Monday, August 18, 2008

More Berries

Okay, so it looks like the majority of you are loving chocolate. Big surprise! I actually voted for apple-cinnamon. Its an all-time fave of mine because its a comfort food. And no matter what you put apple & cinnamon in, I find I can enjoy a generous amount without feeling too full..or guilty. Wait!! I just had a thought.. we can enjoy all flavors in one bite: fresh apple pie, a side scoop of vanilla ice cream, drizzled with both warm chocolate and caramel sauces. mmm mmm mmm!

The recipe I am going to share with you today, however, contains a flavor I did not include in the poll: berries. The recipe is called FIELD BERRY PARCELS. I got it from the foodtv.ca website, with the intention of participating in the July cooking club challenge. July was just a tad bit too busy for me to make it, though. But I just couldn't let this one go, so I made it for my sister and brother in-law when they visited last Saturday.

Here is a link to the recipe:

Here are my changes & tips:

  • I didn't buy blackberries, so I used twice the amount of strawberries.
  • I used 10% cream for the pistashio sauce instead of 18%. It worked well!
  • I didn't put all of the berry sauce back in to the berries. I put only about 2-3 tablespoons because from eveyone else's comments and picutres and from what I saw from my own experience the berries were juicy enough. I used the rest for garnish.

My only critique on this recipe is the parcel package itself. When you twist the phyllo to make the parcel "knot," the knot ends up tasting like a clump of tasteless dough.

I had a bit of berry mixture left - maybe a tablespoon or two. I had a lot of the berry sauce, some phyllo leaves, and pistachio cream left over too. That gave me an idea. I wanted to see what this recipe would taste like if I made another shape out of the dough. I added apple so there would be enough for both hubby I to taste it.
  • I cut up an apple into 1/4 inch cubes and added it to the berry mix along with a tablespoon of sauce.
  • I followed the phyllo instructions up until just before making the actual "parcel."
  • I made an envelope out of the phyllo: I put two heaping tablespoons of the berry-apple mixture in the middle of phyllo. I folded the left and right phyllo edges over it, and then folded the upper and bottom pieces onto it.
  • I then brushed some leftover melt butter mixture on top, and dipped it into a plate of crushed pistachio.

It turned out beautifully, and tasted great!

I haven't decided what I am going to make next, but I have a feeling that the trend in the poll responses will have a big influence on my decision. Wink!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

A Poll Request

Okay, so I want to have fun with polls while you wait until I make something else.

I would like to know what you’re all-time favorite dessert flavor is! Is it chocolate, vanilla, caramel, or apple-cinnamon?

And for those of you holding your breaths until I make something new, just know that you won’t have to wait too long, as we’ll be having my sister and brother in-law over this Saturday, and I plan to make a delish dessert for them that I’ve never tried before. So stay tuned for the recipe!

And with that, I’ll leave you with a pic of the delicious first-course segment of two-course breakfast on the dock of a bed and breakfast (The Calico Cat) we visited this past weekend in Brockville.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Its Blueberry Season!

So time seems to just fly here when its summer. Its already blueberry season, can you believe it?! Our downtown market is currently stocked with blueberries! So, we bought a basket full of blueberries, ate a whole bunch, and I made some glorious muffins with the rest. This muffin has it all: fruit, bran, flax, and a whole lotta taste! You can eat these almost guilt-free, it contains no significant amounts of saturated fats, if any, because it does not contain any butter. Just watch out for the calories, because it does contain sugar.

Ingredients
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup *bran/flax mix
  • 1 & 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • 2/3 cup vegetable oil or grape seed oil
  • 2/3 cups milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups of blueberries

*Bran/Flax mixture: What I did was grind whole flax (about 3 tblsp - I just eye-balled it) in a clean, dry, coffee grinder. I emptied it into a bowl. Then I added some All-Bran to the grinder (I just filled close to the top), and grinded it into a powder. It should take seconds to grind flax and bran. You can eye-ball the amount you have to 1 cup, or you can fill a measuring up with mixture to the 1-cup mark. Also, you can use just bran, or just flax, or you can substitute that 1 cup of fibre-omega goodness for flour (naughty, naughty!).

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners. Combine flour, bran/flax mix, sugar, salt and baking powder. Add vegetable oil, eggs, and milk. Mix ingredients well. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups to the very top with batter. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in preheated oven until done. Makes a dozen muffins.
We keep our muffins in the fridge to maintain its freshness.
Enjoy with juice or coffee.