blueberry scones with strawberry cream

First:

Add sugar and a touch water to cut strawberries. Set aside in refrigerator for 30 mins.

Second:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
1 cup blueberries
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon unsulphered molasses

1. Preheat oven to 425*F (220*C). Grease a large baking sheet. Set aside.
2. Mix first 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Cut butter in flour mixture until mixture resembles tiny peas.
3. Add blueberries and mix lightly. Gradually add milk and molasses. Be gentle with dough so berries are not crushed.
4. On a lightly floured surface, shape dough into 1/2-inch thickness circle.
5. Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Score each top into 8 pie-shaped wedges. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until risen and browned.

Third:

Whip cream. Stir in strawberries. Cut scone in half. Pour strawberry cream over scone.

Vegetarian Enchiladas

Wow were these enchiladas tasty. I made a really simple red pasta sauce over the weekend with some leftover veges and JP had the wonderful idea to use it as a base to make enchilada sauce. I certainly had my doubts but with the help of my blender and some fantastic peppers they were so good!

1. Sauce
2 large cans whole tomatoes
1/2 can tomato paste
15 leaves basil
salt, pepper, just a little oregano, quite a bit of Italian red pepper - 1 tsp maybe
1 c green onion, chopped
1 c mixed red and orange peppers

Simmer all ingredients together for about 45 minutes. I made mine the day before, then when I was ready, I pulled it out of the fridge and blended it to a puree in small batches. Next I put it back on the stove.

While the red sauce it heating add:
1 finely chopped jalapeño - I did not use the seeds, but you can
1/3 coarsely chopped Anaheim Chile
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Bring all to a boil then reduce heat and cover at a simmer for 30 mins.

2. Veges
Start with:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves finely chopped garlic
2/3 Anaheim Chile, coarsely chopped
Saute 10 min

Add:
1/2 chopped white onion
20 halved grape tomatoes
Saute 10 min

Add:
2 large chopped mushrooms
1/2 large chopped zucchini
1/2 large red onion
Saute 10 mins

3. Cheese and Spinach
Shred a large block of pepper jack and half a small block of cheddar.
1/2 bag spinach, washed

4. Assemble:
Cover bottom of 9x13 glass pan with enchilada sauce.
Add veges, spinach, and cheese to each tortilla, roll and place in pan. Cover enchiladas with sauce and cheese. Top with a small amount of onion, tomato, and avocado.

5. Cover in foil and bake at 400 for 20 mins. Remove foil and bake for 10 more minutes.

Salmon Patty Sandwich

This recipe is a leftover recipe from making the Mediterranean Salmon. I made it into a salmon patty and served it as a sandwich. DELICIOUS. I recommend you make it immediately.

1. Place all veges other than tomatoes and spinach in food processor. Pulse to chop fine.
2. Break up salmon, and add half of the chopped veges. Also add a few tbsp fine breadcrumbs, a tbsp of lemon juice, and an egg. Form into patties.
3. Saute tomatoes, spinach and half of the chopped veges in olive oil, all mixed together, until tomatoes are hot and spinach is wilted. Keep warm.
4. Turn up heat and saute salmon patties until lightly brown.
5. Serve on bread (I used roasted garlic bread - a wise choice). Place lettuce on bottom of bread, then add salmon patty and cover with sauteed veges.

Spinach Quiche

My wonderful Mom/cook made this quiche on Mother's Day (she let me help) and it was delicious. It works out to be more veges than eggs, and making your own crust makes all the difference. I read recently not to wash mushrooms because they take in water and will make your crust soggy. Just wipe them clean with a damp towel.

For crust:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup shortening

2-3 tbsp water

Mom says the secret is to add tiny bits of water at a time, only enough to where it just barely holds together for rolling. Use a 9" pie pan.

For filling:

5 eggs

1 cup half & half
1 1/2 cups grated pepper jack cheese
3/4 cup cooked, cubed ham or bacon

3/4 cup chopped fresh mushrooms

1/2 cup chopped green onion
1 can green chiles, drained

1 can chopped spinach, drained


Beat eggs and milk together. Add rest of ingredients and mix. Pour into unbaked pastry shell and bake at 350 for 1 hour or until set. Allow to sit on counter for 10-15 minutes to set before serving.

She served it with fruit salad and cinnamon cake. It looked beautiful.

Scallop Ravioli

We made home made pasta that we turned into scallop ravioli a few weeks ago. It was an epic journey that we almost died of hunger during, but we came out the other end stronger for it.

I don't have the recipe here, but I just could not resist putting up the picture. :)

Cheesecake!

As a not-really-crazy-about-cheesecake type person, this was a VERY good cheesecake. I made it for JP for Valentine's Day. :) It was really good to have the cake at room temp and the berries hot.

For the crust:

1 1/2 c graham cracker crumbs - about 10 crackers

1 tablespoon sugar

6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:

4 packages(8 oz ea.) cream cheese

2 sticks butter

5 eggs, at room temp

2 egg yolks, at room temp

1 tbsp grated lemon zest, from 2 lemons

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

For the topping:

1 c jelly - I used Strawberry Guava (hands down best jelly ever)

1 pint blueberries

1 pint raspberries

To make crust:

Combine graham crackers, sugar and melted butter, pour into 9" round pan and spread about 1" up sides. Bake at 350 for 8 min. Cool to room temp.

Raise oven temp to 450.

To make filling:

Cream the cream cheese, butter and sugar in electric mixer about 5 mins. Reduce speed and add eggs two at a time. Add lemon zest and vanilla, mix thoroughly.

To bake:

Bake for 15 mins. Turn oven temp down to 225, bake for additional hour and 15 mins. Turn oven off and open door wide-leave cake in oven-for 30 mins. Take cake out and allow to sit on cookie cooling rack for 2 to 3 hours. I served at this time, but you can wrap and refrigerate overnight.

To make topping:

Melt jelly over low heat, add berries for just a couple minutes, coat well. Pour into bowl for people to put on their own cake. Serve immediately.

Left-over Quesadilla

These were sooo good. I used left-over pork from stuffed red peppers that Christine made. (so good) I just chopped up the pepper, added in the pork (which had corn, rice, black beans, jalepeno, and tomatoe-y bbq sauce) and topped with cheese. I baked it for about 20 minutes at about 350 degrees, then put it under the broiler for 5 more.

I served them with spinach, avo, sour cream, salsa and fresh chopped tomato and basil.