I just have to tell you
about the meal I made this evening. It was an absolutely gorgeous day – perfect
for a meal prepared on the grill.

The local natural foods
co-op had some wild sockeye salmon in their freezer case today when I stopped
in. I bought a two-pound fillet, not knowing exactly how I’d prepare it, but I
was ready to get creative.

I looked in my refrigerator
to get an idea of what I might be able to use for a salmon dinner. With some
baby spinach, red onion, and oranges I decided on a salad for the grilled
salmon to rest on. I cut the fillet into approximately six-ounce pieces, leaving
the skin on. I mixed up a spice rub for the salmon, toasting whole seeds in a
pan on the stove to develop a deep, earthy flavor. The rub is a little spicy,
so pat it on lightly if you don’t like the heat.

A quick-to-put-together creamy
dressing gets a little kick with the addition of prepared horseradish.

Taking a couple of extra
minutes to segment oranges before adding them to the plate of salmon and
spinach is well worth the effort. Segmenting an orange involves removing the
peel, white pith, and membranes — and leaving only the juicy flesh. The
oranges not only taste better this way, they are much easier to chew. Cut the
top and bottom off the orange leaving flat ends. Stand the orange on one end
and use a sharp knife to cut the peeling and white pith from the entire orange.
Cut the orange segments as close to the dividing membranes as possible and carefully
lift the segments of juicy flesh away from the membranes.

This was a very satisfying
and healthful meal for a warm, sunny evening.

Fresh Copper
River salmon should be in the stores soon. That means I’ll be
enjoying this meal again shortly.

Spice-Crusted
Salmon Salad and Creamy Dressing with a Kick

Dressing:

• 1/3 cup light mayonnaise
• 1½ tablespoons fresh lemon
  juice
• 2 teaspoons prepared
  horseradish
• 1 garlic clove, smashed
• 2 tablespoons fresh Italian
  (flat-leaf) parsley leaves
• Fresh ground black pepper to
  taste 

Blend all ingredients
together in a food processor or blender. If you want a thinner consistency, add
a little cream or milk. Chill until ready to serve.

Salmon and Spice Crust:

• 4 salmon fillets,
  approximately 6 ounces each
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 1½ teaspoons black
  peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Heat a small skillet over
medium heat. Add fennel, coriander and cumin seeds. Toast, stirring constantly,
until fragrant, just a couple of minutes. Let cool and transfer to a spice mill
or mortar and pestle. Add peppercorns and grind all the spices together. Stir
in salt.

Preheat grill. Coat the top
of each salmon fillet with spice rub, pressing down firmly with your fingers.
Chill for 30 minutes.

I have an extra coffee
grinder that use for grinding spices. After each use, I fill the grinder with
small pieces of bread, then run the grinder. This cleans out any remaining
spices and helps eliminate the aroma. I always store the grinder with the top
tilted so it can air out.

Spinach Salad Mixture:

• 4 servings of fresh baby
  spinach
• 2 oranges, segmented
• ½ of a medium red onion,
  thinly sliced

Arrange spinach, orange
segments and onion slices on small dinner plates. Grill salmon until just
opaque in center, about 4 to 5 minutes on each side. While salmon is on the
grill, arrange salad ingredients on each plate.

Place a cooked salmon fillet
on each plate of spinach. Drizzle with Dressing.

After working on pound cakes
for the last food page, there was still one more that I wanted to try. A dense,
buttery cake with a hint of lemon and a lot of poppy seeds is what I had in
mind.

I grew up eating my
Hungarian grandma’s poppy seed cake, a sweet yeast dough encasing a poppy seed filling
that she made herself. She’d get out her little hand-cranked poppy seed grinder
and the tin of Hungarian poppy seeds that she ordered from a Hungarian import
shop in New York.
After grinding the tiny blue-gray seeds, she’d mix them with some milk and
sugar and cook the mixture until it was thick. I’d always have poppy seeds
stuck in my teeth after visits to her house.

I regularly make my
grandma’s poppy seed cake, but I use the filling from a can. It never tastes
quite as good as hers.

Baked in a Bundt pan, Poppy
Seed Butter Cake takes much longer to bake than it does to mix up the
ingredients. One can of poppy seed filling mixed into part of the batter adds
rich flavor and just a little bit of crunch.

The cooled cake can be drizzled
with a glaze made of sifted powdered sugar and fresh lemon juice. I like it
with Warm Blueberry Sauce. A generous slice of cake with a liberal spoonful
of the warm sauce is delicious served with brunch. The sauce is fabulous
spooned over ice cream, pancakes, waffles, or angel food cake. Mix it into
plain or vanilla yogurt for a real treat for breakfast or snack time.

Enjoy this Poppy Seed Butter
Cake – just be sure to check your teeth before smiling.

Poppy Seed Butter Cake with
Warm Blueberry Sauce

• 2 cups (1 pound) butter,
  room temperature
• 2½ cups powdered sugar
• 6 large eggs, room
  temperature
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon
  zest, tightly packed
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon
  juice
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 (12.5-ounce) can poppy seed
  filling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and flour a Bundt pan
and set aside.

Sift flour and baking powder
into a medium bowl and set aside.

In large mixing bowl, beat
butter at medium speed of an electric mixer for 2 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
Gradually add powdered sugar. Mix at medium speed for 5 minutes. Add eggs, one
at a time, beating well after each addition. Add lemon zest and lemon juice and
mix well. At low speed, gradually add flour mixture, blending well.

In medium bowl, combine 3
cups of the batter with the can of poppy seed filling. Blend well.

Spread half of remaining
plain batter over bottom of Bundt pan. Drop spoonfuls of poppy seed batter and
remaining plain batter over the batter in the pan, alternating each to go
completely around the pan.

Bake for about 1 hour to 1
hour and 15 minutes or until wooden pick inserted into center of cake comes out
clean. Watch carefully. Baking the cake too long will cause it to be dry. Cool
the cake for 15 minutes in the pan. Remove from pan and cool completely on wire
rack.

Serve with Warm Blueberry
Sauce.

• I used Solo brand poppy seed
  filling.

Warm Blueberry Sauce

• 4 cups fresh or frozen
  blueberries, divided
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon
  juice
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

In medium saucepan, combine
3 cups of the blueberries, sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest. Bring the mixture
to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes. After it’s
cooled a little bit, transfer 1 cup of the cooked mixture to a blender and
puree. Return pureed sauce to warm mixture in saucepan. Stir in remaining 1 cup
of berries.

This sauce keeps well in a
jar in the refrigerator. Heat the sauce slightly before serving.

Just
this week I learned that researchers at Tulane University have discovered that cocoa powder contains an extract which is more effective
than fluoride in fighting cavities and protecting dental health. I know it
sounds too good to be true. They’ve actually developed toothpaste with this
extract that they predict will be on the shelves within five years.

I still had much of the
Cocoa Cream Pound Cake that I had prepared for last Sunday’s food page. I decided a Cocoa-Raspberry
Trifle made with thin slices of Cocoa Cream Pound Cake would be a fine way to
celebrate this new discovery and to start protecting my dental health.

Trifle is a delicious
dessert full of rich flavor. Cake, cream, pudding and fruit can be layered in
your favorite glass bowl or in individual custard cups. The whole dessert can
be prepared ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator.

A jar of Nutella mixed into
chocolate pudding adds more cocoa power. Nutella is a chocolate hazelnut
spread, widely used for years in European countries. You can find it near the
peanut butter in most grocery stores. Its creamy consistency makes easy work of
blending it into the chocolate pudding.

Smashed fresh raspberries
sprinkled with sugar create another one of the layers along with creamy
sweetened whipped cream.

This is a perfect make-ahead
dessert for holiday weekend barbecues and celebrations.

I just learned that lilacs,
one of my favorite flowers of spring, are edible. I love garnishing food with
fresh flowers, but I never use those that aren’t safe for eating. I just chewed
on a lilac blossom that I cut from the bush alongside my driveway – very
perfumy, slightly bitter, almost peppery with a distinct lemony taste. I
imagine each variety may taste a little different. Lilacs would be a perfect garnish
for any kind of lemon dessert. They’d also be good tossed into a salad of fresh
baby greens.

Start taking advantage of
the power of cocoa with this delicious trifle.

Powerful Cocoa-Raspberry
Trifle

• 2 (3.9-ounce) packages
  instant chocolate pudding mix
• 3 cups milk
• 5 cups fresh raspberries,
  divided
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• Cocoa Cream Pound Cake,
  sliced ¼-inch thick
• 1 jar (13 ounces) Nutella
• 1½ pints (3 cups) heavy
  whipping cream, divided
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Mix both packages of instant
pudding mix with 3 cups milk in a mixing bowl. Mix with whisk or an electric
hand mixer on low speed until it is well blended and just begins to thicken.
Set aside.

Reserve and refrigerate ½
cup of the raspberries for garnish. Place remaining raspberries in a mixing
bowl and sprinkle with ½ cup sugar. Crush with a potato masher or with the back
of a spoon. Set aside.

In large bowl, beat 1 pint
whipping cream with sugar and vanilla until thick and soft peaks form. Set
aside.

Line the bottom of a trifle
bowl or your favorite large glass bowl with cake slices, overlapping to cover
the entire bottom of the bowl. Spoon about a quarter of the raspberry mixture over the
cake slices, spreading with a spatula so that all the cake has been moistened.

Remove the lid from the jar
of Nutella and microwave the Nutella for 15 seconds on high power to make it
easily removable from the jar. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the Nutella out
of the jar into the chocolate pudding. Stir until well blended. Spread about
one-fourth of the pudding mixture evenly over the raspberries.

Spread about one-third of
the whipped cream over the pudding layer, making sure it reaches to the sides
of the bowl.

Repeat these layers three
more times, ending with a layer of pudding on top. Cover with plastic wrap and
refrigerate at least 8 hours or up to 3 days to allow the flavor to develop.

At serving time, whip remaining 1 cup
of heavy whipping cream and spread over the top of the trifle. Spoon into dessert bowls
to serve.

• Make individual trifles by
  lining custard cups with plastic wrap. Cut rounds from the sliced Cocoa Cream
  Pound Cake that just fit into the custard cups, completely covering the bottom.
  Make layers as directed in recipe. Fold plastic wrap over the top of each
  trifle and refrigerate. At serving time, remove plastic wrap from top of
  trifle. Turn trifle upside-down on serving plate. Peel away plastic wrap. Frost
  trifle with remaining whipped cream and garnish.
• If you don’t feel like
  making the Cocoa Cream Pound Cake, you can use a frozen pound cake, an angel
  food cake or split ladyfingers. You just won’t get as much cocoa power.
• If you’re in the Lakeland
  Public Television viewing area, you can watch me make this trifle on my
  Lakeland Cooks segment on Thursday, May 31^st during the 10:00 news. You can also view it after that time at www.lakelandptv.org.
• Nutella is also delicious
  spread over a toasted bagel, on waffles, pancakes or just licked right from a
  spoon!

Just in case you want to make the Cocoa Cream Pound Cake, here’s the recipe:

Cocoa Cream Pound Cake

• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 6 large eggs
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup baking cocoa
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube
pan or 12-cup bundt pan. Set aside.

Cream butter for about 2 minutes or until butter is light
and creamy. Gradually add sugars, beating well at medium speed of electric
mixer. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.

Combine baking soda and sour cream. Sift together flour,
cocoa and salt. Add creamed mixture alternately with sour cream mixture,
beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix just until blended after each
addition. Stir in vanilla.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 1
hour and 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
Let cool in pan 15 minutes. Remove from pan. Let cool completely on a wire
rack.

One thing I’ve learned about pound cake is that once you have a basic recipe that is always moist and dense and delicious, it can become the foundation for many creative variations. This Spirited Peach Pound Cake is my favorite base with a twist of creativity. Eggs, butter and sour cream make it rich. The addition of peach schnapps, orange liqueur and rum give it a fresh yet mellow flavor. Don’t worry, though. It won’t give you the hiccups.
Wrapped up tight and left on the kitchen counter for a couple of days allows the flavors to develop. This cake is a good traveler, making it a nice picnic dessert or a potluck contribution. It’s a nice addition to brunch. It always makes a lovely gift. I often bake it in two small bundt pans and give one away or freeze the extra cake for a time when I get a craving for it.

Spirited Peach Pound Cake

• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 3 cups sugar
• 6 large eggs, room temperature
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sour cream, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons light rum
• 1 teaspoon triple sec
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 cup peach schnapps or peach brandy

Last week I was in Minneapolis
for a meeting. I spent some time with my friend, Carmie
Hobbins, browsing through the Midtown Global Market, an
internationally themed public market with more than 50 independent
locally-owned businesses. It’s located on the main floor of the old Sears
building on Lake Street
near Chicago Avenue.
It’s been open for less than a year. They’ll be celebrating their first
birthday on June 2^nd and 3^rd with an international parade
as well as cooking, arts and crafts demonstrations, special sampling and fun
entertainment.

At this market, you can buy fresh flowers, jewelry and
clothing, meats and cheeses and eat at one of the ethnic dining spots when you
get hungry and when the shopping starts to make you weary, wake up with a great
cup of coffee.

As we eyed the open-faced sandwiches topped with herring and
hard-cooked eggs, the fresh potato salad and the cucumber salad at the
Scandinavian market, Carmie pointed out some Swedish preserves.

Carmie teaches Italian cooking classes in the Twin Cities.
She told me she likes to use this Queen’s Blend berry preserves when she makes Almond
Jam Tart in her cooking classes. So I bought a jar of the preserves and when I
got home I went straight to Carmie’s cookbook to find her recipe for the tart.
She uses a shortbread crust, saving a bit of the dough to sprinkle on top of
the jam filling. I realized I had some pastry in my refrigerator that was
leftover from a few days before when I had made mini lemon tarts. I decided I
was ready to make a tart of my own.

After pressing the dough into my tart pan, I topped it with
the whole jar of preserves. Then I made a streusel topping with butter, oats,
almonds and sesame seeds and sprinkled it over the preserves. It made a winning
tart that would be a delicious ending to any meal. It would be so nice with a
cup of afternoon tea. I’d even eat it for breakfast.

Here’s my recipe for Jam Tart. You can try Carmie’s recipe
by purchasing her cookbook.

Jam Tart

• 1/2 (1 disk) of Pastry
• 1 (14.1-ounce) jar Queen’s Blend Swedish Preserves or
  another premium berry preserve
• Streusel Topping (recipe below)

Pastry:

• 2¼ sticks (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup powdered sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 large egg yolks
• 3 tablespoons ice water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Cut butter into bits.
In the bowl of a food processor, blend or pulse flour, powdered sugar,
and salt until well combined. Add
butter, pulsing until mixture resembles coarse meal. In a small bowl, whisk together yolks, ice
water, and vanilla until combined well.
Add to flour mixture, pulsing until incorporated. Form dough into a ball. Divide into 2 pieces. Form each piece into a ball and flatten to
form disks. Chill disks, wrapped
separately in plastic wrap, at least 1 hour and up to 1 week.

Streusel Topping:

• ¼ cup whole raw almonds
• ¼ cup sesame seeds
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, chilled and cut into small
  cubes
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup old-fashioned oats
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¼ teaspoon pure almond extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread almonds and sesame seeds
on separate rimmed baking sheets and toast on center rack of oven until golden
brown, about 10 minutes. Almonds may take a few minutes more than sesame seeds.
Let cool, then chop almonds to medium-fine.

Combine almonds, sesame seeds, butter, flour, oats, sugar
and almond extract in the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large mixing bowl.
Using the paddle attachment, mix on low for a few minutes until mixture is
coarse and crumbly. If you’re not using a stand mixer, use a wooden spoon to
mix until crumbly.

Set aside.

To put Jam Tart together:

Press 1 disk of dough into a 9- or 10-inch tart pan with
removable bottom. Chill until firm, at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove tart pan from
refrigerator and spread preserves over the dough. Sprinkle with ½ to 1 cup of
streusel or until all the preserves are covered with a single layer of
streusel.

Bake on rack in lower third of oven until the crust is
golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Cool on a rack. Remove the sides of the tart
pan. Slice and serve at room temperature or warm with a big scoop of premium
vanilla ice cream.

• Remaining disk of dough can be refrigerated for up to one
  week or kept in the freezer for a couple of months.
• Remaining streusel can be refrigerated for up to one week or
  kept in the freezer in a heavy-duty zip-top bag or freezer container. Use it to
  sprinkle over your berry or fruit pies.

When I was in Chicago last month I had
the opportunity to visit Fox and Obel Gourmet Market and Café. Located near
Navy Pier, it was a good walk from my hotel along Michigan Avenue. With one foot inside the
door, I knew it was well worth the trek.

I felt like I was stepping
into a little European market. It is a gourmet food-lovers delight. After
browsing through the aisles of fancy pasta, gourmet chocolates, a bakery full
of beautiful sweet temptations, the olive oil tasting bar, I stopped into the
café and had a big delicious tuna sandwich.

The store is not very large,
but they found a space for a KitchenAid
Culinary Center
where they offer cooking classes. Fox & Obel’s Executive Chef, Suzanne
Edwards, had just finished teaching a class on main course salads. She had
little bits of salads that she had me taste when I stopped in to check out the
classroom. She also offered me tastes of wines she had chosen from the Fox
& Obel wine aisles to pair with the salads.

Her Asian Chicken Salad is
packed full of fresh vegetables. It is good all by itself, but after a long
bike ride late yesterday afternoon, I decided to add some rotisserie chicken to
the salad.

Shreds of Napa cabbage, red cabbage, lettuce, colorful
sweet peppers, carrots and cashews are tossed with an Asian-inspired dressing.
Chili garlic sauce adds a bit of heat to the dressing. I used a Vietnamese
Chili Garlic Sauce that I purchased at the Asian market in Fargo. I like to spice up stir-fry, pasta and
pizza with this red sauce. You could use the Thai Kitchen Roasted Red Chili
Paste found in most grocery stores. Add it a little at a time until the heat is
just right for you.

Most grocery stores carry
pickled ginger, another ingredient in the dressing. I like the Natural Pickled
Sushi Ginger made by the ginger people. I find it in the natural foods area of
the grocery store. The minced ginger adds a burst of freshness to the dressing
without overpowering all the other flavors.

Use the vegetables in
amounts that suit your tastes. I didn’t measure any of the salad ingredients.

This salad makes a healthful
dinner on a warm, sunny day.

 Asian Chicken Salad

• Napa cabbage, cut in shreds
• Red cabbage, cut in shreds
• Head lettuce, cut in shreds
• Green onions, sliced
• Yellow pepper, cut like
  matchsticks
• Red pepper, cut like
  matchsticks
• Green pepper, cut like
  matchsticks
• Carrot, cut like matchsticks
• Cashews, roasted, unsalted
• Rotisserie chicken, meat
  pulled off
• Asian Dressing

Toss cabbages, lettuce,
green onions, sweet bell peppers and carrot together in large bowl. Add just
enough Asian Dressing to lightly coat the salad. Store remaining dressing in
jar in the refrigerator.

Add cashews and chicken to
salad and toss well.

Asian Dressing

• ¼ cup rice wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon plus 1½
  teaspoons Hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
• ¾ teaspoon chili garlic
  sauce
• 1 tablespoon pickled ginger,
  minced
• 1 cup olive oil 

Place rice vinegar, hoisin,
sesame oil, chili garlic sauce and minced pickled ginger in small mixing bowl.
Gradually whisk in olive oil until emulsified, with all ingredients blended
well.

I cleaned out my refrigerator on Sunday afternoon. It was packed full of jars of leftover sauces and glazes, plastic containers of leftovers from recipes I’ve recently worked on and bits and pieces of meats and cheese. It had reached the point at which I never knew what might tumble out when I opened the door of the refrigerator.

For me, cleaning the refrigerator is a lot like cleaning closets. I’m always surprised at what I find. I hate taking the time to do it, but I feel so good when I’ve completed the task. And whether it’s the refrigerator or a closet, each time the chore is complete I vow to never let it get to that point of chaos and disorganization again. But it always does.

I discovered a carton of ricotta cheese that had been pushed way to the back of a shelf. It was still in good shape – no fuzzy growth and it smelled okay. I decided to mix the ricotta cheese into a brownie batter. If buttermilk can be mixed into chocolate cake batter, why not ricotta in brownies?

Ricotta cheese has a fine, moist, creamy texture. The mild and slightly sweet flavor lends creaminess to both sweet and savory dishes. It turns these brownies into incredibly moist, melt-in-your mouth bites of decadence. They are wonderful just as they are with a sprinkling of powdered sugar or a quick lashing of whipped cream and a single fresh raspberry. But watch out when you spoon Bittersweet Chocolate Glaze over the top. They become an “over the top” dessert.

Lining the pan with parchment allowed me to easily pull the cooled brownies from the pan. This made it easy to cut out heart shapes with a cookie cutter. I transferred the brownie hearts to a cooling rack placed over waxed paper. I spooned the glaze over the brownies and let them set until the glaze was firm. Eat at your own risk. Once you start, it is so hard to stop.

I lick chocolate glaze from my fingers and I’m so glad I cleaned out the refrigerator.

Incredible Brownies

• 1 cup butter
• 4 (1-ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 2½ cups sugar, divided
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter a 13- x 9- x 2-inch pan and set aside. Line pan with parchment paper. Butter parchment.

Place 1 cup butter and unsweetened chocolate in medium-sized heavy saucepot. Stir gently over low heat until butter and chocolate melt. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

Combine 2 cups of sugar and 3 eggs in a medium bowl. Mix well with a wire whisk. Add to chocolate mixture in pot, stirring to blend.

Combine remaining ½ cup sugar, flour, ricotta cheese, 1 egg and vanilla in same medium bowl. Stir to blend. Add ricotta cheese mixture to chocolate mixture, using wire whisk to blend well. Spread mixture in buttered pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

Gently pull brownies from pan using the parchment as handles. Set on flat work surface. Use cookie cutter to cut hearts from the brownies. Place cut brownies on cooling rack placed over waxed paper. Spoon glaze over brownies, using small table knife to spread glaze over the side of the hearts. Let set until glaze is firm to the touch.

Store in tightly sealed container. 

Bittersweet Chocolate Glaze

• 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup

Place the butter and chocolate in medium-sized heavy saucepot over low heat. Stir frequently and gently with a metal spoon until chocolate is almost completely melted. Remove from heat and stir in light corn syrup. Continue to stir until chocolate is completely melted. Let the glaze cool, without stirring, until slightly thickened. Spoon over brownie hearts. Makes about 1 cup.

Save any leftover glaze in a jar in the refrigerator. Just don’t forget about it. When ready to spoon over premium vanilla ice cream, melt in the microwave for 1 or 2 minutes at 50% power. Watch closely and don’t let it bubble. It needs to be heated just slightly, removed from the microwave and stirred until completely melted and smooth. Yum!

There’s a new little pepper
in town that you’re going to want to meet soon. I first had a Peppadew at a St. Cloud friend’s house. She had gone to the deli at Byerly’s and told one of the specialists there that
she needed an idea for a quick-to-make appetizer. He directed her to the bin of
Peppadews that were beside all the olives. He told her to pipe some seasoned
cream cheese into the little cup-shaped sweet-hot peppers and “voila”, a quick
and tasty appetizer. They were so good that I wanted to make some the next time
we had company. Unfortunately, they were nowhere to be found in Bemidji.

The piquante pepper from South Africa is
the newest fruit discovery since kiwi. Peppadew is the trade name for this
tangy, bite-sized pepper. “Peppa” for the bite and the heat and “dew” for the
fresh, cool flavor.

Finally, they are in the
grocery stores in Bemidji.
You’ll find them in jars in the deli area. They can be sliced up and tossed
into salads, stews, marinades and omelets. I’ve been having fun experimenting
with them.

If you’ve had a chance to
make the Chicken in Phyllo which was my last post on the blog, you probably
have some phyllo dough in your refrigerator or freezer. My friend, John, who
loves to cook, came up with a new way to use these fun little peppers. He got
the idea from a Giada de Laurentiis recipe (food network star, cookbook author) and gave it his own twist. He brought them over one evening
as an appetizer treat, but it can also be served as a delicious salad course.

With a couple of small changes, I made them last week for a
demonstration I did. They are easy to prepare with just a few ingredients. Smoked
mozzarella is a good melting cheese with a hint of smokiness. It’s the perfect
complement to the sun-dried tomatoes. All wrapped up in crisp and buttery phyllo dough with a few slices of Peppadew — it’s a winner.

What did I do without Peppadews? They are a new staple in my pantry.

Peppadew, Cheese and Tomato Roll-Ups

• 6 sheets phyllo dough
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• 8 ounces smoked mozzarella,
  sliced ¼-inch thick
• 8 ounces sun-dried tomatoes,
  drained and sliced
• 1 (14.75-ounce) jar piquante
  (Peppadew) peppers
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup sparkling pear juice
• 2 tablespoons champagne
  vinegar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground
  black pepper
• 6 cups fresh baby greens

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Lay a sheet of phyllo dough
on a clean dry work surface. Use a pastry brush to brush the phyllo sheet with
melted butter. Fold the phyllo sheet in half lengthwise, resulting in a long,
narrow rectangle. Brush the top of the phyllo with melted butter. Place a few
slices of smoked mozzarella at a narrow end of the phyllo rectangle, leaving
one inch on each side. Top the cheese with a few pieces of sun-dried tomatoes
and piquante peppers. Carefully roll up the phyllo dough into a cigar shape
starting with the filled end. About half way through the rolling, tuck in the
1-inch ends of the phyllo dough, and continue rolling. Place on a foil-lined
baking sheet, seam side down, and brush the top with butter. Continue rolling
the 5 remaining roll-ups. Bake until golden, about 25 to 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl
or jar, combine the extra-virgin olive oil, sparkling pear juice, champagne
vinegar, salt and pepper. Whisk in bowl to combine or shake in jar with
tight-fitting lid. Toss the vinaigrette with the greens. Place the dressed
greens on a serving platter or on individual serving plates.

Slice the roll-ups into
2-inch pieces. Place atop the greens. Serve immediately.

If you’ve never worked with phyllo (pronounced FEE-lo)
dough, this is a great recipe for first-time users. Paper-thin sheets of phyllo
dough are often used to create wonderful Greek pastries and savory dishes.
After using it once and discovering just how easy it is to work with, you’ll
probably think of many ways this delicate dough can be used to make delicious
appetizers and desserts.

The fact that it is so thin has many home bakers and cooks
intimidated by phyllo, thinking it is very hard to use. Actually, phyllo dough
is very forgiving. If there is a hole or a tear in a sheet of dough, it doesn’t
matter. Usually, several sheets of the dough are layered to make flaky crusts,
so holes never show.

You’ll find phyllo dough in the freezer case in the grocery store.
Thaw it in the refrigerator. If this dough is stored too long, it becomes dry
and flakes apart, making it very difficult to work with. So, for best results,
use the dough shortly after purchase.

Phyllo dries out quickly when exposed to air. Keep the dough
covered with a slightly dampened towel as you use one sheet at a time. Wrap any
leftover phyllo tightly with plastic wrap and keep in your refrigerator for up
to 2 weeks. For longer storage, refreeze phyllo. Wrap it tightly in plastic
wrap and overlay with foil.

A key to success with this recipe is to have all the filling
ingredients measured, prepared and ready to go, so when you begin layering the
phyllo dough, you won’t need to stop to get other ingredients ready.

The finished product is beautiful. Flakey, crisp and golden
brown layers of dough with more layers of beautiful colors and delicious savory flavors packed
inside.

Chicken in Phyllo

• 2 (10-ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 3 cups chopped cooked chicken
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 16 sheets phyllo dough
• ½ cup butter, melted
• 1 (28-ounce) can Italian-style tomatoes, drained, chopped
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese
• ½ cup pine nuts, toasted

Put thawed spinach in strainer and push down with the back
of a spoon to release all moisture. Transfer spinach to two layers of paper
towels and roll up. Squeeze roll of spinach over kitchen sink until no more
liquid drips out of it. Transfer to dry paper towels and set aside.

Sprinkle chicken with oregano and black pepper and toss.

Cook onion in oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat,
stirring until tender. Stir in spinach, beaten eggs, cumin, nutmeg, cardamom
and cinnamon. Set aside.

Line jelly roll pan with aluminum foil. Place one sheet of
phyllo in pan and brush with melted butter. (Keep remaining phyllo sheets
covered with a piece of plastic wrap, then a slightly damp towel). Repeat
procedure with 7 additional phyllo sheets and butter.

Spoon chicken over phyllo in pan. Spoon spinach mixture over
chicken. Sprinkle with tomatoes, cheese and pine nuts. Top with remaining 8
sheets of phyllo, brushing each sheet with melted butter. Press edges of dough
together to seal. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until golden.
Slice and serve. Makes 10 servings.

• To toast pine nuts, place them in a large sauté pan over
  medium heat. Stir until they reach desired color. Watch carefully. They burn
  easily. Immediately transfer toasted pine nuts to plate to cool.
• A rotisserie chicken from the deli makes it easy to measure
  3 cups of chopped cooked chicken.

One of the huge breakfasts I
enjoyed at the International Association of Culinary Professionals conference
last month was sponsored by the National Mango Board. I love mangoes, so this
breakfast was one of my favorites.

The meal included Mango
Blintzes served with Mango Raita, a spicy mango and yogurt sauce seasoned with
cumin and cardamom. Also on the plate were little pastry tart shells filled
with Mango Breakfast Chutney, chopped mango, raisins and pistachios held
together with pureed mango and seasoned with curry powder and cinnamon,
garnished with a sprinkle of minced fresh mint.

Years ago, my dad and I
would go to Lincoln Del
in Minneapolis
for blintzes. Little pillows filled with a slightly sweet creamy filling were
sautéed in butter and served with some fruit on the side. They were delicious. Lincoln Del
has been closed for years and it’s probably been that long since I’ve had
blintzes. Until a few weeks ago at the IACP conference.

Last weekend I made the
mango blintzes for Saturday breakfast with friends in Gilbert, Minnesota.
The thin pancakes, seasoned with cinnamon and cardamom, are made like crepes.
Some of the thin batter is spooned into a hot pan as you quickly tilt the pan
so the batter covers the bottom.

The rich filling includes a
little grated Manchego cheese. This semi-firm cheese from Spain has a
mellow, nutty flavor that pairs well with the sweet-tart flavor of mango. I
find it in the specialty cheese area of the deli in the local grocery stores.
This salty cheese is like the Brie of Spain, where they have been eating it for
centuries. Here in the United
States, it is a more recent discovery. This
weekend I plan to toss some of the grated cheese into an asparagus omelet. Cut
into little cubes, it is nice to nibble with a glass of wine.

This is a great time to try
Mango Blintzes. The mangoes I’ve been buying have been juicy and sweet. When
you are shopping for mangoes, find those with a fruity fragrance. They will
have the best flavor. Ripeness is not determined by color but by feel. A ripe mango
should be a little soft when gently squeezed. Mangoes will continue to ripen if
left out on the kitchen counter. Once ripe, they should be stored in the
refrigerator.

You’ll get a good dose of
vitamins A and C with these breakfast blintzes topped with some Orange-Mango
Sauce. I had some of this sauce leftover from a cooking class I taught last
Friday when I served it with a lime tart. It’s delicious on the blintzes, too.

Enjoy!

Mango Blintz

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 6 teaspoons sugar, divided
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 cup milk
• ¼ cup butter, divided
• 1 egg
• 1 large ripe mango, peeled,
  pitted and diced
• 8 ounces cream cheese,
  softened
• ¼ cup ricotta cheese
• ¼ cup grated Manchego cheese
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla
  extract
• ½ teaspoon ground star anise

To prepare the pancakes: In
a medium bowl, mix together flour, 3 teaspoons sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, cinnamon
and cardamom. Whisk in the milk, 1 tablespoon butter and 1 egg to make a
smooth, thin batter. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes.

To cook pancakes: Heat a non-stick crepe pan
or small skillet over medium-high heat. Whisk batter, adding a tablespoon of
water if it needs to be thinned slightly. Brush pan with butter. Working
quickly, pour 2 tablespoons batter into hot pan, tilting to let the batter
spread into a thin layer covering the bottom of the pan. Cook for about 1
minute, then flip and cook for about 1 more minute. Repeat with remaining
butter and batter, keeping cooked pancakes covered with a slightly moistened
towel.

To prepare filling: In a
medium bowl, whisk together the cream cheese, ricotta and Manchego cheeses, egg
yolks, vanilla, anise and the remaining sugar and salt. Carefully fold in the
mango.

To assemble blintzes: Place
the pancakes on a clean work surface. Spoon 2 large tablespoons of filling in
the lower third of a pancake. Fold in the left and right edges about 2 inches
into the center. Roll from the bottom edge to the top to make an egg roll
shaped blintz. Repeat with remaining pancakes and filling.

To finish and serve: Warm a
medium-sized non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add a tablespoon of
butter to pan. Add blintzes and cook until golden brown on all sides, working
in batches if necessary. Serve with Orange-Mango Sauce. Makes 16 small
blintzes. (I made mine bigger!)

• You’ll find a picture demonstration of how to prepare a mango on my food page in the Bemidji Pioneer.
  
• I buy whole star anise at
  the local food co-op where they sell them in the bulk spice area. That way I
  can buy just a few at a time. I grind them in the coffee grinder that I save
  just for grinding spices. After each use, I clean it out by putting cubes of
  bread into the grinder and process until fine crumbs form. It removes any
  smells and leftover bits of spice.

Orange-Mango Sauce
3-4 ripe mangoes
3/4 cup orange juice
3 tablespoons lime juice

Peel and core the mangoes and
place in food processor. Process until smooth. Add orange juice and lime juice.
Blend until smooth. Serve with tart. You can spike the sauce with a little dark
rum if you like.

• This sauce makes a nice
  breakfast parfait when layered with vanilla yogurt and crunchy granola.