'Tis the Season

For strawberry rhubarb! Here in Maryland, we're getting the freshest of fresh strawberries so they must be put to good use. We (belatedly) celebrated Daddy's birthday and he requested "anything rhubarb." This came about because Cousin made strawberry rhubarb pie for my aunt recently. My family is very susceptible to peer pressure . . . so I did up a little crostata. It was a hit, in case you had any doubt. For once there were no leftovers. 

If you don't feel like going to all the effort of a pie or tart crust, go for the crostata base. It's very easy to make, and you can make it ahead. All you have to do is toss everything into the food processor and give it a whirl. I added some blueberries into the fruit mix, but of course you can really choose any fruit combination you like. Not to mention, I don't think a hint of cinnamon or nutmeg, or ginger would hurt anyone. 

Strawberry and Rhubarb Crostata

Stonewall Kitchen Cookbook

Serves 6

For the Dough

2 cups all-purpose flour plus extra for rolling out the dough

3 tablespoons sugar

Pinch of salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2) sticks unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes

About 1/2 cup ice cold water

For the Filling

3 1/2 cups fresh strawberries (about 1 pound), cut into thick slices

1 cup chopped rhubarb

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar (amount will vary based on sweetness of fruit)

1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

For the Vanilla Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy (whipping) cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons sugar

To Prepare the Dough

In the bowl of a food processor, whirl the flour, sugar, and salt until combined. Add the butter and pulse the mixture about 15 times, until the butter resembles small peas. With the motor on, add enough ice water until the dough just begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl and comes together. Don't worry if it still looks crumbly. 

Pour the dough onto a large sheet of aluminum foil and close the foil up to create a ball with the dough. Refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.

To Prepare the Filling

In a large bowl, mix the berries, rhubarb, brown sugar, flour, and orange juice and stir well to make sure the fruit is thoroughly coated. Let marinate, stirring once or twice, while you roll out the dough.

Place a wrack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 450 degrees. 

Unwrap the dough. Working on a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to a circle about 12 to 14 inches in diameter. Place the circle on a large, ungreased cookie sheet. Using a slotted spoon, place the fruit into the center of the dough, leaving a border of about 2 inches. Pour any accumulated fruit juices from the bottom of the bowl over the fruit. Drape the edges f the dough over the filling and press down lightly to crimp them. The dough won't cover the filling completely; you should have a fair amount of exposed fruit in the center. (The crostata can be made several hours ahead of time; cover and refrigerate until ready to bake.) Bake for 20 to 25 minutes (or about 28 minutes if the crostata was refrigerated), or until the dough is a light golden brown, the fruit in the center looks soft, and the juices are bubbling. Remove from the oven and let cool for about 5 minutes.

To Prepare the Cream

In an electric mixer, whip the cream on medium speed until soft peaks form, about 5 minutes. Add the sugar and vanilla and whip until the cream holds its shape.

Transfer the crostata to a large serving plate and serve warm or at room temperature, with the whipped cream on the side. 

We Be Jammin'

A couple weeks ago I decided to try my hand at strawberry jam. My parents had a couple fancy jam jars from Christmas, so I wanted to put them to good use. In the future I'll be using Mason jars, which aren't as decorative, but just as useful. In these airtight jars, the jam should last a while; in a regular container it should keep about 2 weeks.

This task took less than an hour start to finish, none of this overnight business. Someone like me would get too nervous about burning down the house. Nono, this recipe cooks for about 30 minutes give or take. Make sure you use a heavy-duty pot though. Not to mention a stove with evenly distributed heat. I'm sure Le Creuset is the best, but some of us haven't made our fortunes yet so we use the grandmother's old (but darling) pot.

I won't lecture you about pectin, but I'll just let you know that's why the apple is in there. For the curious among you, you can look it up. Or not that I've learned how to read the "comments" you can leave one and I'll answer you.

Easy Strawberry Jam
Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics (Ina Garten)
Makes 3 cups

3 pints fresh strawberries
3 cups superfine sugar
2 tablespoons orange-flavored liqueur (recommended: Grand Marnier)
1/2 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and small-diced
1/2 cup fresh blueberries

Place the strawberries in a colander and rinse them under cold running water. Drain and hull the strawberries. Cut the larger berries in half or quarters and leave the small berries whole. Place the strawberries in a deep, heavy-bottomed pot such as heavy Dutch oven and toss them with the sugar and orange-flavored liqueur.

Bring the berry mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring often. Add the apple and blueberries and continue to keep the mixture at a rolling boil, stirring occasionally, until the jam reaches 220 degrees on a candy thermometer. This should take 25 to 35 minutes. Skim and discard any foam that rises to the top. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature and then store covered in the refrigerator. It will keep refrigerated for at least 2 weeks. To keep the jam longer, pack and seal in canning jars according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Rice is Nice

This is a nice little summer "salad" and can be made somewhat healthy if you want. Say, if you don't use cheese, or use low fat cheese. The original recipe doesn't use cheese; I used feta, but mozzarella would be good too I think. Also, I used a block of feta and cut it into a chunks instead of using the crumbles. It's a bit more fresh and looks prettier that way. 

I served this on Mother's Day and now Ma wants it on her birthday too. I'm sure it will be even better after the tomatoes sprout in the garden and we don't have to buy them. I used home-grown basil in this and once the tomatoes come up this salad will actually be rather cheap to whip up. Not to mention it's about the easiest thing to make. And now I will share with you the recipe.

Brown Rice Tomatoes and Basil

Barefoot Contessa Family Style (Ina Garten)

Serves 6

1 cup Texmati brown rice

2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided

1/4 cup champagne or rice wine vinegar

2 teaspoons sugar

1 tablespoon good olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper

1 pound ripe tomatoes, large-diced

1 cup chopped basil leaves, chopped

Bring 2 1/4 cups water to a boil and add the rice and 1 teaspoon of the salt. Return to a boil, cover, and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, until the rice is tender and all the water is absorbed. Transfer the rice to a bowl.

Whisk together the vinegar, sugar, olive oil, remaining teaspoon of salt, and a pinch of pepper. Pour over the rice. Add the tomatoes and basil. Mix well and check the seasonings. Serve at room temperature.

*To make a day in advance omit the basil. Add the basil just before serving. 

 

Tea Time

Not to be confused with the football players' tee time. However, this is iced tea, so maybe they'll enjoy it at the driving range. Who knows. Anywho, iced tea can be a spot dull . . . just plain old Lipton tea bags with water and sugar. Maybe some lemon for the adventurous ones. Meh. But, leave it to Ina, to "turn up the volume" and make it a bit more exotic. She uses lemon zinger and red zinger, but honestly you could probably use whatever kind of zinger you want. The apple juice (the Martinelli's is not product placement - it really does make a difference here) sweetens it so you don't need to dump in the sugar, Splenda, Stevia or whatever else you use to make it go down easy.

I served this on Mother's Day to complement the top shelf weather at cocktail hour. I put a couple lemon slices in the tea itself and one on the pitcher's rim for garnish. So, Ma could have her iced tea and cheese, crackers, and olives. I frequent the olive bar at Whole Foods and another local store and find these olives to be far superior to those things in a jar. While not as elaborate as many of my cocktail hours, the olives, served along side brie, gouda, and "entertaining crackers" created a nice little cocktail hour.

Herbal Iced Tea

Barefoot Contessa Family Style (Ina Garten)

Serves 6-8

4 Celestial Seasonings Lemon Zinger tea bags
4 Celestial Seasonings Red Zinger tea bags
4 cups pure apple juice

Steep the 8 tea bags in 4 cups of boiling water for about 10 minutes. Discard the tea bags. Combine the tea with the apple juice and refrigerate until cold. Serve over ice.

Strawberry Sunday

For Serving Up Sarah's first sale, I made a strawberry cheesecake with fresh strawberries and strawberry jelly as the topping:

The topping takes about 5 minutes to make, depending on how fast you can slice your strawberries. You can make this with pretty much any berry you choose, but since strawberries are so big I recommend at least cutting them into halves, if not thirds. This would also go well on ice cream or regular cake I'm sure.

When you heat the jelly in the pan, make sure you take it off the heat before it turns to liquid; you want a thick liquid not something watery. Basically, you want to heat it just until the jelly is smooth (i.e. no more lumpies).

Strawberry Topping

1 pound fresh strawberries, rinsed and cut into halves or thirds

1 cup strawberry jelly (not jam)

Heat jelly over medium heat until smooth. Off the heat, combine with strawberries. Top cooled cheesecake and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Birthday Weekend

But not mine. Sister's and Aunt's. Sister went wine tasting and didn't get a dessert though. Aunt stayed in town and got herself yellow cake with chocolate frosting (upon request). This is a half sheet cake (12x18) so it serves a ton. You can use the cake and frosting recipes for a smaller cake or cupcakes. The sour cream in the cake makes keeps it from drying out in the oven and there's a spot of butter in that frosting. I've made this cake once before (also for a birthday) and decorated it with M&Ms. You could easily decorate this with just about anything from candy to fruit.

I serve this one right out of the pan, but if you decide to transfer it, just grease and flour parchment paper before pouring the batter into the pan. And of course, lest you forget, let the cake cool completely before you frost it. I like to cover it overnight and frost it the next day. A couple additions that will most likely work well: lemon or orange zest in the cake and/or some vanilla bean to either the frosting or the cake.

Sheet Cake
Barefoot Contessa Family Style (Ina Garten)
Serves 20-24

Cake
18 tablespoons (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups sugar
6 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
8 ounces (about 1 cup) sour cream, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 lemon, zested
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Frosting
24 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

For the Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 12 by 18 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan.

To make the cake, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. On medium speed, add the eggs, 2 at a time, then the sour cream, vanilla, and lemon zest, scraping down the bowl as needed. Mix well. Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir just until smooth. Finish mixing by hand to be sure the batter is well mixed. Pour evenly into the pan, smooth the top with a spatula, and bake in the center of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan to room temperature.

For the Frosting

For the frosting, place the chocolate chips and heavy cream in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chips are completely melted. Off the heat, add the corn syrup and vanilla and allow the chocolate mixture to cool to room temperature. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the chocolate mixture and softened butter on medium speed for a few minutes, until it's thickened.

Spread the frosting evenly on the cake.

PB&C

Peanut Butter and Chocolate that is. You might consider this to be the cupcake version of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. I don't know. I made them this past weekend for a friend who came to town. She immediately took one, removed the bottom, placed it on top and had herself a cupcake sandwich. Her mom apparently snuck one or two for herself - I guess they're just that good. Meanwhile, Sister, a little more traditional, got herself 4 from the batch and ate them as they were.

This recipe made 16 rather large cupcakes; next time I'll probably make a bit more icing to stretch for all 16. As always, leave that butter out over night to bring it to room temperature. It really does make all the difference. Also use the highly emulsified, processed peanut butter (like Jif or Skippy), not that natural stuff. If you want a nice decorative touch, you can chop up some peanuts and put them on top. It looks pretty and everyone will know it's peanut butter icing.

Chocolate Cupcakes and Peanut Butter Icing
Barefoot Contessa at Home (Ina Garten)
14-16 Cupcakes

Cupcakes
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 extra-large eggs at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, shaken, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
2 tablespoons brewed coffee
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup good cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and 2 sugars on high speed until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes. Lower the speed to medium, at the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, and coffee. In another bowl. sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. On low speed, add the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture alternately in thirds to the mixer bowl, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture. Mix only until blended. Fold the batter with a rubber spatula to be sure it's completely blended.

Divide the batter among the cupcake pans (one rounded standard ice cream scoop per cup is the right amount). Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from pans, and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Kathleen's Peanut Butter Icing

1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup heavy cream

Place the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high until the mixture is light and smooth.