Of course you can swap out other ingredients to make this however you like–strawberries, walnuts, feta cheese instead of chevre–use what you like. Butter lettuce holds up well, as does romaine, so I would use one of these if you plan to use this for a buffet.  Spring greens wilt too fast and they will compress under the weight of the berries and nuts.

 If you want to make this extra impressive, toss the nuts with an egg white and some cinnamon and oven-toast them for about ten minutes, just until they get crunchy.

Thanks for reading,

-Angela

This is not a difficult recipe, but you do have to time things properly to keep everything hot.  I pre-steam the asparagus and then briefly reheat it in a pan with a little butter, and I heat the crabmeat in the same pan.  You can do this while the tuna is grilling, and make the blender hollandaise at the same time.  Amounts vary according to how many tuna steaks you are grilling, and the sauce will keep for another use.  To reheat the sauce, place it in a bowl over a larger bowl of simmering water, and stir until just heated through.

I often stir some fresh tarragon into the sauce right before serving, but it was too early in the season, given our late snow storms–my herbs are just now beginning to emerge.  Fresh thyme is also nice if you have it on hand.

This is a great special-occasion dish, and it comes together quickly.  If you enjoy seafood, you will like this adaptation.

Thanks for reading,

-Angela

As part of the #BrunchWeek event there are a number of prize giveaways from sponsors–details on that below, as well as links to some of the other blogs with brunch recipes.

To enter to win one of the #BrunchWeek prizes, including gift cards and gift baskets, use the Rafflecopter form below. Note: this is not a sponsored post, but the prizes for the giveaway are all provided by sponsors. I did not receive compensation for this post.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

After you enter, be sure to check out these other great #BrunchWeek recipes:
Blood Orange Mimosas

Apple Cinnamon Crepes

Hot Maple Walnut Coffee Float

Breakfast Won Ton Cups

Shrimp-Grapefruit Orchid Stirfry

Margarita for Mama

Bob’s Scottish Oat n’ Walnut Sticky Scones

Strawberry Mimosa

Chorizo and Garlic Frittata

Meat Lover’s Quiche

Hollandaise Sauce

Candied Bacon Bloody Mary

Tomato Basil Macarons

Cherry Tomato and Chorizo Omelette

Candied Bacon

Biscoff Coffee Cake Muffins

Thanks for reading,

-Angela

If you want to keep this on the lower carb side, just omit the end drizzle of honey. I have also made these with a little bit of fresh orange juice squeezed on the top in lieu of the honey, and that is also pretty fabulous. This is not a recipe that requires specific amounts, just the basic technique.

And now for that giveaway…I was recently sent a review copy of Cooking for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet: Over 100 Easy, Healthy, and Delicious Recipes that are Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free, and Grain-Free, and because I tried some of the recipes and enjoyed the book, I asked the publisher to share a copy with one of my readers.  They were willing, so this is your chance to win a copy of this recipe collection.  I tried the recipes for the Butter Biscuits and the Lemon Pound Cake, and I plan to try the Yellow “Rice” recipe this weekend.  If you are eliminating grains and refined sugars, I think you will enjoy these recipes.  Here are the details to enter:

Giveaway Details:

-Open only to U.S. and Canadian mailing addresses, please

-Giveaway will end on Sunday, May 5th, at 5 p.m. MST, at which time I will select a winner using Random.org.  I will contact the winner using the email address provided with their entry, and they will have 48 hours to respond.  If I do not receive a response in that time frame, I will select an alternate winner using the same method.

-To enter, simply leave a comment below describing some kind of dietary change you have made or would like to make.

It’s just that simple!

Thanks for reading,

-Angela

Should you foolishly decide to make it anyway, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

I love hazelnuts and I love chocolate, but I don’t buy that popular, sugar-laden spread made of those ingredients.  I like macadamia nuts even more than hazelnuts, and I like dark chocolate even more than milk chocolate.  This concoction addresses all of those issues, and you can adjust the amounts to make it sweeter or creamier or more chocolatey or more nutty.  Whatever you desire.

Don’t you love that candy jar?  It was a gift from a talented friend.  If you want one you can order it here. You do need a good food processor to make this, and it takes some time to get it pulsed down to a spreading consistency.  Be patient and keep scraping it down and blending until you get the texture you like.  It is worth it.  This is great used as a dip for apples, or smeared onto celery, or eaten directly off of the spoon.

The leftovers, should you have those, will harden in the fridge, so pull it out a little in advance to let it soften up.  It would make a great truffle filling, actually.  Really great.  Seriously, you have been warned.

Thanks for reading,

-Angela

It’s easy to adapt this to be dairy-free if you like–just use all olive oil for the filling (or, as I have done in the past, bacon fat) and skip the gruyere in the crust. Use coconut oil instead of butter in the crust.  The crust will be a little thinner if you skip the cheese, but will still hold together perfectly well.

Note that dried rosemary is more intense than fresh, so use only half as much if you do not have fresh available.

Thanks for reading,

-Angela

Anyway, this is leading up to a salad.

Sadly, I no longer have an asparagus patch handy in which to stalk mantids, but I look forward to the beginning of asparagus season because it is, hands down, my favorite vegetable.  During the season I eat it several times a week, usually grilled or steamed.  This is an easy, main dish salad that is simply dressed with Meyer lemons and olive oil.  This is prime season for Meyer lemons, which are sweeter and more fragrant than regular lemons, but you can substitute standard lemon juice if you cannot locate Meyers.

This is wonderful served warm off of the grill, but the cold leftovers make a nice lunch the next day.  The dressing can be doubled or tripled if you want to do this for a crowd.

Thanks for reading,

-Angela

The ketchup uses a roasted red pepper base instead of tomatoes, which gives it a bit of a smokey flavor and makes it less aggressively sweet than most ketchup.  If you prefer your ketchup fairly sweet, you can add an extra tablespoon or two of honey.  Taste the mixture right out of the blender and adjust to taste.  Similarly, you can adjust the chipotle for a hotter or milder flavor.  Start with smaller amounts and work up as desired.

The roasted red pepper base makes the ketchup more versatile than your standard tomato, and I like it served warm over pan-fried or grilled fish.  The recipe makes about 2 1/2 cups of ketchup, and it will store well in the fridge for at least a week.  If you don’t think you will use it that quickly, the recipe can be cut in half.

Thanks for reading,

-Angela

Given the fascination with French cooking that dominated the eras of my collection, a great deal of my early knowledge of cooking was based on those flavors and techniques.  Quenelles were one of my first in-the-kitchen experiments, and I still enjoy making savory versions with fish and shellfish.  They are versatile and texturally interesting.

A quenelle is essentially an oval-shaped dumpling of some sort, and the savory types are typically made with a mousseline of fish or meat.  The technique of forming the oval shape is fairly simple, but it does take a few tries to get the swing of it.  You use two spoons of equal size to scoop the mixture into football shape.  This video has a good visual illustration.  They are often poached in some sort of broth, and from there you have a lot of options.  I made a double batch and used half for a simple soup with spring vegetables, using the poaching stock as the soup base.  The second half I refrigerated (do not refrigerate them in the poaching liquid for this, or they will be soggy) and I have been using them as a type of seafood sausage for breakfast.  Just toss them in a skillet with some ghee or olive oil and brown them well on all sides.  If you are suffering from breakfast boredom, these will really help.

While these are slightly fussy to make, it is easy to double the recipe and enjoy them in different ways over the course of a week.  They are also great topped with a mushroom sauce and heated under a broiler.  It’s definitely a fun project when you have the time to play with your food.

Thanks for reading,

-Angela

A puffy little vanilla-scented island.  Because I tend to be lazy when I cook, I made the custard using a blender method and I did not strain the cooked custard.  The texture was still excellent, so I strongly encourage the lazy method, as explained in the recipe.  I would also add that I thought the resulting dessert was a little too sweet, but I acknowledge that my sweet tolerance is lower than most.  So, in the recipe I listed honey amounts that I actually used, but feel free to cut back on the amounts if you also prefer desserts on the less-sweet side.  Honey is potently sweet.

I love custard-type desserts and find them extremely comforting, so I found this worth the effort of going through the various steps.  You can make the custard in advance if you like, just cover the surface with waxed paper and refrigerate until ready to use.  I don’t recommend making the meringues in advance, however, as they will get weepy.

Thanks for reading,

-Angela