Pesto and Mozz Aebleskivers! (win an Aebleskiver package)

Print Print   |  Print Email this to a friend   |  September 30, 2009
Filed Under giveaway!, recipe, what I made for dinner! | 222 Comments

Nearly a year ago I made my first aebleskiver, thanks to the good folks at Aunt Else’s who introduced me to this fabulous culinary orb at the Mill City Farmer’s Market. They gave me a pan and a package of their mix and off I went. Now I make them with my sons on a regular basis. The boys love the process of cooking them almost as much as eating them. We’ve tried stuffing just about everything but the kitchen sink in the centers. Sometimes sweet, sometimes savory. Seriously, if you cook anything in the shape of a sphere my kids will eat anything at all. Although I don’t always stick to the Aunt Else’s mix, I have to say it is better than any of the batters I’ve come up with so far. It is made with local, organic, whole grain ingredients so I can’t feel too guilty about using it on occasion. I’m still looking for the perfect recipe.

Last night was the threat of our first frost, which means winter is on its way and my garden is seeing its final days. Stefan came over to do a big harvest, which was bittersweet. I got such a gorgeous bounty, but it was one of the last. I will miss picking fresh veggies from my backyard farm. I dread going to the grocery store to buy things that I have picked for myself all summer. One of the plants in grave danger of being destroyed by the cold was the basil. I have LOTS of basil and in one cold snap it could all die. That was the inspiration for my pesto and mozzarella stuffed aebleskivers. Not exactly traditional, but a match made in heaven!

To win an Aunt Else’s Aebleskiver package see the directions at the bottom of the post. Read more

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Caramel Apple & Pear Cake

Print Print   |  Print Email this to a friend   |  September 21, 2009
Filed Under cake, recipe | 40 Comments

Haralson, Honeycrisp, Honeygold, Prairie Spy, Regent, Beacon, Red Baron and dozens of other varieties of apples have all been developed at the University of Minnesota. We may be known for our 10,000 lakes, but few people outside of the state realize that we are also a leader in apples. I didn’t realize this until my friend Stephen Durfee came to visit. Yes, it took a pastry chef from CA to show me what treasures were right in my own back yard. He set up a tasting with one of the “breeders” from the University and my education of apples began at a coffee shop on campus. We tried several of their latest and greatest developments and I realized for the first time the subtle and not so subtle differences of the fruit. The textures, acid, sugars and skins were all incredibly different, she talked about the characters as though we were tasting a bottle of fine wine.

I grew up in Vermont thinking that McIntosh apples were the end all, but realize now that there are apples  to satisfy my every mood; crisp, luscious, sweet, spicy, tangy, juicy, tart, even nutty. I’ve learned to combine them in my recipes to get a more complex and interesting flavor and mouth feel. Some of the apples will keep their shape when baked and others will turn to sauce. Depending on the variety you choose it may affect the amount of sugar that you use in the recipe. This cake is rather sweet and rich so I like to use tart apples, combined with the layer of pear. This delicious recipe was the inspiration for my very first post on ZoeBakes, before I owned a camera. I make it every year at this time, with different apples and a this year I added the pears. Read more

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Wild Blueberry Crisp

Print Print   |  Print Email this to a friend   |  September 8, 2009
Filed Under recipe | 24 Comments

This has been the summer of wild blueberries. First on my trip to Maine in August and then in the Northern most reaches of Minnesota just this past weekend. Maine is certainly known for their abundance of wild (or low bush) blueberries. In fact, they produce about 25% of all that are consumed in America. We couldn’t drive a mile without seeing a stand selling baskets of the little blue beauties or jams, pies and other treats made with them. All of which we stopped and tried. Research!

Minnesota’s crops of wild blueberries are a virtual secret. Really, neighbors and best friends don’t even share their favorite picking spots with each other. A friend of mine once told me her mother would disown her if she shared the location of her blueberry patch with me. She wasn’t kidding. On a recent trip to a friend’s cabin (she must remain nameless lest her neighbors happen to read this) she took me berry picking. Yes, we are that good of friends. We drove along a stretch of two lane highway, then down a dirt road for forever and parked on the side of the road where we walked a mile deeper along a path. At the end of the journey was an opening and the entire floor of the forest in this clearing was carpeted in crimson leaves of the blueberry bushes. The clearing had signs of forest fire, which it turns out promotes the growth of the wild berries. We got the very last pick of the season; it was a bit of work to find enough berries to make this crisp, but we were determined. Just two weeks earlier my friend had been to this same spot and picked a bounty. I could see the potential. I wait with bated breath for next year and will beg an invitation during the heart of the season.

When we returned to her cabin I made this crisp: Read more

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