Cherry Clafoutis

Often times the recipes I choose to make are governed by the contents of our fridge and this sweet little pie was no exception. I realized today that we had a bag of cherries and a liter of heavy whipping cream sitting in the fridge and about to expire. Personally I hate wasting food and the thought of throwing away cherries, of all things, did not sit well with me. As I had already used cherries last week to bake my dark chocolate and roasted cherry brownies and I made some cherry hand pies, substituting a cherry filling for my recipe for peach strudel, I was looking for something new to try. Throughout the summer I kept seeing recipes pop up on tastespotting.com for cherry clafoutis, a simple French dessert originating from the Limousin region of France. It features cherries baked in a light custard-type batter and finished off with some powdered sugar.

The batter for the custard took no time at all to prepare and while it cooled on the counter I halved and pitted my cherries. Traditionally, the clafoutis is baked with whole cherries, pits included, to give it a depth of flavor. However most people, myself included, prefer to pit the cherries so that the pie is easy to eat. Since I don't own a cherry pitter I simply cut all the cherries in half and removed the pits by hand....tedious, yes, but definitely worth the ease of eating later.

I brought the clafoutis over to my aunt and uncle's house to share over some tea and because I had just baked it prior to coming over, it was still hot from the oven. My uncle pointed out that it would have tasted great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream alongside it but I didn't mind the pure cherry flavor. It wasn't as sweet as I had expected it to be, but that could be due to the fact that we ran out of white sugar and instead I used organic raw cane sugar. I haven't quite decided how I feel about this different sugar since it seems to come out differently in my baking. However it smells very pleasant and provides more of a crunch when sprinkled over food, as opposed to the more refined white sugar. Still, since I don't like to waste food and we have so much of it I will continue to use it and see how more of my baking turns out.

Cherry Clafoutis

• 2 cups cherries, pitted
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup sugar + 1 tbsp
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup heavy cream or milk
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. In a small sauce pan, combine the cream or milk and vanilla. Heat until just warm and little bubbles start to appear. Set aside.
2. Whisk together the eggs and the half cup of sugar. Add in the flour and salt and whisk to combine.
3. Slowly whisk in the warmed cream until completely incorporated and the batter thins out. Set aside the batter for 30 minutes at room temperature.
4. Combine the cherries with the tablespoon of sugar and mix well so that the cherries are completely covered. Pour the cherries into a pre-greased 9" or 10" pie plate and then pour the batter over top.
5. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 40-45 minutes or until the edges are golden brown and the middle puffs up.
6. Allow the pie to cool for about 10 minutes then sift some powdered sugar over top and enjoy. Note: The middle will sink once it cools down a little.

Chicken Taquitos

When I was younger, and did not know how to cook as I do now, I used to come home after school and prepare snacks for myself and my brother to tide us over until our mom came home for dinner. Usually this involved rooting around in the freezer for some pre-made item that I could stick in the oven and enjoy within twenty minutes. I remember one of my favorite things to make was chicken taquitos and I would often have three or four at a time.

Just the other day I prepared chicken stock for a soup I was making and I used chicken breasts in the process. Of course once I used the stock I was left with two chicken breasts and I wanted to use them up in a fun and creative way. At first I thought to make chicken enchiladas but then I came across a recipe for taquitos and I knew right away that I wanted to try it out. Best of all, I was going to stop by the grocery store to buy tortillas but my dad had spontaneously decided to purchase some only an hour prior while at Costco...obviously this recipe was calling my name.

I made the taquitos for dinner for myself and my brothers. Unfortunately I was a little too anxious and hungry while preparing the filling and this resulted in improper measurements. I wanted to use both of my chicken breasts, which actually came out to more than the two cups called for in the recipe, but I was too lazy to figure out exactly how much I was using. I guessed that it was three cups, so I used one and a half times the rest of the called for ingredients. In reality, I think I should have doubled the rest of the recipe because after tasting the taquitos I wish they had been more cheesy. Another problem I encountered was the fact that the tortillas I had were very large; obviously it allowed for more filling in each but it also meant extra rolling. This made the exterior wall quite bulky around the middle because it had about three layers of tortilla at its thickest point.

In the end, I still enjoyed the taquitos and so did my brothers. Because they were so large I could only manage to eat one, but I saved the rest to reheat the next day for lunch. The great thing about this recipe is that it can also be prepared ahead of time and then frozen; that way the taquitos become an easy meal option just like the ones sold in the freezer section of the grocery store.

Chicken Taquitos

• 4 oz (1/2 cup) cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 1 lime
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tbsp cilantro, chopped (about 1/4 of a bunch)
• 2-3 tbsp green onion, chopped (about 1 stem)
• 2 cups shredded chicken
• 1 cup shredded cheese
• Small tortillas, wheat or corn

1. Mix the cream cheese, salsa, and spices in a large bowl.
2. Stir in the cilantro and green onion.
3. Add the chicken and cheese and mix thoroughly.
4. Place the tortillas on a plate and in the microwave for 20-25 seconds so that they become soft enough to roll.
5. Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of the chicken filling onto the lower third of the tortilla and then roll the tortilla up as tightly as possible. Place on a baking sheet, covered with aluminum foil or parchment  paper, rolled-side down. Repeat with the remaining tortillas until all of the filling is used up.
6. Spray the tops of the taquitos lightly with cooking spray and then bake for 15-20 minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit or until the edges are crisp.

Note: If you want to freeze the taquitos, roll them up and then place on a baking sheet and stick in the refrigerator until cool. Once cooled, wrap each one individually in plastic wrap and then put all of them in a freezer bag and freeze. The taquitos can be baked straight from the freezer, don't unthaw, for 20 minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Dark Chocolate and Roasted Cherry Brownies

My family loves cherries...especially my mom. Whenever they are on sale at the grocery store she usually stocks up and buys three or four bags, knowing that they will get snapped up in a hurry as soon as she brings them home. Back in Tashkent, where my family is from, my mom claims she used to eat sour cherries all the time and they were one of her favorite foods. Around here we don't commonly see sour cherries being sold and my mom really misses them, though sometimes we buy them in a jar. Still, it's not the same as eating them fresh and on the few occasions that I've tried them I have to agree that they taste delicious.

The other day I came across a recipe for brownies with roasted cherries and it sounded like a great combination, especially for my chocolate and cherry loving family. I decided to make the recipe for a family get together over tea, something we commonly do to celebrate special occasions or just catch up. This time we were gathering to welcome home my uncle, cousin, and brother who just spent the week in Montreal, Quebec City, and Ottawa. In addition to the brownies I also made my fig and goat cheese galette because we had an abundance of figs after a recent Costco shopping trip.

The brownies turned out to be a big hit with my family and my mom in particular. I had substituted the actual brownie recipe for a different one that promised "fudgy" brownies and then mixed it with the roasted cherries. I liked the flavor combination of the dark chocolate and the cherries and the brownies did in fact turn out "fudgy" as promised. Best of all, the brownies had such a wonderful smell when I pulled them out of the oven it was hard to resist taking one before going over to my aunt's house later that evening.

Dark Chocolate and Roasted Cherry Brownies

• 2 cups cherries, pitted and halved
• 1 1/2 cups + 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 11 oz (300 g) dark chocolate
• 1 cup (8 tbsp) unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 5 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Combine the cherries with the 2 tablespoons of sugar and mix well in a bowl. Spread the cherries on a baking tray in one even layer and roast for 10 minutes at 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
2. Meanwhile, melt the dark chocolate and butter together over a double broiler then mix in the sugars.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt.
4. Add the first three eggs to the chocolate mixture and whisk until combined. Add the remaining eggs and whisk again until combined. Add the vanilla and lightly stir until combined but don't overbeat.
5. Add the flour mixture to the batter and gently fold it in using a spatula until almost no flour is visible. Fold in the cherries as well just until they are mixed throughout.
6. Pour the batter into a greased or parchment paper-lined 9" x 13" pan and smooth out the top. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Note: It is easiest to cut the brownies once they have cooled.

Gazpacho Shooters

I've always enjoyed the idea of a gazpacho because really it's like salad in the form of a soup. Although a traditional gazpacho is thickened with white bread, I personally have never made it that way and I feel it adds unnecessary calories without flavor. Seeing as we recently had a lot of tomatoes in our kitchen and my brother just had his wisdom teeth removed, I thought to make this soup for him.

In the past I have made this soup using chicken stock and then refrigerating it however this time I decided to make a completely "raw" version because my brother is trying to more of a raw food diet these days. What this means is that he tries to eat with the majority of his diet consisting of uncooked, unprocessed, and mostly organic foods. So rather than cook some chicken stock and use it as the base of my soup, I blanched a lot of tomatoes, peeled their skins, and then blended them up. The rest of the ingredients I pulsed a few times in the food processor, just until they were very small pieces but still a little chunky, and then added to my tomato juice. I seasoned the soup and then let the flavors meld together for a couple of hours in the fridge.

I have to say that personally I really enjoyed this new version of gazpacho that I made. In general I love the pure taste of tomatoes and because it made up the base of the soup I thought it was heavenly. I also realized that this soup would make a cute little appetizer for a summer barbeque if served in a shot glass. It has a nice acidic note which comes from the red wine vinegar, as well as a little bit of a zesty punch from the red onion and garlic. Best of all, the seasonings and mix-ins can be adjusted to anyone's taste. As for my brother, he loved the flavor but I ended up having to blend his soup even more to give it a puree consistency because it was too difficult for him to eat the small chunks so soon after his surgery.

Gazpacho Shooters

• 10 large tomatoes
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 medium-sized English cucumber
• 1/4-1/2 red onion 
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Optional: red chili flakes

1. Score an X on the bottom of each tomato and set aside. 
2. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Once boiling, lower each tomato into the water so that it is completely submerged and keep it there for about 30 seconds, or until the skin on the bottom starts to curl up.
3. Remove the tomatoes from the water and set aside to cool for 1-2 minutes before gently peeling the skins off. Quarter the tomatoes and puree, including the pulp, until it becomes homogenous and a juice consistency.
4. Meanwhile, roughly chop the remaining vegetables and then put into the food processor. Pulse a few times until the vegetables are all roughly the same size and small pieces, but still chunky.
5. Add the chopped vegetables to the tomato juice and then add the red wine vinegar and chili flakes, if using. Season with some salt and pepper and then cover and let sit in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Don't add too much because it will further develop flavor while it is in the fridge.
6. Prior to serving, taste to see if any further vinegar or salt and pepper is needed.

Avocado Stuffed with Quinoa

Ever since I came back from Peru a week ago I have been dying to make this dish known as Palta Rellena, or stuffed avocado in Spanish. It was commonly served in restaurants in Peru stuffed with various different salads such as chicken salad, vegetable salad, even shrimp salad. It quickly became one of my favorite dishes because I love avocado and because it seemed so ingenious to me.

Another favorite dish I enjoyed in Peru was quinoa salad. Often times it was served cold with some vegetables and cheese mixed in, but quinoa was also used as a thickener for soups and stews. Prior to my trip I had stumbled upon the fact that quinoa is actually native to the Andean region of South America and Peru is the world's largest producer of the "pseudocereal", meaning it is often thought of as a cereal or grain but it is actually a fruit related to beets. Knowing this, I was quite excited to try it when I arrived because back home I have only had it a couple of times. True, it is becoming more popular these days and my first encounter with it was just under a year ago when I made tomato spiced quinoa after being told to eat high-protein foods due to my surgery.

While still in Peru I decided that upon coming home I would combine these two dishes that I had come to love and making avocados stuffed with a quinoa salad. After making them for dinner tonight I realized two things: 1) the avocados in Peru are much larger and lend themselves to easier stuffing with more filling and 2) eating quinoa cold is so much better than warm.

Although my dish did not turn out exactly as I had imagined it, due to the small size of the avocados, I used the avocado shells and filled them with the quinoa salad as well. Since it was only my second time cooking quinoa I had to look up cooking instructions and upon closer examination I realized that I cooked it differently this time as compared to last, with a 1:2 quinoa to water ratio instead of 1:1.5 as I did last time. I think 1:2 worked better but I liked that last time the quinoa was cooked in tomato juices, giving it more flavor, rather than plain water. Next time I think I will try using a chicken or vegetable broth and see how that goes. Either way, I'm going to try using this "pseudocereal" more and experiment with different flavor combinations.

Avocado Stuffed with Quinoa
Note: The quinoa salad makes more than enough to stuff four to six avocado halves and their shells completely, depending on the size of the avocado.

• 4-6 avocados
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed and drained
• 2 cups water (can try substituting broth instead)
• 1/2 bell pepper, finely diced
• 1-2 mini cucumbers, finely diced
• 1/4 red onion, finely diced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1/4-1/2 cup finely cubed cheese (I was going to use feta but we ran out so I used mozzarella instead)
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Optional: Splashes of red wine vinegar, chili flakes

1. In a medium pot bring the water to a boil. Stir in the quinoa then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, covered, for 15 minutes or until all of the liquid has been absorbed.
2. Remove from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes, still covered, then fluff with a fork and transfer to a large bowl.
3. Mix in the rest of the salad ingredients and toss to incorporate. Adjust the seasonings then cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least an hour.
4. To prepare the avocados, squeeze some lemon juice into a small bowl of water. Cut each avocado in half and gently scoop out of the shell, keeping it intact. Dip into the lemon water to prevent the avocado from browning.
5. Once ready to serve, scoop the quinoa salad into the center of each avocado half and scoop additional salad into the shell. Plate each avocado half with its corresponding shell and enjoy!

Berry Crumb Bars

When I was a little girl my grandmother used to make these little cookie-like bars for dessert which we called "rombiki" or "rhombus" when translated. They were named as such because she always cut them in the shape of diamonds. My mom always called the cookies "tzorti" or "grated" because the crumb topping comes from grating part of the dough over top of the berry preserves. Regardless of their name, I used to absolutely love these cookies and would eat them in great quantities whenever my grandma made them.

Every time my grandma made these cookies, she always used the same platter to serve them, stacking them carefully on top of each other in a beautiful way and then sprinkling them with powdered sugar. A couple of months ago, after my grandfather passed away, we were clearing out his house and found the platter on one of the kitchen shelves. After seeing it I was filled with my childhood memories of my grandmother and decided that I wanted to make her cookies and serve them on the platter, just as she would.

I had actually tried making these cookies once before in the past, a long time ago before I became the culinary lover I am today. My friends and I were working on a school project about Russia and the former Soviet Union and we all thought it would be fun to hand out a treat during our presentation. Seeing as my family is Russian it was agreed that I should provide some sort of recipe and I settled on these cookies. Unfortunately, I had great difficulty with the last step in which part of the dough is grated on top of the preserves to create a crumb topping. I don't recall now what exactly the problem was, just that I could not manage to grate the dough no matter how hard I tried. It refused to create a crumb topping and instead broke into large chunks. As far as I remember, my mom came home later that evening and helped me make a new batch which I brought to school the next day.

This time around the rombiki turned out wonderfully! The crumb topping was exactly like I remembered from my grandmother's cookies and the berry preserve to dough ratio turned out just right. I was so proud of myself for making the cookies as my grandma would have and I served them just like she did, minus the powdered sugar, piled beautifully on the exact same platter. I could tell that it reminded my mom of her mother as well and it made me happy that I could inspire good memories amongst my family with my baking. As I served the rombiki I imagined the pride my grandmother would have had knowing that her granddaughter was trying to keep her memory alive, and hopefully the joy she would have felt as well.

Berry Crumb Bars

• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup butter, softened and cut into pieces
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 large sized jar of preserves, any flavor

1. In a large bowl beat together the eggs and sugar. Beat in the butter pieces and then vanilla and mix until even and creamy in consistency.
2. In a separate bowl combine the flour and baking powder. 
3. Add the dry mixture to the large bowl in 2-3 batches and work into a uniform dough.
4. Set aside 1/4 of the dough and press the remaining 3/4 onto a 9" x 13" cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Make sure you press firmly down and distribute the dough evenly across the entire sheet.
5. Spoon the preserves over the dough so that the entire sheet is covered but not too thickly. You want the layer to be thin enough that you can still see the dough underneath in a translucent fashion.
6. Grate the remaining dough over top of the layer of preserves. If having difficulty with the grating, add a little more flour to the dough to make it easier to handle and less sticky.
7. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 35-40 minutes, or until the crumb topping starts to develop a light golden color.
8. Use the parchment paper to lift the entire thing off of the cookie sheet and onto a cutting board. Allow it to rest for five minutes before proceeding to cut it into 2" wide strips lengthwise and then diagonally across. It is the same technique as used for cutting mazurki, which can be found here. It is best to cut it into individual pieces while it is still hot because, although messy, later when the entire sheet sets it hardens and becomes difficult to cut into.