Tinkerblue

Blackberry Balsamic Pie

There are blackberries growing everywhere in the garden. We have trays and trays of frozen blackberries and jars and jars of blackberry jam (not made by me, I've never made jam). 

 

 

This weekend Andrea, Sean and I picked a couple of containers of blackberries. We ate some along the way. Okay, we ate a lot. A lot.

 

But I did keep some to bake with.  I was trying to decide between a blackberry and raspberry slice and a blackberry pie. However we don't have any raspberries, so decision made. Blackberry pie it was.

Specifically Blackberry Balsamic Pie from the kitchen of Adrienne Blumthals via Design Sponge. I've never made this pie before so I wasn't sure how it would turn out.

Pie Dough:

• 1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 stick unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small cubes (4oz)
• 4 tbsps ice water

• Combine flour and butter in food processor
• Pulse 7 to 8 times
• Add water 1 tbsp at a time. If dough appears too dry and additional water 1 tbsp at a time (I used 5 tbsp)
• Remove dough from food processor and mold onto circular disk (I used a pizza tray)
• Cover and refridgerate for at least 20 minutes

Pie Filling:

• 4 & 1/2 cups of fresh blackberries (mine were right from the garden, don't get much fresher than that)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsps and 1 tsp of corn starch
• 2 tbsps balsamic vinegar
• zest of 1 lemon

• Mix blackberries, sugars, corn starch, vinegar and lemon in a bowl
• Toss the mixture with a spoon ensuring all blackberries are coated

Crumble Top:

• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, chilled and chopped into small cubes (4oz)

• Stir oats, flour, sugar, walnuts and salt in a large bowl
• Add butter and rub into mix with your fingertips, pressing the mixture until clumps form

Bake and Assemble the Pie:

• Preheat oven to 400F
• Roll dough onto floured surface and transfer to a 9" pie dish
• Trim any crust overhang
• Turn under and crimp edges
• Spoon the blackberry filling onto the dough
• Sprinkle the crumble mix on top, covering all the blackberries
• Bake pie for 45-50 minutes, checking after 25 mins. If crust or crumble is browning too quickly, cover with foil
• Serve with cream or vanilla icecream

It was really easy to make and it tastes good. At least I think so. The walnuts in the crumble top give it a nice crunch and the balsamic vinegar and lemon zest in the pie filling cut into the sweetness.

I like.

Banana Boats

 

 

Remember those? I haven't had a banana boat since I was in Guides some 30+ years ago. Maybe as a Ranger, but I think it was way back in Guides.

 

Andrea and Sean are in Sechelt this weekend, camping on the inlet. Yesterday we were talking about smores, hot dogs, marshmallows, all that fun stuff you eat when you're camping and banana boats came up. Sean had never had one. So tonight I met them at their campsite and we had banana boats. Gourment banana boats.

 

Ingredients:

• Bananas (1 per person)
• Chocolate squares - Andrea had fancy Taj Masala chocolate from Mink, hence the gourmet
• Mini marshmallows (we only had regular size ones, but mini work better

 

 

Method:

• Slit banana (with peel still on) lengthwise
• Stuff chocolate squares and mini marshmallows between banana and banana peel and down the middle of the banana
• Close peel up and wrap in tinfoil
• Place in coals of campfire and cook until chocolate and marshmallows are all melted and gooey
• Eat with a spoon

 

Greek Style Chicken Kebabs

I've said this before I don't like to cook. It's not that I can't cook, I just don't like it. I like to bake. I particularly don't like to cook for other people. Too stressful, what happens if they don't like it? But I love to bake for other people. I know it doesn't make any sense. Just go with it.

Last week I was coerced into promising to BBQ dinner for three nights this week. Luckily for me circumstances meant I ended up only having to BBQ one night. Woohoo. Marni suggested I make chicken kebabs. That I can do and we had all the ingredients on hand. So decision made.  

• 2 Tbsps Olive Oil
• 2 Tbsps lemon juice
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 Tsp Oregano
• 1 Tsp Salt
• 1 Tsp Pepper
• boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used 1.5lbs because that's what we had)
• 1 red onion - cut into 1" pieces
• 1 red pepper - cut into 1" pieces

Mix together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper.

Add chicken, onion and red peppers, toss to make sure they are coated evenly.

Cover with plastic wrap and leave to marinate in fridge for a minimum of 30 mins (mine ended up marinating overnight!)

If using bamboo skewers, soak in water for at least 20 minutes to you don't set fire to them on the BBQ. ( I used metal skewers, cause that's what we had)

Thread chicken, red onion and red peppers onto skewers. I also wanted to add cherry tomatos, but we didn't have any and I forgot to buy some. Mushrooms would also be good.

Grill , turning occasionally.

 

Served with rice and a spinach, tomato and feta salad.

Here are two other recipes for Greek Style Chicken Kebabs. One from George Foreman and the other from Martha Stewart. How's that for a pairing? Martha and George.

Frozen Bananas = Soft Serve

If you don't like bananas, stop reading now.

For the last week or so I've been woken up at night by cramp in right calf. Apparently I'm lacking potassium.

So I've been eating a lot of bananas. I was getting bored with them. I've had plain bananas, banana smoothies and banana bread. Today it was about 30 degrees out, and I had frozen bananas in the freezer so I made banana soft serve.

It's easy. Put frozen bananas (without the peel) in a food processor. Blend for 5 minutes. Serve.

I served mine over a chocolate raspberry protein bar. The banana soft serve felt good on my still inflamed and tender gum. It doesn't replace ice cream and it's still high in sugar (I used three bananas) but it'll do in a push.

Would be better with chocolate chips and/or peanut butter blended in too.

Simple Banana Bread

There was an ever growing supply of brown squishy bananas in the house this week. I couldn't eat them quick enough. So they become Banana Bread #2.

Last time I made Barb's Black Banana Bread, which was very good. I didn't have any buttermilk in the fridge, nor did I have 4 eggs. So I needed a simpler recipe.

 

I used this one from www.simplyrecipes.com

• 4 bananas
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 and 1/2 cups of flour

 

• Preheat oven to 350F (175C)
• Smoosh the bananas
• Add melted butter
• Stir in egg, sugar and vanilla
• Sprinkle baking soda and salt over top and stir in
• Add flour last
• Pour mixture into a greased baking pan
• Bake for one hour

 

I added a cup of chopped walnuts before the flour. I also sprinked chopped walnuts on top of the loaf before putting it in the oven.

 

I had the oven on the wrong setting. My boss has a fancy dancy oven, and I forgot it has a convection oven setting, which is what I should have used. So it was darker around the edges and just a little gooey in the middle. The boss said it was really good. I've not yet met a banana bread I didn't like, but this one is really moist and I like the added crunch of the walnuts. I'll be making this again.

 

 

 

 

Chicken Parmigiana

This one is for Jo and Irene. They keep teasing me about the chicken parm that Irene cooks for Jo what seems like once a week.

I haven't had it in a long time. I used to order it regularly when we went out for counter meals. It doesn't seem to be as popular here in Canada as I remember it being at home.

Tonight I decided I would finally cook it for myself. All the ingredients were already here, I didn't need to make a dash to the supermarket. That's always a bonus.

I didn't really use a recipe. I know, I know, I'm learning.

Ingredients:
Can of chopped/diced tomatoes (the can I found in the pantry was 28 floz or 798 ml)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 small onion, chopped (because that's what I had)
Oregano
Basil
Bay leaf
Salt and Pepper
Chicken breasts
Flour
Egg, beaten
Breadcrumbs
Olive oil
Mozzarella cheese, grated (you can never have enough cheese)
Parmesan cheese, grated (see above)

Method:
Heat oil in saucepan
Add garlic and onion and sauté until clear but not browned
Add canned tomatoes
Season with oregano, basil, bay leaf, salt and pepper
Cover and cook over medium heat for about 20 mins until sauce is thick

Method:
Heat oil in saucepan
Add garlic and onion and sauté until clear but not browned 
Add canned tomatoes
Season with oregano, basil, bay leaf, salt and pepper
Cover and cook over medium heat for about 20 mins until sauce is thick

Preheat oven to 400F/200C
Coat pieces of chicken in flour
Dip into egg
Cover with breadcrumbs
Fry chicken on both sides until golden

Place chicken in oven proof dish
Pour tomato sauce over top of chicken
Sprinkled with grated cheeses
Bake until cheese is melted and chicken is cooked through

I was worried the chicken would be a tad dry because I accidently  left it in the frypan for a little too long, but I needn't have worried this was very tasty.  There are plenty of leftovers for lunch and dinner tomorrow.

Next time I'd add red wine or at least red wine vinegar to the sauce. Wine makes everything better. For dinner tonight I served the chicken parmigiana with rice because there were leftovers in the fridge. But I think I'd prefer a green salad as the side dish.

Oven Baked Fried Chicken

I was going to have carrot cake and a cup of tea for dinner.  I decided I really should have some real food first to help soak up the sugar.

There was a plate full of defrosted chicken thighs in the fridge, that needed something doing to them before they went bad.  Jo was tormenting me by telling me she was having Chicken Parmigiana. I want.

I didn't quite have the ingredients for Chicken Parm, so I went with oven baked fried chicken instead. Fried chicken is so good, but it's  hardly healthy.  This is a pretty good substitute. It's the first time I've made it, I used a recipe from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. However, and no-one is going to believe this, I didn't use measuring cups and spoons I just kind of eyeballed it.

 

Ingredients

• 4 chicken thighs
• 1 egg, beaten with 1 tbsp of water
• Paprika
• Cayenne Pepper
• Salt
• 3 cups of bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• Rosemary
• Chives
• Parsley
• Olive oil

How

• Preheat oven to 400F
• Mix egg, paprika, cayenne pepper and salt in a large bowl
• Add chicken pieces and soak
• In a baking dish mix bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and herbs. I used rosemary, chives and parsley because that's what was in the garden. You could also use basil, majoram, sage, thyme or any combination.
• One piece at a time press chicken into dry mix, coating evenly
• Cover baking tray with olive oil
• Cook chicken until internal temperature is 165F (74C). Approximately 30-40 minutes.

 

Next time I would use more parmesan cheese and more of the paprika and cayenne pepper. Now I'm going to have that piece of carrot cake and my cuppa.

 

 

Enchiladas Verdes

This in an older recipe. The first time I made it was 2008, and it's made a couple of reappearances since then. I promised to cook dinner for a friend on Monday night, I was craving Mexican, so Enchiladas Verdes it was. 

• 2 tsps vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Heat oil in a medium saucepan. Add onion and cook until softened (5-7mins). Add garlic, and cumin and cook until fragant - about 30 seconds. Decrease heat to low and stir in broth. Add chicken breasts, cover and simmer until 160C about 15-20 minutes, flipping halfway through cooking.  Transfer chicken to large bowl. Place in refrigerator to cool. Remove 1/4 cup of liquid and set aside; discard remaining liquid.

 

 

• 3 Poblano chiles, stemmed, halved and seeded
• 33 oz of canned tomatillos or 1 /12 lbs tomatillos, husks & stems removed, rinsed well and dried
• 2 tsps olive oil

 

 

Toss with olive oil, place cut side down on foild lined baking sheet. Broil for 5 to 10 mins until they blacken and start to soften. Let cool slighty. Remove skin from peppers.

 

Place peppers, tomatillos, and accumulated juices, a clove of minced garlic, 1 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of sugar and reserved cooking liquid in food processor and blend, about 8 pulses so that the sauce is chunky not smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Spread 3/4 cup of tomatillo sauce over bottom of 13 x 9 inch baking pan. 

When chicken is cool, shred into bite size pieces. Combine with 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro and 1 1/2 cups grated pepper Jack or Monterey Jack cheese. Season with salt. 

 

12 corn tortillas

Spray both sides with olive oil, place in single layer on baking sheet. Bake for 2-4 mins at 350F until tortillas are pliable.

 

Spread chicken mix down centre of each tortilla. Roll tightly.  Place seamside down in baking dish. Pour remaining tomatillo sauce over top of enchiladas. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of grated cheese and cover tightly with foil.

 

Bake at 450F for 15 to 20 mins. Until enchiladas are heated through and cheese is melted.

 

Garnish with spring onions, serve with sour cream and enjoy.

** Needed a little more spice. Plenty of left overs for lunch. Yum.

*** Original recipe from Cooks Illustrated, August 2008

Recipe Fail - Cilantro Lime Quinoa

I eat a lot of quinoa.  It's doesn't upset my stomach, and it's high in protein which I don't eat enough of. I'm a big fan of lime and lemon. So when I saw this recipe for Cilantro Lime Quinoa I knew I'd be trying it soon.

It's really easy. Veggie broth, quinoa, garlic, lime juice, sugar, salt and pepper.

I think the veggie broth I used was high in sodium.  The finished product was way too salty (and I didn't add any salt).  I had to add some chopped up tomato and avocado to try and hide the salty taste.

I did like the lime-y taste.  Well what I could taste through the salt.  

Next time I make it, I won't use veggie broth, just water. Or look for a low sodium veggie broth.  

 

Black Banana Bread

There's been a lot of laughter at my expense lately about my inability to cook. Yes, I can bake. But not so much cook.

What's the difference? Baking is an exact science - I follow the directions. If it the recipe says 1/2 a cup, then I put 1/2 a cup. If It says bake at 350F for 30 mins then I bake for 30 mins at 350F.

Cooking is more a dash of this, a splash of that, chop enough for two, cook on medium until almost set. It never works out!

It's not that I can't cook. It's just that I don't do it very well. I did make chicken lasagna last week, and it seems to have been a hit.

But keeping with what I know, I also baked banana bread because there were some really really ripe bananas hanging out in the kitchen. I used a recipe from Barb's cookbook, Stir Well and Season to Taste. Black Banana Bread, which Barb got from The Beaver Club at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.

At the top of the recipe it says "There are NO typos in this recipe!". Even so I had to double check with Barb about baking for 2 1/2 hours. After an hour it was looking particularly dark and almost burnt. But, no, 2 1/2 hours is correct. It is called Black Banana Bread after all.

It is very delicious. Very moist. Very rich. Very good after a 4km run up a very big hill.