Boysenberry Bonanza: Ice Cream and Macarons

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What a difference 4 days make! We made a quick trip to watch our nephew compete in the Junior National Volleyball Championships and came home four short days later to a bounty of boysenberries. This is our first year of full production off our 3 thornless boysenberry plants, staked up to the fence along our driveway (making it a bit difficult to park during the blooming summer months!). They were just dripping with berries, yielding 8 pints upon our return. Every two days since then I am able to pick another 3-4 pints. So I have been getting creative with this boysenberry bonanza.

Not one to waste such deliciousness, and being short on time initially, I processed the majority of that first batch berries using the IQF method. IQF stand for individual quick freeze and involves placing the berries in a single layer on a cookie sheet and freezing them until hard. This allows you to pack them in a large Ziploc bag without them sticking to one another.

I also combined the berries with Blenheim apricots that I picked up at LJB Farms to make an apricot-boysenberry crisp for a 4^th of July fete. Every year I get one lug of Blenheims and make the most wonderful apricot-vanilla jam. Blenheims ripen and have a limited window of time of about 10 days each June/July, so I have to watch closely for their availability. (I think someone needs to figure out a way to lengthen that season!!!)

But the real winners so far in my boysenberry fest were served at last Sunday’s family dinner. I made homemade boysenberry ice cream and boysenberry macarons. Not sure what got into me, as the weather was very hot and baking wasn’t really the smartest thing to do, but I had a yen for macarons, so there you go. I can think of worse things to do on a hot day but the end result, and a grateful family, made it all worth it.

Sundried Tomato Tapenade

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Godmothers are wonderful creatures. They are an endless supply of love, wisdom, and wonderful recipes. My godmother, Joyce, has been exceptional on all points. Last year, she guided my attempt at sweet potato gnocchi that was a rousing success. Soft orange pillows bathed in brown butter and sage, they have become part of my permanent repertoire. More recently she sent me a recipe for a tapenade, that wonderfully salty olive mixture that pairs perfectly with a fresh baguette or tossed with pasta. Of course, I couldn’t help but tinker with the recipe, fine-tuning it to my own tastes and pantry.

This take on tapenade features sundried tomatoes and sautéed onion, adding some heft and flavor to the chunky mixture. The end result was fantastic, with the family mounding spoonfuls onto thick slabs of bread, being completely devoured in a matter of seconds. The preparation is simple, and makes enough for a cocktail party or, in our case, two family Sunday dinners. Ingredients are available year-round, so no need to limit it to one season. Take it on a picnic, serve it at the holidays, and pair it with a hearty red wine. You won’t be disappointed.

Sundried Tomato-Olive Tapenade

1 medium red or purple onion, minced

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 8.5-ounce jar sundried tomatoes (packed in oil)*

1/2 cup large green olives (manzanilla, sevillano, or similar)

1/2 cup cured black olives (kalamata, nicoise, etc.)

1 cup loosely packed basil leaves

Approximately 1 3/4 cups extra virgin olive oil

fresh cracked pepper

Optional: 1 teaspoon cracked red pepper flakes

Heat one tablespoon each of butter and vegetable oil in frying pan over medium heat. Add minced onion and sauté, stirring frequently, until just turning brown. Add balsamic, scraping up any brown bits stuck to the pan. Remove from heat.

Drain sundried tomatoes, reserving oil. Roughly chop the tomatoes and place in a bowl. Pit olives, if necessary, and roughly chop, adding to the tomatoes. Mince the fresh basil leaves and add to the bowl. Stir in the onion mixture. Add 1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper, stirring well. (If you like a spicier tapenade, you can add cracked red pepper flakes.)

Pour reserved oil from tomatoes into a measuring cup. Add olive oil to make 2 cups total. Add to tomato-olive mixture and stir well. Pour into large jar or Tupperware and allow to sit overnight.

The following day, using a food processor, stick blender, or traditional blender, process the mixture with a few quick pulses. Do not over-blend, as you want a somewhat chunky texture. Add additional black pepper to taste. Serve with slices of sourdough, rustic country, or french bread for dipping. 

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*Trader Joes makes a julienned version that works perfectly

Prohibition Party: Apple Pie Moonshine

Brilliant Daughter celebrated a milestone birthday this year. True to family tradition, she hosted 15 friends and family to a weekend getaway in Cambria to “roar out her 20’s.” The theme: Prohibition.  

I prepared much of the food and drink, all of which had an era-appropriate theme or play on words. One of the more popular items was found in the guests’ goodie bags: Apple Pie Moonshine, or as it is better known “Mrs. B’s Miracle Elixir.” (Yes, adults also get goodie bags when they attend one our weekend soirees!!)

I cooked up two batches of this tasty liquor, which I then “aged” and bottled in glass flasks. Brilliant Daughter designed an appropriate label, and I dipped the lids in wax to give it an old-timey flair.

While this takes a few hours to make, the process was not only simple, it made my house smell like heaven. Apple cider and juice, spiced with cinnamon boiling away on the stove. Honestly, the aroma was just like a fresh-baked apple pie!

I spent a couple of hours researching different recipes. Finally boiled it down (pun intended) to the following, which I thought would have a strong enough apple flavor and be more like a liquor or liqueur than a wine. And boy was I right. This liquor is smooth, goes down mighty easily, and tastes just like an apple pie.

While you start with 151-proof grain alcohol, by the time you boil down the juice mixture and add it in, I estimate it is more like 70-proof.

Ingredients:

1 gallon apple cider
1 gallon apple juice
1 ½ cups granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar
8 cinnamon sticks
1 liter 151-proof grain alcohol (aka Everclear)

Directions

In a large stock pot, combine the apple cider, apple juice, sugar, and cinnamon sticks. Bring to a boil, and continue boiling until reduced by half (this takes several hours).

Allow to cool and add the grain alcohol. Allow to age for 30 days.

Pour into sterilized mason jars or flasks. Enjoy sparingly!

Anytime Treat: Mocha Chip Shortbread Cookies

Dieting means I have sworn off a lot of food items, including sweets. Not an easy task when you have a sweet tooth like me. But I recently needed to check out some recipes to serve at Brilliant Daughter’s big birthday celebration. I found a base recipe (which I adjusted to suit my own tastes) for a cookie that combines 3 things we love: shortbread (we are of British descent after all), coffee, and chocolate. How could I go wrong?

While I am a committed Peet’s coffee drinker, one of my recipe modifications makes use of Starbuck’s instant Via coffee packets. We received some as a gift and every time I open the coffee cabinet I wonder what I will do with them. No longer, as they are the perfect ingredient for this recipe.

These shortbread cookies are rich, full of flavor and crunch and perfect with a scoop of coffee ice cream or a piping hot cappuccino (not that I can indulge, mind you). I promise that I taste-tested both batches—one with cocoa nibs and one without—and they are really, really good. I mean, addictive good. I had to package them up for the butchers, Mr. B’s co-workers, Brilliant Daughter’s co-workers, and for Electrician Son and his fiancée, otherwise my diet would have been blown to hell. Down 17 pounds, with only 8 to go, I am determined, scrumptious cookies or no….

So go ahead, give them a try. If you like a little extra crunch, add in the cocoa nibs. If not, they are perfect with the mini chocolate chips alone (Brilliant Daughter’s preference).

Mocha Chip Shortbread Cookies

3 packets Starbucks Via Columbian coffee powder

1 tablespoon boiling water
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1/4 cup cocoa nibs (optional)

Dissolve coffee powder in boiling water to make coffee concentrate. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, beat butter and sugar together on medium speed for 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Beat in vanilla bean paste and coffee concentrate, mixing for 1 minute. Reduce mixer speed to low and add flour, mixing just until all specks of flour are gone. Don’t overmix the dough as it will get tough. Quickly fold in the chocolate chips (and cocoa nibs).

Transfer dough to a gallon-size Ziploc or between two large sheets of waxed paper. Flatten dough with you hand as much as you can, and then use a rolling pin to roll it out to ¼-inch thickness. Try and keep it as square or rectangular as you can. You will need to periodically lift plastic or waxed paper up to remove any creases that occur. Once you reach correct thickness, seal bag or fold paper over ends and refrigerate for 2 hours or more (up to 2 days).

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Prepare cookie sheets with parchment or silpat.

Cut open plastic bag or peel off top waxed paper. Using ruler and knife (or pizza cutter), cut dough into 1 1/2–inch squares. Transfer to prepared cookie sheet and bake for 15-18 minutes, rotating trays halfway through. Cool on baking racks.

Yield: 3 dozen

The Bane of a Happy Cook

I love to cook. I love food. I love my kitchen. All three things combined make me terribly happy, particularly when preparing meals for people I care about. Digging my hands into flour, kneading dough, harvesting herbs for a stew, chopping vegetables, and frosting cupcakes all bring me joy and an amazing calm. I am probably at my best when spending long hours in the kitchen. But there is a downside….

I insist on tasting things I make, particularly if they are newer recipes or creations. I will not serve something sub-par, or if I do out of desperation I hang my head in shame while my family consoles me. But those tastes, those final products, all that wonderful glorious food seems to attach itself to unwanted places on my body. This wasn’t always the case, but age, metabolism, menopause and a slowdown in physical activity have made the area between by waist and knees a prime target for (sigh!) fat.

Much to my family’s dismay, I have drastically cut calories. They are amazed at the small amount of food I now intake. I rarely serve desserts at Sunday dinner anymore, and should I feel the need to bake, I do so and then package it up to send up to the my son’s butcher buddies, my husband’s workmates, or various family and friends. I can no longer fill my cake domes with goodies for the taking. I just cannot have it in the house, which makes me terribly sad. Everyone who visits knows where the goodies reside and an empty counter means empty tummies. I hate that others have to suffer at my expense.

So, one of the reasons I have not been posting is that I have embarked on a personal renewal program. I started by constructing a diet that would work for me, and 8 weeks later I was down almost 7 pounds. I began taking walks several times a week, mostly by  myself, but occasionally with Brilliant Daughter or Mr. B.

Two weeks ago, in an effort to ramp up the weight loss, I  consulted a doctor and began a medically supervised weight loss program. I also added yoga to my regimen and am making more of an effort to work with some light weights (to deter that unsightly upper arm flap).

I’m almost halfway to my goal and to a closet full of clothes that have not fit in some time. I am feeling lighter, stronger and better able to resist temptation. Unfortunately, my cooking creativity has gone by the wayside for the moment, but I know this is just temporary, much like the empty cake dome.

My New Obsession: Rainbow Kale Salad

Last weekend, while on a jaunt to Napa Valley, I saw a farro and kale salad on the menu. While I did not try it, the combination intrigued me, so I set about the make my own version of this healthy dish.

While perusing the produce aisle for ingredients, I found an organic rainbow kale salad (described as a variety of seasonal kales and carrots). The green, purple and orange hues were beautiful and intrigued me, not to mention that the already cleaned and chopped kale would make my job easier, so I grabbed a tub to use as the base of the salad.

Farro is a staple of my pantry, thanks to Giada DeLaurentis, who makes a farro salad with course pesto that is scrumptious. Farro is a variety of wheat that originated in the Haute-Savoie region of France, and is also used in Italian cooking. It has become popular enough that it is now stocked in most of our local grocery stores.

Then I just got creative, letting my palate guide me. I decided to roast the kale salad to get a good crisp on it, mixing it with a bit of olive oil and truffle salt. I just boiled the farro in broth, and poached a few chicken breasts for added protein. Tossed with some additional olive oil, some fresh lemon juice and zest, with a good measure of both parmesan cheese and fresh ground pepper, and we had a healthy one-bowl meal, with plenty left over for lunches.  (A vegetarian version can be made by replacing chicken broth with vegetable broth and omitting the chicken. Vegans can omit cheese.)

A week later, I made a slightly different version, adding a half a slivered onion and a few chopped mushrooms to the kale roast, tossed in some leftover grilled chicken, and topped it all with a miso dressing.  Again, a winning combination.

I’m thinking there are endless variations to this kale salad, both cooked and uncooked. What would you do with it?

Kale-Farro Salad

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup water

1 cup farro

pinch salt

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

8-ounce bag/clamshell rainbow kale salad

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ teaspoon truffle salt

1/8 cup olive oil

1/3 cup lemon juice

zest of 1 lemon

1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Bring broth, water, and a pinch of salt to boil in medium saucepan, add farro and stir. Cover slightly and cook for 22-25 minutes stirring occasionally, until liquid is almost completely evaporated.

Meanwhile, poach 2 chicken breasts in water. Depending upon size of breasts, this should take 20-25 minutes.

Place kale salad in roasting pan, toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with truffle salt. Roast in oven for 20-25 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until you’ve got some of the kale nicely browned.

Shred or chop chicken and add to farro. Add in roasted kale salad, 1/8 cup olive oil, lemon juice and zest, and parmesan cheese. Toss well. Season with salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste.

Serve immediately for a warm salad or refrigerate for an hour or more and serve cold.