Candied Rhubarb

Posted on 17 June, 2013 by Beth Rooney

Candied Rhubarb

Here is a super simple and delicious way to use some rhubarb! My parents have been giving us bags and bags of rhubarb from their prolific plants and I was running out of new ways to prepare it. I was looking through Rustic Fruit Desserts and found this recipe.

My rhubarb strips took about an hour to dry out enough, but I think I made them a little too thick. I tried cutting them and using a peeler. I would say go with the peeler. They are easier to shape and bake a little bit faster!

You can use these as a drink garnish, as topping for vanilla ice cream or just eat them. Rosie decided that was the best plan of attack.

Candied Rhubarb Strips

1 stalk rhubarb
½ c sugar
½ c water

Preheat the oven to 200. Line a baking sheet with a piece of lightly greased parchment paper. Cut the rhubarb into 6-inch lengths, then cut each piece into strips ¼ inch to 1/8 inch thick with a good peeler, a mandoline, or a well-positioned knife. Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil. Cook and stir until the sugar is dissolved, then remove from the heat. Dip the rhubarb ribbons into the syrup, then place them on the prepared baking sheet, laying them out flat and ensuring that they do not touch each other.

Bake for about 45 minutes, until dry. While they are still warm, twist the strips into shapes, wrapping them around your finger or the handle of a clean wooden spoon. Use immediately, or store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Zucchine Ripiene con Ricotta (Zucchini Stuffed with Ricotta)

Posted on 10 June, 2013 by Beth Rooney

Zucchine Ripiene con Ricotta (Zucchini Stuffed with Ricotta)

This dish is a fantastic option for a warm summer day. It is a great way to use up some of the prolific zucchinis that appear in gardens come July. You have to hallow out the zucchini, so if there aren’t too many seeds, save the scraps and made some zucchini bread!
I messed up the recipe a bit and just mixed all the filling ingredients together and stuffed the zucchini. It tasted great and looked nice too, but I am going to give you the original recipe that appeared in Saveur so you can decide if you want to do it their way or the quicker way.

6 medium zucchini (about 2 lbs.) , halved lengthwise
7 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
2 medium tomatoes, cored, seeded, and chopped
2 cups ricotta
¾ c grated pecorino
¾ c bread crumbs
3 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley leaves
2 tsp chopped fresh oregano
2 egg yolks, beaten
kosher salt and pepper
1. Using a small spoon, scoop out and discard pulp from each zucchini half, leaving a 1?4 rim around the edges. Heat 3 tbsp. of the olive oil in a 10″ skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and onions; cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 6 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 4 minutes more. Remove from the heat and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together the ricotta, 1?4 cup of the pecorino, 1?4 cup of the bread crumbs, the parsley, mint, oregano, and egg yolks. Fold in the onion mixture and season with salt and pepper. Set the filling aside.

3. Arrange an oven rack about 7″ from the broiler element and heat. Rub the insides of the zucchini with 2 tbsp. of the olive oil and season lightly with salt. Place zucchini cut side up on a foil-lined baking sheet and broil for 5 minutes. Remove baking sheet from oven and fill each zucchini half with enough of the ricotta mixture that it mounds slightly but doesn’t spill over the edges of the zucchini. Sprinkle each stuffed zucchini with the remaining pecorino and bread crumbs and drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Broil until the zucchini are soft and the tops are lightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes.
If you do it my way, in step 2 just mix all the ricotta, pecorino, bread crumbs and everything else together and set it aside. And then you don’t have to sprinkle anything! We had this two nights in a row and we all wished we had more zucchini. Baby Bug kept asking for more of mine, so I think I only ate about ½ a zucchini. Oh well! I’m glad she is a good eater.
Enjoy!

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White Bean Tapenade

Posted on 3 June, 2013 by Beth Rooney

White Bean Tapenade

Here is another simple spread that I made recently, but this one was for dinner. We had our awesome friend Aarti over for dinner and this spread was really nice when paired with a salad and some delicious Rosé.

This would be perfect for a picnic or a relaxed summer lunch….Do real people have those?? Maybe all those people in the Anthropologie catalogs do… Anyway, this would also be good for a work lunch too. Just make enough to share with your co-workers, unless they don’t like olives, in which case, they may not join you for lunch that day.

White Bean Tapenade

White Bean Tapenade
6 servings or about 2 cups
Bon Appetit –June 2013

1 15-oz can white beans (such as cannellini or Great Northern), rinsed, coarsely chopped
½ c pitted mixed olives, coarsely chopped
2 Tbsp coarsely chopped fresh parsley
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp thinly slice lemon zest
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp (or more) fresh lemon juice
Kosher salt and pepper
Bread for serving

Toss beans, olives, parsley, oil, lemon zest, red pepper flakes, and 1 Tbsp lemon juice in a medium bowl; season with salt, pepper and more lemon juice, if desired. Serve tapenade with bread.

This can be made two days ahead. Cover and chill; bring to room temperature before serving.

Garbanzo Bean-Yogurt Dip

Posted on 27 May, 2013 by Beth Rooney

Yogurt Garbanzo Bean Dip

Garbanzo Bean-Yogurt Dip Makes a lot (1 ½ cups)

This is a very simple recipe that appeared in Bon Appétit –March 2013

Puree 2 small garlic cloves, two 15 oz cans chickpeas (rinsed), ½ cup plain 2% Greek Yogurt, 3 tbsps olive oil, 2 tsp sherry vinegar, a large pinch of cumin and a healthy splash of lemon juice; season with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.

That’s it!

If you want to be fancy you can top it with olive oil, pine nuts, mint or pomegranate seeds. Nick and I eat this almost daily for lunch now so we don’t dress it up much.

I found that I had to modify the recipe a bit to get it to the consistency that we prefer, so we added the lemon juice and upped the yogurt a bit so it wasn’t so course. And I added more garlic, of course.

This dip really is good. My new favorite sandwich involves a tortilla, this spread, avocado and arugula. I warm it slightly in the toaster oven…so good! I may never buy store bought hummus again.

Blueberry Cream French Toast Casserole

Posted on 22 May, 2013 by Beth Rooney

Blueberry Cream French Toast Casserole

In May we celebrated Mother’s Day with a relaxed breakfast at my mom’s house. Everyone brought something to breakfast and then we had rhubarb crisp and pecan pie for dessert because we were also celebrating my dad’s birthday! It was a sugary, deliciously decadent breakfast. I was in charge of the main dish for breakfast and found a perfect recipe for the occasion: Blueberry Cream French Toast Casserole.
I found this recipe years ago in the Chicago Tribune and just got around to testing it. I would argue it was well worth the wait. It is easy, and feeds a crowd. The official serving size says it would be enough for 8, but in reality, it could do twice that, especially if your sister makes a pie to go along with it.
The other thing I love about this recipe, is that all the prep work is done the night before which translates directly into more mimosa drinking in the morning and more time to talk to your friends and loved ones.

Give it a try! You won’t regret it and happy belated Mother’s Day to all !

Blueberry Cream French Toast Casserole
Serves 8
Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes

1 loaf Texas toast or egg bread, cut into cubes
1 8oz package of cream cheese, slightly softened
1 ½ cups fresh blueberries, tossed lightly with flour
cinnamon
8 large eggs
1 ½ cups milk
¾ maple syrup
6 tbsp butter, melted + a little to grease your pan

Coat a 13x9x2 inch baking dish with butter.
Layer one half of bread cubes in baking dish. Cut cream cheese into cubes and scatter over bread.
Layer blueberries over cheese. Cover blueberries with remaining bread. Sprinkle with cinnamon.
Mix remaining ingredients and pour over bread. Press bread with spatula to help soak up mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Bake at 350 for 45-50 mintes

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Cinnamon Dinner Party!

Posted on 16 May, 2013 by Beth Rooney

The cinnamon dinner party was a success! It was actually a brunch party and everyone brought delicious food! So lets cut to the chase! Here are the recipes:

Nick and I made Blueberry Muffins with Doughnut topping from Baking for All Occasions

Blueberry muffins with doughnut topping

Blueberry Muffins with Doughnut Topping from Flo Braker’s Baking For All Occasions, page 60 | Makes 12 muffins

For the Muffins:
2 cups all-purpose flour*
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup cold, well-shaken buttermilk**
3/4 stick (3 ounces) unsalted butter, melted and tepid
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups blueberries, picked over for stems

For the Doughnut Topping:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 sticks (3 ounces) unsalted butter, melted

To make the muffins:

1. Center rack in the oven and preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Lightly coat a 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick spray, then flour the cups, tapping out the excess flour. Or butter and flour the cups or line with fluted paper or foil liners.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a medium bowl, stir together the buttermilk, butter, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla until combined.
4. Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and stir gently with a rubber spatula just until moistened. Do not beat until smooth, or the muffins will have a coarse texture.

5. Using the spatula, fold in the blueberries just enough to incorporated them into the batter. Fill the muffin cups three-fourths full.
6. Bake the muffins until they are golden, spring back when gently pressed in the centre, and are starting to pull away from the muffin cups, 18 to 23 minutes. Cool in pan until they can be handled, about 10 to 15 minutes.
7. To make the Doughnut Topping: In a small bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon. 8. While the muffins are still warm, gently remove them from the pan one at a time. Dip the tops in melted butter, roll in the cinnamon sugar to coat, and then place on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Storing: Store at room temperature under a cake dome for up to 2 days, or freeze for up to 10 days in a sturdy covered container. Thaw at room temperature 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Kathy and Martin made a citrus salad and some amazing coffee!

Cinnamon citrus salad

Citrus Cinnamon Fruit Salad

2 red grapefruits
1 white grapefruit
6 blood oranges
3 navel oranges
1/2 cup cranberries, dried

Chop all the fruit using knifework that you think yields pleasing results. Add the cranberries. Then add 1/4 honey and 1 TBSP cinnamon and mix it up.Y ou can also add nutmeg, cloves, and ginger to taste.

Mexican Spiced Coffee– Cafe de Olla

Mexican Spiced Coffee– Cafe de Olla

Ingredients

Spiced Sugar Syrup
4 1/2 ounces (roughly 1/2 9-ounce cones) piloncillo, roughly chopped,
OR 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
The finely chopped zest of 1 orange
1/4 teaspoon whole cloves
One 3-inch piece of cinnamon stick
3/4 cup freshly ground coffee, preferably a fairly dark-roasted Mexican one
Directions

Put a kettle of water on to boil. In a medium (3-quart) saucepan combine the ingredients for the spiced sugar syrup along with 1 cups water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Let steep at least 10 minutes.

Pour through a strainer into a 48-ounce (8 cup) press pot (aka French press pot). Top with the coffee, then fill 3/4 full with boiling water. Allow to steep 5 minutes before pressing the filter down. Serve right away.
Ryan Kelly brought drinks!

Bloody Mary

Here is what I he did:

1. Obtain skewers
2. Onto the skewer place the following items: whole green olive, cube of pepper-jack cheese, sliced baby pickle, whole pepperoncini pepper, parsley
3. Rim wedge of lime along edge of 24 ounce glass and dip into celery salt until coated
4. Fill glass with ice, then pour 1-2 shots vodka into glass
5. Pour bloody-mary mix to fill glass
6. Add dash of cinnamon to the drink
7. Add garnish and serve
Tiffany, Matt and Elliott brought Cinnamon rolls and spiced apples

Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:
Serves: 18
Dough
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup milk
Filling
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup brown sugar or 1 cup white sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk

Directions:
1. For the filling, in a small bowl combine softened butter, brown sugar and cinnamon to form a crumbly mixture.
2. Sprinkle 1/2 of the mixture over the bottom of a 9×9 pan.
3. In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
4. Cut in softened butter (sometimes your hands are the best tools).
5. Stir in milk to form a soft dough.
6. Roll out dough on a lightly floured cutting board into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick.
7. Spread the remaining filling on the rolled out dough.
8. Roll up the rectangle, with a sharp knife slice into 18 small rolls (12 if you want them a little bigger).
9. Bake for 20-25 min at 400°F.
10. For glaze, combine powdered sugar and milk in a small bowl and stir until smooth.
11. Once rolls are finished, drizzle on glaze and serve warm.

Baked Cinnamon Apples

Ingredients:

10 apples, cored, peeled and sliced thinly
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice (optional)
1 dash salt
1 dash nutmeg
whipped cream (optional) or ice cream (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Place cut and peeled apples in a mixing bowl and gently mix all the ingredients together.
3. Put apples in a non-stick pan; cover and place in the oven.
4. Bake for 45 minutes, stirring at least once every 15 minutes.
5. Once they are soft, cook for another few minutes to thicken the cinnamon sauce.

And Breahan brought a quiche! You can find the recipe here

Cinnamon Quiche

There were many other dishes made, but I do not have recipes for those! Kristi brought the little bread treats that Rose is grabbing….so much good food! The next party is in June and tea is the featured ingredient! Can’t wait!

Cinnamon Pear Sandwiches

Lemon Drop Cookies

Posted on 29 April, 2013 by Beth Rooney

Lemon Drop Cookies

My original plan this week was to post about the cinnamon dinner party, but then the weather turned brilliant and I had take photos for a long term project and got distracted from the blog. I couldn’t get my act together with recipe gathering, so that will wait until next week! This week I’m bringing you tasty, lemony treats!

I am continually looking for the perfect lemon cookie recipe and I am pretty sure this is it. I found this in my granny’s recipe box and I can see why she kept it. The originally does not call for a glaze, but I decided it might be a good idea. We liked them glazed and un-glazed. If you so desire, the glaze is just powdered sugar mixed with lemon juice. Very simple, very tasty.

These cookies are soft and pillow-like.They seem perfect for a shower: bridal or baby. And now the recipe! See you next week!

Lemon Drop Cookies

½ c butter
1 c sugar
½ cottage cheese, sieved
1 egg
2 tsp fresh grated lemon rind
1 tsp vanilla
2 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¼ c lemon juice

Cream butter; gradually add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in cottage cheese, egg, lemon rind and vanilla. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to creamed mixture alternately with lemon juice. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto buttered baking sheet and sprinkle cookies with mixture of 2 tsp lemon rind and ¼ cup sugar. Bake in an 375 oven for 10-12 minutes or until edges just begin to brown. Do not over-bake! Remove immediately to wire rack to cool.

Yield 4-6 dozen depending on your definition of “rounded teaspoon”

Pistachio Pound Cake

Posted on 22 April, 2013 by Beth Rooney

Pistachio Pound Cake from Bon Appetit, April 2012 issue.

This spring, if you can call it that, I have been obsessed with all things green: peas, asparagus, spinach, and now, pistachios. We had just been eating them as snacks, but then I came across an amazing recipe in Bon Appetit (April 2012) for a pistachio pound cake. I have never made a pound cake because it always seemed so heavy, but I found this recipe irresistible. It was easy to make and turned out well, but I didn’t have a large enough loaf pan, which led to a huge mess in the oven when the batter overflowed and baked to the bottom of the oven!

The recipe calls for a 9x5x3. I think my pan is 8x4x3 or something like that. At any rate, it was too small. So after the oven started to smoke, we fixed the problem by placing a cookie sheet under the loaf pan to catch the dripping batter. This prevented more batter from baking to the bottom of the oven AND allowed us to eat the deliciously crispy and light cake leavings. I think those were almost better than the finished cake. Almost.

So if you make this pound cake, check to make sure your pan is large enough or you will be cleaning your oven after you bake.

Here is a link to the recipe.

Pistachio Pound Cake 8–10 servings

Ingredients
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2 cups all-purpose flour plus more
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
5 large eggs
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest
1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest
1 cup shelled, unsalted pistachios, coarsely chopped, divided

Preparation

Arrange a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 325°. Coat a 9x5x3″ loaf pan with nonstick spray. Dust pan with flour; tap out excess.

Whisk 2 cups flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2–3 minutes. Add sugar; beat until well incorporated, 1–2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating to blend between additions. Add juices and zests; beat until well combined (mixture will look curdled), 2–3 minutes. Add dry ingredients; reduce speed to low and beat just until blended. Fold in 3/4 cup pistachios. Pour batter into prepared pan; smooth top. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup pistachios over.
Bake cake, rotating halfway through, until a tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 1/2 hours. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely in pan. Run a sharp knife around sides to loosen; unmold cake. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

Quinoa Salad

Posted on 15 April, 2013 by Beth Rooney

Red quinoa salad with asparagus and radishes

What do you make for dinner when you’ve just had about a dozen people over for brunch? A simple, seasonal salad, that’s what. This recipe will probably be the shortest I ever post:

3 C cooked quiona (This is how much you get from cooking 1 c dry quinoa)
4-6 large radishes, thinly sliced
½-3/4 bunch of asparagus, thinly slice (raw)
¼ cup cilantro
½ roasted pumpkin seeds
Olive oil and lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix together the olive oil and lemon juice and toss all the ingredients together until well mixed. Serve.

This salad is so quick and the raw asparagus is a revelation! I had no idea I would like it so much. Thinly sliced asparagus will be my new go to snack!

Sorry for the short post, there will be a longer one with lots of recipes next week because we had the cinnamon dinner party on Saturday. You’ll see those photos and recipes next week.

Pea Pancakes

Posted on 8 April, 2013 by Beth Rooney

Pea Pancakes with scallions

There are countless pea pancake recipes out there, but I ran across this one in the latest issue of Bon Appetit and the ingredient list immediately jumped out at me, because Rose is currently in love with: peas, cottage cheese, eggs and pancakes. This was a no-brainer.

But the problem with toddler’s is that you think you know what they want and then they change. Rose had no interest in dinner. She took a few bites and that was it. Oh well, we’ll send the remaining pancake to the babysitter’s house tomorrow and hope she eats it. Nick and I loved them.

These pancakes are pretty and simple to make. What more can you ask? They also suggest serving these with smoked salmon. We tried it that way and Nick liked it a lot, but they are also good without the salmon. The original suggests pouring butter on top when you are done. I don’t really do that with regular pancakes so I didn’t bother with it for these. These would be ideal for brunch.

Happy spring!

Ingredients

1 cup shelled fresh peas (from about 1 pound pods) or frozen peas, thawed
1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more
3 large eggs
1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons vegetable oil plus more for skillet
4 scallions, thinly sliced, plus more for serving

Preparation

If using fresh peas, cook in a small saucepan of boiling salted water until tender, about 3 minutes (if using frozen peas, do not cook). Drain.

Purée eggs, cottage cheese, flour, 2 tablespoons oil, and 1teaspoon salt in a blender until smooth. Transfer batter to a medium bowl and stir in peas and 4 scallions. (Batter should be thick but pourable; stir in water by tablespoonfuls if too thick).

Heat a lightly oiled large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, add batter to skillet by 1/4-cupfuls, spreading out to 3-inch-4-inch rounds with a spoon. Cook pancakes until bubbles form on top, about 3 minutes. Flip and cook until pancakes are browned on bottom and the centers are just cooked through, about 2 minutes longer.

Belly of the Beest

A collection of thoughts, recipes and photos from my everyday life with food.

Author Archives: Beth Rooney

Candied Rhubarb

Zucchine Ripiene con Ricotta (Zucchini Stuffed with Ricotta)

White Bean Tapenade

Garbanzo Bean-Yogurt Dip

Blueberry Cream French Toast Casserole

Cinnamon Dinner Party!

Lemon Drop Cookies

Pistachio Pound Cake

Quinoa Salad

Pea Pancakes