Oh, I’m so tickled to share this recipe – it’s SO easy. And SO tasty. It’s boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded a little to make them thinner, topped with a slather of mayo with chipotle chiles, further topped with a panko mixture and baked for about 15 minutes. How’s that for easy?

Over on my list of “Favs,” there aren’t very many that I’d call easy. A few. But this? It’s going on the list. Oh, so easy to make. It may become part of my regular rotation. It’s full of flavor. The chicken is tender and juicy, and it takes about 10-15 minutes of prep time max, and bakes for 15 minutes. I had dinner on the table in about 40 minutes. While the chicken baked I whipped up a green salad, and I had a left over veggie to go with it. Dinner done! Love that.

Here’s the procedure . . . first I opened up this jar you see at left – it’s called The Art of Chipotle, Chipotle Paste with Adobo – found it at my local grocery store – instead of having to open a can of chipotle chiles in adobo, or dig out some of the frozen mush I have, I now have a new condiment (which will take up refrigerator space unfortunately). The paste is pureed, so you don’t have to handle the chiles (which burn my fingers) – just use a spoon to measure out what you need. You can see the chipotle paste in the bowl with the mayo. The original recipe called for up to twice as much chipotle – I tend to under-heat with chipotle – so I used just a tablespoon instead.

After mixing it up, adding dried cilantro (I learned a lesson recently about dried cilantro – it gives a nice punch of citrusy flavor), I slathered the mixture on the chicken breasts that I’d pounded out to 1/2 inch thick. I’d lightly oiled the baking dish so the meat wouldn’t stick. I also made a lightly moistened panko mixture too – moistened with a little bit of oil and added some more of the dried cilantro. The center picture is the chicken ready to bake. The chicken went into a hot oven for about 15 minutes. There you can see the finished dish, nice and golden brown. From start to finish this dinner took me about 40 minutes.

COSTCO CHICKEN POUCHES: Certainly I’ve mentioned before that I buy those pouches of chicken breasts (fresh) at Costco. The  6 pouches (2 per pouch) are separated and then get thrown into the freezer and I pull them out when I want them. DEFROSTING: The pouch goes into a deep bowl of cold water. I put a big wide pasta bowl on top of the chicken (the bowl just fits into the bigger bowl with enough room for my fingers to grab it), then a heavy object goes in the inner bowl (I use a ceramic canister that sits near the kitchen sink – it’s just decorative, doesn’t contain anything – use something that won’t spill, obviously) to weight down the meat. Sometimes as the pouches defrost they’ll move around in the water (air displacement, I suppose), so that’s why the wide bowl on top needs to keep that chicken under water! You don’t want the chicken pouch(es) to float – the poultry needs to stay submerged. It takes about 2 hours or so (maybe 3) to defrost the chicken, depending on how thick the package is. After 2 hours I massage the pouch – if there is still firm/frozen meat in the middle, it stays in the water for another hour. The cold from the frozen pouch keeps the water cold-cold, enough so there’s no chance of salmonella forming, and yet it’s warm enough that it defrosts easily enough.

We are back singing in our church choir, so  on rehearsal nights I’ve got to be prompt with dinner on the table by 6 pm. With this dish it will be easy to do! The recipe was adapted quite a bit from a Phillis Carey one I found in one of her cookbooks. I added the cilantro (fresh and dried) and the oiled panko crust. So the idea was hers, but I flew off on a tangent when I made it.

What’s good: certainly the ease of making it. It would even be worthy of a company meal. Now that’s saying something for me to have an “easy” dish I’d make for guests. Does that give you any idea how good this is? And FYI, there is just a little HINT of heat – some people might not even notice it.
What’s not: really nothing. It’s a winner of a recipe.

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If beauty were the only thing needed in a cake, this one would be a winner in my book. Pretty! Carefully drizzled with icing that puddles on the cake stand. Lots of light and dark contrast in the photo. From a blogging point of view, yes, the picture is a good one! And actually, from an eating point of view, it’s tasty also. Not off the charts (because it’s from a boxed mix), but certainly good enough. It was for a church event. I did something a little bad – I cut the cake into about 20 slices, and cut one itty-bitty shred for myself and gently mushed the cake together. I needed to taste it, right? Quality control, for sure!

I’m not going to write up much about this cake – it’s fairly self explanatory – a boxed yellow cake mix, a box of instant lemon pudding, some oil, water, 4 eggs and into a greased and floured bundt cake pan it went. Once baked and cooled, I mixed up some lemon juice with powdered sugar and when it was thick enough I drizzled it on top. Just after I took that photo I sliced up the whole cake – here’s a picture of the interior. I removed 2 slices just to take the photo, then cut my itty-bitty see-through shred to taste and re-formed the cake on two heavy-duty paper plates.

How did it taste? Like a light, lemony cake from a mix. I do have another lemon cake on my blog that my friend Joan made – if you click on that link, you’ll find an Ina Garten recipe that was sensational some years ago. But also here on my blog I have a Yellow Cake with Fudge Frosting, a wonderful made-from-scratch yellow cake – it’s breathtakingly tender – like a cake mix, but it isn’t. It’s from scratch. Both of those are delish. But in this case I was in a hurry to make something – mostly to be eaten by children, so they wouldn’t know whether it was a mix or home made, so I opted to go quick and easy. And it was.

What I liked: obviously –  it was easy to make. I had a yellow cake mix in my pantry, and the box of lemon instant pudding. Even the icing was simple. And it had delightfully lemony flavor. It would be nice with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, for sure.
What I didn’t like: nothing, really. It’s a cake-mix cake enhanced with lemon. Perfect for what I needed.

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That, right there, is savory pumpkin deliciousness. A pumpkin cheese ball. You can’t exactly tell what’s inside – it’s mostly cream cheese, with some flavorings and a bit of pumpkin puree. And it’s a bright light pumpkin color. I should have taken a photo of what it looks like inside. Next time. It’s formed into a ball and rolled in chopped pecans. Made a lovely appetizer.

There’s almost nothing I like more at this time of year than pumpkin things. Oh, well, maybe I should also say I like vests, sweaters, blue jeans, fuzzy shirts, sweat shirts even. Warm shoes. And socks. But in the food realm, it’s all about pumpkin. My favorite is pumpkin pie. Hands down favorite. I inherited this craving/disability from my father who was a pumpkin pie lover from way back. Our son also has this bug – this pumpkin pie sickness, if you can call it that. His favorite thing is pumpkin pie the morning after Thanksgiving. I’ve been known to go down that road myself, but not every year. I try real hard to resist. When our son was a strapping teenager and even into his 20s he begged me to provide him with an entire pie just for him. His. Alone. And I did. Year after year. Once his sister Sara was old enough to bake them, she made an extra pie just for him. Every Thanksgiving we tease him about it and he just grins, hoping somebody will place an entire pie into his open hands. With Costco making such wonderful ones, most of us in our family don’t bake pumpkin pies anymore. Last year I wrote up a whole post about Costco’s pumpkin pies – about the statistics – how many they sell, how they’re made. It was very interesting. Click HERE if you’d like to read about it.

So, my first venture into pumpkin-land this year was this appetizer. (I also made pumpkin scones, which I’ll share in a few days). I scoured my pumpkin cookbooks and found this recipe in an old Libby’s (pumpkin) cookbook I purchased at the grocery store some years ago. Who would know better about pumpkin recipes than Libby?

It was cinchy easy to make – softened cream cheese is mixed up (in a bowl, or I did it in the food processor) with a small amount (really) of pumpkin, some cheddar cheese, garlic, Worcestershire, curry powder (just a little bit) and lemon juice. Once mixed, I chilled it for about 2 hours. If you don’t, the mixture is just too soft and gooey to form into a ball. What I did was put plastic wrap into a ramekin, scraped the cheese mixture into it and folded the edges up. It chilled overnight. When I removed the plastic wrap it was pretty easy to mold it into a more-round shape and dip it into the chopped pecans. Use plain crackers (those in the photo are Trader Joe’s pita chip crackers – one of my favorites). The cheese ball flavors are slightly on the delicate side so don’t overwhelm it with a flavored cracker.

What I liked: how easy it was to make; the smooth flavor and the hint of curry. Next time I might add a small  garlic clove – the garlic was fairly pungent in this.
What I didn’t like: nothing, really. The cheese is a little hard to handle (gooey) but hey, that’s minor.

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Most of you won’t know that just a few months after I started writing this blog back in 2007, as my husband and I were bringing our sailboat into the dock at our yacht club in San Diego after an afternoon putt around the harbor, I jumped off our boat onto the dock while the boat was going forward – my job was to quick-like wrap a line around one of the cleats on the dock to STOP the boat from plowing into the dock itself because you have to motor into the space under some power – I know, too much information –  (I’d done dozens of times before) – and as I jumped I was off-balanced somehow, my right foot went over sideways and just like that I fractured a bone in my foot, the one on the outside edge. Having never broken a bone before, let alone one in my foot, I tried to carry on, thinking it was just a sprain, which I HAD done before jumping off our boat at a different dock 10 years earlier and had to wear a boot for several weeks. This day, though, within 10 minutes I was in moderate agony. Later that day, my DH actually had to pull me, sitting in one of the rolling dock carts, up to our car because I couldn’t put any weight on the foot at all. If you don’t think that looked funny – my husband with 2 artificial legs pulling me sunk into a dock cart (they’re square-ish and quite deep). My foot swelled up like crazy, of course, despite icing it immediately. But no, it was a fracture and I was laid up for near-on 3 months. Most of which I spent in a wheelchair since I couldn’t put an ounce of weight on my foot. Needless to say, I don’t jump off our boat anymore – I sit on the rail and hop off carefully. Very carefully. That day, though, my DH was able to reverse the engine to stop the boat, without me cleating the line, thank goodness! He’s been a sailor for 60 years, so he surely knows how to handle a boat!

So what does this have to do with the spice rub, you’re wondering? Well, I carried on writing my blog, but didn’t have photos because my DH (who was without a doubt a very DEAR Hubby during that endless 3 months) cooked all the meals – even he would tell you we didn’t eat very well since he truly doesn’t know how to cook. So I shared recipes on my blog (without pictures) that were favorites of mine, and I had every intention, immediately upon recovering, of making every dish and photographing them so I could include photos in each and every post. I did do that with many, but not all. And this was one that’s lived all these years with a generic photo of fresh corn in the husks as its only visual.

Therefore, I’m rectifying that right now. We bought fresh corn at the corner farm stand – that wonderful white corn that I adore – and I whipped up the spice rub – and took a bunch of pictures.

So, back in 2007 I wrote up this recipe. But since it’s such a sensational one, I decided you should revisit it too, just like I did today. I made up a batch of the spices and it should last us through the summer – assuming I make this just 3-4 times. But besides that, ground spices once combined don’t hold their pungency for more than a few months. The only thing that makes this North African is the combo of spices. Probably Moroccan, I’d guess. Whether they grill corn on the cob in Morocco I don’t know – do they even have corn in Morocco?

There really aren’t all that many things in this mixture – I gathered them up on the kitchen counter and combined them in a bowl, then stirred them up. Into a firm-sealing jar they went and it’ll sit on my kitchen counter (so I don’t forget to use it). You can see  up above what’s in the mixture – ground cloves, ground cinnamon, ground cumin, ground coriander, ground ginger, oregano, salt and pepper. That’s it. The recipe came from Cooking Light, in 2000.

If you prepare this according to the original recipe you have to do a “process” with the corn husks (opening them without tearing off the husks, removing the silk, adding the oil and spices, then re-wrapping the husks to cover the corn). I’ve stopped doing that part ‘cuz it’s just too time-consuming and tedious. Now I just wrap one or two husked ears in foil and they go onto the grill to cook/steam, rather than actually grill. Besides, with the original, it was just the outside of the corn husks that got “grilled,” so I can’t imagine it makes any difference to the taste. So I’ve re-written the recipe using foil and using olive oil spray (no butter). If you want the original, click on the link 2 paragraphs up. I sprinkle on the spice rub – the oil spray gives the spices something to stick to, a good thing. You could rub the raw corn with butter, but I can’t say that you really need to – it’s SO tasty with the olive oil spray. The corn itself provides plenty of flavor. I used to nearly roll the corn in the spice rub, but now I just sprinkle it on – sometimes more heavily than others – I didn’t use a whole lot this time.

What I like: well, I’m just plum-crazy about the spices. I love-love lots of flavors exploding in my mouth, and to find one that has almost zero fat in it and straight-forward cooking (i.e. simple), I’m a happy camper. It’s not often I have one of those I’m willing to broadcast here on the blog.

What I didn’t like: well, absolutely nothing at all. This recipe is a favorite.

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What is that? A chicken breast on the bottom, with a piece of melting Mozzarella cheese on top, sprinkled with some pepper and Italian herbs, and topped with a mushroom Madeira sauce. VERY easy to make. You’d absolutely never – ever – know it’s low calorie.

Just because I tell you this recipe is a healthy one, please don’t go on by – you’ll be very surprised at the succulence of this chicken dish. My friend Linda T told me about a new cookbook she purchased. She’s been going to Weight Watchers for awhile, and I would guess someone told her about this cookbook there – mostly she mentioned it because the food is so good – but she also said the author includes Weight Watchers points with the nutritional info about each recipe.

The author, Marlene Koch, is a dietitian. She’s a wife and mother, and decided there had to be a way to incorporate her (and our) favorite things (like cheese, butter, and ooey gooey goodies, in her words) into everyday healthy cooking. So first she published Eat What You Love. That was a couple of years ago. (I don’t own that cookbook.) This year she published a second book, because she now has a huge following (she’s been on QVC apparently, and has written several other cookbooks about using Splenda in cooking). She has her own website, and she’s on Facebook, in case you’re interested. Her secret, of course, is everything in moderation. She uses foods (like Madeira wine in this recipe) that are full of flavor and then adds in just a little bit of oil and/or butter. The cookbook I have is her 2nd one in this genre of Eat What You Love, and it’s called Eat More of What You Love.

If this recipe is any representation of what else is in this book, I’ll be a happy camper. My husband had nary a clue the entrée was low in calorie and fat. He almost licked the plate. I’d made some plain rice and that was almost the same as licking the plate since it soaked up all the scrumptious sauce.

Truth be told, my DH and I never eat at the Cheesecake Factory. (A Chicken Madeira is on their menu, but one that loaded with fat and calories.) We don’t not go there because the food isn’t good, but because it’s about a 25-minute drive, and it’s always very crowded. It’s in a shopping center and it takes at least 10+ minutes to walk from the parking garage to the restaurant. Way too much trouble. Once in awhile my friend Cherrie and I will meet there for lunch (we usually share an order of their Shepherd’s Pie, which is SO good) and then go to a movie together. Otherwise, I never even go to that shopping center, period. Oh, yes, my DH and I did go there to buy a Sleep Number Bed (the best bed we’ve ever had, by the way) a couple of years ago.

Anyway, this chicken . . . it’s in the 2nd cookbook listed up above. My friend Linda told me this was one of her favorite recipes from the book – this was after I’d already chosen it as my first test. Starting with 4 chicken breasts pounded to about 1/2 inch thickness, you brown them in a tiny bit of oil, just until they’re browned on both sides and nearly cooked through. Remove them, then you make the sauce. I added mushrooms and let them sauté a bit, then added some red onion. It only took a few minutes and they were cooked completely. Then the wine and beef broth were added and allowed to simmer, to reduce down a bit. Lastly you add some Italian herbs and a tiny bit of cornstarch stirred into the last bit of beef broth. It’s just enough to thicken the sauce some. The chicken is put back into the pan. The cheese is put on top (I used fresh Mozzarella because I had some and didn’t have any regular Mozzie). I sprinkled the top with some pepper and some of the dried herbs. A lid was put on top and the chicken was simmered for about 3-4 minutes while the cheese began to melt and the chicken finished cooking. The rest of our dinner was plated, then I added a scoop of hot rice and the chicken with the sauce drizzled all over both the chicken and the rice. Oh, heavenly taste!

What I liked: Would you believe me if I said that I would have no idea this dish was low calorie and low fat? It was absolutely wonderful – full of flavor and texture. Delicious in every bite. I’d even make this for guests – it was that good!

What I didn’t like: wow, nothing whatsoever. A definite make again dish.

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Not like any other corn and tomato salad you’ve ever had. What makes it different is the use of white balsamic vinegar as the dressing. All of 1 1/2 tablespoons for an 8-serving bowl of it. You wouldn’t think it would add all that much. But yes, it does.

As it happens, I had some lemon flavored white balsamic vinegar that I picked up at Oliver’s in San Clemente some months ago. I’d not used it yet. I thought white balsamic was milder in flavor (it’s not) – making that assumption just because it’s as clear as water in color. Some other people who made this salad commented they didn’t like using dark balsamic (which, I think, is what the original recipe called for) because it stained the corn. When I read that I just decided to use white balsamic.

Although I’ve used white balsamic for some years (and not often, I have to admit, and only when a recipe called for it) I wasn’t sure of the production process. Here’s what I found at www.thekitchen.com:

White balsamic vinegar . . . blends white grape must with white wine vinegar and is cooked at a low temperature to avoid any darkening. Some manufacturers age the vinegar in oak barrels, while other use stainless steel.

The flavors of the two are very similar, although the dark balsamic is slightly sweeter and tends to be a little more syrupy. The white has more of a clean aftertaste. The main reason one would use white balsamic, rather than regular, is mostly aesthetic. It can be used with lighter colored foods, dressings, or sauces without any discoloring.

It’s that last sentence that confirmed my reasoning. No dark colored, stained corn for me!

The recipe I’ve had hanging around in my to-try file for some years – it first appeared in Gourmet Magazine in 2000. By the way, did you know that the internet still has a Gourmet magazine presence – not just old recipes (1941 to when Gourmet stopped publishing a monthly magazine in 2009) which live over at www.epicurious.com – it actually has new content. Just not in a monthly magazine. But it’s an evolving online website. They also publish some special editions, which I’ve not seen, although I don’t frequent any magazine aisles at all – I have all the magazine reading I can handle, thank you! But perhaps I should look at the special editions now and then.

Okay, back to this recipe. It’s SO very simple, although you do sauté the corn a little. I questioned why I should need to do that since corn cut right off the cob is so very tasty and tender. But perhaps when it’s cooked slightly it just becomes sweeter. Hard to imagine, as sweet as corn is these days. It’s cooked in a little jot of olive oil, then you add the garlic, and the halved cherry tomatoes. Lastly you drizzle in the white balsamic vinegar and lastly the scallion. Done. I didn’t add quite as many tomatoes as called for, and I decided to use the white part of the scallion too – meaning I used both the white and green parts. Perfection.

What I liked: everything about it – the combination of flavors is particularly good. We had it cold as left overs a couple of nights later and I swear it was as good if not better. No balsamic taste at all, yet it added a little elusive flavor somehow. I’ll be making this again this summer, before corn season is gone.

What I didn’t like: gosh, nothing. Worth making for sure.

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Like parsley? Like garlic? Well then, you’ll like chimichurri sauce, an Argentinian jewel to accompany grilled meats. VERY simple to make!

It was about 20 years ago that I first heard of chimichurri sauce. We went to a Brazilian restaurant in our area and were entertained with the very elaborate and dramatic meal containing several courses and the long sword of grilled meat they delicately sliced off at the table, right onto your plate. Each person had his/her own little bowl of chimichurri to use on the meat, or you could dip bites into it. I liked it enough that I asked for seconds, and asked the waiter for more information about what was in it. We’ve been served it several times in the interim at other restaurants that have some kind of grilled meat.

Actually chimichurri is an Argentinian invention, and as I did some research about it I’ve discovered that variations abound, like any other culture/country related dish. As an example Italian Bolognese sauce (or Sunday Sauce, as it’s often called), even Mexican salsa, or the British favorite, lemon curd. So it is with chimichurri. One I found from an Argentinian, said that they never add oil to their sauce. Hmmm. I’ve only had it with oil. Many others add tomatoes – to some it’s an essential part of the dish. I didn’t add them, preferring to make it more green only. So, you see, you can make it your own if you wish. This recipe may not be authentic at all, but I’ll just say one thing – it’s fabulous!

My hubby and I are still taste-testing grass fed beef, and am happy to report that we found a local purveyor we really like. Before I tell you about it/them, I want to try the steak another time. You know that adage, first time’s a charm? We’ll make certain the second steak is equally good before I share. So we grilled the said ribeye steak in our time-honored method (see Grilled Ribeyes with Amazing Glaze) but didn’t do the Amazing Glaze this time because I was making the chimichurri sauce.

Not having a favorite recipe for it, I looked up several before deciding what to do. Eventually I made it simple on myself and used the food processor. I took ingredients from several recipes and made my own combination. I whizzed it up just a tad too long – you really want to have some parsley texture – the parsley got a little lost when I pureed it. Read the instructions before making this – read it all the way through. I also used lemon juice in mine because I didn’t have any limes on hand. But lime is the preferred citrus for chimichurri.

With just half a recipe I still have nearly a cup left after the one dinner. So you might not want to make the whole thing unless you’re feeding a crowd. I think garlic loses its pungency too, after it sits in the refrigerator for even a day, let alone a week! Probably wouldn’t keep that long anyway.

What I liked: the potent garlic and parsley flavors. Loved it. Loved it. Loved it. It has powerful flavors – you need to love garlic and parsley for sure! It’s also VERY easy to make.

What I didn’t like: nothing really – just don’t over-process it- leave some texture.

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A simple, but very spicy and flavorful chicken curry, served over basmati rice. You can adapt the vegetables to your choice (this one uses red, yellow and orange bell peppers and onion).

It was about 3 years ago I was reading Cook Sister’s blog and put this recipe into my software to try someday. I have an “internet” category within my recipe software, so I know I got the recipes somewhere on the web. Jeanne (that’s Cook Sister) is South African, but the recipe is Indian. What I liked about the recipe was Jeanne’s long list of spices. Actually, I think her husband Nick made the dish, but it’s Jeanne’s blog. More spices = more flavor in my cooking book, if you get my drift. And since I have coriander, green cardamom, cumin seeds and powder, turmeric, and garam masala in my spice pantry, it was just a matter of opening a bunch of different bottles to get this spice rub and sauce enhancer going. Don’t get bogged down when you see how many spices are in this dish – you need them to make this dish taste so darned good!

Jalfrezi is a curry dish that is generally marinated in spices, then made into an all-in-one pan dish with bell peppers and onion. It can have many different proteins in it (chicken, fish, beef, even paneer [a cheese]). And that’s really all it is. It took me about 30 minutes to make the dish from beginning to end (except for the 2-3 hours of marinating, that is).

I did adapt this recipe some – when I read the directions I decided to simplify them a little bit – and I decided to add some of this sauce you see pictured at left. Dulcet is a new brand of products that you can find in some markets, and this sauce was recommended to me by a friend, a Mild Indian Curry Sauce. I suppose I could have used the entire bottle in this preparation, but I just decided to use some of it and use the recipe for the balance. If you don’t have this sauce, don’t worry – just make it without it. The sauce makes a really dark amber-colored mixture. Oh, so full of flavor.

What I liked: how easy it was to make. And how flavorful it was. My dinner came together in not time once I set the rice cooker going and cut up the onions and peppers.

What I didn’t like: nothing at all. My DH loved this dish. Fortunately for him/us, I had leftovers which I put in the freezer for a later dinner.

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Just bright flavors in this carrot slaw – raw, grated carrots, toasted nuts, some minced dried cranberries, and a very fragrant Moroccan spice mix along with some lemon juice, apple juice and a little jot of olive oil. Very healthy, but don’t tell anybody – they’ll never know.

When I made this for dinner the other night (served it with a garlic sausage and cranberry mustard) my DH sighed and said “mmmm.” A good sign. I knew I liked it because I sampled it as I was making it, but I wasn’t sure he’d like it as much. The cumin and coriander seeds definitely give it an African slant. We both had seconds. And since the entire recipe (makes about 3 1/2 cups total, to serve about 4 people) had 1 tablespoon of olive oil – well, it’s very healthy too. I can’t wait to have leftovers – for dinner tonight, thank you.

According to my notes, this recipe came from Vegetarian Times. I think it came to my inbox because once upon a time I subscribed to their email newsletter. In any case, it’s an easy recipe to make. I happened to have some toasted walnuts from a couple of days before, so I didn’t have to toast them. I also had some toasted pine nuts, so they were tossed in there too. Probably when we eat the leftovers, the nuts will be soft – so if you want to, just sprinkle the nuts on each serving – in the event you know you’ll have leftovers.

What I liked: the overall flavors – the combination is just so good. Healthy and light – bright flavors altogether.

What I didn’t like: just one minor thing – I didn’t love crunching on the whole coriander seeds, so next time I might use ground coriander instead. The cumin seeds were fine, just not the coriander. Definitely I’ll make this again, though.

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If you ever need a truly EASY dessert, the clafouti qualifies. You need some fresh fruit and the custardy-cakey mixture is whizzed up in the blender and poured over. And baked. That’s it.

If you haven’t been watching Aarti Sequiera on the Food Network . . . well, you’re just missing out, that’s all. I just love her – her cute, vivacious, bubbly personality. Her quirky recipes that take standards we mostly know and love already and she makes them her own. Sometimes with the simple addition of some Indian spices. That was the case here, when she made a Blackberry-Ginger Clafouti. I’ve made a pear clafouti before (delicious, especially with fall fruit coming in season now). But this one, with the fresh blackberries just sounded so good. And it was.

A clafouti (a French word for custard, I believe, pronounced clah-foo-tee) is a regular staple on French dinner tables. And truly – you butter the dish, sugar it, toss in some fresh fruit into the pie plate, whiz up the egg-milk-cream mixture (with the addition of some ginger and garam masala in this case) and you pour that over the fruit and bake it. That’s truly it. Making it ahead (that day) is fine. You serve it at room temp, or even still slightly warm from the oven. With some whipped cream, or a drizzle of cream on top. That’s what I did. Oh, delicious. In my recipe, I decided to use up the rest of the fresh figs I had on hand (cut in half first) and mixed it with blackberries. Wonderful. The base of a clafouti is kind of a cross between a cake and a custard. It’s very moist like custard, but has some flour in it, so it’s got some cake-like texture too. The photo at top was right out of the oven and it was puffed up high. Once it sits, it settles down (see slice photo above). That’s normal.

What I liked: the fresh fruit; the moist custardy filling; how easy it is to make; a great use for fruit that is just past its prime. It’s also a low-calorie and low-fat dessert. We all need more of those!
What I didn’t like: nothing. It’s really delicious, even the next day or two later too.

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