blackberries – Cooking through the seasons: the adventures of a San Diego Gastronaut.

Hey Y’all,

Quick post here about an easy recipe you can make for almost any event. You can serve up a few before dinner, make an entire tray for a party, or fill a plate and eat them for dinner! Crostini are my go-to side dish during summer because they are light and often call for fresh vegetables or fruits. In San Diego, summer brings a variety of tomatoes and tons of stone fruit!

Crostini are an Italian appetizer consisting of small slices of grilled or toasted bread and toppings. The most famous of which is of course, bruschetta.

In fact, it wasn’t until I lived in Italy did I learn that bruschetta is part of a larger crostini family. I just always assumed we had toasted bread with toppings, and the Italians, the amazing Italians, had BRUSCHETTA!

There is literally no end to the crostini combinations you can make, but, here’s a pretty good list to get you started. CLICK ME.

OKAY, let’s get started.

Crostini: Garlic Ricotta with Fresh Blackberries and Agave

Total: 30 min
Active: 15 min
Yield: 4 servings
Level: Easy

INGREDIENTS

1 fresh baguette – bread of your choosing
Olive oil
Garlic (fresh, crushed, or powder)
Fresh blackberries
Whipped ricotta cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Slice baguette into rounds. Place on oven safe baking dish. Apply decent amount of olive oil to each slice, spreading with basting brush. Do not saturate bread. Use just enough oil to prevent the bread from drying out or hardening in oven.

(Note – if you are using fresh or crushed garlic, apply to bread at this time. You need only use a small amount.)

Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Remove from oven. Allow to cool to the point you can touch.

Spread a generous portion of ricotta cheese onto each slice.

(Note – if you using garlic powder, apply a small amount to each slice, on top of the cheese.)

Add fruit. Drizzle with agave.

Serve with chilled white wine.

Enjoy!

SUSANNAH

Follow my cooking Instagram for step by step directions – @sdgastronaut

Hello Fellow Foodies!

Who doesn’t love brunch? Since we were gifted with a 3-day weekend, I felt it only proper to celebrate with a fabulous brunch. This recipe turned out SO good and was SO easy to make. There is definite prep involved which lengthened the cook time, but in the end it was very worth it.

FIRST- pick your breakfast/brunch item of choice: i.e. pancakes, waffles, french toast, crepes, etc…

If you are going to buy them already made, great! If you’re going to make them on your own, I suggest making them last so they can be served hot.

Let’s get to our TOPPINGS!

SYRUP – the idea of homemade syrup can be daunting, but don’t let it be! It’s really easy.

Ingredients- fresh fruit of your choice (no citrus), granulated sugar, any juice, honey OR simple syrup.

ONE – slice fresh fruit into smallish pieces. They don’t have to be minced, chopped is fine, just small enough that they will break down during the cooking process. I used strawberries and blackberries. Place cut fruit into medium sized sauce pan. If you are using a juicy fruit – like I was with the blackberries- squeeze/smush them a bit.

TWO – add 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, 1/2 cup juice (I used orange juice), and honey or syrup to the pot. I used a pomegranate simple syrup – you know the kind you use to make fancy sodas or badass cocktails? (SEE BELOW) If you do not have this on hand you can easily substitute a honey or agave.

THREE – cook on medium heat until the mixture has reduced to the desired texture. Stir occasionally so it does not burn to the bottom of the pot. I left this on for about 25 minutes while I cooked the rest of the meal. Remove from heat at least 5 minutes before serving so that it may cool and “firm” up.

—–

SWEET CHEESE – this sweet cheese can be made in a variety of ways and can be used as a topping or put inside a crepe to make blintz!

Ingredients – cheese, granulated sugar, vanilla, cream.

ONE – Pick your cheese. You can use ricotta, mascarpone, cream cheese, or a mixture of any of these. I only had cream cheese on hand so that’s what I used. In a bowl mix 4 tablespoons of cheese, 1/2 table spoon of granulated sugar, 4 drops of vanilla extract, and 3 tablespoons cream – if you do not have cream on hand you can use half and half – I did and it turned out great. Mix with a spoon until all ingredients are evenly mixed.

TWO – Use whisk (a small whisk is preferable) to whip mixture into more “spreadable” consistency. This took approximately 5 minutes.

THREE – Place uncovered in refrigerator.

— At this point you are ready to make your pancakes, waffles etc. The cheese should chill the entire time you are cooking these. Remove cheese mixture from refrigerator 5 minutes before serving so that it can come to room temperature. —

Now you’re ready to put it all together! First spread a spoonful of the cheese mixture, then the syrup. Then add fresh fruit, mint, and some powdered sugar to garnish!

I read on a cooking blog recently that you’re not supposed to garnish with anything not in your actual meal, but I think that’s absurd! So garnish away!