Baby Buckwheat Bars

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Well, these were a surprise…

I really had no expectations for these bitty bars…I mean a high fiber, gluten free, dark flour dessert…didn’t really create a high desire to have them haha…and Dorie’s description didn’t help much either…”pleasantly dry and grainy texture” 🤷‍♀️. Although, they did included chocolate, so that is always a plus!

We learn that buckwheat has quite a variation in color…could be almost black, thus giving it its name of black wheat. We are told this flour is very rich and nutty in favor.

I opted to make a half batch as the ‘100 bars’ the full batch made scared me off haha. I still ended up with 50 of the baby bars so this really makes a lot. Other than the buckwheat, the ingredients are very common: eggs, butter, baking powder, salt , sugar, vanilla, optional dark rum, and chocolate.

I am surprised how much we enjoyed these! The nuttiness really came through…almost like there was a slight peanut butter flavor in the chocolate. We felt the texture was better the first few days…they were described as a little “chalky” the longer they sat. That wouldn’t deter me from making them again though…just need to eat them faster haha. I do have the rest of the buckwheat flour, so I would say I can see me making these again. These were interesting…and a keeper!

Drop-Biscuit Berry Cobbler

Our blog recipe this month is a peach cobbler, but we are given a berry option in the side notes, so I went that route since we are berry fans. 😍

Cobblers seem to be a dessert that really is good anytime of the year…either eaten warm in the fall and winter or room temp in the spring and summer. A berry cobbler though, really does scream sunshine and summertime.

I went with a mixture of berries: blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries. To help with the moisture that can be a problem when cooking with berries, some cornstarch is added to the mix. The berries are placed in the pan and then topped with drop biscuits…the recipe being one for beginners. No cutting in butter, or worrying about working the dough too much or too little. The recipe uses heavy cream and buttermilk. Just a little mixing and that is it. Easy.

The cobbler is baked for 45-55 min, until the topping is golden brown and the fruit juices can be seen bubbling around the edges….then cooled to room temperature and eaten with or without ice cream or whipped cream.

Based on the feedback I received from my tasters…the ones that ate it with a topping, loved it…the ones without, said it was good but a little dry and too much biscuit on top in parts. Since the biscuits are dropped in mounds…the dough could be out of ratio with the berries depending I guess which part you got haha. I am thinking you just don’t notice that if there is ice cream or whipped cream involved. 😂

Seemed like a perfect summertime dessert…and if I make it again, I will be sure to serve it with either ice cream or whipped cream!

Citrus-Marinated Halibut with Mango Salsa

We eat a lot of fish…multiple times a week in fact, so for us, this was a fun change-up from our usual go-to recipes.

I did use Mahi in place of the halibut since I had it on hand, but I would think, especially with white fish, any would be interchangeable.

The fish is marinated in a lemon and orange juice and zest combination…scallions, jalapeño, and cayenne round out the spice. The marinade has a duel purpose, marinating and then having been cooked down, then as a drizzle on the finished product. Since my fish was frozen I just used the marinade as a topping which I think worked just fine.

The mango salsa can be made up to two hours before serving which makes the dinner easier to bring together. The salsa includes the mango but also tomatoes, red bell pepper, red onion, basil, lemon juice and a pinch more of cayenne.

The fish is super easy to put on the table…bake, drizzle, and top. This dish screams summer and freshness. The only complaint we had, was that the overwhelming flavor was the lemon. We thought that could be toned down a bit, but, all in all, very good.

For us I think everything is judged against that salsa we made for the shrimp tacos a while back…I have made that so many times I wouldn’t be able to count haha. I think we would both say we still prefer that fruit salsa but we are always up for trying a new fish dish.