Monday, April 19, 2010

This Week's Quiz

So what do you think? Which of the following recently-made dishes was the hands-down favorite, the one I'll be making again soon? Was it the sour cherry-chocolate chip scones, sprinkled with sugar?
Was it the potato, sliced almost all the way through and studded with onions and butter, topped with mushrooms and Parmesan cheese, then wrapped in foil and baked?

Was it the honey-balsamic mixed berry fruit salad?

Or was it the chocolate tea bread, flecked with chocolate chips?
Cue the Jeopardy music here. Doo doo doo, doo-doo, doo doo doooooo. Doo doo doo doo DOO! Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo.
Got your answer? You sure?
Okay, here's the scoop.
The scones were pretty good, but at the risk of sounding like a scone snob I've got to say they were not nearly as tender my regular chocolate chip scones. I won't be making these again -- though I'll definitely consider adding chopped dried sour cherries next time I make my favorites.
The potatoes? These were supposed to be slowly grilled on the barbecue as we roasted a chicken. But we were too engrossed in our weeding and wall-building to get to the store to buy the chicken to roast the chicken to roast the potatoes. So I ended up baking them instead. They were not bad, but I have plenty of potato recipes I like better. Like this one, for example; you can't go wrong with Mom's roasted garlic potato wedges.
The fruit salad? Delicious. A winner. If you guessed this one, you get a million billion points. Sorry, the points are redeemable for exactly nothing. But you get the pride of knowing you were absolutely, one hundred percent right. And how often do you get to hear that in your life? This dish was simple to make and the taste was outstanding -- two of my favorite qualities in a recipe. Best of all, I got to use some homegrown blackberries from last summer I still had stashed in the freezer. I will be making this one again. Soon. And repeatedly.
The chocolate tea bread was definitely in the running, but it crumbled when cut. Big time crumbled. It's hard to serve crumbs, even chocolate ones, to hungry guests. Sorry, chocolate tea bread. You were edged out by this nummy fruit salad.
HONEY-BALSAMIC MIXED BERRY SALAD
2 c. mixed fresh berries (blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, etc.)
2 c. seedless green grapes
2 T. honey
2 T. balsamic vinegar
mint sprigs for garnish (optional)
Wash the fruit, drain, and place in bowl. Mix honey and vinegar; pour over fruit and mix gently. Refrigerate until time to eat.
NOTE: This recipe comes from the book The Universal Kitchen by Elisabeth Rozin.
NOTE #2: Rozin suggests serving this in small ripe cantaloupe halves (seeded, of course), one half cantaloupe per person. If I'd had cantaloupes on hand I would have done it; I'll bet it would be beautiful.

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10 Comments:

Anonymous Faith said...

Darn, I guessed the scones! Everything looks fantastic though, and I can't wait to give that fruit salad a try!

April 19, 2010 at 3:48 PM  
Blogger Mimi said...

I knew I should have picked the fruit, darn those potatoes! Ilove fruit with balsamic vinegar.
Mimi

April 19, 2010 at 4:11 PM  
Blogger Joanne said...

That honey balsamic dressing sounds like the perfect topping for a fruit salad!

April 19, 2010 at 5:54 PM  
Blogger teresa said...

mmmm, what a fun way to dress a fruit salad. it all looks amazing!

April 19, 2010 at 7:18 PM  
Blogger Set Apart Living Mama said...

I won! LOL...

Everything looked soo good. I had an afair with scones when i was pregnant with my son until I found out I was diabetic.

Thank you for stopping in and leaving a comment!

April 19, 2010 at 7:35 PM  
Blogger Carpool Queen said...

I'm glad to have something else to do with fruit salad. Usually I make a yogurt dressing, but then it's not as pretty.

April 20, 2010 at 7:34 AM  
Blogger Barbara Bakes said...

I'm a winner, winner, winner! Who could resist it, it's so colorful. It just screams eat me. I am posting a chocolate chocolate chip quick bread recipe on Friday that is moist and delicious that you might like.

April 20, 2010 at 8:41 PM  
Blogger Karenpie said...

Hi Lynn!
The scones were my guess! Sour cherry and chocolate? Oh yum.

I have a chocolate tea bread recipe I'll share with you! I'll send it when I send the Pampered Chef thingie. YES. It finally came in! I was starting to get a tad embarrassed about the delay. AND I got your book and have been madly reading - it's such a fun read! Thank you again!

April 21, 2010 at 8:11 AM  
Blogger myletterstoemily said...

they all looked delicious
but i love your very high
standards!

April 23, 2010 at 5:52 AM  
Anonymous Sandra said...

I LOVE balsamic vinegar -- so I will definitely try that fruit salad!

May 8, 2010 at 5:41 PM  

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