Seasonal

Five Spice Citrus Salad

February 25, 2018 by Sarah Baade Leave a Comment

It has been such a long and rainy winter here in San Antonio. I’m not used to needing a heavy coat for more than a day or two at a time, let alone weeks at a time. I find myself daydreaming about bright colors and warmer climates. I won’t be going on a tropical vacation any time soon so my next best bet is eating bright, flavorful fruit.

We are currently right in the middle of prime orange and grapefruit season. There are so many varieties of citrus available and I took full advantage of that for this recipe. I love the variety of colors as well as flavors from these fruits. Given the tartness that sometimes comes along with citrus, I wanted to contrast that with a little bit of sweet and a little bit of spice. The result is a perfect dish to serve with brunch or eat as a snack.

Tips:

Place some paper towels under the edges of your cutting board, this will help to catch any juice that runs off the edge as you’re cutting the fruit.
Feel free to mix and match your citrus fruits to your liking or based on what is available seasonally. The main idea is variety.

Five Spice Citrus Salad

Serves 6-8

3 grapefruit (I used one large and two small)

6 oranges (I used blood oranges, tangelos, sumo citrus)

¼ cup pomegranate seeds

¼ cup crumbled feta cheese

1 Tablespoon fresh mint leaves

4 Tablespoons honey

½ teaspoon Chinese five spice seasoning

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Cut citrus fruits into ¼ – ½ inch slices, removing seeds as they are found. Cut rinds off of slices then place slices on paper towels to absorb excess any juice. Move citrus slices to a serving platter and top with pomegranate, feta and mint. In a small bowl, mix together honey, Chinese five spice and vanilla. Drizzles honey mixture over citrus salad as desired.

Pumpkin Pecan Pie

November 21, 2017 by Sarah Baade Leave a Comment

Admittedly, I am a relatively recent pumpkin convert. It is only in the last few years that I have been able to enjoy a slice of pumpkin pie or pumpkin bread. I still can’t handle pumpkin spice flavored beverages though. Pecan pie, on the other hand, was my absolute favorite when I was growing up. I would have gladly suffered through the consequences if my parents had let me eat an entire pie myself. I don’t recall my grandmother ever making this recipe for pumpkin pecan pie but if she had, maybe I would have embraced pumpkin earlier in life. It is the perfect balance of pumpkin and pecan pie. For those of you who can’t decide between the two flavors, this is your solution!!!

Grandma gets bonus points for this recipe because it is so amazingly easy. The hardest part was getting it into the oven without spilling the filling. Check out the tips below for help with that.

Tips

If you are using pre-made pie crust that is in an aluminum tin, place it on a baking sheet before pouring the filling in and keep it on the baking sheet even while baking it. The tin is flimsy enough that it is easy to spill the filling while transferring it to the oven if you don’t have the support of the baking sheet.
If you are using a roll-out pre-made pie crust and placing it in your own glass/metal pie dish, go ahead and put a baking sheet in the oven on the bottom shelf. If you happen to have any filling bubble over the edge of the crust the baking sheet will catch it and save you from a mess in your oven.

Makes 1 pie

Ingredients:

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 cup dark corn syrup

2 tablespoons butter (melted)

1 cup chopped pecans

1 9” unbaked pie shell

Heat oven to 350°F. If using a roll out pie crust, unroll it and place it in a pie dish. In a bowl, mix all ingredients except pecans. Pour mixture into pie shell. Top with chopped pecans. Bake for about 40 minutes or until done (filling should not be jiggly). Once cooled, serve topped with whipped cream.

*Original source of this recipe is unknown. Directions are slightly modified from my grandmother’s recipe card.

Fruit Bruschetta

August 5, 2017 by Sarah Baade Leave a Comment

I love hitting up my local farmer’s market for seasonal produce and I love hosting friends at my house for tasty eats. The best is when these two loves come together with an easy recipe that is dressed to impress. When hitting up the farmer’s market, I often browse for what looks enticing and create a dish from the ingredients found rather than coming in with specific ingredients to find. This has resulted in me being more creative in the kitchen but has also expanded my palette. When you find a golden baguette and perfectly ripe berries you can’t walk away empty handed. For this recipe, I ultimately combined fresh finds with what I already had in my kitchen – goat cheese, mint, plums and honey. Listen, I like fresh but I also hate to waste so I’m all about using what is already on hand too.

This fruit bruschetta is light and flavorful but it is also so easy to make. It is ideal for entertaining and could be used as an appetizer, a dessert or even a snack.

Tips:

This recipe highlights using seasonal fruit. If you can’t find plums, substitute them for blueberries, pomegranate seeds, or whatever seasonal berry you can find.
Watch the bread slices closely in the oven, it is all too easy to accidently burn them. The goal is for the bread slices to be lightly toasted on each side.

Fruit Bruschetta

Ingredients:

Ciabatta baguette

8oz goat cheese (softened)

1 Tablespoon fresh mint, chopped

1 cup raspberries, washed

1 cup blackberries, washed

1 cup plums, washed and sliced

Honey for drizzling

Directions:

Set your oven to Broil.

Slice baguette diagonally into ½” thick slices. Lay out the slices of bread on a cookie sheet and place in the oven for 1 minute or until lightly golden. Remove from the oven, flip each slice of bread over and place back in oven for 1 minute or until lightly golden. Remove cookie sheet from oven and let bread slices cool completely.

In a bowl, combine goat cheese and chopped mint leaves. Spread goat cheese onto bread slices (be generous, it’s delicious!). Top with fruit as desired then drizzle with honey.