Tommy's "Real Deal" Pancakes

Tommy's breakfast gift to his dad for his birthday was a double batch of his own "Real Deal" Pancakes, which he made with flour, whole milk, organic eggs, butter and baking powder.  He added Ron's favorite -- blueberries (what else!) and a few halved walnuts (Tommy's favorite) to individual pancakes as they cooked.  Served up with Camp's Maple Syrup and the Sunday edition of The New York Times ... it doesn't get better than that.

Lazy Hazy Glaze-y Days

When the weather gets hot and humid, we like a fruit tart better than a dense brownie or cake for dessert.  In this light delight, fresh berries and peaches take center stage, baked on a puff pastry shell, and glazed with apricot jam to sweeten it up and provide a beautiful, shiny finish.  For a variation, you can use any kind of berry, apples, pears or apricots. In late summer, for a "Tuscan twist," try it with juicy little Italian plums or fresh figs. It bakes up in only 20 minutes, so it won't heat up your kitchen. If you use store-bought frozen puff pastry, give it 40 minutes on the counter to defrost while you take a cool shower or run to the gym ... then your prep time will be less than an hour, start to finish. To serve, top with a generous spoonful of whipped cream, creme fraiche or marscapone, bring out an icy bottle of wine and watch it disappear.  Perfetto!

Ingredients

Two sheets of puff pastry (One box of frozen Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets)
Flour for rolling pastry
One pint each fresh raspberries and fresh blueberries (or berry of your choice)
Two peaches (or plum, apricot, apple, or pear)
Apricot jam for glazing (about 3 tbsp.)
One egg and 1 tsp water, beaten with a fork
Ground cinnamon and nutmeg for topping
Sugar for topping

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Boil peaches for two minutes, submerge in ice water, peel and slice thinly
Heat apricot jam over low-medium flame until it becomes soft and spreadable, about 1 minute 

Roll out defrosted puff pasty on lightly floured surface to approximately 14" x 14"
Using pastry wheel, trim off 1/2" from edges.

Using a pastry brush, brush the inside of the trim lightly with water, fold over pastry square, and brush with egg/water mixture.

Brush center of square with apricot jam. Place berries and peaches in a creative design on puff pastry and glaze fruit generously with the rest of the apricot jam. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon, grind a few twists of nutmeg all over and put in the oven.

Immediately reduce oven temp to 375 degrees. Bake for 20 minutes, checking at 15 minutes.  Set on counter to cool for 2 hours before serving. Serve at room temperature, and top with a spoonful of whipped cream, creme fraiche or marscapone if desired.

All-American Holiday

It's Memorial Day weekend, and time to bring out the burgers and fries! We grilled our own ground beef, topped with red onion, dill pickle chips, a slice of hot house tomato and a side of curly fries. This mouth-watering treat, and a Yankee game, makes the day complete.

Poor Man's Paté

The nights have been cool lately, and there's nothing more comforting than a densely-packed meat loaf with hot buttered rice to take the edge off a crisp breeze. We've loved this dish for a really long time. It's a fragrant mixture of ground beef, eggs, minced onion, chopped green pepper, ketchup, Kosher salt, pepper and a dash of milk. The secret to this dish: homemade breadcrumbs, made with ciabatta bread, minced fresh parsley, sage, rosemary, sweet basil, grated Parmagianno Reggiano, French Sel de Mer and a medly of freshly-ground peppercorns (white, red, green and black). I make it in big batches and freeze in big ziploc bags and use for meatballs, meat loaf, and breading chicken breasts.

This meat loaf goes from the dinner table to the lunch bag in the blink of an eye. Just a spooonful of Russian dressing on a soft roll, some lettuce et "voila!," you have a "paté" sandwich manifique!

Butter Him Up for His Birthday!

Butter Cake
Our favorite birthday cake, a variation on a traditional strawberry shortcake, is a great way to butter up your favorite friend on his or her birthday. For his birthday this weekend, Tommy requested blueberries and bananas in the whipped cream, in addition to strawberries. I baked a rich, butter-filled cake and set it out to cool for a few hours. The frosting is heavy cream with sugar and real vanilla extract, whipped until it is almost butter! Fold in fresh blueberries, fresh sliced strawberries and sliced bananas. (Keep some of the whipped cream aside for the top of the cake.) The secret to a fabulous finish -- a double-extra helping of whipped cream with berries between the two rounds. It stands up to the cake when sliced, and makes every bite extra-moist.

Chips Ahoy, Senorita!

Cinquo de Mayo put us in the mood for easy Mexican snacks. But we wanted something better than the dried-out, preservative-filled chips off the shelf. So we made tortillas and fried them in vegetable oil, doused them with Kosher salt when they were still sizzling hot. The result, an incredibly fresh and mouth-watering tortilla chip, fit for your Margaritaville. Olé!

Let Me Call You Sweet-Tart

Lemons lemons lemons. This delectable lemon meringue pie is a perfect dessert for a filling meal, or lovely with tea in mid-afternoon. Freshly squeezed lemon juice and the zest of a million lemons are the key to loading it up with flavor. Topped with an airy and sweet meringue, the perfect foil to the tart-y lemon.