Mini Rhubarb Strawberry Galettes Recipe

I like food in miniature. I like dim sum, mezze, tapas and appetizers of all sorts. Working on the latest recipe development project has been an exploration of many things in miniature. One recipe that sadly will not work for my client was a terrific success when it came to ease and taste. It does not work particularly well for vacuum sealing but that's ok. It means I can share it with you here and now. Rhubarb makes one of my favorite pies and now, my favorite galette, which is pretty much a pie for lazy people. Rhubarb requires some tender loving care to coax out the perfect balance of sweetness and especially texture. While mushy rhubarb isn't terrible, firm, sweet yet tangy rhubarb is fabulous! I like the method of macerating it with sugar. The trick to this recipe is to not let the rhubarb macerate too long. I think you could make it with just rhubarb but a little bit of strawberry really complements it. I also don't cook the filling! You don't need to, it cooks......

Continue reading

Chutney Cheese Puffs: Recipe

I'm a cheater, in the kitchen anyway. While I may not be a fan of mac and cheese from a box, I positively love using gourmet specialty products. What kinds of products? Jams, mustards, chutney, tapenade, Chinese sauces, so many things! Two of my favorite secret weapons are in the freezer--phyllo dough and puff pastry. You could easily write a book on all the things you can make out of phyllo dough and puff pastry. I suggest the title "How to Succeed in Baking Without Really Trying". Once you learn how to handle them, the possibilities are endless. They even turn something mundane into something special. For example you could make a stew into an elegant pot pie. You could turn a fruit compote into pastries. You could make fancy little appetizers to serve hot from the oven. How fancy? I suggest little napoleons or tartlets. It's really easy. A few weeks ago I had a lot of goat cheese languishing in the fridge. I had promised my friend Alison I would develop some re......

Continue reading

Orange Pecan Cinnamon Buns Recipe

Fresh popped popcorn, barbecue, cinnamon buns. You know what I'm getting at, right? Some foods smell so good you just have to have them. Scientists tell us that our sense of smell is the strongest memory trigger, though I think in this case it just triggers the memory of how good these things taste. I have never made cinnamon buns before because making a dough with yeast seemed like too much bother. But in the January 2005 issue of Bon Appetit magazine there was a recipe for cinnamon buns using buttermilk, baking soda and baking powder for leavening. Perfect! I love the R.S.V.P. section of Bon Appetit. It's where readers request their favorite recipes, it's my turn-to-first section. Too often the pound of butter, the pint of cream or the 8 egg yolks are why the cookies, chowder or cake tasted so good in the first place. But not this recipe. As usual I have significantly changed it to make it "better". Here is my version: Orange Pecan Cinnamon Buns Mak......

Continue reading

Blackberry Pecan Crisp Recipe

When I was growing up I knew all the best places to pick blackberries within walking distance of my house. Wild blackberries are relatives of the rose, and like rose bushes, blackberry bushes or brambles have thorns making the prize difficult to reach. But so worth the effort. I had a basic formula that I kept to back then--one berry for me, one for the bucket, another one for me, another one for the bucket. Somehow eating them while picking them, they tasted even better than when eaten at home. Of course it also lead to purple stained tongue and fingers as evidence of my consumption. When asked what my favorite fruit is, I usually say raspberries or peaches but in truth, I probably love blackberries most of all. Because they are in season for such a short time and are usually terribly expensive, they seem like rare jewels and I tend to forget about them. Until they're in season again. Such an intense fruit and so delicate too, they are best used immediately. If stored gently pr......

Continue reading

Scottish Oat Scones Recipe

Sometimes you're just not hungry enough for dinner. But you might be a little hungry. So what do you do? I suggest tea. Like the the kind you have in jolly old England with milk and sugar served with a scone slathered with jam. If you need something savory, then add a little sandwich, cream cheese and cucumber on wheat is nice. Make sure the bread is sliced thin, it should be tasty, but by no means gut-busting. If you're still hungry, have another. As I have mentioned before scones are good because they are made with butter. The most traditional type of scone is an oat scone. There's just something decadently good about oats and butter. Like having a bowl of oatmeal with just a little pat of butter on top, it's just the right pairing. Oat scones are buttery and the oats give them both a nice texture and flavor. My favorite oat scone recipe I got out of a magazine ages ago; it has ingredients everyone has on hand, takes only 12 minutes to bake and less than that to pr......

Continue reading

Fruity Yogurt Scones Recipe

I love scones. When I was in high school we had a British exchange student come stay at our house for a few weeks. We showed her around town and in turn she introduced my family to the pleasures of homemade scones. Or "scons" as she called them. Now that was a recipe we had her write down for future reference. From what I have read, it seems scones originally came from Scotland and were made with oats and cooked on a griddle. Oat scones are still one of my favorites, but now there are all sorts of sweet ones, savory ones and many that have no oats at all. They are usually flour based, round or wedge shaped, and bake quickly in the oven. Most famously served in the afternoon for tea with clotted cream and strawberries, they are also terrific for breakfast, instead of muffins or toast. For years I have experimented with various recipes and I have come to the conclusion that the reason that they taste so divine is because they have so much butter or cream in them. There are......

Continue reading