The Quintessential Spring Dessert (Strawberry Shortcake) -- Lightened Up

Eating Well magazine did a great makeover of a too-heavy strawberry shortcake recipe, trimming 100 calories and loads of sat-fat from the recipe they started with. Here is the lightened version!

Recipe: Strawberry Shortcake
Makes 12 shortcakes

Ingredients

Shortcakes

• 2 cups cake flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 cup white whole-wheat flour, or whole-wheat pastry flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 4 tablespoons (2 ounces) reduced-fat cream cheese, (Neufchâtel)
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 3 tablespoons nonfat buttermilk, (see Tip)

Filling

• 4 cups sliced hulled strawberries, (about 1 1/4 pounds whole)
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream

Preparation

1. To prepare shortcakes: Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Whisk cake flour, whole-wheat flour, sugar and baking powder in a large bowl. Cut in butter using two knives or a pastry cutter until the pieces are about the size of peas. Cut in cream cheese until it’s the size of peas. Drizzle oil over the mixture; stir with a fork until just combined (the mixture will be crumbly). Make a well in the center and add egg and buttermilk. Gradually stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients with a fork until the mixture is evenly moist. Knead the mixture in the bowl two or three times until it holds together.
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Dust with flour and roll into an 8-by-10-inch rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. Cut the edges square using a butter knife. Cut the dough into 12 equal shortcakes. Transfer to a baking sheet.
4. Bake the shortcakes until puffed and lightly golden, about 20 minutes. Let cool slightly.
5. To prepare filling: Toss strawberries with sugar in a medium bowl. Whisk whipping cream in a medium bowl until it’s thick and holds its shape, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in sour cream until combined.
6. To serve, split the shortcakes horizontally. Spoon the berries and juice onto the bottoms, top with the cream mixture and replace the shortcake tops.

Florida getaway

Spent a few days in St. Petersburg Florida to attend my brother's wedding. At 60-- after a disastrous first marriage to the wrong person, an acrimonious divorce and more than 5 years of frustrating dating--Paul found his true love, Katharine. I have never seen him so happy. What a wonderful thing to behold their mutual love and joy! Here is a photo of the bride & groom on the evening before their wedding day.

The happy couple

My husband and I managed to take a two-hour Segway tour of the waterfront in St. Pete. Those things are so much fun! Our next trip is to Washington DC and we intend to see the sights on two wheels there, as well.

Another happy couple :)

Our dining highlight was dinner at the famous Bern's Steakhouse in Tampa. The only food photo I have to share is of some delicious shrimp-and-scallop seviche when we lunched at a sidewalk eatery in St. Pete. We stayed at the lovely Vinoy Hotel -- a place to which we intend to return.

Back to more typical posts soon.

 Very Florida Fare!

Rice with Spring Peas, Asparagus and Mushrooms

You can call this risotto but I cooked the rice separately, so maybe not. It's still delicious, and much less labor intensive than true risotto.
As always, the quality of the ingredients makes all the difference. Local asparagus, English peas shelled from the pods, and a small amount of chanterelle mushrooms (along with "baby bellas") were the flavor stars here -- all enhanced by good quality shaved Parmesan cheese and a healthy shot of garlic.
Make the veggie melange, stir in the pre-cooked brown rice (Trader Joe's has frozen brown rice that you microwave, super easy and delish, too), top with the cheese and voila! Yummy.
I did this free form and will try to reproduce the recipe here. Substitute fresh morel mushrooms if you can get them.

Recipe: Brown Rice with Peas, Asparagus and Mushrooms
Serves 4

Ingredients:
2-3 T olive or canola oil, or a blend
2 cups sliced mushrooms, whatever variety you like
1 cup shelled peas
2 cups sliced asparagus
2 T minced garlic
Salt and pepper
1/4 - 1/3 cup broth or stock
2 cups cooked rice, preferably brown rice
1/2 cup shaved Parmesan cheese

Instructions:
Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add mushrooms and stir-fry until they begin to brown, about 4 minutes. Add next 5 ingredients (peas through stock) and stir-fry for 3 minutes to blend ingredients. Cover and cook another few minutes until veggies are crisp-tender. (Test with a fork, or try a piece of asparagus.) Stir in rice and cover again. Cook just until the rice is heated through, probably about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and add cheese; adjust seasonings and add more salt and pepper, if desired.
That's it!

Superfoods of Springtime

We don't have to wait until the summer or fall harvests to feast on incredibly healthy, locally grown, in-season foods. Local asparagus (now available at Findlay Market and others) and strawberries (still a couple of weeks away, most likely) taste way better than anything from the supermarket, but there are several other great foods that are being harvested now and available at local farmers markets.

They include kale, fennel, spinach, leeks and artichokes -- all wonderful, yummy ingredients for savory dishes (or eat the spinach raw in salads and as a substitute for lettuce in sandwiches).
Click here to read an article about the NINE SUPERFOODS OF SPRING and why they are such nutritional powerhouses.

Healthy food that's easy to work into your lifestyle

If you find it hard to follow some of the healthy-eating advice, such as how we should eat more kale or quinoa or lentils, here's some interesting advice from Real Simple magazine. It's from an article called "The Healthy-Diet Foods That Health Experts Really Eat." The list includes almond butter, frozen grapes, salmon, yogurt, apples and chocolate milk.

Click here to read the whole list. 

(Gourmet) Weekend in the Woods

Murphin Ridge Inn Main House

If you live in the city or suburbs -- as most of us do -- you're probably well aware of the benefits and costs of urban/suburban life. On the downside, my husband and I notice a profound disconnect from the natural world. Don't get me wrong; we prefer the diversity, convenience and fun-factor of city life. But we also treasure our occasional forays into quieter places.

Last weekend we drove out to Adams County, just 70 miles east of our Cincinnati home, for another visit to our favorite rural retreat, Murphin Ridge Inn. This particular weekend attracted us thanks to the first "Spring into Spring in Adams County Arts and Crafts Day" held on Saturday 4/27. It also happened to be the end of the 2012-13 academic year and the start of my summer vacation.
The fair (or arts & crafts day) took place on a gorgeous farm just a few miles from the inn. On the same property and owned by the farm family is As It Was Antiques, which sits atop a hill overlooking miles of farmland greening up into the growing season.

Top highlight of the fair for us was participating in a cooking class with Murphin Ridge Inn sous-chef Josh Catone. Here he is with my husband, and a close-up of the asparagus-and-fresh-ricotta crepes that he/we made.

Cooking with Josh Catone (right)

Crepes for lunch

As for the Inn itself, I can't recommend it too highly. There are 10 rooms in the guest house, one of which has a fireplace and another has a whirlpool; but we always stay in one of the cabins dotted around the property. Each A-frame cabin (there are 9) has a porch with rocking chairs, king or queen bed, fireplace and whirlpool, along with a little fridge where you can store supplies.
The highlights for me out there, though, are the wooded trails on the property and the nightly bonfire. Along the trails, you often can stop and listen, and hear no human-made sounds. I just love that.
The bonfire provides the evening's entertainment (believe it or not). The place is so isolated you can't possibly go out in the evenings, so you eat at the inn and then sit by the bonfire for an hour or two afterward, chatting with other guests.
People love the meals, too -- in fact, it was as a foodie destination that I first made a point of getting out there. Here's a photo of one of our meals -- salmon and a vegetarian potato-dumpling kind of dish -- but my favorite munch out there usually is breakfast.

Entrees at Murphin Ridge Inn

We had two breakfasts this time, and the best was Sunday morning's multi-grain pancakes, which departing owner Sherry McKenney calls Foggy Bottom Pancakes (long story about how she came up with the name). They were the best thing I ate all weekend -- well, those crepes were awfully good, too -- and in such a lovely setting. Here's a photo of one of the inn's gardens as seen from the breakfast room.

Springtime at MR

Also right next to the main house -- which is where meals are served but it's separate from the building that has the guest rooms -- is a grove of trees with countless bird feeders and many comfy chairs and benches where you can hang out and check out the dozens of birds of many species sure to be chowing down.
The Inn has many loyal repeat guests, and there's no reason why if you live in metro Cincinnati (or Dayton, Columbus, or Lexington) you can't become one, too.

Foodie Destination Murphin Ridge Inn has changed hands

Murphin Ridge Inn, Adams Co OH

Fans of this wonderful, rural getaway an hour's drive east of Cincinnati know that owners Darryl and Sherry McKenney have had their 10-room, 9-cabin luxury inn on the market for a couple of years, at least. Well, they finally found the right buyers. Paula and Jerry Schutt have officially taken the reins this weekend -- April 27-28 -- and the truly beloved Darryl and Sherry have retired and moved on to be with their far-flung children and grandchildren. They've owned the place for almost 16 years--a time that saw significant expansion (adding the beautiful cabins to complement the 10-room guest house) and improvements.

We spent the last weekend of April at the Inn, in part because we wanted to check out the first ever "Spring into Spring in Adams Country" arts and crafts fair held on Saturday. By luck, it was the McKenneys' last weekend, so we got to participate in wishing them well.
The new owners are keeping things the same, for now, and retaining the entire staff, including chef and sous-chef. (Murphin Ridge initially got on my own radar because of its notable contributions to the foodie world, but we came to love it for so many more, non-food reasons!)

Sherry and Josh, departing owners

My next post will tell about the arts and craft fair, the meals we had at the inn as well as all those other reasons that you probably would love this place, too.