Fresh Blueberry Sauce

Each summer I look forward to the wonderful, flavorful blueberries grown by a local farm/market – Blooms and Berries (Loveland, Ohio). I was looking for a sauce to be used on ice cream that would not detract from the natural flavor of these berries and came up with this very simple recipe which everyone loves. I make the sauce as I’m finishing cooking the meal, turn it off and allow it to set until we’re ready for dessert. That makes it just the right temperature for serving.

• Servings: 2 cups - 4-6 servings
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2 cups (one pint) fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained
¼ cup plus 1 Tblsp. granulated sugar
1 Tblsp. water
Dash of grated nutmeg
½ tsp. vanilla extract

Place berries, sugar, water, nutmeg and vanilla in a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a boil – approximately 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for a half-hour or so to cool a bit. Spoon over vanilla ice cream. 

Blooms and Berries just announced that their U-Pick session for blueberries begins tomorrow.  My daughter will have to get down there early to pick berries and I’ll be sure we gave enough ice cream on hand.  Summer is here!

 

 

 

 

 

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Lemon Custard Bread Pudding with Sauce

This recipe is adapted from one in a favorite cookbook from the 1970s – Redbook Cookbook (1976), offered as a premium with a subscription to Redbook magazine.  This was originally a custard bread pudding recipe which I adapted by adding lemon extract and by making a favorite sauce with lemon juice and grated lemon peel.  It’s lighter than most bread pudding with a delicious custard.  Heavier bread like Italian, French or sourdough would be the best to use for this.

The pudding is baked in a deep casserole dish which has been placed in a shallow pan of hot water.

LEMON CUSTARD BREAD PUDDING AND SAUCE

• Servings: 6
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4 cups day-old bread cubes
3 cups milk
¼ cup butter
½ cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp lemon extract

Heat oven to 350.  Grease a deep 1-1/2 qt. baking dish.

Place bread cubes in a large bowl and set aside.  Heat milk in a saucepan over low heat until little bubbles form at pan edge.  Remove from heat, add butter, sugar.  Stir and pour this mixture over the  bread cubes.  Let stand for 5 minutes.

In a small bowl, beat eggs well and add salt and lemon extract.  Slowly stir tje egg mixture into the bread/milk mixture.  Pour into greased dish.  Set dish in a baking pan and add one inch of hot water to pan.  Bake for 55 minutes until set.  Let cool in dish on a rack.

LEMON SAUCE  (1-½ cups)
½ cup granulated sugar
2-¼ Tblsp. cornstarch
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup cold water
2 Tblsp. butter
½ cup lemon juice
1 tsp. grated lemon peel

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, salt and water.  Stirring constantly, heat until mixture boils.  Remove from heat and stir in butter, lemon juice and lemon peel.  Serve warm over bread pudding.  Makes about 1-½ cups.

Refrigerate leftovers of pudding and sauce.  Bring to room temperature or heat briefly in the microwave to serve.

 

My Favorite Cheesecake with Strawberry Sauce

I first made this cheesecake in 1989 from one of my prized cookbooks, The Cake Bible.  It immediately became the family’s favorite cheesecake, usually served with strawberries or strawberry sauce.

• Servings: 10-12
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Two 8 oz. pkgs cream cheese
1 cup granulated sugar
1 Tblsp. cornstarch
3 large eggs
3 Tblsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
¼ tsp. salt
3 cups sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Pan:  One 8 inch x 2-1/2 inch or higher springform pan, greased and bottom lined with greased parchment or wax paper; outside of pan wrapped with a double layer of heavy-duty foil to prevent seepage.  One 10” cake pan or roasting pan to serve as a water bath.  Pan should not have higher sides than the springform pan or it will slow down baking.

In a large mixing bowl beat the cream cheese and sugar until very smooth – about 3 minutes.  Beat in the cornstarch.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.  Add the lemon juice, vanilla and salt and beat until incorporated.  Beat in the sour cream just until blended.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  Set the pan in the larger pan and surround it with 1” of very hot water.  Bake 45 minutes.  Turn off the oven without opening the door and let the cake cool for one hour.  Remove to a rack and cool to room temperature (about one hour).  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Store one week refrigerated – do not freeze.

Serve slices of cheesecake topped with this wonderful, not-too-sweet Strawberry Sauce.

STRAWBERRY SAUCE

• Servings: (makes approx. 3-1/2 cups of sauce)
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½ cup granulated sugar
4-½ tsp. cornstarch
¼ cup orange juice (or 2 Tblsp. each of water and orange juice concentrate)
4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
½ tsp. vanilla extract

In a medium pan, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch and orange juice.  Add the prepared berries and heat over medium high heat until mixture comes to a boil.  Stirring constantly, boil mixture for another two minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Serve at room temperature or chilled over cheesecake.  If there are leftovers, refrigerate and spoon over ice cream, pound cake, or pudding. 

Cherry Tomato Pesto Sauce

We had two surprises in our garden this summer.  A big surprise was the appearance of volunteer cherry and pear tomato plants.  I haven’t planted tomatoes for 3 or 4 years and was delighted to see strong, vigorous plants growing.  A plant with little yellow pear tomatoes grew tall enough to bloom and produce right outside my kitchen window.

Every day, my daughter picked a bowl of delicious, fresh tomatoes and I started looking for ways to use them other than in a salad.

This tomato pasta sauce is delicious and worth trying if you still have cherry tomatoes hanging on in your garden.  It’s good enough that I’ll buy cherry tomatoes in the winter so we can have this sauce often.  The pesto portion was adapted from a recipe on Lidia’s Italy  and the sauce is one that I make often.

• Servings: 4
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Pesto:
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
12 large fresh basil leaves
1/3 cup walnuts
2 cloves garlic
¼ tsp. salt
Grating of black pepper
½ cup olive oil

Sauce:
2 Tblsp. butter
2 Tblsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup white wine (Charonnay)
2 tsp. lemon juice
½ cup halved cherry tomatoes

Grating of black pepper

4 servings of hot, cooked pasta

To make pesto:
In a food processor, place tomatoes, basil, walnuts, garlic, salt and pepper.  Process until everything is finely minced.

Gradually add olive oil and process until mixture is smooth.

Set aside

To make sauce:
In a large skillet, heat butter and olive oil.  Add garlic and saute until lightly brown.  Add wine, lemon juice, pepper and ½ cup of halved tomatoes.  Stir in pesto and heat until mixture is piping hot.

Serve immediately over cooked pasta.

Yield:  4 servings

The second surprise was what grew up around a bird bath in the back yard.  My daughter thought she had picked up a packet of small marigolds to brighten up the bottom base of the bird bath, but the flowers kept growing until they extended well above it and  produced some gorgeous, huge orange and yellow flowers.

Country Cherry Pudding

I found this recipe in a 1945 Calumet booklet – Favorite Recipes for Country Kitchens.  This makes a quick and easy dessert for lunch or supper.  As it bakes, the sauce becomes thick and cooks into the cake.  Cuts and serves nicely.

COUNTRY CHERRY PUDDING & SAUCE

• Servings: 4
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• ½ cup plus 2 Tblsp. all-purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 Tblsp. Canola oil
• ¾ cup frozen tart cherries, thawed and drained

Sauce:

• ½ cup water
• ½ cup cherry brandy or cherry juice
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 Tblsp. butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
Grease a 9-inch baking pan

In a medium bowl mix together the flour, baking powder salt and ¼ cup granulated sugar.  Add milk and canola oil to make a stiff dough.

Spread the dough in the bottom of the baking pan.  Dampening your fingertips with water will help spread the dough evenly.

Arrange the thawed/drained cherries on top of the dough.

In a small saucepan, combine the water, cherry brandy or juice, ¼ cup sugar and butter.  Bring to a boil over medium heat.  Pour boiling mixture over cherries.

Place in oven and bake for approximately 45 minutes @ 375 degrees F.  Cool on a wire rack.

Serve warm.

4 servings. 

Fluffy Gingerbread and Spicy Sauce

This recipe for gingerbread comes from a favorite old cookbook, Southern Sideboards, 1978. I have a note that I made it for the first time in September of 1985 and rated it “excellent”.  Then, I have another note from February 6, 2007 – “Revision made during a snow storm and during Rusty’s (my dog) recuperation from pancreatitis.  Had made potato soup for myself  for supper and thought I’d like some gingerbread that wasn’t too high fat-wise.  It was exactly what I was hoping for – had it warm with some whipped topping – excellent.”

The revised version substituted canola oil for butter and cut the recipe in half.  It also omitted a streusel-type topping.

FLUFFY GINGERBREAD

• Servings: 6-8
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• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup plus 2 Tblsp. molasses (Grandma’s)
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Oil and flour an 8-inch baking pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, brown sugar,  egg and molasses.  Whisk in the baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger.

Stir in the flour and then stir in the boiling water.  Pour batter into prepared pan and bake @ 350 degrees F for approximately 25 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.  Cool in the pan on a wire rack.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

This time around, I decided to serve the gingerbread with a Spicy Sauce:

SPICY SAUCE WITH APPLE JUICE

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 Tblsp. cornstarch
• 1 cup cold apple juice*
• 2 Tblsp. butter

*I make stronger flavored apple juice by combining 6 tablespoons of apple juice concentrate with enough water to make one cup.

In a small pan, combine sugar and cornstarch.  Add cold apple juice and whisk until smooth.  Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until mixture comes to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat and stir in butter until melted.

Serve warm over warm gingerbread.

Makes about 1-1/2 cups of sauce.  Sauce can be reheated.

Cranberry Apple Bread Pudding with Applejack Sauce

The recipe for this dessert is adapted from one in Susan Branch’s Christmas from the Heart of the Home cookbook.  I have all of her cookbooks and they are simply wonderful.  You can get an idea of her work on her great web page.   I made a few minor changes in my recipe, including using applejack for the sauce.  The original recipe called for whiskey, but brandy or rum would also be good.

• Servings: 9
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• 6 cups of bread cubes (day-old firm bread – I use stale homemade bread)
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1-1/2 Tblsp. vanilla (that’s right – 1-1/2 tablespoons)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1-1/2 cups tart apple, peeled and sliced
• 1/2 cup cranberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F

Put bread cubes in a colander and pour over 2 cups hot tap water.  Let stand 5  minutes, then squeeze out excess moisture.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Add the apples, cranberries and bread.  Stir lightly until blended.

Pour mixture into a buttered 9×9 baking dish.  Bake @ 325 degrees F for one hour and 20 minutes.

APPLEJACK SAUCE

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 Tblsp.  applejack
• 1 egg, beaten

In a small pan over medium low heat, melt the butter.  Add sugar and stir about 2 minutes.  Remove from heat and slowly stir in applejack, continue heating and stirring for one minute.  Remove from heat, slowly add a small amount of sauce mixture to beaten eggs, add eggs to mixture over low heat, stirring until thickened.

Serve the bread pudding warm with warm applejack sauce.

This makes a nice, comforting wintertime dessert.

Grandparents’ Day….and Hollandaise Sauce

My two youngest grandchildren, known here as Jellyfish (age 9) and Dolphin (age 5) have always been encouraged by their mother to remember me on Grandparents’ Day.  Yesterday I received a mug with their pictures to join 9 others in my collection.

As soon as they were able to draw, write or color, they have also given me something they made themselves.  This year, Jellyfish spent many hours printing and coloring detailed information sheets about dinosaurs.

Dolphin also drew a dinosaur and made a special card.

Both of them made up a booklet, “My Grandmother”, with lines to fill in with information on where I live, what I like and what we like to do together.  The page about my real name turned out fine with Jellyfish’s “Lillian” but a little odd with Dolphin’s “Owl”.

I like to have Sunday dinner at home, so as usual I fixed dinner for everybody.  Along with roast beef, mashed potatoes,carrots and homemade yeast rolls,  I steamed some asparaus and served it with this delicious Mock Hollandaise Sauce which is much friendlier fat and cholesterol-wise.

MOCK HOLLANDAISE SAUCE

• Servings: One cup of sauce
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• One 3 oz. package low-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel)

• 1/4 cup egg substitute
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• dash salt
• 1/4 cup melted low-fat margarine

Blend together by hand or in a food processor.  To warm, heat in microwave oven for about 30-45 seconds.

Yield:  One cup of sauce 

I have a note in my recipe binder:  “From Southern Sideboards cookbook.  Made for Mother’s Day 1994 to serve with our homegrown asparagus.  Very rich and smooth – easy to heat up.”