Pomegranate Ginger Muffins

It's now pomegranate season at my parents' house in Santa Barbara. My mother made a couple of batches while we were visiting for Thanksgiving, and I took a few pieces of fruit home with me to try this recipe for myself. I was surprised to find that I had already printed out the recipe about two years ago from RecipeZaar, and my mother found the same recipe on myrecipes.com, published by Sunset magazine. See the recipe here. The bits of pomegranate surprise you with a sweet tartness in every bite, and the lemon peel adds to a very fragrant muffin batter. This is definitely going to be an annual affair as pomegranates come back into season. I like to eat these warm for breakfast with some plain yogurt.

Easy Lime Mousse

The acid in the lime juice makes the cream congeal, so no cooking is necessary. It’s as easy as mixing and refrigerating! This is fantastic as a refreshing dessert.



Easy Lime Mousse
2 cups

4 limes, squeezed
1 can condensed milk
1 cup whipping cream

Mix all ingredients in a food processor or blender and refrigerate before serving.

Apple Crisp with Streusel Topping

My husband and I had a good friend over for dinner the other night. The goal was to make a very American meal so that our Korean friend could get a taste of what we eat here, and her favorite dish was the dessert, Apple Crisp. We served it warm with hand-whipped vanilla cream instead of ice cream, and it was delicious. Of course, we ate it so fast, I didn't have a chance to take a picture!! This is based on another recipe from my favorite cookbook, Heaven's Banquet. This recipe is for Jin Young, who is now back in Korea. We miss you!

Apple Crisp with Streusel Topping
Serves 6

Filling:
5 1/2 cups thinly sliced and peeled apples
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Topping:
1 cup unbleached white flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and butter a round 9-inch casserole dish. Mix all ingredients for the filling and spread evenly into the casserole dish. Combine all topping ingredients in a food processor and process until the mixture resembles course meal. Crumble the topping over the fruit. Bake until the topping is lightly browned and the apples are tender, about 45 minutes. Serve warm and top with vanilla ice cream or vanilla whipped cream.

Strawberry, Clementine, and Passion Fruit Salad

This is a lovely, colorful, fragrant, and flavorful fruit salad, which is good enough to be called dessert.



Strawberry, Clementine, and Passion Fruit Salad

24 strawberries, quartered
6 clementines, peeled and cut into sections
2 passion fruits, cut in half and centers spooned out
1/2 cup dry white wine

Place strawberries and clementines in a large bowl and spoon passion fruit on top. Pour wine over fruit and mix well. Chill until ready to serve.

Cherry Raspberry Crisp

My husband and I had a craving for dessert but had very little to work with in our pantry. The basic recipe for the crisp comes from Heaven's Banquet. As you may already know, I LOVE this book. The section on crisps gives several ideas for fillings and toppings, so you can pick and choose to make your own creation. For this version, we used frozen organic cherries and raspberries with an oatmeal topping. We ate it with a side of nonfat yogurt instead of ice cream to keep things healthier. Eating it this way, the dish can also be eaten for breakfast!



Cherry Raspberry Crisp
Serves 4

Filling:
3 cups frozen cherries
2 cups frozen raspberries
2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons sugar

Topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 375 Degrees. Butter a 9 inch round casserole dish. Mix all ingredients for the filling together and spread it in the casserole dish. Process all topping ingredients, except oats, in food processor until the mixture resembles course meal. Add oats and mix by hand. Crumble topping over the fruit. Bake until the top is lightly browned and the fruit is tender, about 45 minutes (or an hour if using a glass dish).

Amaretti

Amaretti
Originally uploaded by fidlerflute.

It's been a long time since I've posted, partially because of the holidays and also because I started a private, personal blog. Back to business!

I made these cookies as a gift for my husband's parents. We packed them with a pound of coffee and sent them off to Ohio. The recipe can be found here

Crepes Galore!

I finally found a simple recipe for crepes. They're done in no time, provided that you have a food processor and are able to make the batter ahead of time. Crepes allow you to be as creative as you want or to rid your fridge of leftovers. This morning, we made a sweet variety for breakfast and filled them with nutella and almonds, and other with yogurt and rasperries. Here is the basic sweet crepe recipe from the Joy of Cooking:

Combine the following in a food processor:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup lukewarm water
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (be sure that it isn't too hot when you mix it into the batter so as not to cook the egg)
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
Pinch of salt

Place in a bowl covered with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight for breakfast the next morning or let stand for at least 30 minutes. This allows the gluten to relax, and the batter will hold together better when cooking.

Use a non-stick crepe or omelet pan over medium heat. You'll know the pan is hot enough when you drop droplets of water on the pan and they bubble and evaporate after a couple of seconds. Use a ladle with measurements to measure slightly under 1/8 cup per crepe. Before pouring the batter on the pan, lightly butter by rubbing with a stick of butter. Lift pan off heat, pour batter and swirl the pan to evenly distribute the batter. Allow to cook until edges begin to lift away from the pan. Use a spatula or fingers to flip the crepe and cook on the other side for a few seconds.

I piled all the crepes on a plate and let my husband choose his fillings. This recipe makes 8-12 crepes depending on size and thickness. The crepes refrigerate and freeze well.

Happy crepe making!