Breakfast

Potato and Broccoli Frittata

December 17, 2020 By Janie-Jean Leave a Comment

Frittatas are all about a technique that’s hard to screw up and are easily customizable. I like to follow this simple formula to make the perfect frittata. Eggs plus meat plus veg plus cream plus cheese. You can substitute as you see fit but this is literally all you need. I have prepared a special gift for you, a free printable/wallpaper featuring the Frittata Formula. Now the power is in your hands whenever you crave this eggy goodness! CHEERS!

Frittata Formula Phone Wallpaper
Frittata Formula Desktop/Printable

If you’re curious about the 12 Things I learned in 2020, you can check it out here in our “Fearless Living” thoughts for this month! I would love to hear what you have learned this year in the comment section!

Ingredients:
8 to 10 small waxy potatoes (about 1 ounce each), scrubbed and quartered
1 cup vegetable or another broth or use salted water if you don’t have on hand
1/4 cup olive oil
4 slices of bacon, cooked till crisp and crumbled or finely chopped
8 ounces (usually 1 bundle) broccoli, trimmed and sliced into thin florets
1 small red or white onion, thinly sliced
8 large eggs
1/4 cup of heavy cream
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:
1.) In a medium size bowl, whisk together the eggs and cream. Salt and pepper to taste. If you need some guidance I would start with a big pinch or about ½ a tsp of salt. Same with the pepper. You want to make sure that you pepper the eggs till you can visibly see the pepper grinds in the egg cream mix when whisked together. Add in about half of the grated parmesan cheese and mix until incorporated.

2) First step is to prepare veggies. Turn the heat on to medium in a 12 inch, oven proof frying pan. Once the pan is warm pour in your cooking liquid (chicken or veg broth…or salted water) and add in your potatoes, cut side down. Bring the liquid to a boil, then turn it down to a simmer. Let the potatoes simmer for about 10 minutes or until most of the liquid has absorbed and potatoes are tender.

3) Add olive oil, broccoli and onions to the pan and saute over medium heat. You want to make sure everything gets tossed in the oil. Then cover your pan with a lid or a piece of aluminum foil, turn the stove down to medium low and let the vegetables cook for 4 minutes till the broccoli gets crisp (or fork) tender.

4) If you’re using bacon, now is the time to evenly sprinkle bacon bits into the mix of vegetables. Then you’re going to take your egg mix and pour over the vegetables. Go ahead and use your spatula to move things around gently so that everything is evenly distributed. Make sure your heat is medium low. Now we are going to recover the mix with our foil and allow the egg mixture to bake on the stove top till it is mostly set. WHat do I mean by “mostly set?” I would monitor every 5 minutes or so and take a peak. Give your pan a jiggle and watch the center. If it looks liquidy then I would let sit covered a little longer, but if if only wobbles slightly then we’re ready for the broiler. (**See the video for a visual**) While you’re eggs bake on the stove, pre heat your broiler and set the oven rack about 6 inches away from the top of the stove.

5) Sprinkle the parmesan cheese on top and place in the broiler. Keep a sharp eye on it. If you don’t, things could go south real fast. This will take about 5 minutes, but what you are looking for is a beautifully golden brown top and the eggs to be set all the way through. Once you’ve achieved this, it’s time to take the pan out of the oven, turn off the broiler and set on a cooling rack or trivet to cool for a bit. Once cool you can use your spatula to remove the frittata from the pan onto a serving plate and cut into quarters or eighths like a pizza. Enjoy immediately or at room temperature, Chef’s choice!

Pulled Pork BBQ Quiche

June 5, 2017 By Janie-Jean 1 Comment

Can you believe it’s June already?! And you know what that means….FATHER’S DAY IS ALMOST HERE!

Do you know what you’re getting Dad?

If that question causes you to panic, grab a paper bag and hear me out…you are not alone!

I mean how many ugly ties or decorated mugs does your Dad really need? (News flash- NONE!)

Ok breathe, because Janie-Jean did a little research on what Dad’s really want for Father’s Day and it is something YOU can totally pull off…a delicious day of eating!

Now before you go calling all around town to order food for Dad stop and think to yourself “Is it possible I could create a meal or meals that satiate Dad’s appetite?!”

I am hear to say YES, YES YOU CAN! So I have took it upon myself to come up with some delightful recipes that are approachable, decadent, and oh so delicious! Today we are going to start off with breakfast! You have got to start the day off right and there is no better way to start the day than with Quiche.

I know what you’re thinking…”Girl please, quiche is more a Mother’s Day thing!”

Well watch and learn my friends because I believe that yes, Quiche can be manly and worthy of a masculine day such as Father’s Day. Especially when it’s stuffed with layers of Pulled Pork BBQ.

Think you can handle that? Let’s begin our journey with a delicately, flaky crust.

Have you heard of the book “Art of the Pie” by Kate McDermott? If you have not, go to the store and buy a copy…or if you’re cheap like me, borrow it from your local library. Seriously, this book is life changing and quite possibly the best Christmas gift I’ve ever received (and that includes the puppy I got in high school…it’s that good folks!)

If you want to up your pie making game with practical skills for several different pie doughs and fillings along with successful recipes that allow wiggle room to let your freak flag fly GET THIS BOOK! Ok, now I am going to show you how to make one of her pie doughs using my handy food processor.

The first key component in making pie dough is CONFIDENCE! If you approach your kitchen with any sort of anxiety, that emotion will transfer to our ingredients. Pie dough may seem intimidating but girlfriend let me assure you that NOTHING is impossible…YOU GOT THIS!

OK all you need to make pie dough is flour, salt, butter, water and leaf lard. If your first thought is “what the heck is leaf lard?”…let me clue ya, it’s an amazing animal fat that works wonders to develop a delicately, flaky crust. It’s awesome! I bought mine here but I have been told that butcher shops may have some to spare if you ask nicely…

Now where were we? Ah yes, now that we have our ingredients we need to get them ice cold… even your tools (the colder the better).. colder = flakier so I let my ingredients hang out in the fridge or freezer for about 30 minutes to an hour including my food processor bowl and blade.

Once everyone is frigidly cold, dump flour, salt, butter, and leaf lard into the bowl of your food processor. Pulse 15 times till it looks like little pea sized flakes of sand.

Add 4 tablespoons of ice water pulse 10 more times. Add 4 more tablespoons of water and pulse until the dough just begins to come together.

Pour the dough onto a floured surface and split in half. Gently press both halves into chubby discs, wrap in saran and pop in the fridge for a little rest… it’s so hard to be pie dough (insert heavy sigh)!

After an hour roll out one disc of pie dough on a lightly floured surface to about 12 inches in diameter for a 9 inch pie. Place the rolled dough into the pie plate, gently press it in and crimp the edges. Allow the pie shell to hang out in the fridge for about 30 minutes. Just enough time to prep the oven and filling.

The star of today’s quiche is pulled pork. It’s a great leftover recipe for those moments in your life when you have ample amounts of pulled pork in the fridge. This happens more often than not so I am always looking for ways to use it up. For a great pulled pork recipe the Pioneer Woman has a fantastic one.

Take about 2 cups of leftover pulled pork and dress it to your taste with your favorite barbecue sauce. Being a Cincinnati girl myself I had to use our staple, Montgomery Inn Sauce…. So good!

The other key ingredient to this quiche is the super rich sour cream custard which is the perfect companion to the pulled pork. All you need is eggs, sour cream, heavy cream, whole grain mustard and a dash of nutmeg. Hallelujah!

This custard is rich, velvety smooth with a little zing from the mustard… it’s knee buckling good.

Now that we have the two main components and a preheated oven we are ready to assemble and bake!

The layers go pulled pork, sliced scallions, extra sharp cheddar cheese, custard Bake!

The quiche will bake for about 40-45minutes in a 350 degree oven. You really want the final product to get golden brown and set in the middle. If you have to let it go longer, allow to bake in 5 minute increments till you achieve the final result you desire!

The rich custard is the perfect vehicle for the zing of the BBQ dressed pork flecked with the subtle hints of onion and sharp cheese. If brunch were a father’s day tradition, this would be a show stopping main course… heck you could eat it all day long!

But in all honesty dad deserves more doesn’t he? So be sure to tune in later this week for a smoking’ hot dish dad will give rave reviews… Loaded, Smoked Twice Baked Potatoes.

Yes, you read that right….and I’ll see you Wednesday!

Love ya!

5.0 from 1 reviews

Pulled Pork BBQ Quiche

Author: Janie-Jean

Ingredients

Pie Crust
2 ½ Cups All Purpose Flour
½ teaspoons kosher salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into tablespoon size pieces
8 tablespoons (112 grams) rendered leaf lard, cut into tablespoon size pieces
½ cup ice water plus 1-2 tablespoons more as needed
Additional flour for rolling
Quiche filling
2 cups prepared pulled pork
½-1 cup Favorite BBQ sauce (or more depending on preference)
2 scallions thinly sliced
¾ -1 cup shredded Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese
3 eggs
1 cup + 2 Tbs sour cream
½ cup +1 Tbs heavy whipping cream
Salt
Pepper
1 tsp whole grain mustard
Dash of nutmeg

Instructions

To make the pie crust: Place flour, salt and fat into the chilled bowl of the food processor. Pulse 15 times till the butter and leaf lard are worked into the flour to form crumbs the size of peas and oat flakes. Add in 4 tablespoons of ice water. Pulse 10 more times. Add 4 more tablespoons of ice water. Pulse 5 more times until the dough just starts to come together. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface to finish the dough off by hand, forming two equal sized “chubby discs.” Wrap well in plastic wrap then place in the fridge to rest for about an hour.
When the dough is finished chilling in the fridge, take out one dough disc and gently roll out on a well floured surface. You’ll need to work efficiently so that the dough doesn’t get too warm. When the dough is 1 to 2 inches larger than your pie pan you’re ready to place in the pie pan or tin (whatever you have!)
Carefully lay the pie into the pan and gently press into the pan allowing the excess pie dough to hang over the sides. Go around and trim the excess pie dough so that only about ½ “ -1” excess hangs over the edge. Take the excess and fold it under so that it is between the pie pan and the pie dough. You will want the edge of the pie to be slightly above the pan. If at this point your dough seems a bit warm or hard to work with allow to chill in the freezer for 5 minutes. Crimp the edge of the pie by taking the knuckles of your pointer and middle finger on your right hand and the tip of your thumb on the left and press keeping the dough edge in between the knuckles and allowing the tip of the thumb to press and pinch to form a crimp. Repeat till the entire pie edge is crimped. Place in the freezer for about 10 minutes while you prepare the filling and preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
For the filling: Dress your prepared pulled pork with your favorite BBQ sauce to your taste preference. I only used about ¾ cup but if you like it saucier then go ahead and add more. In a separate bowl prepare your custard by whisking the eggs, sour cream, cream, mustard, salt, pepper, and a dash of nutmeg. Whisk until thoroughly combined.
Once the pie crust has finished chilling in the freezer layer the filling in the following order: BBQ pulled pork, scallions, shredded cheddar cheese, and then pour the custard all over the filling.
Bake in the oven for about 40-45 minutes until the top is golden brown and the center is set. If you need to cook longer please do until you have a golden brown top. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes so the quiche can cool and set before digging in!
ENJOY!

Strawberry Heart Donuts For Your Valentine

February 10, 2017 By Janie-Jean 1 Comment

Dearest friends,

Valentines is just around the corner and you know what we need?

If your first thought was donuts then you and I just became best friends!

Forget flowers

Enough of those cheap chocolates

Throw away the diamonds…well ok not all the diamonds

Donuts are what we want and donuts are what we are going to have.

Donuts, light and fluffy, adorned with a seductive glaze and perhaps garnished with a hidden surprise or two…like chocolates and strawberries (It is Valentines Day after all!)

Today we are going to learn how to make a cake donut studded with FREEZE DRIED STRAWBERRIES and topped with a chocolate ganache that will make you want a cigarette (if you know what I mean…wink!)

Let’s get started…

Cream together the butter and sugar until it is nice and fluffy. Add in an egg, egg yolk, vanilla extract and milk then mix until combined well.

In a separate bowl sift together your dry ingredients (aka- flour and salt). Add them your butter mixture. Now let’s pause a moment and talk about our studly ingredient, the freeze dried strawberry.

“Janie-Jean, what happened to, ‘fresh is best’…why aren’t we using fresh strawberries?”

First of all, I am so glad you are listening…the little seeds of knowledge are sticking (insert happy dance)! Now to answer your questions…while fresh is best in pastries that involve a fruit filling in this scenario we aren’t going to fill the donut but rather have the strawberry flavor flow throughout the donut itself. If we used fresh strawberries, the water and/or juice would extra moisture to the dough making it a gloppy mess. Using freeze dried gives you that strawberry flavor, without the extra juice making this the ideal companion to our Valentines Dream!

Ok, where were we? Oh yes, add in about ¾ cup freeze dried strawberries to the bowl and mix until it is just combined. DON’T OVERMIX…it would be tragic!

Lightly flour a clean surface, turn the dough out onto the surface and knead gently until the dough becomes smooth. Roll the dough out to ½ inch thickness. And since it is Valentines Day go ahead and use a 2 ½ inch heart shape cookie cutter to punch out our dough. Aren’t they adorable?

**You can re-roll this dough but just make sure to cut out as many hearts as you possibly can. Overworking the dough can make it tough. You should be able to get about 18 hearts total.

Heat the oil to 350 degrees F in a heavy bottomed saucepan. I like to use my dutch oven. Deep fry the donuts in batches, turning occasionally for 2-3 minutes

The dough should be puffed, golden brown and cooked through…you may have to test one or two- what a burden to bear!

Allow to rest the donuts on a paper towel lined plate so excess oil can drain. Allow to cool completely.

While our pretty’s cool let’s whip up some chocolate ganache…place some dark chopped chocolate and light cream (I used half and half) in a heatproof bowl set over a simmering saucepan of water. Make sure the bowl base does not touch the bubbling water.

Stir gently until the mixture melts and becomes smooth. Remove the bowl the bowl from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Stir it occasionally as it cools for about 1 hr or until it is a spreadable consistency. I don’t know about you, but I could dive right into that bowl!

Spread the tops of the cool donuts with chocolate ganache and let your freak flag fly with some sprinkles if you wish!

Light, fluffy donuts flecked with sweet strawberries with a hint of chocolate…I need a moment…

Sorry, donuts are definitely my love language and I bet after taking a bite of these they’ll become yours too.

Let me know what you think in the comments below or if you have any requests I would love to explore the world of flavors with you!

Love you guys and gals!

Happy Valentines Day!

Strawberry Heart Donuts For Your Valentine

Author: Janie-Jean

Serves: 18

Ingredients

Cake Donut
6 Tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup superfine sugar
1 egg , room temperature
1 egg yolk, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup milk
4 cups self rising flour, plus extra for dusting
A good pinch of sea salt
1 cup freeze dried strawberries
Vegetable or canola oil for deep frying.
Chocolate ganache
7 oz dark chocolate (70% cacao)
¼ cup half and half

Instructions

To make the donuts- Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer until nice and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add in the egg, egg yolk, milk and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined.
Sift the flour and salt over the top of the wet ingredients. Scatter the freeze dried strawberries across the flour mixture then gently mix together using the lowest setting of your stand mixer until the dough is just combined and a little crumbly. Pour the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead a couple of times until you form a smooth ball of dough.
Roll the dough to ½ inch thickness. Using a 2 ½ inch heart shaped cookie cutter cut out 18 hearts. You may re roll the dough 1-2 times more in order to get this amount.
Heat the oil in a dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot to 350 degrees Farenheit. Fry the dough in batches until the dough is puffed and golden brown, turning occasionally in the oil. This will take about 2-3 minutes. Transfer to paper towels lined plates or baking sheets to drain the excess oil. Allow the donuts to cool completely before decorating.
To make the chocolate ganache- place the chocolate and the half and half in a heat proof bowl. Set it over a pot of simmering water, but don’t have the bowl touch the water. Using a heatproof spatula, gently stir until the chocolate and cream have melted and combined into a homogenous mixture. Set aside and allow to cool for an hour stirring every so often till it’s a spreadable mixture. Scoop the ganache into a piping bag then pipe the ganache over the cooled donuts. You could also frost the donuts using an offset spatula.
Add sprinkles if you desire. Enjoy!

Bacon Waffles

September 22, 2015 By Janie-Jean Leave a Comment

Bacon Waffles

Bacon is delicious…said EVERYONE! I think I’ve had it in every form…ice cream, candied, covered in chocolate, infused in bourbon…my mom thinks I have a problem (Baconoholic anyone?).

I say, I have a passion and if loving bacon is wrong then I don’t want to be right! So today we are combining my passion with my favorite way to start the day…WAFFLES! Nooks and crannies of bacon studded, buttery goodness showered in a decadent layer of maple syrup…there’s no better way to start the day in my book!

Time to bring out the good stuff…

Butter is browned and thick cut (smoked) bacon is crisped in preparation for our waffle batter.

In a large bowl sift together the dry ingredients and set aside. In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla, the cooled, brown butter and the piece de resistance…a tablespoon of reserved bacon fat- oh yes, we mean business!

Stir the liquid mixture into your dry ingredients and fold together until just combined. No overmixing in this house! Then crumble your crispy bacon over the batter and fold in gently till they are distributed evenly.

Ladle the bacon batter into a preheated waffle iron and waffle till you wobble or until your waffles are golden brown. PERFECTION!

Top off your breakfast with a slab of butter and the syrup of your choosing…as if these waffles weren’t decadent enough! They’re savory, sweet and just plain ridiculous!

Here’s a tip for fluffier waffles…make your waffle batter the night before and let it sit, covered in the fridge overnight. The next morning, fold in your crisped bacon and allow the batter to sit at room temperature while your waffle iron pre heats.

As the batter sits overnight it allows the dry ingredients to absorb completely into the liquid which will activate the leavening ingredients making it nice and fluffy! Seriously, I will never make waffles the same way again…you’re welcome!

With love,

Janie-Jean

Bacon Waffles

Recipe type: Breakfast

Ingredients

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cornstarch
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
½ cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk
1 ½ tablespoons vanilla extract
15 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and browned
4oz Bacon
1 tablespoon of reserved bacon fat

Instructions

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the butter and cook until it is well browned. This will take about 4 to 5 minutes. Once butter is browned, immediately remove from the saucepan and allow to cool in a small glass bowl. Set aside.
In a pan over medium heat, render the bacon until crisp. Allow the crispy strips to drain on paper towels and reserve the fat. When it’s cool enough to handle, chop the bacon into bite-size pieces. Set aside.
In a large bowl sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt and brown sugar until well combined. In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla extract, brown butter, and 1 tablespoon of the reserved bacon fat. Stir the wet ingredients till it becomes a well combined homogenous mixture.
Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Fold in the bite size bacon pieces until it is evenly distributed. Allow the waffle batter to rest for at least 30 minutes. This would be a great time to pre heat your waffle iron to a medium/medium high setting.
When ready to make the waffles, pour about 1 cup of waffle batter into the waffle iron and smooth the batter before closing the iron. Cook the waffles until the steaming stops. Keep waffles warm in a 200 degree oven while you finish making the rest.
**If you have a fancy shmancy waffle maker with various “set it and forget it” settings you could follow the manufacturer instructions in order to make the best waffles possible. Bon A petit!

Monte Cristo Casserole

January 21, 2015 By Janie-Jean Leave a Comment

Monte Cristo Casserole

This casserole….where do I begin? First of all, I should say I’ve never been a fan of the label “casserole” for any dish because my mind instantly equates it to “Glorified Leftovers”…this casserole is NOT!

Think of this as the most delectable morsel of food you’ve ever encountered…well that may be going a bit far….change that to “the most delightful dish that could fit into any part of your day and therefore changing the course of time!” (That’s better!)

The taste is familiar, the time is minimal and the payoff is magical. It’s everything I want in a dish and it all begins with the simple sandwich. Making a sandwich is a craft…in fact it’s probably the only craft I could score an A plus grade! Don’t take this step lightly for it is the foundation of all that is holy in this dish!

Welcome to my corner…let’s craft!

Build your sandwiches in the following order…spread some Dijon mustard on one side of a piece bread. Delicately lay a couple slices of ham on top of the mustard stained bread. Top with two slices of Muenster cheese. Spread some cherry jam on one side of another piece of bread then top the sandwich cherry side down. Set aside and repeat! (I got about 6 sandwiches out of my one loaf of sourdough bread).

Slice each sandwich in half and set aside! In a medium sized bowl crack three eggs and beat them slightly with a whisk. Stir in some half and half, sprinkle with salt, pepper and a touch of nutmeg.

Now dip baby dip… each sandwich half into the custard mixture and place in a greased baking dish “shingle-style!”

Pour the remaining custard over the shingled sandwich halves and let sit overnight so that the bread can fully absorb the custard. You should be getting real excited right now. Brunch is practically at your fingertips and you won’t even break a sweat because we are planners baby…momma didn’t raise no fool!

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 and bake the casserole covered with aluminum for 30 minutes. Take off the aluminum cover and bake an additional 15 minutes uncovered or until golden brown (my oven took a little longer than that). Brown food is tasty food…so let it toast!

Slice and serve the sandwiches with your favorite hot sauce if desired. The smoky ham and gooey muenster cheese are perfectly complimented by the tartness of the cherry jam with the perfect zing from the Dijon…all packaged between two slices of sourdough bread…this is the best craft I’ve ever made!

Happy Brunching/Lunching/Dinnering/Breakfasting?!

Love ya!

Janie-Jean

Monte Cristo Casserole

Author: Inspired by: Michael Symon’s “Ham and Cheese Sandwich Casserole”

Ingredients

1 loaf Sourdough Bread cut into ½ inch slices
1 lb Thinly sliced Deli Smoked Ham
1 lb Muenster Cheese, sliced
½ cup Dijon Mustard
½ cup Tart Cherry Jam
3 eggs
2 ½ Cups half and half
2 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp of freshly grated nutmeg
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Hot sauce (optional)

Instructions

Make ham and cheese sandwiches: spread some Dijon mustard on one side of a piece of bread, layer a couple of slices of ham on top of the mustard, add a couple slices of cheese, spread the cherry jam on another piece of bread then top the sandwich with the bread slice, cherry side down. Continue this process till all the sandwiches have been built (I got about 6 large sandwiches out of my loaf). Cut all the sandwiches in half. Grease a 9x13 baking dish with butter.
In a separate bowl combine the eggs, half and half, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Dip each sandwich, front and back in the egg mix. Place each sandwich like shingles in the prepared baking dish. Pour the remaining custard over the sandwiches in the baking dish. Allow to sit overnight so that the bread will have the opportunity to soak in the custard really well.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake the casserole covered with aluminum foil for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake uncovered for 15 minutes more or until golden brown.
Slice and serve the sandwiches with your favorite hot sauce if desired! Happy Brunching!

Roasted Ginger Plums

August 6, 2014 By Janie-Jean Leave a Comment

Roasted Ginger Plums

Admittedly, I am still figuring out this whole motherhood thing (what mother isn’t…am I right?). But there is an issue I would like to address. It seems to me that many moms think that there is a need to create two separate meals for their families- one for baby and one for the adults. That just stresses me out just thinking of it!

Now that I have a little street cred, listen to me when I tell you it doesn’t have to be this way. You and your family can consume the same foods and be happy and healthy at the same time. So put away that long grocery list and let’s get creative in the kitchen with your oven, some plums and a little bit of ginger!

While your oven is preheating, go ahead and slice those babies in half. Don’t forget to take out the pits.

Some of these pits gave me a little trouble. Lucky for you there is more than one way to pit a plum…or something like that. I used a melon baller to release the pit.

Place the plums, cut side up, in a baking dish. Just look at how pretty these are.

Now it’s time to dust these beauties with a little bit of ground ginger. Why? Because it’s delicious, that’s why!

Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes. Just look at these little gems. Dark, gingery and juicy- these plums are going to put a smile on your little associate’s face. BONUS- your kitchen smells wonderful too, so it’s a win-win-win!

Once they are cool enough to handle, peel off the skin as best you can and finely chop the plums. Some skins were easy to take off and others adhered to the flesh of the fruit pretty well. Don’t fret over that pesky skin…more fiber never hurt anyone!

You can serve the plums as is or mixed in with some vanilla scented whipped ricotta.

I used Whole Milk Ricotta. All you need to do, is take a vanilla bean, split it in half and scrape the tiny black seeds out of the vanilla bean.

Now it’s time to take your whisk and whip it, whip it good! (Yea, you feel me…)

Mix in, your plums and it transforms the ricotta to a beautiful, purple color. Then you can top the ricotta with some more plums for presentation. Remember, no matter what age you are…YOU EAT WITH YOUR EYES FIRST!

Roasted Ginger Plums

Author: Janie-Jean

Ingredients

Unsalted butter for greasing
4 red plums, halved and pitted
¼ tsp ground ginger

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly butter a baking dish.
Place the plums cut side up in the prepared baking dish and sprinkle with the ginger. Roast your plums until soft and juicy about 20 minutes. Remove the plums from the oven and let them sit for 5 minutes. Peel and discard the skins as best you can.
Coarsely chop the plums to your baby’s chewing ability. Stir in any juices to the plums for more flavor.
To store- refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days or freeze individual portions, covered for up to 3 months.

There you have it, a no fuss, baby friendly recipe that’s good enough for the whole family! Honestly, I would totally use this recipe on top of ice cream or even as a topping for waffles…or pancakes…YUM! No one has to know it’s baby food because really, it’s just food. I know this is just one recipe…for fruit none the less, but it’s a baby step in the right direction. Don’t you think life would be much easier if we stopped segregating our meals and finally just enjoyed ONE meal as ONE family? I know I do…but seriously I would love to hear your thoughts on this…GO!

Love ya!