Oven Roasted Asparagus with a Dijon Mustard Sauce

This is a simple way to enjoy fresh asparagus.
We learned to eat asparagus and hard boiled eggs for the first time at our friends house in the South of France. I've included my recipe for a sauce that we love. France was the first place I had ever seen asparagus growing and I have an asparagus plant in my garden.
I buy a bag of fresh asparagus and lay it in a single layer in a large roasting pan.
Drizzle with olive oil.
Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and any type of garlic seasoning blend.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake the asparagus for 15 minutes.
Cool on the sheet pan  before serving.

I serve the asparagus with Hard boiled eggs and a Dijon Mustard Sauce.
In a small bowl:
1/2 C Mayonnaise
2 TBS Dijon Mustard
2 TBS Water
1 TBS Red Wine Vinegar
a pinch of salt
a pinch of black pepper
Mix well and serve

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Fruit Bars with Granola Crumble

Who doesn't love a Fruit Crumble Bar. They always seem to show up at a neighborhood gathering, a picnic, a church bake sale and of course at a Christmas cookie exchange. I love them year round!
Our former next door neighbor moved a few blocks away and every month she puts a copy of a magazine she subscribes to in my mailbox. Thank you to my friend Jan for providing me with inspirational recipes for my blog.  Today I saw a recipe from Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa, for these Fruit Bars. There's nothing special about them, except that they have Granola in the Crumble and that alone was appealing enough for this Hippy in the Kitchen to adapt it and post it here.

Fruit Crumble Bars with Granola:

2 sticks of butter, room temperature
3/4 C granulated sugar
1 tsp almond extract
2 1/2 C flour
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 C Granola, I Granola from Ikea. ( photograph to follow)
1 1/2 C of your favorite fruit preserves. I use a 13 oz. jar of Bonne Maman, here are some of the varieties:
Raspberry
Apricot
Blackberry
Strawberry
Cherry
Fig
Peach
Field Blueberry
Mandarin

In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment:
Cream butter and sugar until well combined
Add almond extract and mix well

In a separate bowl:
Sift flour and salt together and gradually incorporate it into the butter, mixing until it just begins to form a dough ball.

Remove the dough and divide it into thirds.

Lightly press 2/3 of the dough into a 9" square baking pan, including 1/2" up the sides.
Evenly spread the jam over the dough leaving a 1/2" border.

In a small bowl, combine granola and remaining 1/3 of the dough, mixing it with your hands to create a crumble.
Scatter the crumble evenly over the jam.
Sprinkle with slivered almonds
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Food, a Poem by The Hippy in the Kitchen!

Food is what I talk about most. I guess I have to as a Food Blogging host.
I like Corn and Squash and Desserts galore. I can always find a topic and talk about more.
I'm passionate about the things that I cook. You can check out my blog and take a look.
Search a Food category or a Spice you prefer ,
A Vegetable, a Fruit or a Casserole you can stir.
Read a recipe and print it,
and make it with care.
Return to the blog to find something to share. 
Always remember if you can't make a decision,
You can always rely on A Hippy in the kitchen!
And don't forget the motto I'm always pitchin',
You will find happiness when you Enjoy! 
Peace in the Kitchen!

Strawberry Ice Box Dessert and Strawberry Ice Box Pie

We're all looking forward to warmer weather, spring and summer. I have great memories of summer growing up in Michigan. Some of my favorite memories include activities that involved food. Maybe that's part of why I've chosen to write a Food Blog.
Many of those memories started at my Grandmother's house and my Aunt Faye's farm.
Summer always included fruit in Michigan. I remember having Strawberry Shortcake at every summertime event at my grandmother's house. We had picnics in her backyard on rickety old wooden picnic tables. My fondest memories are of my grandmother's Potato Salad and Strawberry Shortcake.
I recently saw an episode of Trisha Yearwood and she made an interesting Strawberry Shortcake recipe. I had never seen the biscuit made in an 8" cake pan, but I'll make it this summer. My Grandmother's Strawberry Shortcake was always made with small individual home made biscuits, macerated strawberries and home made whipped cream. It was the classic strawberry shortcake.
I began researching variations of the iconic American summer dessert and came across a multitude of recipes for Strawberry Ice Box Cake. The recipe has been around for many years.
I looked at them all, I took something different from all of them and created this recipe. I look forward to spring and summer and making this dessert. I think it will be our Easter dessert.


Strawberry Ice Box Dessert:


1 pound of strawberries, stems trimmed. ( use a plastic straw to remove the stems. Push the stem out with the straw) I do this if I have a lot of strawberries to prepare.
1/4 C granulated sugar
1 (3.4 oz.) box of  Instant  Cheesecake Pudding Mix
2 C whole milk
1 pint of heavy cream
5 TBS of sifted confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 C strawberry jam, slightly heated , just to melt and set aside.
24 graham crackers
1 C semi sweet chocolate chips


Thinly slice 3 of the strawberries and set aside.
Slice the remaining strawberries and put them in a bowl.
Sprinkle them with the granulated sugar.
Mix well and set aside until they soak up the sugar and release their juice.
Mash them with a potato masher, leaving some chunky pieces.

Make Pudding with the milk, according to package directions, refrigerate

In a chilled bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment: beat heavy cream, confectioner's sugar and vanilla until a stiff texture is achieved. Watch it carefully, it can firm up quickly.
Reserve 2 TBS  and set aside.
Gently fold in the strawberry jam, by hand, into the bowl of whipped cream.
Refrigerate.
Once the pudding is thickened and set, gently fold in the  strawberry whipped cream, by hand.
 and set aside.

Spread a thin layer of the whipped cream  in a  9"X13" glass pan.
Cover the bottom with a single layer of graham crackers.
Cover the crackers with some whipped cream.
Top with a layer of the strawberries.
Repeat with whipped cream, crackers, whipped cream and strawberries.
Continue layering, ending with whipped cream.
Garnish the top with the 3 reserved sliced strawberries.

In a microwavable glass bowl or Pyrex measuring cup, melt the chocolate chips until smooth and cool slightly.
Mix in the reserved 2 TBS of strawberry whipped cream, until  completely incorporated.
Drizzle the chocolate over the entire cake with a fork.
Refrigerate the cake for at least 2 hours and up to 4 hours.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!



Strawberry Ice Box Pie:

Here's what you'll need:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
1 - Well Buttered 10" Pie Pan

2 C Crushed Pretzels
12 TBS Butter, melted
1/4 C Brown Sugar
2 C Sliced Strawberries
1 - 14 oz. can Sweetened Condensed Milk
4 oz. Cream Cheese, room temperature
4 TBS + 1 tsp  (1/2 of a 3oz. Box) Strawberry Jello
2 C Heavy Cream, divided
1/3 C Granulated Sugar

In a medium mixing bowl:
Pretzels
Butter
Brown Sugar
Mix well by hand.
Press into the bottom and up the sides of the Pie Pan.
Bake 10 - 12 minutes.
Remove the pan to a rack and cool 30 minutes.

In a Stand Mixer with a Whisk attachment:
Condensed Milk
Cream Cheese
Jello
Beat on low until just combined.
Transfer to a bowl.

In a large mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer:
3/4 C Heavy Cream
Beat to Soft Peak.
Gently fold this into the Strawberry mixture by hand.
Pour into the crust.
Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 12 hours.

Beat remaining 1 1/4 C Heavy Cream until Soft Peak .
Add:
Sugar
Beat to Stiff Peak.
Spread evenly over the Pie. (you can get fancy if you want to)
Freeze for an additional hour before serving.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Baked Eggs

I posted a link for this recipe on the blog, but I made them this morning and I wanted to post the picture.
They are so easy to make, easy to release and great for a crowd for brunch or a family breakfast. You can make as many or as few as you need. You can use a larger muffin tin to make more. It smells like a diner.

For each egg:
Spray the cups with a Vegetable Cooking Spray
Crack an Egg into each cup
Add 1tsp of heavy cream
Add 1 TBS of grated Parmesan Cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
Bake at 425 degrees
 7 - 8 minutes / Soft Yolks
9 - 10 minutes / Semi Soft Yolks
11 - 12 minutes / Hard Yolks
It's that simple and they are perfect.
We bake ours for a Soft Yolk.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Rum Cake / A Vintage Recipe

Here's a great example of how we documented our recipes before Blogs!

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!

Baked Eggs

I just received this from a blog that I follow. I love this concept when you have guests for brunch or your family. It's a great way to make multiple eggs at once. I decided to simply re post the link to the blog. Thank you Melissa for sharing this recipe.


http://www.melissassouthernstylekitchen.com/2011/08/french-eggs.html





Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!