Blackberry Basil Crumble

Speaking of blackberries...with all of these little tart packages in my fridge, freezer and purse, I have been whipping up all kinds of recipes.  Sometimes for a snack I mix blackberries with sliced almonds.  Sometimes I eat them like popcorn.  And sometimes (actually twice in the last week) I have made Blackberry Basil Crumble.  I got the idea from the book 'Animal, Vegetable, Miracle' by Barbara Kingsolver which is such an inspiring book.  Really made me want to grow my own food, or at least use fresh local ingredients as much as possible.  And it brings back memories of the summer I lived in the Appalachian mountains. 

So after all this blackberry picking, I bought some basil and made a crumble.  The first time I used whole wheat pastry flour and the second time I ground oats to make oat flour.  They are neck and neck in the rankings, but the oat flour version won by a grain.  The oats give the crumble a grainier, richer flavor that goes so nicely with the fresh basil.

I also used verjus in the recipe.  For those of you new to verjus, it is an acidic juice made from pressing unripe grapes.  It tastes like a very smooth vinegar...so smooth you could almost pour yourself a glass of it.  But if you have balsamic vinegar, you can swap that into the recipe instead of the verjus.  It will mix just as nicely with the honey.

So do yourself, your friends and your family a big favor and make this recipe asap.  It sounds a little different with basil in your dessert...but it is quite a pleasant surprise.  It is sort of like drinking mint in mojitos.  Many of you probably have fresh basil growing like crazy in your garden...and us lucky people who have blackberries coming out of our ears won't even have to go to the grocery to get the ingredients.  So enjoy...many times.

Blackberry Basil Crumble

Adapted from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Yields 4-8 servings depending on who you dine with

Blackberry crumble is the perfect finish to a breezy summer meal.  The combination of verjus and honey thread a sweet and acidic balancing act around the berries.  The basil adds a refreshing lightness to the earthy whole wheat pastry flour or oat flour. 

 

4 cups blackberries

2 Tbsp verjus or balsamic vinegar

½ cup fresh basil, chopped

¼ cup honey, (melted if using honey that has solidified a little) 

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour or ground oat flour

3 heaping Tbsp brown sugar

2/3 stick (6 Tbsp) cold butter, cut into small cubes

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a pie dish or ovenproof casserole dish, combine the blackberries, verjus, basil, and honey.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, pour in the flour and brown sugar.  Cut the butter into small cubes.  Using your hands, blend the butter into the flour and sugar until every ingredient is well mixed together.  It is okay for the crumbles to be different sizes.

Crumble the topping onto the blackberries and bake for 25-30 minutes or until bubbling and golden.  Serve with a good quality vanilla ice cream.



Honey Mint Fruit Salad

One of the many great parts of summer is fresh fruit.  It is such a treat to go to farmer's markets, or even the local grocery store and see all the berries and melons at our finger tips.  A few years ago, my co-worker B and I used to each bring in a few different kinds of fruit at the beginning of the week.  Then we would make a fruit salad and have a giant bowl of it in the fridge to leisurely eat all week.  Sometimes we would add to it as the week went on, but what a fun activity to share at work...and a built-in snack too.  I am so much more likely to eat fruit if it is already cleaned and cut.  And if you share the duty with someone else, and make it ahead of time, it makes the experience so easy.

If you live in an area with fresh blackberries, they would make a great addition as well.  I have been carrying around plastic containers for about two weeks now...because you never know when you may come across a prickly blackberry bush.  I was picking some the other day and it was utter bliss.  The sun was warm on my back...cooking the blackberries, making the whole area smell of fresh blackberry jam.  A recipe will soon appear.  In the meantime, make some honey fruit salad.

Honey Mint Fruit Salad
Yields about 3 cups salad

This recipe starts you off by making honey simple syrup.  Traditionally simple syrup is made with sugar and water.  But I decided to do honey for a healthier and different flavor.  It yields about 2/3 cup of syrup, and the recipe only calls for 1 Tbsp for the salad.  So save the rest and sweeten your tea, mojitos or more salads with it.  Also, this recipe includes cantaloupe and blueberries, but feel free to use any type of fruit combination!

1/3 cup honey
1 cup water

1/2 cantaloupe, cubed
1 1/2 cup blueberries
Zest of 1/2 lemon
Juice of 1 lemon (use the same lemon from zesting)
1 Tbsp honey syrup
2-3 Tbsp fresh mint, minced

Make the honey syrup first by bringing the honey and water to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the liquid volume has reduced and is a syrupy texture.  Occasionally whisk the syrup while it is simmering to help the honey dissolve evenly.  Take off heat and cool completely.  You can quicken the process by putting the pot into the refrigerator for awhile.

Meanwhile prepare the rest of the ingredients.  Chop the cantaloupe and wash the berries.  Zest the lemon onto the fruit and then squeeze the juice over the salad.  Add about 1 Tbsp of the honey syrup and top with mint.  Toss it so every piece of fruit gets syrup and mint.  Enjoy immediately. 

Millet and Wheat Soda Bread

This recipe was one of those very pleasant products of a pretty eccentric experimentation.  I bought molasses a few weeks ago for the recipe swap Molasses Date Muffins.  Molasses is not a usual suspect in my pantry.  In fact, it feels quite foreign.  So the other morning, I was trying to figure out what else to make with it.  I also recently bought two gigantic bags of flour for the yard sale muffins.  So I could definitely make some sort of bread product.

Then I came across this recipe on Epicurious for Molasses and Oat Soda Bread.   Sounded perfect.  Except that I didn't have oats....or buttermilk, or any milk for that matter.  But intuitively, I knew I had to have other ingredients that could replace those.  What sort of grain could I use that would soak up liquid?  Hmmm.  Oh yeah, there was puffed millet in the freezer.  I had put it in there because I didn't have any other cereal or milk, and I didn't want the millet to go bad.  This just might work.

The other minor issue was a lack of buttermilk or any milk for that matter.   This was a stretch, but I could just use water with some vinegar in it.  I decided to go for it and see.  The worst that could happen would be bad bread.  But as I started getting my ingredients together, I remembered a really expensive bag of organic nonfat dry milk I bought months ago from Whole Foods.  My posture got a little taller.  Yes, this would be perfect.  It was a small example of  'If you build it...they will come'.  The universe provided quite nicely to this stretch of the imagination for soda bread. 

Wow did it turn out nicely too.  Two little loaves that work perfectly for toast with butter and jam.  Or two thin slices for a sandwich of roasted veggies and cheese (like I had that afternoon).  Or peanut butter bread dipped in a cup of coffee.  

Millet and Wheat Soda Bread

Yields 2 loaves

Adapted from Epicurious 'Molasses and Oat Soda Bread Recipe'

If you have rolled oats, any sort of puffed grain cereal or any other grain that would soak up the milk, you can use that.  The original recipe calls for oats, which I swapped puffed millet in instead.  The original recipe also has raisins, but I didn't add those in.  But feel free.  If you don't have buttermilk, just take regular milk and add vinegar as suggested below.  It will do just fine.

Yellow cornmeal

1 1/4 cup buttermilk (or 1 1/4 cup milk with 1 1/4 tsp vinegar)

1/4 cup molasses

2 Tbsp safflower oil (or any mild tasting oil)

1 1/2 cup puffed millet (or 1 1/2 cup rolled oats)

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 Tbsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Sprinkle cornmeal onto pizza stone or baking sheet lined with parchment or oiled.  In a medium bowl, whisk the buttermilk, molasses, and safflower oil.  Pour in the puffed millet (or oats).   Set this aside to let the grain absorb the liquid.

In a large bowl, combine the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and baking powder.   Make a well in the center of these dry ingredients and pour the buttermilk mixture into the well.   Mix all of these ingredients together until it forms a sticky dough.  Let rest for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, generously flour a clean surface like a large cutting board or counter.   With your hands, break the dough in half.  Knead one of the halves into the floured surface, until it isn't a sticky dough anymore.  This should take 30 seconds to a minute.  Form this into a round loaf shaped ball and place on the pizza stone or baking sheet.  Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. 

Using a serrated knife, cut a criss cross pattern or two parallel lines (about 3/4 inch deep) on the top of each loaf.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Reduce the heat to 375 degrees.  Bake for about 20 more minutes, or until the loaves become dark and crispy and sound hollow when you (carefully, and with an oven mitt on) tap the bottom.   Place the loaves on a rack to cool completely.  Slice and eat with butter or as a sandwich.  It is best to consume it the day you make it.  So if you have leftovers, slice and freeze.  They taste just as good when you take out of freezer and toast.

Tart Lemon Coconut Oat Bars

Last month when I met my family in South Carolina, I wanted to bring along some good plane snacks with some to share with my family too.  I wanted them processed-sugar-free, portable, and hearty.  And T had recently sent me This Recipe called Tropical Lemon Cranberry Coconut Chia Bars. Well, coconut oil, oats, nuts, dried fruit and lots of lemon just happened to be in my house already...it was our lucky day.  

Through this recipe, I found out how cool chia seeds can be.  I had heard of them and eaten them when I went to Bastyr.  We used to recommend a breakfast blend of oats, chia seeds, flax seeds and dried fruit.  But I haven't visited with them since then, and that was a while ago.  As a bonus feature, they are a great source of fiber and omega-3 fatty acids.  With this recipe, I found out that if you add lemon juice to chia seeds, it makes a sludge-like gel very similar to egg.  So it turns out to be a great egg substitute for those of you who are allergic or egg avoidant.

The original recipe calls for dried cranberries, which make for a much prettier bar.  I had dried apricots, which were good too...but I didn't have very many.  So if you can, use the amount she suggests in the original recipe, which is 1/2 cup.  Or try making a blend of cranberries and chopped apricots.

The dry ingredients were so colorful with the pistachios that I wanted to capture it.  I really could hardly wait for the final product.  I was measuring and whisking as fast as possible.  All of my favorite ingredients all in one little bar was really getting my heart pumping.

So next time you are looking to make a great energy bar, plane snack, road trip treat or tart oatmeal macaroon...you know what to do.



Tart Lemon Coconut Oat Bars
Adapted from Oh She Glows Blog
Yields 16 squares

These lovely bars are so portable and freeze well.  The lemon zest and juice provide quite a tart punch in the teeth with every bite.  I was expecting them to be a little bit sweeter, so if you are looking for a sweeter bar, add a few more tablespoons of honey or maple syrup.  But keep the amount the same if you really want to taste the lemon...it will give you a largely toothsome smile.

3 Tbsp chia seeds, ground or whole
6 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 cup oats, ground
1/2 cup oats (as is, not ground)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut + more for sprinkling
2 Tbsp lemon zest
1/4 cup pistachios, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp (or more) dried apricots, chopped
4 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup applesauce, unsweetened
1/2 cup honey or maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare an 8 or 9" square baking pan or spring form by lining it with parchment paper and set aside for later.

To simplify your kitchen experience, zest your lemons first.  Put the zest in a little bowl or ramekin and set aside.  If you want to grind the chia seeds, do so now.  Then combine them with the 6 Tbsp of lemon juice in a small bowl.  Let it rest so it can form a nice gel.  This will act as an egg-like binder.

In a coffee grinder or food processor, grind the 1 1/2 cup oats.  This is your oat flour.  In a medium bowl, combine oat flour, oats, baking powder, salt, coconut, lemon zest, pistachios and apricots.  Mix thoroughly.

In a medium, microwave safe bowl (preferably glass bowl), melt the coconut oil.  Pour in the applesauce and honey.  Whisk well.  Add in the chia seed gel.  Whisk again.

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.  It takes a little while for every little bit to get incorporated.  Spread the batter into your prepared pan.  Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, spread it evenly throughout the pan.  Sprinkle the top with the extra coconut.

Bake on a low oven rack (to avoid the top burning) for about 20 minutes or until the sides start to crispen and the center feels firm.  Take out of oven and let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes for final setting.  Transfer to a wire rack and let sit for 30 minutes.  This is very difficult because you will want to sample immediately.  So make yourself busy and distracted. 

After 30 minutes, cut into 16 squares.  If you have leftovers, wrap in little individual packages and freeze.  They are great portable treats!

Coconut Chai Muffins

It is muffin mania here in Seattle.  I have several requests for the Coconut Chai Muffins, so no time like the present to do a post on them...especially while they are fresh in my head (and in my freezer).  One trait you may have noticed by now is how often I freeze my food.  I actually just pulled some frozen coconut milk out of the freezer on Monday.  And I have been mixing it with leftover 2% and curry powder to make curried onions and kale.

Another food that freezes really well is MUFFINS.  After the yard sale last weekend, I had about 1 1/2 dozen left to eat.  They were already individually wrapped, so I just popped them into a Ziplock bag and strategically placed them in the freezer.  Other freezer contents include: peanut butter vegan cookies, a gigantic bag of shredded parmesan, pumpkin puree, a small bag of Sun Chips, miso, 1 chicken sausage, cooked rice noodles, homemade pesto, Moroccan carrot dip, and more coconut milk.  And that is just the actual freezer.  The doors are full too.  It is a family joke how much I freeze my food.  Last year my brother was visiting, and we went out to eat at least once a day.   With so many leftovers, and so little time, I started freezing them.  Worked out nicely. 

My mom and dad gave me an extra shelving unit to put in there to help organize it a little better, which was great because I didn't have any shelves.  It used to be containers and bags all stacked on top of each other.  Now they are all nicely nestled within shelves.

But back to the (frozen) muffins.  Last month I met my family in South Carolina for a beach vacation.  We made the most fabulous breakfasts each day and dined outside on the warm back porch.  One morning my mom made Pistachio Chai Muffins that we ate with blueberries and scrambled eggs.  I have been waiting for an excuse to make them...and the yard sale was that such excuse.  With or without an excuse, make them soon!

Coconut Chai Muffins

Adapted from Cooking Light May 2011

Yields 12 muffins

The original recipe is Pistachio Chai muffins.  But I didn't want to go out and buy pistachios.  And I always have coconut on hand (or in the freezer door).  What a better way to complement chai.  And actually, I didn't have chai either, but did have Rooibos, which is pretty similar.  The original recipe calls for two tea bags, which I used.  But I recommend using one more to get more flavor.

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup shredded coconut + more for sprinkling

2 chai or rooibos tea bags, sliced open

1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk + 1 tsp vinegar)

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a large bowl, measure the flour, leveling out each cup with the back of a knife.  Add the brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and coconut.  Combine.  Cut the tea bags open and empty into the flour mixture and mix well.  With your hands or the back of a spoon, form a well into the center of the flour mixture.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk the buttermilk, butter, vanilla and egg.  Slowly pour this into the well of the flour mixture.  Stir just until blended, making sure to not over mix.

Prepare the muffin tin by making little cups out of parchment (like the Molasses Date Muffins post) or use store bought liners or cooking spray.  Pour batter evenly into the 12 cups.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Pull out of the oven, and sprinkle more coconut on the top of each muffin if you want.  (At this point, I put the muffin tin on top of a baking sheet in case the coconut fell off)  Place back in oven for about 5 more minutes.  Bake until muffins bounce back when touched in the middle, or a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool on wire rack.  Eat for breakfast or snack with a cup of tea.