Perfect Summer Salad

Our tomato plant has produced the best slicing tomatoes. A fresh, juicy sliced tomato is a great summer salad. To make the salad even more perfect, fresh basil and mozarella. I miss these wonderful flavors during our cold winters.

Insalata caprese (the salad from Capri) The salad was created in the 1950s at the Trattoria da Vincenzo for regulars out for a light lunch.

Caprese Salad

Large tomato, sliced
Fresh Basil Leaves
Fresh Mozarella
Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Freshly Ground Pepper

Slice the tomato. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place basil leaves on top of tomatoes, slice mozarella and place on top of basil. Drizzle olive oil over all. Chill until serving time.

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

My husband has a banana almost every morning for breakfast. Have you ever noticed how hard it is to get bananas that are at the right stage of ripening? They always seem to be too green or too ripe. Either way we seem to have some leftover at the end of the week that are too ripe for our tastes.

My fallback recipe for leftover bananas is Mrs. Flint's Banana Bread. While this is the best banana bread I've ever eaten, I am in the mood for something different. I love peanut butter and bananas, I can take a spoon, a jar of peanut butter and a banana and ENJOY!! I searched and found a recipe on All Recipes for Peanut Butter Banana Bread. After reading the reviews, I decided to make some changes and make muffins instead of bread.




Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
Adapted from All Recipes

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F . Line 12 muffin tins with paper muffin cups..
In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Stir in peanut butter, bananas, flour and baking soda until blended. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

My notes on this recipe: I would like even a little more peanut butter flavor in these muffins, I would increase the peanut butter to 3/4 cup. Keep a close eye on the baking time, at 20 minutes they are done and any time over 2o minutes would cause them to be dry.

What's in a Name?

My husband's sisters name is Rosemary. Since rosemary seems to be the theme of many of my recipes of late, I wondered what Rosemary means. The name Rosemary comes from the Latin, word ros marinus meaning "dew of the sea". For centuries rosemary has been a symbol of friendship and rembrance, often used in wedding bouquets.

Our neighbors, Greg and Amy brought us the most scrumptious dinner on my second night home from the hospital. Greg said the chicken dish was nothing fancy but a dish that everyone really likes. I think it's fancy enough and he was so right, we loved it. When Tim returned the dishes, I asked him to ask for the recipe. The recipe from Canadian Living's Country Cooking magazine, Chicken with Rosemary and Lemon. The notes on the recipe describe it perfectly, "Although this recipe seems very simple, the combined flavors are sophisticated and intriguing".




Chicken with Rosemary and Lemon

6 chicken breasts
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon each of salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic, minced

Pat chicken dry. Place in a shallow glass bowl or plastic bag. I use a tupperware container I've had this container for years and it works so well for marinating. The design of the container allows you to turn it over to marinate all sides.

Whisk together all of the ingredients, pour over chicken, turning to coat all sides. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

Arrange chicken pieces on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes of until chicken is no longer pink inside. Alternatively, grill over medium heat until chicken is cooked to a temperature of 170 degrees.

Blueberry Lemonade

Did you know today is National Lemonade Day? Nothing tastes better on a hot summer day than a glass of fresh squeezed lemonade. Although the weather is more like fall than summer here today, I still wanted to honor the day. I decided to try a twist on regular lemonade and make blueberry lemonade.



Blueberry Lemonade

3 cups blueberries
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 cups cold water
Ice cubes

Combine blueberries and sugar in the blender until well blended. Strain blueberry mixture. Add the lemon juice and cold water. Serve over ice.

This recipe also makes a great cocktail, add a shot of vodka or rum to the lemonade.
Cheers!!!

Anise Candy

Another favorite from Schmidt's Bakery is Anise Candy. Schmidt's sells this at Christmas time and every year my mother in law phones in her order for 30+ plus bags. Everyone in my family, except me, LOVES this candy.

I found some Anise Oil and decided to see if I could duplicate this sweet treat. I can't remember the last time I made hard candy. I had forgotten just how LONG it takes to get to the hard ball stage. I am sure our humid weather played a part in the timing.

The family reviews are in and while they said the candy was good, it just wasn't Schmidts.




Anise Candy

2 cups sugar
1/2 white corn syrup
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon anise flavoring
1/2 teaspoon red food coloring

Boil sugar, syrup and water until a candy thermometer registers a hard crack stage.

A candy thermometer is essential for this process. Be prepared, this takes a long time, approximately an hour.

Remove from heat; add flavoring and food color, stir but be careful of the fumes when the oil is added.

Pour onto a greased cookie sheet, let sit a few minutes, score and cut once slightly hardened.

Granola Bars

I made Alton Brown's Granola to take on our Yellowstone vacation this summer. The granola was delicious but not clumpy enough for us. Since I've been home, I have had plenty of time to watch Food Network. Ina Garten's show featured Granola Bars which look very similar to Alton's Granola recipe, except these are bars.

Homemade Granola Bars
Adapted from Ina Garten

2 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup tosted wheat germ
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup honey
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 1/2 teapoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kisher salt
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8 x 12 baking pan with cooking spray and line it with parchment paper.

Toss the oatmeal, almonds and coconut on a sheet pan and bake for 10 - 12 minutes, stirring often for even browning. Toss the mixture into a large mixing bowl, add the wheat germ and cinnamon. Mix well.

Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees.

Place butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla and salt into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook, stirring for a minute. Pour over the oatmeal mixture. Add the fruit and mix well.

Pour into a prepared pan. Using a small piece of parchment or wax paper, lightly press the mixture into the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool at least 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares.

Store in an airtight container.



My notes on this recipe:

Ina's recipe called for dates and apricots, I didn't have these but had raisins, so I substituted them. Also, I added cinnamon for a little extra flavor. I also felt that these didn't stay together as much as I would like. I need to research what might hold them together a little better next time.

Rosemary Scones

As I mentioned in my earlier post, the rosemary is beautiful and plentiful. This is a recipe I watched Giada De Laurentis make last week. I've never been very good at breads, pie crusts and pastries but I've always made the dough "by hand". Giada claims this is an "easy" dough to make and made it in the food processor. They look wonderful, so I decided to give them a try.



Rosemary Scones
Adapted from Giada De Laurentis

Scones:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup jam

Glaze:

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, from 1 large lemon
2 cups powdered sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or silpat).

In a food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar, baking powder, rosemary, sea salt and butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Transfer the mixture to a medium bow. Gradually stir in the cream until the mixture forms a dough. On a lightly floured work surface, rool out the dough into 1/2 inch thick, 10 inch circle. Using a heart shaped cookie cuter, cut out heart shaped pieces of dough and place on the cookie sheet. Gently knead together any leftover pieces of dough and cut into heart shapes and add to the baking sheet. Using a small round measuring spoon, make an indentation in the center of each pastry heart. Spoon 1/2 teaspoon of ham into the indentation. Bake for 18 to 2o minutes, until the edges are golden brown. Transfer scones to a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes.

To make the glaze, mix together lemon juice and powdered sugar until smooth. Gradually add the water until the mixture is thin enough to spread. Using a spoon, drizzle the glaze over the scones. Let the scones set for approximately 30 minutes. Can be stored in an airtight container for 2 days.

My notes on this recipe:

One of the keys a good dough is making sure the butter is very cold. In the summer I keep my flour in the refrigerator, to keep away those pesky summer bugs. If you keep your flour in the refrigerator, allow it to warm to room temperature before using (approximately an hour).

The glaze recipe made way too much glaze for the amount of scones, next time I will cut the recipe in half.

I followed Giada's recipe exactly with one exception. Her recipe called for Strawberry jam. I used my mother in law's homemade, Strawberry Rhubarb jam instead.