Browsing Tag

quick

Desserts

Fruit Trifle

After a long early morning bike ride, while we were catching our breath in a coffee shop and chatting, my good friend Alanna mentioned she was having 12 friends over for dinner and still needed a dessert that would not require a long bike ride to be guilt-free. We were too tired to start messing up her clean kitchen by flinging pots and pans around and cooking something. Besides, she is one of those marvelously organized people who has her table set, her meal organized and the kitchen clean the night before.

We came up with a brilliant idea that is also easy: a fruit trifle. This version has no custard so it’s really quick to make. Alanna went to the store and bought an angel food cake, lots of beautiful berries and a little heavy cream. I dashed home and made the citrus syrup from my North African Orange Cake recipe.

Alanna brought out a beautiful glass trifle bowl that we created the trifle in, though any glass bowl or even individual ramekins would work. It only took a couple of minutes, and, as my fiddler friend says, viola! A great looking and great tasting dessert – hardly a trifle!

Fruit Trifle

Ingredients

The amounts depend on the size of your serving bowl.

1 store bought angel food cake

3 pints of hulled strawberries (about 1½ pounds) and enough cut in half to ring your bowl and the rest roughly chopped

3 dry pints of blueberries

1 dry pint of blackberries

1 dry pint of raspberries

1 pint of heavy cream

2T Grand Marnier or other orange flavored liquor

3T white sugar

Citrus syrup

juice of 1 orange

juice of 1 lemon

1/3c sugar

2T Grand Marnier or other orange liquor

2 cloves

1 cinnamon stick (or ½ tsp cinnamon powder)

Utensils

Glass bowl, measuring spoons, measuring cup

Method

Make the syrup first by mixing all the ingredients together in a small saucepan and simmer for 2 minutes. Set aside to cool while you prepare the rest of the ingredients for use.

Cut the angel food cake into 1 inch layers saving 3 layers for the trifle and using the rest to fill the center hole. To start to assembly the fruit trifle, place the first layer of cake in the bottom of the bowl, fill the center with pieces of cake then brushed the top of the cake generously with the citrus syrup. On top of this add a layer strawberries, with half cut ones pressed against the outside of the bowl to look beautiful, and the roughly chopped ones filling the inside. Brush the orange syrup over the strawberries and then add another layer of cake, orange syrup and then a layer of blueberries, building the layers. You get the idea.

The final layer at the top of the bowl is raspberries on the outside, with a ring of blueberries and blackberries inside.

Allow the fruit trifle to sit to soak in all those great flavors for 30 minutes up to a few hours.

Whip the heavy cream till it starts to thicken, adding the sugar slowly, then the Grand Marnier. Whip until soft peaks form. You can do this several hours ahead and store, covered, in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

To serve pile a good dollop of the whipped cream into the center of the trifle and put the rest in a serving bowl with a spoon for your guests to add a bit more on their fruit trifle as they choose. Continue Reading

July 28, 2015 by Bowman O' Connor

Soup

Cool Avocado and Cucumber Soup

The temperature is hovering at 100F here. I don’t even want to think about turning on the stove. When it’s too hot to cook, chilled soup with a sparkling glass of wine makes a lovely, refreshing meal. This soup is so elegant in its simplicity and flavor that it begs for a crisp white tablecloth and a baguette with cold salted butter. Add a few pieces of grilled shrimp, chicken or scallops and you have a special meal with no fuss.

All you do is throw everything in the blender and in less than a minute it’s done. I like a bit of texture in my soups. With this cool avocado and cucumber soup, I don’t puree it to complete smoothness which you might want to do. And remember: with chilled food you usually need a bit more salt than you might think. Enjoy!

Cool Avocado and Cucumber Soup

Ingredients

2 medium cucumbers, peeled and chopped.
1 avocado
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and roughly chopped. Sometimes I roast the jalapeño which gives the soup a slightly richer flavor.
1 1/4 cups ice-cold water
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
1 small shallot chopped
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro, mint or dill
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Utensils

Blender or food processor, measuring spoons

Method

Now the easy part:

Place everything in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Add more cold water if you need to thin the soup to your desired consistency. Season again with salt and pepper if needed. Because it is served cold, this soup might need a bit more salt than you are used to using. Chill in the refrigerator for about 1 hour before serving. I have been known to put the cool avocado and cucumber soup in a bowl in the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes stirring occasionally to serve it sooner. Taste before serving to make sure the seasonings are balanced.

Garnish with sprig of mint or couple of cilantro leaves.

Make Cool Avocado and Cucumber Soup a meal by adding chopped tomatoes, a couple of grilled shrimp or scallops or even a few pieces of roasted chicken. Make an arrangement of the tomatoes, cilantro and grilled shrimp/scallop/chicken in the middle of the soup.

Editors note: I’ve made this several times lately and occasionally I needed to add a bit more sugar if it is too tart. Enjoy!

July 27, 2015 by Bowman O' Connor

Shrimp

Quick Shrimp Creole

I just spent a week competing in a regatta on the Gulf Coast. A lot of the area around Bay St. Louis, site of the regatta, was wiped out during Katrina a decade ago. While there are still foundation slabs sitting derelict on patches of ground, the community is rebuilding and the bare slabs are now in the minority. If you have time, go down and see this thriving community. They sure know how to eat well and have fun.

The food was great and the old southern hospitality welcoming. I miss living in places like New Orleans and the Gulf Coast where every neighborhood joint has great food and where eating well was an important part of life before the foodie craze. Don’t get me wrong – it is wonderful that an interest in food – good food – is now a favorite pastime. But there is just something different about a place where sharing a meal is a way of life and not something done on the way to somewhere else.

I came home ready to make some of my Cajun and Creole favorites. I love to spend half a day making Shrimp Creole but that means we only have it now and again. Here is a riff on this Creole classic – Quick Shrimp Creole – that is easy enough for any evening’s dinner. I’ll share my “long version” in the future.

Quick Shrimp Creole

Ingredients

3T butter (or bacon grease for the added flavor)
2T all purpose flour
1 ½ c chicken or seafood stock
1 c diced onion
½ c green bell pepper, diced (or substitute red bell pepper)
½ c diced celery
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
½ c ketchup (yes, ketchup)
14oz can of diced tomatoes (or two medium tomatoes, seeded and diced)
½ t cayenne
½ t smoked paprika
salt and pepper
1t dried thyme (or 2t fresh thyme chopped)
1t dried basil (or 2t fresh basil chopped)
1t dried oregano (or 2t fresh oregano chopped)
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined ( I use 26-30 count)

Utensils

1 large sauté pan or skillet, 2c measuring cup, teaspoon

First you make a roux :- ) Melt 3T butter in a sauté pan over medium heat. When the butter is melted, sprinkle the flour over the butter and whisk until smooth and the mixture turns a medium caramel color. Add the onion, celery and bell pepper. Cook until the onion is translucent and the celery and bell pepper have softened. Add salt and pepper to taste. Next add the garlic and sauté for 2-3 minutes more. You want to make sure the garlic is no longer raw. Clear a little space in the mixture and add the cayenne and paprika to this empty space. Within a minute or when you can smell the cayenne and paprika, stir in the ketchup, tomatoes, thyme, basil, oregano, bay leaf. Slowly add half of the stock and stir until thickened slightly. Add more stock until you get it to the desired thickness. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add the shrimp and simmer on low heat till the shrimp turns pink. Taste again and add salt and pepper, if necessary. Serve with rice.

This quick shrimp creole freezes well.

July 14, 2015 by Bowman O' Connor