My neighbor had a barbecue the other night, and I was charged with bringing dessert. I wanted to do something summery/barbecue-y and not too heavy, and thought a berry cobbler paired with french vanilla ice cream would work nicely.
This recipe from America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated (free registration required, but it's worth it) uses frozen blueberries. I had a couple bags of mixed berries in the freezer - they're cheap at Trader Joe's and I use them a lot for smoothies - and the combination of blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries worked perfectly well.
The trick to using frozen is to collect the juice that's exuded as the berries thaw and boil it down into a syrup before cooking, so the berry filling isn't too watery. You could probably get away with skipping that step - after all, there's no bottom crust to worry about sogging through in a cobbler - but you'll have to watch more closely for bubble over. And of course, you could always use fresh berries and not have to deal with the juices at all.
I did my best to speed up the thawing process by spreading the berries out on a cookie sheet in a warm oven (175°F, the lowest my oven will go) for about 30 minutes, and pouring off the juice every 10 minutes. That was the most annoying part of the preparation, so if you have time to let the berries thaw themselves in a colander, it's probably best to do that.
I also didn't have any buttermilk on hand, so I just substituted non-fat vanilla yogurt (full-fat yogurt or sour cream would have worked even better) in for the biscuit topping. The biscuit was a tiny bit dry as a result, but it was an acceptable substitution... I might also have overmixed the dough, which wouldn't have helped.
Last little tip - put a cookie sheet under the pan while baking, just in case. I got a little bit of bubble over despite having reduced the juices a lot.
The finished product was very tasty; the flavors of the berries were highlighted by just a little cinnamon, salt, and VERY fresh lemon zest and juice (from the neighbor's tree... yet another reason I love living in California!) and the biscuit topping held up well to the berry filling. It was more work than I thought it would be to reduce the juices, and this recipe was definitely not the 'quick and easy dessert' I had sort of hoped it would be. I'd suggest to wait for fresh berries and save the thawing/juice reducing steps, but if you're craving a summery treat in the dead of winter, it might be worth the effort.
Friday, May 04, 2007
Year-Round Summer Berry Cobbler
Monday, April 16, 2007
CSA PSA
I'm fortunate enough to live in one of the few areas of the US, maybe even the world, where eating according to the 100 mile diet entails very little work. Northern California produces tons of great food year round, so there's really no excuse not to eat local. Having read "The Omnivore's Dilemma", and read/watched "Fast Food Nation", I'm always grumbling about the industrialized food chain, and global warming, and on and on... so, long story short, my husband and I decided to put our money where our mouths are - literally! - and join a local CSA.
For those not familiar with the term, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Essentially, you pay a monthly or yearly fee to a local farm and in return get a share of the farm's produce every week (or every other week). Different farms operate differently - some are organic and others are not, some sell extra produce to restaurants and some don't, some require money up-front for planting season while others let you join anytime, some deliver straight to your door and others have only a few pickup locations, they can have 50 members or 1000 - but the basic idea is the same. You support local farmers, and you get to eat the freshest and most flavorful fruits and veggies the area has to offer. And I do mean flavorful! Since the produce isn't being shipped long distances or stored for long periods of time, farmers can choose to plant varieties that have been bred for their taste rather than their hardiness. Also cool, most CSAs aren't super expensive. We're getting a box of freshly picked fruits and veggies, "enough to feed two vegetarians" for a week, for about $20 per box, which is on the cheap side for certified organic.
The Bay Area offers a lot of CSAs, so I had my work cut out for me in picking one. Ultimately, we settled on Terra Firma Farms - they're a fairly large CSA, so they grow a big variety of fruit and vegetable crops, and don't have to supplement using produce that's grown further away, which was important to me. Plus, they have a pickup spot that's close to our new apartment, not to mention two extremely cute bulldog mascots.
I'm really looking forward to getting CSA produce again. Back when we lived in Massachusetts, we had a work-share with the Heirloom Harvest CSA (instead of paying cash, we put in 8 hours of work on the farm each week to earn our shares), and it introduced me to all kinds of vegetables that I would normally have skipped right over in the grocery store. I also loved the "challenge" of eating seasonally, both in the winter (how many variations on kale and white bean soup can you come up with?) and in the summer (can you make enough salsa and pasta sauce to use up this week's haul of tomatoes?); it seemed like there was always SOMETHING on hand to inspire me to cook. I'm especially excited about the prospect of trying out new recipes and posting 'em here.
If you're interested in joining a CSA, localharvest.org has a tool to help find one close to you... and they really are a great way to do something good for the planet, your local economy, your health and your wallet, all at the same time. It's a win/win/win/win!
And just for fun, here's a cute movie I came across to promote local organics in a clever way: Store Wars.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Fall Classic: pork loin, baked apples and acorn squash
I love fall food, squashes and apples especially. This week, we picked up a couple nice looking Niman Ranch pork loin chops, and prepared them simply with some acorn squash and baked apples on the side.
Sweet acorn squash: Slice a medium acorn squash in half, through the stem. Scoop out the seeds and strings. Using a fork, poke the flesh liberally - this allows the flavoring to sink into the flesh while it's baking.
Place ~1 tsp. butter in the hollow, sprinkle in about 1-3 tsp. brown sugar (depending on the size of your squash), two pinches of cinnamon and, if you have them, a pinch each of allspice and nutmeg (preferable fresh grated). Bake 30-50 minutes at 400°F, until the flesh is very soft. I think it makes a nice presentation to serve just like this, but you can also scoop the flesh out and mash it up before serving. Adjust the sugar/spices at this point if desired.
Pork 'chops': Rub your pork chops with olive oil, kosher salt and a couple grinds of black pepper. We had some fresh sage on hand, so we chopped that finely and rubbed that on as well.
Heat about 1 Tbsp of olive oil in a small oven-proof pan. Sear chops 5 minutes on each side and transfer to oven. Cook another 10-15 minutes at 400°F until meat is at 150°F - but be careful, it's super easy to overcook pork (as I did this time, boo) and nobody likes a tough chop. Remove from oven to a clean cutting board, cover with foil and let rest 5 minutes.
Baked apples: Core and slice (no need to peel) two medium-firm apples like Gala, Cortland, or the more tart Granny Smith.* Place the slices in the center of a sheet of aluminum foil. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon, similar to the squash, and wrap the aluminum foil up into a cup shape. Add 1 tsp. butter, if desired, and bake at 350° for about 15 minutes. *I sometimes add a handful of raisins (golden or Thompson) or cranberries to the mix for an extra visual and taste dimension, but didn't do that this time.
There's a lot of stuff going in the oven for this meal, so it takes a little thought to organize. I find it's easiest to prepare the squash and put that in the bottom rack of the oven first. Prepare the apples and set them aside. Start the pork, get that in the bottom rack of the oven too, and then put the apples in the top rack after five minutes or so. You can turn the oven down to 350° after removing the pork, that will finish off the squash and the apples by the time the pork has rested.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Seasonal produce - August
The third of a continuing series of what's ripe right now, according to this very useful site. August is peak season for tons of fruits and vegetables - in my area, the weather has finally cooled down enough that I might contemplate doing some canning, if I did that sort of thing (maybe next year), and I'm definitely more in the mood to cook than I was when it was 90° and humid. Anyway, to the lists!
Fruits: Raspberries, figs, red grapes, melons, oranges, peaches, plums and (Bartlett) pears are all in peak season. Blackberries, blueberries, limes and nectarines are winding down; apples and asian pears (crisper than their cousins) are just starting to become ripe.
Vegetables: What ISN'T in peak season now might be the better question - green beans, corn, cucumber, onions, okra, garlic, tomatillos and summer squash are all on the list. Tomatoes, bell peppers, basil and avocados are also still good.
I'm thinking a trip to the grocers for tomatillos is in order... just seeing the word is making me crave salsa verde in the worst way.
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Seasonal produce - July
Another month, another crop of fruits and veggies that are ripe for the picking. What's good in July? As with the June installment, this list is for Northern California. If you live in a cooler climate, you might have to wait until the end of the month for these to be at their bests - but while you're waiting, check out the June post to see what's ripe in your area.
Fruits: Blueberries, nectarines, peaches and pears are all in peak season. Cherries about to go out of season, so get them quick! Other berries, oranges, and melons are all ripe now as well.
Vegetables: Corn, red onions and summer squash are all at their peak, sweet onions are waning, and basil, bell peppers, cucumber, eggplant, okra and tomatoes are all newly in season. Garlic, green beans and potatoes are all good in July, too.
Look for recipes featuring these items soon!
Friday, June 16, 2006
Seasonal produce - June
As I sort of alluded to in my last post (Eat your vegetables), getting fresh, seasonal produce is one easy way to make almost everything you cook taste fantastic (the other easy way is to add copious amounts of butter to everything, but you don't always want to do that). As an added bonus, it's much cheaper to buy fruits and veggies in season, even that sometimes-pricey locally grown organic produce... I always like to support small local farmers, but then, I live in an area with a lot of easily accessible farmer's markets and such.
So what's good right now? According to this great page (for Northern California, your mileage may vary), June is a good time to get:
Fruits: most types of berries (peak season for blackberries and raspberries, with strawberries and blueberries also good), cherries, figs, melons (cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon), apricots, nectarines, peaches, and limes. [I can attest that the cherries and strawberries I bought last weekend were amazing.]
Vegetables: corn, cucumber, eggplant, sweet Vidalia onions, green beans, peas, summer squash, and tomatoes. Winter crops like lettuces and carrots are winding down, so grab them while they're still good.
This weekend I'm going to attempt to make a dinner using all of those items in peak season (the bolded stuff) - apricot-glazed chicken, grilled sweet onions, maybe corn on the cob, and a berry tart, all washed down with some tasty lime-ade. Post to follow, of course.
