Happy Birthday Max

On the 12th day of August in the early 1980s our son Max was born. We were lucky to have had a great many fun birthdays before he passed. Yesterday we decided that pie was just as good as cake for a birthday celebration, so Raine and I made a coconut cream pie from scratch. Raine had never had that flavor before, so it was great to see him enjoy his piece when we served it up. Sweetie, of course, really enjoyed his because it was his request that it be a cream pie. The recipe can be found HERE.

Happy Birthday Max!

Must Be Time For Berry Pie

We are enjoying the time with Raine and he seems to be enjoying the conversations, being on our 'farm' and the cooking and baking I'm doing with him, plus the woodworking that Sweetie is doing with him.

Yesterday he picked some more blackberries so that we could make a pie for dinner using the Food Processor Pie Crust dough we made the day before. To those blackberries we added some frozen raspberries and a few blueberries for a three berry delight.

Raine and I have baked freeform pies like galettes before, but this was our first pie in a pie pan together. He easily rolled out the dough for the pie bottom, seeming to know instinctively to keep the thickness even across the circle. He used a small knife to even out the overhang after I showed him how to fold the circle into quarters and then unfold that in the pie pan. Then, forgetting that we were planning to do a two crust pie, I showed him how to form the edge by folding the excess under, sort of rolling it, then fixing it to the edge and making it decorative with his fingers. By that time I remembered the two crust notion, so we changed course and decided to top it with streusel instead. Fortunately the book we're using for the pie recipe also has one for streusel.

The pie turned out pretty well. Because the frozen raspberries had a lot of juice, the filling was a bit loose, even with both flour and cornstarch added before baking, but it was still delicious and the pastry was excellent. I liked the streusel crunch as an contrast to the soft filling. We all agreed that the filling was nicely tart, even with the sweet streusel.

Triple Berry Pie with Streusel Top Crust

based on recipe from Art of the Pie by Kate McDermott

1 recipe Food Processor Pie Dough (see below), using half the recipe - reserve the other half for another use

6 cups (680-900 grams), about one and a half pounds, equal parts blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, fresh picked or unthawed-frozen (We used about 3 3/4 cups frozen raspberries,1/4 cup fresh blueberries and 2 cups fresh blackberries)

3/4 cup (150 grams) sugar

Small grating fresh nutmeg (OK to use a pinch of ground nutmeg instead)

1 teaspoon (5 grams) fresh lemon juice and a few gratings of lemon zest

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (73 grams) all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon cornstarch 

1 recipe Streusel topping for pie (see below)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

Roll out the half recipe of pie dough, fit it in the pie pan (9-inch, deep dish), fold under excess dough to create a raised edge, then flute. Place pie pan in the freezer while you make the filling.

Put the berries, sugar, nutmeg, lemon juice, zest, salt, flour and cornstarch into a bowl and mix just to combine. If there are few juices, mash slightly with a wooden spoon to create a small amount of juices.

If not already done, make the Streusel to top the pie with.

Pour the filling into the chilled pie dough lined pan. Gently smooth with the back of the wooden spoon to make level. Filling should come up to about 1/2 inch BELOW the edge of the pie.

Top the filling evenly with the Streusel (Crumble Topping).

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and bake for another 25-35 minutes. Check after 15 minutes and cover streusel with aluminum foil, loosely, if topping is looking too brown. Pie is done when the filling at the edges of the streusel is bubbling and the pie crust is golden brown.

Set the pie on a cooling rack and cool to room temperature before serving so that the fruit filling can set up.

Food Processor Pie Crust from Martha Stewart Test Kitchen

makes 2 disks

2 sticks unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces, divided
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup ice water

Freeze 3/4 of the butter pieces in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet until hard, at least 30 minutes. Refrigerate the other 1/4 of the pieces. The frozen pieces stay chunky after being pulsed, creating steam pockets when baked (the key to flakiness) and the refrigerated bits get worked into the pastry, giving it a tender texture.

Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor work bowl. Add refrigerated butter (the smaller amount of the butter bits). Pulse to combine, about 10 times. Add frozen butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, with some blueberry-sized clumps.

With the processor off, add the ice water. Immediately pulse until water is just incorporated, about 10 times. Squeeze a small amount of dough to make sure it holds together. Pulse a few times more if needed. When you squeeze the dough it should remain crumbly, but come together. Don't pulse it so long that it forms a ball. Adding water while the processor is running  and over-pulsing are bad ideas... could lead to tough dough.

Lay out 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Empty half the dough onto each piece. Bring edges of wrap together to gather dough and form a round mass. Press the dough this way to form a rough round mass, and press on top of the wrap to form a disk. The processed dough should resemble uneven crumbs. When you empty the mixture from the processor bowl out onto the plastic wrap, some pieces will be tiny, others will be in clumps. That is perfect! The gathered plastic wrap method of forming the disk simultaneously has you gathering the crumbs into a cohesive dough and shaping it.

Roll out disks, still wrapped in plastic, to 1/2 inch thick rounds, about 8 inches in diameter. Rounds this size will chill more quickly that hockey-puck sized ones and will soften more uniformly when removed from the refrigerator.

Refrigerate at least 45 minutes and up to 2 days. Dough can be frozen up to 1 month. 

Streusel (Crumble Topping)

1/2 cup (110 grams) brown sugar, packed

1/4 teaspoon salt (a pinch)

1/2 cup (73 grams) all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups (144 grams) whole oats, rolled

8 tablespoons (112 grams) unsalted butter

1/2 cup (60 grams) chopped nuts, optional - We used walnuts, but pecans are great, too

Put the brown sugar, salt, flour, and oats in a bowl and stir to mix.

Dice the chilled butter into small dice and scatter in the bowl. Cut the butter in with a pastry tool or two crossed knives, or use you fingers to smear the butter into the dry ingredients.  When you are done, the mixture should look crumbly. Take about a 1/4 cup in a clean hand and squeeze - it should stick together. If that works, add the nuts and mix in. If it doesn't stick together when squeezed, add another tablespoon or so of butter and work that in, then add the nuts.

Pour the mixture into a bowl or plastic bag and chill in the freezer while you make the filling.

Garden Update

Even though we had a relatively cool July, There wasn't a whole lot of baking going on. There was, however, a fair amount going on in the garden. I planted green beans and cucumbers and more beets and those plants are all getting bigger. Started to see the beans start to flower a few days ago since they have climbed to the top of their supports, and then some!

The cucumbers and beet plants get bigger every day and are thriving. I planted a few zinnia seeds, too, so there should be a bit of color in a few weeks in that planter barrel. In the last few days I've seen some yellow flowers in the cucumbers patch, too, so they should set some fruit soon.

We've been getting zucchini for a few weeks and this week had enough to give away a few. There are actually people who welcome the gift. The baby butternut squash have set fruit, too, about three so far. I had to help pollinate some of them. You can't really see them, but they are at the bottom of the planter box in the photo below, near the orange plastic front of the watering can. The bees seem to be more drawn to the flowering sage than to the squash. Ants actually help pollinate the zucchini.

The potatoes are starting to turn yellow, a sure sign that I'll be able to dig them up soon! It's probably just one variety with the second one still pretty green, but I won't know until I dig - Sweetie moved the planter after I planted, so the plants are not arranged as I planted them.

The big news for August will be the tomatoes. I  harvested the first grape tomatoes today (see photo at the top) and there should be some larger ones a few days. After a slow start, the tomato plants have set a lot of fruit and are still doing that, so the harvest will likely go on into October. Yum! Here is a photo showing the almost done poppies, the tomatoes with underplanting of marigolds, and some of the squash plants. 

Have also been picking blackberries down the driveway and managed to step on a windfall Gravenstein apple hidden by leaves and almost fall. Caught myself, but managed to roll my right foot. Off the the doctor late last week. X-rays taken and PT ordered. Sigh. This is going to cut back on both garden and baking time since both require some standing, which is not a great look for me right now.

On the cooking front I did use some zucchini and ground turkey for chili (first time using zucchini and it was great!) which is gone and no photos taken, and for some spaghetti sauce like the recipe HERE.

Had some calzone last night that used some of the spaghetti sauce. Our grandson Raine is visiting and he helped make the dough for the calzone and the calzone too. He's a natural in the kitchen.

Welcome to August! Will be as busy as my foot allows with visiting grandson. Hope to have some new posts for you. Probably one on a pie Raine and I made today, 

plus one on some croissants we are making together.

Strawberry Shortcake for a Crowd

It may be past strawberry season where you live, but we are still enjoying fresh strawberries from the Hwy. 12 stand. No strawberries? Try this with blackberries, which are in season right now many places.

This is based on an idea on the King Arthur Baking website and has probably also been on their blog. You bake a large (9 x 13-inch) cake then top it with lots of freshly whipped cream, making dips and valleys and higher spots with the cream as you spread it out, then top with  juicy fruit (could probably also use peaches or plums!). The juices pool in the dips and valleys. Cut into squares and serve!  It's a bit messy but soooo good. 

I made a double recipe of the Vanilla Warm Buttermilk Cake for this. The recipe for the single recipe can be found HERE. Just double it. I tried splitting it and putting strawberries in the middle, but it was really difficult because the cake is not sturdy enough for that method and partially fell apart. The photo of the slice shows it that way, but I recommend not splitting the cake, so whole cake, whipped cream, fruit should work better! If you hull and slice the strawberries in the morning, sprinkle them with sugar and let sit and marinate until dinner time, you should have lots of juice. Didn't do it this way, but you might think about poking the cake with a skewer all over before putting on the cream and that way some of the juices will soak into the cake...I think.

Let's Hear It for the Chocolate Version

 

Sweetie isn't usually a cake person, but he really liked the Warm Buttermilk Vanilla Cake that I made in May and then again, in a larger version, in June. Monday night we had guests for dinner and we also had some raspberries from the Hwy 12 farm stand, so I decided to see if I could make the same cake in a chocolate version. A square of the chocolate cake, some whipped cream, a handful of fresh raspberries and another dollop of whipped cream not only looked pretty, but it was delicious! Now I want to share that chocolate version with you so that you, too, can try a yummy, moist chocolate cake that is easy to make. On Wednesday I made the same dessert, but used a cherry compote I made, plus ripe, sweet, pitted dark red cherries. I liked that version better. 

Probably the most unusual thing about this recipe, in either the vanilla or the chocolate versions, is that you melt some butter and then add buttermilk to that. The buttermilk combines with the butter and also gets warm.  I does mean that you have a pot to clean along with the mixing bowl and beater(s), but the results are worth the extra effort...you'll see.

I was planning on serving this cake with some fresh cherries on Monday, but ran out of time, so the raspberries worked well. The only thing that I wished I had done was to have a sauce...or even some raspberry syrup...to add along with the berries and cream. It would have tied it all together and added some extra juiciness. Good without, but probably better with. Next time!

The cherry version (which I took photos of...but no photos of the raspberry version...sorry) benefited by the cherry compote being added. It not only offset the slightly dry chocolate cake, but it really carried the cherry flavor throughout the dessert.

To make this dessert place a square of cake on a plate or in a shallow bowl. Top with the warm Cherry Compote (about 1/4 cup per serving if serving 4), top the compote with a large dollop of whipped cream, then top the whipped cream with about 1/2 cup of the fresh cherries. It's fine that the cherries fall off the cake and down to the plate or bowl. Serve at once.

Warm Buttermilk Chocolate Cake
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

!/4 cup dark cocoa powder
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar and vanilla on high until thick and lemon-colored, about 4 minutes. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder and sift together twice; add flour mixture to egg mixture. Beat on low just until combined. Melt butter in a small saucepan until butter melts. Remove from heat and stir in the buttermilk. Add to batter; beat thoroughly (the batter will be thin). Pour into a greased 9-in. square baking pan. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 20-25 minutes or until cake tests done. If top browns too quickly, tent with foil. Cool 5 minutes in the pan, then turn out on a wire rack to cool completely. Cut into 9 squares.   

Warm Cherry Compote

1 cup cherries (I used about 1/4 Rainier cherries and 3/4 Bing cherries), pitted and cut into quarters
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 cup water

In a small pot combine all the ingredients, stirring well so that all the cornstarch is mixed in. Place the pot over very low heat, cover, and cook for 1 minute. Uncover, stir, cover and cook for 3 minutes. Uncover, stir, and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens and cherries are warmed through. It is now ready to serve or store until needed. Rewarm over low heat to bring out the cherry flavor and to have the sauce be more liquid.

Whipped Cream

In a chilled mixer bowl pour 1 pint heavy whipping cream. Attach the whisk attachment. Start on low and gradually increase speed to highest setting. Beat until the cream is thick enough to dollop. Use at once.

Cherries

Pit and chunk 2 cups of fresh ripe Bing cherries. Use at once on top of the dessert.

Zuccanoes and an Aioli Feast

Many, many moons ago a very artistic cook wrote...actually hand-lettered...and hand illustrated (no photos) an amazing cookbook called the Moosewood Cookbook. The recipes are vegetarian but you won't miss the meat because they are soo good. 

Once the zucchini in my garden start producing a few every day, I almost always remember how much I love the Zuccanoes, which are actually stuffed zucchini. This is an especially good recipe if you've missed one of the squash which was hiding under one of those big leaves and it got to be 7 or 8 inches long...or longer! You slice it in half long wise and scoop out some of the inner part. If the zucchini has gotten more than a day or two old, you may be scooping out a lot of seeds...that's O.K. I sometimes just discard the seedy part that I remove. Below is the photo of the finished zuccanoe. Looks a bit like a canoe made out of a half of a zucchini, right? Love the melty cheese on top!

Now comes the fun part. You get to make a filling. The recipe calls for mushrooms, onions, garlic and sunflower seeds. Sometimes I do it that way and sometimes I make my own combination. A few days ago I combined some leftover brown rice (about a cup), some onion (1/4 of a large one) that I had cooked in a bit of olive oil for a few minutes, four or five cherry tomatoes, diced, some frozen corn (about 1/3 cup) that I defrosted in the microwave, a lone steamed and peeled golden beet that I found in the fridge, and some seasonings like salt, pepper and Italian herb mix. All of that went into the scooped out part of the two zucchini halves, then I put a three cheese mixture on top (equal parts Parmesan, shredded mozzarella and shredded cheddar) and then baked them in a small baking dish at 350 until tender, about 18-20 minutes. Delicious and I used up two leftovers! There was more filling, so I heated that up completely in a small skillet and served it along side the zuccanoes.

Yesterday for dinner I decided to make an aioli feast. Aioli is basically garlic mayo and you make it in a blender. It's another recipe from the Moosewood Cookbook and it's home territory is the south of France. You serve that wonderful sauce with warm and cool veggies and you can throw in leftovers if you don't care if you are authentic. The photo at the top of the post shows my version last night.

I served mine with steamed green beans, small chunks of red potatoes that I'd boiled until tender and then drained, a yellow zucchini that I sliced and then browned in a skillet, cherry tomatoes, and warmed leftover grilled chicken and sausage. It was delicious and I still have aioli in the fridge for another meal...and I had garlic breath! Other veggies that work well include broccoli, cauliflower, carrot sticks, mushrooms, and steamed beets. Hard cooked eggs are nice, too.

Here is the recipe for the Aioli found in the Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen. This garlic-mayonnaise sauce is on the thin side, but fully flavored.

Combine in a blender and blend well:
1/4 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
 1/2 teaspoon tamari
2 medium cloves crushed garlic
1 whole egg
2 egg yolks

After those are well blended at high speed, take off the cap so that you can pour into the blender. Turn the speed down to medium. Measure 1 cup oil...all or part olive oil...in a measuring cup that pours well.

Very gradually, drizzle in the oil a little at a time. After a few tablespoons have been drizzled in, gradually dribble in the rest of the oil in a slow, thin stream until all the oil is entered. The mixture should be fairly thick. Once it's thick, turn off the blender...if you beat too much it will get thin again which is not what you want.

Transfer to a covered jar or bowl and put in the fridge until ready to use if it's not already meal time. Be generous with this sauce for dipping those warm  and cool veggies (and protein if you like). It makes a nice topping for fish, too.

Fresh Apricot Cake

Recently we purchased a bag of beautiful, ripe, fresh apricots at the farm stand on Hwy 12, just outside of Sebastopol to the east. I didn't really know what I wanted to do with them, but the next day I processed them by dipping briefly in boiling water, then putting them into cold water. That way the skin slips off easily and they are ready to slice and to have the pit removed. I ended up with a good sized container of ready-to-use fresh apricot slices. A few slices were used over the next couple of days in cereal and other dishes, but they were getting nearer to the end of time to use them, so I needed a recipe that could take a lot of them. 

I needed something to bring to a potluck on the 4th of July. What better way to use the fresh apricots than in a picnic cake. I wanted a cake that was moist so that it didn't need any icing or other embellishment, one that would be easy to transport to the picnic, and one that would not be too sweet because the hostess prefers sweets with a tang and not very sweet. I found the perfect recipe in Dorie Greenspan's cookbook Around My French Table. In her book the cake is made with apples, but I knew that I could make it work with my fresh apricots.

Of course there were changes to be made. First off, I don't own an 8-inch springform pan, so I had to adjust for a 9-inch springform pan. Then I found that the freshly laid eggs that were a gift from a neighbor were on the small side. As it turned out that worked well. I used three small eggs instead of two large, increased the flour and baking powder a bit to both absorb the extra egg and to make the batter work in the larger pan. I kept the butter the same knowing that the apricots would have more moisture than the apples so there would be sufficient moisture. I added 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract since almond is a great flavor with apricots. I also put in 3 tablespoons of run, another great flavor with fruit. The sliced almonds on top were also my addition, both for looks and to keep the almond theme going.  As you can see, there were so many changes that this is truly a variation of the original recipe. Even, so, I'm going to give the recipe for the 8-inch springform pan since  I didn't write down the amounts of the changes I made.

Do try this yourself! Everyone at the picnic who tried a slice really, really liked it. It's moist, tender, buttery, has that unbeatable fresh apricot flavor and is delicious!

Fresh Apricot Cake

a variation of Marie-Helene's Apple Cake in Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table 

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
4 cups fresh apricots that have been peeled, pitted, and sliced into 1/2-inch slices
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons dark rum
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tablespoon sliced almonds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and center a rack in the oven. Generously butter an 8-inch springform pan. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicon baking mat. Put the springform pan on it.

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

In a medium bowl beat the eggs with a whisk until they're foamy. (I used my Kitchen Aid mixer and the whisk attachment.

Pour in the sugar and whisk for a minute or so to blend. Whisk in the rum, vanilla, and almond extract.

Whisk in half the flour, and, when it's incorporated, whisk in half the melted and cooled butter. Scrape the bowl, then whisk in the rest of the flour, followed by the rest of the melted butter, mixing gently after each addition. Scrape the bowl and whisk for a few seconds to incorporate the scrapings. You should have a batter that is smooth and rather thick. Switch to a rubber or silicon spatula and fold in the apricots, turning the fruit so that it's coated with the batter and fairly evenly distributed in the batter.

Scrape the batter into the prepared springform pan. Smooth it with the spatula so that it is pretty evenish. Sprinkle evenly with the sliced almonds.

Slide the pan into the oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top of the cake is golden brown and a knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean. The cake may pull away from the sides of the pan. That's OK. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool for 5 minutes.

Carefully run a blunt knife around the sides of the pan and remove the sides of the springform pan carefully. Use the blunt knife to loosen any apricots sticking to the sides before opening the sides fully.

Allow the cake to cool until it's just slightly warm or is at room temperature, then run a long spatula between the cake and the pan bottom, cover the top of the cake with a piece of parchment or wax paper, invert onto a rack, carefully remove the bottom of the pan, and turn the cake over onto a serving dish. Remove the parchment or wax paper and you are ready to serve.

If taking to a picnic, let cool completely, then wrap in plastic wrap for transport.

This cake will keep for about 2 days at room temperature. Don't cover, just let sit at room temperature with a piece of plastic wrap or waxed paper up against any cut surfaces.

Buttermilk Waffles

 Considering the space it takes up, it's kind of amazing that the waffle iron doesn't get much use. The truth is that Sweetie likes to eat out for breakfast more than he likes to eat out lunch or dinner, so celebratory breakfasts like waffles or pancakes or French Toast don't happen that often. He often just has a protein drink and I'm happy with shredded wheat and bran cereal with some fruit in it.

Of course, every now and then...like, four or five times a year...we do have waffles or pancakes or French Toast made at home. For Father's Day this year it was waffles. I love a waffle that is tender on the inside...and fluffy...but golden and crisp on the outside. I have the perfect recipe for that if you have buttermilk in the house. I also love the recipe for Amazing Overnight Waffles where you start the yeast batter the night before you bake them. These are the recipes that make it worth it to have a good waffle iron on hand.

This time we went with the buttermilk recipe and it was delicious! We enjoyed them with seasonal berries, butter, and some warm maple syrup. Decadent and delightful. The recipe gives directions for keeping the waffles warm while you cook the full amount of batter, but my waffle iron bakes two at once, so I skipped that and served one to Sweetie and one to myself. We enjoyed them, crisp and hot, while the next two were cooking in the waffle iron.

Buttermilk Waffles
Press Democrat and Washington Post by Becky Krystal

Makes 5 servings (five 7-inch round waffles)

2 1/4 cups (280 grams) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs,
2 cps (480 ml) buttermilk (whole or low-fat)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick/57 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for optional topping 
Note: May substitute some or all with neutral oil)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Neutral oil, for brushing the waffle iron
1/4-1/2 cup each seasonal berries (optional)
Maple syrup and butter, for serving (optional)

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Have a large baking sheet ready.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. 
In a separate medium bowl whisk the eggs until lightly beaten. Whisk in the buttermilk, butter and vanilla until combined.

Stir the egg mixture into the flour mixture gently until it forms a smooth, thick batter...any lumps should be fruit.

Brush a waffle iron with oil or spray with nonstick spray, and preheat it according to the manufacturer's directions. Ladle enough of the batter to cover three-fourths  of the surface of the iron...roughly 1/2 to 3/4 cups (120-180 ml) of batter per waffle. Close the waffle iron and cook for 3-5 minutes, or until the iron alerts you the waffle is done. You will be looking for the waffle to be crisp and golden brown.

Repeat with the remaining batter, placing finished waffles on the baking sheet in the oven to keep warm, if desired.

Serve with seasonal berries, maple syrup, pats of butter or other toppings as desired.

Salad with Nectarines and Pecans

 I was talking with my older sister a few days ago and we were talking about inherent talents...our own and those of people we know and love. One of the things that we agreed on was that very often we are unaware that something that we are good at is also something that not a lot of people are good at...but because we have always been good at it, we just assume that everyone is good at it. Why is it hard to admit to ourselves that we have something that we have always been good at that we just take for granted?

A good example in my world is making salads. I rarely include salads in posts because I've always considered salads something that everyone can just throw together. Wrong. It's something that is easy for me but not so easy for a lot of people.

Tonight I made a really delicious salad, better than my usual pretty good salads, and it included a nectarine, an avocado, some blue cheese, toasted pecans, and two kinds of lettuce mixes, plus a bottled blue cheese dressing. I was worried that it would miss the mark because when I was making it, it seemed to have too much nectarine. When it came time to eat it, however, the amounts were just right, so I don't know everything about making salads!

So it turns out that part of my talent is having a sense for the proportions of the different ingredients. Since I never measure, this recipe is a lot of guessing. Hope that it works for you! If it doesn't taste right, just try adding a bit more of one of the ingredients. Still not right, a bit more of another. Save the 'bit more' of the blue cheese for last. It's such a strong flavor, you really just need a small amount to have a big impact.

Nectarine and Pecan Salad with Blue Cheese
Serves 4

4 cups mesclun (mixed filed greens)
1-2 cups romaine (mine came mixed with a small amount of purple cabbage shreds)
1 avocado, peeled, pit removed, and cut into bite sized pieces
1 nectarine, cut into 1-inch wedges, then each wedge cut into thirds, pit discarded
1-2 tablespoons blue cheese crumbles (start with the smaller amount)
12 pecan halves, toasted, cooled and broken into small pieces
Enough blue cheese salad dressing (I use Boat House) to just moisten the salad mixture

In a large bowl place the mesclun, romaine, avocado pieces, nectarine pieces, blue cheese crumbles, and broken toasted pecan pieces. Toss with clean hands to mix. Add less blue cheese dressing than you think you need and toss well with salad tongs or servers. Add additional dressing, if needed, a little at a time. Be sure to toss thoroughly to coat the lettuce leaves.

Serve at once and enjoy!

Cake-based Strawberry Shortcake for Father's Day

 

For the May version of strawberry shortcake we had scones, berries and whipped cream. For June I made a delicious buttermilk cake that is easy to do and produces a supple, flavorful sponge cake that is just perfect with berries and whipped cream. Sweetie really likes whipped cream, so we were generous! I know, almost anything is great with whipped cream, but I find that having cake, scones, or biscuits with it...and the berries...is wonderful. The tanginess of this cake is a nice contrast to the richness of the cream and sweetness of the berries. You can use any stone fruit or any berry if strawberry season is past. It will still be a great gift to you favorite guy...or gal. I served it in a bowl because I didn't whip the cream to firmness, but on a plate will work well, too.

This is based on a recipe that I found online...AllRecipes I think...but I changed it so much that it would be barely recognizable to the person who created the original. I'd never made a warm milk cake before. It makes a great spongy type cake but moister than the classic genoise...no need for moistening syrups. The juices from the sliced strawberries soaked into the cake nicely.

Warm Buttermilk Vanilla Cake
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar and vanilla on high until thick and lemon-colored, about 4 minutes. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to egg mixture. Beat on low just until combined. Melt butter in a small saucepan until butter melts. Remove from heat and stir in the buttermilk. Add to batter; beat thoroughly (the batter will be thin). Pour into a greased 9-in. square baking pan. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 20-25 minutes or until cake tests done. Cool 5 minutes in the pan, then turn out on a wire rack to cool completely.

To make individual Strawberry Shortcakes with this cake, slice the cooled cake into 9 squared, then slice each half horizontally. Lay the top pieces aside. Spread sliced strawberries (hull and slice them in advance if possible so that the juice can be drawn out. Add a little sugar if they are not sweet enough) over the bottom layers. Top with the top layers of cake and frost the top with whipped cream. Garnish with a few fresh strawberries. Serve at once. If there is some left to store, store, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap, in the fridge.

Garden Update

Everything is just growing like crazy, so it seems like a good idea to show a few photos of how things are in the garden now. If you stand on the sidewalk near our front steps and face the barn, you see the scene above.

We've had our first harvest...two golden and one dark green zucchini. They weren't huge...about 6 or 7 inches long... but they were tender and delicious. Sweetie grills them with just a little pepper, garlic salt, and olive oil. The ones in the photo above should be ready in a day or two.

Everything else is far from being ready for harvest. The tomatoes are flowering but so far no fruit. The other squash are still small and working on getting female flowers. The cucumbers haven't even started to climb. The beets are looking good...larger leaves...but it will be a while until they are ready. The beans were just planted, so haven't even sprouted. The potatoes seem to like their spot and continue to push up the straw. I just hilled them up (more soil around the stems of the plants) a few days ago and the strongest ones are already peeking through the straw. Have never grown potatoes, so it's heartening to see the growth. Maybe it means I'm doing it right. That's all for the veggies. Here are some photos of the veggies, both the ones near the studio and the ones in the raised bed near the barn and the large round cloth bag with the potatoes.

In this view the closest are the two barrels with zucchini. Further away are other barrels and planters with tomatoes, more summer squash, cucumbers and some winter squash, plus geranium, roses, daisies, poppies, California poppies, marigolds with the tomatoes, and nasturtium. Mixing in the flowers seems to encourage the bees to come by...now hoping that they will fertilize the tomatoes!

Another view of the veggies, this time looking towards the studio.

The raised bed, which includes a tomato plant, beets, two kinds of squash and cucumber.

The potato cloth container...as big as a small child's wading pool! Just Joey apricot roses are lovely, too.

The best part of the garden right now is the flowers. The apricot rose (near the potato bed) is just beautiful! The Mister Lincoln rose near the studio veggie area is blooming, too, with big red roses that smell heavenly. The large shrubs of daisies are just beginning to bloom and so are the day lilies (although I don't think I have photos of that). The red poppies are still stunning and prolific, as are the CA poppies, but the nasturtium are the most prolific of all! There are a few pretty sweet peas and some lavender blooming, too. The best smelling are the flowers on the lemon shrub. The ones that come every fortnight, the fortnight lily, is blooming near the lemons. All in all a delightful time in the garden.

So that's it for now. There will be food soon...something for Father's Day

Apricot Season

I don't remember having fresh apricots when I was growing up. We just ate canned apricots. When I came to California I discovered the joy of the fresh apricot, especially the tartness factor. Canned apricots are canned in heavy syrup...or they were 50 odd years ago...and so were pretty sweet. A ripe fresh apricot has sweetness, but it also has an underlying tartness that I believe makes the fruit even more enjoyable.

We had some fresh apricots, unpeeled and uncooked, with berries and bananas for breakfast and they were delicious, but I wanted fresh apricot pie. The season for fresh apricots is pretty short and I don't think that they ship well either, so I was delighted to find them available at our Hwy. 12 farm stand. Because Sweetie really loves pies, I decided to make him an apricot pie. Many years if I make a pie or tart with apricots I combine them with a frangipane, a type of filling made with ground nuts. This time I wanted it to be all apricots! I even made a two crust pie and tried out a lattice making gadget that Sweetie had given me. (See photo below to see how it looks!)

The best way to peel an apricot is just like peeling a peach...dip them for a few minutes in boiling water and then plunge into cold water. The skins usually peel off really easily, without a knife. I did that to all the remaining apricots and, once I had slice them up and discarded the pits and peels, I had about 5 cups of fruit. I could have used another cup of fruit, but decided to go with a shallow 9-inch pie pan instead of a deep one and it all worked out fairly well.

As you know if you've been reading this blog, I often speed up the pie making time by using a pre-made pie dough for the crust. My go-to is Pillsbury ReadyCrust. The results are really delicious and you get a nice, flaky crust with not a lot of time or effort.

Depending on how juicy your apricots are, you will need a little or a lot of the flour mixture. It helps the juices turn into a filling and keeps the bottom from becoming soggy. I also like to use a pizza stone on the rack near the bottom of the oven where I plan on baking the pie. Putting the metal pie plate right on the preheated stone gives the bottom a nice push towards being fully baked and flaky.

No apricots? You can pretty much do the same thing with fresh peaches or nectarines (although I would skip peeling the nectarines) and you will still get a delicious seasonal pie. Peaches and nectarines are available for a much longer time during the summer, so you could make an apricot one now and a peach one later and a nectarine one even later. Just be sure to invite Sweetie over. He really appreciates freshly baked pies! 

Apricot Pie

Serves 6-8

pie dough for a two crusted pie (I use Pillsbury ReadyCrust from the market)

1 1/2 - 2 pounds fresh apricots
2 tablespoons sugar
2 drops almond extract
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
pinch of salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (or ground nutmeg if fresh unavailable)

1 tablespoon light cream
1 tablespoon sanding sugar

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

In a shallow 9-inch pie pan (or a deep one of you have at least 6 cups apricots when prepared), place one circle of pie dough, either dough rolled to a circle or a pre-rolled circle, and fit to the pan. let extra dough hang over the edges until pie filling has been put in. Set aside.

In a small pot heat water until boiling, with the water coming half way up the sides of the pot. Have cold water ready in a quart heat-proof measuring cup or in a narrow bowl. Once the water boils, place 4-5 apricots in the water and leave for a minute. Remove from boiling water with a slotted spoon and place right away into the cold water. Repeat with the other 3-4 apricots. Peel the apricots while still warm. Repeat with the rest of the apricots. Once all have been peeled, slice into 1-inch wedges and place in a large bowl. Sprinkle fruit with the sugar and the almond extract, then stir to combine. In a small bowl combine the flour, cornstarch, pinch of salt and the nutmeg. Stir to combine. Sprinkle flour mixture over the apricots and stir gently with you hands to coat the fruit with the flour mixture.

Place the fruit mixture in the prepared pie pan, leveling the fruit.

Prepare the second piece of dough by rolling into a circle, if needed, then create a lattice or just top with the second crust. Use your clean finger to skim light cream on the part of the dough where the upper dough and lower dough meet. Press to seal. Trim dough if desired.  Roll the dough towards the pie, rolling under, so that the upper and lower doughs all around are rolled together to sit on top of edge of pan. Crimp dough edges. Using a small pastry brush, brush dough with remaining light cream. Sprinkle with the sanding sugar. If top crust is solid and not latticed, cut four 1-inch slashes in the top of the pie, spaced out evenly around the pie...to let steam escape.

Place the pie on a lower rack in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn the temperature down to 350 degrees F and bake for another 25-35 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and juices are bubbling in the pie.

Removed from the oven to a cooling rack and cool until cool (or barely warm if you can't wait), then cut and serve.