lemon

Puff Pastry with Sabayon Custard and Strawberries

I just couldn’t let Valentine’s Day creep by without one more last-minute contender in my favorite heart recipe category.

I got all inspired to create this today when I had some left over puff pastry I was using for an upcoming post that is polar opposite of this one. But I didn’t want the leftover, thawed pastry to go to waste. BOOM! Inspiration. The cookie cutters were still out, littering the countertop after our Valentine’s Sugar Cookie baking extravaganza, so how about some heart-shaped puffs sprinkled with sugar sweetness. Okay, good to go.

Now what to add to my little heart cuties?

Earlier in the day Smudge was bugging me to make, oh what was that? Yes, her usual obsession: Pie. She was trolling through her kid’s pie cookbook and lit upon a strawberry tart-like sweetness. Okay, strawberries are valentine-ey and whip cream certainly has its history with romance. So that’ll work for the topping.

So I had the berry part and the whip cream part, but must have some goo to pull it all together. Pudding would be the ticket. Vanilla? Chocolate? Banana? Nah. Let’s go something a little more celebratory for V-day. A quick raid of the pantry and ohhhhh, YES. My go-to boozey add-in: Marsala wine.

continue to the recipe… about Puff Pastry with Sabayon Custard and Strawberries

The Simplest Alaskan King Crab Legs and a Valentine’s Dinner Round-Up

Hearts, sprinkles, love letters and romantic gestures from someone you’ve admired from afar. Or, maybe not. Valentine’s Day is one of the most anticipated holidays of the year. And the most dreaded.

But fear not the pudgy cherub with his pointy bow that may or may not be misdirected, it matters not whether you have a love in your life, you still need to feed your face.

A favorite of mine and my honey bunny poochie coo (er, husband) for V-day is keepin’ it simple with a bottle of wine and crackin’ crab in front of the Tivo and catching up on last week’s Parenthood.

Some people think crab is something you only get when you go out for that special meal, but honestly, we’re total opposites in that theory. Why spend all your dough on the restaurant mark-up when instead you can grab yourself a couple of extra legs to heat up toot sweet?

continue to the recipe… about The Simplest Alaskan King Crab Legs and a Valentine’s Dinner Round-Up

Pumpkin Gnocchi with Hazelnut Browned Butter and a Magazine Sneak Peek

So happy for the weekend, and wow. Just wow. This fall has been a gorgeous one. There’s almost nothing I love more than fall light–how does it actually warm you to the bones? It always inspires me to get my nesting on/in/done.

But fall is nearly in my rear view mirror, with the forecast of a winter storm set for Saturday. And while I watch those snowflakes fly, I’ll be working at my computer getting my little dream of launching Foodie Crush magazine all stitched together.

sneak peek photo > Britt Chudleigh

We’re in the midst of editing, layouts and photo editing for the debut issue of Foodie Crush magazine, an idea that’s been percolating in my brain for 2 years, that I finally threw myself into just a few short months ago.

I kind of can’t believe its actually happening.

continue to the recipe… about Pumpkin Gnocchi with Hazelnut Browned Butter and a Magazine Sneak Peek

Craving > Family Food Flashback and Some Der Wienerschnitzel

There are precious few things that can take one right back to my childhood like food can. And when looking back on some of our childhood faves, you either crave it like its no tomorrow or laugh in hysterics at what was considered haute cuisine.

Ambrosia anyone?

So when a group of us food bloggers got together regaling stories of what mom used to make, a few of us got a little misty eyed, a few laughed with disdain, but all of us cherished the memories of our childhood faves.

photo >foodiecrush

My mom was given this recipe from my dad’s mother, Grandma Frieda, in an attempt to help this young bride satisfy my dad’s love of his German mother’s cooking. I mean the guy likes head cheese. Really dad?

continue to the recipe… about Craving > Family Food Flashback and Some Der Wienerschnitzel

Baked Apple Cups

Our neighbor has an apple tree. My daughter covets that tree. Patiently waiting. Waiting since spring, when I cut down our apricot tree that I don’t think she’s yet forgiven me for.

So now that the apples have finally ripened for harvest, we nonchalantly wandered over to check out the tree, and borrow a few apples. Yes mom, she said we could.

What to do with them apples? My Smudge’s request has been apple pie—again with the pie! When will this girl’s pie obsession be satiated? Um, maybe when I bake her a pie?

If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.

But with no time to make a full blown crust, I pulled a puff pastry from the freezer and baked up an alternative that put her pleadings on the back burner, for now…

3.96 from 24 votes

Baked Apple Cups

Fun and creative treat that can be whipped up in just 30 minutes.

Ingredients

1 1/2 sheets frozen puff pastry
2 T melted butter
2 tsp sugar
3 apples cored and thinly sliced
2 T plus 1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp zested lemon rind

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Thaw puff pastry dough and cut into six pieces, discarding remaining two pieces. Brush with melted butter and place into greased 6 X 1 cup muffin tins. Sprinkle pastry with refined sugar. Combine remaining ingredients reserving 1 tsp brown sugar. Divide between tins and sprinkle with remaining brown sugar. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until pastry is golden. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Recipe Notes

adapted from Donna Hay's The Instant Cook

How about a few more apples that don’t fall far from the tree? Enjoy.

photo > Inspiring the Every Day

Michael shares his tidy parcels of goodness with his moist (thanks to the buttermilk) caramel-ey (thanks to the cream and sugar) and sinfully salty (thanks to the fleur de sal) Cinnamon Apple Cake, laced with salted caramel in Inspiring the Every Day‘s individual desserts. I’ll take two.

photo > Cookin’ Canuck

Dara, our favorite Cookin’ Canuck, has given her own spin to a recipe originating from Pam Anderson of Three Many Cooks, and created Apple Upside-Down Biscuits with Gala apples and complimentary nutmeg, cinnamon—plus the pièce_de_résistance, ice cream!

photo > From My Lemony Kitchen

Lisa’s secret to a crunchy, but light as air fritter is rice flour, which makes My Lemony Kitchen‘s Apple Fritters with Ice Cream a better than good, gluten-free dessert. And don’t forget the extra sweet topper of a piece of really good chocolate. Just for that extra gooey factor.

photo >Tiny Tea Room

Amy has a secret I too share, save yourself the headache and forget trying to make puff pastry from scratch. Tiny Tea Room‘s nuggets of Apple Almond Snail Pastries combine almond cream and an apple filling for the perfect pop-in-in-your-mouth dessert.

On another note, I am so excited to share with all of you the amazing talents that are contributing to the debut issue of FoodieCrush magazine. When will November 15 get here already? If you’re interested in advertising and partnership opportunities, contact me at heidi at foodiecrush dot com.

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Swordfish Skewers and a Skewer Recipe Round-up

Pool side. Sunshine. Beers before it’s 5 o’clock somewhere. Yup, it’s Labor Day.

I’m taking advantage of one of the last official days of summer to put my grill to the test with the assignment of cooking up some delicious, charbroiled vittles.

What’s on the menu? Chermoula Swordfish Skewers, a recipe I covet from a dog-eared 2007 issue of one of my undying foodie mag loves, the UK’s Delicious magazine.

Get the Chermoula Swordfish Kebabs recipe from Delicious mag and get skewered this weekend. And don’t forget the sunscreen.

Looking for more ways to bob your kebab? Here they are. Enjoy.

I am a big, big fan of Satay thanks to several visits to Thailand, where its served straight from the chargrill on the streets streaming with speeding Tuk Tuks and homeless dogs lurking about for a dropped morsel. Jen’s adaptation of Taste of Home‘s Thai Style Chicken Satay’s combines chiles and lemongrass for the sweet, tart heat that’s the dish’s Thai signature.\

The talented creative force behind the scenes of the online foodie magazine Maché (a.k.a. food porn deliciousness) Adam & Joanne’s obsession with the spiced up heat of one of my fav condimnets led them to creating Inspired Taste‘s Sriracha Beef Skewers in all it’s caramelized honeyed goodness.

When not on her bike burning all of the cupcake calories she might enjoy, Lisa is busy creating healthy recipes like Bike Bake Blog‘s Herbed Vegetable and Haloumi Kebabs. Haven’t yet tried this high melting point cheese that is oh-so good when grilled? Do yourself a favor and DO SO NOW!

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Zucchini and Dill Pasta Salad

By the looks of so many of my favorite foodie blogs, everyone is searching—and providing—amazing zucchini recipes this week. And with the plethora of veggie madness these plants provide, I say the more recipes the better.

So in an attempt to utilize my excessive zucchini jungle (how does one squash manage to explode into a super-hero size veggie in 24 hours anyway?) I’m discovering as many recipes as possible to incorporate/mask/hide/add zucchini into.

And this is one of my new favorites. It’s a a chameleon of a recipe: serve as a meatless option for a vegetarian main dish or toss in some grilled chicken or canned white tuna for even more extra added protein.

If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.

0 from 0 votes

Zucchini and Dill Pasta Salad

This quick fresh pasta salad is great for summer nights on the patio.

Ingredients

Lemony Zucchini and Bean Pasta Salad
adapted from Donna Hay
Serves 4 as main course 8-10 as a side dish
1 lb. orecchiette pasta penne or farfalle would would work as well
3 medium size zucchini diced into 1/4" pieces
1 15 oz. can organic garbanzo beans drained (I like Westbrae brand)
1/2 lb fresh green beans trimmed and chopped into 1" pieces
1/4 cup fruity olive oil the best you can afford
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
Lemon zest from one lemon
1 1/2 tsp kosher or sea salt
1 tsp cracked fresh pepper
1/4 cup fresh dill chopped
1 cup or 10 oz package queso fresco cheese crumbled (you can also use any dry, white cheese such as feta)

Instructions

Cook the pasta in a saucepan of salted boiling water according to package directions or until al dente. Drain, rinse and set aside in a large bowl.
Blanche the green beans in a saucepan of simmering water for 1 minute. Remove and rinse with cold water, add to pasta. Add zucchini, garbanzo beans, olive oil, lemon juice and zest, salt, pepper and dill to pasta and beans and toss well to combine. Top with crumbled queso fresco or feta cheese. Refrigerate for one hour for flavors to marry. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

And for those of you with the need to fill your ever-growing zucchini fantasies beyond zucchini bread or recipes of the stuffed squash variety, check out the tasty veggie vittles below.

Expanding on Adrianna’s ever-growing list of veggies-turned-into-fries, A Cozy Kitchen‘s Zucchini Fries are crunchy on the outside, creamy in the middle and by baking instead of frying, prep is way easier than trudging out your once-a-year-oily-mess of a Fry Daddy. Oh, and did we mention she serves them with Garlic Aioli and Sriracha Mayo? Helloooo breath mints! In the best way of course.

Nothing makes zucchini more palatable—and kid-pleasing—than mixing it up with some hazelnut-ty Nutella goodness from A Spicy Perspective. Sommer’s Zucchini Nutella Swirl Muffins look especially drool-worthy, and since she’s done the testing for us, there’s no need to tweak this recipe. Trust the process or you’ll be making it 4 times over like Sommer did.

In 101 Cookbooks‘ savory version of traditional cheesecake, Heidi suggests using a box grater or microplane for best zuch texture (best to avoid the potential for zucchini mush) and if so inclined you could drain the ricotta for an even lighter and fluffier Zucchini Ricotta Cheesecake. If that were possible. Delicious!

I was intrigued by the roasted walnuts in this dish, a nut I hadn’t thought to pair with zucchini. Dishing the Divine keeps Zucchini with Walnuts a quick and light side dish thanks to an assortment of fresh herbs. But be sure to heed Paula’s sage advice and don’t let the zuchs get too browned when cooking or you’ll be eating a zucchini pureé.

Still in need some inspiration? Head over to Kalyn’s for her top 20 zucchini recipe list

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5 Gazpachos and a Bloody Mary Gazpacho

The combination of soaring temperatures and farmer’s markets leads me to one conclusion. It’s time for gazpacho. With sweat-drenched home cooks and their ovens and stoves going on strike, it’s that time of summer when a no-cook meal is in order.

I love gazpacho. I’ve made it with a variety of veggies gleaned from the garden (and sometimes from cleaning out the fridge) but this time around I wanted a gazpacho with a little kick. Hello…bloody mary anyone?

It was a very natural transition. Afterall, gazpacho require manys of the same ingredients as a great bloody mary. All that’s needed is some heat, a little Mary spice and wa-lah! BM in a bowl. And if you’re feeling particularly dandy or serving it for brunch, throw in a shot or two of vodka for a little bloody buzz.

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Bloody Mary Gazpacho
serves 8

4 ripe tomatoes, quartered
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 large cucumber, cut in 2-inch chunks
1 yellow bell pepper, cut in 2-inch chunks
3 ribs celery, cut in 2-inch chunks
1 large shallot, quartered
2 cups canned tomato juice or V-8 vegetable juice
1 T red wine vinegar
1-2 T freshly squeezed lemon juice, depending on taste
1 1/2 T prepared horseradish
1T celery salt
3 T Worcestershire sauce
3 T olive oil
1 T Tabsasco sauce, or to taste
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
garnish: thinned sour cream, chopped green olive, chopped yellow bell pepper and celery

In a medium size mixing bowl, combine first 6 ingredients. In a blender, pulse half of ingredients in bowl until smooth. Pour pulsed mixture into a large bowl. Add the rest of the batch to blender and pulse until chunky, you’ll want it this portion to be somewhat chunky for texture. Add to the smoothly blended tomato mixture. In another bowl or 4 cup Pyrex measuring cup, combine tomato juice and next 8 ingredients. Pour into large bowl with tomato mixture and combine. Chill for 1 hour for flavors to combine or eat at room temperature. Garnish and serve.

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Gazpacho is super versatile, and doesn’t always include tomatoes and can be whatever color its base is. Try one of these variations (cherry? almonds?) from some of our favorite food bloggers.

photo > La Tartine Gourmande

Reliving the traditions of her French roots, Bea’s philosophy of eating veggies and fruits in season, and when at their freshest stage possible, makes La Tartine Gourmande‘s Tomato Gazpacho especially lively and satisfying as a main course, appetizer or amuse-bouche palette cleanser.

photo > Linday Hunt

Marcus Samuelsson’s hunt for the world’s best restaurant found Chef Jordan Frosolone, of New York City’s August Restaurant, and his White Gazpacho recipe. It blended creaminess comes from blanched almonds, creme fraiche and whole milk and with the added punch of cucumbers and grapes, the hit of chile oil offsets its cool creaminess.

photo > Christopher Cina

Along with sharing the secret to perfectly cooked shrimp (you’ll have to click the link to find it out) Chef Chris Of Christopher Cina ‘s Gazpacho with Spiced Shrimp, Lemon Crema is a classic tomato gazpacho with a kicked up garnish of spiced shrimp. And don’t forget the crema. NEVER forget the crema!

photo > Running With Tweezers

Throwing a contemporary spin on classic gazpacho, Tami combines tomatillos, watercress and cilantro with cucumber an yellow bell pepper (green although the right color might wouldn’t be mellow enough) for Running With Tweezers Green Gazpacho with Spicy Croutons (or as I like to call it: a green goddess love fest with a smokey crunch.)

photo > The Winter Guest

That’s the beauty of tomatoes. They tend to complement nearly every other red fruit (think watermelon and strawberries), but when I discovered The Winter Guest‘s Cherry Gazpacho I realized there’s a whole realm, cherries, that I’d never known! And as Miriam suggests, nothing is better than enjoying to enjoy a nice cool gazpacho in the summer heat.

Thanks for reading. If you liked this post, please subscribe to foodiecrush and follow me on twitter and Facebook and Pinterest

Sweet and Savory Galette. Or, the Fancy Free-Form Pie

Why is it that something made with just three of cooking’s most basic ingredients can be so terribly intimidating? A food that has the most basic of foundations that in the wrong conditions can go terribly awry, with multiple variations and nuanced secrets handed down from mother to daughter, from pastry chef to novice baker.

You know what I’m talking about don’t you?

photo > foodiecrush

Yes, I’m talking pie crust.

To lard or not to lard? Regular unbleached flour or whole wheat? And what about those gluten-free pie lovers?

With a bounty of fresh fruit and an evening BBQ that I had volunteered to deliver a dessert to, I had to come up with something fast, something proven and something delicious.

So instead of poring over recipes and waiting for ingredients to sufficiently freeze, blend and roll, I took the easy way out, dug into my freezer for my emergency stash of store bought Pillsbury roll-up pie crust and went rustic. For the galette filling you can use any combo of fruit, just keep the proportions of sugar and flour the same as in the recipe at the end of the post.

And whaddya know? Noone was the wiser.

If you’re thinking savory is more your flavor, try some of these delicious versions from some of our favorite foodie bloggers.

photo > Aran Goyoaga

Cannelle Vanille‘s delightfully succulent recipe starts with an herb pie dough that sounds like it could be a task, but is actually a basic dough with herbs and pepper artfully added in, making Aran’s Crispy Mushroom, Potato and Blue Cheese Galette takes earthy mushroom and stinky blue cheese to the ultimate savory level, and perfect to share with family. Just like she did.

photo > Sarka Babicka

In my book, nothing says savory like Sarka’s combo of butternut squash, rosemary and goat cheese in a crispy crust. Enveloped in a créme fraiche studded wholemeal pie dough, Cook Your Dream‘s Roasted Vegetable Galette is a healthy, all-in-one feast. Now, if I could just stuff the whole thing in a ravioli I’d be the happiest eater on earth. Hmm, I think I have a recipe idea…

photo > In Praise of Leftovers

Sarah’s last minute tomato harvest provides the rest of us the bounty of her latent gardening habits. Cooking the tomatoes whole and then picking through the sauce for the cooked wrinkled skins is a secret tip to perfecting In Praise of Leftover‘s Green Tomato Chutney Galette topped with brie and chutney.

And now, my super-simple, sweetened-up galette version.

4 from 1 vote

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As a final note, we have an exciting announcement coming up early next week. Bloggers, pre-heat your ovens and get ready to start your mixers, it’s Christmas in July.

Thanks for reading. If you liked this post, please subscribe to foodiecrush and follow me on twitterand Facebook and Pinterest