Three Kinds Of Cookies and a Peach Dessert

 

Last week I was part of Team Tea this week as a group of friends put on a tea party for 36. Part of what I volunteered to do was to bake some cookies, so I baked a bar cookie, a cookie press cookie, and a rolled-out cookie that I turned into a sandwich cookie. These are listed by difficulty, too. The easiest is the bar cookie, Butterscotch-Chocolate Chip Cookies, a delicious, somewhat dense cookie that you mix up in a pot. It uses melted butter, so there is no need to bring butter to room temperature before starting to make them. This means that you can have cookies much faster than you think! They also have a mild butterscotch flavor and lots of chocolate chips. I like mine with walnuts, but you can use your favorite nut...or skip nuts. In the photo below, the tan bar cookies are the Butterscotch-Chocolate Chip Cookies.

The next most difficult is the cookie press cookie, Spritz Cookies (the pink ones in the photo at the top and the pink ones and flower shaped ones with yellow centers in the photo above). Usually this is an easy cookie, but this might have been difficult for me because my cookie press is ancient and might not be working as well as it might. I had no trouble pressing the dough out of the cylinder, through the decorative plate, but some of the cookies didn't break off onto the baking sheet, so I had to cut them away from the press. When they worked, they made really pretty cookies! I tried them as the recipe was written, but then added some flour to the dough and that seemed to work better. Chilling the dough seemed to work even better. By then it felt like PlayDoh but I still had some trouble with making the cookies. The good news is that these are tender butter cookies, flavored with both vanilla and almond extracts, so it you stick with it you will have delicious cookies that also like decorative. You can color the dough, too, to make them even more decorative, and don't forget that if you used colored sugar or jimmies that they are even more colorful.

The final cookie was the rolled out one, Fancy Tea Cookies (the fluted ones in the photo at the top). I ended up rolling them out on waxed paper because they stuck when I rolled them out on a floured board. These are delicate cookies that become crisp on the edges. They are flavored with nutmeg and make good sandwich cookies, but are also fine as singles. Chill the dough, work with smallish quantities of dough at a time and flour your cookie cutters.

I made round and heart shaped sandwich cookies, so cut out two pieces of dough for each sandwich cookie. One of those pieces stayed whole and the other had a hole punched out before baking...I used a large icing piping tube...and after they were baked and cooled I used marmalade as a filling and sandwiched a cut out one over a whole one, bottoms together. For decoration I sifted powdered sugar over them. I skipped any buttercream (which is did use the first time I made these), but that tastes wonderful, too.

The Butterscotch cookies makes the most as far as quantity, but the other two are so delicious and pretty that as many as you get will be very appreciated by your family and friends. The Spritz count depends on what disc you use to press the cookies and for the Fancy Tea Cookies the count varies according to the size and shape of the cutter you use.

Since I ran out of time to make more than a dozen or so of the Fancy Tea Cookies, I had left over cookie dough. I decided a couple of days later to make a two person sized dessert for myself and Sweetie. I took about a 1/4 cup of the dough and made a base in a 6-inch diameter springform pan. I made sure to bring the cookie dough up the sides by at least a 1/2 inch, then baked the cookie at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes. The dough puffed up, but once I removed it from the oven, I flattened the center with a fork and only left the sides puffed up.

For the filling I beat one egg until most of the white had combined with the yolk, added a tablespoon of granulated sugar, a few drops of almond extract, 1/4 cup of soy creamer (or you could use half and half), and a good sized peach which I had peeled, pitted, and cut into 1/2-inch chunks. I mixed all of these together and poured them into the greased springform pan. The mixture came up to just below the top of the pan. I placed the pan on a small sheet pan and baked it for 25 minutes, checked it and continued to bake a bit more until the center was cooked but still a tiny bit jiggly. The filling was just beginning to brown around the edges.

After letting the dessert cool to room temperature, I ran a knife around the sides of the pan, then released the sides. Once cut in half and plated, I added a whoosh of whipped cream and served it. I really enjoyed the combination of cookie crust with it's strong nutmeg element and sweet, juicy peach custard filling. If I did it again, I would probably bake the crust longer so that it was crisper, but otherwise wouldn't change a thing

BBQ Fun and a Shady Summer House

 I have a friend who is a wonderful artist. As a matter of fact, she introduced me to a watercolor class for seniors a number of years ago where I learned skills that I still use in my paintings.

She recently lost her husband to a long illness and so Sweetie and I went over a few nights ago and had a BBQ with her. Part of the fun was having Sweetie show her the way that he barbeques steelhead fish. She is getting reacquainted with using a gas grill.

Friends of her husband have also recently helped her revive a beautiful lath summer house, putting in a new floor and making sure that the structure is sound. Now that it is in good shape, she has moved in some lawn furniture, including a table and chairs, so we ate our BBQ there, with shade from the ivy and a light breeze chasing the heat away.

No actual recipe, but I'm going to describe Sweetie's way with grilling fish.

To begin with, he lays the fillets on a tray and coats them lightly with olive oil, then a light dusting of ground pepper. He prefers the tail end since it is often a more even thickness than the head end. That makes grilling easier so that the thick part isn't undercooked when the thinner part is cooked. He likes steelhead, a kind of red trout that tastes like salmon (I think), better than salmon. Use whatever fish fillets you like, but get them with skin still on.

You can season the skin-on fillets however you please. I'm trying to cut back on sodium a bit, so we're skipping the garlic salt, but that used to be a standard, along with the pepper.

Preheat your grill. You want it to be medium-hot. I believe that with the gas grill Sweetie likes to get the gauge to 400.

Because the skin is oiled, you don't need to oil the grill grids. Place the fish on the preheated grill grids, close the cover, and cook until the fish is just beginning to firm up...you can push down on thickest part with a finger to see how solid it feels. A very solid fish is a very cooked fish. We like our fish still a bit less than solid...sort of like medium-rare steak. Don't turn the fillet over. Once it's cooked to your liking, slide a spatula under, loosening any skin that may have adhered to the grill grids, and then use the spatula to transfer it to either a serving plate or the actual dinner plate. Garnish with lemon if desired.

Because Sweetie usually get a good sized tail piece for the two of us to share (about 3/4 to a pound), he cuts it in half along indentation left by the backbone, so we each get a long, skinny piece. When you do that, you can see at the cut edge if it's cooked as much as you like, or needs to spend another minute or two on the grill.

That's it, except for cleaning the grill grids. Sweetie like to use a wire brush to scrape them down while they are still hot. 

We had fresh corn on the cob and a colorful, delicious salad to go with the steelhead.

Here are some photos of my friend's lath summer house and it gives  you a good idea of how pleasant it was to share a meal there.

Pasta Throw Together Casserole

It started with some leftover meatballs in the fridge, followed when my favorite market agreed to stock Kite Hill tortellini so I bought some with spinach in them, continued when I realized that I had zucchini, some mushrooms, some pasta sauce and some shredded mozzarella cheese in the fridge and a yen for a baked pasta casserole.

Sometimes the thing you throw together without a recipe is just wonderful, and this was one of those times. Sweetie really loved this dish, so I need to save it so I have a place to start next time.

You can use any kind of pasta, but a filled one like tortellini or ravioli gives this dish some weight and also multiple flavors from the pasta, ricotta, and spinach. If you are gluten free, use your favorite gluten free pasta. 

You can use your favorite home made or jarred pasta sauce. I was almost finished with a jar of Newman's Own marinara sauce, so that's what I used.

You can play with the veggies. The zucchini and mushrooms were perfect, but you could substitute another kind of squash, string beans, onions...whatever your favorite is for an Italian flavored meal.

No meatballs? Try some Italian sausage either in sliced rounds or taken out of any casings and cooked that way like ground meat. Either way, do cook the sausage. Ground beef, chicken or turkey could also be used, just cook it and break it up into bite sized pieces or smaller and season with Italian herbs like oregano, basil and rosemary, plus some garlic or garlic powder.

I recommend that you use a good Parmesan and be liberal with the shredded cheese. Mozzarella is great and gives you those strings of melted cheese, but Provalone would work and so would Jack cheese, or even a mixture of cheeses. If you are not fond of cheese or are going for dairy free (the Kite Hill tortellini are made with non-dairy ricotta), try a mixture of breadcrumbs and either melted butter or olive oil to top the casserole with instead of cheese.

Instructions:

Bring a large pot of water to a full boil. Add a teaspoon salt, stir and boil for about a half minute to allow the salt to dissolve. Add the tortellini, stir, lower the heat so it doesn't boil over (so just a little bit lower), then cook until the pasta is tender, stirring occasionally. Mine took about 8 minutes.

While the pasta is cooking, slice one medium zucchini in half moons and about ten medium mushrooms to about the same thickness ( I cut mine into about 1/4-inch slices). Cook over medium heat in a frying pan coated with spray olive oil. Season with a sprinkle of pepper. I did each veg in one batch which pretty much covered the bottom of the frying pan. Turn them over once brown on one side and let brown on the other. Add about 1 1/2 - 2 cups pasta sauce and stir. (Be sure that both veggies are in the pan.)

Take your desired portion of meatballs. If large cut into bite sized pieces...I quartered mine. Add to the veggie mixture, stir and let it all warm up. From the size of my meatballs I estimated that I should use 10 and that worked well for the 10 oz. or so of tortellini.

By now the pasta should be done. Drain. Spray a baking dish (I used a 9 x 9-inch pan) with olive oil. Add the drained pasta. Cover with the veggie/meatball mixture. Over that put an even layer of shredded mozzarella cheese and grate some Parmesan over. Put into an oven preheated to 400 degrees F.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and browned a bit on top. Serve at once.

Serves about 2-4  ... if you add more veggies it will serve more

Early August

Occasionally I use this blog as a way to note the passing of time and what's up now. If you are looking for a recipe, check out older posts, O.K.?

Let's start with the garden. This year I had knee problems about the time when I would be weeding and getting the garden ready for planting, so none of that happened. The best I could do was to fill three planters with potting soil and then plant one with purchased zucchini plants, one with a purchased tomato plant, and one with cucumber seeds. Later I planted a basil plant from the grocery store and it is very happy.

Because the rain and chilly nights lasted into late April, by the time that I went looking for my favorite tomato as a seedling, the Black Krim, I discovered that it was sold out. This year, instead, we're trying a Russian tomato that is supposed to be similar. So far it's producing tomatoes, but they seem to be golf ball size and are no getting any bigger. They're still green since the plant went in so late. Let's hope that they taste good!

The zucchini hasn't enjoyed the hot summer we've been having, so we've only gotten three mature zucchini. In general there aren't a lot of flowers and most of them are male ones. I recently gave all three pots a good dose of fertilizer, so I'm hoping for improved zucchini production soon.

The happiest plants are the cucumbers. They look good and are growing higher each day. I have a number of bamboo stakes for them to attach to, so I think they will continue to climb. There are lots of flowers, both male and female. So far I've harvested two cucumbers, each about 5 inches long. There should be a lot more soon. (The three in the photo above were harvested after this post was written...they are delicious!)

The lilies have been really lovely this year. We had terra cotta Asiatics, orange day lilies, white and lilac Fortnight lilies (just above this paragraph), and now have some pink and white Asiatics with curving petals (first photo at top). With luck in a few days we'll have my favorites, the peach colored ones. The roses have also been lovely. I really am smitten with this Just Joey peachy one. It was a gift five years ago from brother Jim (below).

Because Charlie's back went out in early May (the drive to and from the Lake Tahoe wedding was no kind to his back), he has not been doing any projects beyond a couple of times using the ride-on mower to keep the grass trimmed. Fortunately our neighbor Bryan has come over at least four times this season with his electric ride-on mower and mowed around the house and around the farmhouse. When they were here in late June, Aaron and Raine used the weed eaters to take care of areas that can't be mowed, so we are in pretty good shape as far as the grass and weed trimming go.

Last week Charlie was feeling much better and did a repair on the window sill in the kitchen fixed window. It looks wonderful and is much sturdier!

I was mildly depressed (feeling blue) for much of May, June, and part of July. I had little interest in my usual pursuits, including watercolor painting, gardening, cooking and baking, sewing, etc. Mostly I just read books and tried to convince myself to go on walks. Fortunately by mid-July I was seeing a good therapist who helped and now I'm pretty much back to my usual positive and interested self.

Our favorite neighbors are having their own trials, too, including COVID for the nearest neighbors, some eye issues by another and hospitalization and bedrest for another. Between that and the heat this summer and my blues, we haven't spent much time with any of them despite some attempts. Hoping that soon we can have porch time with them and enjoy the back deck, too.

On the positive side, I very much enjoyed the visit from the Redmond crew, and the extra time with Raine, followed a few weeks later by a trip to Redmond where we hung out feeding blue jays, saw a black tailed Western weasel on the fence, twice, and watched Raine play basketball (photo above has him in uniform), plus an enjoyable lunch at a nearby winery, 

followed by a visit to a beautiful garden. The backyard at the Redmond house is such a peaceful place to hang out and they have it sheltered by both a shade structure and curtains, so it can be used year round, heated in the cooler months with a fire pit (photo below).

I'm enjoying a visit by Straight Shooter this weekend, followed by a brief visit by Landon and his girlfriend mid-week, and hopefully some time with niece Wendy next week. 

Last, but not least, I'm the hostess for a Paint Party Fun Day at the Masonic Hall this Wednesday, a fundraiser for P.E.O. We'll be painting a Rainbow Elephant in watercolors and having fun.

Polenta and Basil and Cheese

I don't remember eating polenta when I was young. If we had spaghetti sauce, or 'gravy' if you're Italian I guess, Mom served it with spaghetti. 

I really, really like polenta. It's good by itself, a sort of variation of grits, and it's great as a base for roasted veggies, or a pork stew, or for any version of spaghetti sauce with a tomato base. If you chill it, it becomes a great side to warm up on a grill or in a cast iron skillet. The toasting of those corn bits gives it a different flavor than the soft version straight out of the pot.

This time we're doing a variation on the chilled polenta. Parmesan cheese, pepper and a bit of butter gets stirred into the soft, hot polenta, and then half of it gets poured into a greased pan, that gets topped with fresh basil leaves (which is why I'm making it now when my basil bush is really producing lots of fresh basil) and some mozzarella cheese, then that is topped with the rest of the polenta.

After that concoction chills to firm up, you cut it into portions and cook it until golden brown on a grill or in your cast iron skillet. The polenta gets a bit crusty and the cheese in the middle gets gooey. I like to heat a little spaghetti sauce in the microwave to spoon over the top since basil and tomato are such a great match of flavors. This can be a side dish or, with a larger portion, a full meal. Imagine that, plus a crisp green salad, maybe tossed with an Italian dressing...bliss! 

Grilled Cheese and Basil Polenta
Based on a Donna Hay (#40) recipe 

3 cups (750ml) water 
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (170g) instant polenta (I used an equal amount of regular polenta and cooked 10 minutes or so)

60g butter, chopped (I only used a tablespoon of butter)
½ cup (50g) finely grated parmesan
 freshly ground black pepper to taste
½ cup basil leaves
1 cup (100g) grated mozzarella
olive oil, for brushing

Place water in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to the boil. Stir in salt. Gradually whisk in the polenta and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat and stir through the butter, parmesan, and pepper. Pour half of the polenta into a 20cm square pan lined with non-stick baking paper and spread to smooth. (I used a 9-inch round pie pan, lined with foil and then sprayed with olive oil spray.) Top with the basil, mozzarella and remaining polenta. Refrigerate for 45 minutes or until set.
Cut into squares/rectangles/wedges and brush with oil. Heat a char-grill pan or barbecue over high heat. (I used my cast iron skillet, well heated) Cook the polenta for 3-4 minutes each side or until golden and the cheese has melted.

Serve topped with a generous serving of the pasta sauce or a ragu of your choice. A nice green salad completes the meal.

Unfamous Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

 There are a lot of chocolate chip cookies out there and lost of recipes. I've tried at least 5 or 6 of them but still have the original Toll House recipe as my go-to version. Even so, I'm always game to try a different version to see if I can find something better.

Last weekend I was in Redmond, WA, visiting K, A and R and we tried out a recipe that K received from her friend Tyler. He put a lot of time and effort into creating this recipe so that it is an ultimate version, using chocolate chunks rather than chips, plus a sprinkle of sea salt on top which is a nice contrast to the sweetness of the cookie and chocolate. These are pretty large cookies and they do need to chill at least 12 hours and, even better, up to 48 hours, after you have shaped them and before they are baked.

What a great cookie! Eat on still a bit warm from the oven and you get a close to classic Toll House flavor with the advantage of the perfect amount of crisp edges and golden bottom, plus a soft and slightly chewy center, plus lots and lots of chocolate chunks still soft and gooey from their time in the oven. Bliss for cookie lovers. Try it yourself.

We were careful to really follow the recipe, including using Kerry Gold butter and the Ghirardelli chocolate bars, which get hand chopped into just the right sized chunks. We browned the butter, but just lightly brown. We even purchased the real deal Maldon sea salt. The process is just as important as the ingredients, so read the recipe a couple of times and then pay attention and follow along just the way it's written, O.K.?

Here's to happy times eating extraordinary cookies. Thanks Tyler, for the recipe!

Tyler’s Unfamous Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Ingredients

Butter – 220 g (or 2 sticks/1 cup) nice (soft) – Plugra Extra Creamy unsalted or Kerry Gold

Granulated white sugar – 50g ( or around ¼ cup)

Dark brown sugar – 250g (or 1 ¼ cup)

Eggs – 2 large eggs + 1-2 more yolks

Vanilla extract – 4g (or 1 ¼ teaspoons)

Semi- sweet chocolate – 1 lb.- Ghirardelli Chocolate (4 bars)

All-Purpose Flour – 330g (or 2 1/3 cups

Baking Soda – ½ teaspoon

Baking Powder ¼ teaspoon

Non- iodized Salt – 7 g ( or 1 ¼ teaspoons)

Sea Salt Flakes – for topping after dough is mixed- Maldonado brand

 

Instructions

Roughly chop the chocolate bars into ½ inch squares. Transfer the chocolate into a colander or strainer with large holes and gently shake to remove the fine grains/flakes of chocolate so you are left with mostly the large chunks. Save all the sifted flakes and bits of chocolate for another recipe or as topping.

 Optional step: browning butter – this is not required, however it does add a slightly deeper, nuttier flavor to the cookie. In a light- bottomed pan, slowly brown the butter, insuring it does not burn. Once browned, immediately remove from heat and pour into a bowl, allowing the butter to completely cool and re-solidify before the next step.

In a stand mixer bowl, add ‘nice’ butter and the sugars. Using the paddle attachment, cream for 4-5 minutes on medium high.

Add in eggs and yolks and vanilla and cream the ingredients on high for another 1-2 minutes, pausing to scrape down the sides of the bowl halfway through. Creaming times will vary slightly based on the temperature of your ingredients.

Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, and table salt and mix on low for about 30 seconds. Reserve about 15-20 chocolate chunks and fold the rest into the mixture until well distributed.

Using a large ice cream scoop or a ½ cup measure, scoop cookies onto a parchment lined tray. Top with one of two reserved chocolate chunks and sprinkle with flaked salt to taste. Cover and refrigerate for 24 – 48 hours. 48 hours is ideal.

Preheat oven to 355 degrees F. Place cookies on parchment lined heavy baking sheet. Bake only 2 – 4 on a sheet since these are LARGE cookies and need room to spread. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the edges are golden brown, but soft and light colored in the middle. Let cool for one hour.

 Note: Can be baked from frozen – freeze dough balls. Keep dough in freezer while oven is preheating to 375 degrees F. Put directly from freezer into oven once heated to 375 degrees F and bake for 16 – 17 minutes.

First Zucchini of the Season

When you grow a veggie garden from seed or small starts, it's always exciting to see that your plants have started to produce vegetables that you can eat. Sweetie isn't that taken with veggies in general, but he always loves grilled zucchini. We finally were able to harvest a couple of nice ones and grill them to go with dinner. Because of the heat, we ate BBQ ribs from our local market, green beans from a neighbor, and those delicious zucchini! It's summer and this is the best part of it, in my opinion.

No recipe for this, really, because all we do is slice the zucchini lengthwise in two or three pieces (depending on how big they are), spray on some olive oil, sprinkle on pepper and a bit of garlic salt and grill them on both sides. I like mine al dente but they can be grilled longer if you prefer them that way.

Blueberry Season Muffins

July is the time for fresh blueberries in my neck of the woods. One of my favorite ways to enjoy blueberries is in a soft, fragrant, delicious muffin. They don't take long to make or bake and you can enjoy them warm.

A good muffin is tender and has a fairly open crumb, so they aren't really like a cake. Although it helps to have room temperature eggs, you melt the butter so you can decide to have muffins and then make them in a shorter time. Plop the eggs in some warm water while you melt the butter, let the eggs warm and the butter cool a bit while you prep the dry ingredients, warm the buttermilk on low in the microwave just enough to take the chill off, and you are good to go. A small amount of both whole wheat flour and rolled oats make these just a bit heartier than those with just all-purpose flour, plus the flavor improves...a win-win.

I like to sprinkle some sanding sugar over the tops of the muffins before they go into the oven. It adds some sweetness and different texture and is pretty, but it really is optional.

Usually I also include lemon zest for sparkle but didn't have one this time and they were still delicious!

Hearty Blueberry Muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup whole wheat flour
¼ cup rolled oats
1 cup granulated sugar
½ tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled a bit
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons egg substitute (or 2 medium eggs)
¾ cup buttermilk
1 cup fresh blueberries
sanding sugar (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F with rack in the middle of the oven. Grease 8 muffin cups or line 8 cups with cupcake papers.

In a large bowl combine the flours, oats, sugars, baking powder, baking soda and salt with a whisk.

In another bowl whisk together the melted butter, room temperature eggs, and buttermilk that is at room temperature.

Add the wet ingredient mixture to the dry ingredient mixture, stirring with a fork for a few strokes; just enough to incorporate 90% of the dry ingredients into the wet.

Add the blueberries and continue gently mixing just until ingredients are combined. Immediately scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin, dividing the batter as evenly as possible among the cups. Batter may come to top of cups.

 If desired, sprinkle a bit of sanding sugar (less that 1/4 teaspoon for each muffin) on top of each muffin's raw dough.

Bake for about 20 minutes, rotating the pan half way at 10 minutes. Muffins are done when the tops are golden brown and when a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean (well, there may be blueberry juice clinging to it, but no uncooked batter, OK?)

Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool some more if you can wait that long. Enjoy these muffins while still warm or serve within 12 hours for the moistest muffins. Wrap any remaining muffins airtight and store in the fridge.

Makes 6-8 muffins

Happy 4th of July!

 

Early Berries In An Upside-Down Cake

Late June is often when the olallieberries down the driveway are ripe and plentiful. It's always fun to try different recipes to highlight their great flavor and juiciness. For a recent meeting I made an upside-down cake that made good use of them, was enhanced with whole pecans, and made a delightful treat, good for any time of the day.

This is a single layer cake made with buttermilk, which gives a nice tang that offsets a bit of the sweetness of the topping, for a nice balance. I made it in a cast iron skillet, but if you melt the butter in a microwave oven or in a small pot on the stove, you can make it in a 9-inch square or round cake pan, too.

I combined a few different recipes to create this cake, so it's possible that the topping has a bit too much butter...but I liked it that way. I think it would work with 4, 5, or 6 tablespoons of butter in the topping, but the 4 tablespoons in the cake was just right.

Although I made this with olallieberries, blackberries are very similar and much easier to find, so I'm calling it Blackberry Upside-Down Cake.

Blackberry Upside-Down Cake

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter 
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon rum
1 pint blackberries, rinsed and drained - dry with paper towels if not fairly dry when drained
19-20 pecan halves
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tablespoons rum
1/2 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

On a sheet of waxed paper, or in a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

In a 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat, stir together the 1/4 cup butter and the light brown sugar until melted . Remove from the heat and stir in the rum. Arrange the blackberries over the butter/sugar/rum mixture in an even layer. Fit the pecan halves, curved side down, among the berries. Set aside.
(Alternately, melt the butter in a microwave oven or on the stove in a pot. Add the sugar, stir, and cook another minute. Stir in the rum and then pour into a 9-inch square or round cake pan. Arrange blackberries and pecans as above. Set aside and use just like the skillet with prepared blackberries below.)

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, combining thoroughly after each. Use a spatula to scrape the bowl and beaters as needed.

 Combine the rum and the buttermilk. Add 1/2 of the reserved dry ingredient mixture to the batter, beat just to combine. Add all of the rum and buttermilk and beat just to combine. Add the remaining dry ingredient mixture and beat until just combines. Use a spatula to scrap the bowl and beaters and beat again to combine the scrapings into the batter.

 Pour and scrape the batter over the prepared blackberries in the skillet. Smooth to even the batter. Place in the preheated oven and bake 40-45 minutes, or until the cake springs back when lightly touched in the center.

 Cool on a wire rack 15 minutes. Loosen the sides of the cake with a spatula or a knife. Place a large serving plate over the skillet and invert. Slowly lift the skillet to allow all the juices to drip onto the cake. If any part of the topping sticks to the skillet or cake pan, use a small offset spatula to return it to the cake top.

 Can be served warm or at room temperature.

Since this is a blog about my life as well as about baking and cooking, I have to share that this weekend Sweetie and I made a repair to the house by the sunspace that required a lift machine. A woodpecker decided that he or she should store their acorns in the corner of the outside of the sunspace so they pecked multiple holes, despite our efforts to scare them off. This happened a few months ago, but wedding and other plans delayed the repair. 

Sweetie said that it was full of acorns! He sprayed insecticide into  the space and then covered the hole with roofing tape to keep any moisture out (hopefully preventing sprouting of acorns!), then screwed two long metal plates made of flashing material over the area where the bird was fond of pecking. I had painted them earlier in the same gray as the house and followed up today by painting the caulking and the screws. The final touch was to add a multicolor pinwheel in a flag holder to  the area below the repair to discourage any further bird activity (no photo, sorry). The repair went up to the eaves, a bit higher than this photo.

Above is a photo of the machine. It was easy to operate and kind of fun since it went up and down, sideways and also swung around in a circle. The bucket was not easy to get in and out of and Sweetie tweaked his back getting out the final time. Fortunately we were done.

Start With Pesto

I know that mayonnaise is a favorite spread for a good sandwich, but I love this sandwich and it has no mayo and doesn't need any. It starts instead with pesto.

A favorite restaurant from my younger years had a great chicken sandwich which included chicken, melted mild cheese, roasted red peppers and pesto. It was served on focaccia bread and was delicious.

Recently I made a similar sandwich, but used slipper rolls (ciabatta rolls) instead of the focaccia bread. The chicken was actually left over grilled chicken thighs but this sandwich didn't seem like leftovers at all. The photo below give you an idea of how it looks inside. You can put the red peppers either under the chicken or over it.

Chicken Sandwich with Cheese, Red Pepper and Pesto

For each sandwich:

1 grilled chicken thigh or breast. If leftover, heat on half power in microwave until hot.
1 ciabatta roll, sliced so you have a top and bottom, toasted
about 2 tablespoons shredded jack or mozzarella or similar mild white cheese
about 2 tablespoons prepared pesto
2-3 strips roasted red pepper (from a jar is fine)

1) Slice the grilled, heated chicken into thin slices
2) Place the cheese on the toasted ciabatta roll bottom. Melt the cheese in the microwave or under a broiler. I use a toaster oven. When melted, top with the red pepper strips, which should almost cover the cheese.
3) Spread the pesto on the top slice of ciabatta roll. If roll has cooled, you could heat it a bit in the toaster oven which is warm from melting the cheese, or briefly use the microwave.
4) Place the warm chicken over the red pepper strips and then place the pesto enriched top over the chicken. Press down lightly and serve your sandwich. 

Happy Father's Day to Some Dads

 First, a toast to the father of my children, Charlie! He has done a wonderful job over the years of being the kind of Dad that everyone wishes for.

Then, a toast to Aaron, husband of our daughter and Dad of Raine, seen here with him at Bodega Head, plus of sons River and Landon. He has been a bedrock dad to Raine and a role model of what a Dad should be like.

Even though I should be scanning the older photos in my care so that I have resources for photos of years gone by, that hasn't happened enough, so there aren't many to choose from for my Dad and maternal Granddad, but here are one of each of them. My paternal grandfather died before I really knew him and I don't have any of him handy, either, but all of these men are loved even though they are gone.

This photo is of my Dad, Max, hugging one of my sisters, maybe even on Father's Day.

This one is of my maternal grand father Jim Mangan, smiling at K. They made quite a pair.

Wishing all Dads a most Happy Father's Day!

Fresh Peas

A friend who has a large veggie garden every year gave me a tour of it today and when we were done she and her husband gave us a bag of freshly picked green peas. She had been out of town for a week and returned a couple of days ago to a garden just brimming with peas ready to pick.

These were beautiful peas, tightly packed into their pods, and oh so sweet. I shelled about two cups worth to steam for our dinner and will probably do the same for tomorrow's dinner because peas, like fresh corn, tend to quickly go from sweet to starchy. Don't want to waste them!

Do you, dear reader, have a source for really fresh produce, perhaps your own garden? 

No recipe, really, for these peas. Once shelled I steamed them just long enough to heat them through, then applied about a teaspoon butter...that's it.  The photo below is of the shelled, uncooked peas.

Enjoying the Berries of Early June

I wish that I could say that I'm super concerned about using seasonal ingredients in my meals, but in truth I purchase raspberries and blueberries in winter knowing that someone has most likely shipped them from the southern hemisphere. The same is true of broccoli...I eat it year round when it's really a fall or winter veg.

That said, I do enjoy celebrating the arrival of local produce. Our local strawberry farm began selling their fruit in May, much later than usual due to the extended chilly spring and late rains. We just bought some on Thursday and then I discovered yesterday that the olallieberries  that grow down by the road are ripe...at about their usual time. We had a heat spell for a few days (high 90s) earlier in the week and that really pushed the ripening. This morning it was foggy and cool, so I filled up three pint baskets with gorgeous, huge, ripe olallieberries in short order. There were even a few that were over ripe already.

The best thing to do with ripe, seasonal berries like these are to enjoy them just as they are...well, after a quick wash to get rid of any dust or bugs...to enjoy their juiciness, tang and sweetness. I also like them on my morning cereal or with plain yogurt. 

Today we were invited by our neighbors across the street to come for dinner tonight. They lead very busy lives so we find that spur of the moment plans work best. I offered to bring a dessert with the berries. The great thing was that I had already planned to make scones to go with the berries and then planned to add a dollop of freshly whipped cream. So much nicer to have others to share it with!

These scones go together fairly quickly with about a 20 minute prep time and another 20 minutes for the baking. I used soy creamer instead of the heavy cream since I was saving the cream for whipping. I put the cut up butter in the freezer for a few minutes while I made the egg-creamer-almond extract mixture and the dry ingredient mixture. I baked them on pizza pans that I had lined with parchment paper. It wasn't in the recipe, but I also sprinkled some sparkling sugar over the tops of the scones since they were headed for dessert, but that's optional.

Do try these this summer while all the berries and stone fruits are plentiful and ripe and juicy. You'll be glad you did.

To make these shortcakes you put a scone on a plate, scoop about 1/3 cup berries on top, then add a large dollop whipped cream and serve. You will need:

1 pint whipping cream, chilled and whipped to soft peaks...with a teaspoon sugar added as you whip.
2 pints fresh berries - rinse and drain - if strawberries, hull, then slice - use all one kind or mix them
1/2 recipe Almond Cream Scones (save the other half for having with tea or freeze)

Almond Cream Scones
Cream Scones enriched with both almond flour and almond extract
a variation of two recipes in Dorie Greenspan's Baking: from my home to yours
"Perfect for every scone-able occasion"

1 large egg
2/3 cup cold heavy cream or Silk soy creamer
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1 cup almond flour
(or grind 1 cup blanched almonds and the following sugar in a food processor until finely ground)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and chilled

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat.

Stir the egg, cream and almond extract together. Set aside.

Whisk the flour, cake flour, almond flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. Drop in the butter and, using your fingers, toss to coat the pieces of butter with flour. Quickly, working with your fingertips or a pastry blender, cut and rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is pebbly. You'll have pea-size pieces, pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and pieces the size of everything in between...and that is just right.

Pour the egg and cream over the dry ingredients and stir with a fork just until the dough, which will be wet and sticky, comes together. Don't overdo it. Still in the bowl, gently knead the dough by hand, or turn it with a rubber spatula 8 to 10 times. If not sticky, add a tablespoon or two of heavy cream or soy creamer.
Lightly dust a work surface with flour and turn out the dough. Divide it in half. Working with one piece at a time, pat the dough into a rough circle that's about 5 inches in diameter, cut it into 6 wedges and place it on the baking sheet. (at this point, the scones can b e frozen on the baking sheet, then wrapped airtight. Don't defrost before baking - just add about 2 minutes to the baking time.)

Bake the scones for 20 -22 minutes, or until their tops are golden and firm. Keep an eye on them the last 5 minutes or so so they don't overbake.

Transfer them to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before serving, or wait for them to cool to room temperature.