Grilled Pound Cake with Lime Crème Fraîche & Blackberries

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blackberries, blackberry, breakfast, brunch, crème fraîche, dessert, food, foodie, gourmet, lime, postaday2011, pound cake, recipe, vegetarian

The first real breakfast in our house needs to be special… time for my well-known grilled pound cake with crème fraîche and seasonal fruit… mmm…

Grilled Pound Cake with Lime Crème Fraîche and Blackberries

Ingredients:
butter rum pound cake, crème fraîche, blackberries, 1 lime

Directions:
Zest the lime into the crème fraîche and set aside. Heat grill pan over medium heat. Use a bread knife to slice the pound cake. Lightly butter each side of cake, place on hot pan and grill for about 30 seconds before flipping. Remove promptly from heat. Spread crème fraîche on one slice of pound cake and top with another slice. Top with additional crème fraîche and blackberries.

Served with faux mimosas (OJ and sparkling apple juice) since Hubster has to get to work.

What’s on your breakfast plate?

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Dark Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons

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American macaroons, chocolate, coconut, dark chocolate, decadent, dessert, dessert recipe, dessert table, egg whites, gourmet, macaroon, postaday2011, recipe, snack, sweets, sweets table

MIA: My internet has been horrible this past week, unable to access it for more than 10 minutes a session. Arrrg!!!

Coconut and dark chocolate have long been two ingredients I love together. So of course on Mother’s Day, I made a batch of tasty coconut macaroons (as well as some jumbo chocolate covered strawberries).

Dark Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons

Ingredients:
3-4 large egg whites, 1/2 c. sugar, 1 Tbs. almond extract, 1 pk. shredded coconut, dark chocolate

Directions:
Preheat oven 300°F. Grease baking sheet and set aside. In food processor, briefly chop 1/2 of the coconut so it breaks into smaller pieces. Whip together egg whites, sugar and extract. Mix in coconut and stir. I sprinkled in some flour and rolled mixture out like dough, using a cookie cutter to shape. You can simply dollop on baking tray or use an icing bag to decoratively shape macaroons. Bake for about 15 minutes, tops should become golden brown. If they’re not browning and you’re afraid of over drying macaroons, remove from oven and use a baker’s torch to brown tops. Remove macaroons from tray and place on cooling rack. Dip into dark chocolate and cool to harden.

For Cinco de Mayo, I made these with lime zest and rum extract. Mmm… 

What was your Mother’s Day treat???

Carambola & Pistachio Chicken

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carambola, chicken, dinner, food, foodie, gourmet, pistachio, postaday2011, recipe, star fruit

I am looking for more ways to use star fruit in my cooking, in fruit salads and desserts is just the obvious ways. I wanted to try something different so I whipped up this chicken. Hubster wasn’t a fan of the citrus but I enjoyed it… I guess you can’t always agree on everything. I originally planned on grilling the chicken, but I was just in the  mood to stick it in the oven and forget about it for a while.

Carambola & Pistachio Chicken

 

Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, 1/2 c. pistachios, 2 star fruit, 1/2 small shallot, 1/4 c. honey, 1 Tbsp. fresh ground ginger, 1 Tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro, 1 tsp. lime zest, 2 Tbsp. lime juice, fresh ground sea salt, 1 tsp. pink peppercorns

Directions:
In a food processor blend together 1 star fruit, 1/4 c. pistachios, shallot, honey, ginger, cilantro, lime juice & lime zest, salt and pepper. Place chicken in casserole dish and pour marinade over chicken and keep chilled. Preheat oven 350°F, bake chicken until center is no longer pink. Garnish with sliced star fruit and remaining pistachios.

Serve with pomegranate pistachio rice or basmati pistachio rice.

What was for dinner at your house?

Cappuccino Biscotti

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biscotti, brunch, cappuccino, chocolate, cookie, espresso, food, foodie, gourmet, hazelnut, postaday2011, recipe, white chocolate

Happy Valentine’s Day!

When you can’t get a cappuccino, what better to have with your coffee, than a cappuccino biscotti?

Cappuccino Biscotti

Ingredients:
6 Tbs. fresh whipped heavy cream, 1 c. sugar, 1 egg, 1 egg yolk, 1 Tbsp. instant espresso, 2 tsp. hazelnut liquor, 2 c. flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 tsp, salt, 1/3 c. white chocolate chips, 1/3 c. semi-sweet chocolate chunks, 1/3 c. chopped hazelnuts, 1 beaten egg white

Directions:
In a medium bowl, cream together whipped heavy cream, sugar, egg, egg yolk, espresso, liquor together. In a small mix together flour, salt and baking powder. Slowly mix dry ingredients into wet mixture. Stir in chocolate chips, chunks and hazelnuts. Roll dough on a floured surface and separate into two balls. Roll each ball out into logs and place on parchment paper lined baking tray. Pat logs to flatten and then brush beaten egg white on tops and sides. Sprinkle with additional crushed hazelnuts and pat into dough. Bake for 30 minutes at 325°F, let cool for 15 minutes and slice diagonally. Bake for 10 minutes more.  Decorate and serve.

*I didn’t have enough hazelnuts, so I mixed in a few almonds to stretch it further.

What are your plans for today?

Chicken Crêpes with Tarragon Champagne Sauce

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brunch, chicken, crêpes, cuisine, dinner, easy recipe, food, foodie, French, gourmet, lunch, postaday2011, quick & easy, quick recipe, recipe, sauce, tarragon

Crêpes are a versatile food. They can be hearty enough for dinner, light enough for lunch, sweet enough for dessert and delicious enough for brunch. Crêpes are also a great way to use up leftover chicken or veggies in your fridge. I make a large stack of crêpes one day and freeze them for the month…  Last night I made these tasty Chicken & Tarragon Crêpes.

Chicken Crêpes with Tarragon Champagne Sauce

Ingredients:
4 crêpes, 2 cooked chicken breasts (Mine are leftover from another meal where I marinated and grilled them), 1 c. heavy cream, 1 c. champagne, 2 Tbsp. butter, 1 shallot (minced), 1 Tbsp. tarragon, 2 tsp. Dijon mustard (optional), fresh cracked black pepper, fresh ground sea salt

Directions:
Cut chicken into pieces and set aside. Brown shallots in butter, add chicken to pan and warm. Remove chicken. Pour champagne, Dijon and tarragon to pan, allow to simmer. Add cream, salt and pepper and simmer. Slowly add flour, whisking constantly. Allow sauce to thicken. Add chicken back to sauce. Warm crêpes in oven for a few minutes. Divide chicken mixture between crêpes and top with remaining sauce. Serve hot!

I loved how this sauce turned out, I was picturing it drizzled over pasta or salmon, Hubster was envisioning it over a burger…

What is your favorite herb to use when cooking?

Grilled Brie, Pear & Spinach on Rosemary Bread

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brie, brunch, easy recipe, food, foodie, gourmet, grilled cheese, grilling, lunch, luncheon, pear, postaday2011, quick & easy, quick recipe, recipe, rosemary bread, sandwich, spinach, vegetarian

Grilled Cheese for the Adults

Grilled Brie, Pear & Spinach on Rosemary Bread

 

 

I used last night’s rosemary bread recipe and made smaller sandwich sized loaves for this recipe, but you can slice a loaf to make these tasty sandwiches.

Ingredients:
fresh-baked rosemary bread, butter, brie cheese, red pear, Anjou pear, baby spinach leaves

Directions:
Thinly slice brie and pears. Layer bread with brie, pears and spinach. Butter outside of bread and grill. Serve warm!

What is your favorite grilled cheese variation?

Rosemary Bread

Tags

bread, bread recipe, food, foodie, gourmet, postaday2011, recipe, rosemary

Best smell in the world? Fresh baked bread… it even beats out clean laundry and hot from the oven cookie. I’ve been craving rosemary bread for sometime. My recipe is modified from this one.

Fresh Baked Rosemary Bread

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour, 1 c. whole-wheat flour, 1 c. warm water, 1 Tbsp. yeast, 1 Tbsp. sugar, 2 Tbsp. rosemary, 1 tsp. Italian seasoning, 1/2 tsp. fresh cracked black pepper, 1 tsp. fresh ground sea salt, 3 Tbsp. butter, extra virgin olive oil

Directions:
Dissolve yeast and sugar in water, stir and set aside until yeast is activated. Mix in 2 Tbsp. butter, salt, pepper, rosemary, Italian seasoning and flour. Knead for 10 minutes until smooth. Oil a metal bowl, place dough in it, cover with a damp towel and set in a warm place. Allow dough to rise for an hour, dough should double in size. Punch dough down and divide into two loaves. Oil baking pan, shape the dough into 2 oval loaves. Return to warm place and allow to rise for another hour. Preheat oven 375ºF. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Melt remaining butter and brush over loaves (sprinkle with additional salt and rosemary if desired). Serve hot.

Sprinkle olive oil with salt, pepper and any herbs you want, and dip in bread.

What’s your favorite smell?