Naked Breakfast #3: Tinkering with Recipes: An Experiment

I love cookbooks. I don't have many, but those I do have are very well utilized. In most books, the pages stick together with flecks of food from use. Little pieces of dough or broth substitute as bookmarks for recipes previously made and I liken the spotted pages to my own version of battle scars.

When I first began to cook, I would follow the recipe exact. I used TONS of measuring devices and got flustered when a step was accidentally missed. Now, I may use my 1 cup to roughly measure all dry ingredients and just wing any of the wet. I sub turkey for sausage, cilantro with basil, soy milk for 2%, etc. And I ALWAYS add more garlic and onion than called for!

Its all about what I want the flavors to be. What began as a constant gamble has slowly developed into a more consistent product.

Dish: Blackberry & Mascarpone Tart with Red Raspberries
Film: The Shadow


1 tube (approx 18oz) sugar cookie dough (let soften)
1c blackberries
2c red raspberries
8oz Mascarpone (let soften)
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4c sugar

*sub out the fruit as you see fit. Also, dont feel required to mix any with the mascarpone...the original calls for cream cheese instead w/o fruit mixed in...its all how you want to do it!

-Spread out dough on a pizza round and bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes.
-Cool completely (I took the round directly from the oven to the fridge-it only took 20 minutes to cool that way!).
-While crust cools mix together mascarpone, sugar and almond extract. After smooth, slowly mix in blackberries.
-Spread mixture on cooled crust, then top with red raspberries.
-Refrigerate til served.

Enjoy!