American Spoon

Two guys from Michigan have put more than twenty five years into the preservation business; that is making the finest artisanal fruit preserves and created American Spoon.

These goods were described as "Spoon Preserves" because they were more suited to spooning than spreading with a knife. The name became permanent and so did the concept of putting as much fruit and honest flavor into every recipe, a concept that has inspired a continually expanding line of delicious products by its creators.

American Spoon's Pumpkin Butter: Sweetened with pure Michigan maple sugar and spiced like pumpkin pie, this incredibly popular butter is sublime on toast or spooned atop a hot out of the oven biscuit. It is also the perfect topper, simply served warm over a good vanilla ice cream for an ideal Autumn dessert. 

George Hirsch's Biscuits

chefgeorgehirsch.com | Makes one dozen

2 cups sifted all purpose flour 
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt 
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar 
2 tsp. sugar 
1/2 cup butter 
2/3 cup  milk

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees.

FOR FULL RECIPE

Beyond Beef Two

Burgers are the quintessential comfort food grilled throughout the year; and now the patty is exploding beyond the beef...

 

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 STAY TUNED FOR MY SECRET BURGER!

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Beyond Beef

Burgers are the quintessential comfort food grilled throughout the year; and now the patty is exploding beyond the beef...

GH-pre-BB3.jpg

Blueberry Nut Muffin

The Blueberry Nut Muffin is the most popular muffin! No sweat if fresh blueberries are not available, a good quality frozen berry will do just fine. Note, I usually stock up my freezer with summer blueberries for recipes just like this. Oh, and blueberry just happen to be my favorite muffin too!
 
Tip: Did you know? Tossing blueberries with flour before adding them to the batter will keep them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin during baking. 

Blueberry Nut Muffins
Recipe by George Hirsch | Makes 10-12 muffins

For the topping:
1/3 cup lite brown sugar
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 Tablespoons nuts, walnuts or pecans, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces
1 Tablespoon sweet butter

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nuts. Blend butter in with a fork until mixture is crumb like.

For the muffin mix:
1/2 cup sweet butter, room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon flour for coating blueberries, plus greasing muffin cups
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup pure cane granulated sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
1/2 cup milk

Grease a regular size 12-cup muffin pan with butter and dust with flour, banging out excess flour; or use muffin cups liners.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. 

In a separate bowl use a mixer to cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add vanilla and orange zest to beaten eggs, then add eggs one at a time, mixing until eggs are absorbed. 

With the mixer on low speed, add flour mixture and milk in three stages, mixing until all are incorporated.  Do not over mix. 

Toss blueberries in a fine strainer with about one Tablespoon of flour to lightly coat. Using a rubber spatula, fold in 1 1/2 cups of the blueberries. With an ice cream scoop or large spoon, place batter into muffin cups filling each cup to three quarters full. Add remaining 1/2 cup of blueberries on top of the muffins and divide crumb topping over muffins.  

Bake about 25-30 minutes, until muffins are golden brown. Check muffins half way through and rotate if oven temperature is uneven. Test with a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin and it should come out clean; or when touched lightly the muffin should have a slight resistance to finger pressure.  

Remove from oven and allow muffins to cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove muffins from pan.

Tip: Did you know? Tossing blueberries with flour before adding them to the batter will keep them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin during baking. 

Dedicating today's Muffin Monday's post to the Blueberry Nut Muffin, the most popular muffin! No sweat if fresh blueberries are not available, a good quality frozen berry will do just fine. Note, I usually stock up my freezer with summer blueberries for recipes just like this. Oh, and blueberry just happen to be my favorite muffin too!

Quiche or Tart

Some people think the bigger the better. OK, if you like that kind of stuff. But I've always made my quiche tart-like in delicate proportions. Meaning, packed with flavor, but reaching only an inch high - which is the height of my tart pan. Makes sense, right?

But, more important than the height is the bottom crust. No soggy bottom on my quiche/ tart. Pre-bake lightly, cool, and then your ready to add the filling and resume baking. You are guaranteed, a fully baked non-soggy crust.  


Broccoli Ham Quiche

Recipe by Chef George Hirsch | Makes six servings 

1 nine inch pre-baked pie crust
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup sweet onion, chopped
1 cup broccoli florets, cooked & chopped
1 cup Smoked Ham, chopped
4 eggs, well beaten
1 pint half & half
2 Tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon hot sauce
Pinch fresh grated nutmeg
Fresh ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 

Beat eggs with half & half, parmesan cheese, hot sauce, nutmeg, and pepper. 

Add olive oil to sauté pan, heat ham, cook onions and broccoli until slightly tender. Cool and put in pre baked pie shell. Pour egg mixture over the filling and place in oven. 

After 20 minutes, the eggs begin to set, lower the heat to 350 degrees for 4-5 minutes, until firm yet moist.