Red Currants...for real?

I admit, I am a sucker for fresh fruit and I like it tart! (My family disagrees and calls it sour!) Red currant jelly is one of my favorites! A beautiful bright red and translucent, sweet and tart, sticky and smooth!

This week at Main Street Market (Blissfield at Hathaway House) Farmers Market, the owner of Vine Haus, Barb, had the most beautiful fresh red currants for sale! I am so excited! Tomorrow morning is jelly making at my house! I do love to make jams and jellies...they are easy, take little time, give me a huge sense of satisfaction and domestic goddess status amongst family and friends. I also love to eat toast with jam on a freezing, dark, January night. Usually more than one piece!

I also found a salsa recipe using red currants (on tomorrow's menu) and a lovely looking cake.

My fondest memory of red currant jelly is Amboise France, with a fresh crepe and chantilly (whipped cream). Wish me luck in reproducing them this week!

I will update and send recipes ASAP! Enjoy your farmers market this week and make a batch of jam too! That liquid pectin is amazing!

A party and paella...

June 19 was the day we have been preparing for, for the last 3 months! Our middle daughter, Julia, graduated from Tecumseh High School this year, and the 19th, her party date. We have been scrubbing, painting, weeding, cooking...it was a success!

Lots of family, food, memories and fun! We are so blessed to have such a great family that helps and supports, that laughs and cries together. There were some faces missing that brought some tears, and new faces that brought lots of smiles. Such is the way of a family.

Later in the evening, we prepared Paella and Sangria, a plate of Spanish cheeses and bread! A community effort...that's when paella tastes the best! The idea of paella is to use what you have close to home, be it seafood, chicken, pork etc. My favorite recipe is below and you can tweak the amounts to make enough for your crowd. I can NEVER get the crust to form correctly on the bottom of the pan, so don't stress either.

12 ounces of arborio rice
8 cups chicken stock, warm
3 strands saffron (added to chicken stock)
1 Tablespoon Spanish smoked paprika (sweet, bittersweet or hot- your preference)
2 Tablespoons minced Garlic
2 fresh tomatoes- chopped
1 jar roasted piquillo peppers- chopped
8 ounce package spanish chorizo- sliced in 1/4 inch thick rounds
2 lbs fresh mussels or clams
1 lb raw shrimp
2 lbs. fresh chicken thighs (I prefer to grill mine until about half done...undercooked chicken-yuk!)
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Use an extra large skillet or paella pan over medium -high heat, saute your chorizo until the oils release and add tomatoes, garlic and peppers. Add rice and let brown it slightly. Reduce heat to medium-low and add chicken stock, paprika and season to taste. Let cook about 10 minutes at a slow simmer. Raise heat back to medium high and add shrimp, mussels and pre-cooked chicken. Let cook an additional 10 minutes until musssels open, shrimp turns pink and rice is desired doneness!
Drizzle with a squeeze of lemon and a bit of extra virgin olive oil!

Cherries...

Some of my fondest memories are about a cherry tree. The family farm had the biggest, gnarliest, sweet cherry tree! Huge trunk, large branches that were low to the ground (except when you're 5!) and notches that you could sit in all day, and I did. This cherry tree was magical, full of birds and nests, hiding spots and cool breezes, it was also our favorite spot for family pictures and created many mean pies.
The tree is ancient and now most of the branches have died, but there is still a branch that won't give up. It saddens me to see it so broken and old, yet, it has given so much over the years that we can't help but treasure it today!

As John and I planted a sweet cherry at our place last year, I wanted a special recipe that would highlight my favorite fruit. I will be old (er) before massive production kicks in, but I'm keeping these branches low, so I will always be able to pick cherries!

Clafoutis is a French dessert that I love...not too sweet, bursting with fruit and rich. My favorite recipe comes by way of the French Feasts cookbook and with only a slight variation. Enjoy!

1 pound of sweet black cherries, pitted
1 cup flour
2 large eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar, divided
1/4 teaspoon almond extract or vanilla

Butter a 7X11 casserole dish (9X13 is a little too big, but 9X9 is too small...you may need to dig in your cabinet for your right size! Add a little time to baking if using a smaller dish, it will still turn out great!) and arrange cherries in it.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, mound flour and mix in the eggs one at a time, not allowing the dough to get lumpy, not all flour can be incorporated. Slowly add some milk to keep batter-like. Stir in 1/4 cup of sugar and extract.
Pour over cherries and bake about 25 minutes until golden brown and puffed up. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with remaining sugar.
Serve at room temperature.

The clafoutis will cut more like a cake than a cobbler and you can totally change the fruit to whatever you like. It also tastes great with a hard sauce poured over it, or a scoop of ice cream!
Enjoy!

Living the Farmer's Market life

I thought you might enjoy a day in the life of a cheese maker preparing for the Farmers Market! John has it easier than some folks, because we have an abundance of GREAT farm markets close to Tecumseh. Four Corners Creamery currently attends Saline, Ann Arbor, Canton and Blissfield at Hathaway House, all of which are 25 miles or less away. These are nice markets that are committed to offering locally made goods.

At Four Corners, John makes about 450 lbs of cheese per week, but we bump up Fresh Mozzarella production in the spring and summer months another 100 lbs. Our production runs Tuesday-Friday every week. John makes both cow milk and goat milk cheeses and yogurt. Some of our cheeses age up to a month, but we focus on fresh. The philosophy behind this is simple: fresh cheese is healthy, tastes great and remains affordable. We want everyone to be able to afford a round of fresh goat cheese every week! Ounce per ounce, we are about the same price as a large scale (think millions of lbs!) goat cheese producer!

When milk prices fluxcuate (it's on the commodity market) we can keep our prices the same.

So, the cheese is made, drained and packaging begins...each fresh goat cheese round is hand formed, sprinkled with a mild herb blend and wrapped in plastic. About 200 of them, each at approximately 6 ounces!

Each aged goat log is inoculated, drained and hand formed into a triangle shaped log and set to aging for about 3 weeks in a separate area. The already aged logs are weighed and cut into 6 oz. pieces and wrapped for sale.

The "Northern Lights" is a fresh cow milk spread that is drained, mixed with salt, garlic, paprika and ground peppercorns and is ready for sale 12 hours later.

Our cream is allowed to ripen overnight and our butter is lightly salted with sea salt.

It's a busy week during the farmers Market season, we love it! The people, the recipes, the vendors, the FOOD! It's an amazing process to be involved in!

Thanks for buying our cheeses and enjoying them...we make them just for you!

Saugatuck and Soap

One of our family's favorite weekend spots is Saugatuck Michigan. A quick 2.5 hour drive straight west to Lake Michigan puts us in the R & R mood! It's hard not to relax when you are sitting on white, sugar sand beaches facing indigo blue water and 80 degree temperatures! Not to mention, there is no wireless service on the beach, so real life just blurs into blue water and sailboats!

We have always loved the town as well. Cape Cod-ish look on the Kalamazoo River with a bustling marina and very walkable downtown. Lots of live outdoor music, a world-renowned film festival in June, art galleries, shops and restaurants, it's a trendy fun town. The teenagers have a good time as well and we never leave empty handed.

I always buy a bar of Nesti Dante soap from the Tuscan Pot shop. A charming shop, studio and gallery of ceramic artist Rachael Hirt. She creates lovely Italian inspired ceramics and stocks interesting, authentic, imported Italian goods. I stock up on Florentine paper notecards and stationary, leather goods and these Nesti Dante soaps. BIG bars of lather-y, scented goodness that doesn't dry out your skin, give you a rash or leave a soap ring in the tub! The above photo is my favorite scent, but Tuscan Pot has a great selection of scents! Rachael has some new Venetian glass pendants this year and beautiful Italian wrapping papers....I will be back to pick up later this summer! You can see her shop online at www.tuscanpot.com

We also love the neighboring town of Douglas. The Wild Dog Grille is always a winner for food and outdoor seating. I had their Gazpacho and Wild Dog Burger...a burger topped with grape tomato jam (a homemade chunky ketchup) avacado/pesto sauce, french fried onions and gorgonzola all on a medium cooked burger with a grilled bun. Incredible! Outrageously delicious! The best burger I've had in a really long time. Gina's friend, Lewis, concurred. John and Gina got the Tilapia Fish Tacos, Jamie a brick oven pizza. All was wonderful!

In Douglas, I always have to stop at the Steve Rubinkam Gallery and Joys of Life Artful Gifts . He is a very talented impressionist acrylic painter and his work never fails to bring me joy! Joys of Life Artful Gifts always has a little something sweet and interesting to pick up for myself or gifts! Plus the owners are fabulous!

Our favorite place to stay is a little unconventional...room 16 at Captains Quarters Motel on the Blue Star Highway. We LOVE motels! Nothing fancy, but large rooms, lots of pillows, great air conditioners and plenty of hot water! Everything is clean. I enjoy taking my coffee to the backyard in the morning and waking up to the great outdoors. Funky statues, manicured gardens, comfy outdoor seating allows me to read and wake up amongst the little grey squirrels and roses. Not dirt cheap, or for everyone, but we love it! If you go, tell the owner "The cheese people sent us!" (Here's hoping that he likes us too!)

Chicken...a mistake or two and WOW!

Last evening was chilly and rainy and as 6pm came around, I still had no idea what to make for supper! Jamie suggested a chicken en croute recipe she really likes so I began preparing it, only to find...I pulled out phyllo dough instead of puff pastry and I was out of homemade pesto. It is a bit of a running joke in our house that we have shelves of food and nothing to eat!

I scavenged the fridge a bit and came up with a little something new, yummy, done in 35 minutes and beautiful!

1 whole chicken breast (2 halves)
1 package phyllo dough
4 Tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup mixed mushrooms (shitake, cremini, oyster, portobello)
2 Tablespoons butter
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper

1 package smoked scamorza cheese, sliced 1/4 inch thick


I filleted whole chicken breast and cut each fillet in half for 8 pieces, each about 4X4 and 3/4 of an inch thick.

In a saute pan, I melted the 2 tablespoons of butter and sauted the seasoned mushrooms until tender, adding the minced garlic about the last 2 minutes of cooking.

Lay out the phyllo dough, 3 sheets thick, and brush the top piece with melted butter. Top with chicken, a slice of cheese and about 2-3 Tablespoons of mushrooms. Fold the phyllo dough into a packet and brush all with butter, you want to make sure you don't have any open spots.

Bake 20-25 minutes on 375 degrees until well dough is well browned. Do not over bake, you want a juicy, moist piece of chicken.

I served with a bit of white and wild rice blend and a green salad dressed with Extra Virgin Olive Oil!

Tarte au Citron

I have a confession, I ate 2 pieces of Tarte limone, 1 piece of peach/blueberry pie, a piece of pineapple-something pie and a piece of Mukova buchta (a Czech poppy seed pastry) yesterday! It was Mothers Day and all the mothers in my family made something special...I was being polite! It was so fabulous to indulge in so many lovely desserts!

My family tends to be "fruity", fruit pies, cobblers and pastries. John and his family tend to like chocolate, cakes and frosting. It is an excellent marriage of tastes!

I have been dying to use my new tart pan from France. A 9 inch square of fluted beauty with a toasty brown teflon surface and removable bottom. It's heavier than what I've seen available in the US.

I dug through all of my cookbooks and knew I didn't want a "baked" tart, I wanted it "filled". I had a bowl full of lemons that were enticing me with their fragrance...Viola! This is what I came up with. Enjoy!

Lemon Curd: You could always buy it in a jar, but why? This recipe came together like a dream, bright yellow, a touch of creaminess and bursting with lemon goodness!

I put the crust together first and got on with the curd, so the tart cooled as we finished up supper. I garnished each piece with a bit of whipped cream, but it was unnecessary, next time a scattering of green ground pistachios will do it!

PATE SUCRE:

1 1/2 cups sifted flour, all purpose
7 Tablespoons butter, chilled
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg beaten and mixed with
2 teaspoons water

In a large bowl, work together the flour and butter until incorporated. Add sugar, mixing with your fingertips and finally the egg and water. It will seem too dry, but you will want to knead it until you have a smooth consistency. Roll out on a floured surface to 10 inch circle or square. I cut my remaining dough off at the edge, or you could leave a 1/4 above the rim if you like. Chill for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake for 10-12 minutes.

This crust is sturdy enough to make individual tartlets too! Simply bake about 8 minutes.


LEMON CURD:

2/3 cup lemon juice (about 3 lemons, I would not use the bottled stuff)
2 teaspoons lemon zest
6 egg yolks
1/3 cup of sugar
3/4 Tablespoon butter

Use a bouble boiler if you have one, or I put a glass or metal bowl on top of a pan of simmering water. Put juice, zest, sugar and egg yolks together and stir continuously about 8-10 minutes until mixture has thickened to the consistency of sour cream. Remove from heat and whisk in butter until completely melted.

At this point I filled my pre-baked tart shell and refrigerated it for about 30 minutes, covered with plastic wrap. You could also put your curd into covered jars. It will keep 1 week, chilled and covered.

It was a delightful Mother's Day, full of family, love, sunshine and desserts!