JAG
just add garlic.
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Blueberry Buckle
Last weekend I managed to pick a nice little bucket of fresh Michigan blueberries (and also, of course, eat about as many in the process).
Despite thoughts that baking such amazing handpicked produce might amount to adulteration, clear heads prevailed, and I decided to try another NYT cook book recipe, blueberry buckle. Ms. Hesser, the author (could she really have tried and perfected over 800 pages of recipes?) says “a buckle is a low-lying cake that’s threaded with fruit, veiled with streusel, and baked in a dish. The name comes from its buckled surface.”
Upon polling dinner guests, this cake might be even better than the no-fail peach blueberry pie.
Ingredients:
- 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 t vanilla
- 1 1/3 cup flour
- 1 t baking powder
- 1/4 t salt
- 1/3 cup whole milk
- 2 cups blueberries (I probably added another half cup)
- 1/4 t ground cardamom (skipped this)
- 1/4 t nutmeg
1. Preheat oven to 375. Butter a 9 inch square pan (I used a 9.5 inch circle, since it was much prettier than my square pan.)
2. Beat half the butter with half the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla.
3. Sift together 1 cup flour, the baking powder, and salt. Add that dry mixture alternately with the milk, starting and ending with the dry.
4. Pour the batter into the dish and cover it with blueberries.
5. Combine remaining sugar, 1/3 cup flour (I used a tad more), and nutmeg in a bowl. The recipe says to use 2 knives or a pastry blender (don’t even know what that is) to cut the mixture until it resembles coarse cornmeal. I also don’t know what course cornmeal looks like. Here’s what I did- it worked splendidly.
4. Sprinkle over the blueberries, bake for 40-50 minutes.
A little ice cream never hurts…
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Cucumber-Goat Cheese Dip with Radishes and Scallions
A friend assumed this was homemade tzadziki when he tried it- that’s not far off the mark. I always order extra with my gyros, so I considered that a good thing.
Ingredients:
- 1 large cucumber
- 8 ounces goat cheese (regular or low fat)
- 8 radishes, thinly sliced
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
- 1 T chopped mint
- 1 t salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- dash of garlic powder
1. Chop up the cucumber and put it through the food processor. Dump the cucumber into a mesh strainer over a bowl and press it with a spoon, extracting the cucumber water.
2. Whisk in 1/4 cup of the cucumber water into the goat cheese.
3. Stir in the rest of the veggies, mint, and spices. I used about half a cup of the cucumber puree as well- which is probably what lent the stronger Greek flavor.
4. Serve as a veggie dip or over crostini.
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Ham and Bean Soup
I’ve never made a ham before, so I’d never made soup with a ham bone. Boy was I missing out. Simmering the bone with veggies and beans for 4-5 hours released the marrow and lent the dish rich layers of flavor.
Ingredients:
- Ham bone with some meat on it
- 3-4 Bay leaves
- 1 pound navy or great white beans
- 2 carrots, diced
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 stalks celery, sliced thin
- 1 head of green cabbage, finely sliced
- 2 T minced garlic
- S&P
Cover the bone with cold water. Add all the ingredients, reserving about 1/3 of the cabbage. Simmer for 4-5 hours. Add the rest of the cabbage. Remove bay leaves and bone, cut meat up, adding back to soup. Simmer for another 30 minutes.
Use fat separator if needed:
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Cucumber, Tomato, and Avocado Soup
The 85 degree day we had two weeks ago called for my first foray into chilled soup. I preferred this warm- with Sriracha for an extra kick.
Ingredients:
- 4 T unsalted butter
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1/4 cup flour
- 4 cups peeled and cubed tomatoes
- 4 cups peeled, seeded, and cubed cucumbers
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1 cup heavy cream, or less (I skipped it altogether when I heated up the leftovers, and preferred it that way.)
- S&P
1. Melt the butter in a pot, add onion and cook over medium high heat for about 5 minutes.
2. Sprinkle with flour, and add the tomatoes, stirring to incorporate and avoid flour chunks.
3. Add the cucumbers and season with S&P.
4. Stir in broth, bring to a simmer, and cook for about 25 minutes.
5. Pour the mixture into a blender or food processor a few ladles at a time, processing until smooth.
6. If serving cold, pour into a bowl and chill, later whisking in diced avocado and cream. If hot, return to stove and heat through, later adding the cream and avo.
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Chicken Adobo
Obviously, any recipe that has 12 cloves of garlic catches my eye! This recipe adapted from Filipino classics by The Times is simple and inexpensive.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup coconut milk (I used Trader Joe’s reduced fat)
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1½ cup rice vinegar
- 12 garlic cloves, peeled
- 3 whole bird’s-eye chilies or other fiery chili
- 3 bay leaves
- 1½ t freshly ground black pepper
- 3-4 pounds chicken thighs
1. Combine all of the marinade ingredients in a large, nonreactive bowl or resealable plastic freezer bag. Add the chicken and turn to coat. Refrigerate overnight or for at least 2 hours.
2. Place chicken and marinade in a large lidded pot or Dutch oven over high heat and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and tender, around 30 minutes.
3. Heat broiler. Transfer chicken pieces to a large bowl, raise heat under the pot to medium-high, and reduce the sauce until it achieves almost the consistency of cream- I let mine go for about 20 mins. Remove bay leaves and chilies.
4. Place chicken pieces on a roasting pan and place under broiler for 5 to 7 minutes, until they begin to caramelize. Remove, turn chicken, baste with sauce and repeat, 3 to 5 minutes more. Return chicken to sauce and cook for a few minutes more, then place on a platter and drizzle heavily with sauce. Serves four.
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Black Bean Soup
Another recipe from my NYT cookbook, this makes quite a bit of soup, is really simple to make, and doesn’t require a food processor.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 pound smoked slab bacon with rine
- 1.5 cups finely chopped onion
- 1.5 cups diced carrots
- 1.5 cups chopped celery
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 T minced garlic
- 1 T dried oregano
- 1 t dried thyme
- 1/4 cup ground cumin
- 1 t freshly ground black pepper
- 3 T tomato paste
- 4 quarts chicken broth
- 1 pound black beans “rinsed and picked over”
- 6 T fresh lime juice
- 1/4 t cayenne pepper
- salt
- 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
1. Slice off the rind of the bacon, reserve. Cut remaining bacon into small cubes.
I believe that’s the rind, but I’ve never done this before, so I could be wrong…
2. Cook cubes and rind over medium-low heat until they are brown and crisp.
3. Add the onion, celery, carrot, bay leaf, garlic, oregano, thyme, 3 T cumin, and black pepper. Stir, cover the pot, and let cook for about 5 minutes.
4. Add the tomato paste and stir to incorporate.
5. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil.
6. Add the beans and cook over medium-high heat for about 3 hours. It’s done when the beans soften. You might have to skim off “foam, scum, and fat” although mine was pretty much fine.
7. Stir in lime juice, cayenne pepper, salt to taste, cilantro, and 1 T cumin.
8. Remove bacon rind and bay leaf.
Author
Kitchen musings from Lizzy: not so novice cook, part time law student, newbie gardener, lifetime Chicagoan, garlic spice and travel lover.
