Apple Slaw with Brie and Spiced Walnuts

for the Spiced Walnuts
1 T vegetable oil
1 T sugar
2 t honey
1/2 t ground allspice
1/2 c walnut pieces

Line a baking sheet with foil sprayed lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Heat the vegetable oil, sugar, honey and allspice in a medium saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly until nuts are well coated, about 10 minutes. Spread warm walnuts in single layer on baking sheet. Break into small pieces when completely cool. Store in an airtight container until ready to serve slaw.

for the Slaw
8 ounces Brie Cheese, diced
4 c red cabbage, shredded
2 c green cabbage, shredded
2 c fresh baby spinach
1 large Golden Delicious apple, peeled and diced

Place all ingredients in large serving bowl and set aside to make dressing.

for the Vinaigrette dressing
1/4 c olive oil
2 T apple jelly
2 T cider vinegar
1/4 c heavy cream
1/2 c golden raisins
1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 t salt

Heat all dressing ingredients over medium heat in a small saucepan just to boiling and jelly has melted. Let cool slightly (5 minutes maximum), whisk to incorporate and pour in bowl over slaw. Toss slaw well. Serve with spiced walnuts on the side for garnish. Serves 8.

Puffins ~ adapted from Bakerella

Puffins are pancake batter baked in muffin cups making them pancake-muffins, or Puffins. Bakerella's recipe called for 1/2 c chocolate chips in the batter with more sprinkled on top. Because I'm not five-years-old, I don't particularly like that much chocolate for breakfast so I adjusted the recipe making the chips optional. Feel free to add more if you like but if you do, don't be surprised if all you taste is chocolate and not the pancake.



1 c flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
2 T sugar
2/3 c buttermilk
1 egg
2 T pure maple syrup
2 T melted butter
1/4 c chocolate chips, optional

Preheat oven to 350°. Generously grease mini-muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar into a medium mixing bowl. In second bowl, stir buttermilk, egg, maple syrup and melted butter until just combined. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir with a spoon until combined. Fill muffin cups no more than 3/4 full and sprinkle with chocolate chips, if desired. Bake for 8-9 minutes or until set and tops are no longer shiny.

Let cool 5 minutes and remove from pan. You may need to use a toothpick around edges to loosen Puffins from pan. Serve warm with butter and maple syrup for dipping. Yield 24 puffins.

Lemon Curd

Lemon Curd is a custard type spread that most commonly accompanies scones with Devonshire cream. It is very tart but a wonderful addition to any brunch biscuit. This recipe is delicious and although it requires some time, it is not difficult.



3 eggs
1/3 c fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 T lemon zest
3/4 c sugar
4 T unsalted butter, at room temperature

In a stainless steel bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together eggs, sugar, and lemon juice until blended. Cook, stirring constantly until mixture becomes thick (like hollandaise sauce), approximately 10 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately pour through a fine strainer to remove any lumps. Add butter and whisk until melted. Stir in lemon zest and let cool, lemon curd will thicken as it cools. Store tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to a week. Yield 1 c lemon curd.

Chef's Note: Room temperature lemons provide more juice. Roll lemon gently on counter, pressing slightly, to release as much juice as possible. Slice and juice as needed.

I'm Still Here!

Dear foodophiles,

Do not worry, I am still cooking and writing recipes. I have not forgotten about you!

Recently my wonderfully amazing and generous husband aquired an iPad 2 resulting in his regifting me his original iPad (what a man!). While the iPad is a fantastic addition to my Apple gadget repertoire, my learning curve from laptop to iPad has been much slower than I anticipated. I am eventually getting my iPad to perform more and more like a laptop, (like the addition of a keyboard (love it!)), but there are still a few nuances of using a tablet that illude me. One of them has been the ability to upload pictures to this blog. Desktop publishing is greatly hindered on an iPad by the lack of a desktop!

As you may or may not have noticed, I always post a picture along with a recipe. The photos are all original, taken by me, of my food and I have some pride in achieving a beautiful picture of the food I have made to go along with the recipe. Good news, I have finally found a suitable photo editing ap for the iPad! I hope to begin editing my pictures to add to the six recipes I have already drafted that are awaiting publication. I told you I was still cooking!

So keep checking back, loyal reader. Your patience will be rewarded with wonderful recipes in the near future (hopefully). One of my favorites coming soon is Lemon Ginger Scones which are fantasic in their simplicity and heavenly in their taste.

Update 4/4/11: I have successfully uploaded three new recipes complete with photos! Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes with Bailey's Buttercream Frosting, Sweet Potato Chipotle Chili, and Lemon Ginger Scones with Devonshire Cream (my favorite). Enjoy the new posts and let me know if you try any of these tasty items. Please!

Lemon Ginger Scones with Devonshire Cream

for the scones
2 1/4 c unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 c sugar
1 T baking powder
1 T lemon zest
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen
2/3 c candied ginger, finely chopped
3/4 c + 2 T heavy cream, divided

Preheat oven to 400° and line baking sheet with parchment.

In the bowl of electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flour, sugar, and baking powder; mix on low to incorporate. Add lemon zest and butter, and mix on low until mixture is pale yellow and the consistency of fine corn meal. Gently stir in ginger. Remove bowl from stand mixer. Make a well in center of dough and pour in 3/4 c cream. Using one hand, draw in dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.

Wash and dry hands and dust them with flour. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface and gently knead to gather into a ball. Pat dough into a circle approximately 1/2 inch thick. Using a 3 inch pastry or biscuit cutter, cut out scones in circles, cutting as closely together as possible and keeping trimmings intact. Gather up scraps, pat and press pieces together and cut out remaining dough. Repeat until all dough has been used.

Place scones 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheet and brush tops with remaining 2 T cream . Bake 12 to 16 minutes, until surface cracks and is slightly browned. Serve warm with Devonshire cream and lemon curd. Yield 12 scones.

for the Devonshire Cream
4 oz Mascarpone cheese
1 c heavy cream
1 t pure vanilla extract
1 t sugar, more or less to taste

Place all ingredients in bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk. Beat on high until mixture resembles softly whipped cream. Refrigerate until ready to use. Yield approximately 1 cup Devonshire cream.