Blueberry Creamcheese Bites

This is ridiculously easy. Graham crackers. Blueberries. Creamcheese.
It is like a bitesize mini cheesecake minus the baking, effort and time.

12 graham crackers
250 grams creamcheese
Zest of one lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
Balsamic Reduction (optional)

6 servings

Mix creamcheese with zest and lemon juice. Place in freezer for a minimum of an hour. If you don’t have time for this the mixture will be a bit runny so omit the lemon juice.
Spread one tablespoon (or around that amount) on a cracker. Top with 3-5 blueberries and drizzle with a little balsamic reduction if you fancy.

Lemon Tart

Who doesn't love a lemon tart? You could easily make this with grapefruit or lime as well. Citrus+pastry=Yum! This recipe comes from the Northwest Culinary Academy of Vancouver and I made it a few weeks ago at my Serious Foodie class.

Lemon Curd:
Juice of 2 lemons
Juice of 1/4 orange
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 cup cold butter, cubed

Dough:
1 1/4 cups of flour
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cold water (more or less)
2 tablespoons cold vodka

Servings: 4

To prepare dough, make sure it is all COLD. Cut butter into flour along with sugar and salat on a floured surface using a pastry cuter, fork or scraper. Once it resembles course cornmeal and water and vodka in 2-3 batches. Flatten into a disc and wrap in plastic. Rest for a minimum of 20 minutes or overnight in the fridge before rolling.

Remove from fridge and roll into a 1/8 inch circle. Cut around either individual tart shells or a 9 inch removabale bottom tart plate, leaving just 1/2 an inch border.
Pinch overhang of dough around shell and take rolling pin and run over top to flatten. Cut out a piece of parchment paper large enought to fit in the pie plate. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, with pastry weights or dried beans inside.

Pour cooled lemon curd into shell and let sit a minimum of 2 hours or overnight.

Recipe: Lemon, Blueberry & Almond Cake

You can easily substitute any berry or fruit for this recipe. I really like apples with it. Quite easy and quite yummy. It is a great brunch item in the summer when blueberries are in season.

1/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup yogurt or milk
2 tablespoons lemon rind
4 cups blueberries or other fruit of your choice

Topping:
2/3 cup of flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Servings 20 squares

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a medium bowl beat the butter, sugar until well blended. Add eggs and vanilla.

In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. And half to the butter mixture alternating with the milk.

Pour batter into a 8 by 14 inch pan (like a lasagna pan) coated with non-stick spray. Arrange berries or fruit on top.

In a medium bowl mix together topping ingredients until well blended. Sprinkle over the top of the fruit.

Bake 30 to 45 minutes until a knife emerges clean.

Recipe: Grilled Prawns with Garlic Lemon Butter

Sometimes simple is best. Roasted garlic, butter and lemon. Easy. The hardest part is getting the prawns off the barbeque just at the right time. You want them cooked but not over-cooked and this can be the difference of 15 seconds. So the minute you don't see any grey left, remove ASAP. They should take approximately 2 minutes.

16-20 large prawns
1/4 cup softened butter
1 lemon juiced
1 head of roasted garlic (1/2 hour in oven at 400 degrees, or until soft)
Rock salt
Pepper

Mix the butter, lemon juice and garlic in a bowl until you have a soft paste. Rinse prawns, peel and massage butter mixture in so each prawn has generous coating.

Turn on barbeque and bring to 400-450 degrees.

Place on hot barbeque and grill 2 minutes or until they are no longer grey.

Recipe: Grilled Asparagus & Lemon

2 pounds fresh asparagus
1/4 cup softened butter
1 lemon and rind

Servings: 6 as a sidedish

Preheat barbeque to 400 degrees

Mix butter and lemon juice and rind together in a bowl so it forms a paste. Take washed asparagus and massage with your hands the butter mixture onto all the asparagus. Place on grill for approximately 4-5 minutes. You want these al dente.

Recipe: Baby Artichoke 3 Way

These sumptious little morsels called out to me from Sunshine Market on Commercial. $5.99 for 2 pounds? That is like finding an edible pot of gold! We headed back to Maria's pad and bbq'd and steamed them up. I did the full artichokes back in the day but now babies are the only way I roll. The grown ups just don't compare once you've gone young. Less green toughness, more delicous sunshine centre. We devoured these in a baby artichoke orgy of 3 different sauces. I asked Maria to pick her fave but she said they all were good in their own way.
Preperation:
Rinse artichokes well in a large pot of water. Snap off the lower petals until you reach the yellow-green core. Use a knife and cut off the top half inch of the Baby Artichoke, or just below the green tips of the petals. Trim the stems and all remaining dark-green areas from the base. Immediately soak the prepared Baby Artichokes in water with either two tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice ,until you are ready to cook with them as this prevents them from going brown.
You can cook these up 3 ways too.
Steaming: Arrange Baby Artichokes in a steamer insert or basket in a pot deep enough to keep the Baby Artichokes above water. Cover tightly and steam over rapid boiling water (making sure to maintain the water level), until Baby Artichokes are tender. Depending on size and quantity of Baby Artichokes, steaming time can range from 15 to 20 minutes. Lift out carefully and drain.
Grilling: This adds those a smoky flavor and those lovely charcoaled grill marks. However they still need to be pre-cooked. I boiled mine for approx. 8 minutes. Once boiled cut in half and brush them with olive oil before grilling. Grill for 3-5 minutes.
Boiling: Add to a pot of salted and water. Pot should be full enough so when submersed all artichokes are covered. Boil 8-10 minutes or until you can stick a knife in and artichokes are tender.

Lemon Aioli
2 garlic cloves, minced (I prefer in a food processor)
1 cup mayonaise (light or regular)
1 teaspoon lemon rind
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste

Yield 1 cup

Combine all of the above in food processor until smooth.
Can be kept in the fridge for up to 7 days.










Pesto Vinaigrette
1 cup fresh basil
2 cups fresh flat leaf parsley
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon white or red wine vingear
1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Yield 1 cup

In a food processor pulse garlic until finely minced. Add basil and parsley along with 1/4 cup of oil, vinegar and mustard. Blend. Add more olive oil until you reach desired consistency which should be thicker than a dressing but lighter than a traditional pesto. NOTE: I added feta, caper berries and olives to take it up a notch but just with the pesto was more than enough.
Can be kept in the fridge for up to 7 days.


Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
2 to 3 medium red peppers
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Yield 1 cup

Place peppers under an oven broiler. Once the skin has blackened rotate to other side of the peppers and continue until the entire pepper is charred. Remove from oven and place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit for approx. 20 minutes and once you can touch them remove the charred skin to reveal the soft flesh. Discard seeds and stem. Place in a food processor and puree.
In a small saucepan on medium heat add vegetable oil and fry garlic until soft. Add to red pepper purée. Add remaining olive oil and refrigerate.
Can keep up to 10 days in the fridge.