Plum Crisp

I wasn't totally sure what to name this dessert until I found the following definitions. I'm putting this in here in case you had any confusion like me about the whole "cobbler-crisp-crumble" thing.

Betty — a baked pudding made of layers of spiced and sugared fruit and buttered bread crumbs.

Clafoutis — a French cobbler, with fruit (usually cherries) on the bottom, custard, and a rough batter crust baked on top

Cobbler — a spoon pie (more like a fruit stew with dumplings), in which biscuit dough is dropped onto the fruit before baking. The consensus is that the dish got its name because the lumps of cooked dough resembled cobblestones.

Crisp — a deep-dish fruit dessert made with a crumb or streusel topping and baked.

Crumble — a British dessert in which raw fruit is topped with a crumbly pastry mixture and baked. One reference says a crumble is like a crisp, but not as rich.

Grunt — a spoon pie, with biscuit dough on top of stewed fruit, which is steamed, not baked

Pandowdy — a spoon pie, with fruit on the bottom and a rolled crust on top, which is broken up to allow the juices to come through

Slump — a spoon pie, including cooked or uncooked fruit topped with biscuit dough or piecrust, which can be baked or steamed, and can be made upside down

Thanks to Cathy R. for all the wonderful Santa Rosa plums. OOooooh, this was good. Tart, but good. I actually ran out of sugar (how does that happen?) and ended up only having about 2 T. for all these plums. After eating a couple bites, I improvised and squirted a little agave nectar over the top to balance it out. Our family nibbled on it all day until it was gone.

Plum Crisp

3 cups sliced plums
1/4 cup sugar (less, if you have sweet-skinned plums)
1 T. cornstarch
1 tsp. lemon juice

1/2 cup flour
2 T. butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 rolled oats
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt

Mix first four ingredients and put into pie plate. Mix the next 6 ingredients and pour over the fruit. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until the topping is browned.

Fresh Figs with Honey Balsamic Syrup

Just wanted to post this picture today because after watching Top Chef, Hell's Kitchen and The Next Food Network Star (yes, I am a reality TV cooking show junkie), I've noticed that careful plating is half the battle. I can't believe that I missed the special Food Network's "challenge" episode about Food Styling because I'm really interested in that.

Now for the little plate. I went to the Antioch Farmer's Market today and found fresh Black Mission Figs from Tachella Farms. They were so gorgeous that I was tempted to eat them plain, but decided to step it up a notch and topped them with a honey balsamic syrup. I used equal parts balsamic and honey, 1/2 tsp each of black pepper and thyme. Simmer until reduced to a syrupy glaze. Cut the figs in half and lovingly pour the sauce over the figs. Flower arrangement is cute, but optional.

Grilled Pork Chops with Spiced Peach Sauce

I have determined that white meat and fruit are kindred spirits. Some may not agree with me and that's okay. It just seems to me that it's a recurring impulse to pair these two.

This sassy sauce was made with fresh peaches and nectarines that we picked yesterday. I made a base sauce without the spice which was wonderful over ice cream (see below). Chicken or turkey would also work well if you are one of those rare people allergic to pork

Base Peach Sauce

4 cups peeled and chopped fresh peaches

1 T. cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar

1/8 tsp. cinnamon

1 T. lemon juice

Spiced Peach Sauce for Meat

2 cups Base Peach Sauce

1/4 tsp. curry powder

1/4 tsp. ginger powder

1/8 tsp. cayenne
1/8 tsp. white pepper

2 tsp. white vinegar

Season and grill the meat to desired doneness. I've heard that its okay to cook pork chops medium well instead of burnt to a dry crispy rock these days. The salmonella scare that shook our nation is not as prominent now due to better meat standards and packaging. By all means, if you are more comfortable with dry pork, go for it!

The sweet-spicy factor gives this dish a WOW effect for the standard blah pork chop and rice was the perfect back drop to absorb the extra goodness.

And for dessert we have:

Turkey Patty with Bing Cherry Basil Salsa

If you noticed a theme, congratulations! I think its going to be all cherries, all week. If the cherry-basil combo sounds strange, I thought so too. But what the heck, I had all the ingredients on hand...why not give it a whirl? If you like any kind of fruit salsa, you would enjoy this too. It would also compliment a pork chop.

Italian Turkey Patty (stuffed with goat cheese)

1 package ground turkey

1/4 cup minced onion

1 clove minced garlic

1 T. minced basil

1 T. minced sundried tomatoes

1/4 cup parmesan

1/2 tsp pepper

1 slice goat cheese per patty

Form a very thin patty and put the goat cheese in the middle. Top with another thin patty and smoosh together to make one big honkin' stuffed patty. Pan fry or grill until done.

Cherry Basil Salsa

2 cups chopped cherries

2 T. julienned basil

1 chopped jalepeno

1 tsp. lime juice

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

salt/pepper to taste

Okay, I'm not going to say much else other than I hope this inspires you to go out on a limb and try something new. If you do, please post a comment here and let me know how it turned out!

Rainier Cherry Tart

So, cherry picking. Yay! Early summer is good livin' out here in the East County. It's all about fresh and local. A mere 5 minute drive puts us in the heart of U-Pick heaven. Today I think we picked about 10 lbs of cherries, half Rainier (the yellowish guys) and half Bing.

I am still pondering things to do with these juicy puppies beside eat them right out of the box.....let's see, cherry salsa, cherry soup, cherry brandy? Well, anyways, my first inclination was for a sweet treat.

Rainier Cherry Tart

Dough:

1 1/4 cups flour

1 T. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 stick unsalted butter

2 T. cold water

Mix flour, sugar, salt and butter in food processor. Pulse on/off until mixture resembles small particles. Add 1 T. water and pulse, add another and pulse again. If the dough is damp enough to roll out, then do so. If not, add a couple more drops of water until you get it right. Roll it out and lay it into tart pan, pushing more dough up around the edges to make it thicker there. Poke holes with a fork and bake for 10 min. at 350. Cool slightly before adding filling.

Filling:

1 block cream cheese

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp lemon zest

1 egg

Mix everything but the egg together until creamy. Taste it several times until you are completely sure that it tastes good. Then one more taste for good measure. Add egg and mix until uniform. Spread over tart crust. Add fruit in a thoughtful symmetrical pattern (or not). Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Strawberry Rhubarb Filo Flowers

What an odd sensation... when I'm going through the grocery store now, I think not only about feeding my family, but also about what new ingredient will I use this week for my blog. I think about what would look scrumptious on a plate, about presentation, colors and garnishes. I think about how the light is that day and if it will be sufficient for a photograph. You didn't know I cared so much about pleasing you, did you?

Growing up, for all the holidays there were 3 type of pies: pumpkin, cherry, pecan. Later on, sometimes we would throw in an apple or the ever popular but labor intensive lemon merengue. There was no banana cream pie, no berry pie, no key lime pie, no chess pie, no mincemeat, no chocolate cream pie and certainly no strawberry-rhubarb. Honestly, I would have not thought of the combo unless I was really looking through my produce aisle for something different.

This dish will qualify as two new ingredients: rhubarb and filo. I bought the filo without really knowing what I was going to do with it. I knew it was versatile (savory or sweet) and tricky to work with. For me, it wasn't so bad. The flower cups were quite easy actually, just fragile. You couldn't pick the flower up and eat the dessert, it was a spoon adventure for sure.

Strawberry Rhubarb Filo Flowers

For the topping:
2 cups chopped rhubarb
2 cups chopped strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 T. orange zest
Saute the rhubarb with sugar for about 7 minutes, turn off heat and add strawberries and zest. It might be a good idea to thicken the sauce with a little cornstarch. I didn't do that, but it would have been better and less juicy/messy.

For the filling:
1 package cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
zest of one lemon
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup sugar (or more to taste)

Wisk together until very smooth and keep in the fridge until ready to assemble.

For the filo flowers:

Take out 6 sheets of filo, and cut in half lengthwise and then in thirds from there. You should get 6 smaller squares from one sheet. Put them in a pile and cover with plastic wrap and a damp towel. Invert a muffin tin and spray with Pam. Lay a sqare over the inverted muffin cup and then stagger the next so that it forms points. In between every two sheets, give it a spray. If you want more flavor, use melted butter in between layers (too much work for me). Bake at 350 for 8 minutes. You may have to do this on every other muffin cup, so they don't overlap and stick together.

Assembly: You really should have figured this out, but I will insult your intelligence anyways. Put a couple tablespoons of cream cheese mixture in the filo cup and top with the fruit mixture.



This tart and sweet dessert was a hit with everyone. I heard the word "fancypants" being thrown around, so maybe it seemed more gourmet than it actually was. Who knows, maybe I will try a souffle soon....or not!

Grilled Pineapple with Spiced Rum Honey

f This is an easy dessert that may impress your friends by it's simplicity and elegance, without much work at all. Imagine that!

Grilled Pineapple with Spiced Rum Honey

Pineapple spears or rings

1 Tbsp. Honey

1 tsp. Spiced Rum

1 tsp lemon juice

dash of cinnamon

Spray pineapple with Pam, and cook on BBQ or grill pan until you get some grill marks going. Meanwhile mix the sauce ingredients and pour over grilled pineapple.

Cherimoya Revealed

This puppy sliced open like butter, revealing a custardy white flesh, with an almost pungent smell, like papaya. However, the taste was exquisite. While I read that it was supposed to taste like mango, pineapple and strawberry, I would describe it more like a creamy pineapple. It almost had a bitter finish, but not unpleasant, if that makes any sense. The pits were solid and about the size of coffee beans. I figured that scooping out the flesh and eating it from the spoon would be the easiest option. I put one half in the freezer for about 10 minutes, and it was even better that way. At $4 per pound, it's not an every day fruit, but if you get a chance to try one, don't be afraid....go for it!