kitchen adventures
Imagine this: it’s summer, and you have peaches. You want to make a nifty dessert, but pie seems a bit daunting (all that pie crust, ugh) and crisp maybe a bit too sweet (and it needs ice cream, which I don’t have on hand) .. what’s a home cook to do?
There’s only one time of year to make this strawberry chocolate tart. You’ll need fresh berries at their peak ripeness, which to my mind means only fruit grown locally. Berries this luscious don’t travel well. I manage to make one of these tarts about once a year, usually at the
Cold weather and the holiday season mean that my oven’s often in use, baking all kinds of treats. Fancy cookies are all very well, and fun to give as gifts, but sometimes I just want something quick and easy, but still utterly delicious. That’s when I turn to my freezer, and
My fresh tomato tart is the result of an improvisation, and I vary the filling every time I make it. This one combined sweet onion, leek, and garlic/herb cheese. I’ve also used dry ricotta, plain Muenster cheese, even a bit of leftover Alfredo sauce. See what variations you might come
A note: I was sent, free of charge, a tub of ChefShamy Honey Butter with Vanilla as a participant in #CookoutWeek 2018. It was my own decision to make pie crust with honey butter: an experiment that I call a success. I wanted to do something a bit beyond the
Here in SE Michigan, Spring is an iffy season. One day the temperatures will hit the 80s, and the next, will sulk somewhere in the 50s. Springtime is hot and cold and wet and dry and we get all kinds of weather. This makes meal planning a challenge. Will we want something hot or cool? Light or hearty?
I love a good tart, don’t you? This chocolate raspberry tart is a wonderful example of something that’s simple but delicious, and it’s especially good when made with local berries. I like to make a small 5-6 inch tart. This will give you 4 servings, or 3 if you are
Rhubarb is a treat of the early spring, and my CSA was generous with it this year. While it’s long gone from the farm-stand, I kept a bit in my refrigerator, and produced amazingly good and easy rhubarb tarts. You will need baked tart shells. You could make your own,
What do you do when you want to make apple pie for a big crowd? 2 or 3 round pies are difficult to carry to a gathering, and fussy to serve. Apple slab pie, or apple slice, is an old-fashioned option: a thin but luscious pie baked flat and wide. It
Rustic is such a helpful word. Much of what I do in the kitchen is rustic: that is, homely, simple, cheerfully imperfect. I make rustic tarts because they’re quick, easy, and delicious, and because they don’t have to be neat and tidy. They have all the goodness of a fancy
Some folks say that lemon is the best flavor for dessert, especially in the summer. I adore lemon meringue pie but rarely bake it myself. When a friend let me know about a lemon pie sensation I just had to try, I leapt at the chance. Sharyl, you were so right! Bill Smith, chef at
I’m Maurita Plouff, and I write about cooking and preserving the local harvest in Southeast Michigan. Any recipe you find here is something I have cooked myself, and enjoyed, and think you might like too. I invite you to try the recipes, and leave comments.