Buttered Peas

I enjoy all the fresh veggies when spring comes.  Fresh peas have always been a favorite. They are peas are a good source of protein and Vitamins A, C, K.  Green peas are also an excellent source of manganese.   I will eat them raw in salads, or cooked in butter.  In the following recipe, I cooked the peas in both butter and vegetable broth.  I added just a pinch of sugar to enhance the sweetness of the peas.  Fresh ground pepper seasons the peas to perfection.  This is  a quick , easy, and healthy side dish for any meal.




                                               Buttered Peas


Ingredients:
1 (12 ounce) bag fresh peas washed
3 tablespoons butter - divided
1/3-cup vegetable broth
Pinch of Sugar
Freshly Ground Pepper

Directions:

1. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a medium saucepan.
2. Add vegetable broth and sugar to the butter. Bring to a boil.
3. Add peas to the broth, reduce heat and cook until tender.  The broth will be reduced by about half.
4. Remove peas from the saucepan and and serve with the remaining butter and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Makes 4 servings

Sardine Rillettes

It has been decades since I have eaten sardines.  They were not high on my food list.  So this week I got reintroduced to sardines.   Our cooking project for "French Fridays With Dorie" was Sardine Rillettes.  Sardines are combined with cream cheese, onions, lemon juice, parsley, cayenne, salt, and pepper.   The result is  a  spread which you can spread on crackers or use as a filling.  I spread the rillettes or multi grain rice crackers.  This recipe was very quick and easy to make.  However,  I must admit, I am still not a sardine fan.  They were alright but not a favorite.    You can find this recipe on page 25 in "Around My French Table."

Poppy Seed Dressing

With spring here, I eat a lot of salads and fresh fruits.  One of my favorite dressings is Poppy Seed.  I love the taste of sweetness from the sugar, the tartness from the vinegar, and the nutty flavor of the poppy seeds.  I was doing some research on poppy seeds and I found they have some great health benefits.  The oleic acid in poppy seeds helps lower your bad cholesterol and increase your good cholesterol.  Poppy seeds are an excellent source of B complex vitamins. They also contain minerals -  iron, copper, calcium, potassium, manganese, zinc and magnesium. All this in a tiny little seed.
Back to the recipe.  The recipe below is very easy and quick to make.  Most of the time, I make it with cider vinegar, but white wine vinegar works well too.  The dressing has a nice thickness to it which lends itself to be a great tasting fruit/veggie dip.   I drizzle the dressing on salads, fresh berries, and as I said earlier,  I use it as a dip for apple wedges, pears, strawberries, bananas, carrots - it goes with just about anything.

Poppy Seed Dressing
Adapted from Simply Simpatico Cookbook


Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons dry mustard
2 teaspoons salt
2/3 cup cider vinegar
3 tablespoons onion juice
2 cups vegetable oil
3 tablespoons poppy seeds


Directions:

1. In a medium bowl mix sugar, mustard, salt, and vinegar until well combined.
2. Add the onion juice and stir thoroughly.
3. Whisk in the vegetable oil slowly and continue to whisk until thick.
4. Stir in poppy seeds and whisk.
5. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Note:  You can find onion juice in the spice section.



Makes 3 1/2 cups of salad dressing

Poppy Seed Dressing Over Fresh Berries

Strawberry Nutella Sandwich

Do you need something quick, easy and delicious for a snack or lunch?  Try a Strawberry Nutella sandwich.  I was reading my latest issue of Southern Living magazine and they had a section on kid-friendly snacks. One snack was a hazelnut-strawberry sandwich.  Instead of using strawberry jam for my sandwiches, I used sliced fresh strawberries.    The result was a great tasting combination of chocolate and strawberry between two slices of bread. MMM delicious! These sandwiches are not only for kids - adults love 'em too:)


Strawberry Nutella Sandwich

Ingredients:

2 slices of bread
Nutella
1-2  fresh strawberries, sliced


Directions:

1. Spread Nutella on one slice of bread.
2. Arrange the strawberries on the Nutella.
3. Place the other slice of bread on top of the first.      
4. Slice  diagonally and serve.


Makes 1 sandwich

Nutella Spread on Slice of Bread

Strawberries Arranged Over Nutella

Strawberry Nutella Sandwich

Asparagus and Bits of Bacon

Fresh asparagus to me  means spring is here. I love the crispness and flavor of fresh asparagus.    I was excited  our assignment this week  for "French Fridays With Dorie" was an asparagus recipe. Fresh asparagus are cooked until just tender in boiling salt water.  They are drained and tossed in a dressing made of walnut oil and fresh lemon juice.  You then season them with salt and pepper.  Finally, you add bacon bits and onions ( I left out the onions and added more bacon) to the asparagus.  The result was  a quick, healthy and delicious veggie.  This recipe was excellent - I am going make it as a  side dish  for our Easter dinner.  This recipe can be found on page 330 in "Around My French Table."

Cooking in Boiling Salt Water

Hot Cross Buns

Hot Cross Buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday.  They are  a sweet spiced bun marked with a cross on top. This year, I decided instead of buying, yes buying Hot Cross Buns, I would make them.  I am not one who particularly likes to make yeast breads.  However, I am slowly gaining confidence and pleasure in making yeast breads.

I  have tried various recipes for Hot Cross Buns, but by far my favorite is the recipe from the "Simply Recipes" Website.  The buns were tender, not mushy or tough, flavorful, and just  plain delicious.  I love the spices used in this recipe - cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cardamon, all complimented by grated orange zest.  As I was whisking together they dry ingredients the aroma of the spices was breathtaking.

The dough came together very nicely and was very easy to work with.  I used all currants in my dough but you can use half currants with chopped candied citrus peel.    Either way, you will have one delicious bun.

Below is the link for this recipe.

Simply Recipes: Hot Cross Buns


Photos:

Yeast, Milk and Sugar

Dry Ingredients With Yeast, Eggs Butter and Milk

Dough

First Rolling of the Dough

Log Divided

One Half of Log Cut Into Eighths

Egg Wash on Dough

Out of the Oven

Hot Cross Buns

Hard-Cooked Eggs 101

With Easter fast approaching, I thought I would write a post about how to hard- cook eggs. My kids were amazed I was going to write a post on this.  As my son said, "It isn't that hard to cook an egg. All you do is take an egg boil it till it is hard and eat it."  I  quickly explained you want the egg white to be tender and the yolk to be creamy in texture.   In the past, I have had hard-cooked eggs that were rubbery and chalky.  Not to mention, the green ring around the yolk.

I have read in cookbooks and cooking magazines on foolproof ways to hard-cook an egg.  The method I am going to write about is  a combination of two techniques.  My sources are  Cook's Illustrated Cook Book and Taste of Home magazine.

Hard-Cooked Eggs
Adapted from Cook's Illustrated Cook Book and Taste of Home magazine

Ingredients:

4 large eggs
Water
Ice Cubes

Directions:
1. Remove eggs from refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking.
2. In a medium saucepan place the eggs.  Add enough cold water and cover the eggs  by 1 inch.

3. Bring water to a boil over high heat.
4. Remove eggs from heat and cover the saucepan.  Let the eggs sit in the hot water as follows:
15 minutes for extra-large, 12 minutes for large, 9 minutes for medium.

5. Place cold water in a large bowl with ice.
6. Drain eggs once they are cooked and submerge in the ice water.

NOTE:   If you are going to use the eggs right away, after draining the water gently shake the pan to crack the eggshells all over.  Set aside to cool about 10 minutes.
7. Peel the eggs from the large rounded end.

Note: Unpeeled, hard-cooked eggs will keep in the refrigerator for 1 week.  Peeled eggs will last 3-4 days.  Store the peeled eggs covered in cool water.

Creamy Yolk Texture and Tender White

No Ring Around The Yolk