Berry Tart

This year Easter was going to be a little strange for my wife and I. None of our 3 children would be home for Easter. We will be getting together in a couple of weeks for other special family events, so we just decided to wait until then. This is a recipe I have made a few times over the years and it is always a hit. The recipe is from Perfect Light Desserts by Nick Malgieri, yes he wrote a healthy cookbook.

Berry Tart

Sweet Pastry Crust

1 cup all-purpose flour

3 tbs sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3 tbs unsalted butter, cold and cut into 6 pieces

1 large egg

1 tbs cold water

Combine the dry ingredients in a food processor. Pulse to mix ingredients.

Add butter and pulse 12 times.

Add the egg and water and pulse until dough forms a ball.

Pour dough onto a floured surface.

Form the dough into a disk. Then wrap it in plastic.

Refrigerate for 3 hours to 3 days. You can use immediately but dough will be a little soft.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Before you use the dough unwrap it and gently knead it on a floured surface. Then form it into a disk again and roll it out into a 11 to 12 inch disk. Transfer to a 8 or 9 inch fluted tart pan. Press on bottom and sides and cut off any excess dough.

Poke holes in bottom of tart with a fork, about every 1/2 inch. Place tart on center rack and bake for 15 minutes, or until it just starts to turn golden brown. Do not over bake or crust becomes very hard.

Cool tart on a rack.

Pastry Cream Filling

1 cup fat-free milk, I usually use 1%

1/4 cup sugar

3 tbs all-purpose flour

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbs unsalted butter, softened

Combine the milk and 1/2 of the sugar in a small nonreactive saucepan. Bring to boil over low heat. Combine rest of sugar and the flour in a small mixing bowl and whisk together to mix. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time. When the milk boils whisk in 1/3 of the egg mixture. Return the rest of the mixture to a boil. Whisking constantly add the rest of the egg mixture in a slow steady stream. Keep whisking until the pastry cream thickens and comes to a boil with large bubbles bursting at the surface. Whisk for 20 seconds longer and remove from heat. Add the vanilla and the butter. Pour the filling into a glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap touching the surface of the cream so a film does not form. Refrigerate until you are ready to assemble the tart.

Finishing the Tart

3 1/2-pints of raspberries or a mixture of raspberries, blueberries and strawberries

2 tbs powdered sugar

Pour the cream in the tart shell and spread evenly. Arrange the berries on top. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Mushroom and Quinoa Soup

Here is another recipe that was on my top 10 things food bloggers make but I never will list. The special thing about this recipe is that it actually qualifies in 2 categories. Quinoa was on the list as a trend food I won't be cooking and it is gluten free which was also on the list of things I won't cook. This makes number 5 of the things I said I wouldn't cook but I have made. Does this mean I am growing as a cook? No, I said in the comments on that post I really have nothing against the things on the list I just don't know what makes these things so hot that every food blogger has to write about them.

Quinoa is often referred to as a grain, but it is not as it is not a member of the grass family. Quinoa is a chenopod like spinach. The difference is you eat the seed for quinoa and the leaf for spinach. Quinoa is a complete protein containing a balanced set of essential amino acids. Quinoa is gluten free, meaning this is another item on my foods I will never cook list.

This really was the best soup I have ever created. When my wife tasted it she said "this is like a gourmet soup". I think I should take as a compliment.

Mushroom and Quinoa Soup
2 Tbs Olive oil
1 pound Crimini Mushrooms (Baby Portabella), cut into bite size pieces
1/2 white onion, finely chopped
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp thyme
6 cups beef broth
2 tsp beef soup base (you can use 2 bouillon cubes but base has less salt)
1 cup quinoa
Heat the oil over medium high heat in a dutch oven. Add the mushrooms, onion, bay leaf, thyme and garlic. Cook until the  mushrooms take on color and the onions are translucent. Add the broth and the soup base and simmer for 1/2 hour. Add the quinoa and cook until it is soft. You can garnish with a little fresh thyme sprinkled over the soup.

Chop Suey

My family has made chop suey for years, in fact it was my parents traditional Christmas Eve dinner. Perhaps it was my dad's tribute to Christmas Story and how they go out for Chinese food when the next door neighbor's dogs eat their turkey. But I doubt it, more than likely it was because you can make a huge pot of chop suey for very little cost.

I took my family recipe added more vegetables and cut a lot of sodium out of the recipe. In fact I took the recipe down from 1 bottle to 1 tablespoon of soy sauce. Changed the meat from a pork roast to a pork tenderloin.

Chop Suey doesn't photograph well because the soy sauce turns everything a washed out brown color, so sorry about the photos. Out of curiosity can you notice anything different about the photos?

Chop Suey
1 tbs canola oil
1 pork tenderloin, sliced in to medallions and each medallion cut into 1/4
3 stalks celery, finely chopped
1/2 onion, finely diced
1/2 red pepper, finely diced
4 oz white mushrooms,  cut into quarters
1 can bamboo shoots, drained and rinsed
1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained and rinsed
1 can bean sprouts, drained and rinsed
chicken stock, enough to cover meat and veggies by 1/2 inch
1 tbs Soy Sauce

In a large pot heat the oil over medium heat. When oil is hot add the onion, celery, pepper and mushrooms. Cook until onions start to soften and become translucent. Add the pork and brown it. Add the remaining ingredients. Cook until meat and veggies are cooked through. About 1/2 hour. Serve over rice.

Bratwurst Sliders

 My wife comes from a Polish family, both mother and father. In fact her family has more ski's in it than the winter olympics. One of her comfort foods is bratwurst, so every once in a while she gets the craving for them. When we lived in Michigan this was not a big deal, but in North Carolina it is hard to find a good brat. So every so often we go looking for brats. We found some this week that were about the size of a hot dog, a good one is more like an Italian sausage. Since we had leftover slider rolls from last week Scallop Slider I decided to go with the brat slider. Just sauté up a little onion and peppers give them a squirt of yellow mustard and you are in business.
Brat Sliders
1 Brat for every 2 sliders, cut in 1/2 through middle then cut each 1/2 length ways about 90% through so it opens like a book
2 buns for every Brat
2 tbs onion, finely chopped, for 2 brats
1 tbs red pepper, finely chopped, for 2 brats
1 tbs canola oil
Yellow Mustard, to taste

Heat oil in pan over medium heat. When oil is hot add the onion and peppers. Cook until onion and peppers are soft. Remove from heat and sit aside. Add the brats and cook until they take on a good brown color. The brats can be grilled if you prefer.

Place brat on bun, top with onion and peppers and then mustard. These really beg for a beer to be served with them.

Scallop Sliders

A few weeks ago I made fun of using bacon where it doesn't belong and sliders. This week I made a slider for a reason I will get to in a minute and I included bacon. I do not consider bacon out of place with scallops as that is a classic flavor combination. As a person who has always struggled with their weight I don't believe in sliders. Sliders are smaller so they are lower in calories, but when you eat the portion you are served you almost always get more calories than if you would have ordered the regular item instead of the slider. People also tend to order more because of the smaller size and perception that they are lower in calories.
On recent trip to a restaurant my wife ordered scallop sliders. She got a large bun with one scallop on it. The bun also had a piece of lettuce and a tomato slice and a big spoonful of tartar sauce. Not a good tartar sauce but mayo with relish mixed in and a squeeze of lemon. The scallop was over cooked and had a nice rubbery texture to it. Being the foodie that I am I knew I had to make this dish and right the wrongs that the restaurant served.
As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program I am from time to time given product to test and write about if I decide to. Today the ciabatta rolls I used were purchased with a coupon provided by Alexia Foods. Alexia also gave me a Calphalon pot holder and an apron. Alexia is currently running a Reinvent a Classic contest where they are selecting a new flavor of french fries. I wanted to use my coupon to try one of the french fry flavors but I checked with 2 grocery stores 2 weeks straight and they were both out of the fries. I guess that means that the fries are excellent. If you would like to try them go to www.Facebook.com/AlexiaFoods and you can get a $1 off coupon.
This recipe is based on making 4 sliders. You can adjust accordingly to make as many as you want.

Remoulade Sauce

2 tbs light mayo

1 dash of hot sauce

1 dash worcestershire sauce

1/8 stalk celery, finely chopped

1 green onion, green part only finely chopped

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp lemon juice, fresh squeezed

2 tsp smoked paprika, for color

Mix all of the ingredients together and refrigerate until scallops are ready.

Scallops
4 Alexia Ciabatta rolls
4 scallops
2 slices of bacon
1 tsp canola oil
1 leaf lettuce torn into 4 pieces to fit bun
1 plum tomato, sliced into 4 slices
Turn frying pan on medium then add the bacon. Cook bacon until it turns crispy. Remove bacon from pan and add the oil. Turn heat to medium high. When the oil is shimmering add the scallops. Cook until the scallop takes on a nice brown color and then flip them over and cook until the second side turns light brown.

Cut Ciabatta rolls in half. Put lettuce, tomato and bacon on roll. Top with sauce. Then put scallop on top of that.

Pantastic Pasta

This is a meal I came up with to use up odds and end of leftover vegetables. The type and the quantity of veggies change every time I make this, but I usually end up with 1/2 to 3/4 of a pound of veggies. Then I mix 1 to 1 1/2 oz of pasta per person. Don't cook the pasta as long as the box says because it will cook a little more in the frying pan.

Pantastic Pasta
1 to 1 1/2 oz dried pasta per person
2 to 3 oz chicken, shrimp or whatever protein you like
1/3 to 1/2 pound mixed veggies per person (I used broccoli, sun dried tomato, 1/2 yellow pepper, mushrooms, red onion and 1/4 red pepper)
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs Italian herbs

 Put a pot of water on the stove and bring to boil.

While waiting for the water to boil, chop the vegetables into bite size pieces. Put oil in a skillet and heat the oil over medium heat. Add the chicken and thicker veggies (broccoli, peppers, red onion, etc If you were using smaller veggies like spinach, kale, etc. save until adding the pasta. Add shrimp with small vegetables.)

When the water boils add the pasta and cook until it is a couple minutes away from being done. When pasta is done drain and add to veggies. Now add any lighter vegetables as mentioned above and shrimp if using. Cook for another minute or 2. Serve and top with drizzle of olive oil, shredded parmesan cheese or chopped parsley.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Red Pepper Soup

 I could have titled this how to destroy a KitchenAid blender in one easy lesson. When pureeing the butternut squash in the is recipe I filled the blender 1/2 full as per the instructions. I then pureed the squash. It was very thick so I added a little more liquid and threw the switch. I heard a grinding sound and  noticed nothing in the blender was moving. I immediately switched the blender off. When I lifted the container off the base and found a bunch of ground up plastic. The teeth that make the blades turn were destroyed. Luckily I have a food processor and was able to finish pureeing the squash. Since the blender was a few years old we threw it out, as it turns out you can buy replacement gear and we could have just replaced that gear. We looked at the new models and they no longer have that type of gear to drive the blades.

This is a very simple soup with lots of flavor sweetness from squash, savory from red peppers, spice from hot sauce.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Red Pepper Soup
1 2-3 lb butternut squash
2 red bell peppers, cut in half cored and cleaned, or used purchased
Liquid to make soup consistency you want. I like it thick, so I added 1 can flow fat condensed milk and some 1/2 and 1/2. You could add milk, vegetable or chicken broth or even water. The size of the squash will also make a difference in how much liquid you need, so you are going to have to use your judgment on this.
Dash of hot sauce.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cut squash in 1/2 and clean out the seeds and stringy gunk. Cut each half into 1 inch pieces. Toss squash pieces with olive oil and place on cookie sheet. If roasting peppers toss them with oil but don't add them to cookie sheet yet. Roast for 35 to 45 minutes until squash is caramelized. Add the peppers with 25 minutes to go, but watch them so they don't burn (the skin might get black and start to peel). Remove any large pieces of burnt skin from peppers.

Add enough squash and some red pepper to blender to fill it 1/2 of the way. Add some liquid and puree. pour this into a saucepan. Keep doing this until all of the squash and red pepper has been pureed. Heat over medium heat until soup is hot. Add hot sauce until it is to your liking.

Serve immediately.