Showing posts with label snack recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label snack recipes. Show all posts

Saturday, August 26, 2023

Orange Glazed Pecans

Super easy to make but addictively delicious, these orange glazed pecans are a delightful snack, muffin ingredient or dessert topper. 

Food Lust People Love: Super easy to make but addictively delicious, these orange glazed pecans are a delightful snack, muffin ingredient or dessert topper.

I made these orange glazed pecans specifically to use in an orange muffin recipe, an idea that came to me in the middle of the night last night. My brain is weird and wonderful like that. Orange muffins with pecans would be good but what if I kicked them up a notch with orange glazed pecans? 

It was a good decision and you’ll find that recipe here on Monday. Meanwhile, make some glazed pecans and try not to eat them all. You’ll need about half of them for the muffins, if you can manage to save that many. 

For years my mom has been telling me about some orange glazed pecans that were a specialty of my aunt Karen’s mother-in-law, Mrs. Ayo, but I’ve never made them. I think she used frozen orange juice concentrate. This version is much easier and I look forward to making some for Mom soon. 

Orange Glazed Pecans

A few of my pecan halves were broken but I carried on anyway because, as mentioned above, my plan was to chop a lot of them up to use in a muffin recipe. If you are serving these to guests and need them to look pretty, you might want to choose all whole halves. 

Ingredients
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons orange juice
Zest from 1 Mandarin orange or tangerine
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups or 150g pecan halves

Method
Add pecans, brown sugar, butter, orange juice, orange zest, cinnamon and salt to a medium skillet over medium heat. 


Stir regularly while the butter and sugar melt into a syrup. 


Once mixture is bubbling, stir frequently, until pecans are golden brown and all of the orange-sugar mixture has evaporated and the pecans are well coated with the glaze. 


Spread the pecans out onto a silicone pat or piece of nonstick baking parchment paper, separating them right away. 


Cool completely then store in an airtight container someplace cool. 


Enjoy! 


Pin these Orange Glazed Pecans!

Food Lust People Love: Super easy to make but addictively delicious, these orange glazed pecans are a delightful snack, muffin ingredient or dessert topper.

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Wednesday, August 2, 2023

Cheesy Summer Squash Flatbread

This cheesy summer squash flatbread is heaped with marinated squash, blue cheese and mozzarella for a savory snack (goes great with white wine or chilled beer!) or even as a main course. In that case, you can serve it with salad to complete the meal. 

Food Lust People Love: This cheesy summer squash flatbread is heaped with marinated squash, blue cheese and mozzarella for a savory snack (goes great with white wine or chilled beer!) or even as a main course. In that case, you can serve it with salad to complete the meal.

So, our weather hasn’t been great – lots of rain and very little sun – but after the drought/scorcher that was summer 2022, I’m not about to complain. My tomatoes are still small and green but my summer squash are flourishing.

I grew them from seeds in smaller pots and transplanted them thinking they might vine but this variety of crookneck squash does not. That said, I deliberately chose the seeds that said “good in pots” and so they are! 

Fortunately, even though I have five plants, they grow just a few squash at a time and so – for now - I’m able to keep up with the harvest but we’ve still been eating a lot of summer squash and that’s a good thing. 


This is the first time I’ve attempted growing these crookneck squash but since they’ve turned out so easy, I know it won’t be the last. Only one caveat: I picked one to cook a week ago that was as big as full grown but it still had some green on it. Talk about bitter! I figured the size was what mattered but now I know not to pick them till they are completely yellow. 

Cheesy Summer Squash Flatbread

If you don't have summer squash, zucchini is an excellent substitute. In fact, this recipe is adapted from one on the delicious. magazine website using courgette (BrE for zucchini.)  If you do not have a 12 in cast iron skillet, this can also be baked in the oven on a pizza stone. Put the stone in as you preheat the oven. 

Ingredients
For the flatbread dough:
1 2/3 cups or 200g strong white flour plus extra for dusting
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 1/2 fl oz or 133ml tepid water
1/4 cup or 60g fed sourdough starter

For the topping:
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/4 cup or 60ml olive oil
3 small summer squash, trimmed (about 300g)
Finely grated zest 1 lemon
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 1/2 oz or 100g Roquefort or other strong blue cheese, crumbled
4 1/4 oz or 120g fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons pine nuts (20g)

Optional for serving: lemon wedges (from the one you zested)

Method
In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt together. Add the tepid water and the sourdough starter. 


Use a wooden spoon or a Danish dough whisk to combine everything into a wet and sticky dough. 


Use damp hands to form it into a loose lump. Cover the bowl with a damp towel or cling film and then leave it at room temperature for 6-8 hours.


Important: Stretch and fold the dough over several times during the rising time to develop the gluten. I set a timer for 30 minutes to remind myself to keep doing this step often.

Meanwhile, warm the olive oil in a small pot until it just starts to shimmer. Remove the pot from the heat and add in the sliced garlic. 


Leave to infuse until the oil is cool. Strain out the garlic with a small sieve and save for adding to the flatbread to serve. 

Cut the summer squash in half and scoop out any seeds. Discard or compost the seeds. Cut the squash into long ribbons using a vegetable peeler or slice finely lengthways. 


Put the thin slices in a bowl with the lemon zest and 2 tablespoon of the garlic oil, then season with a sprinkle fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. 


Massage the salt, pepper, zest and oil into the squash as you might do it raw kale for kale salad. Set aside for at least 30 minutes but longer is better to help soften the squash. 

Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C, and then start heating a large cast-iron skillet on your stovetop.

Roll out the dough into a circle on a piece of nonstick baking parchment. Despite mine being nonstick, I found it still needed quite a bit of flour underneath so it would turn loose when I needed it to. You may find the same. 


Prop the squash bowl on its side so that any juices that have accumulated can run off. Soak it up with a paper towel and discard. We are looking for crispy flatbread so want to keep the toppings as dry as possible. 


When the iron skillet is very hot, carefully transfer the dough circle to it. Cook the dough on the stovetop for about 2-3 minutes. You can see the middle starting to cook here. 


Pop the skillet into your preheated oven to cook the flatbread before adding the toppings. I set a timer for five minutes. 

When your timer rings, remove the flatbread from the oven. 


Top it with the summer squash slices, crumbled blue cheese, sliced mozzarella and pine nuts.


Return the flatbread to the oven. Cook for a further 10-12 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the summer squash is golden in places. 

You want a crunchy top and a crunchy bottom. Check the bottom with a wooden spatula and leave it in a bit longer if it isn't to your liking. 


Likewise, if you desire a little more color on your squash or cheese, you can turn the oven to broil for another minute or two. Just be watchful so it doesn't burn. 

Remove the pan from the oven and slide the flatbread onto a cutting board. Top with the reserved garlic and some more garlic oil, if desired. 


I found that extra oil was not necessary as the oils from the cheese created little pools already. In fact, I dabbed them with a paper towel to remove some of the oil. If you are a fan of oily focaccia, this probably won’t bother you. I like mine on the drier side. 

Cut into wedges to serve.  


I also gave my slices a squeeze of lemon juice. You might want to as well.


Enjoy!

It’s Foodie Extravaganza time, when my fellow bloggers and I share recipes for random foodie holidays. This month it’s National Zucchini Day on 8 August but our host, Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm said I could sub in my summer squash since many people use them interchangeably. Thanks, Wendy, and thanks for hosting! Check out all the recipe links below. 



Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays by cooking and baking together with the same ingredient or theme each month. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board.

Pin this Cheesy Summer Squash flatbread!

Food Lust People Love: This cheesy summer squash flatbread is heaped with marinated squash, blue cheese and mozzarella for a savory snack (goes great with white wine or chilled beer!) or even as a main course. In that case, you can serve it with salad to complete the meal.

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Monday, July 31, 2023

Summer Squash Parmesan Muffins #MuffinMonday

Just picked summer squash and Parmesan cheese combine to make fluffy, flavorful small batch muffins that are perfect as a snack or for breakfast.

Food Lust People Love: Just picked summer squash and Parmesan cheese combine to make fluffy, flavorful small batch muffins that are perfect as a snack or for breakfast.

If I were a tv chef, this recipe would make just six muffins. Does it drive anyone else crazy when they just set aside a bowl of batter and don’t even use a spatula to scrape the sides? I know they have time constraints but, come on! It only takes a few seconds. Such a waste. 

One of the reasons I love using my silicone muffin cups is because when there is a bit of batter left over, I am not tempted to overload the cups. It’s just so easy to pop another one on the baking pan and make seven instead of six, or 13 instead of 12. 

Another reason I love them is because they don’t need greasing or lining with paper cups. Muffins slide right out every time. Living the dream. It’s the small things, folks. 

Summer Squash Parmesan Muffins

This recipe makes six or seven muffins, depending on the size of your muffin cups and whether you can be bothered to use a rubber spatula. It was adapted from one on the delicious. magazine website and was published in the September 2019 edition. 

Ingredients
1 summer or crookneck squash (approximate weight after removing seeds: 80g)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup or 80ml milk
1 egg
1 cup or 125g flour
2 oz or 57g grated Parmesan, divided
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne

Method
Cut the fat part of the summer squash in half and scoop the seeds out and discard (or compost) them. 


Grate the rest of the squash onto a paper towel. 


Fold the paper towel over to cover the grated squash and roll it up in a cloth towel. Wring as much juice as you can out of the squash, set aside. 


Heat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. Line a 7 holes of a 12-cup muffin pan with paper muffin cases. Or use silicone muffin cups on a baking tray.

Separate out a small amount of the grated Parmesan for topping. 

In a bowl, whisk together the olive oil, egg and milk. 


Add in the grated squash, flour, Parmesan, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt and cayenne. Fold until just combined.


Divide the batter among the muffin holes and top each with a pinch or two of the reserved grated Parmesan. 


Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden and springy to the touch. 


Leave to cool on a wire rack.


Serve warm or at room temperature.

Food Lust People Love: Just picked summer squash and Parmesan cheese combine to make fluffy, flavorful small batch muffins that are perfect as a snack or for breakfast.

Enjoy! 

It's the last Monday of July - where has the month gone?! - so that means it's time again for Muffin Monday. Check out the recipe links below!


#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.


Pin these Summer Squash Parmesan Muffins!

Food Lust People Love: Just picked summer squash and Parmesan cheese combine to make fluffy, flavorful small batch muffins that are perfect as a snack or for breakfast.

 .

Sunday, June 25, 2023

Nectarine Buttermilk Muffins #MuffinMonday

These nectarine buttermilk muffins are tender and delicious. The ripe nectarines make these sweet enough without a lot of added sugar. They are so good!

Food Lust People Love: These nectarine buttermilk muffins are tender and delicious. The ripe nectarines make these sweet enough without a lot of added sugar. They are so good!

In the UK, stone fruit is often sold with a label saying “ripen at home.” I shunned the peaches and nectarines for that very reason because in the States, when I pick up fruit in the supermarket and want it to smell like what it is! 

I finally had to get over that or I’d never get to enjoy a summer nectarine and I love them dearly. Like with avocados, the “ripen at home” fruit is a balancing act of leaving them be and then eating them all quickly. Or when they go a little too soft, baking them in muffins. Win-win. 

Nectarine Buttermilk Muffins

This recipe makes nine regular size muffins. I was super excited when I came across this pan in my mom’s house because it fits in my Ninja 9-in-1 oven. No need to turn the big oven on to bake! I use the bake setting so it takes just as long but the advantage is very little preheating time. These can also be baked in a normal oven, same temperature and time. 

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups or 190g flour
1/2 cup or 100g granulated sugar 
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 cup or 110g chopped fresh nectarines, plus extra for topping, optional
1/3 cup or 80ml canola or other light, plus more for greasing pan (if not using paper muffin liners)
1/2 cup or 120ml buttermilk
2 large eggs, at room temperature

Optional for decoration: pearl sugar 
I used about 1 1/2 tablespoons

Method
Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. Line a 9-cup muffin pan with baking cups or grease the pan with a little oil. 

Cut part of a second nectarine into thin slices to use as topping/decoration. I used the nicest ones for the muffins and ate the rest.


In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda. Stir in the chopped nectarines and separate the pieces, coating them all with the dry ingredients.


In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, oil and eggs. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and fold until just combined. 


Divide the batter between the muffin cups. 


Top each with a slice of nectarine and sprinkle on the pearl sugar, if using.


Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. 

Food Lust People Love: These nectarine buttermilk muffins are tender and delicious. The ripe nectarines make these sweet enough without a lot of added sugar. They are so good!

Set on a wire rack to cool. 

Food Lust People Love: These nectarine buttermilk muffins are tender and delicious. The ripe nectarines make these sweet enough without a lot of added sugar. They are so good!

Enjoy!

Food Lust People Love: These nectarine buttermilk muffins are tender and delicious. The ripe nectarines make these sweet enough without a lot of added sugar. They are so good!


It’s the last Monday of the month so that means it’s time for Muffin Monday! Check out the lovely muffins my friends are sharing:


#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.



Pin these Nectarine Buttermilk Muffins!

Food Lust People Love: These nectarine buttermilk muffins are tender and delicious. The ripe nectarines make these sweet enough without a lot of added sugar. They are so good!

 .

Monday, April 24, 2023

Small Batch Cheddar Muffins #MuffinMonday

Perfect with soup or for a snack, these small batch cheddar muffins are tender and cheesy. The recipe makes only six but is easily doubled if you need 12. 

Food Lust People Love: Perfect with soup or for a snack, these small batch cheddar muffins are tender and cheesy. The recipe makes only six but is easily doubled if you need 12.

I’ve been baking mostly small batch muffins because it’s just me and my husband at home. We do have sweet neighbors we can share with but 12 muffins are still a lot. In the case of these muffins, however, I sorely miscalculated since I was planning to bring them to share with my mother, my sister and her twins. 

I really should have made 12! Six disappeared in no time and one of my dear nieces even said that she would love the recipe. So, Brontë, here it is! Muffins are the easiest bake ever and you can even bake these in the Ninja on the bake setting. Any questions, just let me know. (The rest of you can leave a comment if you have a question! Happy to help.)

Small Batch Cheddar Muffins

I’ve called these cheddar muffins because that is the cheese I had on hand but, really, any cheese of a similar texture would work beautifully in this recipe. 

Ingredients
1 cup or 125g all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
3 1/2 oz or 100g grated extra sharp cheddar cheese
1 large egg
1/2 cup or 120ml milk
3 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled, plus extra for the muffin pan

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare a 6-cup muffin pan by brushing it inside with melted butter. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. 


Add the grated cheddar and gently toss with the flour mixture to coat the cheese.


In another mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, and melted butter. 


Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and fold until just combined.


Divide the batter into the cups of the buttered muffin pan. 


Bake in your preheated oven until golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes. 


Ideally, serve warm but these are also good at room temperature. 

Food Lust People Love: Perfect with soup or for a snack, these small batch cheddar muffins are tender and cheesy. The recipe makes only six but is easily doubled if you need 12.

Enjoy! 

It’s the last Monday of the month so that means it’s time for Muffin Monday! Check out the recipes my fellow bloggers are sharing below: 


#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.


Pin these Small Batch Cheddar Muffins! 

Food Lust People Love: Perfect with soup or for a snack, these small batch cheddar muffins are tender and cheesy. The recipe makes only six but is easily doubled if you need 12.

 .

Sunday, April 23, 2023

Lobster Bruschetta

Lobster bruschetta is a wonderful appetizer with bright flavors from ripe tomatoes, fragrant basil, sharp garlic and, of course, succulent lobster. Treat your friends and family with this delicious finger food. 

Food Lust People Love: Lobster bruschetta is a wonderful appetizer with bright flavors from ripe tomatoes, fragrant basil, sharp garlic and, of course, succulent lobster. Treat your friends and family with this delicious finger food.

Years ago, when our girls were young and we lived in a house with a pool, Sunday afternoons were devoted to swimming and lounging around. Mid-afternoon, I’d head to the kitchen to toast some baguette slices and stir up bruschetta as a snack. 

Our traditional bruschetta was very much like this lobster version, sans the lobster, of course. Tomatoes, basil and garlic combined with olive oil and vinegar – sometimes dark balsamic, sometimes white – create a flavorful mouthful that is more than the sum of its parts. 

Lobster Bruschetta

I made this recipe with the meat of one lobster and since I wasn’t serving many people, I kept the lobster bits pretty chunky. If you need to stretch it to serve more, you can add more tomatoes, garlic and basil and chop the lobster a little bit smaller. It will still be quite delicious. 

Ingredients
1 cooked lobster, about 1 1/2 lbs or 700g
2 ripe Roma tomatoes, almost 9 oz or 250g whole
Leaves from one sprig fresh basil
2 cloves garlic, minced, plus more to rub on toasted baguette
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 tablespoon good quality olive oil
1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
About 20 slices baguette, toasted

Method
Rub the toasted baguette slices with garlic and set aside. 


Remove the meat from the lobster and cut it in to small chunks. 


Cut the tomatoes in half. Cut out the hard core and remove the pulp and seeds. Dice them into small cubes.


Stack the basil leaves one on top the other and roll them up. Slice them thinly, a technique chefs call chiffonade. 


In a mixing bowl, combine the tomatoes, minced garlic, basil and sea salt along with the olive oil and vinegar. 


Add in the lobster and stir again.


Or if you are passing the lobster bruschetta around and it will get eaten quickly, you can top them all just when you are ready to serve. If you top the bread too early, it can get soggy and no one wants that. 


Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes that would be perfect for a Spring brunch. Check out the links below. 



 
We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

Pin this Lobster Bruschetta! 

Food Lust People Love: Lobster bruschetta is a wonderful appetizer with bright flavors from ripe tomatoes, fragrant basil, sharp garlic and, of course, succulent lobster. Treat your friends and family with this delicious finger food.

 .