Pook's Pantry Recipe Blog

A Life in Food by real-life Chef Cheryl Bennett

butter

Corvina with Butter and Herbs

Corvina with butter and herbs is the best baked corvina recipe and it couldn’t be easier. Mild corvina fish is topped with a compound herb butter and baked in the oven. Ready in about 20 minutes, this is a healthy and fast weeknight dinner. Try this Corvina with Tomatoes and Olives for a delicious Mediterranean-style fish.
corvina with butter and herbs on white platter

Corvina with butter and herbs is a delicious way to eat fish. This is a great recipe for people who don’t like “fishy-tasting” fish, as corvina is very mild. It is fancy enough for guests, but quick and easy enough for busy weeknights.

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Roasted Fingerling Potatoes with Shishitos

Roasted fingerling potatoes with togarashi spice and charred shishito peppers are a tasty way to change up boring side dishes. This Asian-spiced potato dish will be a new family favorite.

roasted fingerling potatoes with shishito peppers on white platter with herbsThis post is sponsored by Idaho® Potatoes.  All opinions, photos and recipe are mine.

If you make a purchase through one of the affiliate links, I make a few pennies at no extra cost to you. Questions? Please see disclosure for info.…

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Blueberry Crumb Cake

Blueberry Crumb Cake is one of my favorite afternoon treats. Rich and buttery with a thick crumb topping, this coffee cake is the perfect accompaniment to an afternoon cup of tea. Quick and easy, this blueberry crumb cake recipe is great for every level of baker, even beginners.

slice of crumb cake on china plate with blueberries

Blueberry Crumb Cake

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Tropical Coconut Bread Recipe

Tropical coconut bread is just the thing to turn an ordinary breakfast into a something special.  Coconut always reminds me of vacation and this bread is like a slice of paradise on a plate. This coconut loaf stays moist for days, which means you can enjoy it all week long.

tropical coconut bread slices on marble board

Tropical Coconut Bread

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Easiest 5 Ingredient Corn Casserole

This 5 ingredient corn casserole is a staple on nearly every Thanksgiving table. And with good reason – it is easy and delicious. It’s the time of the year for Thanksgiving recipes, and this one is always at the top of the list.
Corn Casserole in white baking dish
Creamy, sweet corn casserole is one of the things I wait all year to eat. I have been making this for over two decades, which is why I highly recommend it. It is one of the easiest recipes you’ll ever make and it is so unbelievably good. The browned, crisp top gives way to a creamy corn pudding inside, making this a staple on the holiday table.

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Coffee Cookies

Do you love coffee?  Yeah, me too.  I don’t mean that in a casual  “yeah, I love coffee” kind of way;  I. Love. Coffee.  We’re hot & heavy.  It’s a torrid love affair that has no end in sight.  I once (foolishly) thought I should give up coffee…  Why, you ask?   Well, I thought I should get off caffeine, or rather it should get out of me.   Then, after 3 absolutely miserable weeks,  I had a revelation of sorts.   I don’t really drink (I’m usually a 2 drink max kind of girl), I’ve never had a cigarette in my entire life and I don’t do drugs.  Pretty boring, I know…   So, here’s where I decided that coffee and I are lifelong partners; I don’t do anything else!  Everyone has a vice and dammit, coffee was going to be mine! 

coffee butter cookie 3

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Pear Butter Recipe from scratch

A quick and easy pear butter recipe for canning.  Perfect for spreading on warm toast, English muffins or stirring into oatmeal.
Pear Butter

Recently I found myself with about 7 pounds of pears that were ripening faster than I could consume them.  Normally, this would never happen as pears are one of my favorites and generally don’t last long enough to even get mushy,  yet here we are.

There were ideas swirling around in my head as to what I could do with them, but none of them really thrilled me so I put out a call on the Facebook page for ideas. Sometimes you just need to get out of your own head, you know? Get some fresh ideas and perhaps learn a thing or two…  As usual, my friends came through. I had a dozen great ideas in under 5 minutes. It pays off to have “foodies” for friends! 

Then, my “wish-she-were-really-my-sister” came through with “you could use this as a filling for sweet rolls”.  Well, that girl knows just how to get to me. From that point on, it was all I could think about. 

I rushed to make it, take photos and write the recipe; then life got in the way and it took me two weeks to write it up. So much for planning. I am still swooning over the idea of this being used as a filling for sweet rolls.  

Now that I had decided on the fate of the pears, it was time to get everything set up for canning. Let me preface this by saying it is not imperative to can the pear butter. Feel free to store it in the refrigerator if you are certain it will be consumed within a week or two.  

I happen to get giddy over that “ping” of the lids sealing and thus am drawn to canning like a moth to a flame. It adds 15 minutes to the process and I can leave them in the cupboard or give them to friends as gifts, well worth an extra fifteen minutes if you ask me and your friends will be impressed with your kitchen prowess…  they needn’t know it wasn’t all that difficult.

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What can I eat with this pear butter recipe?

 pear butter 008

Pear Butter

Ingredients

  • 5 pounds very ripe pears, Bartlett or Anjou, roughly chopped (do not peel or seed)
  • 1/2 cup Elderflower liqueur, or Bourbon
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 star anise
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. In a large, deep pot, combine pears, elderflower liqueur or bourbon and 2 1/2 cups water. Bring to a boil and cook over medium high heat for approximately 30 - 40 minutes until fruit is falling apart.
  2. Run mixture through the fine mesh of a food mill to remove seeds and skin. Return puree to pot and stir in brown sugar, lemon juice ginger and salt.
  3. Simmer over low heat, stirring frequently, until thick and amber colored. (about 2 - 2 1/2 hrs)
  4. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla.
  5. Makes 6 half pint jars
  6. If you want to can the butter, sterilize jars & lids, spoon butter into jars and process in a water bath for 10 - 15 minutes.

Notes

The original plan was to use bourbon with this... Only to discover I had none and did not feel like going out to buy some. I happened upon elderflower liqueur and it was quite the happy accident. It worked beautifully here.

© Pook's Pantry

Key Lime Pie from scratch

Key Lime Pie.   These three little words make me sit on the edge of my seat in anticipation.  In my book, it is one of the most perfect desserts.  The fact that it is ridiculously easy gives it major bonus points. 
Growing up, I don’t think I’d even heard of key lime pie.  We had apple, peach, strawberry-rhubarb, blueberry, pecan, pumpkin, lemon meringue, chocolate cream, but never key lime. 

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