What Inspires You Wednesday: Making The Most of Seasonal Crops

Rhubarb

Our rhubarb crop isn't actually ours. It's our neighbors. They don't eat it. Which works for us, because we love it.

Before we talk about taste, let's talk about color. It is magnificent. The bright red stalks. The big green leaves. It is one gorgeous plant.

Then there is that wonderful tartness, when combined with sweet is enough to make you salivate.

I usually make rhubarb bread, I've tried rhubarb cake and have also made jam.  I thought it was time to add to my rhubarb repertoire.  So I made a crumble. Oh yeah. A crumble. Or a crunch. Whatever you want to call it.

I baked one for Dad for Father's Day and one of G (aka Mr. Sweet Tooth) and me.

We all thought it came out delicious.

I started with this basic recipe from The Farm Chicks and did a little tweaking because I was missing some of the ingredients. In the end, this is how the recipe turned out.

base:

• 4 cups rhubarb (chopped)
• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup oats
• 1 cup dark brown sugar (packed)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1/4 plain non-fat yogurt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

 sauce:

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup cold water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Rinse and chop rhubarb and set aside.

In big bowl mix flour, oats, sugars, cinnamon, butter and yogurt. Press one-half of crumb mixture into a buttered 7"x11" or 8.5"x11" baking dish. (as you can see, I used a loaf pan because I couldn't find my baking dish! It worked just fine.)  Top with rhubarb. Set aside and make sauce.

Whisk together the sugar, cornstarch and cold water. Heat on stove until lightly bubbly and thickened. I did it in microwave according to directions but I think stove top would work better.  When creamy looking and a bit thicker, take off stove and rest for a minute to allow to thicken a little more.

Pour mixture over the rhubarb. Top with the rest of the crumb mixture.  Put in preheated 350F oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until liquid is bubbling a bit. Take out and rest. Serve plain or with whipped cream or ice cream.

Easy enough, right?

There is nothing like taking advantage of the crops of the season. Fresh, full of flavor. See what I mean?

It makes so much more sense than fighting nature, like trying to find a non-anemic looking tomato in the winter. In-season fruits and veg are as good as it gets. There is still more rhubarb to pick, but I've got to be quick in the next couple of days before it goes to seed. I'm thinking I can even chop, blanch and freeze it.  One way to have seasonal fruits and veg when it's not quite their season.

It's starting to feel like summer here. I've got the AC on for the dog because it's quite humid and he's an old boy of 14.  There is a nice breeze today and I think that will be the saving grace, especially since I'm still getting the pool ready. I so wish it was done.

Today is full with bookwork, design revisions and ad deadlines and more revisions. Kind of like yesterday. What's on your plate today?

Ciao for now,

From The Kitchen: The Baker Is In

He's Been At It Again

Don't ask me why, but G took it upon himself to bake another bread this week. Right on the heels of his delicious banana bread, he decided to change it up a bit.  Our friend had some pears that he had no intention of eating, so he took them off his hands and put them in our freezer.

When I opened the freezer door all I thought was 'why the heck are there pears in the freezer?'. Can't say I've seen that one before.

Who knew, but they worked just fine for what G-the-Baker-Man had planned: Pear Bread.

Perfectly delicious pear bread, at that.

He took the pears out of the freezer the day before and let them defrost in the fridge.  NOTE: Now, be sure you put them in a bowl, because once they had thawed, there was a decent amount of liquid that needed to be drained away.  G also pressed them down with paper towels to get even more liquid out and then drained the bowl again.

Imagine........he's getting so crafty with the even he's trying things he made up on his own. He used his banana bread recipe as the base, adjusting as he went along. And it worked.

Oh yes it did.

It worked.

Hello heaven.

 For goodness sake woman.........get the butter while it's hot!

Oh yeah.

That's what I'm talking about.

Now it's your turn to whip some up.


Garrett's Why The Hell Not Pear Bread

3 Medium to Large Pears
(Over-ripe is best. Can be frozen and thawed. Note: If frozen, take out of the freezer the day before and put in bowl in the refrigerator to collect the liquid as they thaw.  Then drain liquid, and keep pears in bowl, press down hard with paper towels to release more liquid. Drain again.)

1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1.75 cups of flour (if it still seems a little loose, add up to 1/4 of cup of flour to adjust)

Squeeze pear out of skin and into bowl. Throw away the core.  Mash with butter in bowl. Add sugar, vanilla and baking soda. Mix well. Add flour and mix until all is incorporated. Pour mix into a greased loaf pan and bake at 350F for one hour. Let rest 5 minutes.

I guess I'll keep him around. If he keeps baking like this, that is.


It's the perfect day around here for baking bread. It is freezing! Sub zero again. I'll just sit on the other side of your computer screen, dreaming of spring.

Have a great day and get baking!


Ciao for now,

PS- Bonus points for those who get the 'for goodness sake woman' reference from one of my very favorite movies.

From The Muse Kitchen: Stuffed Mushrooms

Yes, Please

Any other mushroom lovers out there?  They are one of my absolute favorites. They are always on the grocery list. They're a given.

In consideration of this fact, stuffed mushrooms are on of my go-to appetizers for gatherings.  Last week, I made them for my night out with the bookclub/champagne ladies. 

Now, it's hard to hold me down to one recipe. I don't even really 'have a recipe' because it's the kind of thing you can wing every time, using whatever you might have on hand, but there are a few things that I do like to put in them if I've got them: scallions and carrots for color, garlic for flavor, and non-fat yogurt to keep them moist.

Dry doesn't make for a very good stuffed mushroom. At least not in my book. I hate it when all the stuffing is falling apart when you're trying to eat them.

This time, I made them gluten free, which really is no big deal.  If you want to go the super easy route, just use an all veg stuffing- if you still want something to replace breadcrumbs you can use gluten free corn crumbs, or gluten free bread broken up and crumbled.  For this recipe though, I went with brown rice.

They were delicious.  Of course, as I said, I am rather partial to them though.

'This Time Around' Stuffed Mushrooms

2  8oz packages or 1  16 oz package of button  mushrooms
(with mostly medium to large mushrooms in package)

stems from mushrooms, chopped

1 medium carrot, chopped very small
(I do this with a knife so they are still a bit rough, but it can be done with a food processor)

4 scallions chopped small (including the greens for color)

1 cup of cooked brown rice (cooked according to directions, but using 2 1/4 cup of vegetable broth instead of water)

3- 4 oz of diced feta cheese

2 cloves of garlic, pressed or diced very small

1 tsp of fresh or dried rosemary
  

2 cloves of garlic, pressed or diced very small

1 tbs of melted butter

2 - 3 tbs of non-fat yogurt

preheat oven 350F

Clean mushrooms with a dry kitchen towel or paper towel, brushing away any dirt and gently breaking off stems.  Do not wash as it will make them soggy.  Set mushrooms aside. Cook rice in vegetable broth and set aside. Chop mushroom stems, carrots and scallions and place in mixing bowl. Add pressed garlic, rosemary, melted butter, yogurt and cooked rice.  Mix well.  Add feta and mix again.  Using teaspoon, press into cavity of each mushroom and place on baking sheet or in roasting pan with sides to keep them from moving around when putting in oven.  Place in oven and bake at 350F for 25-35 minutes.  Let cool 3 minutes, transfer to serving dish and serve hot.

 

As I said, I made these with what I happened to have on hand.  You can use whatever vegetable you have whether it's peppers, onions, or celery, etc. You can also change out the rosemary for a different herb or spice. Stuffed mushroom are as versatile as you want them to be.

Enjoy!


Snowed In

The snow is now literally over the top. We got even more snow starting yesterday afternoon into night.  We were supposed to get maybe 4 inches.

Try 12.

It was dumping for a few hours at about 2 inches an hour.  Dumping is what we call it around here, when the heavens open up and all you can see is snow.

So I thought I'd give you a peek at why cabin fever is starting to get the best of us in these parts.

In case you don't recognize them, that's our pool to the left, my patio table (which never made it to the basement) in the center, and our grill to the right.

Yeah. I know. We haven't been grilling too much this winter.

This is our cozy cottage looking west from one side of our driveway, after I finally dug the car out and moved it so our neighborfriend Tom could push some snow with his tractor.  That was after I had to climb through the passenger side of the car to push the driver's side door open because it was frozen shut.  The snow keeps coming so quick - storm upon storm, that we haven't even had time to rake the roof.

Thank God for neighborhoodlum Tom and his tractor. Truly. Thank you. This is out our side door this morning. I still haven't shoveled a path to the door yet. Poor Tom is starting to have a hard time lifting the snow any higher than it already is.

Tom plowed a path for Lucan, but he can't really go anywhere else at the moment.  The snow in the yard is up mid thigh on me, (and I know because I had to make my way through it this morning) so it's just too high for the old boy to climb through. Even Lucan looks like he has had enough.

Looking across to Tom and Joanie's pine trees toward sunset meadows.  That's how high the road embankments are at the moment.

Looking back across the street at our cozy cottage...................well, sort of.....since you can barely see it.

Our weathermen are getting ready to go on their own comedy tour.  They gently broke the news to us that we may get a couple more inches this evening.

We'll have to see about that. 

Reporting from The Bates Estate at Sunset Meadows...........I'm Pamela Bates. 

Make it a great day my friends, because it is indeed a great day to have.

Ciao for now,

Sunday Morning Home Fries

Easy as 1, 2, 3

The potatoes I whipped up this morning were so good I had to share the ridiculously easy recipe. Caution: these are not low fat potatoes. There is butter involved, but that's what makes them so good.

2-3 servings

2 med-large potatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
4 tablespoons of butter
tbs of olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
salt to taste

Precook potatoes (in microwave or boiling water) until you can run a knife through them without too much resistence.  If you cook them in water drain and pat dry with paper towel.  Dice potatoes and chop onion. Coat frying pan with olive oil and put over medium heat. Add onions to the pan and cook until transluscent.  Add potatoes.  Cook over medium until they start to brown. Add butter, garlic powder and salt. Continue to move around the pan for a couple of minutes to incorporate flavors.

That's it. Seriously delicious potatoes.

The perfect addition to Sunday breakfast.


It's cold and ridiculously windy here today, making it even colder.  Perfect day for getting some inside things done (not that we don't still have things to do outside but I'm won't be spending the entire day out in that cold wind). I'm going to make a pea soup and I may bake some cookies too.

What about you?

Ciao for now,

I Found My Thrill

On Blueberry Hill

Busy, busy round these parts at the moment. G's sister and her family flew in from Cyprus over the weekend. We haven't seen them in about 13 years. So, while they are here I'll be spending a little time away so I can spend time with them. Right now though, the visitors are off to the big city that I miss so much, NYC.  However, the busy hasn't ended, juggling lots of work so here is a post replay because it's just about that time.........blueberry picking time.  I highly suggest you give this recipe a try, especially if you're like me and love blueberry muffins. Divine.



My neighbor Joanie is a is a recently retired special education teacher most of the year, who works at Salt Box Farm in the summer tending to and selling the blueberries. We like this because.........well because we reap the benefits too.


This morning, thanks to Joanie, I made one of my favorites. Blueberry muffins.

Hot out of the oven!

Looking good enough to eat and oh so pretty on my Aunt Doris' platter. Took a a tip from Pioneer Woman and displayed the muffins on a white platter.

And a white plate.

Seriously, the butter just melted in!

Can't wait any longer! The jury is in. Delicious.

The best thing is...............

There's more in the oven and I still have enough blueberries to make another batch. Thanks Joanie and thanks to Colleen (whoever you are) for posting on allrecipes. I didn't do the cinnamon topping. Just sprinkled a little sugar on top before baking. Pefecto.

Next time I'll take another tip from Pioneer Woman......don't shoot the food so close!


Hope you all have a great day. We're in the midst of another heatwave. Hot, hot, hot. Have I told you lately that I love my pool?

Back to work I go!

Ciao for now,

From The Kitchen: Cuban Black Bean Soup

 

 

As Good As Soup Gets

 

I remember the first time I heard of black bean soup. My Dad and I were at a local standby, The Loaf and Ladle in Exeter. I'm not even sure why we were there because this was not a common outing for us. As soon as my Dad saw black bean soup on the menu, his decision was made. Me? Not so fast. That soup is black? Are you sure that's what you want?

 

Somewhere along the way I tried it and I gotta tell ya, I love the stuff. We love the stuff. It's just so good.

 

Now, photographing black food (it's really sort of brown, but either way it's dark) and making it look good enough to devour isn't the easiest thing to do.

 

Can you just trust me on this one? Truly. This is good soup.

 

 



I've cooked this soup a number of different ways, and if I'd had a ham hock on hand, I probably would have used that as the stock base, but since I didn't, this is how it worked itself out this time.

Cuban Black Bean Soup
{crock pot style}

14 oz bag of dried black beans
6 -8 cups of chicken stock or vegetable stock
One large onion, diced small
3 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
Palmful of chopped fresh cilantro
3 tbs of cumin
1 tbs of saffron
Salt and pepper

Put dried beans in crock pot and cover with chicken stock so that liquid is about inch above the beans. Reserve rest of liquid and add during cooking.  Add onion, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper. Set on high and let cook for a couple of hours, checking and stirring occasionally.  If all liquid has been soaked up, add more and do so each time beans have absorbed all liquid. When beans are simmering and getting softer, turn down to low.  Add cilantro, saffron and rest of liquid and cook half hour longer.  If you want a thinner consistency soup you can add more stock if you like.  Serve with dollop of sour cream and a little chopped fresh cilantro.

Makes 6 - 8 servings

Oh. Hell. Yeah.

I like to add the fresh cilantro after the other spices because I think it allows the cumin and saffron flavors to develop. Then when you add the cilantro, it adds another completely different layer of fresh flavor.

Enjoy.


Sunset Meadows

I don't know what it is about the weather or the temperatures this week, but the sunsets have been pretty impressive.  Last night's included. Another free show that lasted for more than an hour. I called my Mom to tell her to check it out, but it was kind of a low sunset because it was hanging below clouds. She couldn't see what I was seeing, but now she can and so can you.

You need a break, don't you? Sit back, relax and take it all in.

 

Ah. Isn't that better?

 

Hope you enjoyed your weekend. Ours was filled with bookwork (yuk and which still isn't quite complete), time with the neighbors, and good steaks on the BBQ.  We wanted to have a campfire but the winds have been wicked, so it was a no go on that plan.  Did you do anything special or did you hang close to home?

 

Make it a great Monday. Let's start the week off with a bang.

 

Ciao for now,

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ooey Gooey Yumminess

Bread & Cheese. Does It Get Better?

Friday night I put my apron on. Don't ask me what possessed me to bake homemade bread. On second thought, go ahead and ask. It's pretty simple really, a melted mozzarella and mushroom recipe I found on pinterest, that's what.  I mean, sure, I could have bought some bread, but I'd been wanting to give Jamie Oliver's bread recipe another try. I figure, I'm not going to get any better at this baking thing without practicing, right? Please note, I baked bread, not cake. That my dears, will take loads more practice to go beyond the boundaries of my one successful cake recipe.  Back to the bread. I've baked Jamie's recipe a few times now. The first time, I forgot to split it into loaves and it baked the biggest loaf of bread you have ever seen.  Seriously. It was a big as a Thanksgiving Turkey. It still tasted divine.

Jamie's recipe is straightforward. In fact the whole cookbook, 'Happy Days with the Naked Chef' is.

Here's the basic recipe for the bread:

just over 2lb (6-8cups) of white bread flour

just over 2 cups tepid water

1 oz fresh yeast OR three 1/4oz packets active dry yeast

2 tablespoons sugar

2 lever tsp salt

extra flour for dusting

Step One: Make a well.

Pile flour on clean surface and make a large well in center. Pour half of your water into the well, then add your yeast, sugar, salt and stir (the stuff in the well) with a fork.

Step Two: Getting it together.

"Slowly, but confidently, bring in the flour from the inside of the well (don't break the walls of the well or water will go everywhere).  Continue to bring to center until you have a stodgy, porridgy consistency. Then add remaining water. Continue to mix until it's thick again and then you can get more 'aggressive' bringing in flour, and making less sticky. Flour your hands and pat and push the dough together with remaining flour.

Stage Three: Kneading

As Jamie says, "this is where you get 'stuck in'." Use elbow grease and knead the ball- pushing, folding, slapping and rolling for about 4-5 minutes until you have a silky elastic dough.

Stage 4: First Rise

Flour top of dough and put in bowl (I lightly dusted my bowl with flour), cover with plastic wrap (I used a tea towel) and allow to rise for half an hour- preferably in a warm, draft free spot.

Stage 5: Second Rise

Once dough has doubled in size, knock the air out of it by 'bashing and squashing' it. Now you can shape it or flavor it (if adding herbs, etc....there are several recipes Jamie uses the basic bread mix for....focaccia, french loaves, calzones, etc.). I shaped mine into two long french loaves, and two round loaves.  Then place in warm spot again and let rise - 30 minutes to an hour, until they double in size again. This will give it the air the bread needs so it's light and soft. Note from Jamie: don't fiddle with it, just let it do it's thing.

When done rising, place on floured cookie sheet and bake in preheated 350f degree oven for 30 minutes.

Ah yes, the smell of baking bread. Heavenly.

Viola.

At this point, every good baker knows you must try a piece to make sure it is done sufficiently. The aforementioned piece must be lathered with butter.  It's written in the law. What? Are you questioning me?

Yup. It's good. We can move onto the next part of this recipe.

What you will need for this recipe from donna hay (and tweaked by me) is the following:

Olive oil

rosemary sprigs & sage sprigs

sliced bread (good thing I just baked some)- 8+ slices of baguette

mozzarella (buffalo if you can get- not always so easy for me to find, so we had used regular mozz)

2 cloves of garlic

2 tbs butter

8 oz of mushrooms (original recipe called for Pine mushrooms, which I've never heard of let alone see) I went with Baby Bellas because that's what my store had, though I think a mix of bellas and some earth porcini would be divine

see salt, cracked pepper

dash of wine

*oven safe saute/fry pan

In sauteed pan heat olive oil, add pats of butter.  Lay sliced bread in pan in one layer and toast, flipping to brown both sides.  Set bread aside on some paper towel to remove some of the oil. 

Once bread is removed, add to pan, sprigs of rosemary and sage. Let it do it's thing for a minute.

Then add the sliced mushrooms.

Let mushrooms saute for a couple of minutes.

Top mixture with slices of mozzarella.

Cook on stove top for a minute or two until cheese begins to melt.  I also added a dash of white wine at this point just for a little pizazz.  Then pop under broiler for a couple of minutes until it starts to bubble and brown.

Oh yeah. You know what's coming. Take out of oven, and serve with slices bread.  Lordy, lordy, lordy. That's all I have to say.

OK, maybe not. I have something else to say. Mmmmm,mmmmm, mmmmmm, mmmmmm, mmmmmm.

And one more thing.

YUM.

Take a piece of bread, drag some melty mozzarella and mushrooms on top and dive in.

It's a keeper. It's easy and delicious. Of course, you can forgo the home baked bread, get some at the store and it will be all-the-sooner that you'll be enjoying some of the ooey gooey yumminess.

Four thumbs up, because that's all we've got. What can I say, three of my very favorite things, cheese....mushrooms......home baked bread.....Heavenly. 

CyberMonday

So, did you do any shopping this weekend? I can't say I'm a huge shopper to begin with, at least not in the traditional sense of the phrase. You will never find me out on Black Friday beating my way through crowds to get the best deal on an iPad. Just not going to happen. Ever. That said, I know many people are all over Black Friday, Small Business Saturday (Yay!!!) and Cyber Monday, so we've had a sale going on all weekend. It's still running so stop by Bates Mercantile Co. while you can save. Enter thankyou20 coupon code at checkout and receive 20% off any print, photograph, calendar or stationery through the end of today. 

via Bates Mercantile Co.

If you're a shop owner and you're also running a sale, stop by our facebook page, join the other shops linking up and spread the word. Share your sale and a link to your shop in Cyber Monday Meet Up!

Just had my order of inks deliver, which means I can run some prints that need to go out. Check that off the list.

Ciao for now,