COCONUT SHORTBREAD TART WITH PINEAPPLE FILLING

I have included my fruit ‘compotes’ in previous posts, but I’ve recently added pineapple to my successful experimentation! I often buy pineapples when the prices are good, or when I get by Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s and I can afford them. I bring them home and let them ripen a day or two usually, until the stem end (the bottom) smells like a nice fragrant ripe pineapple. I then peel them and slice them, core and all usually, and put the slices in bags to go into the freezer. These slices can be used (including, as I said, the core) in fruit smoothies! The core is as full of flavor and juices as the rest of the pineapple…it just happens to be tough….unless, of course, you’re putting it through a super blender!

This week, I brought home two pineapples, and as I was packaging the first one, I decided to experiment with the second. SOOOO, I peeled and cut up the second one into small chunks, this time, removing the tougher core, for the most part. I put the chunked pineapple into a saucepan with approximately ¾ cup of organic sugar, and cooked it on medium heat until it was completely cooked through and syrupy. I then used my immersion blender to further grind down the pineapple to a preserves-like consistency. Once it cooled, I had a little over a pint. I refrigerated it for more experimentation!

I decided I wanted to include this pineapple into a tart, using the basic shortbread crust I’d been using with other fruit tarts. But I thought that I could change it up just a bit by adding some other things for flavor and texture. COCONUT!! I love coconut, and it pairs very well with pineapple! Think pina coladas! So I modified the shortbread recipe somewhat to include some organic shredded coconut, and a little coconut flavoring. I think used my pineapple compote as a filling, and topped the whole thing off with some of the shredded coconut mixed with a little of the crystal organic sugar, and some ground macadamia nuts.

Well, let me tell you, the flavors were DELICIOUS together! SO, here it is. I hope you will try it, and I hope you get at least HALF the enjoyment that I got from this awesome dessert!

INGREDIENTS:

13 tbsp. butter, softened (organic, if you can find it!)
½ cup organic sugar (give or take a tablespoon or two!)
1 tsp. pure almond extract
1 tsp. coconut flavoring
1 ½ cups unbleached AP organic flour
¾ cup organic finely shredded coconut
1/8 tsp. sea salt

1 cup pineapple compote (see narrative above)

TOPPING:
¼ cup organic finely shredded coconut
¼ cup organic sugar
¼ cup chopped macadamia nuts

Preheat oven to 350.

In a mixer bowl, cream together the softened butter and the sugar. Add the flavorings. Meanwhile, measure out the flour, coconut, and salt into a bowl and stir with wire whisk. When the butter and sugar and flavorings are mixed, begin adding the flour mixture a little at a time until it is thoroughly mixed together. The dough may look a little grainy and loose, but no matter. Turn the dough mixture into a 10 inch tart or quiche pan and press into the bottom evenly and up the sides slightly. (Thanks to Martha Stewart, I’ve learned to use the bottom of an aluminum measuring cup to help in this process!)

Spread the cup of pineapple compote on the crust and spread evenly to the edges.

Mix the coconut, organic sugar and chopped macadamia nuts in a bowl and sprinkle evenly over the pineapple topping.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the fruit is set. 

SWEET POTATO AND BLACK BEAN VEGGIE BURGERS

I have been buying chipotle black bean burgers from the local member box store for a couple of years. We really like them, and since these were organic, they fit our lifestyle for healthier eating. Recently, they disappeared from the freezer section, and I was distraught. For months, I've been going back to check, and it seemed I would never see them again.

Well, I have this new love of cooking, and of modifying recipes to make them healthier, so I decided to do some research and come up with a new veggie burger for myself. What you see below is just that...a healthy veggie burger made up of some of my very favorite things! And guess what!!! They turned out to be even better than the frozen ones I've been buying!! 

Needless to say, I'm really excited!!

Ingredients

• 1½ pounds sweet potatoes (I used three medium sweet potatoes)
• ⅓ cup cooked quinoa
• 1 cup old fashioned oats (I used organic from Trader Joe’s)
• 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, (Trader Joe’s organic) cooked and drained
• ½ sweet onion, minced (food processor)
• 1 tsp. dried cilantro
• 2 teaspoons cumin powder
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon smoked hot paprika
• ½ teaspoon cayenne powder (optional, to taste)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• High quality vegetable oil for cooking burgers (or coconut oil, if you don't mind the coconut taste, olive oil may burn)
• your favorite burger fixings (avocado or guacamole, tomato or pico de gallo, lettuce, sprouts, ketchup, hot sauce, mustard, pickles, cheese)

Instructions

1.     Roast the sweet potatoes: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Slice the sweet potatoes down the center lengthwise. Place the sweet potatoes cut side down on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast until they yield to a gentle squeeze, 40-50 minutes or longer. Once the sweet potatoes are cool enough to handle, scoop the insides and put into a large bowl. Set aside to cool completely.

2.     Cook the quinoa: Rinse the quinoa in a fine mesh colander, then combine with ⅔ cup water in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to boil, then cover and reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes, then remove from heat and let the quinoa steam with the lid on for 5 minutes. (Be careful…this sticks very easily) Then drain off any excess water and set aside to cool.

3.     Grind the oats: Use a food processor or blender to grind the oats until the flakes are broken up, but not as fine as flour.

4.     Mix the burgers: In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your electric mixer, combine the cooled sweet potatoes and millet, black beans, onion, cilantro, cumin, chili powder, paprika, cayenne (optional, add to taste for spicier burgers) and salt. Use a potato masher, big mixing spoon or the paddle attachment of your mixer to mix really well. It's ok if the black beans get smashed in the process.

5.     Mix in the oats: Sprinkle the ground oats over the mixture and mix well with a big spoon until the mixture holds together when you shape a portion into a patty. If possible, cover and refrigerate the mixture for best results (the patties will hold together better during cooking if they are chilled first).

6.     Shape the burgers: Use a measuring cup to measure out 1/3 cup of the mixture. I packed the measure and tapped it onto a cutting board to release. It made the perfect size burger. Repeat the process for each patty; I made 13, so I had to eat one, of course. I layered parchment between each burger, set them on a cookie sheet, and set them in the freezer for a short time to firm up before packing them into bags for freezing.

7.     Pan fry the burgers: Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large cast iron or non-stick skillet over medium heat. When it's hot, place several burgers in the pan, leaving enough room to flip them. Cook each patty until browned and heated through, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Add 1 tablespoon oil to the skillet for each pan of burgers you fry.

LEMON SHORTBREAD TART

This one is REALLY easy, primarily because 1) the crust is a breeze to throw together, and 2) I used a jar of pre-made lemon curd from Trader Joe's. I promised myself I'm going to make my own lemon curd next time, especially since I watched Martha Stewart do it, and it looked so easy! Last night, however, I saw this jar of lemon curd I had bought some time ago at Trader Joe's, and it occurred to me that lemon curd would taste really good with shortbread! SO, until I update this later with my own homemade lemon curd, here is the recipe:

(Note that this is pretty much the same shortbread tart crust recipe from my other tarts, with just a few modifications.)

Ingredients:

13 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup organic sugar

1 tsp pure almond extract

1 1/2 cup organic unbleached AP flour

1 cup finely ground pecans

1 jar Trader Joe's Lemon Curd
Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

With a mixer, cream together the softened butter and the sugar until smooth and thoroughly mixed. 

Add the almond extract and allow to mix through. 

In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, and 3/4 cup of the finely ground almonds and whisk together. With the mixer, slowly add these dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture a cup or so at a time until thoroughly blended. The dough may look a bit grainy and loose, but don't worry...it will press into a dish or pan nicely.

Measure out about 1/2 cup of the dough mixture and place on a plate and just set in the freezer. This will be used for the topping later.

Press the remaining dough evenly into the bottom of a nine inch tart pan or quiche pan and slightly up the sides. I use the bottom of an aluminum measuring cup for this purpose. (Thanks again, Martha Stewart!)

Pour the entire jar of Trader Joe's lemon curd over the crust and spread evenly to the edges. Get the the crust mixture from the freezer and crumble it evenly over the top of the filling.

Bake your tart at 350 for about 35-40 minutes, depending upon your oven. Remove when filling is nicely set and the edges of the tart crust are golden brown. Allow to cool somewhat.

Sift some powdered sugar over the top of your tart and serve.

'SPIRALIZED' SWEET POTATOES, BEEF AND BLACK BEAN CASSEROLE

The Paderno Spiralizer opened up a whole new world for us in terms of cooking and eating vegetables! It's amazing, first of all, how quickly and easily some veggies can be prepared for cooking, and second, how cutting them in different ways suddenly influences all sorts of creativity in the actually cooking and constructing a dish!

The following recipe started with 'spiralized' sweet potatoes!

Note also that the 'house seasoning' is my standard mixture of garlic powder (not salt), onion powder (not salt), and a good quality seasoned salt. (Lawry's) I keep this in a large spice jar in the cabinet all the time. It's great on roasted vegetables, popcorn, even buttered rolls! It's very versatile in everyday cooking!
House seasoning:
1/2 cup garlic powder
1/3 cup onion powder
1/4 cup seasoned salt

In chronological order:
Preheat oven to 350

3 medium sweet potatoes, spiral cut
3 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp house seasoning (see note above)
Place the spiralized sweet potatoes in a large bowl. Toss with the coconut oil. Sprinkle the house seasoning over them and toss again to spread the seasoning evenly throughout. Place the seasoned sweet potatoes in a 9 x13 baking dish. (Stoneware bakeware works great for this!) Place in preheated oven and roast for approximately 35-40 minutes, or until just tender,  stirring once about halfway through the baking time.



  
MEANWHILE:
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
1 pound ground beef (low fat)
1 tsp garlic powder
2 cans diced tomatoes (I like mine less chunky, so I ran them through the food processor slightly)
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp smoky paprika
1 tsp red pepper (more or less to taste)
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp prepared mustard
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 
1 can black beans

1 cup shredded white (or yellow) cheddar cheese (Cabot's Sharp Vermont White Cheddar works GREAT for this dish!)

Heat the olive oil in a skillet on medium heat and add onions. Saute until translucent. Add the ground beef and brown completely. Drain. To this beef mixture, add the garlic powder, tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, paprika, red pepper, brown sugar, prepared mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. Mix well. Add the black beans and stir to mix.

When the sweet potatoes have finished roasting, pull them from the oven and pour the beef and been mixture over them evenly. Return to the oven and bake for about 10 more minutes. When you remove from the oven for the second time, while the casserole is still very hot, spread the shredded cheese evenly over the top and allow it to melt slightly before serving.

This is great accompanied by good quality multi-grain tortilla chips and avocado!

ALMOND SHORTBREAD FIG TART

Almond Shortbread Fig Tart

I recently found a recipe online for an apricot jam shortbread tart. It looked delicious, but I'm not a big fan of apricot jam. I looked over the recipe a bit, and decided to set out to change it up a bit. I try to improve on most recipes by lowering fats, sugars, and calories. I also try to use organic, non-GMO, and unprocessed ingredients whenever possible.

A few examples:

I always use butter these days. No more margarine for me! If I can find organic butter, I get that. Butter and cheese are my dairy guilty pleasures! 

I always use organic sugar when cooking and baking. It's easy to find, and it just makes sense to me.

I also trade out regular flour for unbleached organic all-purpose flour. Sometimes, I even mix half-and-half with organic wheat flour. I can also sometimes add things to the flour for flavor, fiber, etc.

So, in this case, I turned the apricot tart into this delicious Almond Shortbread Fig Tart.  And later, I altered this one and morphed it into the Pecan Shortbread Strawberry Tart. 

Ingredients:

12 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup organic sugar

1/2 tsp pure almond extract

1 1/2 cup organic unbleached AP flour

1 cup finely ground almonds, separated (separate out 1/4 cup to use later)

1/2 cup fig jam (Trader Joe's has an AWESOME fig jam!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

With a mixer, cream together the softened butter and the sugar until smooth and thoroughly mixed. 

Add the almond extract and allow to mix through. 

In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, and 3/4 cup of the finely ground almonds and whisk together. With the mixer, slowly add these dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture a cup or so at a time until thoroughly blended. The dough may look a bit grainy and loose, but don't worry...it will press into a dish or pan nicely.

Measure out about 1/2 cup of the dough and place on a plate and just set in the freezer. This will be used for the topping later.

Press the remaining dough evenly into the bottom of a nine inch tart pan or quiche pan and slightly up the sides. I use the bottom of an aluminum measuring cup for this purpose. (Thanks again, Martha Stewart!) 

Spread the fig jam over the surface of the tart dough evenly, leaving the edges exposed slightly. 

Mix the 1/2 cup of the dough you had set in the freezer with the 1/4 cup of the ground almonds using a whisk, so as to make an evenly crumbly mix. Sprinkle this dough and almond crumble over the top of the fig jam evenly. 

Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 40 minutes, or until the crust edges are nicely browned and the jam is set.

INCIDENTALLY......I made a simple little 'drizzle' of almond milk, powdered sugar, and almond extract and chilled it. It's delightful to drizzle over the tart just before it's served!
 

IT WAS TIME!

Yup! It was time! I'm always cooking and baking, and I love nothing more than sharing good foods and recipes with others! SO....rather than copying and pasting my recipes into emails, Facebook postings and messages, and so forth, it was time to put together my own blog and start sharing some of these food ideas, the good ones, AND the bad ones (hopefully there will be more of the former!) with everyone!

Tonight I made a really nice Pecan Shortbread Strawberry Tart that I am anxious for you to see and try! In true confessions, I must tell you that much of this I made without a recipe, but I wrote down, to the best of my knowledge, all the ingredients and instructions. I sincerely hope that you will ask questions, as well as notify me if you have any difficulties, with any of my recipes. Perhaps even more, I hope you will share your successes and let me know when things turned out well!

Pecan Shortbread Strawberry Tart

Pecan Shortbread Strawberry Tart

First, let me say that I keep fruit compotes…blueberry, strawberry, apple, usually….around the house a lot. We use a tablespoon or two mixed with vanilla yogurt to eat by itself, or use as a dip for other fruits. To make a fruit compote, I simply mix cut-up fruit with an appropriate amount of organic sugar, and sometimes, as in the case of apples, I add spices, like cinnamon and nutmeg.

To make the strawberry compote that I used in this recipe, I cut up two quarts of strawberries, added about 1.5 cups organic sugar, and cooked until very soft and mushy…probably 25-30 minutes. You have to stir regularly to keep from sticking, and just keep an eye on it. Once it’s cooked sufficiently, I use either a potato masher (for courser fruit) or my immersion blender (for smoother blend) to further macerate the fruit. The two quarts of strawberries rendered a little more than a quart of compote. I store it in a mason jar in the fridge. It actually lasts a long time…although we usually eat it up pretty fast.

For the shortbread crust

13 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

½ cup organic sugar (you can add a tablespoon or so for some extra sweetness)

½ tsp. pure almond extract

1 ½ cups unbleached AP organic flour

1 cup finely ground pecans (separate out ¼ cup)

1/8 tsp. sea salt

Preheat oven to 350.

In a mixer bowl, cream together the softened butter and the sugar.  Add the almond flavoring. 

Meanwhile measure out the flour, salt, and ¾ cups of the ground pecans. Whisk together well. When the butter and sugar are thoroughly mixed, begin to add the flour mixture a cup or so at a time until thoroughly mixed together. The dough may look a little grainy and loose, but no matter.  

 Measure out about a half cup of the dough mixture and just put it on a small plate and set it in the freezer. (this will be used for topping later.)  Put the rest of the dough mixture into a 9 inch tart pan or quiche pan and press into the bottom evenly and up the sides slightly. I use the bottom of an aluminum measuring cup to help in this process!

Spread about ¾ cup of the fruit compote or any kind of jam (more or less to taste) over the top of the crust. (Of course, then you'll have the rest of this wonderful compote to use in other delicious ways!)

Take the crust mixture you placed in the freezer earlier and mix well with the ¼ cup (more or less) of the pecans you saved earlier. It should be crumbly if you use a fork or whisk. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the compote or jam on the shortbread.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes, or until crust is browned and fruit is set.