A few things

Aaand, I'm back!

After almost a month of a blogging break, I want to share some more words and recipes, if you'll have me! You know what they all say, life has been busy, work is super slammed, etc. etc., but, when I stopped to think about it, I truly missed writing and taking pictures of my food. I mean if only 3 people in the entire world read my stories, I've reached out to someone, right? And best of all, this is a journal of sorts, that allows me to express my creativity, yada yada yada. Even though I do a ton of research and writing at work, it is always good to think outside the box sometimes and write about tastes, thoughts, and well, feelings too.

Another reason that I took a few weeks off blogging is I was training for this. I have been riding or running five days a week and my zest for photography dwindled a bit. I finally did the race yesterday; 15 miles biking, followed by 3.1 miles of running. Boy, was crossing that finish line ever amazing! I've ran races before, but never involving dual sports. It was awesome. I had a little team of my husband and dog waiting for me at the finish line, and it turns out they took some videos and photos as well (not super flattering!)

                                                                  Beginning of my run.

                                                                           ...and after it.

I know on my last post I mentioned something about these fish tacos I made, but that's too boring for my first post back. Instead, I'll present to you my own creation, an Apple Rhubarb Strawberry Crumble. And it's not half bad for you either; it has only a little butter, a teeny bit of flour (we're nearly flour free in my household), and only a little brown sugar and natural agave nectar for a little sweetness. The lighting in our kitchen was so divine yesterday evening that my husband fired up the camera and we took some shots. Lately the weather has been too perfect. Today I found myself standing barefoot, in shorts, picking some purple kale and baby spinach for our dinner. Guess living on an island did rub off on me after all!

Anyways, lets get started. I picked this rhubarb from my backyard, used strawberries (organic) from our market, and added Pink Lady apples. They are a little pricey, but definitely worth it. Plus they're so darn pretty.

Looks good, right? Not to pat myself on the back, but... it is. It's delicious. I'm actually going to get up from the couch and eat some while I write this; I'm finding it hard to believe there are leftovers.

My crumble cooling by the window...

A little onlooker...hoping for a crumb.

Ingredients:

for the crust-

3/4 c. oat flour (I put about a 1/2 cup or so of old fashioned oats in the food processor, and presto! Oat flour.)
3 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. self rising flour
pinch of cinnamon

for the filling-

1 large Pink Lady Apple
1/2 c. of sliced rhubarb
1/2 c. of sliced strawberries
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 c. diced crystallized ginger
1 tsp. agave nectar
1 tsp. corn starch

for the topping-

1/4 c. of old fashioned oats
1 1/2 tbsp. of brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp. butter

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Then, in your food processor, combine all ingredients for the crust; puree until moist and the consistency of pie crust. Press into the bottom of a pie pan and bake for about 6 minutes. Next, combine all the filling ingredients in a bowl and mix gently. Allow to sit so all the juices can combine well. Finally, make your topping; combine all ingredients in the food processor, whizzing it for a minute or two. When your crust has baked for a little while, pour your filling in and crumble your topping over it.

Bake for about a half an hour, or until topping begins to turn golden brown. Your kitchen will smell amazing!

Voila!

Easy Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream

It's this easy:

2 frozen bananas, sliced
2 tbsp. peanut butter
Optional: 1 tsp. shredded coconut or nuts, or a dash of cocoa powder

Place bananas in food processor and purée until smooth. Add peanut butter, purée a little more, then scoop! Garnish with anything and be amazed at this clean ice cream.

It's so simple.

Christmas Chocolate Tart

Now that Christmas is over, I'm believe I'll be heading in a tad bit healthier direction with my recipes...While my recipes wouldn't be described as "fatty" or unhealthy, I think I can step it up a bit in the nutrition department. That means: less carbohydrates, less white flour, and less refined sugar. It's a brave new world, and I'm jumping in! While this next recipe doesn't exactly jive with the whole paleo/green/crazyfit new me, it is simple, delicious, and you'll only want a sliver of this dark chocolate tart. Plus, my mother made it on Christmas, so it goes without saying that it'll be a hit.

If you look closely enough, you'll see Ben & Jerry's Greek Frozen Yogurt. If you think that Blueberry Graham Cracker Frozen Yogurt doesn't mix with chocolate tarts, you'd be wrong. 

Ingredients: 

crust- 
8oz. gingersnaps, finely crushed (Anna's brand is the best)
1/4 cup melted butter 

filling-
12oz. bittersweet or dark chocolate, chopped finely
1 cup whipping cream
1 egg and 2 yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1tsp.flour
pinch salt

Method:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.   Crush the gingersnaps very finely, placing them in a plastic bag and rolling over them with a rolling pin does the trick. Next, add the melted butter and press crust mixture into greased tart pan, set aside. Combine chocolate and cream in saucepan and whisk on low heat until melted. Whisk egg yolks, egg, sugar, and flour in a separate bowl. Gradually whisk chocolate mix into egg mix and blend. Pour filling into crust. Bake 30 minutes until center is softly set. Allow to cool (if you can) and drizzle with some homemade caramel sauce (not diet friendly- but it's the holidays!!) I made this recipe here to go with my Christmas Eve Turtle Cheesecake. Now here's to good, healthy, resolutions and goals in 2013!

Whole Wheat Chocolate Minicakes with Cream Cheese Glaze and Candied Ginger

Whew! That's a long title, isn't it? I couldn't think of a better way to represent my little Christmas treats, so I thought I'd pack as many words into the title as I could. Why the name "minicakes"? Well, it's a lot cuter sounding than cupcakes (boring!) and I find it hard calling them cupcakes when: they're not that sweet, they're healthy, and you won't get cavities from eating one. I made these a week or so ago, but life has been a bit busy, so I hadn't had time to post pictures. They're little bites of joy, little flavor filled treats. I personally love eating big chunks of candied ginger solo, but I understand the flavor can be strong for some. I used only one giant bowl for these (washing before the glaze!). While the finesse may not be there, the flavor certainly is!

Mmmmm, don't they just look Christmas-y? I've been drinking a lot of hot cocoa recently, and I can tell you that these babycakes are divine with a steaming cup.

Ingredients:

Minicakes-

4 oz. dark chocolate (70% or more cacao) or half a bag of dark or semi sweet chocolate baking chips
3 tbsp. coconut oil
3 tbsp. agave nectar
1 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
2 eggs
1 tbsp. powdered ginger
1 tsp. baking powder
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch of cinnamon

Glaze-

1/2 c. cream cheese, softened to room temperature
3 tbsp. powdered sugar
2 tsp. milk

Topping-

candied ginger, found near the dried fruit in your grocery store

Method:

Preheat oven to 375. In a large saucepan, melt the coconut oil and chocolate over medium-low heat. When mixture is almost completely melted, remove from heat and stir until completely combined. Pour chocolate/coconut oil mixture into a large mixing bowl and add your remaining ingredients, reserving the flour last. If mixture is too dry, add a tsp. or so of soy, almond, or non-fat milk.

Now, grab your muffin tin, grease with some butter or oil, and then fill each about 3/4. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, keeping your eye on those minicakes. Let cool for about an hour, then mix up your glaze. My cream cheese was soft enough that I could just whisk it, rather than breaking out the Kitchenaid. I like the idea of a light glaze on these, because I want to taste the combination of chocolate and ginger and not be overpowered by a frosting. I drizzled my glaze lightly just on top. Finish with two or three small pieces of candied ginger and take a big bite!

Only NINE more days 'til Christmas! I already found my Christmas Dessert that I'll be making... and the appetizer, too!

Christmas Cranberry Bread Pudding

Mmmmm, bread pudding. I recently fell in love with the stuff when we frequented one of our favorite pubs after a long day of moving, and I rewarded myself with some apple bourbon bread pudding. Divine. Little did I know, that there is also savory bread pudding, which I happened to get at the Kingfish Cafe when friends were in town. Bread pudding: so many possibilities, so little time.

Even though we are working on limiting our carbohydrate intake, along with red meat, sodium, blah blah, I think this is worth taking a little time off from your regimen. Plus, the weather has been 'decent' here recently, so I've been running it off, I hope! This recipe came straight from the depths of my brain. I had some leftover cranberry walnut bread from Trader Joe's that we had at Thanksgiving, as well as some crusty whole grain stuff, so I thought why not. The result is pure happiness. I hope you agree.

Ingredients:

About 3 cups of crusty, roughly chopped, preferably day old bread, (whole grain or sweeter bread is good with the tart cranberries)
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 c. heavy cream, 1/2 c. Pumpkin Spice Silk Soy Milk
3 eggs
1 1/2 c. fresh cranberries
1/2 c. dried cranberries
1/2 c. walnuts, chopped
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground ginger

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Then, butter a pie pan lightly, making sure to include the edges. Dust flour over surface of pie pan. In a separate bowl, mix cream, soy milk, and spices together. In the pie pan, spread around the chopped bread pieces, making sure all surfaces are filled. Then, evenly sprinkle granulated sugar and cranberries over the bread. Pour your cream/soy milk/spice mixture and cover the bread and berries evenly. Let soak for about an hour in the refrigerator. Then place in the oven for about 35-40 minutes, checking at 30 minutes, and removing from heat when edges are golden brown. Just to be sure, jostle the pan a bit and make sure that the pudding is one mass, rather than the liquid separating from the bread- if the bread has been soaked properly this should not occur. Let cool for about 5-10 minutes and enjoy with a scoop of ice cream or some tea! It's perfect for a Christmas Morning breakfast.

In other news, this is my SIXTIETH blog post! I can hardly believe it. This blog has been super fun to have and I feel very creative with it. Photography and cooking is such a good outlet for me, and I love sharing my thoughts on it. Hope you are all getting in the holiday spirit! We put our Christmas tree up yesterday and it brings such cheery warmth to my heart. Just like this bread pudding does!

Clean Eating: Mom's Apple Pie

For years now I've enjoyed my Mom's Apple Pie. The crust: flaky, thick, and warm. The apples: spicy and naturally sweet. Last night I had a strong hankering for this pie and decided to whip it up in my own kitchen.

I have so many memories of slicing the apples, sprinkling them with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice, and then being unable to resist eating them straight out of the mixing bowl. The nice thing about this pie is that it contains no butter, no sugar, and nothing artificial. That's right, no sugar. The sweetness of your apples should do the trick. 

And while it's no Martha Stewart apple pie, it certainly is better for your waistline. I am happy to say that with the Clean Eating rage, it's nice to know that my mother had been feeding us "clean" apple pie for our whole lives! Way ahead of our time. 

Ingredients:

2 2/3 cups  flour

3/4 cup vegetable oil or 3/4 cup canola oil

4 tablespoons cold water

4-5 medium sized Pink Lady or Gala apples; or 3-4 large apples; sliced thinly

1 tbsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. allspice

1 tsp. ground ginger

Method: adapted from Mom's crust recipe and Food.com

Measure flour and salt into bowl. Add oil; mix with a fork, until particles are the size of small peas. Sprinkle with water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until flour is moistened and dough almost cleans the sides of the bowl. 

Depending on whether your dough seems to dry or wet, add either a tbsp. of oil or flour. Pick dough up and ball it together into one pressed ball.  Work the dough in your hands to make it a bit less crumbly.

Break dough in half and similar to rolling pizza dough, press it flat between two sheets of wax paper. Roll out into the general circumference and shape of your pie pan. Gently peel off one sheet of wax paper and turn dough upside down. Peel off remaining sheet of wax paper after placing bottom crust into pan leaving a 1/2 inch overlap around pan edge. Follow the above steps with top crust rolling out same as bottom crust leaving 1 inch overhang around pan edge). Fold and roll top edge over pie pan and press edges together with a fork.

Once your apples are sliced, throw them in a large mixing bowl. Add spices and stir well. Allow apples to sit at room temperature for about 3 hours, to macerate in their own juices.  Pour  apples into crust, then fold the pie dough for the top over pie pan, roll top edge over pie pan and press edges together with a fork. 

Slice about 6 slits in the middle of the pie and place in the oven for about 45-55 minutes. Check at 45 minutes and take pie out when edges are golden brown. 

Allow to cool for about 15 minutes, then serve! It's yummy with a scoop of frozen yogurt, or my unconventional favorite- Coconut Bliss. Now, off to decorate for Christmas!

Chocolate Avocado Pudding

I hope you all had a lovely weekend, and, if you are off today, are thinking about our Veterans. We can never thank them, pray for them, or think of them enough!

I made this easy, simple, and relatively healthy dessert a month or so ago, before we moved. It is so lovely and delicious, I promise you'll love it! While it is more suited to warmer weather, (at least I like warm food in the fall and winter), you could melt some chocolate instead of the cocoa powder, and that may warm things up!  I added homemade whipped cream, which of course, makes everything tastier.

Recipe, courtesy of This Chick Cooks.

Ingredients:

• 1 avocado, soft and ripe
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup grade b maple syrup
• 6 tablespoons milk (coconut, cow or any type of milk you prefer)

Method:

Cut avocado in half and remove pit. Scoop out flesh and put in in the blender along with remaining ingredients. Process until smooth, occasionally scraping down sides. Serve immediately or refrigerate until you're ready to serve.

Hope you're all thinking of Thanksgiving treats, I know I am!

Upside Down Peach Rhubarb Pie

It was somebody special's Half Birthday last week! (Hint: somebody very special to me) After a tasty meal of chicken sliders, I whipped up my very own recipe for an upside down pie. Now, I have only made one other upside down peach pie, about a year ago. They're delicious.

Believe me, there's something very special about eating your fruit from the top, instead of being forced to eat it from the bottom, or worst of all, stirring it, a la yogurt with that icky syrupy fruit. Anyways, I had seen a quick recipe for sour cream muffins some time ago, and I knew I had some of that in the fridge. Just add some butter, eggs, sugar, and vanilla, and I've got a crust! So here we go, let's recreate this tasty Half Birthday Pie.

Ingredients

for the crust:

1.5 c. white flour, preferably sifted

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. sea salt

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/3 c. sour cream

1 egg

1/3 c. granulated sugar

1/3 c. butter, room temperature

for the fruit:

1 tsp. butter, melted for the pan

2 sliced peaches, skin removed

2 long stalks rhubarb, sliced very thinly

1/4 c. granulated sugar

1 tbsp. honey

Heat your medium sized skillet to medium-low heat and throw the fruit, sugar, and honey all in with the melted butter. Let the fruit sit, bringing to a boil. Lower the heat to low, and allow fruit to simmer while you mix up the topping/crust, about 15-20 minutes.

*Note, because your skillet will be going in the oven, make sure it is able to bake in the oven. Most brands are capable of this, especially Cuisinart and All Clad.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. With a stand or hand mixer, whip the sugar, butter, vanilla extract, and eggs until creamy. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, taking breaks to mix. Be sure to include the remaining dough that sneaks up the side of the bowl!

Once the dough is finished, bring the bowl over to your stove top and carefully spoon the dough over the fruit in dollops. Smooth the topping over the fruit and when you're satisfied pop it in the oven for about 45 minutes.

Continue to keep and eye on your upside down pie, and when it looks like it is turning golden brown on the edges, check with a toothpick or fork. Once it seems done, remove from the oven and let cool for about 15 minutes.

Now, here comes the tricky part. However, the good news is that it's really not all that tricky. You may need to grab an idle body to come help, but believe me, you can do it yourself too. So what you'll need to do is place a large circular platter on top of the skillet, but make sure you have enough room to hold both the platter or plate and your skillet with both hands. Next, run a knife around the inside of the skillet, loosening up the crust. Now, flip the whole thing upside down and lift up your skillet (which should now be empty).

Voila! A glorious, beautiful, fruit-on-top treat for you and your loved one. Enjoy with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

Ice Cream & Waffles

It’s this simple: slice up some ice cream (for once, not frozen yogurt!), make some waffles, add some chocolate chips sprinkled in, and enjoy. Pure, unadulterated summer sweetness. You have the mixture of cold, rich ice cream with the crunch of a homemade Belgian Waffle. It really is perfection.

My dear, sweet, mother inspired this dessert. She told me the other day that when she was a young girl, living in NYC, she told me that on her way home from Jones Beach, in the sweltering heat, her father would take her and her assortment of Irish cousins to Woolworth’s for the favorite summer treat.

“They’d slice a thick, cold, slice of that vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream, and lay it in between two square waffles”, she said. My mind wandered to a hot, humid, New York day, one of those days that requires two showers. My mom, about 11 years old, is trudging down the sidewalk, licking the strawberry ice cream off her fingers. Actually, wait, my mother would never lick her fingers. She’d use a napkin. Anyways, she’d wipe her fingers off delicately on a Woolworth’s napkin.

After it was all gone, just a distant memory in her full stomach, she’d sit on the subway, dreaming of the next weekend. Next weekend, she’d swim in the surf, build sandcastles with her family, and eat turkey sandwiches out of the cooler. Next weekend the glory that is Summer in New York would begin again.

annmarie

AUGUST 15, 2012 AT 2:32 AM

That was pretty cute and I had no idea that you would do this. I loved every bit of it!

Banana Berry Medley Bread

Yesterday I whipped up some very tasty & healthy breakfast bread for us. It really was entirely my own creation, but has the same obvious ingredients found in all recipes. I find that it is easy to mix and match your own recipe, especially with baking breads and cookies, because you just need the same basic ingredients. These would be a flour base, a liquid, sweetener, and something to make the whole thing rise a little bit.

Put all those ingredients together in one bowl (it’s a Tuesday, I don’t believe in dishes), and you have a scrumptious and healthful treat for the morning.

Ingredients:
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. oats
1 c. yogurt, I prefer greek or non-fat
2 large bananas, mashed
2 tbsp. acai syrup or honey
2 tbsp.  canola oil
1 c. frozen (de-frosted) or fresh berries, I used strawberries and blueberries

Method:
Mix together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Then add wet ingredients and stir. Be careful not to over-stir as it will make the dough rubbery.  It’s quicker and easier to mix the ingredients by hand. The nice thing about this recipe is that you don’t use processed white sugar to sweeten. The combination of berries and acai syrup or honey really do the trick!

As you can see, I really really enjoyed it with some strawberry jam!
Ciao,
k

Sweet Strawberry Rhubarb Sauce

 

This week was all about summer fruits. I made a  lemon yogurt olive oil cake, adapted from a recipe by Molly Wizenberg.  For the cake I used my kitchenaid spring form pan my sweet friend Sarah gave us for our wedding. I’ve recently learned that you truly can’t beat quality pots and pans, especially when baking. It sounds so simple, but they are essential.  For the topping, a strawberry rhubarb compote made with lemon juice and honey… Say it with me … yummmmmm. The fantastic thing about compotes is that you can put them on pretty much anything.  

I layered the compote with greek yogurt and granola for a delicious breakfast parfait.

Lemon Olive Oil Cake

Strawberry Rhubarb Compote:

2 long stalks of rhubarb, sliced thinly in small pieces
10 frozen or fresh strawberries
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. honey
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 c. lemonade

Combine all the ingredients in a small pot on medium high heat. Allow to boil for about 4-5 minutes, then bring to a simmer. Allow to simmer for about 20 minutes on medium to low heat, stirring occasionally. Compote will be done when strawberries are completely soft and broken down, and the rhubarb is mostly broken down and slightly transparent. There should be plenty of red juice but the chunks of fruit is what gives it some delicious texture. 

 

 Serve warm over yogurt, pancakes, waffles, cereal, it would be delicious as a syrup in your favorite cocktail, a la my Raspberry Cocktail. It’s also tasty just by itself, just sayin’.

 

Happy Saturday!

Love,

Kathleen

Grilled Peaches and Plums with Yogurt Honey Sauce

Tonight was a warm, blustery evening. All day I’ve been thinking about making some yummy low(er) carb dinner and dessert. Well, I did well with the dinner, but in traditional Kathleen style, let’s do dessert first!

This is sounds so very simple, but in all honesty, about a year ago, I wouldn’t have put all the earthy and sweet flavors together. Being married and cooking for two has opened up all sorts of opportunities for my cooking flair. I’m much more adventurous and rather than heat up a Gardenburger and some frozen yogurt and call it good, I’ll spend more time planning and developing a meal.

While I’ve always loved baking, cooking was truly something I didn’t spend as much time on. But just give me some protein, a carbohydrate, and some salt, and you never know what I might come up with. I love that cooking allows me to feel creative just by creating edible art. At least some people might call it art.

These grilled peaches & plums remind me of summer and lately my obsession with greek yogurt has led me to plop it almost everything. So hence, the inspiration.

Since we aren’t allowed to have a barbecue grill on our deck, something about “fire hazards” (pshhh), I just warmed up our George Foreman, and you have all the benefits of grilled fruit in a jiffy.

Ingredients:
2-3 firm peaches, sliced, washed & unpeeled
2-3 red plums, sliced, washed & unpeeled
Honey
Greek yogurt
Lemon juice

First slice the fruit in small, medium bite sized pieces. Douse with a little honey, about a teaspoon.

Shut the top of the grill and let sit for about 10 minutes.

 

Let the grilled fruit sit in it’s juices for a little while, then spoon some greek yogurt on the side. Drizzle with honey and fresh lemon juice. Feel free to enjoy during a warm sunset.

One thought on “Grilled Peaches & Plums with Honey Yogurt Sauce”

annmarie

June 14, 2012 at 12:40 am

Your dish looks so summer-like and healthy. I love your writing and it really is art!! So happy that you find joy in the simple pleasures of life, good for you and husband, also.