Easy Buttermilk Dessert Sauce

3 Comments January 13, 2023 terrie gura

The next time you make a dessert that needs a sauce, but you aren’t quite sure what sauce is right, it’s this one. This is the sauce.

It is sweet and slightly salty like caramel, but without the fuss. It’s rich and elegant like an anglaise, but without cream or eggs. And it has the warm color of butterscotch, but it isn’t that either. This easy buttermilk sauce is neutral in flavor, so you can turn it any number of directions with a splash of vanilla, a sprinkle of cinnamon or pie spice—hey, even a shot of booze! You can pour it warm right over a baked dessert or ice cream sundae, or chill it to drizzle over fresh berries. It’s oozing with possibilities!

Any extra sauce keeps nicely in the fridge, and can either be warmed in a saucepan or the microwave.

There are no complicated ingredients, and the sauce comes together in under 15 minutes, so you can even make it last minute if you discover too late that your dessert needs a little help (we’ve all been there). Most recently, I made this with vanilla bean paste and a half-shot of vanilla whiskey to accompany a batch of bread pudding, made from cardamom-scented cinnamon rolls and dried cherries. The combo of bread pudding and sauce was sooo good!

You take both bread puddings. I’m just gonna drink this extra sauce.

Begin with a cup of buttermilk, the good, thick kind. Put it on medium heat with 3/4 cup of cane sugar and half a stick of salted butter. Most dessert recipes call for unsalted butter, but here, the salted butter is just right to complement the sweetness of the sauce. I whisk a little bit of corn syrup into the sauce as well, as it helps to prevent the sauce from crystallizing when it cools.

After the butter has melted and the sugar is dissolved, it’s time for the magic ingredient, which is a miniscule amount of (drumroll, please) baking soda! Remember, the miraculous ingredient I posted about in September that makes grilled shrimp so juicy and delicious? The baking soda works wonders in this buttermilk dessert sauce, too, and for the same scientific reason. Watch and see.

The alkaline properties of baking soda launch a chemical reaction with the acidic buttermilk, so you want to use a saucepan that is large enough to hold three times the volume of the buttermilk. Almost immediately after you whisk in the soda, the mixture will froth and foam like crazy, and as you whisk and cook for 5 or 6 minutes, the buttermilk will transform into a semi-translucent, golden sweet syrup.

Turn off the heat, stir in vanilla and any other flavor enhancer that sounds good to you. As it cools, the buttermilk glaze will thicken slightly into a sauce consistency. It’s so delicious, you may find yourself coming up with new dessert recipes just to make another batch! What will you use it on this weekend?

When the pan is removed from the heat, the froth dies down to reveal a lovely, golden sauce.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering about the bread pudding, just follow my Gram’s basic recipe outline which is, in my opinion, the best bread pudding ever! Use your imagination to flavor the sauce to suit your own dessert, and let me know in the comments what you think of it!

Easy Buttermilk Dessert Sauce

Servings: About 8
Prep Time: None!
Cook Time: About 12 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
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The next time you have a baked dessert that needs a sauce, but you aren’t quite sure what sauce is right, it’s this one. This is the sauce.

Ingredients

1 cup real cultured buttermilk (lowfat is fine)
3/4 cup cane sugar
1/4 cup butter (4 Tbsp.)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbsp. corn syrup
1 Tbsp. Crown vanilla whiskey (optional, but yum)
1 tsp. vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

Be sure to use a saucepan that is three times larger than you expect you’ll need. When the buttermilk and baking soda collide, things get big and foamy in a hurry! Feel free to swap out the vanilla for almond, a smidge of cinnamon or another flavor to suit whatever dessert you’ll be dressing up with this sauce.

Directions

Combine buttermilk, sugar and butter in a large saucepan. Whisk over medium heat until sugar is dissolved and butter is fully melted.
Whisk in the baking soda and get ready for some dramatic foaminess. Continue to cook and whisk the mixture for about 6 minutes after it reaches a boil. You will notice that the color of the sauce deepens to a warm, golden color.
Turn off heat and whisk or stir until the foaminess subsides. Stir in vanilla and any other flavor enhancer you like. For ground spices such as cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon is probably about right. Add whiskey or other liquor, if desired.
Allow the sauce to rest for a few minutes. Serve right away or refrigerate if making it ahead. This sauce warms up nicely in a saucepan or in the microwave.

Peppermint Bark Brownies & Candy Cane Whipped Cream

12 Comments December 21, 2022 terrie gura

When it comes to holiday goodies, decadent doesn’t have to be complicated, and simple doesn’t have to be ordinary. These brownies—amped up with an extra dose of double dark cocoa and embellished with pieces of peppermint bark—are delightful as they are. But then, because I can’t leave well enough alone, I topped them with a dollop of candy cane-infused whipped cream.

Decadent, simple and way beyond ordinary!

I chose the Dr. Seuss colors for my plates (on purpose).

The best part about it (besides the fact that it’s delicious and oh-so-Christmas-y) is that I didn’t have to make a scratch recipe. I used my favorite Ghirardelli dark chocolate brownie mix as the base, and folded broken up Ghirardelli dark chocolate peppermint bark squares into the batter before baking, along with a generous spoonful of double dark cocoa blend from King Arthur Baking Company (but any dark cocoa powder works fine).

Make the brownies as directed, using water and canola oil plus egg to moisten the batter. Gently fold in the broken pieces of peppermint bark and spread it out into a buttered brownie pan.

Dressing up a boxed brownie mix makes dessert so much easier!

I considered using the chunkier peppermint bark, with actual bits of candy cane sprinkled on top, but decided on the Ghirardelli-style bark for its smooth, meltable qualities and so that we didn’t accidentally chip a tooth biting into a hidden piece of candy cane. They melted completely into the baked brownies, and offered gooey pockets of pepperminty flavor in each bite. If you don’t mind a little crunchy surprise, there’d be no harm in trying these brownies with the chunky style of bark. The contrast of chewy and crunchy would probably be especially popular with kids. No adjustment is needed to the baking time, and be sure to let them cool completely so they set up for easier cutting and serving.

This candy cane whipped cream makes me so happy!

The candy cane whipped cream is much easier than it sounds—I simply warmed heavy whipping cream in a small saucepan and melted two broken candy canes into the cream. This took about 20 minutes, and I kept a close eye on them to avoid letting the cream reach a boiling point. The candy canes did all the work, providing the sweetness, the minty flavor and the pretty pink color. After a thorough chilling, I used the whisk attachment of my electric mixer to whip it into a creamy emulsion.

I started with one candy cane, but added another for more intense color and flavor.

Ready to make them? Use the “click to print” card below to save this for your recipe files. Merry Christmas!

Peppermint Bark Brownies & Candy Cane Whipped Cream

Servings: 9 or 16, depending on desired size
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Difficulty: Average
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These Christmas-y brownies bring together two favorite flavors for a 'simple meets special' holiday treat.

Ingredients

1 box Ghirardelli dark chocolate brownie mix (or your favorite, plus oil, egg and water as directed)
1 heaping tablespoon dark cocoa (I used King Arthur Baking Double Dark Blend)
8 squares Ghirardelli dark chocolate peppermint bark, broken into pieces
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 standard size candy canes

It’s best to make this ahead, so that the candy cane-infused cream has plenty of time to chill before whipping and serving. Brownies should also be cooled for easier cutting.

Directions

Preheat oven as directed on brownie mix package, with rack in center position. Generously butter your brownie pan.
Combine dry brownie mix and dark cocoa in a bowl and whisk together. Add ingredients as instructed on brownie mix (this is usually some combination of egg, oil and water).
Gently fold in broken pieces of peppermint bark, and then transfer brownie batter to the prepared pan. Smooth the top with a spatula.
Bake as instructed and allow plenty of time for brownies to cool.
Pour cream into a small saucepan with broken candy canes, and place pan over medium-low heat. Stir gently and watch this closely to ensure cream does not boil. It should remain at a gentle simmer with steam floating above the pan. When candy canes have fully melted, transfer the cream to a bowl and refrigerate until fully chilled.
Use a handheld mixer (or a whisk, if you have really strong arms) to whip the cream to desired fluffiness. Spoon a dollop of the candy cane whipped cream onto each brownie square and serve immediately.

Easy Slow Cooker Beef Stew

7 Comments October 14, 2022 terrie gura

There is nothing earth-shattering or revelatory about beef stew in the fall, is there? The ingredients in my version are as one would expect—big chunks of vegetables, potatoes, beefy morsels and a thick, rich braising gravy—yet this is exactly the kind of comforting, satisfying, rib-sticking classic fall food I’ve been dreaming about since the temperatures first began to drop. So, even though I expect you may have your own recipe for beef stew, I’m going to share mine visually, just to make you hungry and ready to celebrate the season in comfort (you’re welcome).

Under less busy life circumstances, I might have made this one-pot stew right on the stovetop in our enamel-coated Dutch oven. But when I’m upside down with my day job, busy with home updates and wrangling our pets, I really appreciate the versatility of our slow cooker. Ours has extra options, including a setting for browning meat, so I was able to get this done without shifting ingredients from one pot to another. If your slow cooker has more simple settings, just brown the meat first in a skillet on the stove and transfer it to your slow cooker when it’s ready to braise.

I selected grass-fed, locally raised beef for my stew. It’s easier on my digestive system than conventional beef, and we feel strongly about supporting local suppliers. Choose the best beef you can find, and a cut that is mostly lean, but with some marbling for flavor. I tossed the beef chunks with a few generous pinches of kosher salt and let them rest 15 minutes while I prepped my other ingredients and got my slow cooker up to speed.

For no special reason, I decided that I would use fancy onions for my beef stew. I chose cippolini onions, which are small and squatty—kind of like miniature vidalias—and they need to be peeled before cooking. This was easy to do, with a quick bath in simmering water, then a shock in an ice bath. For the sake of uniformity, I cut my other vegetables to match the size of the cippolinis. If you wish, use a large sweet or yellow onion, cut into large chunks.

Browning the meat encourages more flavor because of something called the Maillard reaction, and if you want to geek out on food science, you could read this article to understand what that’s all about, or you could simply trust the process and brown the meat (your taste buds will thank you). When the oil in my slow cooker was ready, I added the salted meat a few pieces at a time to avoid a sudden temperature drop and turned them frequently to ensure even browning.

As soon as the meat was browned, I added a pat of butter and a few cloves of chopped garlic. A dusting of flour coated the meat and set the stage for gentle thickening, and then I splashed in about 1/4 cup of dry red wine. This adds depth of flavor to braising liquid, but if you don’t care for wine in food, you could substitute a splash of red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar for a similar effect.

This is the time to transfer the browned meat to the slow cooker if your appliance only has heat settings, and it helps to have the cooker set on high heat setting when you do so. Add two cups of broth to the meat and stir it around until it begins to thicken slightly. Add the cut-up vegetables and cippolini onions, then add enough additional broth to just cover the cooker ingredients. Drop the temperature to low setting, add a couple of bay leaves into the stew, cover it and let it simmer for about six hours.

By that time, the beef will be very tender and the vegetables will be soft to the bite. If you like your stew a little thicker, a corn starch slurry will do the trick without giving an off taste. Turn the cooker heat back up to high and remove the bay leaves. Whisk together corn starch with equal amount of very cold water until smooth, and drizzle a stream of the slurry into the stew. When the braising liquid reaches a gentle boil, it will thicken to perfection.

We served our beef stew with some homemade, warm-from-the-oven dinner rolls. Now, aren’t you glad it’s autumn? What comfort food have you been craving?

Easy Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Servings: About 8
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 5 hours
Difficulty: average
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There's an easy way to enjoy an all-day stew without giving it all-day attention. Grab your slow cooker and let's get cooking!

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds grass fed stewing beef, or chuck roast cut into pieces
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
4 to 5 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
1 Tbsp. salted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup dry red wine
4 cups low-sodium beef broth, divided
7 oz. cippolini onions, blanched for easy peeling
2 cups fresh carrot chunks
2 cups Yukon gold potato chunks (skin-on is OK)
1 cup chopped celery, ribs removed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 dried bay leaves
2 Tbsp. corn starch blended with 2 Tbsp. ice water (optional, for additional thickening)

Directions

Blot stewing meat (or chunks) dry with paper towels. Sprinkle with one heaping teaspoon kosher salt and black pepper to taste. Rest meat at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
Heat olive oil in a cast iron skillet, Dutch oven or slow cooker (if yours has a browning function). Brown meat on all sides over medium heat. Add garlic and cook about 2 minutes, taking care to avoid burning it. Sprinkle flour over meat and garlic, and toss until it appears absorbed onto the browned meat.
Pour wine over meat and quickly toss, scraping up any browned bits from the surface of the pot. The wine should thicken quickly, creating a sticky coating all over the meat. Transfer the meat (if using a separate pot) to the slow cooker on high setting.
Add 2 cups of the beef broth and stir meat around until the broth begins to thicken slightly. Add onions, carrots, potatoes and celery and toss to combine. Add remaining broth and stir. Place bay leaves and thyme sprigs on top of the stew mixture. Reduce slow cooker to low setting and cook for about 6 hours, until beef pieces and vegetables are tender.
If desired, stir in corn starch slurry during the last 30 minutes of cooking time (use high heat). Serve with crusty rolls to sop up all the delicious gravy!

Zucchini Tzatziki

5 Comments July 7, 2022 terrie gura

Remember that song from long ago—“Anything you can do, I can do better?” I believe it was from the musical, Annie, Get Your Gun, and I had it on repeat in my mind as I was putting shredded zucchini in the starring role for this popular Greek condiment. A typical tzatziki would be made with grated cucumber, but the sheer volume of zucchini coming from my garden has me changing up everything these days. I thought there was a good chance zucchini could stand in for the cucumber—alongside the Greek yogurt, minced garlic and fresh herbs—and it really worked!

We enjoyed this zucchini tzatziki over July 4^th weekend, with grilled chicken souvlaki and grilled shrimp. And it was just as delicious last night with the leftovers!

Zucchini was an excellent understudy to the usual cucumber in my tzatziki!

If you find yourself with an over-abundance of zucchini, as I expect is probably the case for everyone who has planted it, then give this a try.

As with cucumber, the zucchini needs to be salted generously and rested in layered towels so that the excess moisture can be released. The amount of salt used to draw out the moisture is almost exactly the amount needed to season the dish, so it works out well.

Sprinkle a generous teaspoon of salt on the zucchini shreds.

Next, stir and measure out the Greek yogurt into a small bowl. Add the drained zucchini, finely chopped fresh garlic, black pepper and fresh herbs—dill and mint are traditional, so that’s what I used—and give the whole thing a big stir. Adjust the salt to your liking; it may not need any extra at all. Cover and refrigerate the tzatziki until you’re ready to use it. Stir it well just before serving.

Measure out a cup of plain Greek yogurt. Add the zucchini, garlic, herbs and pepper.

Tzatziki is so flavorful, with a garlic bite and the cooling nature of the mint and dill. I could eat it all summer, and now that I know how well zucchini works in this recipe, I’ll be doing it this way again. Below is a printable version of the recipe, and keep scrolling to find a few more delicious ways to enjoy tzatziki. 🙂

Zucchini Tzatziki

Servings: 1 cup
Prep Time: 10 minutes active, plus fridge time
Cook Time: none (love it)
Difficulty: so easy!
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This recipe is an easy way to use up an extra zucchini squash, and it was a fun twist on a classic Greek tzatziki sauce.

Ingredients

1 smallish unpeeled zucchini, shredded (about 1 cup)
1 tsp. kosher salt (for drawing moisture from the squash)
1 cup plain Greek yogurt (I used 2% milkfat)
2 or 3 cloves fresh garlic, finely minced
1 Tbsp. fresh dill, chopped
1 Tbsp. fresh mint leaves, chopped
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
additional salt, to taste

Directions

Spread zucchini shreds evenly across a double layer of paper towels, or on a clean kitchen towel (choose one that is lint-free and not washed with fragrance or fabric softener). Sprinkle salt all over the shreds, tossing them a bit to ensure even coverage. Fold the towel up to contain the zucchini in a “packet,” and put it in the fridge for a couple of hours. I placed my zucchini packet in a shallow glass dish to prevent drips.
Transfer salted zucchini to fresh layers of paper towel and blot well to wick away lingering moisture. You may be surprised how wet the original paper towels are, and a great deal of the salt will be soaked into them as well.
Stir the Greek yogurt and measure it out into a small bowl. Add the zucchini shreds, garlic, herbs and black pepper. Stir to combine. Adjust salt to your liking.

Keep the tzatziki refrigerated until ready to serve. It will keep in the fridge for several days, but may separate over time. Give it a good stir just before serving.

Easy Chicken Souvlaki

by terrie gura August 23, 2021

Whole Grain Soft Pitas

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It’s pronounced “YEAR-Oh.”

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Tzatziki Potato Salad

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Reduced-Guilt Vanilla Ice Cream

11 Comments July 1, 2022 terrie gura

I’ve been trying to “lean in” to some positive lifestyle changes, to better care for my body after the less-than-ideal results of my recent bloodwork. What I have realized is that I have no problem adjusting my cooking to suit the health and dietary concerns of others, so I have the knowledge and ability to do it for myself. But taking care of me is something I have never been as good at, so this has been an important exercise for many reasons. The biggest bummer about this recent “watch what you eat” recommendation is, well, the timing.

The doctor meant no harm, I know, but his admonition to “cut back on fat intake” is not exactly what I want to be thinking about on the first day of National Ice Cream Month! As much I’d like to put my fingers in my ears and sing, “la-la-la-la-la,” I realize that doing so will only come back to bite me. If I put off getting healthier until August, I would only find an excuse to put it off until September, and so on. I gained a little more than 15 pounds since the COVID pandemic began, and that is not OK. My cholesterol numbers are “mildly elevated” for the first time ever, and to get a handle on that quickly, I am taking a new approach wherever I can, starting right here with my favorite summer treat.

My goal with this ice cream was to whittle back the fat content without losing all the creamy, indulgent texture that makes ice cream so enjoyable. I remember back in the day, my grandmother occasionally had something called “ice milk” in her freezer, and it was boring at best. A treat is only a treat if it satisfies—what I wanted was the best of both worlds, and friends, I think I have cracked the code.

Serve this luscious ice cream by itself, or as a creamy pairing to cobbler, pie or cake!

I’m not going to claim that this ice cream is health food—it isn’t. But it does have lower overall fat than my usual sweetened condensed milk base and it was so easy to make, with only a few ingredients and an ice cream machine. This condensed milk style of ice cream was already on the fast track to becoming my go-to base recipe—it requires no eggs or cooking, after all—but now that I know that it can be lightened up and still be this delicious? Game over, and everyone wins!

A few easy swaps from my usual no-egg ice cream base, and it turned out terrific!

The first swap I made was the condensed milk itself—I opted for the fat-free version of this shortcut ingredient, figuring that the thick, syrupy texture would hold its own in the absence of the milkfat, and I was right. For extra body, I blended in a small container of Greek yogurt, which only added 3 grams of fat. Half and half was swapped in for the usual cup of heavy cream, which saved more than 50 grams of fat in the whole batch. And a half-cup of light whipping cream, which is decadent but still lighter than heavy cream, contributed a bit of silky richness. Here’s how easy it was to make:

Keep the whisk handy, to blend after each ingredient is added.

In case you’re wondering—no, your eyes are not fooling you; the condensed milk was more beige than cream-colored. I did a little research into this, and it turns out that canned milk can change to a tan color if it has been stored in warmer temperatures, but it isn’t a problem unless the can is bulging, or the milk has visible signs of spoilage (I checked the Eagle brand website to be sure). Mine was fine, and I actually appreciated the color, which lent a visual richness to my reduced-guilt ice cream. It was almost the same color as if I had used a high-fat custard base recipe. Were the substitutions enough to make a measurable difference in the fat content? I wasn’t sure yet, and frankly didn’t want to know the impact of my choices until after I tasted it.

A generous tablespoon of real vanilla paste gave my ice cream the deep homemade flavor I crave. When my base was all mixed together (which only took FOUR minutes!), I covered it and sent it to the fridge to be completely chilled. No matter what ingredients you put into an ice cream, you want it to be really cold before you add it to an ice cream machine, churning it up into a frosty treat.

The recipe finished as easily as it started. I poured it into my ice cream machine and churned for 25 minutes, then transferred it to an insulated container and held my breath, hoping that my substitutions would not sabotage my desire for a rich, creamy treat.

According to my calculations, and based on the actual product nutrition labels, this version of ice cream is almost exactly 50% lower in fat than the other, with less than 7 fat grams per serving!

Friends, it’s going to be a great summer! I’ll have more fun ice cream recipes to share during National Ice Cream Month.

Happy 4^th! 🙂

Reduced Guilt Vanilla Ice Cream

Servings: 8
Prep Time: 5 minutes, plus chilling and churning
Cook Time: none!
Difficulty: easy
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A few simple ingredient swaps resulted in this creamy, indulgent ice cream that just happens to be half the fat of a regular condensed milk ice cream recipe.

Ingredients

14 oz. can fat-free sweetened condensed milk
5 oz. container Greek yogurt (2% works great)
1 cup half and half
1/2 cup light whipping cream
1 Tbsp. real vanilla paste (or 2 tsp. real vanilla extract)

Directions

In a large pitcher bowl, whisk together the sweetened condensed milk and Greek yogurt until evenly combined.
Stir in heavy cream and half and half, whisking to blend after each addition.
Stir in vanilla paste. Cover and chill the mixture for at least two hours.
Whisk mixture just before freezing, to reincorporate any ingredients that have settled. Freeze in ice cream machine according to manufacturer’s instructions.
Transfer to insulated container and place in freezer to firm up.

Because this ice cream is lower in fat than most, it’s best to consume it within 4 to 5 days. Longer storage results in a slightly icy texture.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Lemonade

11 Comments June 13, 2022 terrie gura

Ah, fresh lemonade. Is there anything more refreshing on a scorching hot summer day? If you have never made homemade lemonade, I promise you that it’s very simple and totally worth the effort. All you need is a simple syrup (which is literally only a warmed mixture of water and sugar), a tiny pinch of salt (which is basically an exclamation point on the other flavors) and a whole bunch of freshly squeezed lemon juice.

And if you want to elevate homemade lemonade with other flavors, it’s a simple twist of ingredients. For my strawberry-rhubarb version, I made two simple syrups, one infused with the bright citrus flavor of organic lemon peel, and the other with two stalks of cut up rhubarb. Then, I pureed fresh organic strawberries with water, strained out the seeds and combined the whole thing in a pitcher with the juice of six lemons.

This recipe makes a delicious base. Mix it in equal parts with still or sparkling water for the ultimate refresher!

The result is this beautifully hued summer beverage with tart, sweet and tangy flavors that taste all at once like spring, summer and sunshine. The formula is slightly concentrated, leaving me with options for how to serve it. It’s delicious mixed 1:1 with cold water over ice, or 1:1 with chilled sparkling water, and I haven’t tried it yet, but I imagine it would make a great cocktail if shaken with ice and a shot of vodka or blanco tequila. My husband even suggested we blend it with crushed ice for an even more refreshing summer cooler—a slushie.

Here’s how it came together, and I’ll admit that it could have been easier if I had made only one simple syrup rather than two, but there’s a reason it happened that way. I’ll explain in a moment.

Rhubarb is technically a vegetable. Trim and cut up two fat stalks for this recipe.

Strip the peel from an organic lemon, but avoid the white pith, which is very bitter.

Add a cup of water to the fresh strawberries, to aid in pureeing them.

Strain the lemon juice into the strawberry puree. These flavors are so bright together!

So, why two syrups for this recipe? It wasn’t necessary, and next time, I’d make them together in one batch. Truthfully, I made my rhubarb syrup first, and it was intended for some other recipes, but a story in my news feed last week caught my eye and I took a detour toward this pretty, pink lemonade. The story was about the upcoming “Strawberry Moon,” the full moon tomorrow night that has the distinction of also being a supermoon.

Big Moon Summer

Supermoon occurs when the moon is full at the same time it is closet to Earth in its orbit. Nothing is different about the moon itself, of course, but the combination of its full phase and proximity to our planet give it the appearance of being larger and brighter than a typical full moon.

I am fascinated by the moon, which has tremendous influence over all life—from the ocean tides and reproductive cycles of animals to its effects on the human body and even (or, perhaps, especially) our emotions. Nobody understood these things more than the Native Americans, who are responsible for the names given to the full moons each month. They named the moons based on what was in season, or what was happening in nature at the time of each full moon cycle. Various tribes held this moon-naming practice, but the names that are still used today are mostly attributed to the Algonquin tribe, which made its home in the stretch from New England to the Great Lakes.

Strawberry Moon is the first of three supermoons this year. Next will be July’s Buck Moon (named for the time when male deers’ antlers will be in full growth mode, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac). And some sources say that August’s full moon also qualifies for supermoon status. That will be the Sturgeon moon, so named for the abundance of sturgeon fish that historically filled the Great Lakes during late summer. That’s three consecutive supermoons, and I think that’s a natural phenomenon worth celebrating.

Want to see the Strawberry Supermoon? This site will help you find the best time for viewing in your area—Moonrise and Moonset Calculator (timeanddate.com)—but if you don’t want to try to interpret the scientific chart for an exact time, just pour yourself a tall glass of strawberry rhubarb lemonade and head outside for a sky check any time after sunset on Tuesday.

Cheers!

Strawberry-Rhubarb Lemonade

Servings: 8
Prep Time: 20 minutes, plus cooling and chilling
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Difficulty: easy
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I’ve combined juicy strawberries, spring rhubarb and fresh lemon juice, making a beautifully hued beverage with tart, sweet and tangy flavors that taste all at once like spring, summer and sunshine. This is slightly concentrated, leaving me with options for how to serve it. It’s delicious mixed 1:1 with cold water over ice, or 1:1 with chilled sparkling water, and I can’t wait to try it as a cocktail, shaken with a shot of vodka or blanco tequila.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups filtered water
1 1/2 cups organic cane sugar (more or less to taste)
2 or 3 stalks rhubarb, chopped
Strips of lemon peel from two organic lemons
Juice of 6 lemons (about 3/4 cup)
1/8 tsp. salt
About 1 cup fresh organic strawberries, trimmed and hulled
1 cup water (for pureeing the strawberries)

Directions

Combine filtered water and cane sugar in a large saucepot. Add rhubarb pieces and strips of lemon peel. Heat over medium heat until water comes to a gentle boil, then turn off heat. Stir until sugar fully dissolves. Stir in salt. Allow this mixture to cool to room temperature.
Add strawberries and 1 cup water in the pitcher of a blender or bowl of a food processor. Puree until no visible bits of berry remain. Strain through a mesh strainer over a large pitcher or bowl.
Add simple syrup and lemon juice to strawberry puree. Stir to blend. Chill overnight.
To serve, combine equal parts lemonade base and cold (or sparkling) water and pour over ice.

Blender Buttermilk-Feta Dressing

12 Comments May 13, 2022 terrie gura

Let’s get this out of the way; today’s post is less about the salad dressing (which was just OK, and I’ll offer my ideas for making it better) and far more about my excitement in finding the new appliance I used to make it. What can I say? —I don’t take my decisions lightly.

We are approaching the six-month mark since the completion of our beautifully remodeled kitchen, and I am still on the hunt for the right tools to help equip me for success. You know how it is—you improve one thing, and suddenly everything in and around it seems outdated. My husband, Les, and I gave every countertop gadget we own a once-over when we did our update, and though a few appliances were deemed worthy, I have decided to replace my tired, old food processor (more to come on that one) and to purchase a real, honest-to-goodness blender. It’s about time!

I’ve had a Nutri-Bullet personal blender for a few years, and it’s great for breakfast smoothies and small amounts of things that I want to puree into oblivion, but not so good for anything that requires finesse, because the Nutri-Bullet has only one setting. It is also inconvenient for making anything that requires adding or adjusting ingredients halfway through, because once you open the wide, jar-like lid, the blended mixture gets all over everything and makes a mess. I needed a blender that opened at the top and had multiple settings and functions to help me with more than just smoothies.

When I had lamented to Les a few years ago that it was difficult to find a quality blender “like they used to make,” you know, with a sturdy glass carafe, he disappeared to our garage and returned with a dusty relic that had been gifted to him many years ago (for his first wedding, as he recalls). It was tall and heavy, with real glass! Unfortunately, when we finally found replacement gaskets for the ones that had dry rotted, we discovered that the blender didn’t have much oomph. It was mostly good for, well, stirring things.

After months of intense research, and reading reviews on every website imaginable, I have finally found the best blender for us. It’s tall, attractive, powerful and versatile enough to handle whatever role I give it. In other words, it’s the George Clooney of countertop appliances. The first challenge I had with it was deciding what to make first, and so far, I’ve only used it to make coconut martini cocktails and this buttermilk feta salad dressing, which was included in the little recipe cards that came with the machine. Regardless of your blender brand, I’m confident that you can make this dressing, and it only requires five ingredients, plus salt and pepper.

This dressing can’t help being tangy, with feta, buttermilk and lemon! Garlic and olive oil round out the ingredients list.

Part of the appeal of this recipe was that I already had all the ingredients, and the dressing wasn’t bad but I would recommend a few tweaks to improve the texture and balance the tang. Just about any kind of fresh, tender herb would be good here; basil, cilantro or dill would add a zesty punch. In the texture department, I would recommend addition of a couple tablespoons of mayonnaise to produce a creamier dressing that will cling better to your salad greens. If you do stick to the recipe offered by Breville, I recommend using a buttermilk with a thicker consistency so it doesn’t turn out watery.

Here’s how things went for me.

For easier blending, the instructions say to put the liquid ingredients in first.

But enough about the dressing. 😉

I am very pleased with our new Breville blender, which has a pre-programmed setting for smoothies, and eventually I will get around to making one. I especially appreciate the self-clean function, which makes cleanup a snap, even after making a creamy salad dressing like this one. It’s so easy, I literally put two drops of dish liquid into it with about one cup of water and touch the “auto-clean” button. The blender does the rest, switching between speeds and settings until the pitcher is clean. Quick rinse, and done. I should have bought it years ago. Did I mention that I paid full price for this appliance, and nobody is paying me for my opinion? Just thought I’d mention that, in case this sounds like an advertisement.

Besides the debut of our fab new blender, I am also excited to apply a new way of sharing the details of my recipes with you. When I first started my blog, my sister-in-law, Andrea, suggested adding a “print” feature to make it easier for a reader to save a recipe for later. It was a great idea, and up to this point, I have accomplished it by formatting the recipe into a PDF that I upload at the end of a post. Today, I’m doing something different.

After an hour-long chat session with WordPress support (which left me as confused as ever), and then a few friendly emails and helpful coaching by one of my blog buddies about something called “shortcode,” I have finally figured out how to apply my recipe ingredients and instructions to my posts, including a quick “print” option, without so much background work.

I first spotted this feature on a post by Maylee at BeyondGumbo.com, and when I reached out to ask about it, Maylee graciously walked me through how she uses the feature. As you’ve probably guessed, her blog is all about the regional cuisine of Louisiana (which is so much more than gumbo!), including a beautiful bibb salad with luscious Louisiana strawberries, which she just posted on Sunday. And if you think that sounds delicious, wait until she surprises us with something that she casually whips up from the satsuma trees growing in her backyard. 😊

Let’s see how this goes!

Easy Buttermilk Feta Dressing

Servings: 8
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: none
Difficulty: very easy
Print

This recipe is simple and versatile, and it can be made in any blender. Consider tweaking it by adding other ingredients, such as your favorite fresh herbs, for a twist of flavor.

Ingredients

1/2 cup cultured buttermilk
Approximately 1/2 cup feta, crumbled
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
The juice of one organic lemon
1 small clove garlic, rough-chopped
1/2 tsp. organic lemon zest
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

Place buttermilk, feta, olive oil, lemon juice and garlic into the jug of a blender. Puree 15 seconds, or longer if needed to achieve smooth texture.
Add lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper. Mix on a low speed for 5 seconds, to incorporate seasonings. Transfer dressing to a jar and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Pollo Chipotle

7 Comments May 1, 2022 terrie gura

There’s a time and place for the numbered dishes on a Mexican restaurant menu—you know what I mean, the #11 combo platter of one crunchy taco, one burrito and one enchilada, with a side of rice and flavorless refried beans. For me, the time was in my younger years, before I learned to appreciate the Mexican specialty dishes as I do today, and the place was (obviously) an actual restaurant, which I don’t frequent as much as I did in those days because, frankly, we prefer the food we make at home. It has only been recently that I started considering how to make some of our favorite Mexican meals, and those favorites seldom include items from the numbered combo section, and never any crunchy, from-a-box taco shells that I used to associate with Mexican “cuisine.” It’s funny how much has changed.

At one of our favorite local places, called Señor Bravo, the pollo chipotle is the special menu item that always wins over my husband, Les. The chicken (or pollo, if you wish) is tender and bite sized, and it’s drenched in a spicy sauce that has enough smoky chipotle to warrant being part of the dish’s name, but also enough rich cream to soften the edges and give the dish a special flair. I have tried several times to make this dish at home, and on previous attempts found it difficult to replicate the flavor and texture. It seemed something was missing so I fiddled with the cooking process, added ingredients and spices, tried different types of cream—from half and half to heavy cream—and every addition made it less and less like the restaurant dish. Finally, I dialed it all back and kept it simple. Turns out, simplicity was exactly and only what it needed.

Besides being simple and delicious, this dish is also relatively healthy, as I used cream cheese rather than heavy cream to thicken the spicy sauce. This eliminated the need for flour as a thickening agent. And for our at-home pollo chipotle, I jazzed up a simple pot of brown rice with a shake of cumin and a small handful of chopped cilantro and served it alongside a simple salad with fresh tomato and slices of ripe avocado.

Ingredients

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 Tbsp. expeller-pressed canola oil

1/2 large yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves fresh garlic, smashed and sliced

3/4 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 tsp. sweet Spanish paprika

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

Several twists of freshly ground black pepper

1 or 2 Tbsp. pureed chipotle with adobo sauce* (see recipe notes)

1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth*

A couple of pinches of dried Mexican oregano*

4 Tbsp. cream cheese, room temperature

*Recipe Notes

The chipotle puree is best prepared in advance, and you may want to start with one tablespoon and adjust up to taste. To make the puree, empty the entire contents of a small can of chipotles in adobo sauce into a food processor or blender. If your processor has a small bowl insert, that will be the perfect size. Pulse a few times, then run the machine continuously until the sauce is completely smooth.

You’ve seen cans of chipotles in the Mexican aisle, no doubt. Use a food processor to transform it to puree.
At the end of the post, I’ll share a few other recipes to help you use the rest of it.

I prefer the more complex flavor of vegetable broth in most recipes, but for this dish, you could certainly use chicken broth. I would still recommend a low-sodium version, as this helps with controlling the overall amount of sodium in the dish.

Low-sodium vegetable broth is one of the most versatile ingredients in my pantry. If you prefer, use chicken broth.

Mexican oregano is very different from the easier-to-find Mediterranean oregano you are probably accustomed to using. It’s part of the verbena family, with a citrusy, slightly floral flavor. Search it out in an ethnic supermarket, at Whole Foods or the international spice section of World Market. If you can’t get Mexican oregano, dried marjoram would be a better substitute than regular oregano.

To make the cilantro rice, simply cook a batch of your favorite brown rice according to package instructions. Use vegetable broth rather than water for more flavor. Stir in salt, pepper, a few shakes of ground cumin and a small handful of fresh, chopped cilantro leaves before serving.

Why serve ordinary rice, if you can make it more flavorful with so little effort?

Instructions

The seasonings for pollo chipotle are surprisingly simple. As with any recipe, it’s best to get all the prep work done before you start cooking.
This recipe uses a quarter of a standard package of cream cheese. Measure it by eye by marking half the brick, then half of that. Cut the cubes in half for 4 tablespoons.
Sprinkle the dry seasonings onto the onions and stir to combine them evenly.
Freezing the chicken breasts for a few minutes makes them firmer and easier to slice. They should be evenly sliced, about 1/4″ thick.
Add the chicken a little at a time, to avoid abruptly dropping the temperature of the skillet.
Toss the chicken slices to cook them evenly. Aim to remove the pink color, but don’t brown the chicken.
Add a spoonful of the chipotle puree to start, and adjust to taste later if you like it hotter.
Add the broth to the skillet and stir gently to evenly distribute the chipotle puree. Let it come to a slight boil, then reduce the heat to simmer.
Allow the mixture to simmer for a while before adding the Mexican oregano.
When chicken is very tender and the liquid is reduced to half its original volume, add the cream cheese pieces.
Swirl in one tablespoon of cream cheese at a time, and watch it emulsify into the sauce.
It’s creamy and thickened, but without the use of flour or heavy cream. The slight tang of the cream cheese is a nice touch, too.
This is every bit as delicious as the pollo chipotle in our favorite local Mexican restaurant, and easy to make at home for Cinco de Mayo.

Pollo ChipotlePrint it!

Looking for ways to use the rest of the chipotle puree?

Smoky Guacamole

by les gura February 5, 2021

Smoky Chipotle Mac & Cheese

by terrie gura April 7, 2022

South-of-the-Border Crab Cakes

by terrie gura June 23, 2021

Tahini-Lemon Sauce

6 Comments March 30, 2022 terrie gura

One of my favorite condiments is tzatziki, the Greek yogurt-based topping that is perfect for anything you put on a pita, including gyro and souvlaki. The zesty zing of garlic and cooling notes of grated cucumber are an easy, refreshing way to pile on the flavor. But for a vegan dish, such as the falafel I made recently, tzatziki is off the table. We wanted a flavorful topping that still had a Middle Eastern vibe, and one that could play many roles, as a dipping sauce, topping or dressing.

That’s how this tahini-lemon sauce came to be, and as I whizzed up the ingredients in my food processor, it occurred to me that this sauce is basically hummus, minus the chickpeas. All the other components of hummus are in there—the tahini, which is a sticky paste made from ground toasted sesame seeds, fresh garlic, fresh lemon juice, salt, spices and good olive oil. Processing these ingredients results in a smooth, completely emulsified mixture that can be thick or thin, depending on how much water your blend into it. For my purposes this time, I kept it on the thicker side as a perfect dipping agent for my falafel, but I can easily see the benefit of thinning it to pour onto a salad or Buddha bowl.

This tahini-lemon sauce is smooth, silky and creamy, but with no mayonnaise or dairy.

My husband’s adult daughter has adopted the vegan lifestyle, and I am always on the lookout for easy foods to make when she visits. This tahini-lemon sauce fits the bill, and it’s so tasty that we non-vegans won’t feel like we are missing out on anything.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

1/2 cup tahini paste

2 cloves garlic, chopped

Juice of 1 large lemon

A few shakes of crushed red pepper* (see notes)

2 Tbsp. fresh dill leaves

1/4 cup water (or more, for thinner sauce)

3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

*Notes

The crushed red pepper flakes that you see in pizza restaurants would be fine here, but if you can get your hands on Aleppo pepper, that is even more in keeping with the Mediterranean flavor profile. We used a three-pepper blend (Aleppo, Maras and Urfa) from Flatiron Pepper Company, and their rep informed me that it will be back in stock in a few months. I’ll update this post at that time to include a link, in case you’d like to check it out.

Instructions

The ingredients in this easy sauce are simple, good-for-you and vegan!
Tahini is a sesame paste with a consistency similar to a thinned peanut butter. Its flavor is very savory.
Fresh lemon juice is a must for this recipe. I squeezed it right into the processor with the other main ingredients.
The mixture would be thick and sticky without a little bit of water. Add a few tablespoons to start, and more as needed when the sauce develops.
While the processor is running, slowly drizzle the olive oil into the mixture. This slow-and-steady approach will create a beautiful emulsion.
At this point, the mixture is nearly as thick as mayonnaise. I added another two splashes of water and processed again.
This soft consistency is just what I wanted for dipping my falafel. It could be thinned even more to become pourable for a salad or Buddha bowl.
This dip is delicious with falafel, and I will make it again next time I make gyros at home!

Tahini-Lemon SaucePrint it!

Whole Grain Soft Pitas

7 Comments March 30, 2022 terrie gura

A commitment to healthier eating is kept with small, consistent adjustments. That probably sounds like a ridiculous statement coming from the cook who shared steak & potato pizza and decadent bananas Foster ice cream within the past few weeks, but I don’t necessarily mean just counting calories. I’m referring to more sweeping lifestyle changes that incorporate healthier choices and become the norm. Every time I have tried to “diet,” my plan falls apart, and I am quite accomplished at beating myself up under those circumstances. It is better, I have found, to find a few things that I can do without feeling cheated and simply apply those things across the board in my cooking repertoire. Eating healthier in general helps me feel better about the more luxurious things I enjoy in “moderation.”

For example, I hardly ever eat highly processed foods—including meat with nitrites and pantry items containing high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated oils. On the rare occasions that I do consume those things, it’s because I am ordering in a restaurant where the ingredients list is not easily reviewed. I ditched soft drinks a long time ago, and I make my own salad dressings most of the time, using vinegar or fruit juice, spices and extra virgin olive oil. We are diligent to seek out grass-fed beef (and we don’t eat nearly as much as we once did) and free-range chicken, and we are big supporters of the local butcher shop that carries responsibly raised pork.

The biggest change I’ve made over the past several years, though, is a shift toward whole grains in the baked goods I eat, and this got a lot easier when I started making my own bread at home. Not every recipe I make is 100% whole grain (including this one, which checks in at about 65%), but swapping white flour with some amount of whole wheat has been a smart decision that is easy to stick with. Nutrition experts rank whole grains more highly for two main reasons—the fiber they bring to a dish, and the complex carbohydrates that help keep our blood sugar levels regulated.

If you bake at home, and you want to try shifting toward whole grain, I highly recommend picking up a bag of “white whole wheat” flour, made by King Arthur Baking Company. I am not a paid representative of this company (though my friends and family have said I should be, as much as I rave), but from one friend to another, I don’t mind telling you that this one product has changed the way I bake and eat, and I can hardly notice a difference in a typical recipe. Unlike some whole wheat flours, which are made from hard red wheat and carry a slight bitter flavor, King Arthur’s white whole wheat flour is produced from exactly that—hard white wheat—and it behaves and tastes almost exactly the same as an all-purpose flour. It can be swapped in 1:1 in most recipes for breads, pancakes, cookies and muffins. If you want to make a gradual switch, start by subbing about one-fourth of the total flour with the white whole wheat, then increase it to your liking as you go. Over time, you may find all-white breads to be flat and bland. That has certainly been the case at our house.

These whole grain goodies are terrific as sandwich wraps, and also great for cutting into wedges and dipping into fresh hummus!

For these soft wraps, I’ve taken a recipe that I posted in May 2020, when my blog was still in its infancy, and I’ve flipped the ratio of flours so that it uses twice as much white whole wheat as all-purpose flour. That earlier recipe for Soft Pita Breads is still great, and I’ve linked to it so you can check out the original. But this version, in all its whole grain glory, turned out so good with the falafel we made at home recently that it will become my go-to. What makes the pita breads so soft and bendy is an unusual technique of pre-cooking a portion of the flour before adding the rest of the ingredients. The pitas are “baked” on a griddle rather than in the oven, or you can use a dry cast-iron skillet if that’s what you have.

This recipe is easy even for beginning bakers, and unlike most of my bread-related shares, it does not depend on sourdough starter.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 cups white whole wheat flour* (see notes)

1 1/4 cups boiling water (plus up to 2 Tbsp. additional water)

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup dried potato flakes*

1 Tbsp. milled flax seed (optional, but so good for you)

1 1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. onion powder (optional)

1 tsp. instant yeast*

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

*Notes

When measuring by volume, it’s important to fluff the flour first to avoid compacting it in the measuring cup. For best results, follow the fluff-sprinkle-level method.

Fellow label readers, you may find it difficult to find dried potato flakes that aren’t filled with dozens of unknown ingredients. Most “instant mashed potato” brands don’t make the cut in my recipes, but I have found two sources that are truly just potatoes, and that is the way to go. One is the 365 brand, available at Whole Foods and on Amazon, and the other is this one from Bob’s Red Mill. I promise, for my next batch, I will test a recipe that uses cooked potatoes.

Bread recipes are the only reason I reach for instant mashed potatoes, and I transfer them to a sealed jar for freshness. See the recipe notes for help finding a brand that isn’t loaded with unnecessary ingredients.

Take note of what kind of yeast you have. Instant dry yeast is not the same as “active dry” yeast. The latter must be proved in warm water before using, whereas instant yeast can be added directly with the other dry ingredients. If you only have active dry yeast, try reserving 1/4 cup of the boiling water. Let it cool to bathwater temperature and dissolve the yeast in it for about 10 minutes. Add this mixture with the rest of the dry ingredients as directed in the recipe.

Instructions

Mix the boiling water into the whole amount of white whole wheat flour in the bowl of a stand mixer. Don’t be alarmed at the paste-like consistency. Cover and let it stand for 30 minutes.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining dry ingredients.
After the 30-minute rest, use the dough hook to knead the olive oil completely into the flour mixture.
Add all the remaining dry ingredients to the bowl and knead into a workable dough, adding up to 2 tablespoons additional water if needed. This will take anywhere from 7 to 10 minutes.
The finished dough will be firm, but smooth. Roll it around in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise until puffy (about an hour).
The dough probably won’t “double” in size, but it will look swollen. If an impression remains when you poke it, you’re ready for the next step.
Use a knife or bench scraper to divide the dough into 8 wedges, then shape each wedge into a ball.
Lay plastic film over the dough balls and cover with a towel for about 15 minutes. This rest time allows the gluten to relax for easier rolling.
Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out onto a lightly floured counter. Change angles so that your pita dough is as round as possible.
It should be about 8 inches across. If the dough sticks to the counter, gently scrape to lift it, dust with flour and roll again to reshape it and patch torn areas.
It’s tough to capture this with one hand, but you get the idea here, right? The griddle should be preheated to medium heat.
After about one minute, you should see multiple air pockets develop and toasty flecks on the bottom. Use a sturdy turner to flip the pita.
When the second side is cooking, expect the pita to puff, maybe a little or maybe a lot. Use the spatula to gently roll it around on the griddle so it cooks evenly.
Transfer the finished pita to a cooling rack. If you intend to eat them right away, you can stack to keep them warm.
This happens every time I make them. The last two or three pitas will puff more dramatically, and they brown more intensely. In other words, the last few are perfect!