Browsing Tag

fruits-and-berries

Breads, Breakfast/Brunch, Desserts, Sweet Snacks

Easy Cherry Blueberry Turnovers

Turnovers… I’m never quite sure if they are meant as breakfast items (yum), dessert with ice cream (also definitely yum) or just a snack with tea or coffee (certainly a yummy option). These were a last minute afterthought as I had some frozen blueberries and some jarred tart cherries taking up room in the fridge, so I went with cherry blueberry, but really any filling works — raspberry or apple also come to mind. Ready in under an hour (that is if you remember to thaw the puff pastry!). Can be re-frozen for a few months or kept in the fridge and reheated for about a week.

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9. August 2023
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Peas + Pearls: Pearled Couscous with Peas and Perlini Mozzarella

More on the Farmer’s Market side-dish theme… bean last time, peas this time. I am calling this one “Peas + Pears” — peas for the freshly shucked, perfectly “pearl” sized peas from the farmer’s market this morning and pearls for the pearled couscous and the perlini mozzarella. It’s sweet and savory, got a variety of textures and I think would go great with a seafood dish — salmon or scallops come to mind. This is super easy and quick to make, so it didn’t heat up the kitchen too much!

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29. July 2023
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Rote Grütze
(Northern German Red Berry Dessert)
with Vanilla Mascarpone Whipped Cream

(can also be called: Rødgrød, or rode Grütt, depending on where you are from)

Switching gears here from something that is “typically Maine” (my Corn, Bacon and Lobster Chowder, previous post) to something typically “northern German”. Or maybe Northern European, because as I did my research for this dessert, I found that a number or Scandinavian, the Netherlands, Belgium, etc all had similar dishes. This is what in German is called Rote Grütze. It’s a fruit/berrry compote, slightly thickened, with predominantly red fruits and berries (“rot” is red in German). I used strawberries, raspberries, red and black currants but you could also use cherries (sweet or tart), plums, blueberries or blackberries.And I am sure I am missing some. It’s sweet and tart and very refreshing. I made a mascarpone whipped cream, but also can be served with just cream (unwhipped), ice cream or a custard sauce.

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19. July 2023
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Low Sugar Strawberry Vanilla Bean Jam

Before we end strawberry season for the year, I did attempt to “lengthen” the season by making jam. I am good at making jam; it’s usually quite delicious. This year, the berries were sweet, so I went with a low sugar jam variety, and added vanilla bean paste as an extra “bump” in flavor. Makes about 6 jars.

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15. July 2023
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Currant Quark Crumble Cake

Making the most of the very short currant season, I went PYO at Russell Orchards in Ipswich again. I am planning on making cassis (a flavored currant liqueur) again, so needed black currants for that, but the red currant bushes were overflowing with berries as well. This Currant Quark Crumble Cake is a combination of a coffee cake style (with lots of streusel / crumble), a cheese-cake layer with sweetened quark layer (you could also use cream cheese) and the fruit, which is a little like a muffin (like a blueberry muffin). Currants are very tart so you might have to adjust the sugar and honey to your liking. It is very yummy though; like summer sunshine.

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15. July 2023