peach upside down pancake

This isn’t quite a pancake , nor is it a cake. It is fluffy, lightly sweet, and perfect for fruit.  It is a completely flexible and forgiving recipe.

I used a peach, but any fruit will do (apples, nectarines, plums, berries, bananas, etc).   The flavoring can be changed up too.  Sub in vanilla sugar in place of both the sugar and vanilla.  Try cinnamon or almond extract or even a splash of oj instead of lemon juice.

I drizzled a little honey on before serving, but you could serve it plain, dusted with powder sugar, topped with maple syrup, or anything else you like.  Serve it for dessert with a scoop of ice cream and/or fresh whip cream.

This recipe is for one, but can easily be doubled, tripled, or quadrupled – just make sure to increase the size of your pan as well.  Also, make sure your pan is oven safe.  I have a mini cast iron skillet that I used – perfect for a single serving.

Peach Upside down Pancake

• 1 peach (or any other piece of fruit)
• 1 tsp butter
• 2 drizzles of honey (1 for the fruit while it is cooking if it is not ripe and 1 for a topping before serving) – both optional
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp non-fat yogurt (greek or regular is fine)
• 2 tbsp flour
• dash of baking powder (I actually have a measuring spoon that says this – it is less than an 1/8 of a tsp)
• tiny pinch of salt
• spritz of lemon juice
• dash of vanilla

Pre-heat oven to 350F.

Chop the peach and melt the butter in a very small skillet over medium low heat.

When the butter is melted add the peaches and a little honey if your fruit is not completely ripe.  Stir to prevent burning and cook until just starting to soften.

While the peach is cooking, whisk together the batter. Whisk the egg in a small bowl.  Add the sugar and yogurt and whisk until smooth.

Next add the flour, baking powder, salt, and flavorings (vanilla and lemon juice) and whisk until smooth.

When the peaches have softened slightly, pour the batter over top and move the pan to the oven.

Bake for a bout 10 minutes until the batter is puffed and a bit firm to the touch.

Turn the pancake out onto a plate so that the peaches are on the top.  Tope with honey and serve.

renegade pie maker

I love to cook. I like to bake. I’m pretty good at both. Pie crusts on the other hand are my downfall.  My mom always made (and still makes) fantastic pies – maybe this is why I always seem to fail when it comes to the crust.  They aren’t as flaky, no matter how cold the ingredients are.  The sides fall down. I could go on and on with my low pie moments. 

So against all things homemade, I broke down and finally used a store-bought, refrigerated pie crust.  No fail this time!

Besides the store-bought pie crust, I tend to free-form my fillings – very unlike my mom’s pies which followed a recipe to the T most times.  Hence the term renegade – I feel like a rebel when I throw caution to the wind and flip the bird to traditional recipes. How do I accomplish these rebellious acts you might ask?  I use brown sugar (most fruit pies use white sugar), rarely ever use the same fruit combos or amounts twice, and switch up my flavorings (though I went standard with vanilla this time).  I’m really living on the edge here, in my head perhaps.  Sorry for projecting.  The pie is delicious though.

You can change-up the type of fruit depending on what you like or what you need to use up.   You just need enough fruit to fill up the pie dish.  If you are more skilled than I, definitely make your own pie crust. Store-bought crust is good, but I must admit homemade still tastes better (unless I’m the one making it).

Mixed Berry Pie

• 13 oz to 1 lb strawberries sliced
• 1/2 lb to 12 oz blueberries picked over to remove stems
• 1 plum peeled and cubed
• 1/2 c brown sugar, plus extra for dusting the crust
• 3 tbsp corn starch
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract, lemon or orange juice/zest, almond extract, cinnamon, liqueurs, etc
• 1 package (2 crusts – one for the top and one for the bottom) refrigerated pie crust at room temperature
• 1 tbsp butter, sliced into thin pats
• 3 tbsp milk

Preheat over to 400f.

Toss all the ingredients, except for the crust, butter, and milk in a bowl.  Mix so that the sugar and cornstarch are mixed with the fruit juices and vanilla.  Set aside.

Unroll one pie crust and line a pie plate with the crust. Make sure it is down into the corner edge at the bottom of the plate.   Trim excess from the edges if you are feeling frisky (leaving enough for crimping), or leave it if you lazy like me.

Dump you fruit mixture into the pie plate.  Dot with the pats of butter.

Unroll the second crust and lay across the top of the pie.  If you are feeling frisky again, trim off any excess crust from the edges or leave it as is.

Crimp your edges to seal your pie.  Make them look pretty, or if you are like me again, make half the crimps ugly and hit your pretty crimping stride when you have already massacred half the crust.  You just want to make sure the pie crusts’ edges are sealed together.

Make some slits in the top of the pie to let out steam.  Brush the top of the pie with the milk and sprinkle with extra brown sugar.

Pop it in the over for 10 minutes at 400.  You can place a baking sheet lined with tin foil under the pie plate to catch any filling that bubbles over.  I was a rebel (with an oven already in need of a cleaning) and didn’t put any protection down under the pie.

When the crust begins to brown a bit, it is time to turn the oven temperature down to 350/375f.  At this point you want to wrap the edge of your crust in tin foil  (make a narrow collar type contraption) to prevent it from burning.

Cook for another 20-40 minutes depending on your oven and fruit.  The pie is done when the filling in bubbling and the crust is golden brown.  If the filling doesn’t bubble up then it will not thicken and you will have a runny, corn starchy filling – yuck.

Let the pie cool a bit before serving.  This allows time for the filling to set.  Slice and serve with a scoop of ice cream or some fresh whipped cream.

the best brownies EVER – just in time for the 4th

Do you like chewy brownies?  If so, this recipe is for you.

I adapted this recipe from the Chocolate Box by Love Food…  There is one MAJOR key to my adjustments of the recipe as written - the chocolate.

A combination of Scharffen Berger 62% Cacao and 70% Cacao baking chocolates turns this recipe from good to the best ever.  I have tried this with plain old semi-sweet chips, dark chips, a combo of chips, higher-end bars, all 62%, and all 70%.  I also tried a variety of chip brands (Nestle, 365, Ghirardelli, and Guittard) and a variety of high-end bars (Michel Cluizel, Amano, and a few others).  Nothing comes close to the combo of Sharffen Berger 62% and 70%.  It is worth spending the extra money for this higher quality baking chocolate if you usually use chips, but it is not worth spending more money on better/higher-end chocolate bars.  Using half 62% and half 70% leaves you with a brownie that is balanced – not too bitter, not too sweet – and all sorts of chocolatey, fudgy, chewy goodness.

If you hate all things corn syrup, I completely understand, BUT  I promise that these brownies warrant an exception.

If I remember correctly, I believe Sportsglutton ate the entire batch in one day.  I dare you not to do the same.

Enjoy and Happy 4th of July!

 

Best Brownies Ever

• 6 tbsp butter
• 3/4 c sugar
• 1/2 c brown sugar
• 2.425 oz  62% cacao Scharffen Berger baking chocolate (1/4 of the bar)
• 2.425 oz  70% cacao Scharffen Berger baking chocolate (1/4 of the bar)
• 1 tbsp corn syrup
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 c all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 tsp baking powder

Pre-heat oven to 350F.  Grease an 8×8 baking pan and line the bottom with parchment paper or a silicon mat.

Melt the butter, sugars, chocolate, and corn syrup together.  You can do this in a microwave by heating the bowl in short increments, stirring often until the mixture is smooth.  Alternatively, using a double boiler works best for gentle heating.  If you are lazy and without a microwave like me, place the ingredients directly into a small pot and heat over low heat stirring often – take care not to let the mixture burn.  The goal is to melt everything together into a smooth mixture.  It maybe a little like wet sand if all of your sugar doesn’t dissolve – this is ok.  Set aside the mixture and let it cool to at least body temperature.  Stirring will help it cool down quicker (or maybe that is just in my mind).  

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, and baking powder.  Set aside. 

Beat the eggs and vanilla together, then add to the cooled chocolate mixture and whisk together.  When lazy, add eggs and vanilla directly to cooled chocolate without beating first, then whisk to combine well.

Combine the flour mixture and chocolate/egg mixture in which ever bowl is larger.  Stir to mix thoroughly, but not beyond.

Pour the batter into the baking pan.  Bake for about 25 minutes.  The edges should start pulling away from the sides of the pan and the top should be crisp.  The middle of the brownies will still be soft.

If you can stand it, let the brownies cool before slicing – it makes the task easier and your squares prettier.  If you don’t care about looks, dig in.

lightened up strawberry rhubarb cobbler

We are still working on reducing our waistlines in glutton land, and though I was really tempted to make a strawberry rhubarb pie (my most favorite pie) I resisted. 

Looking over a variety of recipes for inspiration, and to ensure I used enough sugar in the filling (rhubarb is tart), I ended up with this lightened version.  If you notice, there is (sadly) no butter in sight.  I used a nutrition calculator and this comes in under 200 calories (around 175) and under 2 grams of fat per serving.  The wheat bran and oats up the fiber (among other nutrients) without affecting the taste/texture of the cobbler in my opinion.  I also added an apple for sweetness since I had more rhubarb than strawberries and to better fill up the 9″x13″ baking dish.  You could also add more apples (or other berries, pears, etc)  if you were short on strawberries or rhubarb, though the final cobbler would have a more appley (just made that word up) taste, whereas now the apple takes a back seat to the strawberries and rhubarb. 

We ate it plain last night for dessert and it definitely hit the spot without the guilt.  The filling is perfect (sweet, but not too sweet, and a little tart) and the cobbler topping is light and airy. 

The toughest part of this dish is chopping fruit.  It is easy, quick, guilt-free, and perfect for a weeknight.

Serving size: 8

• 1 lb strawberries
• 1.5 lb rhubarb (about 5 large stalks)
• 1 apple (peeled if waxed)
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1 tbsp corn starch
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• dash of cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 1 c + 2 tbsp heart health bisquick
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/4 c wheat bran
• 1/4 c quick cooking oats
• zest of 1 lemon
• pinch of salt
• 2/3 c milk

Preheat the oven to 350f.

Chop the strawberries, rhubarb and apple (they do not need to be the exact same size, just sort of similar) and place in a 9″x13″ baking dish.

Toss the fruit with the sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, salt, and cornstarch.  Set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix together the bisquick, brown sugar, wheat bran, oats, lemon zest, pinch of salt, and milk.

Pour the mixture over the fruit.  There will not be enough to cover the entire top of the fruit mixture. (PS – Don’t do what I did, which is forgetting to mix in the lemon zest.  I sprinkled it on top instead, but it would have been much more flavorful mixed into the cobbler batter.)

Bake at 350f for 30-40 minutes until the cobbler is golden brown and the fruit is hot and bubbly.  Let it cool and serve alone or with ice cream, whipped cream, sour cream, yogurt, or whatever else you may like. Enjoy!

simplicity

Sometimes the best things are the simplest. Now in the full throes of spring, an uncomplicated and unadulterated fruit salad can be so fresh and delicious that you almost forget your allergy induced runny nose and itchy eyes.

Jed (Sportsglutton) and I have spent the last week gorging ourselves in NYC while we visited family and friends. It was a delicious trip, we had appetizers and sausages at DBGB, delicate and refined sushi small plates at Soto, and a classic Italian (non Americanized) dinner at Vespa (in Great Neck). We also ate lots of pizza and bagels – because they rarely taste as good anywhere else in this great country.

Needless to say, we were acting a bit…wait for it…gluttonous.

To reverse the damage we inflicted upon ourselves, we loaded our shopping cart up with fruit and veggies yesterday. We plan on watching what we eat all summer and getting back into shape (the winter was hard on us this year) and the plan starts today.

Fruit salad rocks my world and will be on our breakfast regiment from here on out. Today I mixed up a Fuji apple, a banana, blackberries, and strawberries. For a little more substance, we had rye toast (I’m the marmalade toast girl) from the fresh loaf I baked yesterday on the side.

The moral of the story is that fruit salad is ridiculously easy, more fun than eating a single fruit all by its lonesome, and it is delicious – go get some.