Fresh Tabouleh Salad

Tabouleh is found throughout the Middle East and every bite of this refreshing salad is alive with fresh herbs, tomatoes and bulgur wheat. I prefer a higher bulgur to salad ratio than what is traditional and have also made a few other additions to my recipe in order to make it a little heartier. This recipe makes a great accompaniment to grilled salmon, tuna, or steak, or you can simply toss it in a pita with some tahini yogurt sauce and you have a perfect sandwich.

Soulful, nutritious, and delicious, this vibrant salad is always crowd pleaser.



Recipe:
¾ cup of bulgur wheat
1 cup of water
1 English Cucumber – split, seeded, and diced
2 Plum Tomatoes - diced
1 Small shallot - diced
1 Bell pepper – diced
1 Clove Garlic - minced
1 Jalapeño – seeded, fine diced

¼ cup fresh mint - chiffonade
½ cup fresh cilantro – Chiffonade

Dressing:
1 tsp lemon zest
Juice of one Lemon
3 TBS Olive oil
½ tsp Salt
½ tsp Pepper
¼ tsp Cumin

½ tsp of salt or to taste
1.4 tsp of black pepper



Place the bulgur in a bowl, heat the water in the microwave until boiling, pour the water over the bulgur and let it set for 45 minutes.


Prepare the vegetables and set aside. Prepare the dressing after the bulgur has set for 45 minutes and absorbed the water. Combine the dressing with the wheat and stir until it is evenly distributed. Combine the vegetables and bulgur, prepare the fresh herbs and mix into the bulgur wheat mixture.



Serve with a dollop of hummus and pita. This recipe is also a great addition to a falafel sandwich!

Shrimp Sausage

I’m just going to stop apologizing for the extended breaks between posts… I have no excuses (other than laziness). I do have something interesting for you today though: a shrimp sausage recipe. I became interested in the idea of a seafood sausage when I saw them being made frequently by the contestants from Top Chef Season 3. Though I found the general idea to be a little bizarre, I could see the potential for deliciousness and with a little help from the olde food processor, that potential was recently realized.

I was actually surprised by how easy it was to make sausage. The only challenge I faced was flavoring. Obviously, I couldn’t taste the raw shrimp batter for seasoning and had to make adjustments to the mix after cooking a few testers. I make the mistakes so you don’t have to!

I also didn’t have casings, so I formed the mix into simple patties, kind of like shrimp burgers, which worked just as well. Their spicy flavor was characteristic of artisan sausages I often buy from the butcher and though the texture was slightly spongy, and the confettiesque view of the insides was a little creepy, overall, I think I’d make this recipe again.

Shrimp Sausage Recipe
1 pound of raw, cleaned, shelled and deveined shrimp
1 jalapeño – seeded and chopped
1 clove of garlic
¼ cup of heavy cream
¼ cup of bread crumbs
1 tablespoon of fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of cumin
½ teaspoon of black pepper
two teaspoons of lime juice

Method

Completing this recipe is made exceedingly easy by the use of a food processor. Begin by preheating your oven to 300 degrees. Then, simply combine all of the ingredients into the food processor and pulse until it reaches the consistency of ground turkey.

Form the mix into patties and brown each side in a skillet over medium high heat, about 5 minutes per side. After the sausage has been evenly browned, transfer the skillet (if it is oven safe up to 300 degrees) to the oven. Bake the patties for 20 minutes until cooked through.

Remove the sausages from the oven, allow to cool and enjoy! These sausages are great as patties or can be sliced or diced and used as pizza toppings. I would recommend this sausage as a topping for a pesto pizza.

Easy Mint Hummus

Fast, Simple, Delicious

Hummus is delicious on just about everything (pita bread, corn chips, vegetables… cookies), and luckily it is also super easy to make.

Mint Hummus Recipe

1 can chickpeas (reserve 1/2 cup of the liquid)

1/4 cup tahini, which is like a sesame seed butter (I use Sunland brand).

About a 1/4 cup of fresh mint

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 clove of garlic

3 tablespoons of olive oil

The juice and zest from one lemon

Method
With a food processor:Combine all of the ingredients and 1/4 cup of the reserved chickpea liquid in a food processor and pulse until it is smooth (you may require a little more reserved liquid to reach the consistency you enjoy).

Or with a blender:If you are using a blender, I would start by adding 1/4 cup of chickpea liquid, olive oil , lemon juice, and tahini and blend together. Gradually add the chick peas until it is smooth, then add the other ingredients and you should be good to go.

This recipe really is super easy. I plan on posting a more intricate version using dried chickpeas and homemade tahini in the future, but for the time being, this recipe is very convenient and yields a product that is all kinds of delicious!

Juicing the Mint Leaves

Mint Chip Chocolate Cookies

Mint has always been a flavor that has captivated my palate. However, despite this longstanding love affair, mint was rarely used in the sweets my mom prepared when I was young. This lead me to believe that items with mint components were incredibly exotic and that it must require Herculean efforts to impart that cool flavor to one’s dishes. In fact, my sister and I still use the term “have to juice the mint leaves” when referring to simple tasks that appear to be deceptively laborious.

Luckily, it turns out that making a delicious mint desert can be as simple as adding a few high quality mint chocolate chips to the recipe.


Add a couple cups of Guittard green mint chocolate chips to a chocolate cookie recipe and you will have a mint cookie to rival the devil-spawned (that is to say, unnaturally delicious), cocaine laden wafers purveyed by any girl scout.

Polka Dot Cookies Recipe

Adapted from the recipe from the back of the Guittard Green Mint Chips bag.
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
½ cup butter
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon coffee
2 cups (1 12 oz bag) Guittard Green Mint Chips

Method
Preheat your oven to 350oF.

Add the semisweet chips to a microwave safe bowl and heat for one minute in the ole ‘wave. Stir the chocolate and microwave for another minute. Add the butter to the chocolate and stir together until it is all melted evenly (the butter and chocolate may require an additional minute in the microwave together).


When the chocolate and butter is smooth, set it aside and combine the flour, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat eggs, sugar, vanilla and coffee until smooth and light. Add the dry ingredients to the mix until everything is evenly incorporated into the batter. Fold in the green mint chips, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place everything into the refrigerator to chill for 15 minutes.


(The Master's Glaive?)

When the cookie batter has firmed up a bit, scoop it into rounded teaspoons and drop onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes and buen apetito!

Homemade Pizza Dough

Excellent pizza dough only takes a few simple ingredients, a little kneading and time. Pizza dough is also a great springboard for easing yourself into the beautifully rewarding world of bread baking.

Although there are certainly more convenient alternatives to the homemade variety, such as take home dough from a pizzeria or pre-made shells, no one should be afraid to make their own personal, superior version.

I must admit that I do utilize a stand mixer (see old blue), which makes the kneading process incredibly easy for me. However, a bread machine will also work fabulously or you can even use a food processor to eliminate some of the manual labor. Although these devices certainly do make short work of even the most intimidating bread dough, they aren’t necessary and a little hand kneading can actually be pretty fun.


I came up with this recipe while trying to crack the formulae for the ambrosia served at my two favorite pizza joints (Bianchi’s Italian, Brooklyn Pizza Co.) with little success. I like it because the crust at the end has an almost pretzely taste, which I think you'll find surprisingly satisfying.


Pizza Dough Recipe (yeilds enough dough for 1 large thick crust pizza or two medium pizzas):
1 1/8 cups warm water
2 teaspoons of active dry yeast
3 ½ cups all purpose or bread flour
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon of course grain salt
extra olive oil to lubricate the bowl


Method:

Place the yeast into the warm (around 100 degrees F) water, give it a little stir and allow to proof for about 5 minutes.


While the yeast is doing it's thing, you can combine the flour, tablespoon of oil and salt into your standmixer, bread machine pan, or mixing bowl and whisk until combined.

I know a tablespoon of salt seems like an aweful lot but the crust won't be overpoweringly salty. The trick is to use course grain salt. A tablespoon of course salt equates to roughly 1.5 teaspoons of standard table salt (or so I have been told) and will give your crust a unique flavor and texture.

After the yeast has proofed, combine it with the flour and attach the dough hook to your stand mixer. Allow the dough to knead for 7 minutes and then check to see if it is too wet or dry.

(This dough is a little dry and needs about a teaspoon of water)

At this point, I like to finish kneading the dough by hand.


I push forward on the dough with the "heel" of my palm, fold it backward on itself and repeat the process until it is smooth and elastic.

Form the dough into a ball and place into a bowl that has been coated with extra virgin olive oil. Cover the bowl with platic wrap and allow the dough to rise for 2 hours.

There, you have it, beautiful dough that is ready for your favorite pizza recipe. When the dough is ready, form it into a thin circle by placing your knuckles in the center and stretching outwards. Then, place the dough on a pizza pan, and finish streaching it out using the palm of your hand. Fold the edges in on themselves to create the outer crust. Prick the crust with a fork all over so it doesn't bubble up when you bake it, add your sauce, cheese and toppings and bake at 500 degrees F for about 15-20-30 minutes (keep an eye on it after 10).

A lovely cheese pizza, just for me!

Homemade Buckwheat Soba Noodles

You may remember the “mysterious package” that arrived last October. Well, as it happens, I received the pasta roller under the condition that I must master its usage in order to lavish my parents with meals of fresh pasta. I was able to partially fulfill this requirement over Christmas but my skills have greatly improved since then. Hopefully, the next time I visit the folks, I’ll be able to treat them to many a starchy delight! The first recipe I plan to cook for them is homemade buckwheat soba noodles.

I’ve harbored a deep obsession with buckwheat soba since reading about it in Eiji Yoshikawa’s samurai epic Musashi. In the novel, the eponymous hero, Musashi, visits the grand city of Edo for the first time and is astonished at the ease with which he can procure a bowl of delicious soba noodles. Having lived the entirety of his life in the country, Musashi describes that while growing up, making a bowl of soba entailed planting the wheat in the fall and harvesting it in the spring, then milling the grain, making the noodles and finally enjoying it… 9 months later.

I developed a profound appreciation for this noodle after reading Musashi’s description and have been hooked ever since.

Fresh Buckwheat Soba—No Farming Necessary!
Recipe:
½ Cup buckwheat flour
½ Cup wheat flour
1 Cup all purpose flour
2 eggs
1 Teaspoon of salt
3-6 Tablespoons of water

Method:


Make the Dough
Combine the three types of flour, the eggs, salt, and three tablespoons of water in a food processor and pulse until it gains a sandy texture.



Try pressing it between your thumb and forefinger to see if it will hold together. If not, add a tablespoon of water (or more) and pulse again until it reaches this consistency.



Remove the blade of the food processor and empty the contents into a large bowl. Use your hands to squeeze, kneed, and form the dough into a ball. Kneed the dough for around 5-7 minutes until it is a somewhat glossy ball, cover the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes.



Make the Noodles:
Divide the dough into fourths, remove one of the sections (while keeping the remaining dough covered) and roll it out on a lightly floured surface until it is a little less than ½ an inch thick. Form the dough into a square, set your pasta roller to the widest setting, 1 on the KitchenAid, and roll it through (the pasta will take on kind of a glossy, taffy-ish look and feel). Fold the dough in half and roll it through again. Set the pasta roller to the next thinnest setting, 2, and roll it through a couple of times. Repeat this process three more times, until you have rolled the pasta through the 4th thinnest setting, or number 5 on a KitchenAid.

At this point, I like my noodles to be about as wide as the pasta roller itself, which can be achieved by simply folding the noodle in half long-ways and rolling it through the pasta roller until it reaches the desired width.

Lay the uncut noodle on a lightly floured surface and replace the pasta roller with the spaghetti cutter. To keep your noodles from sticking together, apply a very light coating of flour to both sides of the uncut noodle.



Run the noodle through the spaghetti cutter and allow the new noodles to form a nest at the base of the KitchenAid.

Repeat the procdure above for the other 3/4s of the dough (1 quarter at a time). Don’t worry, you will have the hang of it at this point and the remaining 3/4s will go much quicker.



Yay! You now have a batch of fresh soba! You can freeze these noodles for use within a couple of days or throw it straight into a pot of boiling water.

Boil the noodles for 2-4 minutes until perfectly al dente and enjoy! These noodles are fantastic as a sesame noodle salad!

Guacamole, an Old Family Recipe…

Using a Trader Joe’s Guacamole Kit

Guacamole is by far, my favorite dip. Creamy, salty, tangy… what is not to like? It’s so good that I require a weekly fix, and its preparation has become a tradition that my roommate and I refer to fondly as “Guacamole Friday” (even it if falls on the occasional Thursday).

This tradition began when I came across a “Guacamole Kit” at my nearby Trader Joe’s. It contained everything I needed to make excellent guacamole in a neat package. Also, at a price of $2.50, it was a smokin’ deal; I couldn’t afford not to make it! Unfortunately, as the case is with so many items that are suddenly made much more convenient and accessible as a result of the global marketplace (cherries in January?), I have a tendency to over indulge.

What started out as a treat enjoyed once weekly with only single guacamole kit has quickly grown to two kits at a time that are made more frequently. It is only a matter of time before I am stricken with guacamoletoxicosis. Mm, sweet, sweet guacamoletoxicosis. But before that happens, allow me to share the recipe so that you might join me on an avocado bender.

Guacamole Recipe (based on the contents of a Trader Joe’s guacamole kit):
2 Avocados
1 Garlic clove – Minced
1 Roma tomato – Small dice
1 Jalapeño – Brunoise (very fine dice)
1 Shallot – Small dice
1 Lime



Method:
Peel the avocados, remove the pits and place the flesh into a bowl. Slice the lime in half, squeeze half of it over the avocados and mash together with a potato masher. Next, add the minced garlic and stir until it is evenly distributed throughout the mashed avocado. Then add the diced tomato, jalapeño and shallot and fold into the avocado/garlic “batter”. Squeeze the remaining lime half over the mix, add salt and pepper to taste and you have some of the best guacamole you will ever try.


Oh boy!

A Blackberry Pockets Special

Recipe Review

Welcome to a special recipe review edition of Blackberry Pockets. These recipes are part of the Food Network’s “Twelve Days of Cookies”, an annual newsletter they publish that provides exclusive holiday cookie recipes, and will be ranked using my newly developed Five Berry Scale!

The Twelve Days of Cookies contains, appropriately, twelve cookie recipes plus one bonus but unfortunately, I only had time to test two. I did initially plan to blog the entire series but as it turns out, the holiday season has not left me with much free time for writing (I really need to start bringing the laptop to the bar…). In any case, the recipe under evaluation today is Almond Lace Cookies (Florentines) from The Food Network Kitchens.

*In order to properly judge these recipes, I made sure to adhere strictly to the recipe and also made three simple judging criteria, which are the following:

Accessibility: Does the recipe consist of ingredients that can be found at an average grocery store (for reasonable prices)?

Pay off: Is the resulting quality of the cookies worth the necessary effort required to make them?

Taste: Obviously the most important criterion and the one that carries the most weight in the decision making process — do the cookies taste good?

PART ONE
Almond Lace Cookies (Florentines)



My thoughts:
These cookies consisted of simple, easy to find ingredients that many people would usually have around the house, especially around the holiday baking season. The need to boil sugar and essentially make candy to use in the batter was, although not terribly difficult, kind of a pain. Ultimately, I found their taste to be a kind of bland and the texture to be somewhat gritty. I probably won’t make them again but they were very pretty and if you really like almonds, they are worth trying.
Overall rank: 3 out of 5


*Note, I found the following sentence of the recipe to be somewhat confusing and thought I would clarify it for you in case you make the same mistake I did and burn your cookies:

“Bake 1 pan at a time, until the cookies are thin and an even golden brown color throughout, rotating pans halfway through baking time, about 10 to 11 minutes.”

The way the sentence is constructed, I took it to mean that halfway through the baking time was 10 to 11 minutes in. However, this was incorrect. 10 to 11 minutes is the total and MAXIMUM amount of time these cookies should be baked.

I took the liberty of rewriting that section. For clarity's sake:

Bake 1 pan at a time, about 10 to 11 minutes, until the cookies are thin and an even golden brown color throughout. Rotate the pans halfway through the baking time.

Cinnamon cashew brittle

Buttery peanut brittle: delicious, but still only the opening act of the holiday season. As a child, peanut brittle always seemed like the herald of the holiday candy. It was the first treat to start appearing around people’s houses and represented a promise of greater things to come. When the headliners (cinnamon rolls, cookies, FUDGE!) would finally arrive, the brittle would retire to a quiet corner to sell posters, tee shirts and homemade CDs, sought out by only the most loyal of fans.

In order to bring a little spotlight to this somewhat unremarkable confection, I’ve replaced the peanuts with cashews and added cinnamon, positioning my brittle into rock star status. This brittle isn’t content to simply warm up the crowd for the real show; it will blow the amp, steal your girlfriend and trash the hotel room!

Cinnamon Cashew Brittle is a great sweet to have around the house or to bring to parties and it’s the perfect recipe for the first time candy maker.

Recipe:
1/2 cup water

2 cups sugar

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 cup light corn syrup

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 tablespoons unsalted butter – cut into ¼ inch pieces

2 cups roasted salted cashews

1 teaspoon baking soda

Combine the water, sugar, cream of tarter, and corn syrup into a large saucepot and attach a candy thermometer. Place the burner to medium-high and heat the contents until they reach a boil, stirring occasionally.

In another container, combine the cinnamon, butter, cashews, and baking soda.


Now you just have to wait until the candy achieves a nice golden brown color at around 339 degrees F. This part takes a little patience; you don’t have to stir the pot; you only need to monitor it. Be wary, though. Although it takes a good 25-30 minutes to achieve the proper temperature, once it hits 300 degrees, it will start to rise rapidly. Don’t do something silly like go and watch Project Runway, even if it’s just for a minute, or you might end up with something like this:

Oh yeah, that's good and ruined.

In any case, if you keep an eye on the candy, you shouldn’t have any problems. While it is heating, you can prepare a cookie sheet either by greasing it or by lining it with a silpat.

When the candy achieves the appropriate color/temperature, remove it from the heat, mix in the cinnamon, cashews, butter, and baking soda and stir rapidly to combine. Then, poor the contents onto the cookie sheet and allow it to cool. When it is ready, you can break it into pieces and enjoy!

You know, In many ways, with its dichotomies of sweet/salty taste and smooth/crunchy texture, cinnamon brittle embodies the many flavors of the holiday spirit…or something. Its jagged edges will certainly cutchoo like a mall Santa if you disrespect it though!

Firecracker Shrimp

I’m generally of the opinion that if you cover something in batter and submerge it in boiling oil, it is going to come out better than when it went in. However, this profound logic just doesn’t seem to apply shrimp. Nearly all fried shrimp I have been served have been heavy, greasy and 90% batter. More like shrimp doughnuts… actually, that does sound pretty delicious, but they aren’t!

I think that my disdain is most likely a product of living my entire life in the southwest and as a result, far away from any institution that should have the right to serve what could be quite a delicacy. Unfortunately, growing up, my exposure to seafood was almost exclusively from trips to *shudders* a certain red crustacean chain. It was not until my early twenties (how I miss them) that I would have an opportunity to try fried shrimp as it should be prepared: lightly dredged in flour, coated in panko and fried into a perfect, golden and crispy delight!

These “Firecracker” shrimp are a specialty of Tucson’s Metro Restaurants and are a must-order when visiting any of these establishments. Or you can make the Blackberry Pockets version and enjoy them at your leisure.

This recipe really is excellent and firecracker shrimp are the ultimate hor'dourve! Despite being fried, they aren't that greasy and the shrimp stay firm without getting rubbery.

Recipe:
12 pealed/deveined jumbo (12-16 count) gulf shrimp

1/4 cup flour

2 egges - beaten

3/4 cup panko bread crumbs

12 ounces of peanut oil

Method:
Begin by butterflying the shrimp by pulling a sharp knife along the back of each shrimp from the top to just past the middle of the tail. Cut deeply but not all the way through, so that when laid out, the shrimp resembles a butterfly.




After prepping your shrimp, gather three cake pans or deep paper plates and add the flour to one, the eggs to another, the panko to the last and set up your work area with shrimp, flour, eggs and panko in an assembly line fashion.

Now pour 1/4 inch of peanut oil into a frying pan and heat on high until it reaches 350 degrees Fahrenheit or you can just sprinkle some panko into the oil and if it fries (but does not burn) within a couple of seconds, it should be ready.

Now coat each shrimp in a light layer of flour (which will allow the eggs to stick), then toss in the eggs (wich will allow the panko to stick), and then, allowing any excess egg to drip off, lightly coat the shrimp in the panko. The key is to make sure that each layer of the batter is coated on as lightly as possible so that each bite is crispy and not doughy. I would recommend that you do this step in batches of four and then move on to the next step of frying and then return and do another batch of four; if the shrimp sit in the batter for too long, they get kind of mushy and do not crisp up as nicely when fried.

When your first batch of shrimp has been completely battered, place them in the oil on their sides and fry for about a minute, flip and the fry for another minute on the other side. If you need to, you can set them up on the butterflied end to crisp up any batter in the middle of the shrimp that may have not gotten cooked.

Place on a cooling rack over a plate and immediately season with salt and cracked pepper. After you have completed all batches, serve them to your sure-to-be-salivating guests or just gobble them up greedily yourself! I think they go fantastic with a little bit of sriracha chili sauce!

A Glorious Bourguignon of Beans

There are few things as comforting as a warm bowl of soupy beans.
Whether they are red, black, pink or pinto, a good bowl of beans never fails to satisfy.

As a child, I would always help my dad to make the famous family secret beans recipe. Made with a blend of pinto and pequiño beans, hamhock and garlic, and a special mix of spices, eating these beans was truly a transcendent experience. It is a recipe that simply must be shared... but not today.

No, I’m afraid that for the time being the family secret, which must be passed on to a male heir, is safe. However, I do have another recipe for you. It’s one that I developed and it is, of course, a winner!

When making beans recently, I realized there are many parallels between the creation of a batch of fine beans and beef stew. Like boiling and uh long cooking times… I think I made them both on Sundays. In any case, I was inspired to combine the two recipes into one glorious bourguignon of beans!

Beans Bourguignon Recipe
1 cup pinto beans
1 cup black beans

1 cup of Pinot Noir
1 15 oz can of tomato sauce
1 tablespoons of fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons of garlic
1 small yellow onion – diced
a strip of orange peel
1 teaspoon of salt + more to taste
Pepper to taste



Method
Begin by thoroughly washing beans in a colander and removing any deformed and half-beans as well as any errant debris you may find. When the beans are washed, place them in a large pot and soak them over night.

12-24 hours later…
Drain the beans, return them to your large stock, and fill the pot with enough water to cover the beans by 2 inches.

Bring the pot to a boil and then reduce the heat until the water is at a simmer. Allow the beans to cook through until they are soft but just slightly al dente. Depending on the hardness of your water, this can take an hour or two (or looooonger).

When the beans are ready, drain the liquid, preserving 1 cup of the broth.

Return the cup of preserved broth to the beans, add the wine, tomato sauce, rosemary, garlic, onion, orange peel and salt.

Note: when making beans, it is important to always add the salt to the beans during the final stage of cooking. Adding it too early will make the water too saline for the beans to get soft :(

Mix all of the ingredients in with the beans until everything is evenly incorporated and return the pot to heat until it reaches a simmer. Allow to cook for another hour and bon apetito!



I think this is a fun, experimental recipe and I’m pleased to be able to share it. I also think it makes a fine beef stew replacement for my vegetarian readers. The richness and bold flavors of a bourguignon without the burden of flesh!

P.S. You might have noticed the carrots in the assembly picture above. I did add carrots to the mix initially but I didn't like the flavor combination so I removed them and consequently omitted them from the final recipe. And now you know.

Pineapple Tarts

Hopefully, you still have some of the pineapple jam you made last week because we will need it to make Pineapple Tarts. Wait, you haven’t made it yet? Well, go on and click here, I’ll wait…

Now, aren’t you glad you did that? It’s freakin’ delicious, right? The only problem is that now you have to wait for it to cool. It’s fine, do what you gotta do. Again, I don’t mind waiting. Anything for you.

Hi again! Now that we have the pineapple jammaking out the way, we can proceed with the recipeing.

Pineapple tarts can be found at many Chinese bakeries and are like sweet, buttery, bites of fruity pie. They are fairly easy to make and lend themselves to a lot of creative possibilities in terms of their assembly. I have seen them shaped like tiny pineapples, rolled into little balls, and formed into miniature pies. No matter how you put them together, they are a delight and the perfect treat for any pineapple lover.

Pineapple Tarts
½ cup softened unsalted butter
4 tablespoons cream cheese
½ cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon malted milk powder
½ teaspoon salt

1 egg – beaten (for egg wash)

Filling

½ Pint of Pineapple Jam: recipe here (if, for some reason, you STILL haven’t made it)

Method
Cream together the butter, cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add the vanilla and eggs and beat until fully incorporated. Add the flour, salt, malted milk, and baking soda and mix until combined.

Pat the dough into a ball and allow to chill for at least 30 minutes.

After it has chilled, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and remove the dough from your refrigerator.

Using rounded tablespoons of dough, place the dough into a flat-ended pastry tip and force the dough through with your thumb (1). You should get about 2.5 inch long strips (3??). (Alternately, you could roll the dough into a disk that is about ¼ of an inch thick and cut the strips using a paring knife. But then you would not get the cool texture).

(whoa, that can't be the correct order, I need to update this photo)

After you have formed all the dough into strips, take a teaspoon of pineapple jam, place it in the center of the smooth side of a strip (2??) and roll the dough around it(4, ok now I'm making sense again). Place the roll, seam-side down, onto a silpat or a lightly greased cookie sheet. Repeat the process with the remaining dough.

Create an egg wash by beating the remaining egg with a teaspoon of water. Using a pastry brush, apply and even coat of the wash to each roll.


Place the tarts into the preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool and enjoy!



Unfortunately, I didn’t have all the ingredients I needed to make the traditional pineapple tarts recipe. However, I was able to improvise and although the result was not quite the melt-in-your-mouth butter joy I generally associate with this desert, I do think the recipe is worth sharing.