Blueberry and Cream Cheese Swirl Bread

I love blueberries in baked goods. I love breakfast breads. I love cheesecake. This bread is all of those things. It's not hard, either, and you could make it without the lemon extract if you didn't have some on hand. But the lemon is so, so good with the blueberries and cream cheese.

Blueberry and Cream Cheese Swirl Bread 
8 ounces softened cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp lemon extract
1 egg
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1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup milk
2 cups fresh blueberries, washed then tossed with a bit of flour

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Grease and flour a standard-size loaf pan. Rub the inside of the pan with Crisco until it's all lightly greasy, then sprinkle some flour in the pan. Rotate it while beating on the sides until the whole thing is very lightly coated in flour. They make a spray now that supposedly does the same thing in one step, but I am distrustful of such efficiency.

2. Beat the cream cheese, sugar, flour, salt, and lemon extract together until smooth. Add the egg and beat for two minutes until light and creamy. Transfer to a different bowl and set aside. Clean out your mixing bowl and set the whole mixer up again for the blueberry batter.

3. Beat the melted butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract together until creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix until thoroughly combined. Scrape down sides. Add the baking powder and half of the flour and mix until combined. Add the rest of the flour and mix again. Remove from mixer and scrape down sides.

4. Gently stir in the floured blueberries. Apparently, flouring them first prevents them from sinking to the bottom, so don't skip that step, kids.

5. Scoop half of the blueberry mixture into the loaf pan and smooth into more or less flat layer. It's a thick batter, so you really can't pour it. Top that half with all of the cream cheese mixture. Spread the remaining blueberry batter on top.

6. I wish I could explain the next step better in words, but it's not hard, and it won't be a huge big deal if you mess it up. Take a butter knife and make a corkscrew motion through the bread, from edge to center all the way down the length of the loaf. Make another such corkscrew line from the center to the opposite edge, again moving lengthwise.

7. Bake for.bloody.ever. Seriously, it felt like this took the longest time. I think I cooked it for an hour and a half, all told. Start with an hour and check one of the cracks that will form on top with a toothpick. Mine seriously takes 90 minutes, and I check it at 10 minute intervals after the one hour mark. Because seriously. There's no excuse for that kind of lollygagging, blueberry bread.

Tomato-Basil Tart

This is one of my most popular dishes, and it is pretty excellent if I do say so myself. I don't even like tomatoes, but this and the tomato-carrot-kale marinara are my go-tos when Alabama tomatoes are in season. Alabama tomatoes are as spectacular as tomatoes get.


This will make two normal-sized tarts. I guess they're 10 inches? I dunno.

Savory Crust
2 1/2 cups flour
2 egg yolks (save those whites)
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup cold salted butter, cubed (that's a stick and a half)
6 tbsp cold water

1. Cube the butter. You can also freeze it then grate it, but I'm actually quite lazy and ill-prepared, so I just cut it up straight out of the refrigerator.

2. Stir flour and salt together in mixing bowl and cut in the butter using a pastry cutter.

3. Add water and egg yolks and mix together. I use a combination of the pastry cutter and my hands.

4. Separate into two balls and wrap in cellophane. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

5. When you're ready to bake the tarts (or whatever you're making--this crust is great for any quiche or tart or meat pie you want to make), roll out on a floured surface and shape for your pan. Place it in the button and flatten out, making sure to cover the sides of the pan too.


Tomato-Basil Tarts
8 ounces of fontina cheese, cubed
8 ounces mascarpone cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
2 egg whites (from crust)
1 cup basil leaves, chopped
assorted tomatoes

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Place the cheeses and salt in microwave-safe bowl to melt. Start with a minute, then stir. Microwave at 30-second intervals following that, and do not despair if the cheese kind looks like it has separated. It won't look smooth for the first few go-rounds, but it will eventually come together. Don't rush it, though.

2. Once the cheese is all melted, add the milk. Wait for the cheese mixture to cool slightly, then beat in the eggs. Stir in the basil.

3. Slice the tomatoes! I use a mixture of red, yellow, purple, orange, cherry, grape, roma, whatever. The different sizes and colors make the tarts pretty. (Again, I don't love tomatoes. There may well be flavor differences, but...don't know, don't care.) I try to leave them a bit thick, definitely no thinner than 1/4-inch.

4. Pour half of the cheese mixture into each dough-filled tart pan and arrange the tomatoes slices on top in a single layer. Lightly salt and pepper the top of each tart and place in the oven.

5. I wish I could tell you how long to cook these. I don't leave the kitchen while they're cooking, so I'm guessing between 30 and 45 minutes. The tops where the cheese is exposed should be a little golden brown and the liquid in the tomatoes should be bubbling. The crust around the edges should look done, too.  I'm kind of the worst at this. I hope you already know how to cook, because I do a lot of this by sight and intuition.

6. Once the tarts are done, I glaze them with a honey-balsamic sauce. I use about a quarter of a cup of white balsamic vinegar and melt a tablespoon of honey in then brush or drizzle over the tops of the tarts.