Cherry-Blueberry Clafoutis

This clafoutis takes full advantage of the fresh cherries and blueberries that have taken over local farmers' markets. Both are delicious simply eaten out of hand, but I couldn't resist baking with them. This  simple dessert bursts with summer's best berry flavors. The purply-magenta colored syrup that results from cooking the berries and cherries with a bit of butter and sugar is pretty awe-inspiring on its own. I don't usually post process shots, but I couldn't resist in this case. It should go without saying that the clafoutis is even better when topped with ice cream. Just don't forget to to pit your cherries!

Cherry-Blueberry Clafoutis

For the batter:

1/2 cup white flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons white sugar

3/4 cup milk

1 tablespoon melted butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

For the fruit:

1/3 cup cherries, pitted 

1/3 cup blueberries

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 tablespoon white sugar

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Wash the blueberries and cherries, removing the stems and pits. 

Blend together the flour, salt, eggs, sugar, milk, butter, and vanilla. Once the batter is smooth, set aside.  

 

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat once the butter is bubbling, add the blueberries and cherries, and cook until they have softened a bit and are coated with butter (about 2 minutes). Then sprinkle them with the sugar and cook until the sugar has dissolved and turns into a syrup (1 - 2 minutes). Pour the batter over the cherries and bake for about 45minutes or until the clafoutis is puffy and golden brown around the edges. Make sure not to open the oven door until the end of the baking time or it may collapse! Serve with ice cream for dessert or as is for breakfast.

Brown Sugar Molasses Cookies

I was hoping to share a dish that seemed a little more spring than winter. Unfortunately although it's the first week of April, it still feels like winter. So I suppose there's no option but to curl up and wait for warmer weather with a hot cup of tea... and these Brown Sugar Molasses Cookies. It's always good to have an excuse to eat cookies right? Well now you have one—at least until the weather gets better. The cookies themselves are ridiculously addictive, they're big and buttery and have the perfect amount of spice. While they were baking they filled my house with the most amazing aroma. I admit it—the scent alone made feel like a bit of a domestic goddess.. and happily they taste just as good as they smell!

Brown Sugar Molasses Cookies

2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cloves
1 1/2 sticks of butter
1 cup brown sugar, plus another 1/2 cup for the coating
1 large egg
1/4 cup molasses (not blackstrap)
 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves and set aside. Use a mixer to beat the butter, one cup of the brown sugar, egg and molasses on medium high speed until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat slowly to moisten. Increase the speed to medium and beat until combined, scraping down bowl as needed. Chill the dough in in the fridge for about 2 hours.
 

Preheat oven to 375 and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Put the remaining brown sugar in a shallow bowl.

Scoop dough by rounded tablespoons and roll into 1 1/2-inch balls. Then roll them sugar and place them on baking sheet about 2 1/2 inches apart.

Bake one sheet at a time in the center of the oven for 8 to 9 minutes. Cool completely or for as long as you can stand.

Red Pepper, Broccoli, and Gruyère Tart

Sometimes there's nothing better than a savory, flaky tart to look forward to at the end of the day… especially on a dreaded Monday! I usually try to make Monday's dinner on Sunday, because I know that by the time I arrive home from work I am usually too tired to contemplate cooking. 

This tart reheats well and goes perfectly with a simple arugula salad. It really is perfect for a harried weekday evening when you want a good meal without effort. That's not to say it doesn't suck up a chunk of Sunday, but cooking always feels so much more fun and relaxed on the weekend.  I wanted something vegetarian, but this would be great with a bit of bacon or proscuitto thrown into the mix—of course I might have been feeling guilty about my all-butter crust when I decided to make it veggie. Or perhaps it was the waiting heap of shredded Gruyère...

I spent a few days last month visiting an old friend in Switzerland, the home of Gruyère—and I've been craving it (and Swiss chocolate) since returning home. 

The Gruyère works perfectly in this tart, but you can swap it for any semi-soft cheese depending on your taste. And of course you don't have to make your own pie crust, in fact if you had a store-bought one on hand, this dinner would be pretty simple to whip together on a Monday night.

Red Pepper, Broccoli and Gruyère Tart

Pie crust

1 cup + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour

Pinch of salt

1 stick of butter cut into small pieces

1/4 cup ice water

Tart:

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 sweet onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, cut into small strips

3/4 cup broccoli

1 tsp Pimenton de la vera (Smoked Spanish Paprika)

3 eggs

3/4 cup shredded Gruyère or your favorite cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375°

To make the pie crust; combine the flour in salt in the bowl of a mixer using the dough hook. Slowly add the butter and ice water and mix until combined. Remove from the bowl and wrap in plastic wrap. Let the dough chill in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes, ideally 2 hours. 

Roll out the dough and place in a 9" tart pan with a removable bottom and place a circle of parchment on the bottom. Blind bake the crust for 15 minutes; before putting the tart in the oven line the base with parchment or foil and fill with rice or dried beans so that the base doesn't rise while baking. You'll also need to put your tart pan on a baking sheet to cook.

To make the filling; Sauté the onions in the olive oil over medium-low heat. After 5 minutes add the peppers and pimenton de la vera, and cook for another 10 minutes until soft, then add the broccoli and cook for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, beat the eggs and 1/4 cup of the gruyere together, season lightly with salt and pepper.

Once the blind-baking is complete, remove your baking weights and fill the center with the cooked vegetables, pour the egg and cheese mixture on top, distributing as evenly as possible, and sprinkle the whole pie with the rest of the Gruyère. Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown and bubbly. Cool before removing from pan and eating.The tart will keep well in the refrigerator for a couple of days.

Restorative Kale and White Bean Soup

I am sorry that it's been such a long time since my last post. Time moves so fast online and although it's been a few months, it seems like years. My weekends since October have been filled with work and no time or energy to find the inspiration I needed to cook, much less find the creativity necessary for blogging. So it seems only fitting to share with you the one dish that I have made over and over, countless times in the last few months- Kale and White Bean Soup. 

The first time I made this it was freezing outside; I had been talking to a friend of mine about some elaborate and delicious-sounding soup she was making with beef stock and greens and a ton of other ingredients. It sounded so good and well, warm, that I went home and figured I'd at least try to make something with what I had on hand, to at the very least warm me up- and I was actually surprised at how good it was- hot, brothy, a forest of steaming kale, beans, and onions. It was truly restorative and as it's healthy and takes very little time to make- it's become an obsession a staple. I'm waiting for my boyfriend to declare that he's had enough, in fact I'm waiting to get sick of it myself, but it hasn't happened yet. 

So, I hope to be back with much more now that it's the new year, but for now I leave you with a recipe that really can make you feel warm and toasty on a winter night.

KALE AND WHITE BEAN SOUP

2 tbsp olive oil

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 onion, chopped

bunch of kale, chopped, ribs removed (frozen kale works fine too)

1 can of cannelini beans 

fresh herbs such as thyme and rosemary

1 tsp smoked spanish paprika

6 cups chicken or vegetable stock

salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot or dutch oven over low heat, add the onions, stirring on and off until they are translucent, then add the garlic and the kale, while stirring, increase the heat to medium high and add the beans, the herbs, spices, and stock. Add salt and pepper and then it let cook for 10 minutes or so, until it's hot and a bit frothy. Serve in big steaming bowls—it's great with a bit of your favorite shredded cheese and crusty bread thrown in at the last minute.

Steel-Cut Oats and Vanilla Honey

I thought I'd share a bit about my latest breakfast obsession; steel-cut oats. Usually I just stick to yogurt, but since fall has kicked in I've been craving something warm and comforting in the morning. Oatmeal fits perfectly and steel-cut is even better, it's nutty and chewy, but not tough. While it does take ages to cook, it reheats well in the microwave, so I make a big pot on sunday for quick weekday breakfasts.

The fun part is topping it- I favor dried fruits and nuts, like the cherries, pistachios, almonds, and pecans shown. Blueberries, cranberries, and hazelnuts are also delicious. I always top it with honey as well. Lately I found myself thinking about how to incorporate some vanilla in as well. So, I scraped out a vanilla bean and stirred it into a half cup of honey. I can't believe I never thought to do it before, it's so simple, but so unbelievably good. It's the new staple in my pantry, I can't wait to try it over ice cream.

Apple and Rosemary Galette

It's once again fall and I seem to have a lot of apples around. After eating so many of them out of hand, I capitulated and decided to bake with them (as I wanted to do all along). 

There's something about rosemary in sweets which I can't resist and I thought the flavor would be a good complement to the apples. I also wanted an excuse to recreate the Rosemary Ginger Pie crust that I came up with for last year's TINY WHITE PEACH & BLUEBERRY GALETTES WITH ROSEMARY AND GINGER. The secret is to let your dough chill with a few pieces of Rosemary in the middle- it infuses the flavor into the crust- and it's delicious! A perfect treat for an autumn afternoon, it goes nicely with a cup of tea. I'm also sharing some recent photos, details of our family kitchen- no real story, just a few things that caught my eye and begged to be photographed. Enjoy!

APPLE AND ROSEMARY GALETTE

Filling:

4-5 medium sized apples
1/4 cup sugar
zest of one lemon
1 tbsp chopped Rosemary

Dough:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 

1/3 cup sugar

pinch of sea salt 

1 stick of butter

1/3 cup ice water

handful of fresh rosemary

2 tbsp melted butter

1 tbsp sugar

For the crust: Mix together the flour, sugar, and a pinch of sea salt in a mixer. Add the butter, and slowly add the ice water; mix until the dough comes together. Form into a ball, then separate and push the fresh rosemary into the center. Refrigerate and chill for at least 90 minutes.

For the filling: Slice the apples, you can peel them if you wish, but it's not necessary. Place them in a large bowl. Combine the sugar, zest, and rosemary in a small bowl, then spoon the sugar over the apples, and toss to coat. Set aside.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and discard the rosemary from the center. Roll the dough out into a 12-inch circle. Heap the apples in the center, but leave at least 2-inches free around the edges. Fold the dough up over the apples and press together into a pie shape. Brush with the melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 40 minutes until crust is golden brown. Cool before serving.

Oregon Love: Beer, Bears & Blackberries

I travel as much as possible and I tend to fall in love with the majority of places I visit. Oregon was no exception, somewhere between the cool, artsy vibe in Portland, the dramatic pacific coast, and the vistas from the Rogue river I fell for it hard. Sadly my affair only lasted a week before I had to return to real life. But of course I wanted to commemorate it in the kitchen, and chocolate-stout cupcakes with ganache and blackberries seemed appropriate. 

Everyone knows that Oregon has amazing craft beers and I certainly sampled a number of them. It turns out that stout beer is quite good in baking especially with strong flavors like chocolate. Blackberries seem to grow everywhere in western Oregon. It was fabulous to pick them for breakfast every morning. The bears seemed to have the same idea- and we saw quite a few of them on the hunt for the sweet, perfectly ripe berries. Lucky for us there were enough berries that we didn't need to compete with the bears for them. I hope to make it back to Oregon sooner than later, but in the meantime I'll just have a cupcake..

CHOCOLATE-STOUT CUPCAKES WITH BLACKBERRIES
 

Cupcakes
2 cups stout beer
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
4 cups all purpose flour
4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 large eggs
1 1/3 cups sour cream

Ganache
2 cups whipping cream
1 pound bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped

For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter 2 muffin tins. Bring 2 cups stout and 2 cups butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Divide batter equally among prepared muffin tins. Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool 10 minutes. Turn cupcakes out onto rack and cool completely.

For the ganache: Bring cream to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add the chopped chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Refrigerate until ganache is spreadable, stirring frequently, about 2 hours.
Cover the cupcakes with ganache and top with blackberries.

This recipe is based off of Epicurious's Chocolate Stout Cake recipe.