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Brown Butter
Brown butter. You’ve probably noticed it in recipes and on restaurant menus a lot lately. It’s become a popular ingredient in recent years, and for good reason – it makes everything more delicious. I mean, butter itself makes everything better, so it makes sense that butter, heated until it browns and gives off a deliciously nutty scent, would improve everything it touches. Browning butter is not complicated – all you need is butter, a heavy-bottomed, preferably light-colored saucepan, and a rubber spatula. The only tricky part is making sure your butter turns nicely brown without burning. This, I’ve found, really just takes patience and practice. Steps Melt your butter in…
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Devil’s Food Snack Cake
I’m not sure who first came up with the concept of a “Snack Cake”, but whoever it was was brilliant. It’s cake, but it’s just a “snack”. No big deal. It doesn’t have to be a special event like someone’s birthday or anything – it could just be a random Tuesday and you think, “gee, I’d like some cake”, so you make one. If you like the idea of having cake for no other reason than that you want cake, this Devil’s Food Snack Cake is for you. Now, you could definitely use this cake for a special occasion if you want. It’s rich, chocolatey and delicious, with a fluffy…
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Plum Slab Pie
Ok guys, the time of year has begun where we make ALL THE PIES. For the next 6 months, let’s put everything into flaky, buttery crusts. Deal? If you’re not convinced, let me try to entice you with this Plum Slab Pie. Yep, you read that right – Plum SLAB Pie. It’s pie in slab form. Because why would we want a measly little 9″ round pie when we can have a slab of it instead?? Slab pie is made exactly the same way as regular pie, except you use a half sheet pan instead of a pie pan. It’s great for feeding a crowd. (I bet you have a…
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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Granola
Growing up, I always wanted the sugary cereal for breakfast. Cookie crisp especially. I mean, what kid doesn’t want to eat cookies for breakfast? (Or what adult, for that matter??) Unfortunately for my childhood self, my Mom insisted I eat the healthy cereal (Shredded Wheat, anyone?), and I rarely got to indulge in that sugary goodness. So, this Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Granola is my way of having my Cookie Crisp and eating it too. (Oh, and thanks Mom for trying to keep me healthy – love you!) If you’ve never made your own granola before, you may be surprised at how easy it is to do. If you can…
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Fennel Pesto – a Twist on Your Favorite Pasta Sauce
I’ve been loving our local Farmer’s Markets lately. Our growing season here in Northern Minnesota is short, so it’s especially exciting when we start to see fresh veggies at the market. I feel the need to use and preserve as many of them as possible while I can. My newest love is this Fennel Pesto. I’ve eaten my fair share of fennel bulb – I usually roast it until caramelized and toss it on a salad. But I’ve never utilized the lovely green fronds before. The fronds on the fennel I’ve gotten at the farmer’s market lately have been so lush that I couldn’t bear to toss them out, so…
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Biscotti – A Cookie Made for Dunking
I’m a dunker. I love dunking a crispy cookie into a steaming cup of coffee (or better yet, espresso!). When I bake cookies and inevitably leave a batch in the oven too long, I don’t consider them ruined – they’re perfect for dunking. Are you a dunker? If so, you probably already love biscotti. But if you haven’t made your own at home yet, you’ll want to keep reading. Biscotti is one of my favorite treats to dunk. These crispy Italian cookies are sort of like the crouton of the dessert world. They’re supposed to be REALLY crunchy – to the point where it’s hard to bite into them without…
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Sour Cherry Galette
Summer is full of amazing flavors and seasonal fruits, veggies, and flowers. Since I live in a place where the growing season is extremely short, I am frantic to capture these flavors before they’re gone. For me that means a bevy of jams, sauces, cakes, and my personal favorite – PIES. This Sour Cherry Galette is a prime example. It’s not quite sour cherry season here in Duluth (I think that comes in a few weeks) but I had some in the back of my freezer that needed to be used up. That’s one problem with trying to preserve all of those seasonal fruits – my freezer ends up full…
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Buckwheat Rhubarb Muffins with Pecan Streusel
Back this week with another rhubarb recipe for you guys – break out your muffin tin, because you’re going to love these Buckwheat Rhubarb Muffins! Earthy, musky buckwheat combines with tart rhubarb and a sweet, nutty streusel to create the breakfast of your dreams. Am I overstating how delicious these are? Maybe. Guess you’ll have to find out for yourself! Rhubarb grows plentifully here in northern Minnesota. I’m always a little baffled when I see it in the grocery store. Never in my life have I had to buy rhubarb – it basically grows like a weed here (not in the sense that it grows in the wild, just in…
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Rhubarb Custard Pie
It’s finally rhubarb season here in northern Minnesota, and the rhubarb is plentiful. While I love all things rhubarb, I think it’s at its best and most beautiful in a pie. This rhubarb custard pie is by far my favorite treat of the season – tart, tangy rhubarb enveloped in a sweet nutmeg-laced custard and enclosed in the flakiest, buttery pie crust. It’s heaven. This recipe isn’t my own. I got it several years ago from a customer while working at a local kitchen store (shout out to Duluth Kitchen Co! Also, I don’t remember exactly who that customer was, so if you’re reading this and it was you, please…
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Cinnamon Toasted Flax Seed
Have you watched the show “Psych”? I recently watched all 8 seasons (thank you Amazon Prime), and in the last episode Shawn discovers a tasty treat that he calls “the only healthy thing that has ever tasted good, ever” – spiced flax seed. Now, this recipe isn’t that flax seed exactly, but it’s definitely what I imagined while I was watching the show. This Cinnamon Toasted Flax Seed is sweet, cinnamon-y, crunchy, so delicious, and yes, healthy(ish). If you’ve ever made spiced toasted nuts of any kind, this is the same concept. In fact, to create it I adapted this recipe for Cinnamon Roasted Almonds by Two Peas and Their…
Recipes and Musings from the Zenith City
