I halved a fresh fig, dipped it into Vanilla Bean Creme (recipe in The Art of Breakfast) and then into raw sugar and torched! Add a drizzle of the creme on top and voila, a beautiful, delicious garnish or even small bite for dessert.
Chocolate Cherry Cordial Tart
Wonderful as an afternoon treat with coffee or tea.
Add a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and you have a perfect dessert.
Serves 8
4 cups fresh sweet Bing cherries, pitted
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup port wine
1 tablespoon chocolate balsamic
vinegar (I use Fiore), but if not
available, use an aged Balsamic
1 teaspoon arrow root powder
(dissolved in a couple
tablespoons of the port)
2 teaspoons cocoa powder
1 sheet frozen puff pastry,
thawed
4 ounces softened cream cheese
4 ounces shaved chocolate (or
Chips)
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Mix the pitted cherries with the sugar, port,
balsamic, dissolved arrow root powder, and cocoa
and put into medium saucepan. Cook over medium
heat until sauce comes to a boil. Remove cherries and boil
sauce 2 to 3 minutes longer to thicken. Remove from heat and
place cherries back into sauce and allow to rest.
3. Press the puff pastry sheet into a 9-inch shallow and greased baking dish or tart
pan.
4. Spread the softened cream cheese on the pastry. Spread the chocolate shavings
(or chips) evenly over the cream cheese. And using a slotted spoon, place the
cherries in a single layer over chocolate.
5. Bake for 35 minutes. Allow to cool at least 20 minutes before serving.
Recipes can be found in The Art of Breakfast, How to Bring B&B Entertaining Home
I have to admit, I don’t often enjoy low calorie or healthy stuff as much as the tastes good bad for you stuff, but this is absolutely delicious and refreshing for summer!
Here’s what I’ve come up with:
A REALTOR friend from Maryland whom I met on Twitter sent me the nicest gesture of thanks for simply sharing my knowledge (social media and real estate) – a tin of that fabulous Maryland Old Bay Seasoning. So I had some Maine crab and decided to make a crab dip seasoned with Old Bay, a bit of mayo, ricotta and white cheddar. Delish! Thank you, Chris!
Equal parts vodka and cranberry with a heavy splash of St. Germain and the juice from one lime…delish!
Today’s cocktail experiment involves gin, not usually my favorite spirit. But this combination is really nice. Maine’s Back River Gin, St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur, fresh Clementine juice and club soda – a very light and refreshing, not too sweet cocktail!
You can turn something simple into something special just by melting some chocolate. You can either buy melting wafers or the ready to melt containers of dipping chocolate. Use white and dark chocolate for contrast, then put some melted chocolate into a squeeze bottle to decorate!
1. We (okay my husband did!) brined a pork roast in sugar, water, salt and peppercorns and let it sit overnight.
2. He then marinated it for 3 hours in:
lime juice (1/4 cup)
clementine juice (from 2 clementines)
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoonancho chile powder
1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3. Drain, pat dry and brown in skillet. Reserve marinade.
4. Place pork roast into a slow cooker with 2 sliced onions and the marinade, cover and cook for 6 hours on high.
We ate ours with tortillas, sour cream, salsa and Monterey Jack cheese. But the next day, the soup was born!
For the soup:
6 cups chicken broth
1 can of diced tomatoes with juice
1 can white beans
the juice from 2 limes
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon ancho chile powder
1 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded cooked pork (you could use chicken)
Sour cream and corn tortilla strips for garnish
Heat all ingredients except lime and pork in soup pot and cook for 15 minutes. Add pork (with the cooking juices) and cook another 30 minutes. Add lime and then ladle into bowls. Top with sour cream and tortilla strips and enjoy!
A small twist on a classic cookie.
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter (heaping)
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon malted milk powder
2 tablespoons milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips (optional)
Cream sugar, butter, peanut butter and malted milk powder until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and mix for another minute. Fold in dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Fold in chips.
Place small scoopfuls onto a lined baking sheet and sprinkle sugar on top. Press the tines of a fork in a criss-cross pattern. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.
