Easter is Coming!

Wow!  The past couple of weeks have been trying and a true test for us here.  The good news is that the daughter is on the mend.  We definitely have a long road ahead, but considering what she has been through she is doing darn good!  That being said it is time to get back to the world and start living each day with more than just trips to the hospital.

The hospital food isn't too terrific (down right nasty to hear her tell it) so we have been bringing her some treats every day.  Dad even made her a spice blend to add to her food to make it at least palatable.  And since Easter is upon us shortly I have been thinking about things to make that she would love.  With all that has been going on I wasn't even going there, but my brother said that I should make some of her faves and bring them to her.  I'm thinking that even though she won't be here for dinner Stuffed Artichokes are a must, maybe Pizza Rustica (an Italian Cold Cut and Cheese Pie for Pat) along with her favorite Easter dessert, Grain Pie (Easter morning tradition in our house starts with a slice of Grain Pie and a hard boiled egg) .  Now for those of you not familiar with this pie, it's something that is out of this world!  There is one big difference in the way Mom made the Grain (Wheat) Pie versus the standard recipe......Anisette!  Yup, you read that correctly.  The traditional recipe calls for Orange Blossom Water but Mommy always used Anisette.  So as I said, don't mess with tradition!

Another Easter dessert standard in our house was Chocolate Rice Pie (a personal favorite of mine).  This is a very unusual pie and not one you find in many Italian-American households.  It's rich and more of a bitter sweet chocolate flavor, but absolutely amazing with an ice cold glass of milk or Espresso!  Maybe I'll make just one of those for me!  We will see.  So for now I am in the planning stages and will be off to the market for supplies.

I'll posting some of these recipes over the next couple of days, so please check back tomorrow for more updates!

Blackberry Swirl Cream Cheese Pound Cake

It's Friday again, and we are looking forward to a very relaxing and quiet weekend.  The weather here is once again turning to Spring beginning tomorrow, or so the weather people say.  Pat is feeling better and is looking for something other than soup to eat and his sweet tooth is back!  I know he's feeling better when he starts looking for sweets.

I have been wanting to try some of the other Pound Cake recipes I found last month's issue of Southern Living.  The Lemon Coconut Pound Cake I posted in a previous post was delicious and I'm hoping this one is even better.  The recipe in the magazine is for a "Strawberry Swirl Cream Cheese Pound Cake", but I happen to have some beautiful Blackberries in the freezer from last season that need to be used, so I am making a home made Blackberry Glaze.  Just for us and just for you!  Have a great weekend everyone!

Ingredients

1 1/2  cups  butter, softened
3  cups  sugar
1  (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
6  large eggs
3  cups  all-purpose flour
1  teaspoon  almond extract
1/2  teaspoon  vanilla extract
2/3  cup  blackberry glaze
1  (6-inch) wooden skewer

2 cups fresh or frozen blackberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsps. Luxardo or Apple Juice
1/4 tsp. corn starch

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350°. Beat butter at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add cream cheese, beating until creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.
Gradually add flour to butter mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition, stopping to scrape bowl as needed. Stir in almond and vanilla extracts. Pour one-third of batter into a greased and floured 10-inch (14-cup) tube pan (about 2 2/3 cups batter). Dollop 8 rounded teaspoonfuls strawberry glaze over batter, and swirl with wooden skewer. Repeat procedure once, and top with remaining third of batter.
Bake at 350° for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 to 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack, and cool completely (about 1 hour).

To make Blackberry Glaze:
In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the blackberries, sugar, and salt. When the berries break down to mostly juice, strain the seeds out and return the strained juice back to the pan. Let it reduce over medium heat until it becomes a thick glaze. Stir together the Luxardo or Apple Juice and cornstarch and then add them to the juice. Simmer for about 20 minutes more, until the juice coats the back of a spoon; set it aside to cool.

Lemon Coconut Pound Cake

I was invited to attend a baby shower today.  I've met the Mom-to-be on a couple of occasions as she is a  dear friend of one of my best friends (who will be known as "driving force" since she is the one who encouraged me to start this blog) .  Of course I said "I would love to".  "Driving Force" asked me to bake the above mentioned pound cake that she found in the latest issue of  Southern Living Magazine (I bake fairly well, some even say damn good!).  Why not?  I love experimenting with a new recipe on people for the first time.  Yeah I know, that's not the way you should do it, but I say why not.  At least you can get realistic feed back.  In case you haven't noticed, you can always tell how a recipe is going over by watching peoples faces.  No matter how hard people try, if it isn't good, you can tell by their expression.

The Lemon-Coconut Pound Cake Loaf looks absolutely yummy.  They also have some other really tasty looking treats including "Bacon Peanut Truffles" (Driving Force is making these for tomorrow and I will report back on how they came out) and "Cantaloupe-Bacon Relish" that I just can't wait to try.  There are a total of 7 pound cake recipes in this issue and I will be trying a couple of them.  Especially since berry season is approaching and I love fresh berries with pound cake.

So for my last post of the week I bring you--------------

Lemon-Coconut Pound Cake

Total: 2 hours, 35 minutes
Yield: Makes 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients

• 1/2  cup  butter, softened
• 1 1/3  cups  granulated sugar
• 3  large eggs
• 1 1/2  cups  all-purpose flour
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1/8  teaspoon  baking soda
• 1/2  cup  sour cream
• 2  teaspoons  lemon zest
• 1  cup  sweetened flaked coconut, divided
• Lemon Glaze

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Beat butter at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.
2. Stir together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add to butter mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in lemon zest and 1/2 cup coconut. Pour batter into a greased and floured 9- x 5-inch loaf pan.
3. Bake at 325° for 1 hour and 5 minutes to 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 to 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack, and cool completely (about 1 hour).
4. Spoon Lemon Glaze over cake, and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup coconut.

Coconut Curlicues
Add a sweet tangle of fresh coconut shavings to any cake that could use an elegant, tropical note. Pierce 2 coconut eyes with an ice pick and hammer; drain liquid, and reserve for another use. Place coconut in a 9-inch cake pan. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until shell begins to crack; cool 10 minutes. Break open the outer shell with a hammer, and split coconut into several large pieces. Separate coconut meat from the shell using a sturdy, blunt-ended knife, and rinse in cold water. Cut thin strips from the meat using a vegetable peeler. Use immediately, or layer between damp paper towels in an airtight container, and chill up to 2 days.

Note:  The coconut curls are easy to make!  Have a terrific weekend everyone and Happy Cooking and Eating!

Fresh Strawberries - Not a Big Fan

Okay, I can hear a lot of moans and groans out there.  It's true, I am not a big fan of fresh strawberries.  Don't get me wrong, I like strawberry ice cream, strawberry jam (even made homemade jam once) with peanut butter on toast, chocolate dipped...those are all wonderful, just not plain strawberries.

I found some beautiful organic strawberries at Fresh Market and just had to buy them.  I was thinking of treating myself to some homemade crepes with Nutella and Strawberries.  And for those of you who have chosen to forgo wheat flour, I give you Rice Flour Crepes.  I'm also going to use them for dinner with the leftover Baked Chicken from the other day and freeze the rest for when Pat gets home next week!

Rice Flour Crepe

Rice Flour Crepe
(approximately 12 - 8" crepe)


1 1/3 cups Whole Milk, room temperature
3 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp. sugar
3 lg. eggs
1 cup Rice Flour


Combine all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.  Refrigerate for 15 minutes to 3 days.
Preheat an 8"skillet over medium high heat.  Spray lightly with vegetable spray or butter.  Pour in 3 tablespoons of crepe batter; tilting pan to cover the bottom evenly.  Allow to cook for approximately 1 minute or until the bottom browns lightly.  Carefully flip and allow to cook for just a few seconds more, until barely brown.
Transfer to a plate and cover lightly with a towel.  After cooling the crepes may be wrapped securely and refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months.  Thaw in refrigerator before using.

Note:  Don't be upset when the first couple don't come out just right.  It sometimes takes a couple of tries to get the correct pan temp or get a groove going for cooking them.  Just put some butter on them and enjoy!

For the Nutella Crepe:

While still warm, spread bottom side of crepe with Nutella, add sliced strawberries to 1/2 of the crepe.  Fold top over, then fold into quarters.  Add additional sliced strawberries a sprinkle of Confectioner's Sugar or a dollop of whipped cream.

Crepe with Nutella filling and Strawberries

Judy Scott