Yes, it’s true. Baxter and Main is now on The Facebook. The peeps at FB say I need 25 fans before they’ll grant me a proper URL so if you are on Facebook I would most appreciate it if you can search for “Baxter and Main” next time you’re logged in and “like” me. I like you too.
Thanks so much!
I figured it was high time I featured something green on the blog and with summer upon us and lots of picnics and barbecues ahead of us this here recipe is one you need to have in your arsenal. People who don’t even like salads like this salad. Small children who normally run away from vegetables and that neighbor of yours who eats a steady diet of fast food and not much else like this salad. You get the point.
The ingredients are simple and few: spinach, strawberries, and dried cherries (or cranberries). I like to add pecans or walnuts for a little crunch, but it is just as good without them. And it’s even better with candied pecans or walnuts. Trust me on this one.
A tangy and sweet poppy-seed dressing that is equally easy to make pairs nicely with it.
Bring this one to your next party– it can be thrown together in no time and is a total crowd pleaser, I promise.
Strawberry Spinach Salad
Place spinach in large salad bowl and top with strawberries, dried cherries or cranberries, and nuts. Add desired amount of poppy-seed dressing (note that recipe yields enough for several salads) and toss to coat.
Poppy Seed Dressing
Whisk all ingredients together in small mixing bowl. (Stores nicely in refrigerator for future use.)
I researched a variety of rhubarb recipes this week to decide what to do with the remainder of my bounty and opted to try something entirely new to my food repertoire: a fool. I had heard of this dessert before but did a little research and discovered it involves pureed fruit and whipped cream and that it originated in England back in the 17th century. Huh. Must be something to it if people are still eating it four centuries later!
It’s super simple to make. You start by boiling chopped up rhubarb, honey, orange zest, orange juice, a vanilla bean, and candied ginger. Then you whip up some heavy cream with a little sugar and blend the two together.
This lovely mixture then gets spooned into individual serving dishes (I used ramekins, but it would be lovely to serve in fancy glass coffee cups or the like) and chill. This is totally one of those recipes that seems like it took a lot of time to make but it totally didn’t. I could see it being majorly impressive at your next dinner party. And you could make it with a variety of fruits. Impress away!
Rhubarb Fool (from www.epicurious.com)
To make the fool, put the rhubarb, honey, orange zest and juice, candied ginger, vanilla bean, and salt in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir to combine, then cover and cook, stirring every few minutes, for 10 minutes, until the mixture has come to a boil and the rhubarb has softened. Remove from the heat and allow to cool, then remove the vanilla bean. Transfer the compote to a bowl, and refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 30 minutes, until very cold.
Whip the cream and sugar until soft peaks form, either by hand or using an electric mixer on medium speed. Set aside 1/3 cup of the compote to garnish the dessert, then fold the remaining compote into the whipped cream. Spoon the fool into six 1/2-cup glasses or dishes and chill for 1 hour before serving topped with the remaining compote.
Storage: This fool is best served the day it is made, but any leftovers can be covered with plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
Rhubarb! A coworker of mine gave me a generous bunch of it last week along with a few recipes so I am going to share the wealth here with you.
I must admit that even though I have sampled my share of rhubarb pie and rhubarb cake over the years I have never actually done anything with it. Shameful! It is so plentiful this time of year and so delicious, not to mention so easy to work with that there is really no excuse for not baking it into everything you possibly can. Today I opted to bake a pie with it.
Every pie starts with a crust. I chose a simple and classic crust from my mom’s 1973 version of the Betty Crocker cookbook with pages that are stained and yellowed and falling out, but it still works. Only 4 ingredients in this crust: flour, canola oil, dash of salt, and water. So easy! No need to ever buy one of those pre-baked crusts when it can be done so easily (and cheaply) at home.
Once you get the crust rolled out and in the pie pan put in the refrigerator until you are ready to fill it.
Meanwhile, mix up an egg with sugar and flour for the filling. That’s it. Easy again! Then add some of that beautiful chopped rhubarb to it.
Now you are ready to put this deliciousness into the pie shell. But you’re not quite done yet… there is more deliciousness to put on top!
A little brown sugar, flour, and butter, because as I often say: butter makes everything better.
The finished product was a big hit at the Memorial Day cookout I attended this afternoon.
Happy Memorial Day everyone!
Rhubarb Crisp Pie
Beat 3/4 cup white sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, and 1 egg until creamy. Stir in rhubarb and pour mixture into pie shell (see recipe below).
Mix ½ cup brown sugar, remaining 2 tablespoons flour, and 2 tablespoons butter with fork. Pour over top of pie. Bake in pre-heated 350 degree oven for 40 minutes.
One Crust Pie Shell (from Betty Crocker’s Cookbook)
Measure flour and salt into bowl. Add oil; mix until particles are size of small peas. Sprinkle in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, adding until flour is moistened and dough almost cleans side of bowl. (If dough seems dry, 1 to 2 tablespoons oil can be added. Do not add water.) Gather dough together and press firmly into ball.
Shape dough into flattened round. Place flattened round between two 15-inch strips of waxed paper.
Roll pastry 2 inches larger than inverted pie pan. Peel off top paper. Place pastry, paper side up, in pan. Peel off paper. Ease pastry loosely into pan.
February can be a very long and bleak month, but I never minded it too much when I lived in NYC for two reasons: hot chocolate month at City Bakery (more on that in a future post) and pancake month at Clinton Street Baking Co. Clinton Street makes the best pancakes I’ve ever tasted and lucky for me, they have a cookbook in which they share their magical recipe:
I’ve never not had to wait for a table at Clinton Street, even on a weekday morning after a huge snowstorm, and I think the above images illustrate why. It seems that the secret to their pancakes is the fluffiness, and this fluffiness is a result of separating the eggs and whipping up the egg whites before mixing. Genius.
This process takes a little longer than your typical pancake batter but it is well worth it.
After pouring the batter onto the hot griddle you can add blueberries if you like:
Or raspberries:
Or you could add blackberries. Or chocolate chips. Or… you get the picture. Have fun with it!
And then enjoy them without ever having to wait for a table.
“Neil’s Pancakes” from the Clinton Street Baking Company Cookbook by Dede Lahman and Neil Kleinberg
Measure and sift all the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl: flour, baking powder, sugar, salt.
In another bowl, whisk together the yolks, milk, melted butter, and vanilla until combined. Whisk the wet mixture into the dry mixture. The result should be slightly lumpy, yet combined to form a batter.
Whip the egg whites in a medium mixing bowl with an electric mixer until they reach medium peaks (soft in the middle). Be careful, you don’t want to overwhip the egg whites.
Gently mix half of the whipped whites into the batter with a large rubber spatula. Then gently fold the remaining half into the batter. Remember: this batter should be slightly lumpy and have large parts of egg whites not fully incorporated: it should look like whitecaps in the ocean with foam on top. (The batter will last a few hours in the fridge without deflating too much.)
Heat a griddle to 350 to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease the hot griddle with the remaining butter. Drop ¼ cup (approximately 4 tablespoons) of pancake batter on the griddle and cook to set. Add berries if desired. Never add the fruit to the mix; always add
the fruit to the pancakes once they’re on the griddle. When you see bubbles start to form on top, lift the pancake halfway up to see if it’s golden brown and crispy on the edges. If ready, flip the pancake.
When the pancake is golden brown on both sides, remove with a spatula. Repeat with the remaining batter and filling, cooking several pancakes at a time.
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