Pampers and Paklava

Get savvy with sage: Rustic Sage Pesto Recipe

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Sage. Oh how I love its silver-gray leaves, its earthy, herbaceous scent and how plentifully it grows in my garden! This spring my herb box overfloweth with sage: large-leaf, small-leaf, purple and variegated. I have them all. And maybe a bit more of them than I need, which means…it’s time to make Sage Pesto!

I make a lot of pesto because the possibilities of what to do with it are endless:  stir into risotto, slather over shish-kebab, smear on bruschetta, tuck inside an omelet, mix into salad dressing, garnish a soup. I also make a lot of pesto because I grow a lot of herbs. Sage, thyme, rosemary, oregano, and basil (in summertime) grace my herb boxes. And once you’ve tasted garden-fresh herbs, it’s impossible to go back to using dried.

Sage Pesto Recipe

Pesto recipes are plentiful and while they all incorporate many of the same ingredients–olive oil, herbs, garlic, cheese, nuts–there are infinite ways you can mix and match to create your own unique pesto recipe. Change up your nuts. I lean toward pine nuts for most of my pesto recipes but walnuts, almonds or even hazelnuts can be used.  Add a touch of mint to brighten things up, a few tablespoons of lemon juice or grated lemon zest. Cheese can be traditional Parmesan (Parmigiano-Reggiano) but you can also try Asiago, Pecorino, Romano or Spanish Manchego.

You can also vary the texture of your pesto. Run your ingredients through a blender or food processor and you’ll wind up with creamy pesto, whereas if you chop the ingredients by hand you’ll have a more gritty, rustic pesto. I’ve come to really enjoy pesto made this way.

However you make it, pesto is one of the most versatile condiments around! Here’s my recipe for hand-chopped, rustic sage pesto.

Rustic Sage Pesto Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup sage
  • 1/3 cup flat leaf (Italian) parsley
  • 1/3-2/3 cup pine nuts, depending on how nutty you like your pesto
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated
  • 1/4  cup Pecorino-Romono cheese, grated
  • 1/2 cup virgin olive oil (or to your preferred consistency)
  • Optional: sprinkle of coarse Kosher salt to taste

How to

I like to toast my pine nuts. If you choose to do this, brown them in a dry saute pan, but be careful not to burn them. Next, get out a big wooden cutting board and bit by bit chop the sage, parsley, pine nuts, garlic and Parmigiano-Reggiano. I find the best way to go about this is start with a half-cup of combined dry ingredients, adding more until all the dry ingredients have been coarsely chopped. You can chop your ingredients with a knife or, better yet, try a mezzaluna, is a single or double curved blade with a handle on each end. A half-moon shaped pizza cutter also works nicely. After everything is coarsely chopped, drizzle in the olive oil, stirring to combine.

If you’re not up for hand-chopping–though you really should try it–combine the sage, parsley, pine nuts and garlic in the bowl food processor or blender and process to the consistency you prefer. Then, with the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil, adding more olive oil for a creamier consistency.  Thoroughly mix in the Parmigiano-Reggiano. Add salt to taste if desired.

Note: You can store your pesto in the refrigerator for up to a week or freeze it–a lovely thing to defrost in the middle of winter when some herbs are sparse.

 

garden sage pesto

It’s all about the journey,

Beth

Anoush Abour Recipe: Armenian Christmas Pudding

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Anoush Abour means “sweet soup” in Armenian. This dish has graced New Year’s and Christmas tables in Armenia for centuries and most likely predates Christmas itself.

Anoush Abour Armenian Christmas Pudding

But wait, you say. Christmas was last week, December 25. Not so if you are Armenian. December 31 kicks off the holiday festivities with Father Christmas visiting on New Year’s Eve and Christmas itself taking place on January 6.

While most Armenians are in agreement on the date when Christmas is celebrated, if you ask ten people how to make Anoush Abour, you’ll get ten different answers. Usually, when I make a new dish, I do a bit of online research to compare recipes–which, I confess, can take up hours of time! I am always amazed at the myriad ways people make “the same thing.”

Almost all the recipes I saw for Anoush Abour use apricots and golden raisins and almonds were the most frequently mentioned nuts. Sometimes honey was used and other times sugar…or no sweetener at all. Pistachios, pine nuts, walnuts, hazelnuts (filberts) and pecans were all game. Almonds might be slivered or whole and blanched. Pomegranate seeds? Some say yes; others say no. The same goes for rosewater, orange flower water and cinnamon.

Many of the Anoush Abour recipes call for “skinless whole wheat” or gorgos or korkot. I’ve been told you can find it in Middle Eastern grocery stores, but I have not looked for it. I have also seen this grain referred to as “pelted wheat or pearled wheat.” From what I’ve gathered, the most likely grains to use for this recipe–broadly available in the U.S.–are  white wheat berries or pearled barley.

Instructions for how to make Anoush Abour also vary from how to cook the dried fruit to whether the top of the dish should be decorated with nuts in a recognizable pattern. One recipe mentioned setting whole blanched almonds on top, in the shape of a star. Another said that, traditionally, women would use almonds to write the number of the new year.

barley cooking

However you make it, Anoush Abour is a delicious way to ring in the New Year. Here’s my take on the recipe:

Anoush Abour

Ingredients

  • 1 cup white wheat berries or pearled barley (I chose barley because my husband can’t eat wheat. Barley does have gluten, which isn’t an issue for him, but wheat is a no-no.)
  • 8 cups water
  • 2/3 cup honey or 1 cup sugar (I like honey myself)
  • 1 cup apricots, finely chopped, or other dried fruit such as peaches
  • 1 cup golden raisins
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 cup pistachios, chopped
  • 1/3 cup pine nuts

Garnish

  • 1/2 cup finely chopped hazelnuts (filberts)
  • 3/4 cup slivered almonds
  • Pomegranate seeds

Note: You can use any combination of nuts you prefer.

Optional

  • Ground cinnamon to taste
  • A few tablespoons of rosewater or orange flower water

dried fruit cookingHow to

  1. In a large pot, combine wheat (or barley) and water. Bring to a boil for five minutes, and then cover and simmer on very low heat for an hour. When the hour is up, set the pot aside for 5-6 hours, or overnight for the grains to soften and the “soup” to thicken. Note: Anoush Abour is more like a pudding or porridge than a soup in terms of its consistency.
  2. On low heat, in a small saucepan, add dried fruit, honey (or sugar) and one cup water. Stir occasionally until nearly all the water is absorbed. Add pistachios and pine nuts. Simmer for another 10 minutes. Thoroughly drain and cool.
  3. The next morning (or six hours later), mix the sweetened fruit and nuts into the (now room temperature) barley.
  4. Add two tablespoons rosewater.
  5. Cook the combined ingredients over low heat for 10 minutes. Your Anoush Abour should be thick but not dry.
  6. Pour into a serving dish or bowl.
  7. Garnish with hazelnuts, slivered almonds and pomegranate seeds (You want to garnish when the dish is warm and a bit sticky).
  8. Serve slightly warm or cooled to room temperature (and you can store it in the refrigerator for up to one week).

Anoush Abour 2016 Armenian Christmas Pudding

My 2016 be filled with sweetness.

Shnorhavor Nor Tari—Happy New Year from Pampers and Pakhlava

Take the road less traveled, Beth

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Seven year soup

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When you’re down and troubled
And you need some love and care
And nothing, nothing is going right
Close your eyes and think of me
And soon I will be there
To brighten up even your darkest night

~Carol King, You’ve Got A Friend

Dee-and-me

I count myself lucky. I’ve had many wonderful friendships in my lifetime, but I was especially blessed to have had this one. One friend who knew me from the time I was a little girl until the time I was a grown and married woman. Forty-four years of friendship. Neighbors across the street when we were six and college housemates when we were twenty.

Housemates and friends. Me and Dee. Living together. Cooking together.

I still love to cook and I’m certain the roots of my passion go back to the days when Dee and I scoured the Moosewood Cookbook for recipes. The first edition was published in 1977, the year I graduated from high school. Moosewood was the seminal vegetarian cookbook.  And–lucky us–since Moosewood Restaurant was just down the hill from the house we rented in Ithaca, NY.

As Cornell University undergraduates, we didn’t dine out very often and, when we did, it was a huge treat. Most of the time we cooked Moosewood recipes in our tiny kitchen on College Avenue. Spanakopita. Vegetable Stroganoff. Cauliflower Cheese Pie with grated Potato Crust. Countless simple, delicious recipes.

But the undeniable favorite, our signature dish if you will, was Mushroom Barley Soup. It was the first soup I ever shared with Dee and also the last. She made this soup for Joel and I, when we visited her home outside Boston, a year before she died from breast cancer.

On this day, for seven years now, I make this soup and remember her. Life may be short, but the memory of a good friend lives on.

Dee and Beth

Ain’t it good to know, you’ve got a friend.

Mushroom Barley Soup from the Moosewood Cookbook

Serves 8

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup uncooked pearl barley
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2-1 teaspoon salt
  • 3-4 tablespoons tamari  or soy sauce
  • 4 tablespoons dry sherry
  • 6-1/2 cups stock or water
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 medium cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced
  • fresh ground black pepper

Preparation

  1. Cook barley in 1-1/2 cups of the stock or water in a large saucepan or Dutch oven. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer until barley is tender (20-30 minutes). Add remaining stock or water, tamari and sherry.
  2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a skillet. Add the onions and garlic. Sauté for about 5 minutes over medium heat. Add mushrooms, and salt. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until everything is very tender (about 10-12 minutes).
  3. Add the sauté with all its liquid to the cooked barley. Add fresh ground black pepper to taste and simmer, partially covered, for another 20 minutes.

Just like my friendship, the Moosewood Cookbook is over forty years old. Last fall, 2014, The Moosewood Cookbook: 40th Year Edition was published. I’ve read that some of the recipes have changed from the original 1977 edition. You can buy it here:

Gluten Free Gnocchi Margherita Recipe

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I’m always on the lookout for new gluten free products since Big Papa can’t eat wheat. When I saw Cappello’s Gluten Free (and dairy, grain and soy free) gnocchi at our local Central Coop, I was pretty excited.

Cappellos gluten free gnocchi

Although gnocchi, soft dough dumplings are typically made with potato as a base, wheat flour is also added. Cappello’s gnocchi uses potato flakes, along with almond flour and tapioca flour so not only is it gluten free, it’s grain free.

Potato flakes and almond flour gnocchi Cappello's

Gnocchi aside, I had a bowl full of garden fresh tomatoes and plenty of fresh basil longing to be featured in a dinner recipe. And, home-grown garlic!

ally and garden tomatoes

Wallingford was my tomato inspector. He thought they looked pretty tasty. A tomato eating cat? Don’t put it past him. He ate cooked mushrooms last week.

Wally and garden tomatoes, basil and mozzarella

Of course the addition of mozzarella cheese balls made this dish irresistible to our feline family member, so Wally had to sit out the rest of dinner prep in the bathroom.

Capellos gluten free gnocchi Margherita

So delicious! Summer on a plate. Here’s the recipe:

Gnocchi Margherita

Ingredients:

  • 12 ounce packaged or homemade gnocchi
  • 2 cups halved cherry  or other small to medium-size tomatoes
  • 1 cup mozzarella bocconcini  (1 inch diameter mozzarella balls) or cilegine (cherry-size balls).
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons minced garlic
  • 1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
  • 1/2 cup tomato sauce–optional, but I wanted a bit more tomato-y goodness and I love our local Cucina Fresca Marinara
  • salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste
  • fresh basil or garnish
  • shaved (or grated) Parmesan for garnish (or Asagio and Romano, I use a combination)

How to:

  1. Place the cut tomatoes and mozzarella in a bowl and set aside.
  2. Cook the gnocchi according to the package directions. Drain and set aside.
  3. Warm 1/2 cup tomato sauce (optional).
  4. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.
  5. Add the garlic-infused oil to the pasta and then toss in the tomato mozzarella mixture.
  6. Stir in the tomato sauce (if using).
  7. Stir in basil.
  8. Season with salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes.
  9. Garnish with fresh basil and shaved Parmesan.

Facelli Sangiovese 2009

All that was needed was a bottle of wine to pair with our Gnocchi Margherita and Facelli Winery’s 2009 Sangiovese fit the bill. A bit of fruit, light tannins and enough acidity to stand up to our delicious cherry tomatoes. The perfect pasta wine!

And if you want to read more about all things Pampers, follow me on Facebook, Twitter or RSS/email.

Take the road less traveled, Beth

Armenian Cucumber – Jajik Recipe

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Our garden in August. And look what grew in it. My first Armenian cucumber, measuring 20 inches nose to tail!

Our garden in August

The first thing you should know about the Armenian cucumber is that it is not really a cucumber at all! It is a member of C. Pepo family along with muskmelons and honeydew. Also known as yard-long cucumbers, snake cucumbers, and snake melon, Armenian cucumbers are long, slender, not bitter, burpless, easy to digest, can be eaten with the skin still on, and…taste like a cucumber.
Although they can grow be be a couple feet long, they are best harvested when they reach 12 to 18 inches. I’ve also read the fruit will grow straighter if grown on a trellis than on the ground, where the fruit is often crooked. But obviously that wasn’t the case for our straight, lean and long cuke.
Armenian cucumber
What I should do with my cucumber was my next question. I entertained several ideas: cucumber salad, cucumber salsa and Jajik, a cucumber and yogurt dip. I decided on Jajik, though now that I noticed another whopper of a cuke growing in the garden, I might be able to try a different recipe very soon.
Armenian cucumber cut
Jajik
Ingredients:
  • 1 long, seedless cucumber, washed and peeled. You can use an English cucumber if you don’t have an Armenian cucumber.
  • 2 cups plain yogurt. I used a thicker “Greek-style” yogurt…if I had access to Armenian matzoon, that would be my go-to
  • 1 clove garlic, squeezed through a garlic press or mashed
  • Dash salt
  • 2 teaspoons crushed mint. I prefer fresh but you can use dried (and I use spearmint, not peppermint). I have seen some recipes that also use cilantro or thyme.

How to:

  • Cut the cucumber in quarters, lengthwise. Slice each section into thin pieces. Mine were not sliced thin but I will do this next time I make this dish. I have also seen some recipes where the cucumber is grated.
  • Stir the cucumbers into the yogurt and mix in the garlic, salt and mint.
  • Garnish with fresh sprigs of mint.

Jajik

Some recipes add water to the yogurt and the Jajik then becomes more of a soup. I wanted mine to be thicker because I was serving it alongside spiced ground lamb and potatoes.

Armenian cucumber lamb potatoes

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Take the road less traveled, Beth

Pea and morel risotto recipe with herbs and limoncello

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Hello summer! Earlier this week, we had a lovely dinner with a risotto recipe I invented. Our petit pois (French green peas) were ready for picking, morel mushrooms were at the market, lemon verbena and spearmint were happily growing in our herb beds and, well, there was that bottle of limoncello.

Peas, morels, spearmint, lemon verbena

Most of the time, when I make risotto, I finish with 1/4 cup of dry sherry, but for this recipe I decided to add limoncello as a complement to the Lemon Verbena from my garden. I will say straight up: I am generally not a sweet drink person but I love Limoncello, especially over ice with a spritz of my local fav, DRY Lavender Soda. I have tried several Limoncellos over the years and Letterpress Limoncello is the bomb! Seriously, this is the best Limoncello I’ve ever tasted. Zingy lemon, not cloyingly sweet–Letterpress uses Washington Blackberry honey instead of simple syrup–no artificial colors. And…made in Seattle. Plus, I am a sucker for their label. I’ve always had a soft-spot for letterpress printing.

Lemonpress Limoncello

Pea and morel risotto recipe with herbs and lemoncello

Ingredients

Note: I notoriously cook without measuring, so the measurements here are approximate. I am of the if-you-like-more peas/mint/limoncello, use more peas/mint/limoncello school.

  • 1/2 cup sweet peas (I used Petit Pois, a French sweet pea), shelled
  • 3/4 cup Morel mushrooms, depending on size, sliced
  • 1 cup Arborio rice (if you can find carnaroli, vialone or another Italian “risotto” rice, you can use those as well)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil or cooking oil
  • 1 quart (4 cups) Chicken or vegetable broth
  • 2 tablespoons Mint (spearmint), finely minced
  • 2 tablespoons Lemon Verbena, finely minced
  •  2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • 14/ cup Limoncello (Letterpress Limoncello I love you!)
  • 1/4-1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (I used grated Parmigiano Reggiano Mitica and shaved Belgioioso)

How to:

Simmer broth in a sauce pan. In a separate pan (Dutch oven or similar) heat oil over medium heat and add risotto. I personally like to cook mine over dry heat until it starts to brown and crackle a bit, but you don’t need to. Add 1/2 cup of the broth, stirring frequently, until all the broth is absorbed. Repeat, adding 1/2 cup of broth until the 4 cups are nearly gone and your risotto is creamy and soft (but with a bit of tooth to it). This will take about 20-30 minutes.

Add peas, morel mushrooms and lemoncello and cook until the lemoncello is absorbed (another 5 minutes). Turn off the heat, add the mint, lemon verbena and 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano), fresh lemon juice. Stir, cover and let the risotto sit for five minutes. Serve risotto in bowls (my personal preference) and top with shaved Parmesan.

Pea morel risotto with fresh herbs and limoncello

This risotto was one of those: Oh-my-god-this-is-so-amazing-I-simply-cannot-stop-eating it recipes. I made myself a limoncello and lavender soda cocktail to go along with our risotto, sat with my sweetheart on our deck looking out over our garden, enjoying a lovely Seattle summer evening. It doesn’t get much better!

And if you want to read more about all things Pampers, follow me on Facebook, Twitter or RSS/email.

Take the road less traveled, Beth

Gluten Free Apple Pie Recipe

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Gluten free apple pie

Our first Family Pie Day was a huge success. Big Papa, Little Bird and I got busy in the kitchen with our local cousins, and made Gluten free Apple Pie, from scratch, with apples from our trees!

Big Papa and I had already prepared the gluten-free dough that we would use to make two 9″ crusts. Remember this dimension. It will become important later. We used Bob’s Red Mill ‘Gluten Free Pie Crust (Thanks, Bob!) and the real deal when it came to solid fats (I’m talking to you, butter, and you shortening). You can find the recipe we followed, right on the package of the pie crust mix, here.

Apple pie cutting in butter

Apple pie making dough

Apple pie dough ready to chill

Now back to Family Pie Day. First came the donning of the aprons. Here are the girls! Little Bird’s apron was once her cousin’s.

The girls and their aprons

And the boys. With their aprons, and…

The boys and their aprons

…their tape measure. More on this shortly.

The boys and their aprons and tape measure

First we cut our apples, emphasis on ours. If you want to read more about growing espalier apples, check out my post, here. I couldn’t be prouder of our first big apple crop. We used a variety of less-than-beauty-pageant-ready apples: some tart, others sweet; some crisp, others tender. Peeled, cored and blemishes removed, they looked mighty fine for pie-making!

Apples!

The recipe we chose called for an optional tablespoon of brandy, and Calvados (apple brandy from the French region of Lower Normandy), was recommended…if you have it. Which, in fact, we did. I’ve been waiting for the perfect moment to use the little bottle we got on one of our flights to France. Oh how we love you, Air France with your delicious airplane food (as airplane food goes), free champagne and brandy. We added a tablespoon (okay, maybe two) to our pie filling. I taste-tested the Calvados first to make sure our brandy was still “good.” It was very good.

Calvados

Next we needed to roll out the dough. This is the place in the apple pie making process where–depending on your point of view–having two engineers in the kitchen is either a blessing or a curse.

We rolled.

Rolling out the crust

We measured.

Measuring the crust

We rolled some more.

Our little roller

And we measured. Both engineers were at the ready to measure, and remeasure, until we were sure–very sure–that our crust would meet the 12-inch recommended size, in order to fit into the 9-inch pie pan. I imagine the boys probably left some margin for error, and I’m also certain the margin was very small. Finally it was time to pour our pie filling into the crust, and top the pie off with the second crust. After brushing the crust with an egg wash and cutting a few slits in the top, our Family Pie was ready for baking in our (new!) oven.

Apple pie coming together

Pie gets a top crust

Then we retired to the living room to wait while the magic of pie baking transpired. Let the bead making commence.

Beading bracelets

Beaded bracelets

And the dancing.

Dancing 3

Dancing

Dancing 2

This is what everyone does while waiting for pie to bake, right? At last, the buzzer let us know our Family Pie was ready to eat. The pie came out of the oven and what a lovely pie it was.

Homemade apple pie

So we all retired to the dining room, took a seat, a slice of pie, a scoop of ice cream and a glass of wine.

“Dada, can I have some wine?” “No, sweetie.”

This pie, our pie, was THE BEST PIE I’ve ever tasted. Maybe it was the homegrown apples? Or the made from scratch gluten free crust? Or the Calvados, all the way from France? Or maybe it was simply because we all lent a hand–literally–to create our Family Pie.

Gluten-free apple pie

To family and to pie!

Take the road less traveled, Beth

Vin Chaud: Mulled Wine Recipe

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A blustery day in Paris, chilly even. Ominous clouds loom. People begin to put on their jackets and open parapluie to guard against the rain. Your mood feels a bit gray.

Then you remember. You’re in PARIS, nestled under cover at a sidewalk cafe in the Tuileries. Autumn leaves dress the surroundings in rich hues of red and gold. You feel as though you are in La Musique aux Tuiliereis, Manet’s famous painting. You’re dining on French cheese, a baguette and a fresh pear. And…you’re drinking Vin Chaud. mulled wine, the perfect accompagnement for a day just like this. In fact, Vin Chaud almost makes you wish for a day like this.

Tuileries on a gray day

Mulled means to heat, sweeten, and flavor with spices for drinking, as ale or wine. Mulled wine is a global tradition with myriad recipe permutations. Glögg (Sweden), Glühwein (German), Vin Brulé (Italian), Negus (English), Navegado (Spanish), Forralt Bor (Hungarian), Wassail (also English)… and Vin Chaud (France). The common denominator is wine, red or white, sometimes fortified (adding a distilled spirit such as brandy), sometimes not, infused with spices and served warm.

The process of mulling wine goes back centuries. Hippocras, a drink made from wine mixed with sugar and spices, usually including cinnamon, and possibly heated, was a spiced wine popular in the Roman Empire, as seen in the writings of Pliny the Elder and Apicius. After steeping the spices in the sweetened wine for a day, the spices are strained out through a conical cloth filter bag called a manicum hippocraticum or Hippocratic sleeve (originally devised by the 5th century BC Greek physician Hippocrates to filter water). Apparently, the recipe for hippocras was brought back to Europe from the Orient, following the crusades. The drink became extremely popular and was regarded as having various medicinal or even aphrodiasiac properties.

Mulled wine and cheese in Paris

You can use any fruity, though not overly sweet, red wine (or white if you’re not a red wine drinker) to make Vin Chaud. I suggest going light on the tannins. The wine doesn’t need to be expensive, just something you find drinkable. Your ideal mulling wine is an inexpensive burgundy, petite syrah, tempranillo, beaujolais, malbec or other “middle-of-the-road” red. If you’re going white, try an aromatic white wine like Riesling, Muscat (moscato) or Chenin Blanc. The recipe, below, also features a finishing splash of cognac. You could substitute any eau de vie, port or brandy, but Cognac seemed appropriate since I’m writing about a drink I enjoyed in Paris.

Mulled wine vin chaud

Vin Chaud: Mulled Wine Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 1 bottle fruity red wine
  • 1/4 cup honey or 4 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 5 black peppercorns or a pinch of ground pepper
  • 2 cardamom pods
  • 1 star anise
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 5 whole cloves
  • 1/3 cup Cognac (or another eau de vie, port or brandy of your choice) — optional
  • 1 piece of orange zest (white pith removed), a few inches long, per glass

Note: There are myriad combinations of spices for mulled wine. Some people like to add a cinnamon stick or two, and others prefer a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg. If you want less of a zing, you could omit the peppercorn. And, while I have access to fresh bay leaves, you could use dry or forgo.

How to:

Use a nonreactive cooking pot or saucepan. Add spices and honey (or sugar) and simmer. Do not allow to boil. Turn off the stove and let the wine simmer 10-15 minutes. Reheat and, just before serving, add the cognac (or eau de vie). If you prefer your mulled wine with a tad less alcoholic punch, you can omit the cognac altogether, or add a tablespoon or two to the glass or mug and ladle the mulled wine over it. Strain wine into heat-proof serving glass or mug, removing spices (although you can leave the spices in, just don’t eat them). Garnish with a strip of orange zest.

Take the road less traveled, Beth

Huckleberry-Lavender Ice Cream Recipe

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Huckleberries and lavender

Huckleberry bush

A few years ago, I had a huckleberry bush growing in a pot in our garden. A lovely plant: evergreen, copper-colored new growth, adorable bell-shaped flowers followed by delicious fruit. My huckleberry was doing very nicely, until, suddenly it wasn’t.

When I saw fresh huckleberries at the farmers market in my neighborhood, I was elated. I should mention I bought the last pint the vendor had. The berry gods had smiled upon me!

Huckleberries can be used to create so many delicious dishes. All things sweet like jam, pie, pancakes and muffins. And huckleberries also make the perfect foil for salmon–a bear’s dream. I decided to whip up a batch of Huckleberry Ice Cream with a lavender cream base.  Oh my word. That ice cream was the bomb.

What’s the best way to get your hands on fresh huckleberries? You can sometimes find huckleberries at your local farmers market, like I did, if you’re lucky. Or if you’re game for a hike, and live in Washington State, the Washington Trails Association (WTA) has a list of huckleberry hikes, which you can find here. Mid-August through September is the ideal time to pick. Do remember that huckleberries are also a favorite treat of black bears. And of course, you can also grow them.

So guess what I’m going to buy tomorrow at the garden store? A huckleberry bush.

Huckleberry lavender ice cream base

Huckleberry-Lavender Ice Cream Recipe

Ingredients

  • 3 cups heavy cream
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 tablespoon culinary lavender
  • 6 large egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup huckleberries

Making the ice cream

  1. Heat the heavy cream, milk, and lavender buds in a medium saucepan, until it begins to bubble.
  2. Remove pan from heat, cover, and let the lavender steep for 30 minutes. Pour the mixture through a strainer to remove the lavender.
  3. Return the milk to the saucepan and heat until it almost reaches a boil.
  4. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until they become thick and pale. Slowly add the hot milk to the eggs, whisking constantly.
  5. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, continuously stirring until the mixture coats the back of the spoon (2-3 minutes). Remove from heat, pour the mixture through a strainer, and cool completely (either in the refrigerator in in a prepared ice bath). Stir in the vanilla, and fold in the huckleberries.
  6. Process in an ice-cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions and store in freezer for up to one week.

 

Huckleberry lavender ice cream recipe

Take the road less traveled, Beth

Three great plum recipes

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Greengage plums in our treeLast summer we took down five trees: two poplars that were far too big for our tiny yard, two Greengage plum trees and one apple tree. The fruit trees were horribly pruned and in a poor spot for fruit production, but I was still sad to see them go.

The last tree left standing from our “old yard” is a Greengage Plum. As much as the suckers it sends every which way drive me crazy, I couldn’t part with that tree. Why? Because its fruit is plum spectacular.

The Greengage is a European plum which was introduced into England by Sir Thomas Gage in the early 16th century. They have a Granny-Smith apple color that belies their flavor: sweet, with just a touch of tart. In fact until Big Papa met me, the fruit fell to the ground uneaten–he thought the plums weren’t ripe because they were “still green.”

Every year, when they ripen, I make a few sweet treats with our plums. This year I decided to bake a rustic gluten-free pie. I gussied it up with lemon verbena from our herb garden and a candied ginger for pizazz. Read on for this great plum recipe as well as two others below.

Greengage Plum Pie with Lemon Verbena and Candied Ginger

Gluten-free Plum Pie Recipe (with lemon verbena and candied ginger)

Crust

I bought my gluten-free crust pre-made because I have a three-year-old. You could do the same. But a homemade crust is the bomb.

  • 1 cup gluten-free flour* (or regular flour), plus more for work surface
  • 1/4 cup fine yellow cornmeal
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Note: Crusts with gluten-free flour will be more crumbly (homemade or purchased), which is why I didn’t fold over the edge of my crust.

Make the crust: In a food processor, pulse flour, cornmeal, sugar to combine. Add butter and continue pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, with a few pea-size pieces remaining. If you don’t have a food processor, you can mix pie crust with your hands, two forks or knives, or a pastry mixer. Add 2 tablespoons ice water; pulse until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed. (If needed, add up to 2 tablespoons more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.) Do not over-mix.

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead it once or twice. Then press the dough into a round, somewhat flat shape; Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Flour a large piece of parchment paper. Place dough on the paper. Roll out the dough, using your knuckles apply pressure to the edges so it won’t crack. Lightly flour the top of dough to prevent sticking. Roll out your dough (to about 14′ diameter). Transfer dough (leave it on the parchment) to a prepared baking sheet.

Egg wash for crust

  • 1 large egg yolk, mixed with 1 teaspoon water (I didn’t do this with a purchased crust, but would if I made my own).

Lemon Verbena and Candied GingerGreengage plum filling

  • 1 1/2 pounds green-gage plum, or any type of plums, pitted, and sliced (I cut each plum-half into four pieces, but you can also cut them thinner)
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar (you can also use white sugar)
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (I used Maninis gluten -free flour)
  • A few tablespoons chopped fresh lemon verbena (or lemon balm)
  • A few tablespoons of chopped candied ginger

Make the filling: In a large bowl, toss together plums, sugar, and flour. Put the plum mixture in center of prepared crust, in a mound, and leave a 2-inch edge. Fold the edge over fruit. Brush dough with egg wash. Sprinkle lemon verbena and candied ginger on top of the plum filling.

Bake: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake tart until crust is brown and filling is bubbling, about 45 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to a rack and cool for 20 minutes. Slice and serve warm or at room temperature (with ice cream, in my opinion!).

Greengage Plum Pie with Lemon Verbena and Candied Ginger

Plum Crumble Recipe

Plum crumbleIf you’re not into crusts, then Plum Crumble might be the recipe for you. My crumble topping uses oats, hazelnuts and candied ginger (yes, I love that stuff).

Plum Chutney Recipe

Plum chutneyOr, if you’re looking for something sweet and savory to toss over fish or chicken, Plum Chutney is the way to go. I use star anise, mustard, cloves, cinnamon, Walla Walla sweet onions and ginger (fresh, not candied, for this recipe).

And if you want to make some delicious ice cream to go with your pie, here are three of my favorite recipes: Heavenly Honey Ice Cream, Bay Laurel Ice Cream, and Cinnamon-Clove Ice Cream.

Take the road less traveled, Beth