Easiest Peach-Blueberry Cobbler in the World

I’ve been eating a ton of fresh blueberries and other fruits of the season. One thing that keeps on leaping out with each juicy mouthful is how nice a hint of cinnamon would be with the berries. I got some excellent peaches at a farmstand this last weekend too.  A little inspiration and here is my gift to the world using summer ingredients.

• about four or five medium ripe peaches
• about two large handfuls of blueberries, rinsed.
• a bit of lemon juice if you have it, not neccesary
• six or seven frozen snickerdoodle cookie dough balls (hurray Trader Joe’s!)
• ground cinnamon and any other spices you like
• a little granulated sugar (optional only if you have sour fruit)
• about a tablespoon melted butter

Method:

Melt the butter to coat the bottom and some of the sides of a baking dish. (I used a round pyrex with handles) Peel and quarter the peaches. The easiest way to do this is to plunge the peaches in boiling water for about 5-10 seconds and then immediately in a bowl of cold water. The skins should slip right off. Quarter the peaches and place them in the baking dish. Sprinkle the blueberries over the top. Add a little dab of lemon juice, a couple shakes of cinnamon and sugar if you want. Stick the cookie dough balls and press into the fruit. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes. The juices should bubble up around the crust and the house should smell fantastic. Serve warm or cold with whipped cream or ice cream.

Today is a gift

I went to Present for supper today. It was good and bad. When it was good, it was quite tasty – when it was bad it physically hurt!

The good: I was seated right away, in a booth. The service was very nice. The ambiance was rather high-end. I can totally see taking parents and in-laws here. The food: very fresh. From the herbs and bean sprouts garnishes to the shrimp and everything in between, you can tell that the ingredients were all top-notch. The nuoc mam was more on the sugary as opposed to tart side but I guess that’s a personal preference. They only gave me one lime wedge to make things right. I ended up finishing a whole huge plate full of banh cuon (without the ground pork filling) and it was heaped over steamed bean sprouts, and dried shrimps, fried shallots and chopped fresh mint. It was really delicious – each rice crepe was delicate but didn’t tear apart too much when I picked it up with my chopsticks. The pork roll accompaniment was acceptable. I only finished one shrimp-fried turnip cake. My iced coffee with milk tasted more like espresso as opposed to the expected Vietnamese drip variety. It had distinct notes of caramel, and was very sweet.

The bad: I was strongly urged to get the “autumn veil” cha gio by my waiter as opposed to the goi cuon garden rolls I normally order. They arrived very prettily plated, two per order, for 3.95. Instead of the regular eggroll wrapper, they come in a lacy net looking wrapper that looked like it was made of thin noodles pressed together. It was attractive and different. I took a bite and promptly grated the roof of my mouth into hamburger. ouch! I wrapped up the rest of the rolls in lettuce and shredded pickled vegetables hoping that it would be less sharp and continued to abrade the inside of my mouth. Ow Ow Ow! Perhaps it was a good thing that the nuoc cham was not tart. That could have really really hurt if it was much more acidic! The taste itself is not anything to write home about. Of course, my mom’s cha gio are the best in the land, so why even bother comparing? I’ll skip these next time I go. The other thing my waiter urged me to get was the Canh Chua with squid. It’s a sour soup with seafood and my mom (again) makes a pretty good one so I was interested in trying their version, especially since it came so highly touted. It arrived in a big bowl with a side dish of sprouts and herbs to customize. I took a sip of the broth and found it to be way too spicy for me. On one hand, I was glad to see that they aren’t completely watering it down for non-native palates. (practically the whole time I was there, I was the only Vietnamese customer) on the other hand, it was so spicy I couldn’t stand much more than a few bites. I had them pack it up and saved for later. The aromatics were there — even my en fuego palate could detect the lemongrass and other fresh herb-y notes but it was just too hot. Someone who can stand spicy food better than I would have loved it… the only minor quibble is that while my squid pieces were admirably tender and fresh, my shrimp in the soup were a little tough and overcooked.

Overall though- a beautiful space. The lotus stalk salad I ordered to go has been delcious, the few bites of it I’ve had so far. The names of the dishes are a little too flowery and poetic – it gets kind of annoying. I’m trying to decipher who they want their clientele to be. I will be back, but only for occasions where I will be with a mixed, high-end crowd. This is not a hole-in-the-wall with cheap good food. The prices are not astronomical, but perhaps I am just a little sore mouthed – when my mouth heals, I’m sure all will be forgiven and I’ll go back again.

New Year’s, North Carolina

New year’s was spent in a lovely beach house in North Carolina’s Outer Banks.  A charming restaurant called the Roadhouse (no website!)  in the sleepy little village in the northern Outer banks called Duck, has the best lamb I’ve ever had. The chef, bartender, and waiter were all friendly laid-back guys, so sure of the quality of their products, and such a good crew to hang out with.  They prepared splendid mojitos and other libations, made smart choices as to wine pairings, and made the holiday smooth and special.  We drank a bottle of Argyle Pinot Noir and feasted on lamb and filet and got back to Three Little Birds very very satisfied. The following days after had us eating more excellent steaks, this time prepared at home, and working it off by playing Wii.  Good times!

Catching up

Since I’ve been back from Oregon, I’ve been up and down the Atlantic seaboard and had some pretty phenomenal eating and drinking.  Xmas was in the tidewater area of Virginia, where my mother-in-law made crabcakes that always win me over from being a crabcake-hater.  Hers are light, delicate, lumpy with crabmeat, and if they were made of gold they couldn’t taste richer.   Another decadent seafood dish was her version of Giada’s Lemon Oil Shrimp with Linguine

. We ate both of these meals with Oregon Rieslings and they were a fantastic combination.   To follow up the next morning, we tried out the frozen croissaints from Trader Joe’s.  SO GOOD! you just proof them overnight and they bake up huge and beautiful.  The mini croissaints are really cute and they don’t make you feel guilty for eating them, but the chocolate croissaints taste great and you don’t even need deny yourself the indugence.  Xmas comes but once a year!

Festive libations

This holiday season brought me so many reasons to lift my glass…We went wine tasting at Argyle and Willamette Vineyards in Oregon over Thanksgiving break. We gingerly brought home three bottles of wine (two reislings and one semi-fizzy dessert wine) and four riedel pinot noir glasses! If we felt a little richer, we would also have gone for a 2006 Argyle pinot noir that was phenomenal. sadly, 60 bucks a bottle felt a little high for our budget. We brought two bottles of Sokol Blosser Evolution to turkey day dinner and it went over really well. Who knew it went with stuffing and roasted vegetables? We really wanted to go to the Sokol Blosser winery (hi Alex!) but they closed up just a little too early.
At a recent wedding I got to indulge in a sparkling red, Rosa Regale. I’m sure it’s probably got the reputation of white zin in the wine snob world but it is tasty, elegant, colorful, and really easy to drink.
Also while in Portland, I got to indulge in some orgasmic drinking chocolate at Cacao. It was as good as Bon Bon in Chicago! I also dabbed on a little of the Cacao Aftelier parfum and smelled my wrist like some kind of perfume junkie for the rest of the night. And– I smuggled back three bags of Stumptown Hairbender whole bean coffee — just found out that Stumptown is planning on opening a roastery in Brooklyn soon. Bliss!

President-Elect Obama’s tunafish salad

I totally stole this from Huffington Post, who stole this from 60 minutes, but the cideo is pretty sweet to watch.

His recipe is:

• tuna
• Grey Poupon
• Mayo
• chopped gherkins

on toast.  NICE!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/09/the-obamas-make-tuna-sala_n_142483.html

Pie-eyed

I baked a pie last night for the first time in forever.  Midnight baking strikes again!  I just had my first slice and it’s not bad for a first timer. There was a bunch of fruit I wanted to use in the house – plums that tasted good but were getting a little mealy, and a couple of peaches I picked up at the farmer’s market.  One peach was clearly going bad but the other was fine.  I cheated and used store-bought crusts but in my defense, there’s no butter or shortening in any large amount in the house.  Because it’s starting to cool off weather-wise, and because the fall foliage is gorgeous, I added a little spice to the fruit and I have to say I like the result a lot.  I used splenda instead of sugar and it still takes some getting used to but… hey, diabetes. What can you do.  Not eat pie ain’t an option. One of the best parts about baking pie is the alien weirdness that emanates from the pie as you take it out of the oven.  The fruit and juices are bubbling away under that crust making the surface move in an otherworldy way.  It’s comforting and skeeving at the same time.  it looks like something is living and moving around underneath the crust!

Spicy Plum-Peach pie

• 5 plums, skinned and cut into fat wedges
• 1 or two big peaches, skinned and cut into fat wedges
• 1/3 cup of splenda or depending on the sweetness of your fruit – more if they aren’t ripe, less if they are sweet already
• 1 heaping teaspoon crushed ginger
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ground cloves if you have them (I did not) about a teaspoon
• 1 1/2 tbs cornstarch
• juice of one small lemon
• zest of that lemon
• 2 9-inch store-bought or homemade pie crusts

Method: Skin the fruits by dropping them in boiling water and then fishing them out after a few seconds. Run under cold tap water and the skins should slip off easily. Stone and slice the fruits into a bowl. Add the cornstarch, splenda, spices and lemon juice and zest, mix to combine. Pour into a pie shell, top with the other pie crust and crimp the edges.  Slit the top of the crust for steam to escape and place on a cookie sheet, then pop into preheated 375 degree oven. Bake for 35 minutes, take out the pie and brush the crust with milk and sprinkle with sugar and bake for another 10-12 minutes.  Cool for at least 2 hours before slicing.

My first from scratch Clam Chowder is the best you’ll ever have!

I’m at the beach and this felt like a beachy thing to make. The taste is great – briny from the clams but sweet from all the onions and shallots. The mix of potatoes and onions is important, I think, because the russet breaks down and thickens the chowder if you don’t make a roux  The onions balance out the bracing seafood blast from all those clams and clam juice.

This pot serves a lot! 5 people easy with seconds.

 

Anh’s Three Little Birds New England by way of the Outer Banks CLAM CHOWDAH!

 

• 1 huge russet potato, peeled and cubed
• 3-4 little red bliss potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 yellow onion peeled and chopped
• 1 sweet onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 4-5 stalks of celery, washed, trimmed and roughly chopped
• ¼ cup flour optional if you like a thicker chowder
• 4-5 slices of smoked bacon, (diced optional if you plan on keeping it in)
• 3 Tbs butter
• 4-5 small bay leaves
• Scant ½ tsp thyme leaves
• 51 oz. can of fresh clam juice (get in the fresh seafood section)
• 51 oz. can of drained clams, (get in the fresh seafood section) reserve the juice for another purpose
• 3 cups whole milk
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 4 heaping Tbs sour cream
• Seasoned salt, pepper to taste

Method:

In a large heavy-bottomed pot start cooking the bacon until the fat is rendered and the bacon is slightly crisp. Add the butter and melt it.  Add the onions and shallots and sauté in the bacon and butter until onions are softened and start to get translucent.  At this point, if you like thicker chowder, add the flour and cook until the roux is starting to brown but not too much.  Add the celery, potatoes, thyme and bay leaves, sauté until the whole is hot, the celery is starting to soften…Add the clam juice next. Bring to a boil and simmer until potatoes are tender. Turn down the heat and add the clams, milk, creams and season salt.  You probably won’t need to add a lot of salt because of the salt in the bacon, butter and clam juice…also, go easy on the thyme.  Heath through but do not boil because this will toughen the clams.  Add more milk if you think it is too thick.

Serve with oyster crackers, sourdough, or cornbread.  You can also present this chowdah Moe’s style and float a melting pat on butter in the bowl and sprinkle season salt or paprika across the top.  I had some snipped fresh chives so I garnished with that.   

A food meme from bomboneria

A hundred foods you should eat, a mem from bomboneria. Those I’ve eaten are in bold.

1. Venison – As I recall, it was Emeril-marinated loin. Not bad.

2. Nettle tea

3. Huevos rancheros – as long as there’s not too much cilantro in the salsa…I love it.

4. Steak tartare – The capers are chopped up so you can’t tell there’s capers in it…

5. Crocodile - well, I’ve had “gator” bites… does that count?

6. Black pudding Don’t think about the procedure, just appreciate the result when you eat it.

7. Cheese fondue -Yum!

8. Carp – steamed with ginger and scallions (but I pushed aside the scallions)

9. Borscht

10. Baba ghanoush

11. Calamari –

12. Pho – Am I not Vietnamese? My mom makes the best.

13. Peanut butter and jelly sandwich

14. Aloo gobi

15. Hot dog from a street cart –mmm dirty-water dogs…

16. Epoisses

17. Black truffle - on sushi, of all things.

18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes – yum

19. Steamed pork buns Serious cravings for them

20. Pistachio ice cream and pudding too I love it.

21. Heirloom tomatoes the reason to live in the summertime

22. Fresh wild berries hahahah, in Oregon, this is not hard to come by.

23. Foie gras – and it was delicious

24. Rice and beans

25. Brawn or head cheese There’s a Vietnamese version that I’ve had too. I still like it.

26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper – can’t do spicy.

27. Dulce de leche damn my diabetes!

28. Oysters - Kumamotos are my favorite raw but I also love them in stews and baked, with lemon butter.

29. Baklava The Pita House makes theirs with a lovely touch of rosewater syrup

30. Bagna cauda extra anchovies, please.

31. Wasabi peas

32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl –

33. Salted lassi (mango lassi and sweet lassi) –

34. Sauerkraut I had the best in Strasbourg, France!

35. Root beer float – When mom took a part-time job at the local convenience store, she got us all hooked on them.

36. Cognac with a fat cigar – Although I prefer Amaretto

37. Clotted cream tea lovely, at the Heathman.

38. Vodka jelly

39. Gumbo

40. Oxtail – Blue Ribbon NYC — Heaven!

41. Curried goat

42. Whole insects Ladybug by accident. Haven’t had the grasshopper tacos at Oyamel yet.

43. Phaal

44. Goat’s milk – in COCOA- man that was odd

45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more wish I could remember it better.

46. Fugu I wish..

47. Chicken tikka masala – With a mango lassi!

48. Eel

49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut – Fresh, and hot, there’s nothing like it.

50. Sea urchin my favorite sushi!  Also good on spaghetti!

51. Prickly pear – I’ve had beer made from prickly pear, if that counts.

52. Umeboshi yum I could eat them out of the jar.

53. Abalone stir fried!

54. Paneer

55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal

56. Spaetzle I still remember it was too salty, although it came with duck and dried cherries at B. Moloch’s.

57. Dirty gin martini –

58. Beer above 8% ABV – Portland had them at a brewfest. Just a sip. It burned!

59. Poutine It’s real popular in Canada, eh?  I had it at Quality Pie before it closed down.

60. Carob chips - lol didn’t know our second grade teacher was a hippie but it all makes sense now.

62. Sweetbreads Also at Blue Ribbon NYC

63. Kaolin is this like eating dirt or clay?

64. Currywurst Rocks! The food of Berlin!

65. Durian also in icecream and butter. you feel like taking a bath afterwards but it’s alright.

66. Frogs’ legs

67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake – yes, yes, yes, and yes. Favorites are the Elephant Ears at Saturday Market.  The beignets from Cafe DuMond are so touristy but whatever, they were awesome. (and so was the coffee)

68. Haggis

69. Fried plantain

70. Chitterlings or andouillette

71. Gazpacho In Spain, this was fantastic.  Also wonderful was the deconstructed gazpacho from the Painted Table in Seattle.

72. Caviar and blini

73. Louche absinthe But I have the bottle and the special spoon and sugar cubes. I am all set!

74. Gjetost, or brunost – See #16.

75. Roadkill

76. Baijiu

77. Hostess Fruit Pie

78. Snail both with garlic butter ala escargot or with fishsauce in Vietnam

79. Lapsang souchong

80. Bellini

81. Tom yum –

82. Eggs Benedict –

83. Pocky – Men’s Pocky is the best, but I like strawberry too.

84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant

85. Kobe beef

86. Hare at Cafe Zenon in Eugene.

87. Goulash

88. FlowersI love the stuffed squash blossoms from Chez Panisse

89. Horse

90. Criollo chocolate

91. Spam - yum!

92. Soft shell crab – oh yeah.

93. Rose harissa

94. Catfish -at my first fish fry

95. Mole poblano –

96. Bagel and lox – with cream cheese, cucumber and tomato on a salt bagel, toasted. Yeah i could go for one right now.

97. Lobster Thermidor

98. Polenta

99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee

100. Snake

what to do with leftover corn on the cob?

Here’s one thing I do — It’s not quite cream of corn, and not creamed corn, but it’s very simple — just corn, butter, S&P.

Cut the corn off the cob by first standing the cob on its fat end and making fat slices of the corn kernels down so that they land on the cutting board or plate below and then by running the dull side of your knife back down over the cob to milk it.  For about three cobs, I use almost 2 tablespoons of butter.  Melt the butter in a saute pan until it starts to talk and then add the corn you cut off.  Be careful, and stir gently, so as not to break up those lovely fat slices of corn!  When the corn is heated through, season with a little salt and pepper and enjoy by the bowlful…. sigh!