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Homemade Ranch Dressing

Yesterday was full of kitchen disasters. You see our friend Adam is on a whorl wind cross-country tour, and stopped by our place for a visit. Since I am on vacation for another 5 days, I figured what better way to spend my time than to make a dinner completely from scratch. I had the menu all planned out, which consisted of homemade hamburger buns, black bean burgers (for which I even cooked my own black beans), home-fried potato chips, homemade ranch dressing, DIY oreos, and pina coladas – none of which I had ever made from scratch before. Despite the best intentions, while we were sitting outside because our apartment was too filled with smoke to breathe, I firmly decided that never again will I make an entire menu that I have never tried before when we have house guests :-). I also decided that on the rare occasion that we do fry something – John is going to be soley responsible (hot oil and I are not friends).

About halfway through the disaster, I wanted to scrap it all and go out to eat, but I’m actually really glad we didn’t because the dinner was salvageable and I got 2 keeper recipes out of it- the best ranch dressing you’ve ever tasted and out-of-this-world pina coladas. Plus, it made for some funny memories (picture John running through the house wearing chemistry goggles so that his eyes wouldn’t burn from the smoke). I really wish I would’ve taken pictures of all the mishaps that occurred, but I think I was too traumatized by the billows of smoke around me to remember. Here’s John and Adam recovering by playing super mario brothers:

Despite the fact that I slightly burned my hand, and that we all suffered from some smoke inhalation, this ranch dressing really made it all worth it… it’s that good! It’s the kind of thing that will literally make you eat every last vegetable you have in your fridge, and then some. I tend to have this habit of buying veggies with the best intentions of eating them for snacks, but then somehow I forget about them and then eventually they look unappetizing. With this ranch dressing around I’m pretty sure no vegetable will ever go bad in this house again.

It is the perfect summer treat – cool, refreshing, and goes great on just about anything. While I normally think of ranch with vegetables, I actually made this dressing to go with the homemade chips (that John ended up cooking). It’s coolness was the perfect complement to the warm, greasy, crispness of a potato chip. I also think it would be great for dipping pizza crust (if that’s your thing), or pizza bites , or you could use it as regular old salad dressing (but believe me, no salad will ever taste the same).

I know dressings get a really bad rap for being unhealthy, and I’m not trying to pretend that you should drink this dressing by the cupful – but it’s quite a bit better for you than the store bought kind. It also tastes worlds better than bottled “low-fat” dressing, despite the fact that it is made with low fat ingredients. Depending on your taste, you can alter the amount of parsley, chives and dill you want to put into this. I happened to add a lot, and it really gave the dressing that cool, summery flavor I was looking for. I probably added a full cup of greens (parsley, chives & dill), but I will mention that the dill flavor came through strongly, so if you add it, tred lightly. If you add any more than what I did, you will get something closer to a green goddess dressing – but nothing wrong with that, it will still taste amazing. So make this, no picnic will ever be the same.

Homemade Ranch Dressing

Makes about 2 cups. Stays good for 2+ weeks (but good luck making it last that long :-))

3/4 cup light sour cream
3/4 cup light mayonnaise
1 T. Olive Oil
1 T. Lemon Juice (or juice from 1/2 a lemon)
1 cup buttermilk (but you can use less if you like a very thick dip)
1 clove of garlic, chopped
small bunch chives
small handful parsley
2-3 dill springs (optional)
pinch of salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients except for 1/2 cup buttermilk in a food processor or blender, and blend until smooth (no need to pre-chop anything). Check the consistency, and add remaining buttermilk until your desired consistency is reached.

Adapated from Confections of a Foodie Bride

Posted by Spice Is Nice | June 23, 2011 | Categories: Dressings and Condiments, Salads, Side Dish | Tags: chives, dip, dressing, parsley, Ranch, salad, sour cream | 4 Comments

Blueberry Scones

Believe it or not, I used to order scones from coffee shops because I thought they were a healthy option. In my defense, they always tasted so dry that I figured they must be healthy. After making these scones, I realized that they don’t exactly get the title of “healthy” but at the same time, they are way tastier than their coffee shop counterparts. Plus making them gives you the right to talk in a fake British accent and pretend you’re Kate Middleton for the day.

While these scones might you feel like British Royalty, they are great for another reason – you can freeze them unbaked, and then bake them from a frozen state. This is a great option if you want to impress some overnight guests without having to wake up at 4 am. Just flash freeze them individually on a baking sheet,wrap, and store in a freezer bag until ready to use.

The only tricky thing with making these is that the dough is a little sticky. I found that forming the dough into a rough square, and cooling it in the freezer for 10 minutes really helped the consistency. I also added quite a bit of flour, but try not to add too much or you might run into the dreaded dryness of a coffee shop scone. This recipe, as shown only makes 8 scones, so I think next time I will double it, and bake one batch to eat, while keeping the others un-baked in the freezer for a later date.

Blueberry Scones

Makes 8 scones

8 tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter, frozen whole
1½ cups fresh blueberries (slightly less than 1 pint container)
½ cup whole milk (or see my post tomorrow on good substitues for whole milk)
½ cup sour cream
2 cups (10 oz.) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface
½ cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
zest of half a lemon (or 1 heaping teaspoon)
For Topping: 2 T. butter, melted and Sugar for sprinling

If you plan on baking the scones immediately, preheat oven to 425˚ F. Wash and dry the blueberries and place in the freezer until needed.

Grate the frozen butter on the holes of a large box grater. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and sour cream; refrigerate until needed.

In a larger bowl, combine flour, ½ cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon zest. Whisk to combine. Add the grated butter to the flour mixture and toss with fingers until thoroughly coated.

Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients and fold with a spatula just until combined. Transfer the dough to a generously floured work surface. Dust the top of the dough with flour, and knead with well floured hands, 6-8 times, just until the dough holds together in a ragged ball. Form the dough into a rough square, and place on a floured plate to chill in the freezer for 5-10 minutes.

Return the dough to the floured work surface and roll into an approximately 12-inch square. Sprinkle the blueberries evenly over the surface of the dough, and gently press down so that they are slightly embedded in the dough surface. Roll the dough up to form a tight log, so that the blueberries are in the center. Lay the log seam side down and press the the log into a 12 by 4-inch rectangle. Using a sharp knife, cut the rectangle crosswise into 4 equal rectangles. If your knife gets sticky, try flouring it. Cut each rectangle diagonally to form 2 triangles. Transfer to a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet.

If you are going to freeze these, flash freeze on a baking sheet for 20 minutes, then wrap individually and store in a freezer bag until needed. To bake, brush the tops of the scones with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 18-25 minutes (slightly longer if baking from a frozen state). Let cool on a wire rack before serving.

Slightly adapted from Annie’s Eats, Originally from Cook’s Illustrated Entertaining

Posted by Spice Is Nice | June 20, 2011 | Categories: Bread, Breakfast | Tags: Blueberry, Breakfast, English, Freeze, Lemon, Make Ahead, Scones | 2 Comments

Grilled Vegetable and Sun Dried Tomato Sandwiches

I first made this last year when my mom came to visit me in Toledo for pre-wedding preparation, and I remember her loving them so much that I wanted to make it again. Since John isn’t visiting with me this time (he has summer school), I thought I would try to eat some of the foods that normally he would turn his nose up at – this way I can get my fill, without having to torture him :-). While he’s never tried these sandwiches, he’s not a big eggplant fan, and it also seems that he normally prefers meals if there is some meat included. So these sandwiches seemed like a perfect lunch/dinner option for my solo visit home. However, after enjoying them so much – I might have to try to convert him.

This is a pretty simple recipe, and it becomes a lot simpler if you don’t worry about measuring everything exactly. The basic gist is to make a thick marinade with a 2:1 ratio of sun dried tomatos and basil, which becomes the base for the whole sandwich. You use this marinade to flavor the vegetables, and then you put some of the marinade on the sandwich itself. I chose to use sun dried tomatoes in oil, because I like to use the flavored olive oil in the recipe – it has a very strong flavor, which can be good or bad depending on your taste. If you prefer, dry packed sun dried tomatoes can also be used, but you will have to add a little bit more olive oil to the marinade. Whatever you use, know that the marinade is really what makes this sandwich.

Another great thing about this summery delight is the variety of summer vegetables it works with. I personally love roasted red peppers and eggplant, but I think zucchini, portobello mushrooms, yellow squash, or any other summer vegetables would be great. In addition, I used ciabatta bread here, but a french baguette would also be excellent. By chopping the roasted vegetables you could even serve this as an open faced appetizer – endless possibilities

Grilled Vegetable and Sun Dried Tomato Sandwiches

Make 4 sandwiches

1 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup loosely packed basil, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3-4 T. olive oil
pinch of salt and pepper
3 red peppers, cleaned and sliced into 2 -3 inch slices
2 small eggplants, sliced 1/4 inch thick
4 ciabatta rolls
6 oz goat cheese
spinach leaves for topping (optional)

1. Combine the chopped sun dried tomatoes, basil, garlic, olive oil and salt and pepper in a small dish.

2. In a large bowl, place the chopped eggplant and red pepper and toss with 2-3 T. of the sun dried tomato mixture.

3. Heat the grill to medium-high, and begin by grilling the peppers – I put them directly on the grate, but you could also use a grill basket if you prefer. The peppers will take longer to cook than the eggplant, so cook them for about 5 minutes and then add the eggplant. Continue to grill all the vegetables for 8-10 additional minutes, flipping half way through.

4. While the vegetables are grilling, slice the ciabatta rolls in half lengthwise and warm on the grill until slightly crisped. Top each with a generous tablespoon of goat cheese, followed by a tablespoon of remaining sun dried tomato mixture. Feel free to put goat cheese on both sides of the bread (if you are a goat cheese lover like me).

5. Top each sandwich with 3-4 slices of eggplant and 2 slices of roasted red pepper. Finish with spinach, if desired.

Inspired by Giada’s Recipe from the Food Network

Posted by Spice Is Nice | June 16, 2011 | Categories: Main Dish, Sandwich, Vegetarian | 1 Comment

Salmon Cakes with Lemon Yogurt Sauce

After 6 long weeks of studying (plus 2 years of med school), I finally finished that huge exam. Honestly, I will have no idea how it went until I get my score in about a month- but for now, I’m just celebrating being done! I spent the evening after my test in Toledo hanging out with friends, and then left the next day for a “vacation” to Brecksville with my Mom. While I put vacation in quotes, it really has been a vacation. Between a lot of wine and a lot of fun family time, we managed to make a trip down to the West Side Market. Of course, I had a blog menu all planned out – and my mom was really excited to take part in something that was going to go on the internet :-).

If you’re from Cleveland, or ever visiting, I highly recommend a trip downtown to see it. It’s a really unique atmosphere, with every other stand trying to sell you their best produce (or at least the produce they have too much of).

You can get some great deals on really fresh food, and they even have an indoor market where they sell meat, fish, cheese, baked goods, and even prepared foods like homemade pasta and crepes.

After getting all the ingredients at the market, we stopped at Penzey’s spices which is right across the street. I have wanted to go to Penzey’s for a while, so I was really excited that their new store happened to be so close. They have just about every spice you could ever want, including about 8 different varieties of cinnamon. I ended up getting poppy seeds, Ancho peppers and Garam Masala – all of which I’m really excited to use. And the prices are surprisingly reasonable ($8 total for my loot).

Now onto the Salmon Cakes! These babies have been one of my favorite dishes since way back when I was living in LA (that’s Louisiana not the cooler California version). I decided to try this recipe after Whitney had introduced me to crab cakes at Red Bar near Seaside, FL. I have no idea why I never tried a crab cake before this but I found that I loved them and am now constantly on the lookout for good ones.

However, the price of lump crab meat is daunting (especially here, far from the ocean), so I thought salmon cakes would be a nice alternative. These always prove to be delicious, and they are quite easy to make. I think the hardest part is removing the skin from the salmon filet – but most of the time the Fishmonger will do this for you, as long as you remember to ask.

While this recipe doesn’t call for a lot of ingredients, I think each of them is very important – so don’t skimp. I know adding pita to a salmon cake might seem a little strange, but the texture is much nicer than the usual breadcrumbs, and then you have some leftover pita bread sitting around your house (plus!). The coriander is the main spice, and it really complements the salmon well. If you like a lot of spice, feel free to up the cayenne pepper – but I usually only add a small pinch, and they are still plenty flavorful. Finally, the lemon yogurt sauce is a must to serve with these. It’s super easy to put together since you already zest a lemon and chop chives to put into the salmon cakes – the only other ingredient you need to buy is the yogurt itself.

I served the cakes with a cucumber salad – which complemented nicely but it not quite up to blog standards yet. Hopefully I’ll tweak it and share it with you soon!

Salmon Cakes with Lemon Yogurt Sauce

-Makes 4-5 salmon cakes or enough for about 3-4 people.

1 pound skinless salmon fillet, roughly cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 large pita round (~10 inches), torn into small pieces
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon coriander
small pinch of cayenne pepper
pinch of salt
4 T. total chopped Chives (divided)
2 teaspoons total lemon zest (divided)
2 T. olive oil (for sautéing)

For the Sauce:

3/4 cup plain yogurt
1 T. lemon juice
Plus half the chives and half the lemon zest from above

To prepare the yogurt sauce: Mix the yogurt, lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of chives and 1 teaspoon of lemon zest in a small bowl. Keep cold until ready to serve.

In a medium bowl, mix together salmon, pita, mayonnaise, egg, coriander, cayenne pepper, salt and 2 T. chives and 1 teaspoon lemon zest.

Form the mixture into 4-5 patties, about 3-4 inches in diameter. This can be done ahead of time – just cover with plastic wrap and keep in the fridge).

Heat the oil on medium-high in a large stainless steel skillet. Cook the salmon cakes on medium high for 3-4 minutes per side (6-8 minutes total), or until golden brown on each side.

Serve warm with lemon wedges and yogurt sauce.

Adapted from Epicurious

Posted by Spice Is Nice | June 14, 2011 | Categories: Easy Weeknight Dinners, Fish, Main Dish, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Studying all day can get a little old – so I really needed a change in my routine. I figured something new for breakfast would be a start. I secretly bought more bananas then we could eat, hoping some would end up “banana bread worthy” by the end of the week. And after avoiding the bananas all week, there were 4 bananas left on their last leg by Friday. Since I plan on eating this bread for breakfast, I figured what would be better than adding a little peanut butter to boost the protein, and the flavor. I found this recipe on Joy’s blog, which also happened to call for ground flax seed – more protein, more fiber – good stuff. After finishing off the raspberry bars in a ridiculously short time, I decided I needed to make a snack with a little more sustenance.

Then of course I had to go and ruin a perfectly healthy morning breakfast by adding chocolate chips to the batter. They were calling my name from the pantry, and I just couldn’t resist. I didn’t add too many. Promise. But really you could eat it for dessert if you so desire. You could also try adding butterscotch chips, or peanuts, or walnuts – or whatever happens to be calling your name from your pantry. I think next time I’m going to put both chocolate chips AND chopped peanuts – because I really love that peanut flavor. That’s one of the reasons this recipe calls for natural peanut butter – it has a much stronger peanut flavor than Jif.

This is a quick bread, and rightly named. It doesn’t take much time to make, and you don’t even need to get the mixer out. It’s pretty much just through all the ingredients in a bowl, mix, and bake. It’s moist and flavorful enough to eat just plain, but of course John likes to add butter to his.

Peanut Butter Banana Bread (with Chocolate Chips)

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 4)
1/3 cup plain or vanilla fat free yogurt
1/3 cup creamy all-natural peanut butter
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (or 1 cup whole wheat flour + 1/2 cup all purpose)
1/4 cup ground flaxseed meal
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 scant teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of allspice
1/2 cup chocolate chips, or chopped peanuts

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan.

In a large bowl, combine all the wet ingredients – bananans, yogurt, peanut butter, melted butter, and eggs. Mix with a wisk. Then add the brown and granulated sugar and stir.

Then add the flour, flaxseed, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and allspice to the wet ingredients. (You could also mix the dry ingredients separately in another bowl to start, but I don’t think it’s necessary).

Mix until no lumps remain and then stir in chocolate chips, or your mix-in of choice.

Bake at 350° for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center come out clean. Let cool slightly in the pan, and then remove from pan and cool on a wire rack. Removing the bread from the pan lets the air circulate, so moisture doesn’t condense in the crust – which can make the bread tough.

Check out those chocolate chips – yummmm.

Adapted from Joy the Baker, Originally adapted from Cooking Light

Posted by Spice Is Nice | May 27, 2011 | Categories: Bread, Breakfast | 1 Comment

Raspberry Crumble Bars

I’m really sorry for constantly tempting you with all these sweet treats. I really want this blog to be an even ratio of sweet treats to healthy dinners – but it just seems that all our dinners lately have been fairly un-blog worthy. Plus the fact that sweet treats just look so much prettier in pictures. At least these have raspberries in them, right?

I love raspberries. They are hands down my favorite berry. I know it’s not technically raspberry season yet, but as soon as I saw these raspberry bars on Brown Eyed Baker, I had a craving for them. My mother-in-law had given us some similar raspberry bars for Christmas last year, and to be honest I think I finished off the entire tin myself- John may have gotten ahold of one :-). They are delicious. They kind of taste like a raspberry pie, in an easy to eat bar form. When I finally left my dungeon (slash study room) to get groceries, I had my list all planned out to make these, and then the grocery store was completely out of raspberries. Sad day. But never fear, my knight in shining armor picked some up for me at costco. (Now of course I have an over abundance. Not complaining).

He also managed to get me this container of oatmeal:

Yes, that says 10 pounds. 10 pounds of oatmeal. I made 2 full batches of granola and have still barely made a dent in it. I figured these raspberry bars would help use some more of it up – but a 1/2 a cup out of a 10 pound box is really child’s play. So don’t be surprised if you see some more oatmeal using recipes around here.

Raspberry Crumble Bars

2½ cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided, cut into ½-inch pieces and at cool room temperature

¼ cup light brown sugar
½ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
½ cup pecans, chopped fine
¾ cup raspberry preserves
1 cup fresh raspberries (frozen can be substituted, just thaw first)
squeeze of lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Line a 13×9 inch pan with tin foil, overlapping on the edges and spray with cooking spray.

2. Combine flour, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Mix on low using a paddle attachment, then add 1 cup of butter, 1 piece at a time. Mix on low until the crust begins to crumble like sand.

3. Reserve 1 1/4 cups of crumb mixture (to be used for topping). Spread the remaining mixture into the bottom of the foil lined pan, and press down to form an even crust. Bake for 14-18 minutes.

4. In the meantime, combine the raspberry preserves, fresh raspberries and lemon juice in a small bowl. Mash with a fork, leaving bits of berries intact.

5. In a separate bowl, mix together oatmeal, brown sugar, crumb mixture and remaining 2 T. of butter. Using your fingers, pinch the mixture until the butter is fully incorporated.

6. Remove baked crust from oven and immediately spread preserve mixture on top. Then crumble the streusel mixture on top of the berries, covering the top.

7. Bake for an additional 25 minutes, or until bubbling. Let cool in pan for about an hour. Let cool completely before slicing.

Source: Brown Eyed Baker

Posted by Spice Is Nice | May 18, 2011 | Categories: Bar Cookies | 2 Comments

Chocolate Almond Biscotti

It’s Mother’s Day, and while I may be biased (aren’t we all), I think I have the best mom ever. She has taught me so much, and continues to inspire me, guide me, and encourage me through all of life’s twists and turns. I wish I could be with her today, but these pesky boards have me walled up in my apartment. (I actually wrote this post last week and saved it for today because I knew I’d be studying). Since I can’t be there to thank her in person for all she’s done for me, I really wanted to send her something in appreciation. I first started with the idea of chocolate-raspberry truffles, which I’m sure my mom would love but they need to be refrigerated and therefore are not mail friendly. Then I thought I’d make toffee, but I made this at Christmas and while it was delicious, it’s way to easy to eat all of it in one day (and then regret doing that). Then I thought about the fact that my mom, like me, is back in school. Speaking as a student myself, sometimes we just need a cup of coffee. I’m personally not a big coffee fan (diet coke is one of my guilty pleasures), but when I’m too tired to turn another page in my notes, coffee has been my friend.

I finally decided on these chocolate almond biscotti because they are perfect for a student, who can enjoy them with a cup of coffee during some late night studying. They also happen to be very mail friendly because they are sturdy and keep for a long time. If you’d like, you can pop them in the freezer and they will keep even longer. They are also delicious, but not so over the top that you will find yourself sneaking back to eat more and more – they are really best enjoyed dipped in coffee (although my mom loves chocolate, so I can’t really make any guarantees :-)). So thanks Mom for everything you have done for me, and for inspiring me with how hard you’re studying and how much your learning! I hope this biscotti make your late nights a little more enjoyable! Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there – you are truly appreciated!

Chocolate Almond Biscotti

– Makes about 32 biscotti

9 squares (9 oz) semi-sweet chocolate (or 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips)
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
5 T. unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 heaping cup slivered almonds
3 oz (1/2 cup) semi-sweet chocolate for drizzling (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 325°. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.

2. If using chocolate squares, coarsely chop them. Melt the chocolate in the microwave for 2 minutes, then stir to melt all the pieces.

3. Beat butter and both sugars together on high. Add the eggs and beat well. Then add the melted chocolate and vanilla. Slowly add the flour mixture, and mix thoroughly. Add the slivered almonds, as the last mix in.

4. Transfer dough to a floured surface and divide into 2 equal pieces. If the dough is too sticky, add a bit more flour. Roll each piece of dough into a log about 10 x 2 inches, and place on a baking sheet about 3 inches apart.

5. Flatten the rolls slightly by pressing down on them with a spatula. Bake at 325 for 40-45 minutes.

6. Remove rolls from oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Then transfer to a cutting board and cut each roll diagonally into about 16 pieces. (*A very sharp knife worked better than a serrated one for me).

7. Lay pieces back on the baking sheet, and bake (still at 325°) for an additional 20 minutes.

8. Finish by drizzling with melted chocolate if desired. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks or freeze for future use.

Adapted from Baker’s Chocolate Squares

Posted by Spice Is Nice | May 8, 2011 | Categories: Bar Cookies, Dessert | 1 Comment

Blackberry Lemon Tart

The last few days have made me realize something – it’s probably a good thing I normally have to study all day. In the last 4 days, which I self proclaimed my vacation before I start studying for the boards, I think I have gone to the grocery store 6 times, Bed, Bath and Beyond twice, and the mall once. Despite the fact that I meant for this to be a relaxing break, I created numerous little projects for myself, and then convinced myself that they absolutely HAD to be done. Things like making this blackberry lemon tart, from scratch. (One of the trips to bed bath and beyond was to buy a tart pan, which I clearly HAD to have to make this). But I’m not complaining, because it was all a lot of fun.

For the last day before we lock ourselves away to start seriously studying, our friends had a little dinner party. At first I really wanted to make cupcakes to bring, but when I saw blackberries at the store, I changed my game plan, and searched for the perfect spring time dessert that would use blackberries. Like I’ve said before, normally I’m a sucker for a chocolate dessert. I still can never see myself ordering strawberry ice cream when there’s a chocolate chip on the menu – but making a super chocholately dessert didn’t really seem to go with the nice weather, and I know a lot of our friends actually like fruit-filled desserts. I also happen to be a sucker for marscapone cheese, so I knew I would like this. If you’re worried about making your own tart crust – don’t be! It was a lot easier than I thought, and as much as I try to convince myself that store bought crust is just as good, this recipe proved me wrong. This is a great spring time dessert, and it actually quite easy to put together. The only part that requires baking is the crust, which can be made ahead of time. Just assemble right before serving so that the blueberries don’t bleed onto the filling.

Blackberry Lemon Tart

For the Crust:

1 egg yolk
2 T. ice cold water
1 t. vanilla or almond extract
1 1/4 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 t. salt
1 stick (8 T.) butter, very cold and cut into 1/4 inch pieces

In a small bowl, mix the egg yolk, vanilla extract and ice cold water. Keep cold.

Add the flour, sugar and salt to the bowl of a food processor. (If you don’t have a food processor, use a large bowl and pastry cutter, or 2 knives for the next steps)

Add the butter to the food processor and pulse until a fine meal is formed. Then add the egg mixture, and pulse until dough just begins to come together. Form dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into circular-like shape, a little larger than your tarte pan, and between 1/8-1/4 inch thick. To pick the dough up, roll it around your rolling pin, and then roll it back out onto the tarte pan. Press into the edges of the pan, and pinch off excess around the edges. To help reinforce the edges, you can fold the excess tarte dough back onto itself, and then trim any excess still left. Then chill tart for another 20 minutes (or until ready to bake)

When ready to bake, place foil on top of the dough, and fill with pie weights (which can be beans, peas, rice, etc.). NOTE: I used parchment paper on top of my dough, but did not bring the paper up around the tart edges. This causes the edges to fall slightly when baking so next time I will use foil, and cover the entire surface, so that the pie weights reach all the way around to the edges of the tarte, helping to support the structure.

Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until just golden. Remove pie weights and cool.

For the Filling

1 (8 oz) container marscapone cheese
3/4 cup light sour cream
4 Tablespoons powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons honey
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of 2 lemons
Blackberries for topping

In a small bowl combine all ingredients except blackberries, and stir vigorously, or blend with a mixer. Spread mixture into cooled tart and top with blackberries immediately before serving.

Adapted from The London Times

Posted by Spice Is Nice | May 3, 2011 | Categories: Dessert, Tarts | 2 Comments

Patio Herb Garden

School is finished! (Well sorta…) We are done with all of our classes for the 2nd year of medical school, but we still have “Step 1 Boards”, which is this huge test that covers everything we’ve learned in the past 2 years. It’s kinda important, so if you don’t hear from me for a while – that’s why. I take ‘um June 9th, but I’m still gonna try to post occasionally until then (fingers crossed). I actually made a few freezer friendly meals, and stocked up my freezer so there would be some homemade food, without having to worry about it while studying. I still plan on cooking, (I’ll need some breaks!), but I know it will be nice to have a few things to just pull out and bake. As soon as I do bake them, I will take some final product pictures and share them with you (provided they taste as good as I’m hoping :-)).

In the meantime, I’ll share with you my other project this week – an herb garden! Growing up, we had a shady backyard, so my mom and I would plant herbs in little pots and keep them on the deck. While currently, I live in an apartment and don’t have the choice of a yard, I can’t really see myself ever getting away from making a cute potted herb garden. It’s just so convenient to have everything right on your patio, and unless you’re Ina Garten, you probably won’t be needing more than a few pots of herbs.

There is something very satisfying to me about watching a garden grow under the warm summer sun, and with fresh herbs costing about $3 a pack at the store, having them fresh on your back porch is an added bonus. It is, amazingly, actually cheaper to buy an entire herb plant, then it is to buy cut fresh herbs at the store. I got each of mine for 99 cents at Monnette’s Market (that’s a local Toledo chain, but any farmer’s type market would be a great place to look). Here’s a few tips I’ve learned about potted herb gardens.

Potted Herb Garden

1) Don’t buy fancy ceramic pots and expect them to last all winter. Last year I bought some nice pots, planning on planting my herbs in them for years to come, only to have them cracked and demolished by the ice and snow. So this year I opted for the $5 Walmart plastic brand. They’re not as cute, but they do the trick. If you just can’t resist the ceramic pots, just be sure to bring them inside in the winter.

2) Fill about 3-4 inches of the bottom of the pots with stones. Or if you’re like me and had a bunch of cracked pots with no purpose – you can crack them up some more with a hammer, and use that in the bottom of your pots. This will help the soil to drain so you don’t end up with water-bogged plants. My mom and I used to use styrofoam packing peanuts, which are great because it won’t weigh the pots down – but it seems that almost everywhere now sells packing peanuts that “degrade when exposed to water” (obviously those won’t work, but it’s a good trade-off for the environment I think).

3) Don’t plant too early, and watch out for the frost. Last year I planted on the first nice day we had in the beginning of MARCH! This is too early for a garden in Ohio, (but it would’ve worked fine in Louisiana.) It can also freeze pretty late into the spring, so if there is a chance of frost, just bring your plants inside or cover them with a beach towel or plastic wrap for the night.

4) Plant a lot of basil. A lot of recipes treat basil like lettuce, and you might even need 2 cups for one recipe. You can really never have enough, and it smells so good on the patio that I would recommend planting a lot. A trick to make it grow more bushy is to plant it deep into the soil, don’t be afraid to cover some of the leaves. Another trick I learned from our friend Linda, is to always pluck the flower buds off – this will also help to keep bushy, rather than stalky.

5) Plant mint in it’s own pot. I almost avoided planting mint all together this year because I didn’t want to buy a separate pot for it, but then I remembered that my favorite drink ever is mojitos, and mint is pretty much a necessity. Mint needs its own pot because it is actually like a weed. You really couldn’t kill it if you tried. If you plant it with other herbs, it will strangle them out, so it needs it’s own pot.

So here’s what’s in my herb garden….

ANNUALS – annuals tend to need more water than perennials, so make sure to water them at least every other day in the hot summer.

Dill – planted with the soul intention of making some homemade ranch dressing. I can’t wait to share the recipe – it looks divine.

Parsley – a nice accent to most meals, especially italian. I end up buying it at the store bi-weekly anyway, so I figured having it on the patio would be nice.

Cilantro – the classic salsa flavor. You either hate it or love it, but I personally just don’t think it tastes like Mexican food if you don’t have cilantro.

Basil – pesto, pasta, with goat cheese on sandwiches, with tomatos, etc. I ended up planting 5 plants of basil in their own pot because the possibilities for basil are endless.

PERENNIALS – Unfortunately not all of my perennials came back in full force this year. The cracked pots caused their roots to be exposed to the cold – so I think they will fare better this winter with plastic pots. I also plan on wrapping the pot with plastic, and covering the soil with some mulch. I chose to plant 4 of my perennial herbs in 1 pot. I think 3 per pot would be much better, but I couldn’t decide which one to cut out. Plus having them all in 1 pot will make it much easier to take care of would be much better, This is pushing it, but I wanted it to be easier to take care of them over the winter. Additionally, generally the perrenial herbs have a strong flavor, so you don’t need a lot to make a big impact.

Chives – these came back in full bloom from last year, cracked pot and all. This is a hearty plant, and will also be used in the ranch dressing I can’t wait to make.

Oregano – great for meatballs or any greek dish

Rosemary – great on potatoes or bread, or as part of a dipping sauce with olive oil.

Thyme – great for poultry

Mint – a fast growing herb perfect for mojitos, desserts, and a variety of Lebanese dishes.

Posted by Spice Is Nice | April 30, 2011 | Categories: Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Cinnamon Sugar Pull Apart Bread

Have you ever made homemade cinnamon rolls? After receiving some delicious ones as a gift, we decided to give them a whorl ourselves this past Christmas. Yes, they were absolutely delicious – but they happen to be something that I’m not sure I can imagine myself making again. Just a little too much. Something I personally would prefer as a dessert , and with SO many wonderful options for dessert out there, cinnamon rolls wouldn’t be my first choice. It also probably had something to do with the fact that I think I ate 4 of them on Christmas morning and then felt like a dying sloth the rest of the day. So moral of the story, 4 cinnamon rolls = too much for me. But homemade cinnamon sugar pull apart bread = perfect.

This bread is really divine. It’s easier to make than cinnamon rolls, it’s unique and it uses ingredients I had around the house. I adapted it slightly from Joy’s original recipe, only because I almost never buy whole milk, and I hate buying it for the 1/2 cup that a lot of recipes call for. I know a lot of people just substitute skim – but I think of baking as a science, and I don’t like to mess with science. When you really think about it, skim milk even looks a lot different than whole milk. No milk mustache with skim. So I figured, what could I combine with skim milk to give me a milk mustache? Yogurt! The recipe came out great, even with fat free yogurt – but if you happen to have whole milk, just use 1/3 cup of it instead of the 1/4 cup milk and 2 T. yogurt.

Cinnamon Sugar Pull Apart Bread

2 3/4 cup flour + more for rolling
1 packet (2 1/4 teaspoons) quick rise yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 T. butter (1/2 stick)
1/4 cup skim milk
2 T. plain fat free yogurt
1/4 c. water
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs, slightly beaten

For the Filling

4 T. butter, melted and browned in a frying pan (about 5 minutes on medium)
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

In a large bowl, stir together flour, yeast, sugar and salt.

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, warm butter, milk and yogurt, until butter is just melted. Remove from heat, add water and vanilla and let cool for 3 minutes.

Using a spatula, stir the milk mixture into the flour mixture. Then add the eggs, and continue to stir with the spatula. Dough will be very sticky, but avoid trying to knead it with your fingers like I did.

If you must, add a little bit of flour. Just so that you can form the dough into some resemblance of a ball. This dough should be sticky so try not to overdo it on the flour.

Once formed into ball, place in a well greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour.

Once about doubled in size, place dough ball onto a lightly floured surface, and roll into a rectangular shape, about 22 x 14. ***Alternatively, you could refrigerate the dough ball at this point, and do the remaining steps the next day. (A good plan if you want this for breakfast).

Mix the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a small bowl. Spread the browned butter over the surface with a brush, then sprinkle sugar mixture all over the dough. (It seems like a lot of sugar – but it’s worth it).

Cut the rectangle into 6 equal strips.

Then lay the strips on top of each other, and cut again into 6 pieces.

Place the pieces in a well greased 9×5 loaf pan. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes more.

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. You might need to cover the top with tin foil to keep it from overbrowning. Remove pan from the oven, let rest for 20 minutes, then slide a knife around the edges to loosen the loaf. Remove from pan and serve warm.

Slightly adapted from Joy the Baker

Posted by Spice Is Nice | April 25, 2011 | Categories: Bread, Breakfast | 2 Comments

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