The best and easiest blueberry lemon Danish recipe

When we go to LA, we love to go to the farmers market.  Besides all the great veggies and fruit, they always have food vendors where we can get things that are delicious.  One of our favorites is the blueberry lemon Danish.   

I decided to try making them at home so we did not have to travel to LA so often.  This was my take.  I was not planning on writing this up except maybe for me and my nephew, but lots of people asked for the recipe, so here it is.  I did not measure as I made this, so amounts are approximate.  If you need a recipe with exact measurements, then this might not be for you. 

To make this recipe easy, I chose to use puff pastry rather than homemade Danish dough.  It was still fabulous.  Here's what I did.





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First, I made the lemon filling.  I mixed together cream cheese and lemon curd. I used homemade lemon curd, but you can easily buy it from the grocery store. 

I was cooking some frozen blueberries anyway, so I just took some from the pan before they broke down too much.  In the blueberries I added some brown sugar, cinnamon and lemon.  You can easily use fresh blueberries or even canned blueberry pie filling.  I drained the liquid from the blueberries before I used them on the Danish.

I rolled out one sheet of puff pastry into a 12" square.  I tried to keep the borders straight but if yours rolls out with a less than perfect border, cut the extra parts off.  Try not to roll the puff pastry too hard or it will impact how much your pastry puffs.  Cut the puff pastry into four equal pieces.

The next part is a little tricky.  Each square will need to be cut so that you can make the design.  Use a sharp, pointed knife.  Cut along the top and sides of each strip at about 1/4 inch.  You will cut from the edge to almost the center for each corner.  Look closely at the photo to get a better idea of what this should look like.  While this does not have to be perfect, cutting it properly is important.

Now for the fun part.  Take some of the lemon curd/cream cheese mixture and place it in the center of each piece of puff pastry.  Use a spoon to spread it out just a little.  A few tablespoons should do it and this photo shows about 1 tablespoon.

 

 

Put a tablespoon or two of the blueberries on top of the filling.

 

 

  

  

To form the Danish, carefully take one outer corner of the puff pastry and pull it to the center.  Repeat the same with each corner, gently pressing the center pastry together.  If you want, lightly fold the outer points of puff pastry up a little, but you do not have to do that if you do not want.  Put a little blueberry over the center where the puff pastry folds meet.  I used several berries to cover the center.

  

Put the pastry on a sheet of parchment paper.  Do not use a silpat as is shown in the photo or your puff pastry will be soggy. Here's the recipe.  I hope you enjoy as much as we did.

 

Blueberry Danish

Makes 4
 

Ingredients

•   1 sheet puff pastry thawed
•     6 oz cream cheese, softened
•   2 tbsp lemon curd (or to taste…may use more; maybe less)
•     ½ - 1 cup blueberries (I cooked them a little, added a little sugar and lemon, but left them whole. You probably could use raw ones…or even canned blueberry pie filling if you must)
•   Powdered sugar

Instructions

 

Mix together cream cheese and lemon curd until smooth.  It should not be too lemony, but you can make it to taste.  Set aside.

 

Prepare blueberries by either cooking them slightly with some added sugar and lemon or using them uncooked…or just using blueberry pie filling (as a last resort).  See the texture of the blueberries on the photo below.

 

Roll out puff pastry to 12”, being careful not to press too hard or it will impact the puff you get from the pastry

 

If the pastry is uneven, cut off extra bits to make pastry square.  Cut the pastry into 4 squares.  Separate carefully.

To make the shape use a sharp, pointed knife.  Cut along the top and sides of each strip about ¼” in.  You will cut from the edge to almost the center for each corner.  Look closely at the photo to get a better idea of what this should look like.

 

Place a few tablespoons of lemon crème on the center of the puff pastry.  Slightly spread out.

 

Place blueberries on top of cream.  I ended up using more than this…maybe about 1 ½ times as much.

 

Fold each of the pre-cut edges into the center to make a shape like this.  (that’s why you don’t cut the dough all the way through and stop cutting  at the middle.  Add more blueberries on top of the center of the crust.  I added a lot more on the final product than I did on the first ones.

 

Place on parchment paper (DO NOT USE A SILPAT LIKE I DID IN THIS PHOTO.  THE BOTTOMS WILL NOT BAKE NICELY)  Bake in preheated 400° oven for about 15 minutes or until crusts turn brown.  This is how they will look directly from the oven.  Move to a wire rack and let cool.

 

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





Easy appetizer platter for your next party

 

If you are looking to entertain this holiday season (or any season for that matter) but just don't have time to cook a lot of things, consider making a charcuterie tray.

 

We bought meats, cheeses, fruits and crackers and placed artfully on a tray.  Guests could pick and choose what they wanted to take.  It took about 10 minutes for me to set up.  That's so much better than hours it would have taken to create another fancy appetizer. 

 

Grocery stores and places like Costco and Sam's Club often sell packages of prosciutto, salami, etc., at this time of year at very affordable prices.

 

I found some interesting cheeses at Trader Joe's.  I'm not into the fancy schmancy cheeses, but one new favorite was a cranberry stilton (not shown) that went well with this tray.

 

Originally I was looking for a cool platter to serve this on, but when I was finding ones for $50-60, I used my imagination.  I had a travertine tile available, but you can purchase one from your local hardware store for a few dollars.  I laid the meats, cheeses, olives and crackers on the tile and it looked really nice. 

 

You can use whatever you like but I happen to like grapes and cheeses so that's what I went with.  It would also be nice with strawberries, too.

 

People seemed to love this and just a few minutes and around $20 for this fabulous appetizer was perfect for me.

 

 

 

them on a tile...yes, a tile

Easiest candy recipe ever; M&M pretzel kisses that dont break apart

I was entrusted with the job of making candy for hundreds of veterans this year.  While I wanted to make some more difficult items, I also wanted to make something that was easy peasy.  I love chocolate coated pretzels, but they are time consuming to make.  I decided to make M&M pretzel kisses instead.  I can whip them out in just a few minutes rather than hours.

Last year I made some but found that some of the kisses fell off the pretzels once they cooled.  That wouldn't be a good thing, so I devised a way to assure the kisses stuck to the pretzels.  Here is my revised method for making chocolate pretzels with M&Ms.

Equal number of pretzels, Hershey's Kisses and M&Ms. (I like to use square pretzels, but the twists work well too.)

Several ounces of chocolate for melting (can be milk chocolate, semi-sweet or bittersweet)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

Unwrap the Hersheys kisses.  Set aside.  If you find the ones already unwrapped, even better, but they are hard to find.

Place parchment paper on a baking sheet, or use a Silpat if you have them. 

Melt the chocolate.  I like to use a microwave and zap the chocolate for about 15 seconds at a time.  Stir the chocolate and continue until the chocolate is melted.

Dip the bottom of one kiss into the chocolate, then immediately place on a pretzel.  Set on the parchment or silpat lined baking sheet.  Repeat until you have as many pieces done as you want.  (One note....do not put too many on at one time since they may cool before you can fit with an M&M.

Place the baking sheet into the oven for about 3-5 minutes.  You just want to get the chocolate kiss warm.  Remove from the oven and begin to work quickly.  Take an M&M and carefully and gently push into the chocolate.  Make sure the M&M is IN the chocolate nicely or it may fall off.  Repeat until all the kisses are topped with an M&M.  Cool before bagging up.  I like to put in the fridge to harden.  It takes a few minutes to harden versus an hour on the counter.

Now, a few words about these.  Last year I thought the hugs would be nice, but they didn't melt as nicely.  I stay away from the peanut M&Ms because they won't melt nicely either.  I had mixed luck with the caramel filled M&Ms for the same reason.  To me, the milk chocolate M&Ms are perfect.

These are so cute, so easy and yup, they're tasty; and with my method, the kisses will not fall off the pretzels either.

Have fun making and eating these. 

The best and easiest enchilada casserole recipe using leftover turkey

Still looking for ideas for that leftover turkey you have to use up. How about trying our turkey enchilada casserole. It's quick and easy and uses ingredients you have around the house.  It also freezes well.

We used red enchilada sauce but you could easily use green enchilada sauce if that's your preference.



Turkey Enchilada Casserole
Serves 4

2 cups Leftover turkey, diced
15 oz can Enchilada sauce (we used Macayos)
½ cup Rotel©tomatoes, mild
4 oz Canned chopped green chiles
15 oz can Black beans, drained
Nonstick cooking spray
12-16 Corn tostada shells (6”)
1 ½ cups Pepper jack cheese/cheddar cheese mix

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. Dice the turkey into small bite-sized cubes. Set aside.
3. Mix together the enchilada sauce, Rotel©tomatoes and green chiles.
4. Spray an 8x8” or 9x9” glass baking dish with non-stick spray. Place ½ cup of the enchilada sauce into the bottom of the dish. Place a layer of tostadas over the sauce. You may need to break some of the tostadas in half to evenly cover the bottom of the dish. Top this with one third of the turkey, one third of the beans and about one quarter of the cheese.
5. Starting with more tostadas, repeat the layers, ending with the last tostadas on top. Pour remaining sauce over the dish and top with remaining cheddar/pepper jack cheese.
6. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in the oven on the middle rack for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake an additional 10 minutes, or until cheese on top is bubbly. Let rest outside the oven for about 5 minutes. Serve.

Simple chocolate caramel with espresso blondies recipe

I recently made chocolate caramel and was looking for interesting ways to use it.  I often make caramel brownies and wondered how chocolate caramel swirled into blondies would taste.  I can tell you, they're pretty good.

The caramel was made with chocolate flavored Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk.  It is currently only available during the holidays so if you like this, you may want to buy several cans to have on hand.  Here's my recipe for the chocolate caramel Easy chocolate caramel.

These blondies are rich and gooey and have a nice espresso flavor in the background to cut the sweetness of the blondie.  I'll be making these a lot over the holiday season.

Chocolate Espresso Caramel Blondies

Makes 16  

·       ½ cup unsalted butter

·       ¾ cup + 2 tbsp packed light brown sugar

·       1 egg

·       ⅛ tsp salt

·       2 tsp vanilla

·       2 ½ tsp instant espresso powder

·       1 cup all-purpose flour

·       ¾ cup coarsely chopped walnuts

·       4 oz chocolate caramel, melted 

1.     Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2.     Line an 8" square baking pan with foil and give it a good coating of nonstick cooking spray.

3.     Place butter in a medium sized microwave safe bowl and melt the butter in the microwave.

4.     Stir in the brown sugar until sugar is completely dissolved, then stir in egg.

5.     Add the salt, vanilla, and espresso powder and mix well.

6.     Stir in the flour then fold in the nuts. 

7.     Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  The batter will be very thick. Dollop the melted caramel on top of the batter, then swirl the melted chocolate caramel into the mixture. 

8.     Bake for 18-25 minutes, until lightly golden brown. 

 

Note that this recipe was developed for high altitude.  While the ingredients will not change, baking time may vary at low altitude. 

 

 

 

The easiest ever chocolate flavored caramel recipe

I was recently given some chocolate flavored Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk to test.  I make caramels a lot but have wanted to make chocolate flavored caramel.  Since the ingredients to my homemade caramels can be expensive, I didn't want to play around with the recipe and waste them, so I searched for a simple caramel recipe that did not use a lot of ingredients.  When I found one, I realized it would be the perfect recipe to try out the chocolate flavored Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk.  It was quick, easy, and only used a few ingredients.

I had to make a few changes to the original recipe and completely reworked their instructions to work with the chocolate, but boy, am I glad I tried this out.  This caramel is good, soft, versatile and chocolate flavored. 

As a side note, I used this caramel to swirl into a batch of blondies.  I'll post this recipe, too, but I have to say, ummm, ummm, good.

Five Ingredient Chocolate Caramel 

·       11 tbsp butter

·       ½ cup granulated sugar

·       3 tbsp light corn syrup

·       14 oz can chocolate flavored sweetened condensed milk

·       ½ tsp vanilla 

1.     In a medium sauce pan melt butter.  Stir in sugar until it is dissolved.  Stir in corn syrup and sweetened condensed milk. 

2.     Bring to a boil, then decrease to a simmer. Stir constantly.  You will notice that the bubbles become like volcanos as it thickens.  Using a thermometer cook until the caramel reaches 245° (at low altitude).  In Prescott, the temperature should reach 235°. 

3.     Pour caramel into an 8x8 pan that has been lined with parchment paper and then buttered.  (Can be glass or metal, but if you have a silicone pan, you can skip the parchment paper; just butter the pan directly.)  Allow the caramel to cool completely.   

4.     When cool, you can either cut in squares and wrap in waxed paper, or use in other recipes.

Eagle Brand chocolate flavored sweetened condensed milk is only available for the holidays so if you want to make this, run, do not walk, to your local grocery store to buy some.  While you're at it, I recommend you buy several cans since it will not be available after the holidays.  I have only seen this at Fry's and Walmart so check your local stores to see if you can find it.

Watch for my recipes using the caramel flavored sweetened condensed milk.  I'll be posting them soon.

Today's Kitchen Tip: Make an easy Valentine's Day dessert

Yum!  Doesn't this look fabulous?  It's so simple to make and epitomizes Valentines Day with it's heart shape and beautiful strawberries and cream filling.

It's really simple to make.  So simple, in fact, that I had a version of this in my kids 9-12 cooking class several years ago.

If you would like the recipe see Valentine's Day Dessert. 

Today's Kitchen Tip: Cook once -- eat twice

I love to cook, but sometimes I just do not have time.  To deal with getting meals on the table, I try to make items that can be transformed into something completely different easily.  I love to make roasted chicken (or buy one already roasted from the store for that matter) and make a meal out of that chicken.  I make extra so that I can transform the leftover chicken into something else. 

Today, I am using my roasted chicken leftovers to make some delicious chicken enchiladas.  I like to fill my enchiladas with frijoles, chicken, salsa, some sauce and cheese.  For the sake of speed, I can use canned enchilada sauce, canned frijoles and bottled salsa.  I roll them up, add some sauce and cheese on top and bake.  For this quick weeknight dinner dish, I used canned items, but when there's more time, this is even better with your own homemade filling.

A delicious dinner is ready in about 30 minutes.  Oh yes, you can prepare this the night before and pop it in the oven when you get home.  It also freezes well.

Today's Kitchen Tip: Remember to leave cookies for Santa

Everybody will be leaving cookies for Santa on Christmas eve, but you want yours to be memorable.  If you are not a baker, try using refrigerated cookie dough.  They make really nice sugar cookies.  You can decorate them if you wish, but I usually don't do anything fancy with them.

I hate decorating sugar cookies.  Those of you know that I have a lot of skills, but piping cute outfits on those cookies is not my thing.  I make my cookies memorable by making simple cookies, such as brown sugar shortbread, that I can shape with my hands.  Then I dip them in chocolate and nuts and they look (and taste) like they came from the fanciest bakery.

The cookies pictured here are brown sugar shortbread (in the back) and pecan tassies.  Both are very easy to make and are sure to make Santa remember your house.

If all else fails, leave a nice cup of homemade hot chocolate.  Santa will like that, too.

Today's Kitchen Tip: How to make a super simple dressing for Thanksgiving

Super simple dressing using Stove Top
stuffing as a base and adding lots of
unique items to make it your own.

There are so many dishes to prepare for Thanksgiving that sometimes I just want to take a break.  I love stuffing, but when I've got a lot to do, it takes so long to prepare that I consider removing it from my Thanksgiving menu.

When time runs out, here's a quick and easy way to prepare stuffing (or dressing if you prefer) using a boxed mix as a base.  Trust me, once you're done with it, nobody will know you cheated.  If your family has favorites they must have in their stuffing, add your favorites.  Sausage, no problem.  Oysters, even better.  Make it your own.

Here are a few of my favorite recipes that start with boxed stuffing mixes.   You will not be disappointed.

• Simple apple and thyme stuffing  
• Super simple stuffing

Today's Recipe Tip: Easy way to make the best vinaigrette

One dressing that is so easy to make is a vinaigrette.  There is a general ratio for a vinaigrette of 3 parts oil to 1 part acid.  Your acid can be vinegar, citrus or other acidic products you may enjoy.  If you choose to use vinegar, you can use balsamic, white/red wine vinegars, cider vinegar or even white vinegar.  The type of vinegar you select will change the flavor of your vinaigrette as will the type of oil you select.  Keep in mind that brands may differ in flavor.  For example, I used a red wine vinegar to develop a recipe and a different red wine vinegar when making it later  on.  The vinegars were different, thus the flavors were different.

Your oil can be anything from an olive oil, walnut oil or even canola oil.  I like to use my finest oils when making vinaigrettes.

Vinaigrettes tend to separate so you need to shake them well to create an emulsion.  Sometimes I'll add a little mustard or mayo to the vinaigrette to help the dressing stay emulsified.

Now that you have your basic vinaigrette made, you can add lots of flavor to it.  Shallots or garlic are a great addition.  So are various seasonings.  You can change the flavor of the vinaigrette to go with the meal you are preparing.

You will need to taste your dressing to make sure the acid to oil ratio is perfect.  You may find that you enjoy a little more acid in your dressing than the standard ratio.  The best way to do this is with a piece of lettuce.  Also, keep in mind that some dressings will need to sit for a few minutes for the flavors to meld. 

Simple sweet tart crust -- No rolling required

Removable Bottom Tart Pan

So many people panic when it's time to make a crust for a tart.  If you are one of those people who hate making and rolling a crust, why  not use a press-in crust. 

My favorite crust for a sweet tart is a shortbread crust.  I just use a shortbread cookie recipe for mine, but when I want a chocolate shortbread crust, this is what I use:




Chocolate Shortbread Crust
Makes 1 10-12” tart

1 cup	Butter, softened
1 cup	Powdered sugar
⅓ cup	Cocoa powder
⅛ tsp	Pure vanilla extract
dash	Kosher salt
1 ½ cups	All purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 300°.   
2. Place butter in medium sized bowl and cream butter until soft and smooth.  Beat in powdered sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla and salt until well mixed.  Gently mix in flour until just incorporated.  Do not overmix. 
3. Press dough into a 10 to 12” tart pan with removable bottom.  Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until crust is set.  Do not overbake or crust will become very hard.  Note:  if crust becomes really hard, it is still tastes great.  Just have people pick up the tart and eat it like a pizza!

Today's Kitchen Tip: Roasted chicken

I like to buy a ready-roasted chicken from places like Costco.  Unless chicken is on a big sale, it's usually cheaper than purchasing a chicken and roasting it. 

So what if you do not want roasted chicken for dinner?  No problem.  Use the chicken to make enchiladas, quick chicken soup, chicken salad...the uses are endless.

If you do not need all the chicken you buy...no problem.  Cut it into pieces, place in a zip-top bag or freezer container, and place it in the freezer.  You will have chicken available when you need it.