Blackberry Chèvre Salad

Annie's Original

Did you all have a good weekend?  Mine was full to the brim with good things.  Lots of fun time with the kids, nice weather for playing outside, a beautiful wedding of a friend of many years, and time cooking with some other great friends.  Oh, and there was lots of great food, including this salad.  It was definitely a highlight, even amongst all that goodness.  So much so that I couldn’t wait even a few days to share it with you.

A few weeks ago I attended a dinner for work and ordered a starter salad similar to this.  Rarely if ever is the salad the highlight of my meal, but that evening it was.  I have been wanting to recreate it at home ever since, so this weekend I finally made it happen.  As much as I loved the restaurant version, this was way better.  In fact, this is the new reigning favorite salad in my world – kind of a big deal.  The fresh blackberries, blackberry vinaigrette, creamy goat cheese and spiced nuts are each fairly simple elements but they combine to make a pretty extraordinary salad.  If you can find honey goat cheese in your store, I highly recommend using it.  It’s kind of amazing.  I predict more future recipes highlighting this fabulous cheese…oh yes, I do.

Blackberry Chèvre Salad
Yield: about 4-6 servings

Ingredients

For the dressing: 
6 oz. fresh blackberries, rinsed
3 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1½ tbsp. honey
¼ cup olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

For the spiced nuts: 
1 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. brown sugar
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
Dash of ground ginger
Dash of cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper, to taste
¾ cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)

To assemble: 
Mixed salad greens
2 oz. honey goat cheese
About 6 oz. fresh blackberries
Thinly sliced vidalia onion

Directions

  • To make the dressing, place the berries in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.  Pour the mixture through a fine mesh sieve, pressing out as much fruit puree as possible while removing the seeds.  In a liquid measuring cup or jar, combine the blackberry puree with the vinegar, honey, and olive oil.  Whisk vigorously until the mixture is well blended and smooth.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Chill until ready to use.

  • To make the spiced nuts, melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat.  Stir in the brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cayenne, and salt and pepper to taste.  Allow the mixture to heat for about 1 minute, then stir in the chopped nuts.  Let cook, stirring occasionally, until the nuts are lightly toasted, about 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat and let cool.

  • To serve, plate portions of salad greens on salad plates.  Top with crumbled goat cheese, fresh blackberries, vidalia onion and the spiced nuts as desired.  Drizzle lightly with the blackberry vinaigrette.  Serve immediately.

 
Annie's Original

Strawberry Vanilla Doughnuts

When the first quart of spring strawberries arrived in our produce delivery bin a few weeks ago, Andrew immediately asked if we could bake something with them.  I asked what he had in mind and after only a moment’s hesitation, he declared, “Strawberry doughnuts.”  This caught me off guard.  Doughnuts are a very rare occurrence in our house and the kid has probably had less than three doughnuts in his entire life.  Not only that, but I wasn’t sure exactly what a strawberry doughnut entailed…this was clearly a spur of the moment idea for him.  Unlike basically anything else he has ever thought of, he actually forgot about this idea.  I, however, did not.  I just couldn’t get the idea out of my head.  Strawberry doughnuts…I pondered and pondered.  What would be the best way to go about that?

Homemade doughnuts are so irresistible, I allow myself to make them only once a year as a treat.  These most definitely were a product of trial and error, and then even more error on my part, but they were so worth it in the end.  We loved everything about the way these turned out and it was tough to limit ourselves to just one.  The dough has an overnight rest so they are doable for a brunch treat if you so choose.

Strawberry Vanilla Doughnuts
Yield: about 10 doughnuts

Ingredients

For the doughnuts: 
2½ tsp. instant (rapid rise) yeast
2/3 cup milk, at room temperature
3½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. coarse salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
7 tbsp. butter, at room temperature, cut into large chunks

For the filling: 
1 quart strawberries, hulled
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

To finish: 
Canola oil, for frying
1 cup vanilla sugar*

Directions

  • In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the yeast with the milk and whisk briefly to dissolve.  Add in the flour, sugar, salt, and eggs.  Continue mixing on low speed 2-3 minutes more.  Add in the butter a piece at a time, waiting until each is mostly incorporated before adding another.  Continue kneading about 5-6 minutes more.  If necessary, add extra flour 2 tablespoons at a time until the dough is cohesive but still slightly sticky.

  • Lay out a piece of plastic wrap and spray lightly with cooking spray.  Transfer the dough to the plastic wrap, wrap tightly, and refrigerate overnight (at least 6 hours and up to 15 hours).

  • Lightly flour a baking sheet, and generously flour a work surface.  Turn the dough out onto the work surface and gently pat or roll out to a slab about ½-¾ inch-thick.  Use a 3 to 3½-inch biscuit or cookie cutter to cut out rounds of the dough.  Transfer dough rounds to the prepared baking sheet, rerolling and recutting dough scraps as needed.  Cover loosely with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let rise until puffy and nearly doubled, about 2-3 hours.

  • Meanwhile, make the strawberry jam filling.  Coarsely chop the berries (use the food processor or blender, if you wish.)  Transfer the chopped berries to a large skillet with the sugar and lemon juice.  Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the jam is thickened and bubbles cover the surface, about 15-20 minutes.  Let cool well before using.

  • When you are ready to finish the doughnuts, fill a large saucepan or pot with canola oil to a depth of 3 inches.  Clip a thermometer to the side and heat the oil to 350˚ F.  Meanwhile, line a cooling rack with paper towels.  When the oil has reached the appropriate temperature add doughnuts to the oil in the pan in a single layer so that they are not crowded.  Fry, turning once, until golden on both sides, about 4-5 minutes total.

  • Use a skimmer or slotted spoon to transfer the finished doughnuts to the cooling rack.  Place the vanilla sugar in a shallow plate or dish.  After a few minutes of cooling, evenly coat all sides of the doughnuts in the vanilla sugar, shaking away the excess.  Repeat the frying process until all doughnuts are cooked.

  • Transfer the strawberry filling to a pastry bag fitted with a plain round tip.  Gently poke the pastry bag into each doughnut and squeeze a few tablespoons of filling into each.  Serve fresh.

  • *If you don't have vanilla sugar, no worries.  Just use regular sugar.  It will still taste fab.  To make vanilla sugar, add spent vanilla pods to an airtight container of sugar and let stand at least 2 days.  That's it!

Source

Caramel Toffee Cheesecake Bars

Cheesecake has long been one of my very favorite desserts.  That rich and creamy filling atop a buttery graham cracker crust.  Mmm, mmm good.  Add caramel and toffee into the mix and we’ve definitely entered into the realm of irresistible.  Let’s be honest – caramel sauce can give most any dessert an instant upgrade.  Ben doesn’t have nearly the sweet tooth that I do, but he does have a weakness for toffee and for caramel.  Combining the two in a single dessert probably had him wondering why I might be trying to butter him up.

This is a time when cheesecake bars are superior to a traditional cheesecake, because they make portion control so much easier to manage.  One square has just enough to satisfy without feeling guilty.  Even better, bars are so much easier to share!  Pass them off to family, friends, neighbors…  I’d be willing to bet that if you do decide to share, you’ll get requests for the recipe.

Caramel Toffee Cheesecake Bars
Yield: 16 bars

Ingredients

For the crust: 
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1 tbsp. sugar
½ cup toffee bits

For the filling: 
12 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla
¼ tsp. salt
1/3 cup caramel sauce

For topping: 
Additional caramel sauce, for drizzling
About ½ cup toffee bits

Directions

  • Preheat the oven to 325˚ F.  Line an 8 x 8-inch baking pan with parchment paper.  In a small bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and sugar.  Toss with a fork until evenly mixed.  Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and press into an even layer in the bottom of the pan.  Sprinkle the toffee bits in an even layer over the graham cracker mixture.  Bake for 5 minutes.  Remove the pan from the oven, but maintain the oven temperature.

  • To make the filling, in the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the cream cheese and sour cream.  Beat on medium-high speed until smooth and well combined, 1-2 minutes.  Beat in the sugar.  Blend in the egg, vanilla, and salt, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.  Blend in the caramel sauce.  Pour the mixture over the crust in an even layer.

  • Return the pan to the oven and bake just until set, about 30-35 minutes.  Transfer the pan to a wire cooling rack and let cool to room temperature.  Cover with foil and refrigerate at least 4 hours.

  • Drizzle additional caramel sauce over the cheesecake and sprinkle with additional toffee bits.  Slice into squares with a large kitchen knife.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

 

Carrot Cake Oatmeal

Despite my best efforts, I fell into some sort of weird breakfast rut the past month or so.  Nothing has sounded particularly good to me…I think in part due to the change in the weather.  So many of the dishes I loved through winter are less appealing now.  That coupled with having about two minutes available for eating breakfast each morning has led to an awful lot of smoothies and sad banana toasts.  Oatmeal has become a favorite of mine in the past few years but I wanted a new spin on it.  This carrot cake oatmeal was the answer.

Okay, obviously it isn’t exactly carrot cake.  I mean, it’s still oatmeal.  But it’s darn good oatmeal.  The carrot, coconut and raisins pack a nice dose of natural sweetness so very little additional sugar is needed.  This recipe will definitely come in handy for all those times that I have random bags of carrots sitting neglected in the veggie drawers.  Enjoy!

Carrot Cake Oatmeal
Yield: about 6 servings

Ingredients

3 cups water
1 cup low-fat milk*
1 tbsp. unsalted butter*
1 cup steel-cut oats
¼ tsp. salt
3 tbsp. brown sugar
3 carrots, peeled and shredded
½ cup shredded coconut
1/3 cup raisins
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. grated nutmeg

Directions

  • Combine the water and milk in a medium saucepan.  Bring to a simmer.  Meanwhile, melt the butter in a 10- or 12-inch skillet over medium heat.  Add the oats and toast, stirring occasionally, until golden and fragrant, about 2 minutes.

  • Stir the toasted oats into the simmering liquid.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently until the mixture is very thick, about 20 minutes.

  • Stir in the salt, brown sugar, carrot, coconut, raisins, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.  Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until all of the liquid has been absorbed and the oatmeal is creamy, about 10 minutes more.  Remove from the heat and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

  • *To make this vegan/dairy free, use coconut milk and coconut oil in place of the milk and butter.

  • ** This recipe can be made in advance and reheated before serving.  When reheating, stir in an additional splash of milk to help loosen the cooled oats.

Source

Roasted Salmon Sandwich with Garlic Chive Aioli

Annie's Original

Not too long ago, I mentioned my mini love affair with Taste Café in Broad Ripple.  Well, it really hasn’t subsided.  I meet up with friends, or coax coworkers to venture outside of a one mile radius for lunch, and whenever I do, we end up at Taste.  The menu is extensive and they always have tons of great specials, but ever since trying their roasted salmon sandwich, it has been tough for me to order anything else.  It’s just so good.

Recreating a homemade version of this remedied several issues at once.  I can once more feel free to order other things on the menu besides the salmon sandwich, since I can enjoy this sandwich from home.  Also, maybe (just maybe), I won’t feel this borderline obsessive pull to visit the restaurant in the first place.  (If they had a location closer to my house however, all bets would be off for sure.)  And finally, my little man loves salmon and asks for it weekly.  This dinner is his ultimate and we don’t often stray from it because it’s just so simple, but this sandwich was happily Andrew approved and devoured.  I made a garlic chive aioli in part because my chive plant is going crazy, and it was a really nice addition.  Be sure to use a soft bread such as focaccia since, as with most fish, the salmon is fairly tender and flakes easily under pressure.

Roasted Salmon Sandwich with Garlic Chive Aioli
Yield: 4-5 servings

Ingredients

4-5 (4 oz.) pieces salmon, about ¾-inch thick*
Olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

For the aioli:*
1 large egg yolk
4 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼ cup olive oil
6 tbsp. canola or vegetable oil
¼ tsp. kosher salt
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
2-3 tbsp. minced fresh chives
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

To serve: 
Focaccia sandwich rolls
Romaine or bibb lettuce leaves
Thinly sliced red onion
Thinly sliced cucumber
Thinly sliced tomato

Directions

  • Preheat the oven to 425˚ F.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.  Place the salmon pieces skin side down on the foil.  Brush the tops lightly with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast for 15-16 minutes, or until the internal temperature just registers 160˚ F on an instant-read thermometer.  Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.

  • Meanwhile, make the aioli.  In a small bowl, combine the egg yolk with the lemon juice and whisk lightly.  Begin to drizzle in the olive and canola oils in a steady stream, whisking constantly and quickly to create an emulsion.  Continue whisking until the mixture is significantly thickened and spreadable.  Blend in the salt, garlic and chives.  Season with pepper to taste and adjust other seasonings as necessary.

  • To assemble, spread a thin layer of the aioli on the inside of the focaccia.  Layer with the lettuce leaves.  Use a spatula to separate the salmon from the skin on the foil, and place the salmon on the sandwiches.  Top with layers of red onion, tomato and cucumber.  Sandwich together and serve

  • A note about the salmon:
    The thickness of salmon fillets can vary quite a bit.  An optimal thickness for this is about ¾-inch.  If you have a piece that is super thick (1½ or so inches), split it in half horizontally so that you end up with two pieces of the desired thickness.

    A few notes about the aioli: 
    This calls for a raw egg yolk.  If you are not comfortable with this or have a medical concern related to consuming raw egg, buy pasteurized eggs.
    Though I used chives, any number of herbs could be great here.  Dill is a natural pairing with salmon and would be excellent.  Experiment with what you have available.
    I have seen methods for making aioli using food processors, blenders, and immersion blenders.  I just used a whisk and elbow grease but those methods may work just as well.

 
Annie's Original