Lemon Glazed Persimmon Bars

I have been making these Gourmet 2004 Persimmon Bars (no recipe tweaking) for about 5 years, which is  how long I've known about persimmons.  Years ago, my husband played a trick on me with an under ripe persimmon.  Just mean, I tell you.

There's nothing wrong with the original (as long as you leave out the dates - haha) and it's one of my kids favorite fall treats.  They stare longingly at the first crop of firm persimmons for days, willing them to soften faster.  Anyway... I can't resist the urge to mess with a recipe that has white flour and white sugar in it.  I messed with this recipe and my son just said to me, "mom these are the best ones ever".  Boom.

Truth be told, I was out of eggs.  Since I was going to be sneaking in chia I figured I might as well go all out.  My slightly healthier version goes something like this:

BARS

3 very ripe/soft Hachiya persimmons (1 1/4 lb total)
1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup almond meal
1 tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or your favorite combo)

1 egg substitute:  1 Tbs ground chia seeds (or ground flax) mixed with 3 Tbs water - let it sit till it's eggy texture
1/2 c brown sugar + 1/4 c honey
1/2 c coconut oil

Heat oven to 350.  Butter and flour 15x10 shallow pan.

Cut persimmons and force through sieve.  Put 1 cup puree into a small bowl and stir in lemon juice and baking soda.  Let sit for a few minutes.  It will jell.  So cool.

Combine flour/salt/spices in small bowl.
Whisk fake egg goo, sugar, honey and oil together.  Fold in about 1/3 flour mixture, then half persimmon jell, alternating/mixing, ending with flour.

Add nuts and dried fruit if you like.

Spread batter in pan and bake for about 20 minutes.

GLAZE
2 Tbs fresh lemon juice (I reduced down a half cup to make it more lemony)
1 cup powdered sugar
Stir till smooth.

Cool bars, glaze, and cut into 32 squares.

Easy Banana Muffins.

I don't mind fancy baking.  The kind where you end up using every bowl and kitchen gadget you own. But sometimes I just want something freshly baked, with the bonus of a quick get-away.  These muffins are super fast, and practically clean up after themselves.  One bowl, a fork, a couple of measuring things, and a muffin pan.  That's it.  

This is basically my mom's banana bread, tweaked.  It's a little lighter than the original version, and not quite as sweet.

Banana Muffins

Stir this together in a bowl:

1/4 c. coconut oil*

1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce

3/4 c. sugar

Add 2 eggs, one at a time, mixing after each.

Mix in:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup almond meal*

3/4 tsp soda

1/2 tsp salt

Mix well then stir in 2 mashed bananas.  If you like nuts, go ahead and toss in a half cup or so.

(I just learned about the trick where you mush up the banana in the peel.  Open it up and viola, mashed banana.)

Makes 12 regular size muffins.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, or until they spring back or the toothpick comes back clean.

*{In a pinch, you could sub canola for coconut oil and flour for the almond meal.}

It's officially soup weather

The upside to gloomy, rainy weather is... soup!  

If you're in the market for something easy and comfort foodish, I have just the thing.  My sister Amy came up with this and she said I could share it with you.  She calls it Potato Soup with Italian Sausage, and here's how it goes: 

Potato Soup with Italian Sausage

About 5 cups of cut up potato

1 can cream of potato soup

1 block cream cheese

4 cups chicken broth 

1/2 teaspoon season salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

A little garlic powder

Sautéed and crumbled Italian sausage

Mix all in crock pot and cook about 5 hours, then mash potatoes to consistency you want them, stir and serve.
I like to sauté some garlic in butter and use stale bread to make croutons to go on top. Yum!  (That's Amy talking right there, not me).


And here's how it looks:

Thanks for sharing with us, Amy!

Tomato's Best Friend

It's summer and you know what that means...  tomatoes, fresh off the vine.  A perfect little gift from heaven.  Does it get any better?  Why yes, I believe it does!  If you've never experienced the glorious, creamy creation called burrata, you will want to do so now.

Burrata is a delicate little pouch of deliciousness - the outer shell is made of fresh mozzarella while the inside is filled with a mixture of mozzarella curds and  and cream.  The name burrata means "buttered" in Italian.  Go figure.

I'm sure there are lots of ways to prepare or serve it but we're on the, "if it ain't broke don't fix it" program.  I'll let you know if we venture out.

Here's how we do it:

Dice a few perfectly ripe tomatoes.  Add fresh basil.  Drizzle with a little good quality olive oil.  Just lovely.

 Add a splash of balsamic. Toss gently.  Just lovely. Oh, did I already say that?  Sorry.  Add a little salt and pepper if you like.

Slice some crusty French bread.  Might as well pour a glass of wine while you're at it.  You'll want to be ready when the burrata makes it's debut.

Open The Burrata.  Go ahead and make fun - the cheese will get the last laugh.  (Does it look like an old man whistling, or is it just me?)

Cut the burrata in half and gently place it on the tomatoes, add bread, and prepare to be transported to another dimension.  See how creamy the inside looks?  Yum. We generally end up eating this for our dinner, which explains the massive bowl, not to mention the fact that one burrata ball serves 2 in our house.  I guess you could share it with other loved ones.  We've convinced our children that burrata tastes like brussel sprouts.  Yucky. And being the kind and loving parents we are, we will not force our children to eat things that make them say, "yuck".  Most of the time, anyway.

Now go try this!  

P.S.  Always check the date on the burrata before you buy it.  You will be sad if you get it home and discover it's not the freshest ball on the block.  True story.

The Crabbiest Crab Cakes

I'm pretty picky about my crab cakes, in a purist sort of way.  These were pure crabby goodness.

This recipe comes to you straight from my phone.  About this time last year I was getting a pedi, and catching up on my reading, when I came across this recipe for crab cakes in House Beautiful.   So I took a picture of it.  I'm happy to report that it's still on my phone, which is the only reason you're hearing about it now.  The girlfriends and I tried it out at the beach last year and I'm hoping it makes the cut again this year.

Crab Cakes with Basil Buttermilk Dressing and Marinated Tomatoes and Corn

Crab Cakes:

1 1/2 lb. lump crab meat

1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs

2 T. mayo

1 lg egg white

1/2 lemon, juiced

s & p

Mix all ingredients till just blended.  Shape into 6 (they say 6 but we made smaller ones - just make them till it's all used up... I can't remember how many we made.)

Put on a plate, cover, and chill in fridge.

Tomato & Corn Topping:

2 ears fresh corn 

2 vine ripened tomatoes, quartered

2 cups grape tomatoes, halved

1 T. Old Bay seasoning

2 T. fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

"one fat T. tiny fresh basil leaves" (I'm not making this stuff up!)

s & p

Roast unshucked corn in 350 degree oven about 30 minutes.  According to the recipe, it "will steam in it's own jacket and will be super sweet and tender".  I'm sure we grilled ours, which is always good and doesn't heat up the kitchen.  Let cool. Decob.

Cut tomatoes into not too small pieces (I know...they already told us to cut them once).  Toss with corn, oil, Old Bay, lemon juice, olive oil, basil, s & p.  Chill about an hour.

Buttermilk Basil Dressing:

1/2 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. mayo
1/2 c. sour cream
1/4 c. fresh basil leaves
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
few drops of fresh lemon juice
salt to taste
Combine all ingredients in blender.  Puree till smooth.  Chill, but pull out of fridge about 15 minutes before serving so it's room temp.

Cook crab cakes.  Heat 3 T olive oil over med heat.  Saute about 4 min per side or until nice and crisp.

Assemble:  Spoon dressing on plate. Top with crab cake.  Spoon tomato/corn mixture over top.

So very yummy.  

The Lemon Drop

Or, when life gives you lemons...

What better way to usher in the long weekend than with a refreshing beverage.  I recommend our friend, The Lemon Drop.  I do love lemons, and happen to have a stash still hanging on my tree in the backyard.  

I know, I know - lucky me!

I'm posting this as my first installment in Friend's Faves.  That's because my friends and I, we know how to make this baby the right way.  There's a right way, and there's a wrong way.  The right way involves merely 3 ingredients - 4 if you count ice.  No more, no less.   I'm not kidding.

Cheers and happy Memorial Day weekend!

The Lemon Dropper's Lemon Drop

Makes One

juice of one fresh lemon

one generous shot Citron vodka

one T. superfine sugar

Shake in ice-filled shaker till good and frosty.

Strain into a sugar-rimmed martini glass.

Cheers!

If you can't make it... don't fake it.

Aunt Charlotte's Bread Pudding

                                      

What's so great about bread pudding?  Well, let me tell you.  This is comfort food at it's finest.  So simple.  So yummy.  Humble, almost always on hand, ingredients. Feeds a small crowd.  If you've never tried it, trust me, you will want to do so as quickly as possible.  

Adding fresh lemon sauce and a few berries means bread pudding gets to come out and play in the summer.  Or, you can drizzle a little rum sauce over it for an instant seasonal wardrobe change.  Every time I make this somebody asks for the recipe, so I thought it would be the perfect next installment in my Family Faves series. 

This is how it's done...

Humble Ingredients: 

One loaf french bread. 

3 T. melted butter

4 cups milk

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

Tear the bread into pieces and put in buttered 9x13.

Mix butter and sugar.  Add milk, eggs, vanilla.  Pour over bread and let it soak it.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Seriously.  Could that be any easier??

While it's baking, make a batch of lemon sauce or rum sauce.  They are both divine, so I suggest the Labor Day rule.  After Labor Day, go with the rum sauce.  Before Labor Day, it's lemon all the way.

Lemon Sauce
Whisk in small saucepan:
     3/4 c. sugar
     5 T. cornstarch
Add:
     1 1/2 c. boiling water
Cook over med-hi heat till thickened.
Remove from heat and whisk in:
     4 T. fresh lemon juice
     2 T. lemon zest
     1 T. butter

Rum Sauce (not pictured)
1 c. sugar
1 stick butter
1 sm. carton whipping cream
1 shot rum
Combine in sauce pan and heat, stirring, till sugar melts.


Thank you, Aunt Charlotte.  Hope you don't mind my poaching and posting your family favorite.  Love ya!