Joan Loves to Bake: March 2017

It's time to catch up! I have been neglectful of keeping up with this blog -- even with pairing it back to one recipe per week! So here goes...let's catch up.

March 12th: National Bake Scallops Day
March 13th: Coconut Torte Day
March 14th: National Potato Chip Day
**March 15th: National Pears Helene Day
March 16th: National Artichoke Hearts Day
March 17th: National Corned Beef & Cabbage Day
March 18th: Oatmeal Cookie Day

March 19th: National Chocolate Caramel Day
March 20th: National Ravioli Day
March 21st: National French Bread Day
March 22nd: Coq Au Vin Day
March 23rd: National Chip & Dip Day
**March 24th: National Chocolate Covered Raisins Day
March 25th: National Lobster Newburg Day

Here's a recipe for Pears Helene. It was named after Offenbach's opera, La Belle Helene.

Pears Hélène

Read more at: http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/desserts/poire-belle-helene.aspv

Pears Hélène

Read more at: http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/desserts/poire-belle-helene.asp

Pears Hélène

Read more at: http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/desserts/poire-belle-helen. This dessert was named after the opera

Ingredients

1 lemon, juiced
4 firm Bartlett or Bosc pears, peeled, halved and cored (leave stem intact)
and sprinkled with lemon juice to prevent discoloration
1/2 cup sugar or vanilla sugar
2-1/2 cups water
1 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, if not using vanilla sugar
1 cinnamon stick, optional
1-2 pints vanilla ice cream
1 cup chocolate sauce
Candied violets or 1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds
Optional mint leaves for garnish.

Lay the pear halves cut side down in one layer in a wide shallow pan. (If you double the recipe, make two batches—don’t pile the pears on top of each other.)
In a medium saucepan, make the syrup: Combine sugar, vanilla bean and optional cinnamon stick with 1/2 cup water. (If using vanilla extract instead, add it in the next step.) Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar.
Lower heat and simmer for 2-5 minutes, until it thickens and turns golden brown. Turn the heat to its lowest setting and gently whisk in the remaining water.
Pour the poaching liquid over the pears; then cover the pan and simmer for 10 minutes; turn the pears, cover the pan again, and simmer for another 10 minutes. Continue poaching until the pears are translucent, but not completely soft. Test by inserting a sharp knife point in the thickest part of the pear.
Remove from heat and cool, covered.
Plate two pear halves with a scoop of ice cream, drizzled with chocolate sauce. Garnish with candied violets/toasted almonds and a mint leaf.

Recipe for Chocolate Covered Raisins:

1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate bar

1/2 tbsp virgin* coconut oil (substitute vegetable shortening)

Optional: 1/8-1/4 teaspoon cinnamon or cloves (if you like heat, add chipotle)

1 cup jumbo raisins

1. MELT the chocolate and coconut oil in a double boiler or microwave for 30-seconds, then at 10-second intervals as needed, taking care not to scorch it. Stir well with a whisk, adding the optional spice(s).
2. ADD half the raisins and mix well to coat them all; then add the rest of the raisins and do the same. Spread the mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper. Harden in the refrigerator and break up the hardened pieces. For faster hardening, use the freezer (they’ll be ready in 5-10 minutes).
3.BREAK up the hardened pieces into individual pieces or raisin clusters. Refrigerate any leftovers.

1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate bar 1/2 tbsp virgin* coconut oil (substitute vegetable shortening) Optional: 1/8-1/4 teaspoon cinnamon or cloves (if you like heat, add chipotle) 1 cup jumbo raisins

Read more at: http://blog.thenibble.com/2016/03/24/recipe-chocolate-covered-raisins/

I'm a little late with this week's blog post. I think from now on, I'm going to list each day's food holiday and highlight one of the days with a recipe. Feel free to post your favorite recipes for the other days. This week's Food Holidays are:

March 5th: National Absinthe Day
March 6th: National Oreo Day
March 7th: National Crown Roast of Pork Day
March 8th: National Peanut Cluster Day
March 9th: National Crab Meat Day
March 10th: National Blueberry Popover Day
March 11th: National Oatmeal-Nut Waffle Day

So this week I'm going to highlight National Blueberry Popover Day. Here's an easy recipe:

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

4 eggs, room temperature

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ cup heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

½ cup blueberries

1 pinch kosher salt

1 pinch freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with non-stick spray, or a 6-cup large muffin tin depending on the size of the popovers you’d like.

2. Melt butter in microwave and allow to cool.

3. Combine eggs, flour, salt and pepper in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until all ingredients are blended.

4. Scrape down the sides with a spatula. Then, with the mixer on low, add the cream, milk and melted butter. Mix until everything is smooth and completely incorporated.

5. Distribute batter evenly amongst muffin cups, so each cup is roughly 2/3 full of batter. Drop a few berries into each muffin cup. Bake for 35 minutes, or until popovers are poofy and a light golden brown. Serve hot. Or, if you want to save them for dinner, pierce a tiny hole in the top so that they don’t “fall” while you are waiting to serve them.

Joan Loves to Bake

Saturday, March 25, 2017

Catching Up Time! National Food Holidays

Ingredients

Sunday, March 19, 2017

March - Food Network's "A Year of Cupcakes"

Saturday, March 11, 2017

March 5th to 11th - National Food Holidays