Cherry Tart

I apparently should subscribe to farming magazines. They seem to have the best recipes. I really liked this cherry tart recipe from Living the Country Life, June 2007.

Cherry Tart

Prep: 25 minutes, Bake: 15 minutes, Chill: 2 to 4 hours

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
(1) 8-ounce carton sour cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup shredded coconut, toasted
2 cups dark sweet cherries, pitted

Step 1: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. For crust, in a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the 1/3 cup sugar; beat on medium speed until creamy. Add flour, milk, and almond extract; beat on low speed just until combined.

Step 2: Press dough onto bottom and up sides of a 10-inch tart pan with removable bottom or a 12-inch pizza pan. [I used a pie pan.] Bake in the preheated oven about 15 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely on wire rack.

Step 3: In a bowl, stir together sour cream and the 2 tablespoons sugar; spread over cooled crust. Cover and chill in refrigerator for 2 to 4 hours. Sprinkle with coconut; arrange cherries on top. Makes 8 servings.

Nutrition facts per serving: 319 calories, 19 g fat, 43 mg cholesterol, 100 mg sodium, 34 g carbohydrates, 2 g fiber, 4 g protein.

I omitted the coconut (didn't have any), and I substituted vanilla (1 t) for the almond extract. It was good, and simple. I was a little worried about how the filling was just sweetened sour cream, but it was fine, plus easy. I think I would have liked the coconut and almond extract, too. If you find a good deal on sweet cherries, try this recipe.

Big Crumb Coffee Cake with Rhubarb

Big Crumb Coffee Cake with Rhubarb

Apparently, originally from The New York Times 6/6/07, copied by Janet on a piece of computer paper.

For the rhubarb filling:
1/2 pound rhubarb, trimmed
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

For the crumbs:
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter, melted
1 3/4 cups flour

For the cake:
1/3 cup sour cream
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons softened butter, cut into 8 pieces.

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease an 8-inch-square baking pan. For filling, slice rhubarb 1/2 inch thick and toss with sugar, cornstarch and ginger. Set aside.

2. To make crumbs  in a large bowl, whisk sugars, spices and salt into melted butter until smooth. Then, add flour with a spatula or wooden spoon. It will look and feel like a solid dough. Leave it pressed together in the bottom of the bowl and set aside.

3. To prepare cake, in a small bowl, stir together the sour cream, egg, egg yolk and vanilla. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add butter and a spoonful of sour cream mixture and mix on medium speed until flour is moistened. Increase speed and beat for 30 seconds. Add remaining sour cream mixture in two batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition, and scraping down the sides of bowl with a spatula. Scoop out about 1/2 cup batter and set aside.

4. Scrape remaining batter into prepared pan. Spoon rhubarb over batter. Dollop set-aside batter over rhubarb.

5. Break topping mixture into big crumbs. Sprinkle over cake. Bake 45-55 minutes and cool before serving. (Mine was very underdone at 50 minutes, and we didn't let it cool.)

This coffee cake was good, but it took forever to make it, plus a lot of dirty dishes to wash. I don't think the goodness factor was as high as the effort factor, so I probably won't make again. But if you are up early and don't plan on eating for two hours, go ahead and give it a go. It is pretty good.

P.S. Brian didn't know what part of rhubarb was the eating part and wondered how I was going to make a cake out of lettuce leaves. He also warned me not to put coffee in the coffee cake.

Another Bread Recipe

Sorry if you're getting sick of all the bread, but at least this one won't take too much time.

Fast Bread
2 c warm water
2 packages yeast (or 2 T)

Dissolve yeast in water and add:

2 T shortening (oil)
2 t salt
1/4 c sugar
4-6 c flour

Stir in to form soft but not sticky dough. Let rise 15 minutes. Divide into two parts. Pound each part for one minute. Place in greased pans and let rise for 15 minutes more. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.


I was pleasantly surprised with this bread. It tastes like white bread, no surprise, but it has a good texture. It is soft, holds together well for spreading peanut butter, and wasn't dry. I'm still not exactly sure how to pound dough. I used my KitchenAid and turned it up so it would beat the dough against the bowl.

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Bread

Wednesday I made this bread for sandwiches and such, because we were running out and I didn't feel like going to the store again. 

This recipe came from Taste of Home.  Mom printed this on March 20, 2008, so it would have just been Mom, Dad, and me that partook, but I don't remember it.

I didn't have powdered milk, so I used skim milk and lessened the water amount. 

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Bread

1-1/4 C Warm water
2T Honey
2T Softened butter or margarine
1-1/4 t Salt
2T nonfat dry milk powder
1-3/4 C Bread flour
1 C Whole Wheat Flour
1/3 C Quick cooking oats
1-1/4 t Active dry yeast




Directions

In Bread machine, place all ingredients in order suggested by manufacturer.  Select basic bread setting.  Choose crust color and loaf size if available.  Bake according to bread machine directions (check dough after 5 minutes of mixing; add 1-2 T of water or flour if needed).  Yield: 1 loaf

The bread turned out okay.  I don't have a bread machine, so I mixed and kneaded the dough in my KitchenAid and then baked at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes.  Unfortunately, I thought it was too bland.  More salt would have fixed that.  Also, it was very dry and that also was a turn off for us.  If you are here looking for a bread recipe, I would say scroll down one recipe to the better bread recipe, because I wouldn't make this bread again.

Honey Wheat Bread

I made this bread to go along with our salad for dinner last night. Here is what Mom wrote:

1 1/4 c. water
2 T butter
3 T honey
2 c. bread fl
1 1/2 c. ww
2 T b. sugar
2 T dry milk pwdr
1 1/2 t. salt
2 t. yeast

I had to guess on the amount of yeast due to oil smudging out the writing, but it rose up super nice so I must have guessed correctly.

I just threw it all in the bread maker in the order mom wrote it down, and let it do everything. I know Mom bakes it in the oven herself, but we didn't want to wait around for it to rise and bake once we got home from church.

It was so good! It wasn't to heavy like lots of wheat bread is, but instead, was the perfect softness. I'm sure Ben will be wanting me to make this all the time.

Warm Chicken Salad with Oranges and Almonds

Since we have 1 o'clock church, we like to have easy recipes that we can come right home to and start eating. This one seemed easy enough to put together and get on the table quick.

2 medium oranges
6 cups torn romaine lettuce
1 medium red sweet pepper, cut into bite-sized strips
1/2 of a small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/3 cup slivered or sliced almonds, toasted
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves , cut into thin bite-size strips
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon live oil
1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
coarsely ground black pepper

Step 1: Peel oranges. Cut into 1/4 inch slices; quarter each slice. In a large salad bowl toss together orange slices, romaine, sweet pepper, onion, and almonds. Set aside.

Step 2: Season chicken with salt and black pepper. In a large skillet heat oil. Cook and stir chicken in hot oil for 4 to 5 minutes or until no longer pink. Remove skillet from heat. Toss chicken with mixture in salad bowl. Divide salad among four plates.

Step 3: Stir orange juice and vinegar into the hot skillet, scraping up any brown bits in the skillet. Whisk in 1 tablespoon olive oil and the Dijon-style mustard. Serve salad with warm dressing. Season to taste with coarsely ground black pepper. Makes 4 servings.

We liked it. I didn't see the red onion listed in the ingredients so I completely forgot to buy one when we were at the store, but it still tasted good with out it. The onion would have definitely given it a little extra kick. It was also pretty darn easy to make. Thanks successful farming for another good recipe!