I’m having a little bit of a red velvet takeover on this blog. After making the Red Velvet Crinkle Cookies, I knew I wanted to make a Whoopie Pie version perfect for the holidays, specifically Red Velvet Peppermint Whoopie Pies! In case you don’t know what a whoopie pie is, they are cake-like cookies with creamy goodness sandwiched in between. They are quite popular in the Philadelphia area due to the influence of the Pennsylvania Dutch. In fact, I had whoopie pies at my wedding (along with cannolis and cupcakes)!
Whoopie pies are a lot easier to make than they look (I promise). These little guys are filled with a peppermint cream cheese filling, so they will get you right in the holiday spirit in no time!
Ingredients (makes 12 whoopie pies):
Red Velvet Cookies (makes 24 cookies):
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
2/3 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 (0.67 oz) tube gel red food coloring, about 1 tablespoon
2 cups flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened natural cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Peppermint Cream Cheese Filling:
2 (8 oz) blocks cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
Note: I was sent vinegar from Lindera Farms, including their Ramp Vinegar, in order to write this post. Opinions are mine alone.
Hands down, my favorite summer produce are tomatoes. Peak tomato season in the Philadelphia area begins just after July 4th and continues through mid-October, so it is the perfect time to share a recipe highlighting tomatoes like this Homemade Bruschetta!
Luckily, tomato season has coincided with the opportunity to try out a bunch of yummy vinegar from Lindera Farms, a small artisan vinegar producer in Virginia.
source: www.linderafarms.com
Lindera Farms takes locally and sustainably sources agricultural products and ferments them into wines which are then aged into vinegar. They have a wide selection of vinegars (nearly 30 types!) and pantry goods, including soy sauce, hot sauce, and syrups.
The ingredients from Lindera Farms are raised in a non-interventionist process, meaning they don’t introduce anything to the growing process. The process is subject to the whims of the environment completely; think Darwinian farming. The positives of this practice are that you get these stronger, more resilient, more flavorful fruits, herbs, and flowers with no carbon footprint or residual impact to the environment.
The results speak for themselves. The few vinegars I’ve sampled so far all have incredibly different flavors, acidity, and finish than what you can typically find in your supermarket. For example:
The Gardener Vinegar came about through Lindera Farms’ continued efforts to curb food waste. They collect organic summer vegetables from small local farms to make a complex and vegetal vinegar. The result is a very high acidic, savory vinegar with notes of cucumber, tomatoes, peppers and leeks. Lindera Farms suggests using it with salad greens, summer veggies, fish, or poultry, or even adding it to your favorite Bloody Mary recipe (I love this idea!)
Lindera Farms’ Apple Cider Vinegar is made with organic Virginian Heirloom Apples, and then is aged with applewood, adding a smooth, smoky finish. The Apple Cider Vinegar has a medium acidity, and medium-low sweetness, and can be used anywhere you’d use traditional apple cider vinegar, or just for probiotic consumption. (I used it in a pulled pork recipe, and it was fantastic)
I used the Ramp Vinegar in the recipe below. Ramps are a garlicky wild onion, and the ones in this vinegar are foraged in the woods of the Shenandoah valley. The result is a savory vinegar with notes of garlic, ramps, and onions with medium acidity. Lindera Farms suggests using it as a substitute anywhere you might use lemon and garlic in a dish. (I recently used it in my Italian Pasta Salad)
I have yet to tap into the other Lindera Farms vinegars, but I’m sure they are going to be just as delicious.
Traditional bruschetta uses balsamic vinegar, but I thought the garlic/onion flavors in Lindera Farms’ Ramp Vinegar would enhance the fresh flavors of the tomatoes and basil.
On to the recipe!
Ingredients (serves 4 as an appetizer):
4 plum (roma) tomatoes, evenly diced
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped, plus more for garnish
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #GetGrillingAmerica #CollectiveBias
Can you believe it is almost Memorial Day? Since the first relatively nice day we had this spring, I’ve been dreaming of warm weather and outdoor grilling; I cannot wait to kick off the unofficial start of summer with a true backyard barbecue! To break in my grill for the season, what better choice than to get some ribs on the grill?
I have a few recipes on my blog for Slow Cooker Ribs, dripping in yummy homemade barbecue sauce. But when it comes to ribs on the grill, I like mine smoky and seasoned with a flavorful dry rub, like this recipe for Memphis Style Grilled Ribs. Grilling ribs takes some time but is a pretty simple process. Cooking them low and slow results in a wonderfully tender meat that is nice and juicy on the inside, with a beautiful crust on the outside.
I picked up a rack of Smithfield Fresh Pork Back Ribs from Walmart, as well as some charcoal, and hickory wood chips. Smithfield Fresh Pork ribs are hand-trimmed and have no added hormones or steroids. They are extra tender and juicy, making them perfect for grilling.
(As a said above, smoky ribs are a favorite of mine!) I love love love the flavor that charcoal imparts on grilled food.
Adding some chips on top of the charcoal adds another level of smoky flavor to the ribs.
I absolutely love scallops. My fiance on the other hand does not. So I rarely make them. But when I found myself with a fiance-free dinner recently, it was clear what I was going to make!
This recipe for Seared Scallops with Chestnut Puree from Cooking Light makes use of winter-y ingredients such as chestnuts and blood oranges to make a simple but seemingly fancy dinner.
The scallops are seared and placed on a chestnut puree, then drizzled with a blood orange vinaigrette. I added some dandelion greens, which have a subtle bitterness to them that is a nice contrast to the sweet chestnut puree.
Ingredients:
1 cup packaged precooked chestnuts
1/2 cup packaged precooked chestnuts, finely chopped
There is something so comforting and delicious about fish and chips. Traditionally a big take-away (take out/ to go) meal, cod, halibut, tilapia or another firm whitefish is typically battered, fried, and served with chips, or to us Americans, fries. I absolutely love fish and chips, but I don’t exactly love the whole frying component (I mean, I do. It’s delicious. But it kind of negates the point of eating fish). I wanted to try to make a baked version that would hopefully keep its crunch. I decided to give it some slight American flair and added Old Bay seasoning to the batter and on the fries.
