Recipe: Macerated Berries + Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream

Looking back, I can’t remember a single Fourth of July barbeque that didn’t end with an American flag berry cake (not unlike this one). Many of those years, Fourth of July morning kicked off with my brother, sister and I straight-up brawling over who got to place the blueberries and strawberries just so. Ah, patriotism.

As the three of us have become older, wiser, more ginger-y, etc, the berry fights have fizzled out a bit. But should the opportunity rise again this year, I’ll graciously pass so Pat and Jill can navigate the thick layer of whipped cream. That is, as long as neither of them tries to slice open my vanilla bean.

If you don’t want to go the cake route this year, or if you’re thoughtful enough not to force a 13x9” gluten free cake upon your non-Celiac family, these berries and cream parfaits are a delightful stand-in. The red, white and blue theme is apparent, and they’re certainly on the lighter side – which I prefer in a dessert.

No vanilla bean? You can sub vanilla extract, but it’s the specks of vanilla that really class the whole thing up. So, go ahead and splurge. It’s a holiday, after all. And I’ll bet it’s a hell of a lot cheaper than ingredients for a gluten free cake ;)

Happy 4^th, everyone! I hope you have a fantastic day with your families/friends and throw back many a Redbridge.

Notes

-I used blueberries and strawberries, but feel free to use any combination you’d like. Raspberries would be great.

-A half hour or more before whipping cream, place the glass bowl in the fridge. The cold bowl will help the cream whip up faster.

-The portion size will change depending on your serving vessels. This is also really easy to scale up, since the entire recipe can be adjusted to-taste.

Ingredients (makes 5 large servings)

1 pint blueberries

1 lb strawberries, quartered

1.5 tbsp granulated sugar

Zest of 1 lemon

Juice of ½ lemon

½ pint heavy cream

Seeds scraped from 1 fresh vanilla bean (can sub 1 tsp vanilla extract)

3 tbsp powdered sugar

Instructions

-In a large bowl, toss berries with granulated sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Place in fridge and allow to macerate for at least 1 hour (the longer the better), until the berries are glossy and syrupy. Toss occasionally.

-Place heavy cream in a large glass bowl. Beat on high until soft peaks form, about 2-3 minutes. Add vanilla and powdered sugar. Beat again, for about 30 seconds, until cream is whipped. Taste, and add more sugar if necessary.

-Layer macerated berries and whipped cream in glass serving dishes. Garnish with lemon zest (optional). Serve immediately, or refrigerate for a few hours. 

Highlights + Bites: Week of 6.18

1. blogged en route to the Jersey Shore
2. mom stocked the freezer with ice cream sandwiches made on Tate's Bake Shop gluten free cookies
3. finally reunited with college roommates/best friends/soul-mates
4. watched my sister-turned-farmer harvest some very, very baby carrots
5. ate surf-and-turf; surf caught by my brother + dad
6. brunched with the backyard neighbors

P.S. I'm starting this new, weekly series an an effort to post more often + validate the unnecessary amount of time I spend on Instagram. Follow gfreeblondie, if you think you can handle all the coolness. 

Recipe: Asian/Thai Glazed Salmon with Roasted Cauliflower

Sometimes it takes a dinner like this to remind me how easy it is not to order takeout. Which, in the restaurant-laden city of New York, can be all too convenient. Not to mention, expensive, unhealthy, etc, etc. (I have been known to pay $20+ for 5 tiny gluten free ravioli to be delivered to my doorstep. But only to abate an emergency craving or a wicked hangover. These are special occasions, people!)

From start to finish this entire meal will take about an hour, and that’s with only 10 or so minutes of hands-on time. So not only will you have saved twenty bucks on overpriced pockets of cheese, but you’ll enjoy 50 blissful minutes of knowing that your salmon and cauliflower are in the kitchen, doing their thang – while you get your tweet on, or Facebook stalk, or whatever it is that you do to occupy idle time.

Notes

-The recipe below allows for leftover marinade to use as a sauce. If you cook a larger piece of salmon (about 2 pounds), you can use the same marinade measurements but probably won’t have extra.

-Be careful not to overcook the salmon. It will continue to cook slightly after it’s removed from the oven. Remember, you can technically eat it raw, so don’t stress :)

-I always serve this alongside a big bowl of quinoa, simply seasoned with olive oil, salt and pepper.

-If you have leftovers, mix together the flaked salmon, quinoa, cauliflower, and any remaining sauce for lunch the next day!

Ingredients (feeds 2-3)

Salmon:

¼ cup gluten free soy sauce

2-3 tbsp sweet Thai chili sauce

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1 teaspoon honey

3-4 garlic cloves, minced

One 1-lb piece of salmon (1 to 2 inches thick)

Cooking spray

Scallions, sliced (optional)

Cauliflower:

1 head cauliflower, core removed and cut into large florets

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Instructions

Salmon:

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

-Whisk together soy sauce, chili sauce, sesame oil, honey and garlic to create marinade. Taste, and add a little more chili sauce, oil, or honey if necessary.

-Place fish in a large, zip-lock bag and pour in about half of the marinade. (Set aside the rest.) Seal the bag, pushing out as much air as you can. Move bag around so salmon is fully coated, and position bag so fish is skin side up. Allow to marinate at room temperature for 20 minutes.

-Line a baking dish with foil (optional), and spray liberally with cooking spray. Remove salmon from bag and place skin-side down in the dish. Pour some of the marinade from the bag over the salmon so it’s well coated, but there’s not a huge pool at the bottom of the dish. Discard the bag and any marinade in the bag.

-Roast the fish for 20-25 minutes. To test for doneness, stick a fork or knife in the thickest part of the filet. It should flake apart easily, and be opaque.

-Allow salmon to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

-Serve warm, with reserved marinade on the side. Garnish with scallions.

Cauliflower:

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

-Place cauliflower on foil-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and use your hands to evenly coat the florets. Spread them out in one, even layer.

-Roast cauliflower for 45 minutes to 1 hour, flipping halfway through. Florets should be fork-tender and slightly charred on each side.

Recipe: Dad's Soft Boiled Eggs

My dad is many things – The JK in JK Design, an uncanny hybrid of Steve Carrel and Phil from Modern Family, and the kind of housework-addict that gets hyped up over a new pair of lawn shears.

More than that though, and honestly it was difficult to keep that list to 3, he’s bestowed upon me some, well, awkward quirks.

He’s the reason I’d rather pre-game (can we say that after college?) to The Marshall Tucker Band, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Eagles and Jackson Browne than whatever pop-tart is on the iTunes Top 10. (Okay, I have to partially credit Mom for Jackson Browne. There’s a rumor he was the artist-of-choice while I was a mere fetus.)

It’s also his fault I can’t look at an ad without hyper-focusing on why the agency used that font or landed on that slogan. Ditto for my annoying knack for subconsciously memorizing commercials – Luckily, the sister was blessed with that one also. (FreeCreditReport.com, I’m ready to record my commercial debut when you are.)

Lastly, and most, embarrassingly, it’s from him that I inherited my paralyzing fear of touching newspaper and paper shopping bag handles. You know that fingernails-on-a-chalkboard feeling? Yeah. That’s what I’m talking about. Only, as I’m sure you can image, it’s far more difficult to avoid newspapers and shopping bags than it is to avoid chalkboards.

So Dad – while I may never master stick shift or produce frame-worthy art after 15 minutes with watercolors and a canvas, I think I’ve damn near perfected soft-boiled eggs. Happy Father's Day! 

Ingredients

Large eggs (2 per person)

Instructions

-Fill a pot with enough water to cover however many eggs you’ll be cooking, and set it over high heat.

-Once at a rapid boil, use a spoon to carefully lower each egg into the water one at a time. Turn heat down to medium, or a slow boil.

-Cook uncovered for 6 ½ minutes for medium, or 6 minutes for soft-boiled.

-Use the spoon to remove all of the eggs from the water. Set in a bowl or on paper towel so they don’t roll.

-Hold the first egg under cold running water for about 15 seconds until it’s cool enough to handle. Place the egg on a paper towel and use a knife to make a few cracks down the middle of the egg. Then, use your hands to carefully peel away all of the shell. (Make sure you get the layer of membrane too.) Repeat with all of the eggs, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and eat!

Recipe: Homemade Dark Chocolate Almond Joys with Fleur de Sel

It may come as little surprise that my mom is my #1 source for all tips, tricks, and secrets that make me wonder, ‘Why doesn’t every one know about this?!’ (Pinterest is #2 – sorry, I am a cliché.)

Throughout the years, she’s imparted enough miscellaneous knowledge on me to fill an issue of Real Simple. Here are a few stand-outs:

·      Float a ring of lemon rind in a vase to corral a bouquet of long-stemmed flowers.

·      Leave a Sharpie + clothespins in the bathroom so guests can keep track of their towels.

·      When shopping for a dress (especially vintage), look for the bra strap clasps inside the straps – it’s a sure sign of a quality garment. (Adios, all of my male readers!)

·      Costco really, truly has the most phenomenal steaks.

As thankful as I am for all of this wisdom, she had been holding out on me. Holding out on one big, VERY important life lesson. Ready for it… Almond Joys are the BEST candy bar in the entire planetverse. Every year, for the 364 days leading up to Halloween, she would persuade my brother, sister and I that the little bundles of coconut, almond and chocolate were for refined, adult palates only. Clearly, we’d better stick to our juvenile Reese’s and Snickers. Then, when October 31^st rolled around, she would happily scoop up all of our discarded Almond Joys.

Mom, you are one deceptive, brilliant woman.

Fittingly, I made these for Mother’s Day this year. After a quick Google search, I came across Joy the Baker’s recipe and made a few adjustments to set them apart from store-bought Almond Joys. Make a double batch, so there’s no reason to hide them from your loved ones ;)    

[Original recipe from Joy the Baker] 

Notes

-I doubled the recipe below to use up the entire can of sweetened condensed milk. If you’re going through the steps anyway, might as well double up!

-Mine ended up a little larger than I would’ve liked. If you make your bars a bit smaller, keep in mind you may need more chocolate to cover them.

-If you don’t have fleur de sel, any coarse salt will do.

Ingredients (Makes about 20 candy bars)

7 oz sweetened condensed milk (half of a 14 oz can)

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tbsp vanilla extract

2.5 cups unsweetened, flaked coconut

about 20 whole, dry roasted almonds (~.75 oz)

about 10 oz dark chocolate (I used one 10 oz bag of chips)

Fleur de sel

Instructions

-In a bowl, whisk together sweetened condensed milk, powdered sugar and vanilla until a thick paste forms.

-Add coconut, and stir to combine. Refrigerate filling for at least 30 minutes.

-Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove filling from fridge, and scoop out ~1 tbsp. Use your hands to form a compact log, place on baking sheet, and repeat with the rest of the filling. (Wet your hands periodically if they get too sticky.)

-Firmly push an almond onto the top of each bar. You want it indented slightly so it sticks. Refrigerate bars for at least 30 minutes.

-Meanwhile, create a double boiler by placing an empty, heat-proof bowl over a pot with an inch or so of water. Make sure bowl is not touching water. Turn flame on high.

-Once water is boiling, turn heat down to low so water just simmers. Place chocolate in the bowl, and stir frequently until it’s completely melted.

-Remove bars from fridge. One at a time, lower a bar into the chocolate. Turn it around a bit until it’s completely covered in the dark chocolate. Gently shake some of the excess chocolate off. Place the coated bar on a fork, and scrape the bottom of the fork along the edge of the bowl. This will remove excess chocolate. Return covered candy bar to the parchment paper. (I used a small rubber spatula to coax it off the fork.)

-Every few bars, sprinkle the tops with fleur de sel. You want to do this while the chocolate is still wet so the salt sticks.

-Once all the bars are coated and salted, place baking sheet in fridge until chocolate hardens.

-Store in fridge so chocolate doesn’t melt. When ready to eat, let come to room temperature or enjoy cold!

Recipe: Shaken Lemon, Dijon + Garlic Vinaigrette

Evidently, it’s pretty tough to get jazzed about salad dressing. Unless, of course, it’s in a cute little jar with a cute little label, and you can celebrate having made it without a DROP of olive oil landing on your clothes. (Which is quite the feat, given that 80% of my wardrobe is tainted by oil stains. How chic!)

The jar is so vital to this recipe that it may as well be an ingredient. I cannot stress enough how satisfying it is to throw a few ingredients into a jar, seal the lid (tightly, please), give it a couple of vigorous shakes, then marvel at the creamy, thick vinaigrette that has formed. As my girl Ina would say, ‘How easy is that?!’ (Mind you, Ina would probably have a member of her gaytourage shaking the jar, but I digress.)

Not only is the dressing made without dirtying a bowl/whisk/etc, but it’s all set to store in the fridge. I like to whip up a batch in the beginning of the week, then dress salads made up of whatever I have laying around. In this case: baby arugula, sliced radishes, and toasted walnuts. Not too shabby.

Now go give those bingo wings a workout and shake up some vinaigrette!

Notes

-I use empty roasted red pepper jars. Any empty, glass condiment jar will do. 

-The classic ratio for vinaigrettes is 3:1 (oil to acid, or in this case, lemon juice). Adjust as needed to suit your tastes.

-Speaking of tastes, taste as you go! You can always add more of any of these ingredients until you find the perfect balance.

-If dressing solidifies in fridge, remove the lid and microwave for about 10 seconds.

Ingredients

Extra virgin olive oil (~1/2 cup)           

Fresh lemon juice (from ~2 lemons)

Lemon zest (from ~1 lemon)

1-2 cloves garlic, peeled and grated

Dijon mustard (~1 tsp)

Coarse-ground mustard (~2 tsp)

Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

-In a jar, combine olive oil, lemon juice + zest, grated garlic, and mustard.

-Seal jar and shake to until dressing is emulsified. (It will thicken and turn a pale yellow color.)

-Add salt and pepper, shake jar again, taste, and adjust seasoning as needed.

-Use immediately or store jar in fridge for about 1 week. Always shake before using.