Blueberry Upside-Down Mistake
August 28, 2009
Make a luscious blueberry dessert for your dinner guests with this easy recipe,
compliments of Elizabeth W. Gift Baskets
What started out to be a pretty little blueberry upside-down cake turned into a delicious mess that all my dinner guests wanted the recipe for. I’m normally not a big fan of storebought cake and bread mixes, and what follows is not really a recipe. This is how a harried hostess, scrambling to throw together a quick dessert for unexpected guests, stumbled upon a revelation. When your cake comes out of the pan, but leaves the fruit topping stuck to the bottom, just scoop some of each into a bowl and top with lots of ice cream.
BLUEBERRY UPSIDE-DOWN MISTAKE
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter an 8 x 2-inch cake pan. Pour 2 tablespoons of melted butter into the pan. Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons of brown sugar. Scatter 1-1/2 cups fresh blueberries over the sugar. Set aside.
To a 7-ounce bag of blueberry muffin mix, add ½ cup milk, ¼ cup sugar, ½ teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest, and ¼ teaspoon cinnamon. Stir until just moistened.
Pour the batter into the cake pan. Sprinkle ½ cup blueberries over the batter. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes.
Immediately attempt to unmold the cake, inverting it onto a cakestand. If it all comes out perfectly, lucky you. If not, scoop gobs of the cake from the cakestand into serving bowls. Top with gobs of the topping from to the bottom of the pan. Top that with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. Serve warm.
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BLT Bites
August 21, 2009
Celebrate the weekend with this mini BLT recipe, compliments of
Ah, bacon… the guilty pleasure that never goes out of style. All this talk lately about getting back to basics convinced me to give the classic BLT a tiny twist for this week’s appetizer recipe.
BLT BITES
Cut sliced sandwich bread into rounds using a small biscuit cutter. (Or, just remove the crusts and quarter the bread diagonally.) Toast the bread on a baking sheet in a 300 degree oven, turning once, for 8-10 minutes, or until dry and lightly browned.
While the toasts cool, mix together equal parts of crème fraiche (or sour cream) and crumbled feta cheese (or blue cheese.) Fry or microwave bacon until very crisp and drain on paper towels.
To assemble, spread the toasts with a thick layer of the cheese mixture. Top with a thin slice of tomato and a broken piece of bacon. Garnish with a small basil leaf.
Variation:
Use heirloom tomatoes and tomatoes in assorted colors… yellow, orange, red… for a really pretty platter. Substitute finely chopped lettuce or another herb of your choice for the basil.
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Fresh Tomato-Corn Salsa with Homemade Tortilla Chips
August 14, 2009
Celebrate tomato season with this easy salsa recipe,
compliments of Elizabeth W. Gift Baskets.
FRESH TOMATO-CORN SALSA WITH HOMEMADE CHIPS
I’m OK with jarred salsa, but this time of year it’s foolish not to make your own. Fresh salsa, with its crisp, clean flavors bears very little resemblance to the storebought kind.
Grape tomatoes are the grape-shaped super-sweet ones, which I really like for salsa. But of course, any tomato will work for this simple, straightforward recipe. For a variation try substituting chopped fresh mangos, pineapple, peaches or nectarines for the corn. To add some heat, sprinkle in some crushed red pepper flakes or finely chopped fresh Jalapeno.
I’m repeating a chip recipe here from a previous post to accompany the salsa, but storebought chips are just fine.
INGREDIENTS
(makes 48 chips)
For the chips:
¼ cup vegetable oil, plus more for brushing pans
1 ½ teaspoons chili powder
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon salt
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
For the salsa:
1 pint (2 cups) grape tomatoes, quartered
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
½ cup fresh (cooked) corn kernels or frozen corn kernels, thawed
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Juice of ½ lime
DIRECTIONS
Make the chips:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and arrange racks in upper and lower thirds of the oven.
2. Brush two large baking pans with oil. Whisk ¼ cup of oil with the spices and salt. Brush one side of 4 tortillas with the oil and spice mixture. Stack tortillas and cut the stack in half and then into quarters with a sharp knife. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Place the tortilla halves, dry side down, in a single layer on the baking sheets.
3. Bake, switching the position of the pans halfway through, for 10 to 12 minutes or until the chips are golden and crisp. Season with additional salt, if desired, and let cool completely in the pans. Repeat with remaining tortillas. (The chips can be made up to 3 days ahead and stored in a tightly covered tin.)
Make the salsa:
Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl. Season with salt and more lime juice, if desired. Serve with chips.
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Nectarine-Goat Cheese Canapes
August 6, 2009
Happy entertaining from Elizabeth W. Gift Baskets!
Don’t know what this says about the state of the nation, but I haven’t been selling a lot of heart-healthy baskets lately. Consequently I have a surplus of these delicious Almondina Gingerspice guilt-free cookies.
I love these things. They’re called cookies, but they’re not really like cookies. They’re more like slightly sweet melba toast with sliced almonds and ginger. And no, I don’t have any affiliation with the company. Peaches and nectarines are in season now, so it’s the perfect time to whip up a batch of these sweet-salty delights for your next get-together.
GOAT CHEESE & NECTARINE CANAPES
Cut fresh nectarines or peaches into thin slices. Toss the slices with a little lemon juice to keep them from turning brown. Spread Almondina Gingerspice cookies with softened creamy goat cheese. Top with peach slices, and sprinkle with fresh thyme. Serve immediately. (Substitute chopped basil or mint for the thyme, if you prefer.)
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Easy Flower Placecards
August 3, 2009
Another easy tabletop decoration idea,
compliments of Elizabeth W. Gift Baskets
EASY FLOWER PLACECARDS
This place marker idea is a byproduct of a piece I did for The Knot that I had to buy a lot of flowers for. It epitomizes what I call “easy elegance.” And, if you have a flower garden and a few plain, utilitarian ramekins, you can make that cheap, easy elegance. Use these botanical beauties for weddings, summer dinner parties and holiday celebrations.
Almost any large, flashy blossom will work. Choose flowers that coordinate with your table setting or, for weddings, in your wedding theme colors. Simply cut the blooms off, leaving about a half-inch of stem. Arrange the blooms (or, just a large, single blossom) in a ramekin filled with water. Loosely tie a beribboned nametag around the flowers or the rim of the ramekin.
My rosebuds had a bit of height, which created a perfect place to tie on the tag. However, if you use flatter flowers, just drape the tag’s ribbon on top of the flower or let it encircle the ramekin and drop onto the plate. Tying ribbon around the rim of the ramekin can be tricky, depending on what kind of ramekin you are using. If you plan to do this, be sure to do it before you add the water and flower.
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