Winter Fruit Salad

Since it's January, I guess I'm supposed to be all resolutions and healthy food and big changes and crap.

But the truth is I'm really all:
when's it gettin' to warming up so I can chunk some greasy burgers on the grill?
(and top them with cheese)

Forget change and new beginnings.  I always, always crave salty, greasy, full fat, cheesy foods in the winter.

Lucky for my cholesterol and blood pressure, winter means lots of citrus in South Louisiana.
Usually in the form of sweet, juicy satsumas.

A lot of fruit salads have condensed milk or marshmallow fluff or marshmallows or pudding or cool whip.  I'm not knocking that (remember the big greasy, cheesy burger mentioned above?).

But this fruit salad is on the healthier side.

Which means I can parade it around in January and act like I'm all resolutions and and healthy food and crap.

When I'm secretly thinking about serving it on the side of greasy, cheesy hamburgers.

The dressing is simple and made with satsuma juice, honey, and cinnamon.  And that's it.

Then I use whatever fruit is available.  Most often satsumas, apples, and bananas.  Sometimes pears.  Sometimes maraschino cherries for color and because The Boy loves them.

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Winter Fruit Salad

4 medium to large satsumas or tangerines--1 for juice, 3 separated into segments
1 Tbsp honey
1/4-1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 apple, cubed
1 banana, sliced

Juice 1 satsuma into the bowl you plan to use for serving.  Whisk in honey and 1/4-1/2 tsp cinnamon, depending on how strong of a cinnamon flavor you like.  Toss the prepared apple, banana, and satsumas in the dressing.  The satsuma juice will help keep the banana and apple from browning.  Let sit about 20 minutes, refrigerated. Toss again before serving.

 More satsumas...

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Time for Tea {Blueberry and Yogurt Loaf}

It's Time for Tea @ I Heart Cooking Clubs.

 

This week we're cooking up Donna Hay recipes that go great with tea, are made with tea, or just make you think about tea.

But when I think about tea, thoughts of coffee immediately pop into my head.
Coffee or tea?
Tea is always the outcast in that match-up.

Coffee makes me so much more pleasant.
My co-workers never, ever begrudge me my morning cup.  (They don't dare.)

So I enjoyed Donna Hay's Blueberry and Yogurt Loaf with a cup of coffee rather than tea.  And thought about how maybe my co-workers deserve some of this bread for putting up with my pre-coffee non-verbal mutterings and thousand yard stares.

Review:
I don't think I've ever used yogurt in baking.  There's no question that the yogurt made the bread moist.  The loaf was also dense, buttery, and lemony.  More lemony than I thought it would be.  The texture was almost like pound cake.  I figured it would be good, but I wasn't prepared for how good.

Blueberries are my favorite fruit and I felt that the recipe could have used more of them.  Although I didn't top the loaf with additional berries (mine were frozen).  Even if I had, I still think I'd want more in the bread itself.

Truthfully, I dislike baking.  Really dislike baking.  I especially dislike making bread in loaf pans.  The loaves seem to brown too quickly--well before the middle bakes through.  A reader once gave me a tip that takes advantage of this browning, creating an awesome sweet, crunchy crust.  After greasing your pan, dust with cinnamon sugar instead of flour.
(Thank you Mom Chef!)

Donna Hay's recipe can be found on her website.

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Disjointed {Satsuma Muffins with Brown Butter Pecan Glaze}

Like many other folks in South Louisiana, I grow satsumas in my backyard.

Satsumas are super sweet, super juicy, easy to peel, small citrus and are related to mandarin oranges.  Large groves can be found in Plaquemines Parish, south of New Orleans in the Jesuit Bend area.  Jesuits brought satsumas from Japan to Louisiana in the 18th century.  Backyards all over Southern Louisiana as well as other Gulf Coast states are dotted with satsuma trees.

Winter is satsuma season here.  I always find that disjointed.

When I look out the window and see bright, sunny-looking citrus fruit against dark green foliage, winter isn't what I think of.

Maybe that's the thing, though.
Would you believe it's 31º F in this picture?

Cold enough to want to bake.

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Satsuma Muffins with Brown Butter Pecan Glaze
from Ms. enPlace

muffins:
2 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup satsuma juice
1 tsp satsuma zest
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 Tbsp vanilla
4 Tbsp melted butter

glaze:
2 Tbsp butter
about 3/4 to 1 c powdered sugar
3 Tbsp finely chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners and set aside.  Blend the first four ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.  Blend milk, satsuma juice, zest, egg, and vanilla in a small bowl.  Add milk mixture to the dry ingredients, combining just until moistened.  Add melted butter and stir well.
Spoon batter into muffin tins, and bake 15-20 minutes, or until tops begin to brown.

Remove the muffins from the oven and set aside to cool while you make the glaze.

Place 2 Tbsp butter in a skillet over low heat.  Heat slowly, stirring occasionally, until the butter develops a golden brown color.  Add the pecans and cook in the butter for a couple of minutes.  Stir in 1/4 cup powdered sugar until smooth.  Gradually add more sugar a couple of tablespoons at a time until the glaze is as thick as you'd like.

Spoon the glaze over the muffins and serve.

More Satsuma Recipes:

What's in the past... 
still tastes good

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December Potluck {Apple and Dark Chocolate Wonton Parcels}

So...plans...right?

How often do you make plans to do these amazing, awesome, fantastic things and then totally drop the ball for whatever reason?

Yeah.  Me too.

I made these Apple and Dark Chocolate Wonton Parcels from Donna Hay's website back in early November.  They look like a special dessert but are pretty simple to make.

While we were eating them, we brainstormed all kinds of super ideas for other types of fillings.
Peanut butter and chocolate.  Chocolate and pecan.  Pecan and apple.  Apple and caramel.  Caramel and chocolate.  Chocolate and banana.  Banana and nutella.

And I was definitely, for sure going to try a bunch of them.

And how many have I tried?

Yep.

Maybe you'll give some of them a shot?

Want the recipe?

Notes:
I used dark chocolate chips instead of chocolate squares and sprinkled some cinnamon over the top along with the powdered sugar.  My one complaint is that they didn't get as crispy as I would have liked.  However, they are baked rather than fried.

Linking with I Heart Cooking Clubs.  It's POTLUCK week...check out all the dishes!



and Food on Friday: Apples @ Carole's Chatter