The sauce is spicy. If you don’t like it spicy then adjust the amount of habenero or change the peppers totally. You could go with a chipotle, a jalapeno, or a serrano. It is hard to say how much to use because each person seems to have a different opinion as to what is spicy and the peppers can vary in heat from pepper to pepper. Let me tell you what happened to me.

I was getting the ingredients together for this sauce. Normally I taste a pepper to see how much I will want to use because I have had enough variation in heat to totally mess up a recipe. So I took a tentative nibble…they were, after all, habeneros.

Nothing. just a tiny little zap on the tongue. Sigh. I proceeded to chop about three habeneros and add them to the sauce. As I chopped the last one I popped a bit of it in my mouth.

ZOWIE. I saw stars. I became one with the universe. The top of my head came off. Again, verily, verily, I say unto you…always, always taste the peppers. EACH pepper. They vary in heat!  Quickly I pulled as many peppers as I could see from the bubbling sauce and put them in the chicken scraps. Our chickens like spicy things.

So, be sure to to check your peppers for heat and adjust your recipes accordingly.

This sauce was so good that people were spreading it on bread until it was gone.

Blueberry Habenero Sauce

• 1 large, sweet onion (like Vidalia) peeled and chopped
• 1 quart of blueberries
• 2 habenero peppers, chopped (adjust as needed)
• 1 tsp of adobo sauce from a can of chipotle in adobo, you can leave this out if you don’t have it but it adds a nice dimension
• 1/4 cup good quality balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup sugar, or to taste
• Juice and zest of one lime
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• Olive oil for pan

1. Saute the onion in the oil until it is soft.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients, except for the lime juice, and simmer until the sauce reduces by about half. This will take ten minutes or so.
3. Add the lime juice and remove from heat.
4. Blend the sauce in the blender until smooth.
5. Brush on meat before cooking and then serve remaining sauce as a garnish.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

Images:MaryeAudet

Post from: Baking Delights

Let me just say..first of all…there are alot of them. The cup sizes are from 1/8 of a cup up to 2 cups. The measuring spoons go from unbelievably tiny to two tablespoons.

When I say unbelieveably tiny I mean it. Their specialty sizes are listed as such:

• drop 1/64t
• smidgeon 1/32t
• pinch 1/16t
• dash 1/8t

There is also a leveler included. I liked these spoons alot. They are easy to use, red (they match my laptop) and come in a enough sizes to make anyone happy. The only downside to the products, at least the red ones, is that it is hard for me to see the measurements on them. They are embossed but the same color as the spoons. I would prefer that companies give a nod to those of us with high ceilings, eco-friendly lightbulbs, and less than perfect eyes by making the numbers easy to read. I will be getting around this with a bottle of nail polish or a sharpie.

The cups are fantastic. The have a lip on them that allowed me to pour some expensive balsamic vinegar (special occasions only) back into the bottle when I had mis-poured…and nary a drop spilled. It all was saved. The bottoms have a no skid band so that they sit firmly on your counter. You are not going to knock them and have them race across the counter toward the inevitable floor like lemmings. Nope.

The bowls are polished so ingredients slide out easily. Again, the numbers are hard to read but other than that this product is one of my favorites. I will be ordering bowls for sure.

You can find more out about the product and the company, including how to buy, at Pourfectbowl.

image:maryeaudet

Post from: Baking Delights

To freeze them just put them straight into a ziploc type freezer bag and lay flat in the freezer. Don’t rinse them, or clean them other than pulling out any obvious stems or leaves.  They will keep for more than a year..One year we had them for 18 months. It just can’t be easier than that!

I am working on a post for later…but I wanted to post this while I was thinking about it.

image:marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights

Matt will be 17 on July 11. In other words we have been going a very long time.  Now, you can’t just go blueberry picking, there is a ceremony that must be carried out.

Blueberries for Sal must be read aloud the night before. You must get up while it is still dark and eat breakfast in the car on your way there…and at least one teenager must complain that they would rather be doing something with friends…at least until they get there… You must eat as many as you can and still fill your basket before the sun gets too hot..and then you must fight to stay awake on the way home, and figure out that you should have used sunblock. You must then end the day with blueberry pancakes for dinner.

If you do it any other way you are just not doing it right. Pick your own farms are a wonderful way to eat local, support the local economy and build family relationship all at the same time. I intend to do a couple of searches to see what is available in my area besides blueberries.  It is great for kids to be part of gathering food and interacting with it in it’s natural setting, rather than assuming that blueberries grow in pint containers in the back of the grocery store.

Here are some pics of our day…It was great!

The bushes were full of blueberries this year.

Nick finds the perfect berry.

It doesn't take too long to fill the baskets.

Full baskets...

Nick and Sean rehydrate

images:maryeaudet

Post from: Baking Delights

I wanted to get this recipe up in time for you to consider it for Fourth of July though.  I know, I know, you always have the same potato salad and it is tradition…well yeah! Me too, but you have to try this because it is addictive. Have I ever lied to you? I am telling you that this potato salad is absolutely my favorite now, and although I grew up on the traditional Midwestern style potato salad with a tiny touch of mustard, boiled egg, and celery, THIS blows my Mom’s potato salad out of the water. Sorry Mom.

Unlike classic potato salad this shouldn’t sit around very long. The hot peppers tend to get hotter as they sit… so what seems to be mild at 10 a.m. is spicy at 4 p.m. and three-alarm by day 2, if it lasts that long. The warm flavors of the Southwest are highlighted and this is perfect with the classic burgers and hot dogs, or a brisket.

I used organic red skinned potatoes for this but next time I plan on using a combination of organic heirloom potatoes; for color an flavor. The thin skinned potatoes are important to use in this recipe for their flavor, texture, and color.

I saw a recipe in Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill Cookbook and decided that I wanted to try it…but as usual I could not follow directions and had to go off on my own tangent. I think you will agree that it is an awesome tangent.

You might want to cut back on the spicy peppers. The chipotles will be the hottest and the poblanos the mildest. The potato and mayo tone down the spice but still….

Southwestern Potato Salad

• 4 lbs heirloom, thin skinned potatoes, cut and boiled until tender but not mushy
• 2 red onions, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, roasted until soft
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 Poblano pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2-3 canned chipotle peppers in mole, chopped
• 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
• 2 cups Hellmans (yes, Hellmans) or homemade mayo
• 2 tbs Guldens brown mustard
• Juice of 2 limes
• 1 tablespoon agave, turbinado, or local honey
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin (I used a tablespoon)

Mix the mayo, mustard, agave, cumin, and lime juice. Squeeze in the soft insides of the roasted garlic and mix well. Set aside.

In a large bowl, toss the potatoes, peppers, onions, cilantro, and chopped garlic until well mixed.

Pour the mayo mixture over all and blend gently. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 8

images:maryeaudet

Post from: Baking Delights

Basically, we are talking about a butter cookie crust, filled with rich bittersweet ganache, topped with a cloud of delicately flavored lime cheesecake, and then embellished with the ripest of ripe raspberries, with a quick raspberry coulis poured over the top.

Did I say over the top?

This was better than good. The main problem was that the kitchen was hot and by the time I got the pictures taken the slice I was shooting had begun to look a little droopy. After all it was a good 95 degrees in the kitchen, and I was losing light fast.

I know this tart sounds complex but I swear to you it will go together almost as fast as instant pudding. The shell is the only thing that is baked, the rest of it is no cook. It would be best if you made it enough ahead of time that you could chill it thoroughly before serving.

The lime flavor is not distinct in this. If you are thinking of key lime pie or something it isn’t at all like that. With only a tablespoon or so of lime juice in the cheese mixture it is more of a delicate nuance, a little snap at the end of the swallow. It cuts the sweet intensity of the bittersweet chocolate nicely.

You can add a little non-GMO cornstarch to the coulis and microwave it to make it more of a glaze if you like. I preferred it to be just sweetened and blended. I think it tastes fresher.

Black Bottom Raspberry Lime Cheesecake Tart

Shell:

• 1 cup organic white flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup ice water, more or less
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla

1. Mix flour, sugar, and salt.
2. Rub in the butter with your fingers, until the flour looks like coarse crumbs.
3. Mix water and vanilla and add it to the flour mixture until it forms a soft dough. Chill for about 3o minutes for easier handling.
4. Roll out on a floured surface and fit carefully into a tart or pie pan. Prick with a fork.
5. Bake at 375 until crisp, about 15-20 minutes.

Ganache:

• 8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup heavy cream

1. Bring cream to a simmer.
2. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate.
3. Stir until melted and smooth.
4. Pour into crust.
5. Chill until firm.

Cheesecake:

• 16 oz cream cheese (full fat), room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Juice of one lime (1-2 tbs)
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Beat cream cheese and sugar until well mixed.
2. Add cream, lime and vanilla
3. Beat until light and creamy, scarping down bowl often. You may need to add a little more cream to get the right consistancy.
4. Taste to adjust flavor.
5. Spoon over the ganache layer in the tart and return to refrigerator

Raspberry Topping:

• 1 pt raspberries
• Sugar to taste

1. Rinse raspberries gently.
2. Pick out the softest berries, and the not perfect berries to use for coulis.
3. Sprinkle the remaining berries over the top of the cheesecake layer.
4. Place the berries you set aside for coulis in a blender and add about 2 tbs water. Blend until a puree is formed.
5. Add sugar to taste. Blend until smooth
6. Thin with a little more water if necessary. Spoon over tart.

Makes 8-10 servings.

images:marye audet

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At our house this is Feijoada. A long LONG time ago when we had very little money for groceries I wanted to make something different. I had black beans, ground beef, and rice. After much searching I found a recipe for Feijoada and even though I had few of the ingredients, I made it with what I had.

Now, argue with me if you want but that is the true spirit of Feijoada, isn’t it? Using what you have in such a way as to create gastronomic Olympus.  Rich and spicy, filled with the flavors of Central and South America this is my version of a Brazilian dish.  It is flavorful, frugal, foreign and filling and can you ask for much more than that out of a food? Really?

I serve this with brown rice, and a salad of some sort. I think that in keeping with the simplicity of this dish the best dessert is fruit. I will post the fruit recipe soon, but for now try this dish. It is just so easy and versatile that you are bound to make it often. Adjust amounts for your family, and adjust peppers to your own tastes.

Feijoada

• 1 can organic black beans
• 1 can organic cannellini beans
• 4 slices smoked bacon, chopped and cooked until crisp
• 3 carrots peeled and sliced
• 2 cloves garlic chopped
• 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• Chopped hot peppers of choice, jalapeno, serrano, poblano etc. Adjust to your taste
• 1/4 tsp dried chipotle
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 cups of chicken broth
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
• 2 limes
• 8 cups of cooked brown rice

1. Add a little olive oil to a skillet. Saute garlic, onion and peppers until tender.
2. Add meat and brown,
3. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add cumin
4. Add chicken broth, carrots, and beans and simmer until carrots are tender, about 15 minutes.
5. Just before serving squeeze the juice of one lime into the stew.
6. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and serve over the rice with slices of lime on the side.

Serves 8

image:marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights

Rather than doing a separate review for each I am just going to say that all  four of these products are delicious. The corn and black bean salsa was not too spicy, but had a very fresh flavor. In fact, all of the sauces had a good, fresh tomato flavor.They are not overly salty and all of the ingredients are well balanced. I really liked this brand. Give it a try if it is available in your area.

images:marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights

Back in the day, when I forst got married everyone made taco salad the same way. Doritos, canned kidney beans, cheddar cheese, hamburger, sour cream, iceburg lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and catalina dressing.  There might be a little variation on that but not much.

Well, taco salads have evolved into much more than that. They are still easy and budget friendly, but fresher and more delicous I think. If you have an electric fryer I highly recommend making your own fresh tortilla chips. They don’t take long at all and the difference is amazing. It is one of those small things that takes food from average to incredible.

I like to cut the corn tortillas in long strips. It is different and I like the way it looks. Then I add any number of ingredients based on what is available.

I guess maybe this is a pretty lame blog post. Everyone knows how to make taco salad, and I think I have even shared my basic recipe before.

But it is worth sharing again.

One of the best tips for a great taco salad is to use mixed baby greens rather than the standard iceburg. It not only adds a beautiful color but it adds flavor and texture as well.

It takes a little longer to make an individual salad on each plate but it is worth it. It is more appealing that way. You can also just make the salad bases and allow everyone to add what they like at the table by putting ingredients out in dishes.

Brown lean ground beef or pork (or a combination) in a pan with a little oil. Add taco seasoning, your own homemade or some from the store. McCormick still makes it in an envelope, it has no msg (most of the others I have seen do have msg) and it is about 75 cents. It is funny though, when I first started buying it it was 33 cents. LOL! Drain the meat and set it aside.

I liek to use Vidalias or Texas sweet onions because they give a lot of flavor but they are mild. Now add the following as you like:

• Kidney beans
• Black beans
• Pinto beans
• Chopped bell peppers
• Jalapenos
• Corn kernels
• Tomatoes
• Cheese
• Salsa
• Sour cream
• Celery
• Avocado
• Chicken
• Tortilla chips
• Fried potatoes (trust me)
• Roasted pumpkin seeds
• Sunflower seed

Just layer them on top of your salad, top with a scoop of salsa and then a scoop of sour cream.  Add chopped cilantro, grated cheese and you have an entire meal in under 30 minutes. If you feel like you need dessert add vanilla ice cream with chopped mango spooned over it. Seriously. Does it get better than that?

Image:MaryeAudet

Post from: Baking Delights

A couple of months ago I mentioned that one of my unique recipes had shown up in a national magazine. Both b5media and I contacted  the magazine to ask that they give me attribution for the recipe. The magazine didn’t even acknowledge our emails, or the emails of the lawyers.  If they will do it to me they will do it to any of you that are food blogging. After all, I had a network and network lawyers behind me and they still ignored us… The magazine is Tea Time, which is put out by Southern Lady.  Hoffman Media, LLC.

Recipe copyright is a tricky thing. You can’t copyright a list of ingredients…and really, the magazine was within it’s rights to publish the recipe. Legally they did nothing wrong. But the recipe was one that I had developed over a long period of time, one I had worked on to get just right..and spent money on… and it was unusual. In fact, if you list the ingredients in google, my recipe is the only one that comes up.

So, we weren’t talking about them using a recipe for chocolate chip cookies here. This was for white silk and berry tarts..and it took me a long time to get it just right. You see, just white chocolate and heavy cream, the way you would make a chocolate ganache is too rich. White chocolate and butter is too…bland…

After several tries I found that what chocolate and sour cream were just right. The perfect combination and back drop for the berries I chose. I published this recipe last May, almost exactly a year ago. White Silk and Berry Tarts.  I used premade shells because I had been concentrating on testing the filling…

Everyone that tried them loved them.  The slight almond flavor, the creaminess, the tanginess of the sour cream. Perfect.

Now, I do work for a network. I do make an income from blogging and freelance writing.  As some of you know, Marc became disabled 2 years ago and lost his job. We have been fighting with the VA to get his benefits. For awhile we were not sure where our next meal was coming from..seriously money has been tight.

This is not a hobby for me. I love it but Baking Delights, Kettle and Cup, and the other writing I do feeds my family and pays our bills.I don;t just write here. I write about 15 hours a day to make our budget.

So, I read Tea Time Magazine because I love the images, the recipes and the tea articles. I have been a reader, although not every issue, for a couple of years. Imagine how I felt, laying in bed one night and paging through my newest copy (May/June 2009) and coming upon a recipe for White Silk Tartlets.

Me:”Hey Marc! Look! Someone has a similar recipe to mine in a MAGAZINE!”

Marc:”Really? Let me see.”

We begin to read the recipe….

Marc:”Ummm, Kid? That IS your recipe.”

Me: “Seriously? No they wouldn’t do that..must be a coincidence…”

I pulled up the laptop and went to my recipe.  Here it is:

Marye’s White Silk Tarts

16 tart shells of choice (pastry, graham, puff pastry etc.)

1 c unsalted butter

3/4 c sugar

6 ozs good quality white chocolate melted in 1/3 c heavy cream and cooled to room temperature

1 tsp vanilla flavor

1/2 tsp almond flavor

2 TBS sour cream

2 eggs

1/2 pt blackberries, raspberries or both

Bittersweet chocolate for drizzle

+++++

The I looked at their recipe. Page 33.  Forgive me as I blatantly copy their recipe off:

6 oz white chocolate chopped

1/3 cup heavy cream

1 cup unsalted butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons sour cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

tartlet shells

6 oz blueberries

6 oz raspberries

Melted white chocolate for garnish.

++++++++++++++

Instructions are basically the same. They sweetly used their own words.

The next day Matthew said, “Wow Mom! These tarts on the COVER of Tea Time look just like yours!

“Actually Matt, they look better, their photographer is much better than me but other than that THEY ARE MINE.”

I was astounded. I was sure that they had just made a mistake. SO I emailed them, expecting an email back. I mean, my recipe had made the cover of a national magazine that I admired! Surely I would get a quick apology and a small attribution in another issue….

They didn’t even say eff-you.  Nothing.

Nothing. It says By Valerie Kramer Davis, recipe development by Chantel Lambeth…Which is interesting since she was certainly NOT at my house while I worked on that filling…My poor family was forced to eat mounds of white silk..mounds of it I tell you!

So, am I writing this because I am angry?

Yeah, I am. I am angry that a big, profitable magazine would steal from a broke food blogger. If I had written one of there recipes without attribution I think I would have heard about it.

And you know what? I have inadvertently taken recipes from other bloggers without meaning to. Especially when I first started blogging. But as soon as I was made aware of it I apologized publicly and made it right as much as I could. Because I was raised that way.

You know, if this was a common recipe I really would not feel comfortable saying anything..but as you can see it is not. I am angry. Obviously I will NOT be buying the magazine anymore..which is kind of scary because if they will steal once what will stop them from stealing again?And if they do how will I know?

I don’t believe in signing some blogger’s ethics paper, or joining a bloggers group that has rules about what you can and can’t do. I think that everyone knows what is right and wrong and people can err on the side of caution and ask permission. You know, I would have said, “SURE! Just mention the blog!”

Several months ago a magazine contacted me by email. Niagara Magazine Group out of Canada wanted to use one of my images, with attribution. They asked if it would be ok..  I said, “SURE!” and they even sent me the magazine!

I am not a difficult person to get along with. I think I am pretty reasonable. But I have this thing about lying and stealing. I don’t like it. And I think, especially if you are a public figure, lying and stealing is…well….I don’t want to say unforgivable… but…beyond unethical. I, for one, do not want to be associated with an unethical company.

Food bloggers, really, there is no way to combat this individually. We are too small. But together we are a pretty scary force on the internet. As I told someone this morning..I have a spatuala and I know how to use it!

Try to notice what is on other blogs and then as you are looking around the internet or through magazines take note of anything that looks too familiar. Let’s help each other in this.  Also, if you find that a company or another blog has used your stuff email them. If they don’t fix it…let’s start calling them out. Do you really want to support a magazine like Tea Time that not only plagiarizes other work but refuses to acknowledge their mistake?

Another thing I do is to google my name, and Baking Delights regularly. I also run random pages through CopyScape AND I generally hide a link in the post that links back to one of my blogs or websites so I can track the blog thief.

I am very disappointed, frustrated, and hurt. I am pretty sure that they made a heck of a lot more on my recipe than I did.

Tea Time comes across as being a genteel, feminine magazine…but turns out to be little more than a bully in a frilly dress and a push up bra….. ” I can do this because I am bigger than you.”

Yep, Tea Time, you can.

You are bigger, wealthier, and more powerful than me…but I have something you will never have again. My respect, and I am guessing the respect of more than one of your readers.

Oh… and thank you for saying that this was your best dessert ever…I will take that as a compliment.

Images:(c) Marye Audet (that means I took them with my camera at my table a few minutes ago) 2009

Post from: Baking Delights