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Tex Mex Rice Bowls | Frugal Dinners

May 30, 2011 by 6 Comments

There is nothing like the satisfaction that comes from a meal that hits all the right  notes taste-wise, pleases the pickiest eaters in  your house, satisfies your hunger for hours, takes five minutes to throw together, is nutritionally sound and is truly, veritably, and unbelievably inexpensive; And when I say unbelievably inexpensive I mean dirt cheap.

Finding one meal that does this is like finding a new favorite author who is a prolific writer. It’s happy dance party time. It’s all that and a bag of chips. This meal is that meal.

Please allow me to introduce you to Tex Mex Rice Bowls. The “recipe” is just a road map, really. You start with a bowl full of rice. I like mine coloured a vibrant yellow from being cooked with turmeric, but you can go with straight-up white or brown rice if you prefer. Top the rice with whatever you’d put on a taco; cooked shredded or ground beef, pork or chicken, guacamole, refried beans or spicy black bean and corn salad, sourcreamshreddedcheesecandiedjalapenos if you fancy it, top with a fried egg and spoon some of your favorite salsa over everything.

You may have noticed that this dish has the potential for Déjà Food* greatness. Seriously, aside from the rice and the fried egg, every bit of this dish can be composed of leftovers. Of course, if you feel so moved, you can whip up fresh guacamole. From that I would never, ever dissuade you. I’m just pointing out that this dish is a beautiful, filling, delicious way to breathe new life into leftovers. This is certainly better than breathing my breath on you after eating this, but I digress.

*Déjà Food is that glorious state of higher consciousness where you turn leftovers into something as good as or better than the original dish.

I would also like to point out just how picky-pants friendly this is. Start with a bowl of rice and customize. Unless your picky eater won’t touch rice, you’re in a good place with this recipe because they can add as much or as little of the various toppings as they like. Even if they want to swap in ketchup for the salsa *shudder* this should keep them smiling at the table.

There are close to a bajillion ways to go with this dinner, but we like it best like this:

 

5.0 from 1 reviews

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Tex Mex Rice Bowls | Frugal Dinners
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 6
 

Dinner doesn’t get simpler or more satisfying than these bowls of hot rice topped with guacamole, spicy black bean and corn salad, a fried egg, and salsa.
Ingredients
  • 2 cups uncooked long grain white rice
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 3¾- 4 cups water (use less for firmer rice, more for softer rice)
  • a pinch of salt
  • 2½ cups guacamole
  • 2½ cups black bean salad or refried beans
  • 6 large eggs
  • oil or butter for frying
  • 6 tablespoons salsa

Instructions
  1. Bring the water and turmeric to a boil in a saucepan (with a tight fitting lid) that is at least 2 quarts in size.
  2. When the water is boiling, add the rice and salt, stir once with a fork, and replace the lid.
  3. Reduce the heat to low immediately and cook over the low heat for 12-16 minutes, or until the water is absorbed.(*See notes below for cooking tips.)
  4. When the water is absorbed, fluff the rice with a fork and divide between serving bowls.
  5. Top bowls of rice with about ¼ cup each of the guacamole and bean salad or refried beans.
  6. Heat a little oil or butter (1-3 teaspoons) in a frying pan over medium heat.
  7. Crack 2 eggs into the pan and let them sit, cooking, until done (*See notes for cooking tips.)
  8. Use a spatula to move each egg to a bowl of rice.
  9. Continue cooking eggs until each bowl is topped with one.
  10. Spoon some salsa over the top of each egg and serve immediately.

Notes
Rice Cooking Notes: Do not remove the lid often while checking the rice. It is okay to lift it once or twice toward the end of the cooking time to look as long as you quickly replace it. Also, avoid stirring the rice as that causes it to break and become gummy. Egg Cooking Notes: For a sunny-side up egg, just leave the egg where you put it in the pan until the whites are set all the way through. If the edges begin to curl before the center is set, you can add a teaspoon of water to the pan along with lidding it. This will cause the yellow to look clouded over, but will ensure a nice runny yolk. For an over-easy egg, cook until the white is set and slightly crisped around the edges, but still jelly-like around the yolk. Flip once and cook for no more than 1 minute on the second side. For a hard-cooked fried egg, cook until the yolk is set, flipping once during cooking.

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Filed Under: Main Dish, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: , , , , ,

Spicy Smoky Barbecue Sauce

May 26, 2011 by 12 Comments

Everybody needs a good barbecue sauce in their pantry. It’s easy to say, but that can be as hard to find as the perfect pair of jeans. Barbecue sauces on store shelves tend to be sickeningly sweet, anemically flavoured, glorified ketchup. Homemade barbecue sauce  is almost inevitably better than what you can buy, but is often close to the last thing you want to be making right before grilling or barbecuing extravaganzas. What you need is that great jar or bottle of something extraordinary that is ready to go whenever you feel the undeniable urge to slather barbecue sauce on something. Boy. Do I have the solution for you or what?*

*The answer is that I do indeed have the solution for you, but I was raised in Northern Michigan and that’s just how we talk. You are now able to book your fudgie vacation with a calm mind. (Oh, er, Fudgies are tourists in Northern Michigan so named for their frequenting of the local fudge shops. NOW you can go cross the Big Mac. As in the Mackinac Bridge? Never mind. You shouldn’t go. You should just stay here and make barbecue sauce. Michiganders. We’re an enigma.)

I received a jar of barbecue sauce from my friend, Melissa, as part of the Pay It Forward homemade gift exchange.  We popped open the jar and dipped our pinkies in for a taste. Then we dunked in our index fingers. Then we grabbed spoons. It was good. Really, really good. Melissa had the recipe posted on her blog, so I knew a batch of this was in my future. As I set about making my batch I made a few changes based on both a lack of certain ingredients and an exhausted food budget. It turned out so well that I kept the changes even when the budget and pantry were both refreshed.

Let me tell you about this sauce.  The first thing that will hit you when you taste it is the spicy smokiness followed by a vinegar tang with garlic and onion. It is tomato based, but that is balanced, almost equally, by the presence of smooth, pungent Dijon mustard. It is a hybrid, really, of the best of Kansas City and South Carolina styles. It is smooth and thick, brushable, spreadable, spoonable. In short, it’s great stuff. This is easily my favorite barbecue sauce right now for everything from dunking fried chicken to dolloping on hamburgers to brushing on chicken at the tail end of grilling.

…And bonus on bonus? You can can this! Make a big old batch, jar it up and process it using your choice of boiling water bath or pressure canning. No desire to can? No problem.* Just put it in the clean jars, put the lids on tight and shove it into your refrigerator for up to a month. You could even freeze it for up to six months if you really wanted to do so.  In my book, though, canning it and stashing it on my shelves next to my Candied Jalapenos (Hey! Did you enter the giveaway?) is just this side of Nirvana.

*No problem, for now. You will be assimilated. The desire to can is strong in you. (Jedi hand wave) I sense this.

All this boils down to just one crucial point. Make the sauce.

Seriously.

Make. This. Sauce.

If not today, then very, very soon. Memorial Day and grilling season are upon us. You will be a rock star when you serve this. Also? People will tell you you’re beautiful. You may get marriage proposals. Or book proposals. Or whatever. Just make it. Okay?

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Spicy Smoky Barbecue Sauce
Author: 
Recipe type: Condiment, Sauce
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 6 pints
 

Spicy, smoky, smooth, spoonable, pourable, dunkable, brushable; this barbecue sauce is everything a great barbecue sauce should be.
Ingredients
  • 3 yellow onions, chopped
  • 8-10 cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ cup canola or vegetable oil
  • 2 cups tomato paste
  • 2 cups Dijon mustard
  • 1½ cups apple cider vinegar
  • 2 cups molasses
  • 1 cup raw or brown sugar
  • 1½ cups hoisin sauce
  • 1 cup Worcestershire sauce
  • ¾ cup low-sodium soy sauce
  • 4 tablespoons ground New Mexican chili powder (this is simply ground New Mexico Chiles. *See notes for help finding it.)
  • 2 tablespoons ground cumin
  • 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes

Instructions
  1. Add the oil, onions and garlic to a heavy-bottomed stockpot (to help prevent scorching) over medium low heat.
  2. Cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are softened and mostly translucent. Do not brown the onions and garlic.
  3. Stir in the remaining ingredients.
  4. Bring to a simmer (gently bubbling state) and cook, uncovered, over low heat for 30 minutes.
  5. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool slightly before blending until smooth, using either a stick (immersion) blender or a standard blender.
  6. You can either split into 1-cup portions to freeze, transfer to a jar with a tight fitting lid for refrigerator storage, or proceed on to canning the sauce…
To Boiling Water Bath Can the Sauce for Shelf Storage:
  1. Fill sterile canning jars to within ¼-inch of the top.
  2. Wipe the rims with a paper towel dipped in vinegar.
  3. Lay clean, new lids on the jars and screw on the rings to finger-tip tightness.
  4. Place in a canner with water to cover the lids by 2-inches.
  5. Bring to a boil, with the lid in place, and boil for 30 minutes for pint jars and 40 minutes for quarts.
  6. Turn off the heat and let the jars rest in the water for 5 minutes before carefully transferring jars to a cooling rack to rest for 24 hours.
  7. Remove rings, wipe jars, label and store in a cool, dry place for up to a year.
To Pressure Can the Sauce for Shelf Storage:
  1. Fill sterile canning jars to within 1-inch of the top.
  2. Wipe rims with a paper towel dipped in vinegar.
  3. Place lids on jars and screw on rings to finger-tip tightness.
  4. Place in a pressure canner according to your manufacturer’s instructions.
  5. Process at 10 pounds of pressure for 20 minutes for pints and 25 minutes for quarts.
  6. Allow the pressure canner to come back to atmosphere naturally. (Do not cool canner by pouring water over it.)
  7. Transfer the jars to a cooling rack to rest for 24 hour hours.
  8. Remove rings, wipe jars, label and store in a cool, dry place for up to a year.

Notes
If you opt to freeze the sauce, be sure to do so in serving sized portions. It doesn’t do you any good to have a ¾ gallon block of rock-solid, frozen barbecue sauce in the freezer! *If you’re having difficulty finding Ground New Mexico Chile Powder, see the Pantry Builder link below the recipe.

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Foodie With Family Pantry Builder:

(In the interest of disclosure, please know that these links take you to Amazon.com. If you buy something I link to, I get a very small commission from Amazon. It does not increase your price at all. This is the same price I pay for it because I buy it from Amazon, too.)

New Mexico Chile Pepper, 1.9-Ounce Jars (Pack of 6)New Mexican Chili Ground, 16-Ounce Jars (Pack of 3)

 

Filed Under: Canning, Condiments, Rebecca, Recipes

Homemade Hamburger Buns and a Giveaway!

May 23, 2011 by 43 Comments

Would you believe I’ve been writing here for three years?  Three years! I can hardly believe it. So much has changed over these years both in the ‘real world’ and here at my home on the internet. We moved to an Amish farmhouse, grew a teenager out of a little boy*, saw the end of the diaper era in our home (and my teenager would appreciate it if I’d point out that it wasn’t him wearing diapers a mere three years ago.), published more than three hundred recipes here, learned a little bit about using a camera, and made a lot of great new friends.

*The fact that I have a teenager sends my brain reeling. It’s not because of the ‘fear of the teenage years’ because my teen is a really awesome human. What knocks me out is the fact that I’m old enough to have one. If you’ll pardon me just a moment, I’m going to go double over and hyperventilate for a bit.

Three years ago, I posted the recipe for my favorite homemade burger rolls. If you look at the old post, you’ll see what I mean about changes. And yet, with everything that has become different in one way or another, these buns have remained our favorite hamburger and sandwich roll for more than just my tenure here on the interwebs. They have the staying power of a recipe that will in all likelihood -judging by the prodigious quantities eaten at mealtime- be one my kids make when they’re out on their own. They are truly that good.

With Memorial Day weekend -and with it the start of “official” grilling season- starting in seventy-two hours, it is time to get busy with our best summer-esque, barbecue and grill friendly recipes. This one is going to be what elevates whatever you choose to serve, whether it be hamburgers, grilled chicken or ham sandwiches, or a sliced, ripe tomato with mayonnaise and a paper thin layer of Vidalia onion.

Because the old post was still in my “play with the format” era, I’ve updated the recipe here to use my handy-dandy, new-fangled printable recipes. The old post will remain up, crazy formatting and all, to keep the beautiful comments from people who have become great friends and to remind me of how far I’ve come.

If you’re into compare and contrast, you’ll notice that this recipe is nearly identical to my homemade hot dog buns. The hot dog buns are formed differently and brushed with buttermilk. And in the old post, I specified using a water/egg yolk wash before topping the buns. These days,  instead of a water and egg yolk wash on the buns, I’ve changed to an egg-only wash. This is a matter of personal preference. I like my buns (heh) with a little richer colour to them and I think the egg-only wash does that better. Besides, I’m awful at saving and using single leftover egg whites, so this is a two-birds-with-one-stone moment. Birds? Eggs?*

*Clearly one thing that has NOT changed is my love of really bad jokes.

5.0 from 4 reviews

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Homemade Hamburger Buns
Author: 
Recipe type: Bread
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 12
 

Golden brown, shiny, soft but sturdy, these hamburger/sandwich buns are good enough to steal the show from whatever you put on them. Whether you use them for glorious grilled burgers or simple fresh tomato sandwiches, happiness is guaranteed!
Ingredients
Ingredients for the dough:
  • 1¼ cups lukewarm milk
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 6 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature, cut into pieces
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 4 cups bread flour (You can substitute all-purpose flour if necessary.)
  • 3 tablespoons instant potato flakes
  • 1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten (optional, but it improves the final texture.)
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoons instant yeast
To glaze the rolls:
  • 1 large egg, beaten well
Optional toppings;
  • poppy seeds
  • sesame seeds
  • dehydrated garlic flakes (or minced garlic)
  • dehydrated onion flakes (or minced onion)
  • rosemary
  • coarse salt
  • caraway seeds
  • coarsely ground black pepper

Instructions
To mix dough in a bread machine:
  1. Put all dough ingredients in the pan. Program bread machine for the dough cycle and hit start.
To mix dough in a stand mixer:
  1. Put all dough ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix on low speed for 10 minutes, or until a smooth, elastic dough is formed. Remove the bowl from the mixer, cover with a tea towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1-2 hours.
To mix dough by hand:
  1. Add all dough ingredients to a large mixing bowl. Use a sturdy wooden spoon or your hand to stir until a shaggy dough forms. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until a smooth, elastic dough forms, about 15 minutes. Place in an oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1-2 hours.
  2. To form rolls:
  3. Lightly grease an 11-inch by 13-inch baking sheet or line with a silpat or parchment paper. Set aside.
  4. Divide dough into 3 equally sized pieces and form into logs.
  5. Divide each log into 4 equal pieces.
  6. Cup your hand over one piece at a time and roll in a clockwise motion until the surface of the roll is smooth and it has formed a tight ball.
  7. Transfer to the lined baking sheets, leaving about 3 inches between rolls.
  8. Flatten gently with the palm of your hand, and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until puffy, about 30 minutes.
  9. Preheat oven to 375°F.
  10. Brush the puffy dough generously with beaten egg and sprinkle with desired toppings.
  11. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until deep golden brown.
  12. Cool the rolls on a rack for at least 10 minutes before slicing.
To store leftovers:
  1. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature for up to two days. They can be wrapped tightly and frozen for storage up to a month.

Notes
Choose the toppings for your rolls based on what you plan to serve inside them. For hamburgers, the sky is the limit, top it with as many things as you’d like. For grilled chicken, try a combination of rosemary, coarse salt and black pepper. For ham sandwiches, top with minced onion. For pulled pork or beef, top with minced onion, minced garlic and black pepper. For beef-on-weck, top with coarse salt and caraway seeds.

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This brings me to my giveaway. I’d like to give away a jar of my semi-demi-hemi famous Candied Jalapenos to two readers here plus one to a Facebook or Twitter follower. (Speaking of things that make burgers and sandwiches better…) It’s a two-birds-with-one-stone moment, too.

Do you have a thing for spicy food or have a loved one you’d like to give these to as a gift? Here’s how you get in the running… Tell me you want some in the comments. If you’re a Facebook or Twitter follower and you want one let me know! As usual, I’m not big on the complicated contest rules. I just wanted to thank you all.

…I do have a little request, though. Could you please tell me what types of things you’d like to see here? Would you like more step-by-step tutorials? More frugal meal options? More ethnic food? More money-saving tips? More desserts? Okay. You caught me. The fact is, there will always be desserts here. There’s no getting out of that, but otherwise, what do you want to see? I can’t wait to see where we all take each other in the next three years.

Thank you all!

Filed Under: Bread, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: , , ,

Cinnamon Rolls on a Stick

May 20, 2011 by 6 Comments

Why is it that when you put food on a stick it tastes better? This isn’t just a Minnesota/Midwest thing. This is worldwide. Every country on earth has a favorite food-on-a-stick.

Is it that we all secretly want to be Paul Bunyan, able to uproot pine trees and use them as toothpicks? Do we all have a lumberjack-giant-in-a-flannel-shirt complex? Maybe we all want to be Harry Potter, wand at the ready to make delectable treats magically appear. Accio Corndog! Engorgio Hot-Chocolate-on-a-Stick! Yes, please. And now.

Whatever the reason, even if it’s a simple an explanation as the desire to hold food in one hand and a cold drink in the other with no interruption, the universal appeal  is undeniable. The next time you hit a county fair or -God love you- a state fair, have a look at the faces of everyone flitting around the corndog, candy apple and pickle-on-a-stick vendors. I guarantee smiles.

And while we’re on the subject of food that makes everyone happy, let’s talk about cinnamon rolls for a moment. It was an awfully brilliant thing to do, that first ever cinnamon roll. Surely they’ve achieved sainthood for that alone. These days there are more versions of cinnamon rolls out there than you can possibly count but they are all essentially bread, butter, sugar, and cinnamon packaged up nicely for your eating pleasure.

Anyone who has spent a little time slogging around food blogs has probably heard of Pioneer Woman’s cinnamon rolls. They’re everywhere. Everyone is making them. Everyone including my little sister, Christina, (an accomplished chef) who called me and said, “Have you MADE these yet? The dough is a dream. Grandma and Grandpa said they’ll buy ingredients if Aunt Gerri promises to keep them in cinnamon rolls. You have to make them.” This was followed by a call from my stepmom who said, “They really are good. And I did a bunch of different versions with them. You need to try them.” Okay. I can take a hint. Subtle as they were, I was picking up on the fact that they really liked the rolls.  I whipped up a batch of the dough and parked it in the refrigerator for a couple days (PW handily pointed out that it would sit comfortably in the chill chest until you were ready to make zee rolls.)

For no good reason at all, I waited until the last possible moment to make the rolls. Inspiration had left the building with Elvis. I was feeling very not-cinnamon-roll-makery. However, I hate to waste food, so I dragged myself to the kitchen in a “get it over with” frame of mind. While getting out my rolling pin, I knocked down a package of caramel apple sticks and Elvis reentered the house arm-in-arm with inspiration. I was going to put my cinnamon rolls on a stick, dangit.

Christina and Val were right. The dough rolled out like a dream, I poured on melted butter, shook on raw sugar and loads of Korintje Cinnamon, then rolled, sliced, and skewered like a mad woman*.

*If you’re familiar with her recipe, you know that it makes approximately 4,000 cinnamon rolls per batch. I put half of the batch on sticks and stuck the other half into greased pans, as specified. If you want to skewer the whole batch, you’ll need more candied apple sticks than I had or a good source of popsicle sticks. Because I love you, I’ve halved her recipe for this situation so that you don’t have cinnamon rolls on a stick coming out of your ears.Yes. Me. I halved a recipe. This is a banner day.

In lieu of glazing all of the cinnamon rolls I opted to up the ante and make it that much more fun. I made a creamy, warm vanilla bean dippable glaze. I misjudged the quantity needed and ended up with roughly a gallon of the stuff. My kids were happily dunking their mitts into the container long after the cinnamon rolls were gone. There were glazed handprints on doors, windows, dressers, mirrors and the back of my shirt. I promise you the glaze recipe has been appropriately sized since then.

Can you imagine the joy of cinnamon rolls on sticks? My kids went bonkers for them. They lounged around, feet up, munching happily through the entire batch. And there were smiles. Oh. The smiles were abundant.

P.S. Picture these, wrapped up with cellophane and ribbons at a bake sale. I bet they would sell so quickly they would practically vaporize.

P.P.S. On a completely unrelated note, I get a fit of the giggles every time I write a recipe up that includes the instructions “Cool to lukewarm.” I have a little brother named Luke.  You see the issue? I visualize everyone testing their lukewarm mixture against my brother.  He’s a cuddly guy. He might not mind.

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Cinnamon Rolls on a Stick
Author: 
Recipe type: Dessert, Breakfast
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 24
 

Melt-in-your-mouth, buttery, tender Cinnamon Rolls on a Stick served with warm, creamy Vanilla Bean Glaze as dip. Breakfast just got seriously fun.
Ingredients
Ingredients for cinnamon roll dough:
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • ½ cup canola or vegetable oil
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 2¼ teaspoons instant yeast (or 1 packet active dry yeast)
  • 4 cups +1/2 cup, separated, all-purpose flour
  • ¾ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
Ingredients for filling:
  • 1 stick (8 tablespoons) melted butter
  • 1 cup raw sugar
  • ¼ cup ground cinnamon
Ingredients for Vanilla Bean Glaze Dip:
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • ½ cup warm whole milk or half and half
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract (preferably with flecks of real vanilla bean)
  • Optional: 1 teaspoon ground vanilla (see below recipe for source)

Instructions
  1. Stir together milk, oil, and sugar in a large, heavy saucepan over medium high heat.
  2. Stir frequently until it is quite hot and bubbles form around the edge of the pan.
  3. Remove the pan from the heat and cool to lukewarm.
  4. When the milk mixture is lukewarm, sprinkle the yeast over it and let it sit, undisturbed, for 1 minute.
  5. Mix 4 cups of all-purpose flour into the milk and yeast mixture until there are no dry pockets of flour.
  6. Let rise for an hour in a warm, draft-free place.
  7. After an hour, stir in the baking soda, baking powder, and remaining cup of flour until you have a cohesive dough.
  8. Place pan in the refrigerator, lightly covered with plastic wrap, for up to 2 days.
To prepare the rolls:
  1. Line 4 cookie sheets (or half sheet pans) with parchment paper, silpats or teflon baking liners (or grease generously.)
  2. Sprinkle a clean counter generously with flour.
  3. Turn the dough onto the counter and pat into a rectangle.
  4. Roll out into a long rectangle that is about ¼-inch thick.
  5. Pour the melted butter evenly over the dough.
  6. Scatter the raw sugar evenly over the butter.
  7. Sprinkle the ground cinnamon evenly over the sugar.
  8. Starting at the edge closest to you, roll the dough tightly into a tube then pinch the seams to seal.
  9. Use a bench knife or other knife to cut the dough into 1-inch thick rounds.
  10. Transfer each round to the prepared pans, being sure to leave 3-4 inches between each roll.
  11. Carefully insert a popsicle stick or caramel apple stick into the side of each roll of dough. Gently turn the stick a little from side to side while pushing further into the roll. The stick should go almost all the way through stopping just short of exiting the other side.
  12. Let rise for 30-40 minutes, or until puffy.
  13. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the rolls are deep golden brown.
  14. Cool on pans for 15 minutes before transferring to racks to cool completely. (See notes.)
  15. When rolls are completely cool, whisk together the powdered sugar, warm milk, melted butter, and vanilla(s) until smooth. Serve the warm glaze with the cooled cinnamon rolls.

Notes
If you try to eat these off of the stick while still warm, they have a tendency to disintegrate. It’s best to serve them completely cooled with warm glaze for dip.

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Foodie With Family Pantry Builder
Ground Vanilla BeansKorintje Cinnamon

Filed Under: Bread, Breakfast Foods, Rebecca, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , ,

Pineapple Upside Down Carrot Cake

May 18, 2011 by 10 Comments

I’m going to apologize to anyone who is on a diet or watching their waistline or avoiding sweets right now and get it out of the way. I also tender my deepest and most sincere apologies to carrot cake and pineapple upside down cake addicts because what I’ve done? Well, it’s dangerous.

Really dangerous.

My heart is heavy. So is the rest of me after eating more than my fair share of this cake. Please forgive me.

Apologies completed, I also have to tell you something. I am not usually a cake person. Cakes are alright, I guess. I won’t turn a piece down at a party, but I’m also not going to take the last piece from the buffet table. “Someone else who loves cake should eat this. Not me,” goes my usual reasoning. I don’t so much like frosting (unless it’s cream cheese*).  You could say I’m very meh on cake.

*Do you see the cream cheese commonality? The truth is, I’d sit down with nothing more than a block of cream cheese and a spoon pretty happily, so if you slather it on or bake it into just about anything I’m there.

There are a couple of notable exceptions. I love upside down cakes; pineapple, cranberry, blueberry, apple, whatever. You put butter, sugar, and fruit under cake batter and let it caramelize and I’ll beat you with a stick if it gets me to that cake before you. And I’m pretty keen on carrot cake. You know I have certain rules about certain foods, right*? Carrot cake is another one of my high maintenance areas.

*Rutabagas in my pasties, chunky guacamole, etc…

As you read my rules, it will be clear that I am in the pared-down-carrot-cake-club. I like my carrot cake without chunks of stuff distributed throughout it. My carrot cake rules can be summed up in one sentence, “I’ll omit that.” To be clearer:

  • No nuts please. I love to munch a handful of toasted walnuts, I just don’t love them in my carrot cake.
  • No dried fruit please. This includes dry, flaked coconut. See the above note on nuts.
  • Carrot cakes are not an excuse to throw out hundreds of years of cake-baking knowledge. If you use heavy ingredients (coarse whole wheat, honey instead of sugar, etc…) you will end up with a hockey puck of a cake. And while I love hockey, it belongs nowhere near my carrot cake. (Unless I’m sitting on the couch watching hockey whilst eating carrot cake, that is.)
  • No pineapple stirred into the carrot cake batter. See the notes on nuts and dried fruits.

“Ah ha!” says the stirring-stuff-into-the-carrot-cake crowd, “Then why are you making a Pineapple Upside Down Carrot Cake? Doesn’t that break your silly rule?” In a word? No.

The beauty of the upside-down cake family is that the fruit caramelizes. The fruit here gets sticky, dark, deep brown bits and highly developed caramel flavours that you simply cannot achieve by stirring that poor, sad, lonely, pale pineapple into the cake batter. In my book, caramel equals a big, fat win.

Of course, my dear stirring-stuff-in crowd, you may certainly stir stuff in here if it is what makes your days a little brighter. But I think the caramelized bits of pineapple stuck to the top of the cake will be enough to flic your Bic. I really, honestly do.

Oh hey, if you were to toss a little scoop of vanilla ice cream on your piece of warm cake you’d probably be a pretty happy person. Happy. Very happy. And then you’ll probably get a little mad at me. I did apologize though, and if you made it this far, I’m going to go out on a limb and say you’ve forgiven me. So, let’s just grab another piece of cake and make nice, okay?

P.S. If you want to make this over-the-moon, prepare it with Bourbon Vanilla Infused Raw Sugar.  You’ll be so glad you did. Or mad. Your choice.

The base recipe for this beautiferous creation comes from the recipe for Ultimate Carrot Cake by Zoe François of Zoe Bakes. I omitted the dried fruit, walnuts, frosting and coconut and then performed a little upside-downing with pineapple operation.

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Pineapple Upside Down Carrot Cake
Author: 
Recipe type: Dessert
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 6-8
 

Caramelized, deep brown, buttery pineapple crowns perfect, sweet carrot cake. Top warm pieces with vanilla ice cream or a drizzle of creme fraiche for an over-the-top indulgent treat.
Ingredients
Ingredients for cake batter:
  • 1 pound finely grated then chopped carrots (see notes)
  • 4 extra large eggs at room temperature
  • 1½ cups granulated sugar
  • 1¼ cups canola oil
  • ⅔ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
  • finely grated zest of one orange
  • 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1½ teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • a pinch of ground cloves
Ingredients for pineapple caramel layer:
  • 4 tablespoons of butter, softened to room temperature
  • ½ cup raw (turbinado) sugar, (preferably Bourbon Vanilla Raw Sugar. Instructions on how to prepare this are available here on Foodie With Family.)
  • 1 cup crushed pineapple, drained of juice and squeezed lightly to remove more juice

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
To prepare the Pineapple Caramel Layer:
  1. Spray a bundt pan (or six individual sized bundt pans) with non-stick cooking spray.
  2. Break off pieces of the softened butter and dot the bottom of the pan evenly. (If using mini bundt pans, divide the butter evenly between them.)
  3. Sprinkle the turbinado sugar over the butter. (Again, if using the individual bundt pans, divide the sugar evenly between the pans.)
  4. Evenly distribute the pineapple over the sugar.
To prepare the Carrot Cake batter:
  1. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, granulated and brown sugar, oil, vanilla extract and orange zest.
  2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and all the spices in a large mixing bowl.
  3. Pour the liquids into the dry ingredients and stir together with a wooden spoon until there are no more pockets of dry ingredients.
  4. Add the carrots all at once and fold into the batter.
  5. Scrape the batter evenly into the prepared pan(s). The batter should rise no higher than ⅔ of the way up the pan.
  6. Bake 25-30 minutes for mini-bundt pans or 60-70 minutes for a regular bundt pan, or until a straw inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. (If using mini pans, test each cake.)
  7. Let the cake rest in the pan(s) for five minutes before turning onto a serving platter.
  8. For best flavour, serve while still warm.

Notes
Zoe Francois suggested coarsely grating the carrots in the food processor then chopping them with the blade a bit. I opted to grate my carrots on the fine-grating disc in my food processor followed by pulsing them with the blade for a finer texture to the carrots in my cake. This accomplished two things. It made it a far easier sell for the anti-vegetable gruesome twosome in my house in addition to creating a lighter textured end product. I liked the fine texture so much that I’ll carry on doing it this way long after the gruesome twosome comes out of this veg phobic phase.

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Filed Under: Desserts, Rebecca, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , ,

Homemade Hot Dog Buns

May 17, 2011 by 28 Comments

I make my own hot dog buns.

I’ve had a couple friends tell me -in the most loving way possible- that I’m off my nut for making hot dog buns. “You can get them anywhere! You’re certifiable!”

Why in heaven’s name would I make hot dog buns when there are so many available to buy? The short answer is because I have never been able to buy a hot dog bun that holds a candle to these*.

*Every hot dog bun I’ve ever purchased has one or more of three massive problems; too soft, too stale, too crumbly. More often than not, that’s compounded with funky, nasty preservatives and ingredients that I try to avoid giving my family. (Hellooooo, High Fructose Corn Syrup. I’m looking at you.)

These buns are the be-all-and-end-all, the ne plus ultra, the Hot-Diggity-Dog of hot dog buns. They’re buttery. They have real flavour! They’re soft on the inside with a fine textured crumb, but they have a little chew to them. Unlike their styrofoam store-shelf cousins, my buns hold up to whatever toppings you want to load onto your hot dog. Wanna Matlock dog*? These are the buns for the job.

*Does referencing Matlock age me? I feel my hair turning blue just saying it. Seriously, though, Matlock knew how to eat a hot dog. Because he was a real man, right? Just as real as Opie Cunningham.

Just look at this. Can you imagine a store bought roll that comes close to being able to do this?

I promise you that this held all of those toppings when I hoisted this chili dog to my mouth. It held on clear through the ritual sopping up of the chili from the plate.

For the record: Those friends who thought I was bonkers do so no longer because they’ve all eaten my hot dog buns now. They are convinced.

So yeah. It takes a little longer to make your own buns than to buy them. I’m not a nincompoop, though. I use my time and effort where it makes the biggest difference.  And here? It makes a world of difference here.

While it does take a little time, it’s not a difficult process. Before I get to the recipe, I want to show you how to form the rolls. If you already know how to do this, scroll to the bottom for the recipe. The key to making the best hot dog buns is to try to cut your dough into (roughly) equal-sized pieces before you begin forming it.

Each batch of dough makes fifteen standard sized buns or twelve large hoagie or Italian sausage style buns. I have a double batch here. You start by dividing each batch of dough into 3 pieces of equal size or weight. I’m partial to using my kitchen scale to ensure I’m breaking the dough down into close-to-equal sized  pieces. Is this necessary? Not strictly, but it makes my little inner Obsessive Compulsive Chef sing for joy. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, or refuse to use one on moral grounds, just eyeball it and do your best to break them down equally. Gently form each piece into an oblong log.

Cut each of the logs into 5 equal pieces for standard sized hot dog buns or 4 equal pieces for Italian sausage or hoagie rolls.  Working with one piece at a time, pat the dough into an oval. (You can see inches marked on the bottom of the dough mat I used.)

Use the edge of your hand to indent the dough down the length of the center of the dough.

Roll the dough around the indentation you created.

Lightly pinch together the seam.

Turn the dough seam side down and use the flats of your hands to roll it back and forth until it reaches about 6-inches in length. Tuck any funky shaped ends under so you have a tube of dough with flat ends.

After rising and before baking, brush the rolls generously with buttermilk. (Remember how easy it is to make your own?)

4.7 from 3 reviews

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Homemade Hot Dog Buns
Author: 
Recipe type: Bread
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 12-15
 

Homemade Hot Dog Buns elevate an ordinary hot dog meal into an extraordinary experience. Soft, buttery, flavourful, and able to hold up to infinite toppings, these buns put all supermarket rolls to shame.
Ingredients
  • 1¼ cups lukewarm milk
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 6 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature, cut into pieces
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 4 cups bread flour (You can substitute all-purpose flour if necessary.)
  • 3 tablespoons instant potato flakes
  • 1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten (optional, but it improves the final texture.)
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoons instant yeast
  • ½ cup of cultured buttermilk, for brushing

Instructions
To mix dough in a bread machine:
  1. Put all ingredients except for the buttermilk in the pan. Program bread machine for the dough cycle and hit start.
To mix dough in a stand mixer:
  1. Put all ingredients except the buttermilk in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix on low speed for 10 minutes, or until a smooth, elastic dough is formed. Remove the bowl from the mixer, cover with a tea towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1-2 hours.
To mix dough by hand:
  1. Add all ingredients except for the buttermilk to a large mixing bowl. Use a sturdy wooden spoon or your hand to stir until a shaggy dough forms. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until a smooth, elastic dough forms, about 15 minutes. Place in an oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1-2 hours.
To form rolls:
  1. Lightly grease an 11-inch by 13-inch baking sheet or line with a silpat or parchment paper. Set aside.
  2. Divide dough into 3 equally sized pieces and form into logs.
  3. Divide each log into 5 equal pieces for standard sized rolls or 4 equal pieces for larger Italian sausage or hoagie rolls.
  4. Working with one piece at a time, pat each piece out into an oval.
  5. Press an indentation down the length of the center of the oval with the side of your hand.
  6. Roll the dough up around the indentation.
  7. Pinch the seam together lightly.
  8. Roll the pieces gently seam side down until about 6-inches in length.
  9. Transfer to the lined baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch between the pieces, and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until puffy, about 30 minutes.
  10. Preheat oven to 375°F.
  11. Brush the puffy dough generously with buttermilk.
  12. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until deep golden brown.
  13. Cool the rolls on a rack for at least 10 minutes before slicing.
To serve as a hot dog or sausage roll:
  1. Make a slice down the center of the top of the roll nearly through to the bottom. Gently pry open with your fingers to hold the hot dog or sausage.
To serve as a hoagie or sandwich roll:
  1. Lay the roll on its side and slice it in half about midway up the roll.
To store leftovers:
  1. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature for up to two days. They can be wrapped tightly and frozen for storage up to a month.

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Filed Under: Bread, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: , , , , ,

Ultimate Guacamole

May 11, 2011 by 5 Comments

I adore guacamole. I eat it on tortilla chips, pretzels, in burritos, on hamburgers, fries, sandwiches, over rice, by the spoonful… Whatever is the fastest and most efficient delivery system available to get the guacamole from the bowl to my mouth is the one I’m going to choose. This is one of those foods that makes my eyes roll back into my head. It is, not to put too fine a point on it, the bees-knobbly-little-knees.

Guacamole is at it’s best when you can recognize everything that goes into it; bits of avocado, onions, garlic, cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper. If you’re adventurous and like little a little heat, mince up some jalapeños or serranos and mix them in with the rest. I like diced, seeded tomato in mine as well.

I am fully aware that there are more guacamole recipes on the internet than there are children in my house and that is saying something. There are bajillions. Everyone and their abuela has the best ‘recipe’.  I’m sure those recipes are just fine. But I’m high maintenance about guacamole.

Guacamole needs body! It needs oomph. Smooth guacamole isn’t guacamole at all, really. It’s just green chip dip.

I am a complete guacamole snob and I make no apologies. There are rules, people, and they must be followed.

  1. The avocados must be perfectly ripe. Perfectly. Ripe. This is truly the most important of all the rules. If you have lousy avocados, your guac will be inedible. And ugly. It might make you cry. (Don’t fret. I’ll share tips on avocado selection below.)
  2. Keep it simple. A truly great guacamole requires only five ingredients. My favorite has eight ingredients. You can embellish, but it’s not necessary. This is the time to be the Coco Chanel of cooking (remove one accessory.)
  3. There must be recognizable pieces of avocado in the guacamole. You can’t hide avocados in this dish, so why try? Remember: No Smooth Guac! (Hello. I am the Joan Crawford of Guacamole, apparently.)
  4. Don’t even think of using a spice packet. It’s unnecessary. It’s highway robbery. You don’t need those expensive little envelopes of unpronounceable ingredients of indeterminate origins. Stick with rule #2 and you’ll be golden.
  5. If it comes in a tub it’s not going to be great. It might be passable, or even tasty, but it will never be great. You can bet the bank on that one. It can’t possibly be as good as your homemade stuff unless they have some guy standing at the counter smashing the avocados with a potato masher in front of your eyes then loading the tub.
  6. (How could I have forgotten this? A friend reminded me:) ONLY use Haas avocados, for the love of all that is good and guac-y. Smooth skinned avocados are anemic on flavour and texture for this. And finally…
  7. Strictly speaking, this is about the serving vehicle and not the guacamole, but it’s important nonetheless. Use good chips to eat it. (If you’re dipping, that is.)  There’s nothing worse than making the world’s best guacamole and serving it on sad, crumbly, pansy chips. I love mine on homemade chips, but a good quality tortilla chip from the store is a nice alternative.

So now that I’ve laid OCD Chef’s smack down, let me say that yes, bad avocados= bad guacamole. I think a lot of folks are too intimidated to make guacamole because they think it’s hard to pick a good avocado. I want to reassure you it’s easier than you think to choose a perfect avocado (or choose one that will be perfect with a little T.L.C.  Keep these tips in mind…

  • Look for an avocado whose skin is uniformly coloured and does not have any obvious soft spots (darker, sunken areas beyond the normal bumpy avocado skin.)
  • Hold the avocado in your hand. Press gently against the base, the side and near the top of the avocado with the pads of your fingers. Did your finger push into the skin or feel like you were pressing on a ripe peach? That avocado is too far gone. Don’t get it. Did it yield a bit but still feel firm? That’s exactly the one you want. Proceed to the next test.
  • Rub your finger gently over the stem. It should pop away easily if it is perfectly ripe.
  • Store your chosen perfect avocados in the refrigerator for up to two days, checking every day. Perfect avocados do not store well for long!

Do you want to buy avocados to use in a couple of days rather than tonight? Still look for the uniformly coloured, firm avocados, but choose one that…

  • does not yield when gently pressed. You want it to feel firm. The firmer it is, the longer it will take to ripen at home.
  • holds onto its stem when the stem is rubbed with your fingertips or thumb.
  • does not have any obvious discolorations or softer spots.

When you get your under ripe avocados home, don’t put them in the refrigerator! Put them in a paper bag, then roll the top down two or three times and leave on the countertop until perfectly ripe. This can take anywhere from 12-72 hours, depending on how under ripe they were when you put them in the bag. When ripe, use immediately or refrigerate for up to two days.

Let’s get onto the cooking, shall we? All this talk about guacamole has made me very, very hungry.

5.0 from 1 reviews

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Ultimate Guacamole
Author: 
Recipe type: appetizer, side dish, snack
Prep time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 6
 

This simple 5-minute formula is everything guacamole should be; rustic, creamy, garlicky, full of lime, onion, cilantro, and tomatoes.
Ingredients
  • 3 perfectly ripe avocados
  • 1-2 fresh limes, to taste
  • 1 small Vidalia (or other sweet) onion, peeled and diced
  • 1 medium ripe tomato, seeds removed and diced
  • 1 small washed bunch of cilantro, leaves removed and coarsely chopped (*See notes for what to do with stems.)
  • ½-2 jalapeno or serrano chiles, seeds and stems removed then minced
  • 1½-2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced or pressed
  • kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste (start at ½ teaspoon and work up from there, if desired.)

Instructions
  1. Halve the avocados then remove and discard their pits.
  2. Use a serving spoon to scoop the avocado flesh from the shells into a mixing bowl.
  3. Squeeze the juice of one lime over the avocados.
  4. Use a potato masher or the bottom of a sturdy drinking cup to smash the avocados just to the point where it is a creamy mixture with recognizable pieces of avocado in varying sizes in it.
  5. Stir in the remaining ingredients.
  6. Taste the guacamole and adjust salt, pepper and lime juice, if desired.
  7. To store the guacamole, lay a piece of plastic wrap directly on its surface, smoothing and making sure there are no air pockets.

Notes
*Store cilantro stems in the freezer in a resealable bag. You can toss stems in with dried beans, soups and sauces while they simmer to impart cilantro flavour. Fish the stems out before serving! A word about guacamole’s reputation for getting ugly… Air pockets and exposure cause guacamole to darken. This does not change the flavour, but it does curb the visual appeal of the dip. So, to lengthen the amount of time that your guacamole stays pretty, be sure to follow the instructions to lay plastic wrap directly on the surface until serving time. Leftovers will store admirably when covered the same way for about 24-36 hours.

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Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Happy Healthy and Wise, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , ,

Brown Sugar Strawberries and Cream Mini Tarts

May 9, 2011 by 2 Comments

This is the story of a dessert that shouldn’t have turned out. It should’ve been an abject failure, but instead, it turned into a giant kitchen redemption tale and an awfully wonderful Mother’s Day treat.

It started out with a beautiful recipe. One that my good friend, Krysta, posted last year. Krysta has made her recipe countless times and it has been perfect. Many other friends, all of them accomplished home cooks, have made this and raved. So why shouldn’t it have turned out?

Because I failed to follow instructions. Big time.

The events that led to my crazy kludged and amazingly wondrous dessert started out innocently enough; Last Friday I went grocery shopping.  Grocery shopping is a big to-do for me. I do one really large shopping trip each month, so my list was rather lengthy and I was on a time line. (You can read more about that here.) The smell of strawberries hit me as soon as I got in the front door of the supermarket. That triggered the memory that I meant to make Krysta’s recipe and had never gotten around to it last year.

I grabbed a flat of strawberries and sallied forth further into the store to complete my task, confident that I remembered how to make her “Browned Butter Strawberry Mascarpone Tart”. This is where I made my first mistake. I had the name totally wrong. Hers were “Brown Sugar Strawberry Tart”. And my first mistake contained an embedded two-fer doozy of a goof-up. First, the recipe didn’t call for mascarpone at all. Anywhere. What it *did* call for, I will get to in a bit.

If you’ve been reading Foodie With Family for a while, you’re probably aware that when a recipe calls for mascarpone, I make my own. So since I mistakenly believed the recipe called for mascarpone, I decided to buy the cream to make my own mascarpone. Enter the second half of that mistake. I bought heavy cream instead of light cream or half and half. Mascarpone and Crème Fraîche are both made with light cream. But again, I didn’t realize this until later.

How much later? I didn’t realize it until I was home, groceries were put away and I had already cultured my cream. “Oh well, no biggie…” said I to myself as I put my newly minted Crème Fraîche into the refrigerator on Saturday afternoon*.  At least until I got to the next royal screw-up on Sunday morning.

*Normally, to turn crème fraîche into a quick mascarpone, you simply drain the crème fraîche in super fine cheesecloth for a couple hours. However, this was so thick -owing to the fact that I had cultured HEAVY cream- that it didn’t need to be drained to be mascarpone. This was great news until…

Sunday morning, I finally looked at the recipe over at Evil Chef Mom. The lightbulb that had hovered happily over my head since my Friday shopping trip blew its element. Dang. I was so wrong. So the recipe didn’t call for browned butter. That wasn’t the problem since I hadn’t browned it yet anyway. The problems were that I had a quart of mascarpone instead of crème fraîche and no heavy cream as called for in the recipe because I had cultured all of mine. I knew the heavy cream (which I didn’t have) she specified was crucial because as it was whipped into the crème fraîche (which I also didn’t have) it helped thicken up the cream filling. And the cultured heavy cream/mascarpone creation in my refrigerator wouldn’t whip up thick since it was already cultured. I’m nothing if not optimistic, so I mulled over my options and hit on a solution. It was simple! I would pass three little groceries on my way home from church. One of them was sure to have heavy cream in stock. I would still get my strawberry tarts, just slightly richer!

Evidently, every one in the three little towns through which I pass on the way to and from church was celebrating Mother’s Day by presenting vats of heavy cream and cultured milk products to their mummies, though, because the  shelves at all three stores were bare of all dairy products other than one sad little pint of half-and-half. I half-an-half heartedly grabbed that orphaned pint and trudged back to the car, certain that my long-time hoped-for dessert was not to be. I knew that wasn’t going to whip up  nicely either and I had committed to the dessert. Tart shells were cooled on the counter. (Because I had opted for mini tarts vs. one large one.) What to do?

I opened the refrigerator and looked around. My lightbulb started flickering again when I looked at the neufchâtel cheese (also know, horribly, as 1/3 Less Fat Cream Cheese!) on my shelf. Then the lightbulb threw out a massive beam. I could save this yet. I whipped eight ounces of neufchâtel in my mixer, added the mascarpone and some half and half and adjusted the sweetness and amount of vanilla accordingly. Voilà and ta da! A creamy, thick-enough-to-pile-into-a-tart-shell-and-top-with-berries filling! Oh joy! Oh relief! Oh happy Mama!

Oh yeah!

It wasn’t just okay. It wasn’t just passable. It was outstanding. The brown sugar shortbread tart shells were the perfect vehicle for the creamy, fluffy, slightly sweet and ever so slightly tangy mascarpone filling. But when topped with those fresh, fragrant, sweet,  bursting with flavour strawberries? It went to another level of heaven entirely. It was bliss.

I was feeling pretty full of myself with this triumph so I capped it all off by following one final piece of advice from Krysta. She had topped her tart with a small amount of fresh lemon thyme. No lemon thyme was available to me (big surprise, right? Since I was so good at following instructions on this recipe) but I did have English thyme popping up in the garden. A small sprig graced the top of each mini-tart. It was the crown on this royal dessert. The herbal green not only looked lovely against the vibrant, red strawberries, but the light perfume it lent the dessert was a special, unexpectedly delicious touch.

So yeah. I botched it royally and made something completely different, but wow. What a beautiful mistake. What should’ve been a disaster is now firmly on the “repeat often” dessert short list. Hopefully, I’ll get to try Krysta’s actual recipe some time soon. In the meantime, though, I might just keep messing this up, but this time it’ll be on purpose.

 

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Brown Sugar Strawberries and Cream Mini Tarts
Author: 
Recipe type: Dessert
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 9
 

Brown sugar shortbread tart shells are the perfect vehicle for the creamy, fluffy, slightly sweet and ever so slightly tangy mascarpone filling topped with bursting-with-flavour strawberries and a touch of fresh thyme.
Ingredients
Ingredients for the tart shells:
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons light brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 1 tablespoon corn starch
  • ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ cup well-chilled butter, cut into small pieces
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Ingredients for filling:
  • 8 ounces softened Neufchatel cheese
  • 1 cup (8 ounces) mascarpone
  • 1 cup (8 ounces) half and half
  • 3 tablespoons light brown sugar, firmly packed
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
For topping
  • 1 pound (about 1 quart) fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced. If you are making mini tarts, each tart requires about 3 berries.
  • Optional: 1 small sprig of fresh thyme per tart.

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Spray 9 mini tart pans (with removable bottoms) ~or 1 [9-inch] large tart pan with a removable bottom~ with nonstick cooking spray and place on a rimmed baking sheet.
  3. Using a food processor fitted with a blade, pulse together the flour, brown sugar, salt and cornstarch until evenly combined.
  4. Add the pieces of butter and vanilla extract to the food processor and pulse until you have very finely textured crumbs that hold together like a dough when you squeeze a small handful.
  5. Divide the mixture between the tart pans and press evenly over the bottom and up the sides, taking care to firmly press the sides so it holds together. Shake off any excess crumbs.
  6. Place baking sheet in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the edges are golden. (If using one large tart pan, bake closer to 22 minutes.)
  7. Transfer the tart pans to a cooling rack to cool completely.
  8. When tart shells are fully cooled, carefully push the bottom up through the tart pan, removing the cooked shell from the pan. If the shells seem sturdy, you can try to remove the bases as well, but if they’re even the littlest bit crumbly, leave them on the bases.
  9. Set the removed tart shells on a rimmed platter or baking sheet.
  10. Beat the softened neufchatel cheese on medium-high speed (in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer) until it is smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the mascarpone, half and half, brown sugar and vanilla.
  11. With the mixer on medium, blend, scraping the side of the bowl at least twice, until the mixture is smooth and even.
  12. Scoop the cream filling into the tart shells, mounding slightly.
  13. Arrange a circle of strawberries, cut side up, around the edge of the tart.
  14. Follow this inside with slightly smaller, overlapping circle of strawberries, cut side down.
  15. Complete the topping with a couple slices of strawberries arranged in the center.
  16. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours prior to serving.
  17. If desired, top each tart with a small sprig of fresh thyme just before serving.

Notes
You can, as noted above, use one large tart pan instead of nine miniature ones. If you opt to do that, simply arrange the strawberries in alternating circles of cut sides up and down for visual appeal. You can scatter minced thyme over the top prior to serving or top each slice with a small sprig.

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