Raspberry Ginger Pork Roast

This I made on a whim and it was DELICIOUS, though dry... if any of you have any ideas to keep it moist help me out! BUT it did make an exceptional sandwich the next day with some mayo and dijon mustard.

3 lb center cut & tied pork roast
½ lb medium diced lardons or ½ lb thick cut bacon
3 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
4 Tb fresh diced and peeled ginger
1 ½ red onion
2 cups button mushrooms
½ cup sugar
¼ olive oil
Salt
Fresh ground green peppercorns

Prepare you roast well in advance; lightly salt and pepper the full cut of meat tie and let reach room temperature (about an hour). While waiting prepare your raspberries and onions, using a fine cut, slice the red onion from crown to root on a mandolin. Peel your ginger root and do a fine a dice. Wash and dry the raspberries assuring not to add too much water to the mix. Slice mushrooms from top to base. Combine sliced onions, raspberries, ginger, mushrooms and lardons (if lardons not used dice thick cut bacon to substitute). Separately combine olive oil and sugar. Lightly combine all ingredients.

In a slow cook, coat the roast (now at room temperature) with the mixture, place the remainder of the mixture around the roast, salt and pepper to preference, and loosely cover with aluminum foil. Cook for 4-6 hours. To preserve moisture leave the roast covered, allow to cool in the slow cooker until ready to serve.

tarte paysanne

It's so easy it's ridiculous!

1 pie crust
3 cups sliced peaches
2 cups mixed berries
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons corn starch
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon crushed lavender blossoms
1/4 cup flour
1 egg yolk

Take your pre-made or home made pie crust roll it out on to a heavily floured pizza pan. It should be about 12" accross.

Combine all dry ingredients in one bowl. In a separate bowl combine all the fruit making sure that all excess juices have been drained off before adding your dry ingredients. Then lightly combine all ingredients.

Lightly crimp up the ends of your pie crust pour in combined ingredients making a mound no larger than 8 inches across. Fold up edges of pie crust as seen in the photo and lightly dust the crust with the egg yolk and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake in a preheated oven at 375F for about 40 minutes. Let cool before serving. Goes great with some vanilla bean ice cream.

ENJOY!!

the other two cookies recipes as Alton taught us...

The Thin Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

Recipe Summary
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 2 1/2 dozen cookies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
2 ounces milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Hardware:
Ice cream scooper (#20 disher, to be exact)
Parchment paper
Baking sheets
Mixer

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda in a mixing bowl. Combine the egg, milk, and vanilla and bring to room temperature in another bowl.
Cream the butter in the mixer's work bowl, starting on low speed to soften the butter. Add the sugars. Increase the speed, and cream the mixture until light and fluffy. Reduce the speed and add the egg mixture slowly. Increase the speed and mix until well combined.
Slowly add the flour mixture, scraping the sides of the bowl until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips. Scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for more even browning.
Remove the cookies from the pans immediately. Once cooled, store in an airtight container.


The Puffy Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

Recipe Summary
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 2 1/2 dozen cookies

1 cup butter-flavored shortening
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Hardware:
Ice cream scooper (#20 disher, to be exact)
Parchment paper
Baking sheets
Mixer

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Combine the shortening, sugar, and brown sugar in the mixer's work bowl, and cream until light and fluffy. In the meantime, sift together the cake flour, salt, and baking powder and set aside.
Add the eggs 1 at a time to the creamed mixture. Then add vanilla. Increase the speed until thoroughly incorporated.
With the mixer set to low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the shortening and combine well. Stir in the chocolate chips. Chill the dough. Scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 per sheet. Bake for 13 minutes or until golden brown and puffy, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool and store in an airtight-container.

Cranberry Almond Chews

This recipe is adapted by me from one of my TV cooking heroes, Mr. Alton Brown of good eats on the food network. It's such a tasty recipe and makes me very happy. My changes are italicized.

Recipe Summary
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 14 minutes
Yield: 2 1/2 dozen cookies

2 sticks unsalted margarine
2 cups bread flour
1/4 cup Almond flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons heavy cream
¾ teaspoons vanilla extract
¾ teaspoons almond extract
2 cups dried cranberries
1 cup almond slivers
Hardware:
Ice cream scooper (#20 disher, to be exact)
Parchment paper
Baking sheets
Mixer

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.
Pour the melted butter in the mixer's work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons heavy cream and vanilla & almond extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the dried cranberries.
Chill the dough, then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet. Sprinkle tops of scooped out cookies with a few almond slivers. Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

lavender french café ice cream

it's so easy it's sinful. your guests will think you're the best thing since martha stewart herself but you'll know the secret! so here goes:

ingredients:
1 quart high quality french vanilla ice cream(store bought... this is the good part)
2 tablespoons of your favourite freshly ground coffee beans
1 oz. honey
1 tablespoon of lavender blossoms

let your quart of ice cream sit out of the freezer for about 15-25 minutes to get a little soft. once pliable scoop all the contents out into a mixing bowl. add your honey and stir it in (don't stir too vigorously just enough to fold it in uniformly). then add the ground coffee beans, to add the lavender place the measured whole blossoms in the palm of your hand then rub both of your hands together over the mixing bowl allowing the "ground" lavender to fall into the bowl. gently fold in the dry ingredients. prep 5 8oz (preferably metal) ramekins by placing one or two whole coffee beans upside down on the bottom of the ramekin. scoop the final mixture into 8oz ramekins and cover each ramekin with freezer paper and secure with a rubber band then place in freezer for 2-4 hours.

PLATING!!! (remember my favourite part!)

prep your plates and get a bowl of hot water. remove the ramekins from the freezer and uncover. lightly float each ramekin one at a time in the hot water to loosen the ice cream. flip upside down on plate and wiggle loose. the whole bean should be seen at the top. garnish with a few whole stalks of lavender and a swirl of honey.

ENJOY!!

this recipe serves 5

roasted stuffed pear à la niçoise

this was a discovery i made completely on accident and more out of necessity to use some ingredients before they went to waste. my wonderful roommate has a habit of purchasing large family size quantities of exquisite fruit, massive vegetables, and choice cuts of great meat. then in his tender way he reminds me that i need to use his purchases. hence this recipe. i had a flat of fantastic bartlett pears and no dessert in mind. i ran to the fridge and had some brie-esque cheese, some mascarpone and sliced almonds. alright then, let's make dessert!!

ingredients:
8 medium sized semi-ripe pears (your favourite variety will work fine)
6 oz. st. andré, brie or other similar soft cheese.
4 tablespoons of mascarpone cheese or plain unflavoured yogurt.
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup sliced almonds
a few drops of pure almond extract
1 lemon

pre-heat oven to 375F
using a large coring tool core out the centers of your pears without puncturing the tops of the fruit. core out about 2 times the size of the tool in order to make room for the filling. in order to get the fruit to stand and to keep the contents inside your pear take an even slice off the bottom of the pear so it will sit flat. let them sit while you prepare the filling.

let your st. andré or brie sit out to get to room temperature (do not microwave as it will make the cheese runny). once at room temperature begin by crushing the cheese and getting a smoother consistency. combine ingredients;
6 oz st. andré
2 tablespoons of mascarpone/yogurt
1/4 cup honey
a few drops of almond extract
juice of 1/4 lemon sliced from bottom of lemon (you'll see why this is important soon)
stir ingredients together to create a filling with the consistency of a thin paste add more mascarpone/yogurt to get the right consistency.
lightly fold in 2 tablespoons of crushed almonds for texture.

now comes assembly...

flip your pears upside down exposing the holes you've dug ;)
stuff them with the filling. then cover the bottom with a small square of aluminum foil being careful not to cover too much of the rest of the pear.
repeat for all eight. leave a little breathing room between all the pears. with any left over filling place in oven-safe ramekin and cook with the pears (you can use the excess for garnish). cook in a 375F oven on the top shelf for 45 minutes or until soft to the touch.

remove the pears and let rest for 5 minutes.

plating!!!! (my favorite part)

prepare you plate with a crescent shaped scrape of the excess filling. turn your pear upside down and remove foil. gently place on plate at largest point in the crescent shaped scrape. drizzle the honey over the pear lightly to give the appearance of dew. cut a horizontal slice from your lemon, cut from the center out (a radius cut) turn the ends away from each other and place in void on plate. tuck a little sprig of mint and a sprinkle of the sliced almonds and your dish is plated!!

ENJOY!