I received a wonderful package from the UPS guy today, courtesy of Dr. Biggles and my meatloaf. Now I have something to keep me going on my journey into the midwest. Yep, I’m flying out to Indiana to visit some family for the long weekend. I probably won’t post while I’m going, but I’m sure I’ll have lots to share upon my return.
It all started with a sauce. A gorgeous, burgundy colored sauce that does not photograph nearly as well as I would like it to. I found it in this month’s Bon Appetit magazine. It was a spicy blackberry barbeque sauce. The question was what should I serve it on? Steak.
Again, the picture didn’t come out as well as I had hoped. I guess I my hand was a bit unsteady in my excitement. That is a grilled tri-tip steak slathered with the sauce, if you can’t tell. I love this sauce. I’ll make it again.
What better way to tell your loved ones how much they mean to you than by baking them a big batch of heart shaped cookies? Ok, there are some things that could be considered better – money, cars, twice as many cookies – but you must admit that fresh cookies are high up on the list.
And this is one gorgeous batch of cookies, if I do say so myself.
I knew it was only a matter of time before I got tagged. And I agree that this is a great way to get friendly with blogging buddies. Of course, I couldn’t do this without baking a little something to go along with it, so I tried a yogurt cake once more. It worked! And it was delicious.
I adapted this from a recipe for Chocolate Marble Cake, which was originally from Alice Medrich’s Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts. It is very, very easy, in addition to being moist, low in fat and very tasty. I used almond extract to give the cake a light flavor. Sprinkling some slivered almonds on top will give it a nice, finished look, too.
This month’s Sugar High Friday theme was puff pastry, hosted by Clement at A La Cuisine!. I have to admit that it put me in a bit of a tight spot.
When I am looking to make something sweet, I tend to shy away from things that seem to be already put together (read: puff pastry, I’m just trying to phrase it nicely). To me, it has always seemed like your options are fairly limited with this stuff. Granted, you can combine it with lots of fruits, creams and… uh, different fruits? I have used it many times to make napoleans, turnovers and dumplings and it never crossed my mind that puff pastry had much use beyond fruit and cream in a dessert. Tart shell? Cream and/or fruit. Strudel? Fruit. Don’t get me wrong, I like the stuff – I just wanted something more original to do with it for my SHF entry.
One of my favorite sites to waste time at is UKTVFood, the website for a British food network. It doesn’t air (to my knowledge) in the US, however it does offer video feeds of many of its shows and recipes. My favorite is Good Food Bites, hosted by Jeni Barnett, and I’m not saying that just because most of the video recipes are from that show.
I was arbitrarily watching dessert recipes – what a surprise – when I luckily stumbled upon one that used PUFF PASTRY! A simple italian recipe from Gino D’Acampo with a gorgeously long name: the recipe from the show almost exactly (I even weighed my ingredients instead of making conversions) and I suggest you watch the video. Here is the recipe with my slight variations, based on personal preference and the video instructions.
