Pancake Day

When I woke up yesterday and realised it was pancake day (!), I really wanted some o' that good ol' thin, flat, round carbohydrate-rich goodness. BUT I wanted to try something new (and I've been craving yorkshire puddings constantly for the past couple of weeks) so I thought a german pancake would be perfect.

And boy was it good, a little sugar, butter, cinnamon... mmmhmmm. Like a cross between fried dough, a yorkshire pudding and a pancake. I would make it with less egg next time or in a bigger dish so it would be thinner, but it was SO GOOD.

Ingredients (from Real Simple)

• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup milk, preferably whole
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (optional)
• 1/2 cup fruit jam (optional)
• 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
• 
  
• Directions
• 1. Heat oven to 400° F. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs to combine. Add the flour and whisk until smooth. Add the milk, salt, and vanilla and mix until incorporated; set aside.
• 2. Add the butter to a large cast-iron skillet and transfer to oven until the butter melts. Remove from oven and quickly pour the batter into the hot skillet. Return to oven and bake until the pancake is puffed and golden, about 15 minutes.
• 3. Drizzle the lemon juice (if using) over the pancake. Spread the jam (if using) evenly over the top. Sprinkle with the confectioners' sugar.

Fat Tuesday is RIGHT!

♥, Azzara

Berry Good

Yesterday, when I opened my fridge and realised that I had way too much fruit lying around (good problem to have, eh?), the only solution was this guy. Crumbly, cakey, fruity, sweet but not too sweet.. such a dream.

1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cold unsalted butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces)
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest and juice of one lemon
4 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch (I used flour instead)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch pan.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.

3. In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares

YUM!

♥, Azzara

ALMONDY PEACHY TARTY

tart recipe adapted from Bon Appetit and Smitten Kitchen

Lina helped me make this Peach-Almond Tart yesterday (I substituted peaches for plums) and I'm proud to say that it's already gone! Believe me, it tastes as good as it looks and is mad easy to make if you have a food processor for the crust.  Peaches- so summery, gotta love those stone fruits.


VvV Amanda

BLOOD ORANGE SORBET

My aunt from sunny California sent me a huge boxful of blood oranges (thank goodness for flat rate shipping)!  They're really pretty although not totally ripe in the middle so I thought it best to make a sorbet out of the tart juice and pulp.  It turned out pretty good and if you wanted to try it'd probably work great with any kind of freshly squeezed fruit juice.  Great for the summer and very refreshing.  A scoop of it would even be good in tonic water or champagne...

Blood Orange Sorbet
2 cups orange juice with or without pulp
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cups water


Boil the water and sugar together for about a minute after it starts bubbling to make a simple syrup and let that cool while you juice the oranges.  Combine orange juice and simple syrup and then refrigerate.  Pour into sorbet/ ice cream maker and in 15-20 min it's ready.


If you don't have an ice cream maker then you can make a granita by putting the combined liquid into a freezer safe container.  Scrape the juice as it freezes every once and a while to get the icy chopped up texture. After it completely freezes it should be ready to serve. 


I think next time I try to make this I'm going to put the orange segments in a food processor to get a more even juice/ puree before combining. Might make a big difference texturally but without this step it still works. 


Happy Memorial Day weekend!  May it be relaxing and fun for all.


VvV Amanda

A delicious solution

photo courtesy of my dad

Imagine if you will, having a 1.5+ foot zucchini (grown in my grandmother's own backyard!) and not knowing what to do with the dang thing. That was me last week and this is what we came up with.

A wonderful meaty meatloaf filled with lots of onion, worchester sauce, and slathered in a fine coat of BBQ sauce (keeps the moisture in). Served with a "ratatouille" of roasted zucchini, tomato, onion, and finished with a splash of vinegar.

A nicely browned loaf made with yogurt and lots of shredded zucchini.

If you are interested: recipes upon request.

PS- more fashiony/ arty/ musicy things coming soon.

Food Friends + Sweet Recipes (Literally)

So everyone knows how much I love (a) food, (b) animals and (c) creepy art, so I'm definitely a fan of Carl Kleiner's "Cafe M" Art series. My grandpa used to have the coolest calendar when I was younger that had a different animal made of food for every month of the year, and I must admit that my favourites always included weirdly deformed fruits and vegetables (with arms( frolicking around amongst trees made of broccoli. So needless to say, I really enjoy Carl Kleiner's weird creations. My favourite would have to be Mr. Lion, although Mr. Awkward-Fennel-Anteater-Man definitely has a special charm to him as well.

By now, I'm sure a lot of people have seen Carl's photo series for the Ikea cookbook "Hembakat är Bäst" (meaning "Homemade is Best"). Styled by Evelina Bratell, I think I can safely say they would make for the coolest cookbook ever. Here are some of my favourites (google the names if you're interested about what they'll become.. some of them look so yummy!):

Mandelkubb

Lingon Pepparkaka

Napoleonbakelse

Princesstårta

All images from CarlKleiner.com

I want it all!

♥, Azzara

Key lime time

Sometimes I get the urge to BAKE. A few days ago I made this key lime pie which was delicious and tart but let me tell you it tastes a lot better when it's chilled rather than at room temperature. But either way it was gone in 2 days. Recipe below...

Recipe adapted from America's Test Kitchen:

Filling:

4 large egg yolks

4 tsp grated lime zest (I always just zest about 3 limes and figure it looks about right)

14 oz. sweetened condensed milk (1 can)

1/2 cup fresh lime (or about 4 limes if they are med. size)

*1 graham cracker crust shell

Can top the whole thing with whipped cream if you like, or more grated zest after it's cooled.

Whisk together egg yolks and the zest until it's a green tint (abt. 2 min). Whisk in the milk til smooth then whisk in the lime juice. Let sit for 30 min covered to thicken. Prepare the crust.

*In my case, I cheated and used a Trader Joe's frozen pie crust which I then defrosted, prebaked a few min so it was warm (important) and then poured the rested filling in. You can also make the traditional graham cracker crust by combining 1.5 cups crushed graham cracker, 5 tbsp melted butter and 2 tsp salt, pressed into pie pan. If you're using this you should prebake the crust about 15 min before pouring in the filling.

After adding filling, bake for about 20 min and you're done!

YAYAYAYA PIE,

amanda