Busy Weekend & a Blueberry Oat Crumble

I apologize for the lack of posts in the last week, but it’s been a busy weekend!  But don’t worry, this does not mean we have not been cooking or baking.

As you might have noticed, due to the craziness, there was no Food Matters Project post this week.  This weeks host was Margarita, from Let’s Cook and Be Friends, and she chose the Chocolate-Cherry Panini.  She’s wonderful about commenting on all posts- I always love hearing from her!  Although we didn’t make Mark Bittman’s recipe, definitely check out what the other bloggers did!

So this last weekend Sam and I were dog-sitting and cat-sitting!  It was a lot of fun hanging out with our furry friends:

Wayne was hanging out with us for almost 2 weeks while his parents were having fun at weddings.  He was trying to do some yoga moves with me, the Downward-Facing Dog was giving him some problems!

We also enjoyed a lovely weekend with Mia, her parents were also at a wedding!  (wedding season is upon us!) Can you tell she was eying something delicious on the table? (chips & salsa)

Our plan on Saturday was to make burgers and enjoy our friends porch in the lovely Capitol Hill neighborhood.  The weather was absolutely amazing, and I wanted something easy for dessert.  We still had leftover blueberries from my visit to Butler’s Orchard, and a crumble just had to be made!

I have very fond memories of blueberry picking with my parents.  I spent a couple of summers at Cedar Lodge, a horseback riding camp, eating s’mores.  The camp is located in Michigan, which is definitely a blueberry state!  At the end of every summer, when my parents picked me up, our next stop was one of the blueberry farms which you can find right off of I-94.  We always drove back with a couple of buckets of blueberries that we snacked on as we sat through the Chicago traffic!

Blueberry Oat Crumble
Adapted from: Bake Your Day

This dessert is also perfect for breakfast- especially when it’s a little cold!  It’s not just a summer dessert, but can always be made from frozen fruit (defrosted) throughout the year.  If you don’t have blueberries, definitely give this a try with any fruit that’s in season!

2 1/2 cup oats
2 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup canola oil
3 cups fresh blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Meanwhile, grease a 9’x13′ baking dish.

In a large bowl, combine and stir oats, flour, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon.

In a small pan, over medium heat, melt the butter.  Once it’s melted, add the almond extract and vanilla, stir well.  Next, add the melted butter and canola oil into the large bowl of dry ingredients, stir well.  Lastly, gently fold in the blueberries.

Transfer the mixture into the greased baking pan.  Bake for 35 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.  Allow to cool completely before cutting.  It’s wonderful with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Food Matters Project #10: Cod in Spicy Rhubarb Sauce

Another Food Matters Project recipe.  This week’s recipe was chosen by Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla.  She had chosen Mark Bittman’s Fish Nuggets Braised in Rhubarb Sauce.  You can find the original recipe in The Food Matters Cookbook, other interpretations of this recipe can be found in the comments section in this blog post.

It seems that rhubarb was difficult to find for some of us trying out this dish.  I hadn’t seen fresh rhubarb in the store for the last month or so, all of a sudden it had disappeared.  Fortunately, Whole Foods had frozen rhubarb which I snagged for this recipe.

We had never caramelized sugar and used it as a base for fish sauce, and since we were unsure of the outcome, we stuck to the recipe.  Although, we’ll admit that this was not our favorite Mark Bittman dish.  I’ve made some notes, so please read it before trying this out.

Cod in Spicy Rhubarb Sauce
Adapted from: The Food Matters Cookbook (pg. 454)

We had followed the recipe, and the one thing that has thrown us off was the amount of pepper which it called for.  If you were to make it again, our suggestion would be to halve the amount of pepper.  In addition, we’d add some garlic, ginger and cayenne pepper to the sauce.  This would give it more depth, and taste.  If you don’t have cod, other fish that would hold up well are: halibut, tuna steaks or tilapia. 

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 lb rhubarb, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
5 Thai chilies (optional)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
juice of 2 limes
3/4 lb cod, defrosted/fresh
2 tbsp green onions, chopped

Add sugar and 1/4 cup of water to a large skillet heated over medium heat.  Stir every once in a while, while the sugar dissolves, then bubbles and darkens- about 10 minutes.  Then turn off the heat, and stir in another 1/4 cup of water.  Again, turn on the heat and stir the sauce until the caramel dissolves and thickens.

Then, add the rhubarb, onion and chiles.  Cook the vegetables for 10 minutes, until they are soft and the sauce begins to melt.  Mix together the salt, pepper and lime juice, then pour into the pan.  Stir well, and then add the fish.  Cover the skillet and allow the fish to cook until it is done.

We served this with some rice and garnished with green onions.

Brunch: Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

On Saturday a group of us ran the Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon here in DC.  Post-race festivities were definitely needed, and our friend Stephanie hosted a brunch.  The weather couldn’t be more perfect: sunny, warm, with a light breeze.  All of us contributed to a little something, from champagne and croissants to egg dishes and french toast.  Runners and non-runners enjoyed the beautiful day and the company.

One of the things we brought over was some banana bread.  Sam had put it into his backpack, and carried it to the cheering locations and the finish line of the race.  It survived all in once piece, and I couldn’t wait to try a bite- a great motivation when running 13.1 miles!

A couple of weeks ago I was browsing through a bookstore and recognized Homemade Life Stories, a book written by Molly Wizenberg.  Her blog, Orangette, is one of the first that I had started reading about 3 years ago.  I was bored during my lunch hours at work, and started browsing different blogs for new recipes, new restaurants in DC or some fashion advice (if you need some blog links check out my list of Blogs, Books & Magazines).

I was really excited about this book, and finished it rather quickly.  The exciting part was that there were recipes after each chapter, which I couldn’t wait to try.  Molly has a great way to pulling you into her life, explaining how each recipe ties in.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Adapted from: Homemade Life Stories by Molly Wizenberg

Molly notes that this banana bread freezes wonderfully, once it has fully cooled.  Her original recipe called for crystallized ginger, I chose not to add this (I will next time) just so everyone could enjoy the bread during brunch- just in case we had any picky eaters.  I did add more chocolate chips- who doesn’t enjoy those?

6 tbsp salted butter
3 bananas, frozen or fresh
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

In a small bowl, microwave the butter until it has melted.  On a plate, microwave the bananas for 2 minutes.  Peel the bananas and mash them.  Alternatively, if yours aren’t frozen, then just mash them.

In a large bowl, mix together: flour, sugar and baking soda until they are well combined.

In a smaller bowl, whisk the eggs.  Add in the mashed bananas, yogurt, melted butter and vanilla.  Stir the mixture until everything is mixed well.  Pour the banana mixture into the flour mixture, stir gently until the flour is well incorporated.  The batter will be think and slightly lumpy.  Then, add in the chocolate chips and stir a couple more times.

Grease a 9×5 inch bread pan with cooking spray or butter.  Pour the batter into the bread pan, smooth the top.

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.  Once the oven is hot, bake the bread for 50 minutes.  At this point, start checking if it has cooked.  If the toothpick comes out clean, you can take it out of the oven.  Ours didn’t, and the top was getting darker so I covered the top with aluminum foil.  I baked it for another 20 minutes, checking on the bread every 5 minutes (this will depend on your oven).  Let it cool before cutting it into slices.

Food Matters Project #4: Rigatoni with Vegetables, Figs and Blue Cheese

I’ve had Mark Bittman’s book now for over a year, and I’m very upset I had not picked it up more often to find new and fun dishes.  As each week passes, I love this project since it’s a great way to go though a book.  And I love seeing what people pick out as their dish.

We’re in week four of the Food Matters Project.  This week’s host was Marcia and she chose a delicious dish- Baked Rigatoni with Brussels Sprouts, Figs and Blue Cheese.

Remember when I made the fig flatbread this past summer?  That was the day I fell in love with figs!  Once they’re in season, I might have to remake this dish- it was absolutely delicious.

Unfortunately, figs are not in season in DC at this time of the year.  So I used dried figs which I found at Whole Foods.  Although, you can use cranberries, dried cherries or any other dried fruit in this recipe.  It’ll all work well.

When making this dish, we used more brussels sprouts, and added mushrooms and onions.  We also didn’t bake the dish, but that is all preference.  This is definitely one you can impress all of your friends with, or enjoy it as an easy weeknight meal.

Rigatoni with Vegetables, Figs and Blue Cheese
Adapted from: The Food Matters Cookbook (pg 221)

1 tsp + 1 tbsp salt
1 lb rigatoni
1 lb brussels sprouts, quartered
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
2 cups of cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 small onion, chopped
10 dried figs, sliced
6 oz blue cheese, crumbled

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add 1 tsp salt.  Once the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook it for 10-15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400°F.  Meanwhile, mix the brussels sprouts, garlic with the olive oil and 1 tbsp salt.  Bake this mix for 20 minutes, or until the brussels sprouts are tender in the middle.

Melt butter in a skillet.  Then add the mushrooms and onions.  Sauté the vegetables until the mushrooms and onions are soft.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain it and add it back into the pot.  Add in the figs and blue cheese, stir together so the cheese starts to melt.  Then add in the mushroom and onion mix.  Stir well before serving.

Birthday Fruit Tart

For my birthday Sam made an amazing fruit tart:

This is my favorite dessert in the world.  And let me tell you, I’ve bought fruit tarts from many pastries or bakeries, but this was the best tart I’ve ever had!

Remember, you can use different fruits- whatever you like.  Some suggestions: kiwis, raspberries, blackberries, plums or bananas.

Birthday Fruit Tart

For the crust:
1 1/4 cups flour
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick cold unsalted butter, diced
1/4 cup ice water
9-inch tart pan

For the filling:
5 extra-large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp rosewater
1 pint strawberries, halved
1 pint blueberries
1/4 cup honey

In a food processor, add the flour, salt, and cold butter and pulse until crumbly.  Now slowly add the cold water until the dough comes together into a ball (you shouldn’t need all of the water).   Wrap the ball in cling wrap and put it in the fridge for a half hour.  Preheat your oven to 375ºF.

While that’s cooling off, you can work on the filling.  In a small pot, warm up the heavy cream, being careful not to let it bowl over.  In a stand mixer, beat the egg yolks together with the sugar for a few minutes until they’re nice and thick.  With the mixer on low, add the corn starch.  Now add the mixture to the milk and whisk constantly with the heat on medium low.  It will quickly begin to thicken.  When it reaches the consistency of pudding, turn off the heat and mix in the butter and vanilla (you can substitute with almost anything here; almond extract or even some good, black rum would be nice).  Transfer the mixture to a bowl and put in the fridge to cool.

Now roll the dough out on a well floured cutting board and add to a greased tart pan.  Toss it in the oven for 25-30 minutes until golden.  Remove the crust from the oven and pour the filling into the crust and smooth out with a spatula.  The filling may seem fairly firm, but don’t worry, it will soften up in the heated crust.  Now add the fruit to the top of the filling (I used strawberries and blueberries, but you can use whatever you want.  Peaches and raspberries would be good too.)  Mix the honey and rosewater together and microwave for 20 seconds, then brush it over the fruit.

That’s it!  Put the tart in the fridge to cool for 30 minutes and enjoy!