I have written before that if I must choose between salty and sweet, salty wins hands down.  But every once in a while, I will have a craving for a small, sweet bite.  I feel much better eating sweets when there is fruit involved and when I was at the farmer’s market the other day, I happened upon some of the most beautiful raspberries, so it was impossible to leave empty handed.  Raspberries peak June to October and when shopping for them, look for ones that are plump and deep in color.

When making desserts with fruits, I like to make things that bring back childhood memories, usually involving cobblers and crumbles.  My sister and I would pick blackberries from our backyard on Sunday afternoons and Mom would make cobblers and crumbles from the fruits of our labor.

Few things are better than the smell of a berry crumble baking in the oven.  I know a watched pot never boils, but I sometimes can’t help kneeling and peering in the oven just to catch a glimpse of the the sweet and tart juices bumbling and the crumbs browning…The oatmeal crumb topping in this crumble recipe adds an extra health benefit which equals even less guilt (if you are so inclined to have it!).

Again, using only five key ingredients, this recipe may be simple, but it tastes nothing short of scrumptious.  These Raspberry-Oatmeal Crumbles are sure to enliven even those with the most liberal of sweet spots!

Raspberry-Oatmeal Crumbles

Ingredients:

2 pints fresh raspberries

1 tablespoon, plus two teaspoons organic sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/3 cup organic oats

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

2 tablespoon organic butter, diced

Method:

Preheat oven to 350F.  Wash and pat raspberries dry.  Place in bowl and toss with one tablespoon of sugar and cornstarch. Set aside

In a separate bowl, combine oats, remaining sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Add cut butter, forming medium size crumbles with your fingers.

Place 4 6oz ramekins on a foiled baking sheet.  Add raspberries to ramekins and top with crumble mixture.  Bake until bubbly.

Serving:

Makes approximately 4 6oz servings

Garnish:

With fresh cream, whipped cream or ice cream.  Cream could be flavored with a liquor.

food styling & photography: cynthia groseclose

spoons: coastal cupboard, mt. pleasant, sc

The thermostat may say 95F, but honestly, I don’t care!  Hot or cold, there is something comforting about a good bowl of soup.  And apparently I’m not alone finding comfort in a bowl.  Books have even been written drawing the correlation between soup and comfort (i.e. Chicken Soup for the Soul).  And it’s true …When I’m feeling under the weather, I crave soup, when it’s chilly outside, I crave soup and when I want a simple and satisfying meal, I crave soup.

Turning gorgeous, vibrantly colored summer produce into a light, yet filling meal could not be easier or taste more delicious.  Beets, with their vibrate pinks, reds and violet colors provide a show-stopping presentation for a summertime soup .  When shopping for beets, look for small to medium sizes and beets free of spots and bruises. Beets peak season runs June through November.

This soup couldn’t be any simpler to prepare, containing just five key ingredients. And with high-tech kitchen gadgets like the Vita-Mix, there is no longer an excuse for those of you who feel you lack skill in the kitchen (eh-em, Mom!).  Anyone can become a master “chef” at making a simple soup.

Roasted Baby Beet Soup with Cumin & Crème Fraîche

2 Bunches Medium-Sized Baby Beets (approximately 8 beets), stalks and ends removed

1 Small Shallot, chopped

1 Cup Vegetable Stock

1 Tablespoon Crème Fraîche

1/2 Teaspoon Cumin

Olive Oil

Kosher Salt

Pepper

Preheat oven to 400 F. Place beets on foiled baking sheet, toss with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and cover with an additional sheet of foil.  Roast until beets are soft or approximately 30 minutes.

Remove beets from oven and discard skins.  Place beets and shallots in Vita Mix and puree.  Add vegetable stock and puree again.  Strain.  Season with salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with crème fraîche and a pinch of cumin.  May be served hot of cold.  Makes 4 small servings.

food styling & photography: cynthia groseclose

bowls & spoons: coastal cupboard, mt. pleasant, sc

I have always had a preference toward savory foods and the potato has long been one of my favorites.  It’s starchy, filling and can be prepared so many different ways. To me, potatoes are the ultimate comfort food.

My grandmother made the most delicious creamed potatoes – the kind that are melt- in- your- mouth good with butter, heavy cream and salt.  Simple and incredibly sinful.  I am going to put it out there and say that her potatoes were almost as good as the one’s Robuchon is so famous for – the ones where you keep licking, hoping your empty spoon is just a mirage and that there is actually another bite waiting to be savored.

Since I love potatoes so much, I decided to do a little research and I discovered there are around five-thousand potato varieties world-wide and that global potato consumption is around seventy-three pounds per person on an annual basis. Potatoes are inexpensive and easy to grow, but do not have a very long shelf life, staying fresh around two weeks maximum. My personal favorite potatoe variety is the new potato, which has less starch content than baking potatoes and a distinct taste.

I love to roast potatoes and I recently decided to play around with roasting them in citrus and smoked paprika.  The tartness of the lemon and the smokiness of the paprika balance each other perfectly and a touch of crème fraîche adds a cool, creamy finish to this easy potato recipe.

Of course, I made mine into miniatures, placing three potatoes in miniature 1.5″ x 2″ porcelain cubes.  Serve them with miniature forks at your next party for little bite of comfort with a kick.

Roasted Lemon & Smoked Paprika Potatoes with Crème Fraîche

Serves 8

3lbs. small red and small yukon gold potatoes

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

crème fraîche

freshly ground pepper

Pre-heat oven 400F.

Place potatoes in pot and cover with cold, salted water.  Boil on high-heat for 5 minutes or until soft.

Remove potatoes from heat and cut in half.  Toss with lemon juice, olive oil, paprika, salt and pepper.

Spread evenly on foiled baking sheet and roast, uncovered for approximately 30 minutes or until just browned.  The potatoes will be crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Garnish with crème fraîche and an extra sprinkling of smoked paprika.

I have a snow cone addiction.  It’s true…I drive to my favorite snow cone stop on Sullivan’s Island every chance I get to satisfy my craving for shaved ice.  I even invested in my own ice shaver, so I could feed my fetish morning, noon, and night.  So when I had to create a summertime treat for a recent entertaining class, I immediately thought about snow cones.  A “Strawberries & Champagne Snow Cone”, a “Bloody Mary Snow Cone” with tomatoes, pepper sauce and pepper vodka.  So many possibilities and the perfect miniature show-stopper for a party.

And while glancing at the InStyle website today, I came across none other than the “adult”  snow cone.  Looks like I’m not the only one who is loving snow cones right now!  And check out Fresher Than Snow Cones Blog for really interesting flavor combinations for this summertime frozen treat.

I love it that the snow cone is InStyle!

Strawberries & Champagne Snow Cone

makes one

1/2 cup fresh strawberries

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup simple syrup

1 oz champagne or prosecco

Purée strawberries with water.  Put 8 oz. of shaved ice in cup.  Add champagne or prosecco to cup. Top with strawberry purée and simple syrup. Splash with a little sweetened condensed milk for a little richness.

photography clarisse aillet

Peach season is in full swing and the Farmer’s Market has been full of this gorgeous yellow fruit with its hints of red and pink and its sweet fragrance filling the air.  On a recent trip to the Market, the peaches were so beautiful I decided to fill a bag, head home and figure out what to do with them.  With our thermostat working on overdrive lately, what better than a summertime soup to cool things off.

This soup is a simple mixture of roasted peaches and tomatoes that have been blended until smooth, passed through a sève, seasoned and chilled.  Some of the peaches and tomatoes were reserved prior to roasting, diced and combined with shallot, cider vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper to make a quick salsa for a garnish.

To add a little extra flavor and texture to the dish, I made a homemade chicken sausage with ground chicken, basil, egg, whole wheat panko breadcrumbs, salt and pepper.  The sausage was pan fried, placed on a miniature skewer and served over the soup.  The perfect combination of sweet and spicy.

I used this recipe to create a miniature version of the soup for a recent Spoleto Festival Garden Party Event.  The soup was served in miniature porcelain cylinders, garnished with salsa and miniature skewers with the chicken sausage were placed on top.  Guests could sip the soup or use miniature teaspoons that were provided.

Roasted Peach & Tomato Gazpacho

6 medium peaches, quartered and pits removed, reserving 2 quarters for salsa

4 small tomatoes, quartered, reserving two quarters for salsa

1/2 cup olive oil, divided

1 cup fresh peach nectar

kosher salt

ground pepper

Preheat oven to 375 F.  Toss peaches and tomatoes with 1/4 cup olive oil, salt and pepper to coat.  Spread evenly on sheet pan and roast until fruit is soft or approximately 15-20 minutes.

Place roasted fruit in food processor and blend until smooth. Add remaining olive oil and peach nectar, blend.  Strain mixture, season and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour. Serves approximately 4.

Quick Peach & Tomato Salsa

2 reserved peach quarters

2 reserved tomato quarters

1 small shallot, minced

2 tsp cider vinegar

1 tbsp olive oil

kosher salt

pepper

Take remaining fruit cut into small dice.  Toss with shallot, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.  Refrigerate. Use to garnish gazpacho before serving.

Cooks Notes: While recipes are helpful as a blueprint to follow, part of the joy of cooking is using the senses to create something that is pleasing to you.  Always taste and adjust seasoning and acids according to your preference.  With this recipe, you can adjust the amount of peach nectar or even add more tomato to the ratio to slightly alter the flavor.  If you prefer a chunkier gazpacho, blend less.  If there is not enough liquid, add more.  Experiment!

When buying peaches, look for plumpness, unwrinkled skin and are slightly soft to the touch.  Avoid peaches that are bruised, mushy or dark in color.

Photography by Leigh Webber

While technically we still have a few days to go, the summer heat has already arrived and when I think of summertime flavors, citrus is one of the first that comes to mind. So when I was thinking about small bite ideas for the Cynthia Rowley Bridesmaids Dress Launch Party, I knew it had to be something with cake and citrus.

These bites may be petite, but their flavor is anything but.  The sweet nuttiness  of the almonds is perfectly balanced by the bitterness of the orange.  Cooking the whole orange provides a good bit of liquid, which makes for an incredibly moist cake.

These cakes are not only the perfect sweet bite for a party, but could also be packaged in small boxes and given as gifts.  Top with a cream cheese frosting, greek yogurt, or a simple powdered sugar glaze and garnish with blood orange segments or even edible flowers for a really stunning presentation. For our party, I arranged the cakes on cake stands that had been dusted in powdered sugar and decorated with beautiful yellow and red Rainier Cherries… The recipe is simple, but the end result is a really flavorful, moist cake that makes a beautiful presentation.

Orange-Scented Almond Cakes

makes 25 miniatures

2 whole oranges, unpeeled

3 eggs, beaten

1 1/4 cups organic cane sugar

2 cups ground almonds

1tsp. baking powder

1 cup greek yogurt

2 tbsp. butter

1 blood orange

powdered sugar

Pre-heat oven to 375 F.  Line a 14 x 10 inch baking pan with buttered parchment.  Cook oranges in boiling water until they are soft – just over an hour. Cool.

Cut oranges in half and remove any seeds.  Place orange halves in food processor and puree until smooth.  Add eggs, sugar, almonds and baking powder and pulse to combine.  Pour batter into baking dish and bake approximately 40 minutes or until cake is firm to the touch.  Brush with melted butter and cool.

Using a 1 1/2 inch pastry cutter, cut 25 miniature cakes from cake pan and line on parchment.  Top with small amount of greek yogurt and a segment of blood orange. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

I love simple, clean, seasonal food.  Food that is not overly complicated and really focuses on the beauty of the flavors of just a few key ingredients, one never outshining the other.  And while part of what makes my job so much fun is figuring out creative and unique ways to present a relatively simple bites – dressing up something uncomplicated, while providing a little visual inspiration… In the end, it is all about the flavors of the food.

This Pea Purée recipe from a recent party Canapé catered for Garden & Gun Magazine is the perfect backdrop for any spring garden soirée.

Simple Spring Pea Puree

3 cups fresh english peas

1/2 cup light extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp unsalted butter

sprig of thyme

kosher salt

pepper

dash of heavy cream (optional)

Heat olive oil, butter and thyme in saute pan over medium heat.  Remove thyme.  Add peas and cook until tender.  While warm, transfer peas to food processor and purée until smooth. Pass pea purée through sève, pressing with ladle to remove shells. Season with salt and pepper. Splash with heavy cream.

Phyllo Cups

Frozen Phyllo Dough

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 350 F. Thaw dough and unroll onto parchment paper.  On a separate piece of parchment, using two sheets of phyllo, cut rounds with a 3-inch cutter.  Place each round into a muffin tin brushed with olive oil and press the center down into the cup. Bake phyllo cups until golden brown.

Assembly

Spoon a tablespoon of purée into each phyllo cup.  Top with a piece of shaved parmesean, a drizzle of olive oil and lemon zest or top with ricotta salata.

photo by michell frizzell

I sometimes wonder if I am crazy for loving miniature foods. As beautiful as they are, the amount of labor that goes into making these tiny little packages of perfection is intense. Hundreds of little bites must be prepared as uniform and consistent as possible. Hours and hours of painstaking labor is made worth it when I see the reaction of the guests to the food. Witnessing a “sea” of minis on a table at an event excites and inspires me to keep coming back for more…

Last weekend, we catered a wedding brunch full of miniatures. One of my favorites, as well as a favorite of the guests was a play on crab cakes benedict-”McMuffin” style. Homemade mini english muffins layered with egg, jumbo lump crab cakes and a bearnaise butter.

This english muffin recipe is very simple and creates muffins with the perfect airy texture. Create your own “McMuffins” or enjoy them warm with butter and a sprinkling of fleur de sel. If you don’t want to make the mini version, use a larger cutter. Makes approximately 25 miniature muffins.

Mini English Muffins

4 cups organic bread flour

2 1/2 tsp. active yeast

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 1/4 cups warm water

2 egg whites

fine yellow cornmeal for dusting

canola oil

Combine 2 cups flour, baking soda, yeast and water in large bowl. Mix until smooth. In separate bowl, beat egg whites into moist peaks. Fold dough mixture into egg whites. Add salt. Add remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until dough becomes difficult to stir. Remove dough from bowl and continue adding flour, working into dough until dough becomes silky smooth. Form a ball with dough and place in lightly oiled bowl, coating all sides of dough. Cover and allow to rise for 1hr.

Lightly pound air out of dough and roll out onto work surface. Using a 3-inch cutter, cut circles and place on baking sheet covered with parchment. Dust with cornmeal, cover and allow to rise for 5 minutes.

Heat canola oil in heavy-bottom fry pan over medium heat. Add muffins, several at a time and cook on each side for 3-4 minutes. Cool over wire rack. Makes approximately 25 miniature muffins.

It wasn’t too long ago the idea of eating something gluten-free sounded as appetizing to me as eating cardboard, but with a sister who maintains a gluten-free diet, I had to shed my prejudices and be open to experimenting. Gluten-free products have certainly come a long way. Today, there are tons of options for people with wheat allergies and those simply wanting to maintain a gluten-free way of eating, that are also quite tasty. Bread, cupcakes and pie crusts can all be enjoyed to one’s gluten-free content.

My latest gluten-free experiment, with brown rice pasta, grilled asparagus and leeks, ricotta and basil, has made me a believer that it doesn’t need gluten to be good. I think if I was blindfolded, I may very well fail this Top Chef challenge of identifying the wheat-free impostor. The texture of gluten-free pasta is slightly different from wheat pasta, but the taste is almost the same.

The verdict: gluten-free doesn’t have to be taste-free!

Gluten-Free Rigatoni with Grilled Asparagus, Leeks, Ricotta & Basil

Serves 4

16 oz. Wheat-Free Rigatoni, cooked as per instructions

1 Bunch Fresh Asparagus

1 Leek

1 cup Ricotta

Basil Leaves

Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

Cook rigatoni per instructions on packaging, rinse and drain.

Wash asparagus and leeks. Cut each asparagus stalk into into 4 pieces, slicing on the diagonal. Remove end of leek and cut in half . Place leek on flat side and slice each leek half into 1/4 inch pieces.

Heat olive oil in grill pan on medium/high heat. Grill asparagus for 2-3 minutes and then add leeks. Season. Cook another 2-3 minutes or until leeks are lightly colored and asparagus is al dente.

Heat olive oil in large saute pan on low heat. Add leek and asparagus mixture. Add pasta. Toss to combine and heat through.

Serve immediately, top with a spoonful of ricotta, a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper. Garnish with basil.

The recipe I made for the Spring Entertaining Class was inspired by a recent shoot I assisted on for Bon Appétit, where we made Strawberry “Pop Tarts” for the April 2010 issue.  These tarts are simple and delicious and have lots of possibilities for shapes, sizes and fillings.  Try pancetta, egg and cheese squares or asparagus, caramelized onions and goat cheese.  Get creative!

Strawberry Tarts

Makes 20

2 cups, plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour plus additional for shaping and rolling

1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) chilled, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

4 tablespoons ice water

12 tablespoons organic strawberry preserves

powdered sugar (optional)

Whisk 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour, coarse salt, and sugar in large bowl.  Add butter and using back of a fork, blend butter and flour mixture until resembles consistency of coarse meal.  Add ice water, one tablespoon at a time, tossing until moist clumps form.  Gather dough into ball, divide in half, shape each half into disks, wrap in plastic and chill for 1 hour.

Line two rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Working with one disk at a time, flour surface and roll dough to around 13×11 inches. Using a 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 triangle pastry cutter,  cut the dough into 40 triangles and place 20 in rows on each baking sheet.  Take a teaspoon of strawberry preserves and place in the center of 10 of the triangles on each sheet.

Take the 10 remaining triangles on the baking sheets and place on top of each jellied triangle.  Press the sides of each triangle to seal shut.  Take a small fork and score the edges of each triangle.  Working quickly.

Put baking sheets in freezer for 2 hours.  Preheat oven to 375 and place one rack in top third of oven and one in bottom.  Bake frozen tarts for 30 minutes, rotating the baking sheets after 15 minutes.  Transfer to cooling rack and cool.  Dust with powdered sugar.

Suggestions:

Break up butter cubes as evenly as possible.  Large pieces of dough in the butter can be difficult to work with and make for uneven pastry.

Do not use too much water in the dough or it will become tough.  Add slowly and toss quickly.

Once the dough is rolled, work quickly to cut and assemble the tarts.  If the dough begins to get too soft, stick in the freezer for a few minutes.

Some filling may come out of the sides of the tarts, but that just adds to their rustic nature.

Ideas:

Fill chinese takeout containers with tissue and add a few tarts.  Give as gifts for holidays and special occasions.

Try different fruit fillings or even try a savory tart with bacon, egg and cheese.  Use your imagination.

Use different shaped creative cutters like flowers, circles or animal shapes for children.

Serve two tarts on dessert plates, garnish with mint and fresh cream or melt chocolate and drizzle on plate with a dash of powdered sugar.  The tarts are simple and delicious on their own.  Make them show stoppers with creative presentation ideas.