Naughty or Nice Fresh Summer Corn Chowder

Fresh Summer Corn Chowder

Corn Chowder is on the regular rotation during the cooler months, when the world is dark and cold and gray.

In New England, once it turns cold…it stays cold for a long time. So a warm sunny yellow bowl of chowder is a welcome friend (you can be friends with your food, right)? It wasn’t until this summer when local corn is everywhere and on sale that my daughter said, “you haven’t made corn chowder in a long time.” Well yeah, because its something I make in the winter to bring back fond memories of summer.

Of course, traditionally I make it with frozen corn and in the crock pot. So, I got to thinking, could I make this recipe using fresh corn instead? Wouldn’t the best time to make corn chowder be when you can buy the ears down the road at the farm? The result? Best Corn Chowder I have ever made.

I’m not going to lie, in the realm of recipes this is a moderate level. It requires chopping and sauté-ing, and a run in with a blender. But, I have faith in you. You can do this. It’s not nearly as difficult as any of the other things you do in your day. I promise.

One dozen ear of corn, seven raw, five cooked. I cut the corn off of the uncooked cobs and set it aside. Cooked the remainder of the corn like you would for a barbecue, boiled it in water with salt and a little sugar. Set aside. When cool enough, slice the corn kernels off of the cooked cobs and keep them separate.

This soup has potential to be very healthy, vegetarian, and nutritious (the nice version).  By NOT using the bacon (naughty edition) and sautéing the vegetables in olive oil, you will get a tender, flavorful base for this recipe. Use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock, and to thicken, take 1 and 1/2 C of the cooked kernels and pulse in a blender with milk or almond milk. Add this to the soup and you are done. It is delicious. 

However, in my house, chowder means a certain creamy expectation. With most likely some shredded cheese, and a dash of hot sauce, and then there is the bacon. SO naughty. So so good.

I started with thick sliced bacon, cut into 1/2 inch dice, and browned it until cooked but not crispy. Add the onion, diced red pepper, carrots, and celery. When the vegetables are tender, toss in the uncooked corn and move those babies around in the pan until they are a bright yellow. Place all of the vegetables into a stock pot. Add 64 oz of chicken broth, and most of the cooked corn from the cobs that were boiled.

Would you need to do two types of cooking of the corn for this? I don’t know. I liked the ideas of layering the flavor. When you slice fresh corn off of the cob verses cooked corn, there is a definite difference. The two types  also gave different corn consistencies, if there is such a thing. Have ever had a child with braces or who didn’t like to hold the ear of corn? You know exactly what I am talking about, those little slabs of cooked corn that come off in chunks add something to the finished product (note this doesn’t have any potatoes in it at all – so we need to have variety in flavor and color).  Anyway, if you wanted to skip this step, it’s your chowder.

I saved 1 1/2 cups of cooked corn kernels and blended them with skim milk in an attempt to thicken the chowder without adding heavy cream or cheese.  I then added this mixture to the chowder and gave it a good stir.

When my daughter tried it she said, “Are you adding cream? This needs something.”

It didn’t need anything. It was delicious. As will yours be.

I was once voted class angel in my high school senior year. I think I even had the nickname Sister Christine for a while. Truth be told, I’m always going to be that girl.

BUT NOT WHEN IT COMES TO CHOWDER! 

I added heavy cream, shredded sharp Vermont cheddar, hot sauce, and boom. Naughty edition was served.

I’d like to tell you my tasters thought, “Meh, the first one was better.” They didn’t. Naughty edition won out.

Life lesson learned, Corn Chowder is not only for the winter. In fact, summer Corn Chowder, be it naughty or nice, is lovely indeed.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

Printable Recipe

Nice or Naughty Summer Corn Chowder

Nice or Naughty Fresh Summer Corn Chowder

chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients:

3 slices thick sliced bacon

½ Celery stalk

12 fresh ears of corn

5 Cooked – sliced from the cob

7 Raw – and sliced from the cob (reserve 1 ½ C

Corn for food processor/blender)

¾ C Milk

64 ounces (2 containers approx.) chicken or vegetable broth

1 Red Pepper diced

¾ C Carrot diced

½ Yellow Onion, Diced

1 C Cream

1 C Shredded Sharp Cheddar

1-2 dashes of hot sauce

 

Instructions:

 

Dice thick sliced bacon into ½ inch slices, place in pan over medium heat and cook. Add diced onion and red pepper and carrots to pan, saute until vegetables are soft and onions are translucent. Add raw corn kernels to hot pan and stir until bright yellow.

Move all vegetables and bacon to stock pot and add stock over medium heat. Add cooked corn, reserving 1 and ½ C. Place reserved corn into blender with milk, and puree. Add puree to soup to thicken.

 

Allow soup to warm through, Add cream, cheese, and hot sauce. Stir and continue to heat until cheese is melted through.

 

Serve and enjoy!

Tomato, Roasted Garlic, and Ricotta Pizza

Knee deep in summer and I have tomatoes, oh boy do I have tomatoes. Sometimes supper is later in the summer, just due to the schedule changes and being outside more than in. On days when supper needs to be simple, it doesn’t need to mean drive through. I love sitting down to a supper (or who are we kidding, standing at the counter in the kitchen) and knowing what I made was better, and healthier. This is one of those recipes. Summer tomatoes over fresh ricotta on a crispy crust. Swoon.

Fresh Tomato Garlic and Ricotta Pizza

This pizza is as complicated as you make it. I used pre-purchased pizza dough, and you could even purchase a pre-baked pizza shell for this. I did not make my own ricotta. I grew the tomatoes and the basil, but there is the farm stand for that and let’s support our local farmers.

The hardest part of this pizza is the roasted garlic. If you don’t have a garlic roaster, you can roast the garlic head whole, wrapped in foil. I cut off the top portion of the garlic bulb, drizzle with olive oil and salt, wrap the whole head in foil, and bake in a 350* oven. If I am roasting garlic, it’s worth it to roast a bunch. The roasted garlic will keep in the refrigerator, but once you spread a little of that goodness on bread, put in soup or a crock pot meal, you won’t have it long enough on hand to worry about it spoiling.

If you don’t want to go through the trouble of roasting garlic, you can bypass this step.For the pizza pictures in this post, I used Roasted Garlic Spread from Stonewall Kitchen. You can purchase roasted garlic spread. Not garlic bread spread with butter, just jarred roasted garlic. (Hey, I said this meal was simple)!

To make this recipe, drizzle dough with olive oil, spread the roasted garlic over the dough. Then, I spread spoonfuls of ricotta (have I mentioned my love of ricotta? It’s a serious condition). evenly over the dough. Think happy little spoonfuls.

Slice a variety of tomatoes and place over the ricotta and roasted garlic.

If you want to add fresh mozzarella at this point I say go for it. I didn’t add much, just a little here and there to add another layer of flavor.

A sprinkle of fresh basil (I chiffonade my basil – stack the leaves, roll tightly, and slice into thin strips) and bake at 375*

I baked this until it was bubbly, the crust was brown, and I couldn’t stand on the other side of the oven door any longer. Don’t judge. I worked in the yard all day.

This summer combination of fresh tomatoes and ricotta, roasted garlic, and basil was supper perfection. It will make a repeat performance, I promise.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

Printable Recipe

Fresh Tomato, Roasted Garlic, Ricotta Pizza

 

Fresh Tomato, Roasted Garlic, and Ricotta Pizza

Chrissy@mythankfultable.com

 

Ingredients:

One pizza dough (purchased, or made from scratch)

Olive oil

One small container ricotta – whole milk

Several tomatoes – sliced

Roasted garlic spread (or one roasted garlic head)

Basil (4-6 leaves)

Fresh mozzarella (sliced or torn)

Salt/pepper

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375* (or as pizza dough directions call for)

Place pizza dough on pizza stone or prepared baking sheet

Drizzle with olive oil

Arrange roasted garlic or garlic spread over dough

Spoon spoonfuls of ricotta over dough

Arrange sliced tomatoes over ricotta and garlic

Top with additional fresh mozzarella, basil, salt, pepper, any other herbs of choice and if you want, drizzle olive oil over top.

Bake for 30 minutes or until tomatoes are cooked, cheese is bubbly, crust is done.

 

SO GOOD! Enjoy

 

Blueberry Crumb Muffins

Blueberry Crumble Muffins

When it comes to blueberry muffins, we are a house divided. I am a fan of crumble topping, or at least give me those big sugary crystals on top. Maybe because I like mostly the tops of the muffins. However, my children are purist when it comes to muffins. Just leave them as they are and thank you.

I’m also not ashamed to say cooking is my therapy. There is no problem I can’t solve when I am surrounded by ingredients and the cutting board, with music in the background and the puppy lying  on the carpet watching me. (More to follow on our puppy who isn’t actually a puppy). Some days, I just want to research recipes and cook and not make my own adjustments. Some days, I want to be in the zone. This was supposed to be that recipe. Until, oh wait, I didn’t have two of the major ingredients…and my pantry is pretty organized. Oh well. I grew up in the era where PBS showed the painter Bob Ross and all I could think was, “Happy little accidents.” These are the happy little accident of muffins, and I am thrilled with the result. My original recipe is from www.crazyforcrust.com They are the Starbucks Copycat Muffin.

This recipe uses Greek Yogurt (I had Siggi’s vanilla) instead of Sour Cream and Apple Cider Vinegar (I but the raw-organic unfiltered type). Between those two ingredients and the baking soda, these muffins are so light and perfectly textured, and easy to make.

Also, I like a little muffin with my blueberries, so this recipe has way more than the original called for. Now, if you are not a fan of a warm blueberry mess when you take your wrapper off of your muffin, by all means, just reduce the quantity. When it comes to muffins, if it’s going to be blueberry, it needs to be “all in” blueberry for me.

Now for the crumble. When I make muffins, we do both. Yes, I am a good mom who respects the wishes of her children when it comes to baked goods. If you on my delivery route of goodies, you get a mix of both. That’s how I roll.

This batter is so pretty, and light, I filled the muffin tins 3/4 of the way full, and set my timer for 15 minutes. Because muffins with burned anything are paperweights. No thanks. These were perfect at 18 minutes, but every oven is different, so be on the watch. This is serious business people. It’s like the final minutes of a game. (To be noted I am not the athlete in my world, I am the athletic supporter. Pun intended).

Blueberry Crumble Muffins with and Without Topping

The final result is actually one of the best muffins I have ever made or eaten, so my therapy kitchen session turned blog fodder, a happy accident indeed.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

 

 

 

Printable Recipe

Crumble Blueberry Muffins Edited

Crumble Blueberry Muffins

Chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Muffins:

2 Eggs

1 C Sugar

1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract

½ C oil

1 tsp Apple Cider vinegar (raw, organic, unfiltered)

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 Cup vanilla Greek yogurt (I used Siggi’s vanilla)

2 ½ – 3 C Flour

1 to 2 Cups Blueberries (depending on how blueberry-ish you want them)

 

Crumble Topping:

½ C Flour

½ C Brown or white sugar

4 TBSP melted Butter

1 Tsp Cinnamon

 

Directions:

Prepare muffin tins with liners and set aside, preheat oven to 350*

 

in standing mixer, crack and mix eggs until yellow and smooth in consistency.

Add sugar, and oil and combine

Add vanilla, apple cider vinegar, baking soda, and salt

Remove from mixer and add vanilla Greek style yogurt

Blend in flour, then gently fold in blueberries.

Scoop into lined muffin tins until ¾ full, add crumble topping (or don’t!)

 

Bake at 350* for 18 minutes

Citrus Blackberry Scones

Citrus Blackberry Scones

It all began with a Facebook post. A friend from church posted a question, “Would anyone want blackberry plants? We are thinning out ours.”

To which I replied, “YES!” and three small shoots went into the ground behind our shed.

Three years later, I am picking blackberries by the quart daily and looking for recipes.

Blackberries are an interesting blend of sweet and tart, and when baked, turn into a beautiful jewel like color bursting with flavor.

Scones, on the other hand, how do I say it? Haven’t been my first choice in baked goods, because…they don’t burst with jewel like color and flavor. They present to me a challenge. I’m aware that a REAL scone is not the kind of scone you see at certain bakeries or specialty coffee shops (give me a cranberry orange or pumpkin scone from one of these places, but I know it isn’t a true representation…). It’s a great baked good, but the shame of scones. Call it a flat muffin maybe? I don’t know. Anyway, before proceeding, I called in my British life-liners.

I asked both of my friends about the art of scones, the flour and technique – they each sent me to the same BBC website for a recipe (www.bbcgoodfood.com). Which is awesome. Until I consider I am a Reading Teacher, and not a Math Teacher. Conversions from metric had me searching website calculators like nobody’s business.

The following recipe is a combination of my desire to be true to the scone, and yet fill it with citrus and fruit. Oh, and glaze. Because, that’s authentic… I tried. I really did. But a girl’s gotta have glaze.

The texture is dense but not too dense. the combination of cake flour and additional leavening makes them light but not cake-y. They are not too sweet, and the bang of the berries with the citrus is spot on.

When it comes to anything citrus, I am always disappointed if it is lacking. Don’t give me a lemon cake and the most lemony part is the yellow color. Blah.

So color me thrilled when my best friend and mandatory taste tester said this recipe was “lime forward.” Boom.

Here is one trick I saw on another blog, absolutely brilliant, (www.halfbakedharvest.com)and that is to grate the stick of butter like you would a block of cheese. This made cutting the butter into the flour mixture so much easier.

My other off trail change was the addition of an egg to the milk that goes into the batter. It did lighten the scone’s density and made it match the weight of the berries. As an aside, I used frozen blackberries for my recipe- simply because I am not using my berries fast enough and its easy to pick and pop into the freezer.

These scones are bright and flavorful, without being too sweet, and they are the perfect compliment to a cup of tea.

I hope you enjoy the recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

 

 

 

Printable Recipe:

Citrus Blackberry Scones Final

Citrus Blackberry Scones

Ingredients: 

3 Cups Cake Flour

½ Cup Sugar

3 Tablespoons Lemon/Lime Zest

1 Stick of Butter, grated and chilled

1 egg beaten plus enough milk to fill ¾ cup measure

½ tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

2 Cups Blackberries (fresh or frozen)

sugar for dusting

 

Citrus Glaze:

 

¾ C confectioner’s sugar

1 tsp lime extract

2 tbsp. citrus juice

mix in hot water until desired thickness

 

Directions:

Combine cake flour, citrus zest, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and sugar until combined.

Grate one stick of butter (8 Tablespoons) on large side of grater (refrigerate if necessary after grating – you want your butter cold)

Cut in butter into flour mix until butter is small enough to resemble sand

Beat one egg in a ¾ cup measuring cup, add additional milk to cup to fill.

Mix in egg mixture to dry ingredients. This will be a dry and tender texture. Fold in blackberries.

Turn mixture onto a flat surface and shape into a circle. Slice into eight wedges.

Place wedges onto parchment lined or Sllpat lined baking sheet.

Dust each scone with sugar.

Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes.

 

Combine glaze ingredients and drizzle on top of scones when baked.

Easy Roasted Tomato Soup

All year-long I wait for tomato season. Late in May I put my new baby tomato plants into the earth, with my crazy old-country rules like adding fish emulsion in the hole first, and tuck them in amongst marigolds and basil.  Faith to me is found in a garden. It takes a lot of faith and attentiveness to see the final product several weeks later, sun-kissed and glorious  on the vine.

Have I romanticized tomatoes a bit? No. My love for summer time tomatoes runs deep. They taste like sunshine feels. I plant as many varieties as I can, which means I end up with a medley of heirloom, Roma, beefsteak, and cherry tomatoes on hand. Therefore, any recipe I make is not tomato variety specific. They all work together in my kitchen.

Is there a better comfort food than a bowl of tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich? Any time of year, I find that a bowl of roasted tomato soup soothes the soul. It is healthy, and easy to make, and with the abundance of tomatoes, makes good use of fresh ingredients. It also freezes! So make a batch and save it for a rainy day. In New England, it’s cold from September to May, so there’s plenty of “soup” days.

Now, when I say making this soup is easy, I don’t mean pop off the lid of the can or even remove the tab off the container and pour easy, but as far as soup is concerned, this is fairly simple. You slice your tomatoes, peel some garlic, arrange on a sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil, sea salt, and pepper. Roast. Blend with broth. Add your extras (heavy cream, cheese, etc.) if you want – but you won’t need them, and enjoy. The finished product is so much better than anything you could imagine, and if you have the tomatoes…

For this recipe, I use whatever tomatoes I have in my garden. But, this could be made with just one type of tomato. If you have to commit I say go with Roma, because they are just beautiful and fleshy. The beauty of the flavor for this recipe is in the roasting. I filled two parchment lined cookie sheets with tomato halves, and placed them cut side down. I also used a whole head of garlic which was peeled (you can usually purchase garlic pre peeled in your produce section if this is too time consuming). and interspersed the garlic with the tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil. Now, spices you can embellish, I go for simple. Then roast. 350* for as long as it takes for the skin to brown and bubble. I love the carmelization

that takes place. So. Good. At this point you could just eat the tomatoes as is on top of ricotta toast, on a salad, with quinoa.  But these are for soup! So transfer those beauties into the blending device of your choice.

Oven Roasted Tomatoes with Olive Oil, Sea Salt, and Cracked Pepper

I add chicken stock, but if you want to keep this vegetarian or vegan, vegetable stock will work as well. I used one container of good chicken stock I purchased did not make myself. If you have a container of home-made stock on hand, have at it. You can add fresh basil or any other spice you like at this point as well.

Using an immersion blender, food processor, or even a blender, combine tomatoes and stock until well blended. When I am done blending there are no visible seeds or huge chunks of tomato, I just puree it until it is smooth.

At this point, your soup is ready to go. If you want to get fancy you an add cream or milk, or grated cheese. Croutons or grilled cheese sandwiches are also welcome. For this batch, I had purchased cheese curds from a local dairy farm, and they were sprinkled on top with some fresh basil to finish the dish.

We are so fortunate at this time of year to enjoy the abundance of our local farmers, this soup really celebrates the beauty of fresh tomatoes that you can!

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

Printable Recipe

Easy Roasted Tomato Soup

Easy Roasted Tomato Soup

By Chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients:

Fresh tomatoes (I use enough to fill two large cookie sheets when halved)

One head of garlic

Olive oil, to drizzle

Sea salt

Pepper

One large container of stock of your choice (chicken or vegetable)

 

Directions:

Slice tomatoes in half, and place, cut side down, onto parchment lined cookie sheet

Peel garlic and place amongst tomatoes

Drizzle with olive oil, sea salt, and fresh cracked pepper

 

Bake at 350* for 50 minutes or more, until tomatoes are roasted and caramelized.

Place roasted tomatoes and garlic in food processor or in stock pot with stock of choice, and blend (I use the immersion blender)

Blend until smooth.

 

Add milk, cream, cheese, additional herbs to taste if desired.

Triple Chocolate Chunk Bread Pudding

Coastal Maine is my happy place. For so many reasons, Maine holds my heart. This year we rented a house in Wells, and reveled in all of the goodness that comes with a quiet week near the ocean.

One of the “Bucket List” items for us is stopping at the When Pigs Fly Bakery in Kittery. They have large beautiful displays of artisan breads as well as classic breads, olive oils, baked goods, and pizza. For us, we always end up with at least two loaves: Orange, Toasted Walnut, and Cranberry Bread, and of course, Chocolate Bread. Oh yes, it’s a thing. If you ever get the chance, you need to go. If you don’t think Maine is in your future- not to worry…they have an online store and ship their products!  www.sendbread.com

Bread is an indulgence for me. Chocolate Bread? You get the picture. So, when we are left with almost a whole loaf, it’s not going stale, it’s going to be transformed into something next level.

This Triple Chocolate Chunk Bread Pudding is a chocolate bread, with a chocolate custard, and chocolate chunks for good measure. Yep, that’ll do.

To make this bread pudding I did three things that I think impacted the end product:

  1. I let the cubed bread dry out overnight.
  2. I let the bread cubes sit in the custard to soak it up really well for 30 minutes before baking.
  3. I cooked it for a base time and then added increments of ten minutes until it was set.

All three things made a perfect storm for the perfect dessert. Another thing I tried and loved was in the prep of the casserole dish. Instead of adding cinnamon to the actual recipe, I used a combination of cocoa and cinnamon to coat the inside of the dish after buttering it. It was just enough.

You can eat this right out of the oven (or wait a while). It’s even good the next day if it lasts that long. Top it with fresh whipped cream (or even the kind from the can…I won’t tell).

Thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

 

 

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Triple Chocolate Chunk Bread Pudding

Print Recipe

Decadent chocolate bread pudding made with three layers of chocolate. Chocolate bread, chocolate custard, and chocolate chunks! Served warm with fresh whipped cream or the next day cold, it’s indulgent and delicious.

  • Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com
  • Cook Time: 45-60 Minutes
  • Total Time: 12 minute
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: Dessert

Ingredients

Scale

One loaf Chocolate Bread, cubed and dried out

5 Eggs

2 Cups Heavy Cream

1 TBSP Vanilla

1/3 C Dutch Processed Cocoa

2/3 C Light Brown Sugar

1 Cup Chocolate Chunks

1 TBSP Butter (softened) to coat Casserole Dish

2 TBSP Cinnamon and Cocoa to dust casserole dish after buttering

Instructions

Cut up bread into cubes and set out to dry.

Combine eggs, cream, vanilla, cocoa, and light brown sugar together until combined.

Toss bread into the mixture and coat. Let sit together for a minimum of thirty minutes so the bread gets saturated. Add the chocolate chunks (of your choice) to the mix and get ready to bake this chocolate goodness.

Use 1 TBSP butter (softened) to coat the inside of your casserole dish. I use a French White medium round dish for this recipe. Then dust the buttered dish with cinnamon and cocoa. Tap out remainder of powder and set aside.

When the bread and egg mixture are thoroughly combined, put into prepared casserole dish.

Bake at 350*

I baked this dessert for a base time of 45 minutes. However, when I checked on it, I decided to let it go another 10 minutes. Checked on it again and went another 10 minutes for 65 minutes total baking time. The thing about bread pudding is you want it cooked thoroughly. So take the time to test the center and make sure it is done. You don’t want it over cooked- so you need to find the sweet spot with this, pun intended.

Notes

 

I baked this dessert for a base time of 45 minutes. However, when I checked on it, I decided to let it go another 10 minutes. Checked on it again and went another 10 minutes for 65 minutes total baking time. The thing about bread pudding is you want it cooked thoroughly. So take the time to test the center and make sure it is done. You don’t want it over cooked- so you need to find the sweet spot with this, pun intended.

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Sweet and Spicy Peach Carnitas

The beauty of the crockpot is one can throw everything in and walk away for hours, and have a meal ready to go. During the school year, when sports have us running from one practice to another, the crock pot enables us to have a healthy, warm supper in the midst of the busy.

Enter carnitas, a sweet and spicy pulled pork that has potential as is, in a tortilla, on top of a salad. Tender, hitting all of your palette, and versatile.

Something else that works about carnitas is the fact that you can pull it out of the crockpot, refrigerate it or freeze it, and when you are ready for it, place it on a sheet pan in the oven at 350* until it has those crispy edges. This would be a meal I crockpot on Sunday, then serve later on in the week when my creativity has waned.

Sweet and Spicy Peach Carnitas

For this recipe I am using boneless pork butt roast. I am not a fan of trimming or touching raw meat- but for the sake of this recipe, I did try to trim the excess fat off of the roast first, then tried it another time just putting the roast into the crock pot as it was…and essentially I did not notice a change in flavor or consistency. SO, for this gal, from now on the roast will be going in as is.

I made a nest in the bottom of the crock pot of fresh onions, red pepper, a few pepperoncini, and here’s the summer specialness… a local farm fresh diced peach. You can add more if it suits you, the peach texture gets soft and lost into the juices but the flavor adds just that right amount of sweetness.

Place the roast on top of the fresh peach and vegetables, add your spices, and turn that crock pot on. I take the low and slow road with crockpots. So it will cook for at least six hours. When the roast falls apart and is easy to shred, it is done.

At this point, you can either throw the shredded pork into the oven to roast, or refrigerate. I save the peppers and onions to roast along with the meat in the oven, but again, that’s a personal choice.

Now to serve! I love mine with a salad and a fresh cabbage coleslaw to lighten the meal, and my daughter loves hers on a tortilla, with fresh avocado and sour cream. I don’t serve this meal like I would for a taco bar night, the toppings are simple. If I was being really good, I would make a fresh peach salsa to go with this meal.

With Fall closing in (August is like one long Sunday for teachers), I’m thankful for recipes like this, where simple and easy doesn’t mean drive-through or less than stellar suppers.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

Printable Recipe

Sweet and Spicy Peach Carnitas

Sweet and Spicy Peach Carnitas

chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients:

4 Lb. Boneless Pork Butt Roast

1 Onion, sliced

1 Large, ripe peach

1 Red pepper, diced

1 tsp black pepper

1 ½ TBSP Ancho Chili powder

1 Tbsp. Adobo seasoning

Optional:

¼ C Barbecue Sauce of choice

2-3 dashes of hot sauce of choice

 

Directions:

 

Dice red pepper, peach, and slice onion, place in the bottom of the crock pot.

Add Boneless Pork Butt Roast

Cover with spices

Cook on high 4-5 hours and low 6-8 hours or until pork is cooked through and tender

Take roast out of crock pot and shred, using two forks or method of choice.

Refrigerate or freeze

When ready to serve, place shredded pork on cookie sheet and roast in the oven at 350* until warmed through and crispy on edges.

Coconut Chocolate Chunk Zucchini Bread

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Coconut Chocolate Chunk Zucchini Bread

Have you ever had one of those recipes you can locate at anytime within a matter of seconds? You know, the tried and true and you almost don’t need the recipe but you keep an extra copy of it at arms reach just as a reference? For me, this is that recipe.

This started with an abundance of zuchinni more than a decade ago. We had a fantastic garden in Pennsylvania, as well as access to an amazing farmer’s market. While up to this point I was a zucchini evader (bring on the yellow squash all day…) I found myself growing and then harvesting, especially around this time of summer, an abundance of this green squash.

I am a veggie lover. I prefer “zoodles” to pasta at this point. We had created all sorts of healthy casseroles and zucchini lasagna, and yet…even after donating them to any who would take them, we still had more.

Here is where my life as a zucchini fan changed forever. A family recipe surfaced that included INSTANT PISTACHIO PUDDING, wait, and SHREDDED COCONUT? Squash drop. Sign me up.

Of course I added chocolate chunks. Because, hello? Chocolate chunks and steamy, beautiful bread work. If you are not a fan of coconut, I have to add that you really don’t notice it. I add coconut extract because I love coconut, but you can substitute it for vanilla extract as well. It doesn’t come across as one of those coconut cakes you see around Easter (which, I love, by the way). There is so much texture to the bread already, so I say, just try it. Worst case, you can give it away, and people WILL ask you for the recipe. Because, its that good.

This is a simple one bowl recipe the mixes quickly and easily. However, I must advise if for any reason you are a pre-measurer and want to get stuff done ahead, leave the pudding mix out until you are ready to go. Once upon a time I made zucchini bread with alien green chunks (apparently instant pudding will become pudding if say, there is any moisture at all present). It was good, but not as good.

The pistachio pudding makes the bread a little greener, but it also adds moisture and a nice flavor. I don’t always add additional walnuts to my bread, so the pistachio pudding gives it that nutty kick as well. You can substitute this flavor for vanilla or even chocolate if you feel festive. The bread mixture is versatile.

As for the zucchini, here’s where I do my thing. I like to use a fine grater for this. You can have your big chunkies of squash if you like it, but for me, a fine grate, and squeeze the moisture out. It just makes for me a more aesthetically pleasing bread.

Coconut Chocolate Chunk Zucchini Bread Mixture

You can make this recipe into two loaf pans, or as I do, in many smaller pans (then you have more to share). Either way, the recipe does take almost a full hour to bake, and trust me, you will want to slice into it as soon as it comes out of the oven. And hey, we need to taste the product before we give it away, am I right?

This bread freezes beautifully, so you can make a bunch of these breads and enjoy them later on, when the zucchinis in the super market are skinny and sad, and look road-travel weary. Some vegetables just taste better in the summer when they are fresh and local. Take advantage.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

Coconut Chocolate Chunk Zuchinni Bread Finished Product

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Coconut Chocolate Chunk Zucchini Bread

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Deliciously moist zucchini bread with coconut and chocolate chunks! So fantastically

  • Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 50-60 minutes
  • Total Time: 22 minute
  • Yield: 2 loaves 1x
  • Category: Bread
  • Method: Baking

Ingredients

Scale
  • 3 Eggs
  • 1 C Oil
  • 2 C Sugar

Add:

  • 2 C Finely Grated Zucchini
  • 1 Tbsp Coconut Extract
  • 1 tsp Baking Soda
  • ¼ tsp Baking Powder
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 3 C Flour
  • 1 Box instant Pistachio Pudding
  • ½ C Shredded Coconut
  • ½ C Chopped Walnuts
  • ½ – 1 C Chocolate Chunks

 

Instructions

Prepare two loaf pans, combine first three ingredients. Add remaining ingredients until combined. Pour batter into pans.

Bake at 350* for 50-60 minutes

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Lemon Zinger Blueberry Pie

Lemon Zinger Blueberry Pie

For many years I was not a fan of pie. I am not sure how or why this is, but for most of my life, I would only eat pie on Thanksgiving.  You know, the holiday where eating pie for breakfast is perfectly acceptable? Then, there is the whole transition to fruit filled pie…I mean, Chocolate Bourbon Pecan or Pumpkin, I could sink my teeth into, but fruit? Meh.

Fast forward two decades and I have gotten in touch with my inner pie child.  It could be my first read of Martha Stewart’s Pies and Tarts Cookbook, could be the fact that I became the host of Thanksgiving, or that in the summer we have access to fresh berries, peaches, and then apples…anyway, game on. I’m converted.

But here’s the catch..Blueberry pie can disappoint. The filling can be gelatinous and have the consistency of “canned” filling…it also can be watery and soupy with berries hanging around in blue water. There is nothing worse than cutting into blueberry pie and the filling runs out; with the bottom crust left behind, pale and swimming in the pan. Its just bad. So bad.

This pie is the end result of my many bad blueberry pies before it…and I think this one finds the perfect consistency, or as close as I can get with my Jedi pie skills. This filling requires you to cook most of the berries with cornstarch and sugar, creating a thicker pie filling. Then, fresh uncooked berries are added to the mixture before placing into the pie shell. It seems like work, but essentially, you are putting ingredients into a pan and giving it a stir until it bubbles and looks delicious. I’m a multi-tasker but nature, so this is when I am doing something else in the kitchen. There is always something else to do in the kitchen, so take this extra step to cook the filling.

But, is it sweet?

I like my blueberry pie to taste like blueberries. So, this pie doesn’t have a lot of sugar in the recipe. There is 1/2 C of sugar for the whole pie. Like your pie sweeter? Easily fixed, add more sugar. I’ve seen pie recipes with 1 and 1/2 C sugar in them, so you have some fairly good room to wiggle here. This recipe also calls for lemon zest and lemon juice. The lemon compliments and enhances the tartness of the blueberries. Again, this influences the sweetness, so if you like a sweeter pie, by all means, add more sugar. The berries used in this pie were picked at the peak of the season, and were sweet enough on their own.

Lastly, the crust. So, true confession…for this pie I used refrigerated dough purchased at the grocery store. Don’t judge. When I make multiple pies or for a holiday, I bang out handmade crusts from Noni’s sacred recipe like nobody’s business. When I am throwing together a pie for my people on the fly, trust me, they are happy to have pie and just like instant mashed potatoes…sometimes nobody needs to know. When you take the time to freehand cut stars out of the pie crust, people aren’t thinking, “Man, I hope that didn’t come from the refrigerator section.” If you do have those kind of people in your life, rethink who you are sharing your blueberry pie with.

When it comes to baking time? Here’s something you will find with my recipes. YOU CAN’T RUSH STUFF. When it is done, you know. You may like your crust browner. Personally, when I can smell the filling, and it looks like it is bubbling and thick, coming up through the top layer of crust, I take it out of the oven. Disclaimer: You also can’t WALK AWAY AND FORGET! This is a fruit pie people. If you have ever let fruit filling bubble over onto the bottom of the oven, trust me, you’ll remember next time. For good measure, I place the biggest cookie sheet I own under the pie. Pie goes on the top rack, cookie sheet goes in the rack below. Drips caught, smoky kitchen averted.

This pie is perfect warm with a scoop of ice cream. Or with your coffee the next morning for breakfast. Hey, it has fruit, right?

Thank you so much for coming to the table!

Chrissy

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Lemon Zinger Blueberry Pie

Lemon Zinger Blueberry Pie

Chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients:

4 C fresh blueberries

2 additional C blueberries

½ C Sugar

¼ C Cornstarch

1-2 Tbsp Lemon juice

Zest of one Lemon

Directions:

Combine in a non-reactive pan over medium heat until blueberries are bubbling and mixture thickens. Remove from heat. Let cool slightly.

Add additional 2 C of blueberries to the mixture and pour into prepared pie crust.

Add top layer pie crust – I free handed stars on the top crust.

Bake at 350* for 50 minutes. I ended up baking an additional 10 minutes, waiting for the crust to be golden brown and the mixture bubbling.

Tomato Summer Salad

Tomato Summer Salad

“Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.”  – Miles Kingston

Typically, this may be true. But THIS salad is not your traditional fruit salad. SO…color me wiser than wise.

In our part of New England, there is this fantastic cafe named Auntie Cathie’s Kitchen. She serves gluten-free pancakes the size of a platter…either filled with fresh blueberries and served with lemon glaze or chocolate chips or peaches…(and if you can eat the whole stack you get a groovy t-shirt). When she makes an omelette, it is light and fluffy and filled with fresh local ingredients. Have I mentioned the cupcakes??? So basically, if I can pick a place to have breakfast, I am there. If you live in western mass, you need to check it out. www.auntiecathies.com

This recipe is loosely based on a recipe she made, I have changed it to suit what is growing in my garden and what I have in my pantry, but essentially it is a summer fruit and vegetable salad that goes well with everything. It’s fantastic as it is for a main dish (It is a standard lunch around here). It is great served over quinoa, or fresh greens, as a side dish, you get the picture. It’s easy, it doesn’t require you to use the oven, and its healthy!!!

Would I have thought to mix peaches and tomatoes together normally? No, but at this time of year, when the tomatoes taste like the sunshine and fresh peaches are available locally, you would not believe how amazing this combination is. Throw in some cucumber slices, blueberries, and some fresh feta, drizzle with a vinaigrette of your choice, you are good to go. I personally love Lemon and Thyme Marinated Feta from Whole Foods, but any Feta will do! Don’t want to add cheese? You do your thing. Like Pete the Cat says, “It’s All Good.”

Thanks so much for coming to the table!

Chrissy

Tomato Summer Salad

Ingredients:

Tomatoes (you can use any beautiful tomato(es) you get your hands on)

1 Cucumber

1 Fresh Peach

1/2-1 C Blueberries

1/2 C Feta cheese

Vinaigrette Dressing:

White Balsamic Vinegar (I use Grapefruit White Balsamic Vinegar from Mainly Drizzle)

Olive Oil

Pink Himalayan Sea Salt – to taste

Fresh Ground Pepper – to taste

 

Directions:

Slice tomatoes and Cucumbers. Cube peach into small chunks. Combine with blueberries and feta cheese. Combine vinaigrette ingredients (I don’t actually measure- I just do two of the vinegar to one oil) Toss and serve!

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Tomato Summer Salad