Fig Spread

Our fig trees produced a lot of figs this year.

Putting up preserves is a big deal, if you want to store them and eat them later. I just cooked the batch up, and will keep it in the refrigerator.

Chop the figs in quarters. In a sauce pan, add a little wine, sugar to taste, cinnamon and thinly sliced lemons. Ginger would be good too.

Gently boil, stirring frequently. Keep it at a low flame (1 or 2 on the induction top) and stir frequently to prevent burning. 

At some point, you can use the immersion blender.

It turns amber and eventually cooks way down. The second batch I made, I didn't cook at as high a temp (as described above) and it didn't burn, but it also didn't turn amber. Each kind of fig will have a different color palette.

Put the spread/jam in a glass jar so you can admire the contents!

Blackberry Cobbler

I predict we'll be making this often. Micah's blackberry bushes are producing prodigious amounts of lucious blackberries, and their ripening is staggered throughout the summer. It's pretty quick to pick a quart of blackberries in this orchard!

It's from a The HIllbilly Kitchen, a very simple concept!

Spray a flat ovenproof dish. I use a Dansk round metal casserole or a ceramic casserole.

Preheat oven to 375.

Lots of 1s in this recipe.

1 quart berries - splashed with 1 t. vanilla
1 egg
1 stick of butter, melted
1 cup flour/s (any combination - you can include some oats)
1 cup sugar

Place the berries in the pan, splash the vanilla on them.

In a bowl, combine the flour, egg, and sugar until it's crumbly, with a big fork or fingers.

Drop it on the berries.

Pour the melted butter over the top. Sprinkle a little sugar on top (optional).

Bake for about 30 minutes.

Solo Pi Pizza Oven Dough

 Becca used a birthday gift to present 8221 with a Pizza Pi oven from Solo. 

You could use about 25% whole wheat.

This made 6 pizzas - one + leftover for six of us (2 kids).

450-580 g (4.5 cups)	All-Purpose Flour
14 g (1 Tbs.)	Sugar
9 g (1 tsp.)	Salt
20 g (2 Tbs.)	Instant Yeast
26 g (2 Tbs.)	Olive Oil
430 g (2 cups)	Warm Water

Preparation

In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, and yeast.

Slowly add water and oil to the mixture, and combine by hand or with a mixer. 

Once there are no dry spots or clumps, knead the dough on a floured surface until smooth and until the dough passes the ‘windowpane test.’

Place the dough in a tightly covered container and let it rest for 30 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Separate the dough evenly into 6 balls weighing 200 grams each, and use immediately or store in airtight containers and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. 

To flatten the dough by hand, first flour your workspace. Start to stretch the dough from the center and push outwards in each direction. If there are air bubbles, work them toward the outer edge. 

To flatten with a rolling pin, first flour your workspace and your pin. Roll back and forth over your dough, and then turn the oval-shaped dough 90 degrees to flatten in the opposite direction. Repeat until your dough is evenly thin.

Transfer the stretched dough to a dusted pizza peel before adding sauce or toppings.

Throw in Lots of Tomatoes Sweet Potato Soup

I make a lot of soups with tomatoes, and lots with sweet potatoes, but this combination is a little lighter, not using any coconut milk. 

It's great for a glut of tomatoes like this fall, thanks Micah! 

Loosely based on this recipe. The sweet potato thickens the soup when blended, and packs it with nutrients.

2 T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
Afew cloves chopped garlic
A bit of grated ginger

2-3 stalks chopped celery

3 peeled carrots, chopped
1 t. cumin
1 t. turmeric
1 chopped hot pepper like jalapeno (use a plastic glove when mincing)
2 peeled large sweet potatoes, diced
4-6 chopped tomatoes, diced
8 c. vegetarian broth

Optional: In a small container, take a few tablespoons broth to a chunk of peanut butter, mix to loosen, and add to soup.

Pour oil into large soup pot and add onion, garlic, ginger, celery, and pepper, saute until soft.

Add chopped sweet potatoes, tomatoes and broth. Boil for about 40 minutes. Use an immersion blender but leave some vegetables chunked. Add thinned peanut butter for a protein boost.

One Bowl Blueberry, Strawberry Rhubarb, or Cranberry Crumble Bars

I saw these online and had a real craving for them - I knew they would be similar to the datebars of my youth, but way easier. It's a quick recipe and perfect when blueberries are abundant.   In 2022 when we gathered in Chestertown for Thanksgiving, Zach and Becca brought several quarts of CSA cranberries that people had failed to pick up, or left behind. We experimented making Cranberry Crumble bars (fun to say!) and they were such a hit I made a second batch. Super easy, and so pretty.

You make the same dough for the bottom layer as the streusel topping - super easy. I cut the sugar, as my first version seemed sweeter than needed.

Crust and Crumble Topping
1/2 c (1 stick) butter, melted (microwave on low power, in a big bowl that you then use to mix the dough). For vegans, use parve margarine.
1 c flour (half WW, half regular, as I always do)
3/4 c old-fashioned whole-rolled oats
1/4 c granulated sugar
1/4 c light brown sugar, packed

salt to taste

Blueberry (or Cranberry) Layer
1 pint washed blueberries or 12 oz. cranberries (1 1/2 c)
1/3 c granulated sugar
For blueberries: 2 T lemon juice (1 lemon's worth) - omit for cranberries
2 t cornstarch

• Preheat oven to 350. 
• Line an 8 or 9-inch square pan with a parchment paper sling.
• Altrnatively, to make individual tarts (as I just did during COVID), spray a silicone muffin tin. I made 12. You could make 16, just use 2 trays and leave 8 empty. It's a little more work but a dozen big wows! Wait until cooled to remove, by popping them out from the bottom of the tray.
• In a large, microwave-safe bowl melt the butter.
• Add the flour, oats, sugars, optional salt, and stir to combine. Mixture will be dry and sandy with some larger, well-formed crumble pieces.
• Set aside 1 heaping cup mixture for the top crumble layer.
• Transfer remaining mixture to prepared pan, and using wet fingers, pack the mixture to create an even, smooth, flat crust; set aside.
• In the large mixing bowl (same one!), add blueberries, lemon juice (not for cranberries!), sugar, and cornstarch, stirring to combine. If sugar hasn’t dissolved fully that’s okay because it liquifies while baking.
• Evenly distribute blueberry mixture over the crust.
• Sprinkle with the reserved heaping 1 cup crumble topping mixture. squeezing the mixture to shape bigger crumble pieces.
• Bake for about 45 minutes (in the Breville), or until edges are set and center has just set. Crumble topping should appear set and very pale golden. 
• Place pan on a wire rack and allow bars to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving. If you try to slice bars before they’ve cooled completely, they’ll be extremely messy and could fall apart. 
• To cut when cooled, pull out with the sling onto a flat cutting board. Cut 4 x 5 or even 5 x 5 with a pizza cutting wheel or sharp, wet knife. These are messy-ish, so small bite-size bars are great.

another scrumptious, spring version: Strawberry Rhubarb

Same recipe, but a pint of strawberries and about two stalks of rhubarb, both finely chopped. Include sugar. It is DELICIOUS. Very distinct flavor profile.

Make double like I did here!!

Pesto & Friends

gvelling celebrants: Emily, Sam, Tricia, Anna, Nomi, Charlotte at 6622

I can share the recipe for pesto.  You do not need the recipe for friends!

Fresh basil and tomatoes from the garden

Pesto is more of a technique than a recipe.  "Pesto" is related to pestle, to grind or crush.

Fresh basil
garlic, minced
grated Parmesan cheese
nuts: pine nuts or walnuts
olive oil
water, if needed

Rinse the basil, and tear of the leaves.  Put it in a food processor with chopped garlic and add a little oil and water.  Process until  puréed .  Gradually add the nuts and grated cheese until it creates a dense paste.  Add more oil, or water, or a combination if it is too solid.

This is great over pasta, of course, but also a nice spread with crackers, or with a wonderful vegetable like red pepper slices.

 

Jo's Torte

This recipe is from an old, popular cookbook, Elegant But Easy. It's a lovely, very flexible dessert. Marian Burros, one of the authors, published a plum cake version in the NYTimes and it's legendary - the most popular recipe in NYTImes history. Jo Rosen served it to us, and I have made it dozens of times since. I like to make it in a glass-bottom spring form. I also purchased a bunch of smaller springform pans since it seems like we never actually finish a whole cake these days.

Dough:
1 c sugar
1/2 c butter (one stick) or 1/2 c olive oil
1 c. flour, sifted
1 t. baking powder
2 eggs
salt

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream sugar and butter.  Add flour, baking powder, salt and eggs.  Wet your hands and spread into a 9" springform  or a combination of smaller springform pans, evening the batter with a spatula.  I invested in a nonstick springform pan which works wonderfully. In a pinch you can use a pyrex rectangular pan but it's not as pretty.

Filling:
Fruit: choose one, or mixture of

• 1 pint blueberries - you can add about 25% more blueberries for a deeper dish. Frozen are fine.
• 2020 Pandemic - 1 pint blackberries + 1 ripe peach, baked in a 9" pan so it's higher. Needs at least 45 minutes. Gayanne's favorite is blackberries.
• 2023 Bumper Crop of strawberries in Chestertown version: a pint of sliced strawberries. Take a half pint extra strawberries and use Aunt Sally's trick, blend them with sugar and a little mint, for a sauce. Divine!
• 1.5 lbs Italian plums, pitted and quartered; they are yellow green when fresh but turn purple when baked * - see note at the bottom - substitute 1½ T. brandy for the lemon juice - This is nearly identical to the NYTime version here. There are tons of updates here. 
• As of 2024, Micah planted a fig tree for me (for us, but I asked, I think!). It has been fruiting wonderfully. The figs are small, red, juicy ones. Tried it in this cake today, about 15-20. Chopped them into small pieces and added pumpkin pie filling and some fig jam we had in the refridge (ideas from researching the internet.)
• Sliced, peeled apples
• Sliced apples or pears (2 medium) plus a half bag of cranberries, skip the lemon juice ; add extra sugar
• Sliced peaches 
• 1 can pumpkin + sugar + pumpkin pie spice + egg + soymilk or soy powder
• Sliced, peeled pears (about 3) brushed with a mixture of lemon curd, almond extract, and cinnamon
• or, if nothing is in season, or you need to save time, use a can of sliced apples or canned pie filling.

Lemon juice  (~ half a lemon squeezed, or bottled to taste)
Sugar

Cinnamon - use a heavy hand.

Flour, if fruit is very juicy like plums or peaches.  

Add fruit to top, covering the entire surface.  The fruit will sink into the torte - no need to worry about the aesthetics.

Sprinkle top with a little sugar, some lemon juice; cinnamon, sifting on a little extra flour for very juicy fruits like peaches or plums.  If you're using a two-part torte pan be sure to support it from the edges when you transfer it to the oven.

Bake at 350 for 40 to 45 minutes, til top is nicely browned.  When the cake is cool, detach the outer rim of the pan.
It's an easy recipe to double; it freezes well.
It's nice to have a footed cake plate for this - it's a beautiful presentation.

*Italian, or prune, plums are very juicy.

Abba likes this better than a traditional zwetchgenkuchen, plum open-face pie.
Prune plums are in season around the High Holidays, so it's a tradition, at least in Yekkeh (German Jewish) families, to make them for Rosh Hashanah. I posted some friends' versions here.

New variation: prepare a 1.5x batch in a lasagne pan, and cut like they are bars. So delicious. Bake about 35+ minutes at 350, convection setting.

Chestertown 2021: I found a very similar recipe online, looking for raspberries since we have so so many at 8221. Here's a video of it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgU2Q7SB87c

Basically, you spread half the batter, spread the raspberries on it, and then cover them with dollops of the remaining dough so you can still see the raspberries. 

150 g butter/margarine 150 g caster sugar 150 g ground almonds 150 g self raising flour 1 egg 1 tsp ground cinnamon 220 g raspberries