This Summer's Salad

Summer time always finds us avoiding using the oven as much as possible and looking for as many fresh recipes that require a minimal amount of cooking or can be done on the grill. In my book a must have for summer is a good salad recipe (although can you call it a recipe when it's as simple as a salad?). I feel like every summer we find a new salad that we love and make over and over again. Last summer was this Cobb salad with chili-lime dressing.
This year I found this really simple recipe for Garden Three-Bean Salad in Better Homes and Gardens. The recipe suggests using a french dressing, but we've been loving it with Trader Joe's Tuscan Italian dressing.


Garden Three- Bean Salad

2 cups fresh green beans, rinsed and trimmed
8 cups mixed greens
2 cups froxen shelled sweet soy beans (edamame), thawed (the microwave defrost setting is great for when I forget to get them out!!)
1 cup canned white beans (I used cannellini), rinsed and drained
1 cup radishes, sliced and quartered

1. Place the green beans in a microwave safe bowl with about 1/4 cup of water and a pinch of salt. Microwave for 3 to 5 minutes or until just tender. Allow beans to cool.
2. Place salad greens in a large bowl; add green beans, edamame, white beans, and radishes. Toss gently and serve.

Enjoy!

For the Love of the ...Amish!

A few weeks ago now, I promised you all another butter filled recipe. I'm sure you have been eagerly awaiting more ways to increase the amount of butter in your diets. No? Well, even so this recipe will more than adequately do just that!
Who doesn't love a good Belgian waffle? In our home we eat these not just for breakfast, but for dinner too (and I've been known to heat up some leftovers for lunch too). This recipe is the only waffle recipe I use. I swear by it. My mom, who also has a killer pancake recipe (you can ask any childhood friend who slept over or any house guest my parents have had and they will attest to it), got this recipe from an Amish cookbook. Almost every recipe in the book contains a pound or so of butter, or in some cases a few pounds of lard and heavy cream. And despite a little bit of fussiness (separating the eggs and beating the egg whites), it is so worth the time.


The best way to enjoy these waffles? With strawberries! In New Hampshire strawberry season lasts for somewhere between 2 -4 weeks in June. Growing up, my mom would pack all eight of us kids into the van and take us to Warren Farm to pick our own strawberries. Later that day she would slice them all up and put some away in the freezer. Sometime in the middle of winter, she would pull them out for waffles. Even after living in Southern California for almost 9 years, it still amazes me that I can get fresh strawberries practically year round!


Amish Belgian Waffles
Makes 6 waffles

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons melted butter
2 eggs, separated
1 1/2 cups milk

1. Heat waffle iron. Sift the dry ingredients into large mixing bowl.
2. Beat egg yolks in small bowl and add milk. Combine this with the flour mixture. Add melted butter.
3. Beat egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Fold egg whites into batter. Do not over mix- you want the batter to be light and fluffy.
4. Bake in a hot waffle iron. Top with strawberries and whipped cream.

Enjoy!

The Theme is... Butter!

So apparently the theme of my cooking this week has been butter. Lot's of it. In fact I'm starting to feel a little Julia Child-esque with all this butter usage. So those of you who are trying to lay off the butter, I suggest you just stop reading now before you see all the good things that lots and lots of butter produces (as I try not to think of what eating it will produce on the hips).

This recipe I'm posting today (I have another buttery recipe for later in the week) is for Cherry Hand-Pies. I have wanted to make hand-pies ever since I saw this post last summer. Then cherries went on sale last weekend and I thought, "What better use of cherries than hand-pies!" (I'm beginning to see a pattern in my baking that turns all those healthy fruits into something sugary and so-good-it-has-to-be-bad-for-you delicious). While the results were well worth all the time and effort, I do have to warn you that these hand-pies are a bit high maintenance. First off, unless you are someone who owns a cherry pitter (and if you do, I would like to know who you are so I can borrow it), pitting and chopping all those cherries is a bit time consuming. Of course, it didn't help that my assistant turned out to be a cherry thief!

Aside from the thievery in the kitchen, the crust is about as high maintenance as they come (lot's of time chilling between steps), but the flaky, buttery end result will make you forget all about it. Of course if you don't want to fuss with cherries, you can always substitute in your favorite pie filling.

Cherry Hand Pies
Sweet Cherry Pie Filling

4 cups (about 2 1/2 pounds) pitted and chopped cherries
4 tablespoons Corn Starch
2/3 cup sugar (you can adjust this to taste)
Juice of half a lemon

1. Combine all of the ingredients together and spoon into hand-pie dough.

Hand- Pie Crust
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
16 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt)
4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup ice water

1. combine the flour and salt in one bowl and the pieces of butter in another bowl, place both bowls in the freezer for one hour.
2. Remove the bowls from the freezer. Make a well in the center of the flour and add the butter. Using a pastry blender (or two knives) cut in the butter until the mixture resembles course meal. This will take some time as the butter is frozen! Make another well in the center of the mixture.
3. In a small bowl whisk together the sour cream, lemon juice, and ice water. Add a little bit at a time to the flour mixture, using a fork or your fingers to mix it in until a lump of dough forms. Remove the lump and add more water mixture repeating this process until it has all been mixed in. Combine the lumps to form one ball of dough. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.
4. While the dough is in the refrigerator, make the filling using the recipe above (or another pie filling of your preference!)
5. Remove dough from refrigerator. Divide dough in half and roll out on a lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thick. Using a 4 1/2 inch biscuit cutter (or other round object that you can substitute - I used a bowl) cut out the dough and place circles on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place in refrigerator for about 30 minutes and cut out the other half of the dough.
6. After the dough has chilled for 30 minutes, remove and allow to sit for 1-2 minutes until dough is pliable. Spoon 1-2 tablespoons of filling onto one half of the circle. Brush edges with water and fold over, sealing edges with fingers. Using a fork, press the edges down to give it a decorative look. Place hand-pies back in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes.
7. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Remove pies from refrigerator and make a small slit in the top of each pie. Brush tops with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until the hand-pies are golden brown and slightly cracked, about 20-30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a rack.

Enjoy with coffee or milk!

Rich, Hot Rolls and One Year of Blogging!

This month marks the one year anniversary of my food blog! Wow, how time has flown, and how things have changed since then! The last month has been crazy and thus devoid of new recipes (sad times for my husband who's always excited to be my recipe tester!) And this post is also sadly bereft of any pictures. For that reason I almost didn't post, but I just had to share this recipe with you all.
It's nothing new- one that I've been making since junior high- and was given to our family by some dear friends. (In fact my recipe is still the one I wrote out in 8th or 9th grade on my homemade recipe card!) It's become an Easter tradition for me to make these Rich, Hot Rolls, and at the first bite (which you must have when they are still warm from the oven!) I always ask why I don't make them more often. They take a bit of time as they need to rise and require kneading, but they are well worth all the work.

Rich, Hot Rolls

Ingredients:
8 cups of flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons yeast
1 cup warm milk
1 cup warm water
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons melted butter (to brush on top)

Directions:
1. Mix together 2-3 cups of flour (I usually do 2), 1/2 cup of brown sugar and the 2 tablespoons of yeast.
2. Add 1 cup of warm milk and 1 cup of warm water. Stir to mix well. It should be a pasty consistency (this is called a sponge)- allow to rise in a warm place for 15 to 30 minutes. It should become a little bubbly looking and will approximately double in size.
3. Add 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of oil, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix well and gradually add remaining flour. You may add up to the full 8 cups (including the 2-3 cups you used at the beginning) but, less is better. Add enough to get it to the consistency where you are able to turn the dough out onto a floured surface to knead. Continue to add flour as necessary.
This time I used about 6 1/2 cups of flour, at other times I have used the full eight. It just depends on the stickiness of your dough!
4. Knead well (about 5 minutes).
5. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes and then shape into rolls. (this is where I wish I had taken pictures to show you...I roll it into a long "snake" and then coil it into a roll shape. Let rise, then brush with butter.
6. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Don't forget to eat at least one with butter when they are fresh from the oven.