauty, I bought far too many and had to find something to do with the rest after I was done snacking on them out of the bag. The first project was a batch of Cherry Walnut Muffins, which were wonderful, particularly 15 minutes after pulling them out of the oven. The second project was a custard-y cake I had remembered making many years ago and as I flipped through my recipe binder, I found it: Clafouti. Pronounced claw-foo-tea, it is a fruit-filled custard that originated in Limousin, France's cherry-producing region. Traditionally filled with cherries, the clafouti adapts well to any fresh seasonal berry such as raspberries, blueberries, etc. Here, the recipes for both the muffins, which I made Saturday morning, and the Clafouti, made on Sunday.

Cherry Walnut Muffins

Wet ingredients:
6 Tbsp. melted butter
2-3 eggs (2 large or 3 medium)
3/4 cup milk, yogurt, sour cream or buttermilk (or any combination thereof)

Dry ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup sugar

Grease muffin tins with butter or cooking spray.

Mix wet ingredients together in your mixer. In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Add the dry to the wet gradually, but do not overmix!

To the basic batter above, you can then add 1/4 - 1/2 cup chopped nuts (in this case, walnuts) and 1 cup fresh fruit (I added cherries that had been pitted and sliced in half). You may need to reduce the liquid a bit if the fruit is very juicy. Fold the nuts and fruit in very gently.

Fill the muffin tins each 2/3 full of batter, and depending on the quantity of batter, fill either 10 or 11 of your 12 holes with batter and in the last 1-2, fill with water. The steam produced by the water will add moisture to your little muffins. I never used to do this but since I have, I've noticed a moister consistency. If you have too much batter and need to fill all 12 holes, then perhaps adding a small ramekin or other dish filled with a little water and placed along side your muffin tins will work equally well. If you try this, let me know.

Bake at 400F for about 25 minutes. Leave in pan for 5-10 minutes to cool and settle. Muffins are best eaten the same day, and ideally right after those 10 minutes of "settling"!

Clafouti

1/2 Tbsp. butter
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
3/4 cup cream
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
2/3 cup pastry flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups cherries (or other berry), washed, dried and pitted
1/4 cup sifted powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375F with the rack placed in the center of the oven. Lightly grease a shallow, 12-inch round baking dish (such as a quiche pan) with butter or cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, cream and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, sugar and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet and beat until smooth and foamy.

Pour a layer of the batter 1/4 inch deep into the prepared baking dish. Place in the preheated oven for 5-8 minutes, just long enough to set the batter. Remove from oven and scatter the berries in a single layer over the batter. Pour the remaining batter evenly over the berries and return the clafouti to the oven to bake for an additional 35-40 minutes until puffed and golden brown.

Let cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Apple Oven Cake

On weekends, I really enjoy making breakfast. I put on the coffee and start whipping something up. My latest things are muffins (I've begun experimenting with all sorts of versions) and this, an Apple Oven Cake. I made it this morning and thought I'd share it with you. It's really tasty and is especially nice in the fall when apples are "in", but since apples are always "in" around here, you could really make it year-round.

It's super easy and quick, and delicious! I think you'll get hooked on it, too.

Apple Oven Cake

3 Tbsp. butter

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/8 tsp. cinnamon

1 sweet apple, such as Fuji, peeled and sliced

3 large eggs

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup each flour and milk

powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 425. Melt butter in a 12 inch ovenproof frying pan over high heat (pictured in the recipe was a cast iron skillet, so if you have one of those, you may want to use it). Add brown sugar and cinnamon, swirling to combine. Add apple and cook until just starting to soften, about 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a blender, whirl together eggs, salt, flour and milk. Pour egg mixture into pan (over the apples and brown sugar) and bake until puffed and brown, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve right from the pan.

Says: "Serves 6" (um! more like 3). Each serving has 189 calories, 5g protein, 9g fat, 23g carb, 203mg sodium, and 124mg chol.

Recipe courtesy of Sunset Magazine, Oct 2009.