Tag Archives: butter recipes

Collard Greens with Mulled Cider Spiced Butter and Ricotta Cheese

With fall comes vibrant leafy green vegetables, one of my favorites being collard greens. Most recipes call for a long cooking time but this recipe is a quick cook recipe. The greens are softened but still have some texture. They are also still a glorious bright green. The surprise ingredient is mulling spice. I buy mulling spices very year to mull cider or wine. One day I added the mulling spice blend to flavor some butter and the end result is a delicious, aromatic, and toasty brown butter that works great to sauté collard greens. The spicy flavor is balanced by the ricotta cheese which warms into the collard greens. Fabulous to eat and your house will smell like fall!

From by the bay, wishing you warm mulled spice food memories!

Maryann

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Belgian Waffles with Whipped Marcarpone Cream and Peaches

It’s County Fair Season and I sure do love it. Our local fair is pretty small in scale but scale is made up for in location, location, location! The fair sits on the edge of the sand and sea. Warm breezes and salty air waft over the fairground. A perfect time to be out enjoying the music, rides and the food. Let’s talk about fair food. I can enjoy the real deal as much as the next person – the funnel cakes, corn dogs, kettle corn, snow cones and all kind so of things fried, but I often wonder wouldn’t it be nice to kick it all up a notch and maybe not be eating just fried everything. I decided to create my own fair food menu, perfect with your next fair or family gathering.

From by the bay wishing you delicious country fair food memories!

Maryann

Belgian Waffles with Whipped Mascarpone Cream and Peaches

Makes 8

 

1 ½ cup flour

2 tablespoons fine sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 eggs

½ cup milk

¼ sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

¼ cup melted unsalted butter

Spray vegetable oil

 

Directions

 

In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Add milk, sour cream, vanilla and melted butter to the dry ingredients and mix well. Let batter rest for 5 minutes. Meanwhile spray waffle iron with vegetable oil andpreheat waffle iron. Add ½ cup of batter for each waffle. Cook as directed with iron until waffles are golden brown. Serve waffles with whipped mascarpone cream and freshly sliced peaches. Dust some confectionery sugar on top of the assembled waffles.

 

Whipped Mascarpone Cream

 

¼ cup mascarpone

¼ cup heavy cream

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons confectionery sugar

 

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and using an electric mixer, whip together until the cream is in soft peaks that hold their shape. Serve immediately with the waffles or keep in the refrigerator covered until ready to use.

Raisin Pound Cake

blog raisin cake
As I was thinking about what to write for my Mother’s Day blog, I decided to look through my Grandmother’s recipes. I love looking at the tattered, fragile pieces of paper, remembering the recipe, the family gathered for some occasion or just an ordinary day made special with the love that comes along with the food. The recipes are all hand written, many of them just a list of ingredients mostly for baking. I figured this is all Grandma needed if that, it’s in baking that you need the precise measurements. Most of Grandma’s recipes were committed to memory. Each time I try a recipe it’s requires a bit of work for me to figure out the technique to transform the ingredients in the recipe. So as I was looking through the recipes, I found this recipe for raisin cake. I have no idea the origin of the recipe, but what I do know that making the cake for my sister and mother while working on this blog, we not only enjoyed the cake but all the memories that came along with it.
From by the bay , wishing you a Happy Mother’s Day making your own special memories.
Maryann
blog raisin cake slice
Raisin Pound Cake
Ingredients
Unsalted butter and unbleached all-purpose flour or baking spray for the tube pan
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus 2 tablespoons
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 pound raisins
1 cup (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups superfine sugar
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
confectioner’s sugar, to dust on top of cake

Directions

Thoroughly butter the bottom and sides of a tube cake pan then coat the sides of the pan with flour, shaking out the excess or spray the sides of the pan with a baking spray.


Make the cake: In a saucepan add raisins and water until the raisins are just covered and bring to a boil. Strain raisins, discarding liquid and cool in a bowl.  After raisins have cooled, add 2 tablespoons of flour to coat the raisins. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside. In an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually, beating until well blended. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Beat in the lemon and orange zest. Alternately, add the flour and milk , then the raisins. Pour batter into the greased tube pan. Place on a baking sheet and bake cake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a tester comes out of the cake clean. Place tube on baking rack until cool. Use a knife to loosen sides and remove outer rim. Loosen cake around the tube. Take a sheet of parchment paper slightly larger then the cake and cut a hole in the middle to place tube through. Flip cake over into the parchment paper carefully.  Place on top of cake stand. Put the confectioner’s sugar in a sieve and dust the surface of the cake lightly with it. Serve.

Sage Biscuits

blog sage
This past weekend, as usual, I was the first one awake and puttering around the house. It was the first really crisp, clear and chilly autumn morning. I went out for my morning jog and on my way back into the house I spied my beautiful sage plant, growing in abundance. I grabbed some sage leaves went into the house and was inspired to make these biscuits. I served them for breakfast with apple butter. They would also be great with some salted butter to accompany any autumn dinner, such as roasted pork or some beef stew, just to get you thinking. This is a really easy biscuit recipe to enjoy anytime!
From by the bay wishing you great food memories morning, noon or night!
Maryann
blog sage biscuits


Sage Biscuits
Makes 12

Ingredients
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed
2/3 cup buttermilk, plus extra to brush top of biscuit
2 tablespoons minced fresh sage leaves
Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degree F. Place flour, baking powder, baking soda, sage and salt into a food processor and pulse. Add the butter and pulse until butter is pea size. Add the buttermilk and combine. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and roll or pat dough into a rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. Cut into 12 rounds using a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter. Place each round on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Brush each biscuit with some buttermilk. Place into the oven and bake for approximately 10 to 12 minutes. The biscuit should be golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Chocolate, Cherry and Almond Biscotti

a CHOCO BISCOTTI

With Thanksgiving over, the shift to Christmas happens immediately! We all know that it also mean’s that Santa Claus is coming to town! Santa loves himself some cookies and this one is a perfect match – big on taste and flavor. These chocolate biscotti cookies are made with almonds and dried cherries and then dipped in dark chocolate to make a delicious cookie perfect for dipping into your coffee or hot chocolate. So get your cookie trays ready because remember the the big fat man is coming……….real soon !

From by the bay, waiting to make food memories for the big fat man!
Maryann

Chocolate, Cherry and Almond Biscotti

24 cookies

1 cup dried cherries

½ cup almond slivers

½ cup unsalted butter

1 tablespoon shortening (Crisco)

3 eggs

1 cup fine sugar

2 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups all purpose flour

½ cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

6 oz good quality bittersweet dark chocolate

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F. In a bowl add dry ingredients, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Mix and keep to the side. Using an electric mixer, beat together butter and shortening until fluffy. Add sugar and beat well. Add eggs one at a time until well combined. Add vanilla until blended. Add dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Mix well until the dough is smooth. Using a spoon and  mix in the dried cherries and almonds. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and divide into two. Shape each half of the dough into a log approximately 2 inch high x 12 inches long.  Place the logs on to an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes on a baking rack. Place on a cutting board and using a serrated knife slice each log on the diagonal into 12 pieces approximately 1 inch thick. Place the pieces back on to the baking sheet and bake 8-10  minutes, turn the slices to the other side and bake another 8-10  minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Fill medium pot 1/3 with water and simmer. Add to the top of the pot a glass bowl that sits on the top of the pot to create a bain du marie. Add the chocolate and melt over the simmering water. Don’t let the water touch the glass bowl. Once the chocolate is melted use an offset spatula to cover the end of each cookie. Place chocolate on approximately 1/3 of the cookie on all sides. Allow to set at room temperature on a wire rack . You may also set in the refrigerator for a ½ hour to hasten the process.  Store cookies in an air tight container.

 

Citrus Pistachio Pound Cake

This buttery pound cake is filled with the taste of fresh citrus for tang and green pistaschios for crunchy texture. This cake looks and taste like the sunhsine in Spring.  Enjoy this dessert and say good bye to winter!! No looking back.From by the bay wishing you tangy citrus food memories!
Maryann

 

Citrus Pistachio Pound Cake
Recipe published in Bon Appetit 2012 from The Tasting Room in Houston Texas
 
Ingredients
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2 cups all-purpose flour plus more
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
5 large eggs
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest
1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
1 cup shelled, unsalted pistachios, coarsely chopped, divided
Directions
Arrange a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 325°. Coat a 9x5x3″ loaf pan with nonstick spray. Dust pan with flour; tap out excess.Whisk 2 cups flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2–3 minutes. Add sugar; beat until well incorporated, 1–2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating to blend between additions. Add juices and zests; beat until well combined (mixture will look curdled), 2–3 minutes. Add dry ingredients; reduce speed to low and beat just until blended. Fold in 3/4 cup pistachios. Pour batter into prepared pan; smooth top. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup pistachios over.Bake cake, rotating halfway through, until a tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 1/2 hours. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely in pan. Run a sharp knife around sides to loosen; unmold cake. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

Radish Butter

So it’s Sunday afternoon by the bay and we are anticipating yet another snow storm. Enough already!! I’m wistfully thinking of Spring. One of the vegetables I look forward to in spring is the radish. I love the crisp, fresh and spicy taste of this bright red root. I found this terrific radish recipe from the Lee Brothers. Matt Lee and Ted Lee are founders of “The Lee Bros. Boiled Peanuts Catalogue,” a mail-order catalog for southern pantry staples who co-authored The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook and Simple Fresh Southern, which is a must have cookbook for your library. This is their recipe for radish butter which I’m sharing below. Happy Eating!
From by the bay, wishing you some crispy and fresh food memories!
Maryann
blog radish butter
Radish Butter
 
Ingredients
1/2 pound round red radishes, trimmed, at room temperature
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, completely softened
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, or ½ teaspoon Maldon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground white or black pepper
About 24 thinly sliced rye toast points, toasted slices of French bread, water crackers, 2-inch celery sticks, endive leaves, or romaine heart halves
Directions
1. Put the radishes in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the radish is chopped into very fine dice, four or five 3-second pulses.
2. Transfer the contents to a length of cheesecloth or a double thickness of paper towels and wring out the excess liquid.
3. Transfer to a medium bowl and add 4 tablespoons of the butter.
4. With a rubber spatula, cream the radish and butter together, adding more butter 1 tablespoon at a time, until the mixture comes together in a smooth, pliable mass.
5. Transfer the mixture to a 2-cup ramekin or bowl, sprinkle the salt and pepper over the top, and serve immediately. (The butter will keep, covered with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
6. Remove it from the refrigerator 15 minutes before serving to let it soften. Sprinkle the salt and freshly ground pepper over the radish butter before serving).
 
Reprinted from The Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern: Knockout Dishes with Down-Home Flavor by Matt and Ted Lee. Copyright © 2009 Published by Clarkson Potter
 
Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 10 minutes
Yield: Serves 6
Matt Lee is co-founder of “The Lee Bros. Boiled Peanuts Catalogue,” a mail-order catalog for southern pantry staples. He is also a food and travel journalist whose work has appeared in Travel + Leisure, Food & Wine, GQ, The New York Times and Martha Stewart Living. He is co-author of The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook and Simple Fresh Southern.
Ted Lee is co-founder of “The Lee Bros. Boiled Peanuts Catalogue,” a mail-order catalog for southern pantry staples. He is also a food and travel journalist whose work has appeared in Travel + Leisure, Food & Wine, GQ, The New York Times and Martha Stewart Living. He is co-author of The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook and Simple Fresh Southern.
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