Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Radish Cream Cheese Spread for Spring



Are you a part of the radish fan club or do you not care for them because of their peppery and at times, sharp taste? If you already like radishes I don't need to convince you, but if you are on the fence about this vegetable or even hate the way it tastes (gasp) here are a few facts that might sway your mind. The little red root vegetable is actually good for you! Yes, I know, I know, all vegetables are good for you, but these little guys are full of vitamin C, have cancer fighting properties and are low in calories to name a few. See, I thought this might peek your interest. 


My husband loves radishes as much as I do, however my kids are staunch radish opponents. When I try adding them to our salads, they always end up picking theirs out. They really don't know what they are missing out on ;-) One of my favorite ways to enjoy radishes growing up was adding thin slices of them on top of a piece of buttered rye bread, with just a tiny sprinkle of salt. Super simple, but so tasty. In fact, I get fairly nostalgic thinking about the beautiful red radishes from my mom's garden along with that wonderful baked bread that German bakeries are well known for.

 
While radishes are available year round these days, I tend to think they are synonymous with spring. This easy to make radish cream cheese spread is the perfect appetizer or light lunch for the season. Cream cheese paired with plain yogurt, radishes, chives, lemon zest and lemon juice give this spread a light taste and make it irresistible. Add a dollop of the spread on top of a piece of seeded bread and sprinkle with some beautiful micro greens for added color. Arrange them on a platter and you now have the most perfect appetizer to serve for a spring luncheon or your Easter celebration. Oh, and for the record, everyone in my family enjoyed this radish cream cheese spread. Yes, even my radish haters!



 Radish Cream Cheese Spread
~makes about 1 1/2 cups~
(Print this Recipe)

 Ingredients:
1 bunch radishes, washed and finely cubed (about 3/4 cup)
1/4 tsp. Kosher salt
8 oz. cream cheese, softened (can use 1/3 less fat cream cheese)
1/4 cup plain (2%) yogurt 
2 Tbsp. fresh chives, chopped
Zest from 1 lemon
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. Kosher salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Micro Greens
Sliced Bread

 Directions:
Place your washed and cubed radishes in a small bowl. Sprinkle with 1/4 tsp. Kosher salt and let sit for about 20 minutes to draw out excess moisture.

 In a medium bowl whisk together cream cheese, yogurt, chives, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.

 Drain salted radishes well and fold into the prepared cream cheese mixture. Place mixture in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before assembling.

 When ready to serve place a dollop of the radish cream cheese on your bread slices. Top with micro greens and serve.


 Notes: Drawing the moisture out of the radishes before adding them to the cream cheese is an important step that will prevent your spread from getting to watery after it sits.

You can also serve this radish spread as a dip. In this case place the dip in a bowl and serve with bread, crackers and assorted vegetables, like carrots, bell peppers, and celery.

For a change of pace, use the spread as a tasty bagel topping.

The spread will keep in the refrigerator for a couple of days.

Recipe inspired by: Kuechengoetter.de

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Friday, April 2, 2010

Fun Easter Cupcakes


 With Easter only a few days away I thought it would be fun to make some cupcakes that appeal especially to all the little guys. I saw the Easter chick cupcakes online made with boxed cake mix and canned frosting and thought that it wouldn't be that much more time consuming and most definitely better if I made it all from scratch. If you do want to save some time, then go ahead and by all means use a boxed cake mix along with a store bought container of frosting.


I started with an old favorite in our house, Yellow Buttermilk Cupcakes. It is an easy, very pleasing recipe for which I usually have all the ingredients on hand. They are light and fluffy and to me these cupcakes go with any kind of frosting such as chocolate, strawberry or cream cheese. This time though I went the simple route, just a good plain old (but nonetheless delicious) vanilla frosting since I wanted the decoration to be the star of this cupcake. I definitely had a lot of fun making these and the kids got very excited when they came home from school and saw all the little chicks lined up on the counter. While I was making them I ran out of yellow cupcake liners, so I figured why not make a few Easter grass cupcakes with little candy eggs as well. I thought they were just as adorable. These cupcakes are simple enough that even kids could help for a great Easter activity.





Maybe you have some kids in your family as well that would get a kick out these, or make them for a fun edible table decoration for your Easter meal or brunch. I'm sure everyone is going to love these little fun cupcakes, I know we did.




Fun Easter Cupcakes 

Ingredients:
1 Recipe of your favorite yellow cupcake or a boxed cake mix following directions on box
1 Recipe of your favorite white frosting or 1 container vanilla frosting
Shredded sweetened coconut (about 2-4 cups)
Yellow liquid food color (for the chick cupcakes)
Green liquid food color (for the Easter grass cupcakes)
Brown miniature candies (for the chick cupcakes)
Orange Gumdrops (for the chick cupcakes)
Jelly Beans or Candy Eggs (for the Easter grass cupcakes)

Directions:
Line muffin cups with paper baking cups.
Bake cupcakes according to directions of your recipe or follow the directions on the boxed cake mix. Cool cupcakes completely on a cooling rack before frosting them with your favorite vanilla frosting.

Place coconut in a resealable food-storage bag. Add about 8 drops yellow liquid food color (or green for the Easter grass cupcakes); seal bag and shake to mix. Top the frosted cupcakes with either yellow or green coconut. 

For the chick cupcakes: add eyes with brown miniature candies. Cut orange gumdrops to resemble beaks; place on cupcakes.


For the Easter grass cupcakes: Arrange Jelly Beans or candy eggs to look like an Easter Nest.
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Thursday, April 1, 2010

Tortilla Egg Cups


Breakfast can sometimes be a challenge especially if you have kids. A lot of times my children are fine with a bowl of cereal but every once in a while they crave something savory. Short of fixing a traditional big breakfast of bacon and eggs and sausage I decided one day to come up with something a little bit smaller and portable but still full of the traditional breakfast flavors.

Looking through my fridge and freezer I found breakfast sausage, onions, peppers, eggs and tortillas. Born was the idea of the tortilla egg cups. I figured why not make a breakfast which contained everything in a small little cup. The egg cups take about 45 minutes start to finish but you could certainly make your meat mixture the night prior, refrigerate it and then only fill the cups the day off which will certainly cut prep and cooking time to about 30 minutes.

These tortilla egg cups are a big hit at our house with plenty of variations possible since you can use any kind of breakfast sausage, any kind of vegetable like mushrooms or even broccoli and any cheese you like. They are perfect for a weekend breakfast and are a great addition to any brunch. Try them for Easter and impress your family and friends with this easy but fantastic dish.


Tortilla Egg Cups
~makes 6~

Ingredients:
1/2 pound (8 ounces) bulk breakfast sausage, any flavor
1/4 medium onion, diced
1/2 medium red pepper, diced
6 (8-inch) flour tortillas
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup cheese, shredded
6 large eggs
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 tablespoons chives, finely chopped

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. Brush inside of 6 ramekins with melted butter. Place on a baking sheet and fit a tortilla in each of the forms (you will have to fold them slightly to make them fit). Set aside.

Brown sausage in a pan until cooked, add the onions, cook for another minute and then add the bell pepper. Taste for seasoning. Set mixture aside to cool a little bit. (This mixture can be made the night before if desired and then refrigerated).

Take your prepared ramekins and divide filling into the six cups (about 1/3 cup each). Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of cheese on top of the meat mixture. Crack one egg into each of the tortilla cups. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with chives.

Brush exposed tortilla with more of the melted butter and place in pre-heated oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the eggs are cooked to your liking. Serve immediately.



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Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Toasted Coconut Custard Tart


This is the story of the  Tart that was almost not meant to be. It certainly cost me a few more gray hairs, that's for sure. I wanted to make this Coconut Custard Tart for our 18th wedding anniversary since my husband loves desserts with coconut (hence the Perfect Party Cake he chose for his birthday). I picked this dessert out of Dorie Greenspan's book; Baking: From My Home to Yours since none of her recipes have disappointed me so far. Plus, when I saw sweet tart crust filled with a smooth coconut studded pastry cream and topped with a rum infused whipped cream I was pretty much in love.

The day started out well and I was cruising along with my sweet tart dough. It's practically flour, powdered sugar, butter and one egg yolk, pulsed in a food processor until it all comes together. The dough is then pressed into a tart pan with a removable bottom, which is then put in the freezer for a bit before baking. Once my dough went into the freezer I started on the custard. It is pretty much a standard custard with milk, egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch with the only exception being a pinch of coriander. The mix gets cooked until thick, then you add butter, dark rum and vanilla. Toasted coconut gets folded in and the custard gets chilled until ready for filling.




This is when my perfect baking process started to go awry. I put the pastry lined tart pan in the oven and set my timer for 25 minutes. I guess I had forgotten to press start after I had set my timer and didn't realize my mistake until I smelled something burning. Yes, you guessed it, the sweet tart dough was a loss.
Since I was determined to make my husband this dessert I set out to re-make my tart crust. Everything came together perfect, just like the first time. This time though I didn't mess up my timer and the crust was baked to perfection. I took it out and set it on a rack to cool. After about half an hour when I returned to un-mold the crust, the sides came out off the tart pan great but when I tried to slide it off the removable bottom tray the whole crust crumbled apart on me. There was no saving this one. At this point I was ready to just call it a day and admit defeat when my middle child told me that I could get it done and "3rd times a charm".



So for the third time in one day I made the sweet tart dough. From now on I can most certainly bake this tart dough in my sleep. Finally I had reached success. Everything came together at last. The crust was beautiful, the filling delicious and the topping of whipped cream along with a little more rum, vanilla and powdered sugar plus more toasted coconut turned this into anything but your grandma's coconut cream pie. Success after all and at least my husband is certainly worth the effort after 18 years. Happy Anniversary Honey!!!

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Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Snappy Deviled Eggs


Deviled Eggs and Easter go together hand in hand. My kids love them and so do I. My husband who is not the world's biggest egg fan will not touch most deviled eggs but he will eat mine. The secret to mine that makes them irresistible to him is plain old hot sauce, which will take any deviled egg to the next level.

Deviled eggs are an easy, portable (especially if you have a carrier) party or celebration food and I guarantee that your plate will always be empty when you return home. 

First the eggs are hard boiled. I find that if the eggs are a few days old rather than very fresh ones they peel much better. The eggs are then cut and the egg yolk is scooped out and mixed with mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, vinegar and of course hot sauce. I really like the taste of Louisiana Hot Sauce but any kind you like will do.  In order to provide the smoothest, creamiest consistency I use my trusty immersion blender. After the mixture is blended well I fill it into a piping bag with a big star tip and pipe it back into the egg halves. You can also use a round tip or in a pinch, use a ziploc bag and just snip the corner off your bag to the desired size, then pipe away. After the eggs are filled, I sprinkle them with a little bit of sharp paprika for an additional little kick. 

I hope you'll give my snappy eggs a try, who knows, maybe you'll be able to convert an egg-hater as well.


Snappy Deviled Eggs
~makes 20 halves~

Ingredients:
10 large eggs, hard boiled
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon sour cream
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
1 teaspoon vinegar
1-2 teaspoons hot sauce (your favorite kind)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Paprika for sprinkling (optional)

Directions:
Peel and halve hard boiled eggs lengthwise and remove yolks. Place yolks in a bowl along with mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, vinegar and hot sauce. With the immersion blender mix everything to desired consistency (you can use a fork and mash if you don't have a blender). Season with salt and pepper. Pipe egg mixture back into egg halves. Garnish with paprika.



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Monday, March 29, 2010

Gingered Carrot Cookies


For this weeks BWD: Baking with Dorie Challenge, it was Grapefruit's pick and she decided on Gingered Carrot Cookies on Page 162 in Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From my home to yours . 

When Grapefruit emailed me a while back about her pick I have to honestly admit that I wasn't thrilled. Ginger isn't my most favorite spice and after reading through the recipe and finding that it had raisins in it as well,  I decided right there and then I was not going to like this cookie. In fact I told my husband this one was going to be all his to take to work.

I guess I owe Grapefruit and Dorie Greenspan a giant apology. These cookies were anything but ordinary and they are in fact out of this world. My oldest child who hates raisins was scarfing these cookies down without complaint and needless to say my husband didn't get to take any of them to work.

The cookies are almost like a mini carrot cake minus most of the normal carrot cake spices. It only calls for ginger and a little bit of freshly grated nutmeg, but it is packed full of flavor with grated carrots (I shredded them), coconut, toasted pecans and raisins. My husband kept saying it was the most perfect mix of flavors that keeps you wanting more and more.


The cookie dough is pretty simple with butter, sugar, egg, vanilla and a flour mixture, but by adding all these other wonderful ingredients it takes the cookie from ordinary to extraordinary. One thing I was really glad to have with this cookie is my trusty Kitchen Aid stand mixer. Without it I think you either need some serious muscles or hope your motor won't burn out on a little hand mixer as the dough gets really dense towards the end.

Baking time for these cookies was spot on for me and as always, Dorie's instructions are precise and easy to follow. Fresh out of the oven the cookie had a nice crunch with a soft interior probably due to minimal spreading during baking, but even the next day which turned the cookie more "chewy" overall it was still good. This cookie now has a permanent spot in my cookie file and will be made many more times in the future. So thank you Grapefruit for picking this cookie and thank you Dorie for inventing it. This cookie has easily made it into my top 20 all time favorite cookies.

Check out Grapefruit's page for the recipe and Elizabeth's page to see what they thought about this cookie and what new and interesting things they came up with.

For our next BWD in two weeks (the 12th of April) it is Grapefruit's pick yet again with Lots-of-Ways Banana Cake on Page 204 and 205. So if any of this has peeked your interest and you want to join the fun with us next time, just shoot me or Grapefruit an email and we'd be more than happy to have you.

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