Baked Blintzes with Fresh Blueberry Sauce —Ina Garten

Tonight starts a 25 hour fast.  It ends tomorrow night a little after 9.  Our custom is to eat dairy before and after a fast so when I saw this recipe, I knew when I was going to make it.  The idea is that making this saves on the work that goes into blintzes.  Making each blintz, one at a time, is time consuming.  Then filling each one and rolling it, is another chunk of time.  So, the Barefoot Contessa came up with the idea of layering each part in a baking pan.  First is the blintz, then the filling, then the blintz again.  Bake the whole thing and serve with a delicious blueberry sauce, which I did not make.  We both liked the flavor of the blintz and we did not want to dilute it with fruit.

This went quickly.  I used the blender instead of a mixer.  I took all the ingredients for the batter and put them in the blender,  liquid first.  I blended it until everything came to be ONE.

I made the filling in a bowl.  One two three mix.

Even putting it together was easy.  Layer the bottom and bake for ten minutes.  Put in filling and top with batter.  That is a little tricky.  When putting liquid on liquid, one leaks into the other, or at least, it did that for me.

Baked Blintzes with Fresh Blueberry Sauce ——  Ina Garten

Yields: 10-12 servings

Ingredients

	Fresh Blueberry Sauce:
3/4	cup) freshly squeezed orange juice (3 oranges)
2/3	cup sugar
1	tablespoon cornstarch
2	pounds fresh blueberries
1	teaspoon grated lemon zest
1	tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1-1/4	cups) milk
2	tablespoons sour cream
4	tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1	teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4	extra-large eggs
1-1/3	cups) all-purpose flour
2	tablespoons) sugar
1	tablespoon baking powder
	Filling:
24	oz or 3 cups ricotta cheese
8	oz cream cheese
2	extra-large eggs
1/3	cup sugar
1	tablespoon grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
2	tablespoons) freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2	teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1	teaspoon kosher salt

Method:

For the Blueberry sauce:
Combine the orange juice, sugar, and cornstarch in a medium saucepan and boil, stirring occasionally, until translucent and thickened.

Stir in the blueberries and simmer 4-5 minutes. Stir in the zest and lemon juice and cool.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13 inch baking pan.

Pancake batter:

Place all the ingredients of the batter in the blender  and blend until smooth. Pour half the batter into the dish and bake 10 minutes, or until set.

Filling:

Whisk all the ingredients together in a large bowl until thoroughly combined.

Spread over the baked layer

Next, carefully spoon the remaining pancake batter over the cheese layer.

Return to the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the top is light golden and the filling is set.

Remove from the oven and let stand 10-15 minutes.

Cut into squares and serve with blueberry sauce.

Everything went together easily.  It took longer to bake than the 35 – 40 minutes, Ina specified.  I must have added twenty minutes.

It is wonderful.  The only problem was that I made too much. I should have cut it in half.  I could have made a third of the original recipe.

 

Linked to Mouthwatering Mondays a
Linked to Vegetarian Foodie Friday, a great place to visit.

Honey Vanilla Pound Cake Ina Garten

Please check previous post to see what was cooked from Cooking Light and future recipes from Ina Garten.

Honey Vanilla Pound Cake Recipe by Ina Garten   Page 208  Back to Basics

Ingredients:

1 cup canola oil

1 1/4 cups sugar

4 large eggs

2 tablespoons honey

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 cups sifted cake flour (glluten free)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 cup  nuts pf choice

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Line the bottom with parchment paper, then grease and flour the pan.

Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for 3-4 minutes, until light.

Meanwhile, put the eggs, honey, and vanilla in a glass measuring cup but do not combine.

With the mixer on medium low speed, add the egg mixture, one egg at a time, scraping down the bowl and allowing each egg to become incorporated before adding the next egg.

Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder.

With the mixer on low speed, add it slowly to the batter until just combined.

Fold in by hand – the nuts.

Finish mixing the batter with a rubber spatula and pour it into the prepared pan. Smooth the top.

Bake for 50-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool for 15 minutes, turn out onto a baking rack, and cool completely.

Converting AP flour to cake flour:

Get out the flour that you have. Most likely it is the regular enriched kind, but whatever you have on hand will work.

Sift flour. This requires a flour sifter. Remember those tin can shaped things with a tiny wire screen that your grandma used to have? That is a sifter. If you don’t have one of these, you can use a vegetable/spaghetti noodle strainer or even a small tea strainer. Anything with those small holes.

Measure how much flour you’ll need. For every 1 cup of flour you use, take out 2 tablespoons of the flour. Set the 2 tablespoons aside or put them back in the flour bin.

Replace the two tablespoons of flour that you took out with two tablespoons of cornstarch.

Si ft the cornstarch and flour at least five times. This will take a lot of time if you are using the tea strainer, but do it anyway. The cornstarch needs to get mixed in really well. The better you can sift it together, the more light and fluffy the cake flour will be, perfect for making that marvelous melt in your mouth cake.

The above is from EHow.

Linked to What’s Cookin’ Wednesday

 

Sweet and Spicy Grilled Cheese Sandwiches – Out of this World Good

It has been a long time since I have a grilled cheese sandwich and frankly, having Ellie’s sweet and spicy sandwich assures you that I won’t wait so long to have another.  I remember liking grilled cheese sandwiches but certainly not loving them.  I do love these.  There is something about the mix of flavors that brings joy to the heart and great taste to the mouth.  I love the idea of cutting up the onion and caramelizing and then, making it a layer, in the sandwich. 

Sweet and Spicy Grilled Cheese Sandwiches                  adapted from Ellie Krieger,

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons canola oil



• 1 large red onion, finely diced
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 ounces Edam, thinly sliced, divided
• 4 slices gluten free sandwich bread
• 2 ounces Monterey  Jack cheese, thinly sliced
• 1 large or 2 medium beefsteak or hothouse tomatoes, sliced
• Cooking spray

Method:

Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Lower heat to medium. Add onions and saute, stirring, until edges are browned, about 10 to 12 minutes. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.

 

Place 3/4-ounce Edam on 1 slice bread. Spread 1 tablespoon caramelized onions on top of cheese and top with 3/4-ounce Monterey Jack. Top with 1 large or 2 medium slices tomato and other slice of bread. Repeat with other sandwich.

 

Spray a nonstick skillet or griddle with cooking spray and heat until hot. Place sandwich on griddle and weigh down with a heavy skillet or plate. Lower heat to medium-low and grill until underside is a deep brown but not burnt and cheese is partially melted, about 5 to 6 minutes. Flip sandwich and grill other side, an additional 4 to 5 minutes. Slice in half and serve hot.