Rhubarb Coffee Cake

You know I love my rhubarb. The only thing that I don’t like about it is that the growing season for rhubarb in Connecticut is too short. I take advantage of the local harvest, including from my own garden, as much as I can. A lot of our guests here at the Scranton Seahorse Inn have asked for this recipe – even from some that didn’t think they liked rhubarb. The small chop on the rhubarb in this recipe doesn’t overwhelm but provides tasty tart bites. The combination of the wheat and all purpose flour provide a nice nutty aroma and flavor. I hope you enjoy this Rhubarb Coffee Cake recipe.

CAKE:

1 pound finely chopped rhubarb

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

5 tablespoons butter, softened

2 large eggs

1 cup sour cream

1/2 teaspoon orange extract or 1 teaspoon fresh orange zest

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

STREUSEL:

1/4 cup turbinado sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. To prepare cake, combine rhubarb and 2 tablespoons flour in a medium bowl; toss well to coat.

3. Place brown sugar and 5 tablespoons butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add sour cream, rind, and vanilla; beat until well combined.

4. Lightly spoon 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours, baking soda, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and salt, stirring with a whisk. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until combined. Fold in rhubarb mixture. This is a thick batter. Spread evenly into a 9-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray.

5. To prepare streusel, combine turbinado sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in 2 tablespoons butter with a pastry blender or 2 forks until mixture is crumbly; stir in nuts. Sprinkle streusel evenly over batter. Bake at 375° for 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Invert onto a cooling rack and cool completely. Cut into squares and enjoy.

National Pancake Day is March 3

I guess there’s a reason to celebrate something every day so why not pancakes too! Throughout the year we make variations on these crowd pleasing favorites. In fall and winter we serve gingerbread, pumpkin or apple pancakes. In the spring we’ll change it up to lemon ricotta and sometimes in the summer we’re making buttermilk and sweet corn pancakes. But our tried and true hit are fluffy classic buttermilk pancakes topped with berries and local maple syrup. Here’s our recipe for our version. Enjoy! Happy Pancake Day!

Ingredients

2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 tablespoons Granulated Sugar
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Table Salt
2 cups Buttermilk
2 Large Eggs
3 tablespoons Unsalted Butter
1/4 cup Sour Cream

Whisk together all dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.
Melt Butter and cool slightly
Whisk buttermilk into cooled butter and then whisk in the eggs and sour cream.
Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients. Use a large rubber spatula and fold together until just combined. Use a minimal amount of strokes – some lumps might remain. Let stand for at least 15 minutes – this will give the sour cream and baking soda time to react.
Pour 1/4 cup for each pancake onto a hot oiled skillet or griddle. When bubbles start to uniformly appear it’s time to flip. These pancakes will rise nicely so let them cook for at least 2 minutes on the second side. Don’t forget to use quality (LOCAL if available) syrup. Enjoy.

An overnight stay, a cooking class, and dinner – all for 1 price!

Souper Sundays

There are many things we do here on the Connecticut shoreline in order to coexist with the cold New England weather. From skiing and skating to reading and hibernating, we each have our own ways to keep from going stir-crazy during Old Man Winter’s annual visit. One of my own favorite winter rituals is to make homemade soup. It’s healthy (well…sometimes!), satisfying and delicious, which means that in one pot I get to fulfill all of my promises to myself: live healthier, cook at home more, and eat better.

The aromas that fill the inn are second only to the reward of eating a bowl of hot homemade goodness. I enjoy it so much that I have have started sharing my ritual with our overnight Sunday guests and am calling it Souper Sundays. All guests that check in on Sunday are invited into the kitchen to help me prepare what will become the Sunday supper that we will share at dinner time. It’s a time to bring the ever-changing Scranton Seahorse Inn guest community together to do something fun, healthy and, if we do it right – utterly delicious.

Book your room with us and enjoy a perfect stay at a classic Connecticut bed and breakfast that includes a cooking class and dinner with (new) friends. Bring your own favorite wine if you wish, and we’ll provide the soup, bowls, and spoons!

December 14th: Butternut Squash with Sage and Apple & New England Style Clam Chowder
December 21st: Creamy Chicken Chowder & Spicy Red Pepper Bisque

See you at the inn!

Cooking Class – Pumpkin!

Our CSA from Bishops Orchard’s provided us with a bounty of local squash and pumpkin this season. This leaves us no choice but to invite you into the Scranton Seahorse Inn kitchen to help cook up some of our favorite perfectly sweet fall flavors. In this class we’ll start off by discussing the local varieties of squash and roasting techniques before we get started with a hands on class creating:

Pumpkin Ice Cream
Pumpkin Cheese Cake
Pumpkin Harvest Bread
Pumpkin Cannoli

Details:

Wednesday November 12th
5:30 – 8:30 (approximately
Maximum 8 students
$50 class only or
$160 class & over night accommodations (single occupancy, $210 – double)

Call me at 203.245.0550 today to reserve your spot. See you at the inn!

Strawberry-Rhubard Crisp

Crisp Topping

Preheat oven to 350F

1 1/4 cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup toasted walnuts
10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

In a large bowl mix together the flour, sugars, and salt. Cut the butter into small cubes and add to the flour mixture. Using a pastry blender (or two forks) chop and toss the butter until the butter is pea-sized and coated with flour. Careful to chop the butter – not mash it. add the walnuts and mix and chop until the nuts are part of the butter and flour mixture.

Fruit Mixture

2 pints fresh strawberries (washed, dried and quartered)
2 1/2 pounds dark red rhubarb (washed, dried and chopped in 1/4 inch pieces)
4 teaspoons flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a large stainless bowl toss fruit with sugar, flour and salt. Pack fruit mixture evenly into a 12x8x2 baking pan. Spread the crisp topping evenly over the top of the fruit mixture taking care to not pack it down.

Back on center rack of oven until the topping is browned and fruit it bubbling – about 45 minutes. It’s ok to put it under broiler for the last 5 minutes to brown the topping further. Let cool for 15 – 20 minutes before serving with whip cream or vanilla ice cream.

Cappuccino Biscotti w/ Hazelnuts & Chocolate Chips Recipe

Biscotti are easy to make and delicious with a cup of tea, coffee or milk any time of the day. Our cookie jar in the coffee lounge is always filled with cookies or biscotti and this recipe gets a lot of requests.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup (100 grams) peeled hazelnuts
2 cups (260 grams) all-purposeflour
1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 cup espresso or strong coffee, cooled
1 tablespoon milk
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in center of oven. Place hazelnuts on a baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes.

In a small bowl whisk together the espresso or coffee, milk, egg and vanilla extract.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer) beat the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices until combined. Gradually add the espresso mixture and beat until a dough forms, adding the chopped nuts and chocolate chips about halfway through. With floured hands divide the dough in half. On a lightly floured surface roll each half of dough into a log about 12 inches long and 1.5″ inches wide. Transfer the logs to a parchment paper lined baking sheet, spacing about 3 inches apart. Bake for about 35 minutes or until firm to the touch (logs will spread during baking). Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes.

Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F. On a cutting board cut the logs crosswise on the diagonal into 1/2 inch slices. Arrange the slices on the baking sheet, and bake for 5 minutes or until they are pale golden. I personally like my biscotti a little softer than is the tradion. If you like yours real crunchy you can cook the sliced biscotti on each side for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Optional: Die hard chocolate lovers can melt good bitter sweet chocolate over the logs as they are cooling and before slicing.

Makes about 36 biscotti.

Quinoa Porridge Recipe

I think quinoa should get the most versatile food award for 2014. I giggle to myself as I read other foodie blogs when they have discovered how great quinoa is in sweet recipes because I’m on the other end of the spectrum as I begin to discover great new ways to use quinoa in savory recipes. I’ve been using quinoa in my signature granola, cookies, and pancake recipes for quite some time. And this time of year my quinoa breakfast porridge is very popular. It’s healthy, it’s gluten free and it’s vegan so what’s not to love? If you haven’t found a place for quinoa in your diet yet this porridge recipe is an easy and delicious way to start

For each serving:

1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 1/2 cup almond milk (see my recipe for easy homemade almond milk)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 dash cinnamon (or cardamon)
1/4 cup fresh seasonal fruit like chopped apples, pears or your favorite berry. Raisins work too!
1 handful of your favorite nut – almonds, peacans, or walnuts – toasted and coarsley chopped

Bring the quinoa, almond milk, vanilla, cinnamon to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, covered until tender, about 15 minutes.
Mix in the fruit and top with toasted nuts.

Kale Smoothie

Breakfast is our favorite time of day. We make it our duty to serve things like pastries, pancakes and bacon. However, we do offer healthy choices at breakfast for our guests that want to enjoy something delicous at breakfast but don’t want to over do it. One of our most requested offerings is our Kale Smoothie. The recipe below is how I make it most days but keep in mind smoothie recipes have ingredients that are easy to swap with others. Feel free to use what ever your happen to have on hand.

Scranton Seahorse Kale Smoothie

2 handfuls of fresh kale washed and chopped.
1/2 chopped fresh chopped carrots
1 cup chopped fresh strawberries
1 cup fresh pineapple
1 pelled chopped apple
1 cup unsweetened unflavored almond milk
1 cup ice

The strawberries and pineapple should be frozen for at least an hour. What I do is package 1 cup of each the strawberries and pineapple in zip lock bags and when I’m ready to make a smoothie I’ve got them already chopped measured and frozen.

Combine all ingredients in a blender or smoothie machine and blend until smooth. Depending on your preference add more ice (or almond milk) to thin out the smoothie. I personally don’t like mine thick like a milk shake. You can keep the extra in a covered pitcher in the refrigerator for a couple days.

What’s your favorite smoothie recipe?

Apple Sour Cream Coffee Cake Recipe

When I was in pastry school one of the chef instuctors shared this recipe with our class. I’ve carried this fairly simple recipe with me for many years and it’s always a hit. When I make it at the inn I always get asked for the recipe. Use your favorite tart, fresh and locally grown apples for the best results.

2 sticks of butter at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 T Vanilla Extract
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
2 cups sour cream
5 peeled and diced apples

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment cream butter and sugar on medium – high speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time – completely incorporating and scraping down the bowl and paddle with a rubber spatula after each addition. Don’t skip this step! Add vanilla.

Combine all dry ingredients and whisk to incorporate. Set the mixer to low and slowly add to butter and egg mixture until just combined.

Add sour cream and mix until smooth. Add apples until thoroughly mixed. Pour mixture in even amounts into three 8″ spring form pans that have been sprayed and lined with parchment paper. I suggest a struesal topping and you can use your own favorite recipe or here’s my easy nut free topping:

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup packed light brown sugar
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch table salt
1 stick unsalted butter cut into pieces, softened but still cool

In standing mixer fitted with flat beater, combine flour, sugars, cinnamon, and salt on low speed until well combined and no large brown sugar lumps remain, about 45 seconds. Add butter and mix on low until mixture resembles wet sand and no large butter pieces remain, about 2 1/2 minutes. Spread evenly over each pan of batter.

Bake at 350F until golden brown and a test inserted into each pan comes out cleanly. About 1hr 10 minutes.

Hawaiian Waffles Recipe

Macadamia nuts and shredded coconut aren’t the only things that make this dish a summer time favorite. I serve a tropical salsa along side it to finish it off. Use whatever fruit is ripe and fresh at the supermarket. Some of my favorites include mango, pineapple, & kiwi. Don’t be afraid to try something different like starfruit or papaya to wow your family or guests.

For 6 Belgian Style Waffles

2 Large Eggs
1/2 cup melted butter
1 3/4 cups milk
2 cups all purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking power
1/2 teaspoon table salt
3/4 cup shredded coconut
3/4 cups coarsely chopped raw macadamia nuts

Whisk the eggs until foamy and then whisk in the butter and milk. Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the egg mixture and whisk until smooth. The batter should not be so thick that you cannot run your whisk through it. You can thin it out by adding a tablespoon or two of milk. Fold in the nuts and coconut. I like to let the mixture sit for 10 minutes before using.

Follow the instructions for your waffle iron to cook. But a general rule of thumb is when the steaming from the iron stops your waffles are done!

Tips:

Instead of maple syrup, which can overpower the flavors of the coconut and macadamia nuts, try a light or amber agave nectar.

Chop your fruit salsa into small bite size pieces just like a salsa and serve a heaping mound with each waffle.