Misty Morning and Cherry Tart with Maple Cream

Misty Morning and Cherry Tart with Maple Cream

Good morning, dear ones!! I am so excited for this beautiful weekend to start!

Last night I got to indulge in one of my favorite rituals. Every few weeks my friends Art and Donna join me, Mums and Dad at our favorite Mexican restaurant where we all order the same thing, the waiters greet us like old friends and, when the boss is in, bring us free after dinner drinks to warm our bones. Then Dad heads home (he gets up obscenely early for work) and the rest of us adjourn to Art and Donna’s place for British murder mysteries like Foyle’s War or Inspector Lewis and dessert. This week they introduced us to the irascible Doc Martin set in oh-s0-gorgeous Cornwall and served us these beeyootiful plates of cream-filled chocolate cake to go with our rose-scented tea. Bliss.

This morning I awoke to a misty wonderland and just had to shuffle out through the dew-covered grass to capture it.

I do love mornings like this when the fog shrouds everything in cozy quietness.  Reminds me I need to track down some firewood for my fireplace before fall arrives. I’ve never had my very own fireplace before, but it’s something I’ve always longed for so I’m thrilled to bits. I can’t wait for cold misty mornings this fall when I get to snuggle in by the fire with my tea in one hand and a ripping good book in the other.

What are your plans for this weekend, my friend? Will you be relaxing and puttering or dashing about from one fun thing to the next?

I cleaned my house like mad this week, so now I get to enjoy it and tackle sorting through the boxes of papers I hid in my closet when my aunts came over. 😉

Tonight I get to join my friends for dinner and a movie. I love watching movies at their place. They have a massive screen and the comfiest couches and we all pile in and eat popcorn made on the stove and have a marvy time. I don’t know what we’re having for dinner yet, but I’ve got dessert all ready to go: Rainier Cherry Tart with Maple Cream and a Gluten-Free Maple Crust. My whole apartment smells absolutely divine and I can’t wait to dig in!

Happiest of weekends to you, dear folks, and I’ll see you Monday morning!!

Rainier Cherry Tart with Maple Cream and a Gluten-Free Maple Crust

Ingredients:

2 cups cherries, pitted and halved
1/4 cup blueberries
1 package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp maple extract

For the Crust:

1 cup gluten-free all-purpose baking flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp maple extract
1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
  2. Blend cream cheese, coconut milk, maple syrup and maple extract until smooth. Set aside but do not chill.
  3. Mix all crust ingredients, add a little flour if too soft. Press evenly into 9-inch tart pan and bake for 20-25 minutes until crust is golden brown.
  4. Let crust cool, then spread cream mixture in the bottom and top with fruit. Chill until ready to serve.
Aunts, Spring Roll Salad and Limoncello Syllabub

Aunts, Spring Roll Salad and Limoncello Syllabub

I’m pretty sure I have some of the very best aunts in the whole world. They are hilarious and brave and strong and have weathered so many trials and crazy things and emerged as these fabulous women that I admire so much.

This week I got to hang out with my Mums and her two sisters and tonight they left the menfolk at home and came to my place for dinner.

I had every intention of making vegetarian spring rolls with peanut sauce and a good salad (one of my aunts is vegetarian), but for some reason not a single grocery store in my oh-so-Dutch town carry spring roll wrappers. They know not what they’re missing!!

So I had to get creative and decided to do a spring roll salad instead.

I started with a layer of Napa cabbage followed by cucumber, cilantro, basil, and mint sprinkled with juicy chunks of Champagne Mango. I piled silvery cold mung bean noodles in the center and drizzled them with a citrus champagne vinaigrette, then topped everything with lime shrimp, spicy peanut sauce, and toasted almonds.

Mmm, mmm! It turned out even better than spring rolls and we were happy girls.

We sipped Sweet Orange iced tea while we ate dinner, then dug our spoons into glasses of frothy Limoncello Syllabub – heavy whipped cream beaten with homemade limoncello, lemon juice, and lemon zest.

Delish! The zingy lemon balanced the cream beautifully and the limoncello warmed our bones and mellowed our spirits as the evening grew cool.

It was a lovely evening. We had such a jolly time talking about their kids, laughing over memory lapses and mixed up stories. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. One of my Dad’s sisters had heard there was a party and she popped over to join in! So fun!

We ended our Girl’s Night with a stroll to the creek as the sun set, and giggled our way through multiple attempts at a self-portrait. This is as good as it gets.

Sure love those girls!

Limoncello Syllabub

Ingredients:

2 cups heavy whipping cream, cold
1/2 cup limoncello, cold
juice of one lemon
zest of one lemon

Directions:

  1. Combine all ingredients and beat until soft peaks form.
  2. Spoon into glasses and refrigerate until ready to serve.
  3. Garnish with berries and mint leaves if desired.

Spicy Peanut Sauce

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups creamy natural peanut butter
1 can coconut milk
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp fish sauce
3 Tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tsp hot sauce
3 gloves garlic, minced

Directions:

  1. Blend all ingredients in food processor until smooth. Taste. Add more hoisin sauce if not sweet enough.

Citrus Champagne Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

1/4 cup citrus champagne vinegar
1/4 olive oil
1 Tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves
1/8 tsp salt

Directions:
Whisk all ingredients together until emulsified.

Sandwiches and Triple Berry Cobbler

Sandwiches and Triple Berry Cobbler

I’m always so happy when Monday nights roll around and I get to drive to town and hang out with my cooking buddies for the evening. They are such a jolly bunch and all my stress and fatigue melt away as we cook fabulous food and talk for hours and visit around the campfire or all cozy in the living room. I love those folks!

This week we decided it was high time for something easy, so we settled on sandwiches.

Folks brought all kinds of fabulous breads likes this chewy olive loaf.

I brought two spreads: ajvar and…

spicy peanut.

The others brought sliced tomatoes…

deli meats…

lettuce picked fresh from the garden…

FIVE kinds of cheese: Muenster, Jarlsberg, Fontina, Havarti and Monterey Jack….

all manner of mustards and sauces and crisp pickles and sprouts and everything you could possibly imagine atop a sandwich, including Deb’s to-die-for maple bacon.

My friend Kat and her Mom made this delish corn and black bean relish, then spoiled us rotten with…

homemade Triple Berry Cobbler made with berries they’d picked themselves that afternoon. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

It was a grand evening.

Next week we’re going to make Indian food and I can’t wait!!

What is your favorite sandwich?

Krista’s Thai Peanut Sauce

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups creamy natural peanut butter
1 can coconut milk
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp fish sauce
3 Tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tsp hot sauce
3 gloves garlic, minced

Directions:

  1. Blend all ingredients in food processor until smooth. Taste. Add more hoisin sauce if not sweet enough.

Krista’s Bosnian Ajvar

Ingredients:

2 large eggplants, washed and dried
6 large red bell peppers, washed and dried
1 sweet onion, skin on, brushed with olive oil
2-3 garlic clove, peeled and minced
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and black pepper

Directions:

  1. Heat oven to 475 degrees F.
  2. Place eggplant, onion and peppers on baking sheet and roast until their skins blacken and blister, about 30 minutes.
  3. Put roasted vegetables in a heatproof bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow them to steam for 10 minutes. This will loosen and moisten burnt skins.
  4. Peel off and discard blackened stems, skins and seeds.
  5. Place vegetables in large bowl or food processor depending on the consistency you want. Mash in bowl if you want it chunky, puree in processor if you like it smooth.
  6. Add garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Stir until well mixed.
  7. Store covered and refrigerated. Can be canned to last longer.

Darren’s REALLY good Gluten-free Sandwich Bread
(From Gluten Free Cooking School)

Really Good Sandwich Bread

1 Tbsp. bread machine yeast
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 ½ c. water (105 degrees or a little less than hot)

2 ½ cups “Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Mix Recipe”
2 tsp. xanthan gum
1tsp. salt

3 eggs (or 9 Tbsp. water and 3 Tbsp. ground flax seed)
1 ½ Tbsp. oil
1 tsp. cider vinegar

Directions:

  1. Start by combining the yeast and sugar in a small bowl (I use the smallest in my set of three nested mixing bowls). Add the water while gently stirring the yeast and sugar. Let this mixture sit while you mix the rest of the ingredients – bubbles and foam should form if the yeast is happy.
  2. Combine the flour mix, xanthan gum and salt in the largest mixing bowl and stir well.
  3. In a third bowl, whisk the eggs, oil and vinegar until the eggs are a bit frothy.
  4. By this point the yeast mixture should be foamy, so you can pour the two liquid mixtures into the flour mixture. Blend the dough with a mixer for 4 minutes.

Bread Machine Directions:

Scoop your dough into the bread machine and smooth the top of the dough. I bake my bread using an 80 minute setting that allows for 20 minutes of kneading, 18 minutes of rise, and 42 minutes of baking. However, since I don’t use the paddle in by bread machine, I’m effectively doing a 38 minute rise and a 42 minute bake. (The advantage of not using the paddle is that you don’t end up with a hole in the bottom of your bread.)

Conventional Oven Directions:

Scoop the dough into a greased loafpan. Allow the dough to rise in a warm area until is is about 1 inch from the top of the pan. Then bake at 375 degrees for 50 – 60 minutes.

Other Notes:

* The masa harina in the flour mix for this recipe is usually available in the Hispanic sections of most grocery stores. Due to the way it is processed, masa harina is very absorbent and you cannot substitute corn meal or corn flour. You can purchase masa harina on Amazon.com if it is not available locally.
* If you are allergic to corn then you can make the following substitutions in the flour mix: use tapioca starch instead of corn starch and almond flour instead of masa harina

* If you are allergic to soy, then you can substitute any of the following flours for the soy flour in the flour mix: sorghum flour, garfava flour, or quinoa flour.

* If you are on a dairy-free diet, then you may use soy milk or rice milk. Just make sure that they are gluten free.
* If you are allergic to eggs, use the flax substitute listed in the recipe, or follow the instructions on your favorite egg replacement powder. When I use the flax eggs, the bread is usually slightly wetter than otherwise.

Kat and Shirley’s Thai Corn and Black Bean Salad

Ingredients:

3 ears of corn, cooked
2 cups cooked dried black beans
1 diced red pepper
1 diced red or sweet white onion
2 jalapeno chili peppers, seeded and minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
½ bunch of cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoons minced gingerroot
3 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
Juice from 1 large lime
Salt to taste

Directions:

  1. Combine corn, beans, peppers, onion, garlic, cilantro, and ginger root.
  2. Whisk together sesame oil, rice vinegar, and lime juice.  Add to corn mixture.  Season with salt, chill.  Makes 6-8 servings.
  3. NOTE:  this recipe is adaptable to tastes, and ingredients available.  Canned black beans can be substituted for cooked, dried beans; frozen corn for fresh corn on the cob.  Amounts of corn and black beans should be similar.  Amounts of chopped vegetables can easily be increased or decreased.  Other mild vinegars can be substituted for the rice vinegar.  It is adapted from ‘From Asparagus to Zucchini:  A Guide to Farm-Fresh Seasonal Produce’, from the Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition.

Kat and Shirley’s Berry Crisp

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries
1 1/2 cups blackberries
1 1/2 cups blueberries
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp flour
1 cup sour cream
2 cups oatmeal
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp ginger
3/4 cup butter

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
  2. Mix berries with lemon juice.
  3. In separate bowl mix first measure of brown sugar and flour, then add to berries and toss to coat.
  4. Pour into baking dish and top with sour cream.
  5. Combine oatmeal, brown sugar, flour and ginger in medium bowl. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.
  6. Sprinkle topping over berries and bake 35 minutes.
Sea Urchins, Vodka and Croatian Kifle

Sea Urchins, Vodka and Croatian Kifle

The sun was nearly set by the time we crossed the border from Bosnia into Croatia. The drive was gorgeous, wending high above the glistening sea, hazy islands in the distance.

We were delighted to see the Villa Doris tucked into a peaceful little cove, waves lapping quietly on the rocky shore as the last rosy rays of the sun lingered on the whitewashed walls.

Our hostess was an amiable, trim little woman who welcomed us in, leading us through her terraced garden to our rooms overlooking vines, vegetables and fruit trees.

The balmy evening and cool sea were too great a temptation for the guys, and off they went for a late night swim in the bay of Stikovica.

They hadn’t been gone long when there was a ruckus next door and I was called over to see my brother Ryan who had, and I quote, “gotten into battle with a sea urchin and lost.”

Poor guy stepped on one of those spiny critters with his bare foot then pulled it off with his bare hand ending up with palm and sole full of painful stingers that grew purple and angry looking. With very limited English our hostess explained there was nothing to be done except apply vodka and olive oil and wait for the spines to come out.

Ryan suggested that vodka taken internally might be even more effective.

The next few days we pampered the poor chap, applying oils and spirits, and I must say he was a trooper, soldiering on through treks and hikes though he must’ve been dyin.

The surest way to cheer my brother up is to lead him to a bakery first thing in the morning. So we did just that. Glossy cases held tender croissants, hearty loaves of bread, and traditional desserts like Sour Cream Kifle – a tender crescent roll filled with sugared walnuts.

Before long Ry was back to his jolly self, exploring the sites and cursing all sea urchins. I love my brother!

This is my contribution to Wanderfood Wednesday, hosted by Beth at Wanderlust and Lipstick.

Croatian Kifle

Ingredients:

1/3 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon water
1 envelope active dry yeast
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 1/4 cups flour
2 egg yolks
Melted butter or margarine
Powdered sugar

Nut Filling:

2 cups ground walnuts (I used pecans)
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

  1. Heat sour cream and water until warm then add yeast and stir until dissolved.
  2. In mixing bowl blend butter and half cup flour, beat in sour cream until smooth. Add egg yolks and a quarter cup flour and beat until smooth, about 1 minute. Beat in remaining flour to make a soft dough.
  3. Knead dough on lightly floured surface about ten minutes.
  4. Divide dough in thirds, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill for 24 hours.
  5. Mix ground walnuts, brown sugar and vanilla until well incorporated. Set aside.
  6. Dust counter with powdered sugar and roll each piece of dough to a 10-inch circle.
  7. Spread one-third of nut mixture in center of circle to about 1 inch of the edge.
  8. Cut each circle into 8 pie-shaped wedges and roll each wedge from wide end to point, curving into a crescent shape.
  9. Place point-down on greased baking sheets. Brush with melted butter and bake at 375°F for 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
  10. Cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Cary Grant, A Picnic and Broccoli Cheddar Quiche

Cary Grant, A Picnic and Broccoli Cheddar Quiche

Mmm, it’s been a beautiful weekend! Sunshine, dear friends, and time to putter around home and get caught up on cleaning and laundry. How was your weekend?

Friday was Classic Movie Night with my friends. We meet every other Friday and watch old movies like The Quiet Man with John Wayne and Captain Blood with Errol Flynn. This weekend we watched one of my favorite movies of all time: Charade with Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant. I love her glam clothes and their witty dialogue throughout. Just fabulous.

Saturday I met up with other friends for their company picnic and we had a jolly time dining on French Fries and hamburgers before adjourning to the sunshine for hours of talking while people-watching. So relaxing and fun, I loved it.

Later I got to stop by at one of my favorite import stores, perusing the shelves of German chocolate, Greek biscuits, and Italian cookies. I bought a paper-wrapped package of Black Forest Salami (I adore paper-wrapped packages!) and can’t wait to turn it into open-faced sandwiches on dark rye bread with ajvar.

I’m VERY excited today because my guest post on Corfu, Greece is up at www.travelbelles.com!! I’d love it if you swing by to visit, read and comment! 🙂

I also bought the most fabulous olive bread with big chunks of black and green olives. I’ve been eating it all weekend dipped in peppered olive oil.

olive bread

 

 

Saturday I made a rather scrumptious quiche with broccoli, sweet onion and a whole lotta sharp cheddar cheese. Mmm, it’s great hot or cold, especially drizzled with green Tabasco sauce.

Broccoli Cheddar Quiche

 

Are you a classic movie lover? If so, what are a couple of your favorites?

This is my contribution to Chaya’s Meatless Mondays.

Broccoli Sharp Cheddar Quiche

Ingredients:

2 heads broccoli, washed and separated
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
4 large eggs
salt and pepper
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
  2. Steam broccoli until tender. Set aside to cool, then chop fine.
  3. Saute onion in olive oil until translucent and browned around the edges.
  4. Combine all ingredients and mix well.
  5. Pour into greased pie pan and bake for 30 minutes.