General Reference/Tutorial

Roasted Mango Ghost Pepper Barbecue Sauce

Ghost Peppers. Jolokia chiles. Hot. Very Hot. Apparently some of the hottest edible chiles around. I’d been talking with someone about a year back so when I saw starter seedlings at the garden shop this spring, I decided to buy some. Thing is though: I now have about 40 ghost peppers. I’ve drying most of them, to grind for chili (it anyone wants some dried, let me know), but I decided to make this BBQ sauce too. It’s not all that hot, balanced by the sweetness of the roasted mangoes, actually. Definitely more of a chicken or veggie glaze than ribs or steak. Very tasty and the spicy kick gets you at the end.
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24. August 2016
Breads, Breakfast/Brunch, Sweet Snacks

Blueberry Buttermilk Breakfast Loaves

I came back from a weekend in Maine with lots (and I mean lots!) of Wild Maine Blueberries. I find them about a million times better than the culivated high bush kind from New Jersey or Michigan or where ever else they are grown. In addition to the better flavor, I think that because they are smaller, they distribute better in muffins and such. So I made this “coffee cake” like blueberry loaf. Oh so good. Extremely light and fluffy and I am trying not to eat it all at once.
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23. August 2016
Breakfast/Brunch

Blueberry Cheesecake Muffins

I few weeks ago, I had run out of frozen blueberries (this is unusual) and wanted to make blueberry muffins before the shops opened so I couldn’t buy any fresh ones, so I resorted to using blueberry jam. Turns out: best. blueberry. jam. ever. And you don’t have to worry about having the berries. This would also work with other jam, so use whatever you’ve got!
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21. August 2016
Dinner, Lunch, Pasta, Salads, Sides

French-style Herb Potato and Egg Salad

So, I’m pretty famous for my potato salad, but normally I make my Southern German (Bavarian or Swabian variety). Today, I thought I’d try a new and different kind for the BBQ that I am going to: French-style Herb Potato and Egg Salad. A little sweet, a little dill, very herby and turned out really really well, for a recipe that I made up on the fly. The eggs are semi-soft boiled (“7 minute eggs”) so their yolks actually mix well into the dressing, making it very creamy.
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19. August 2016
Desserts

Late Summer Fruit-Berry Pie (Blueberry Blackberry Plum)

As promised, there is more pie. 🙂 Last week, I made a blueberry pie with this flower like pattern, made with a small, circular cookie cutter. I’d never tried that before, but loved the way that it turned out, so I made another pie this week along the same lines. The filling also involved blueberries, but also plums and blackberries — very late summer-ish. Note the little heart with wings in the middle … it’s all in the details, eh?
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19. August 2016