Berries Berries Everywhere

Berries, berries everywhere!

The rain has saturated the strawberries so expect to see a lot of them at markets this week. The raspberries are also coming in strong, and the blueberries shouldn't be too far off either. There's still plenty of rhubarb to be had, so try a fresh fruit crumble or cobbler with whatever you've got on hand.

Here's my recipe for Gingered Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble:
For filling:
•1 lb rhubarb, rinsed and sliced
•1 lb strawberries, rinsed and quartered
•1/2 cup turbinado (or raw) sugar
•3 Tbsp freshly grated ginger
•3 Tbsp corn starch
•Juice of 1 lemon
For topping:
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
•1/4 lb unsalted butter, melted
•1/4 cup turbinado (or raw) sugar
•1/4 cup granulated or brown sugar
•1 tsp baking powder
•zest of 1 lemon
To Prepare:
Preheat oven to 375°; butter 8x8 or 9x9 glass baking dish or deep dish pie plate; mix together filling ingredients and pour into baking pan; mix together topping and spread evenly over the top of fruit filling. Bake for 1 hour on a baking sheet to catch any boil over from the fruit (makes oven clean up easier). Serve at room temperature or slightly warmed with fresh whipped cream and Earl Green and Lavendar tea (optional). Makes a great breakfast food! As we move through the summer fruits, keep this recipe and try it with others like blueberries, raspberries, peaches, pears, apples, etc.

Strawberry Rhubarb Creme Brulee

Beast and I have been hard at work, ok, well Beast has been sleeping a lot while I've been working a lot...
In any case we're sorry for not posting more frequently...we'll try to be better.
Our latest venture in the kitchen is Strawberry Rhubarb Creme Brulee and let me say...get out to the market this week and purchase some fresh, local, delicious strawberries and rhubarb, and don't forget the eggs...you'll need those as well.  The fruit can be prepared ahead of time so that the brulee doesn't take so long for prep time, but in this weather you may just figure that if you've got the oven on you may as well finish the project all at once.  Either way....
Ingredients:
1 lb Rhubarb rinsed and chopped into 1/4 inch slices
2 Tbsp freshly grated ginger
1 lb Strawberries, quartered
butter for greasing pan to bake fruit in
6 tbsp sugar
5 egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 3/4 cups heavy cream
1 vanilla bean
1/2 cup turbinado or superfine sugar for carmelizing
Extra strawberries for decorating
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375° then butter 8" square glass baking dish.  Toss rhubarb with grated ginger and place in baking dish.  Bake uncovered for 45 minutes then add strawberries and bake for an additional 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with 6 tbsp sugar and mix together.  Cool before either using immediately or refrigerating for later use.  If you make extra, this is an awesome topping for shortcake or ice cream, or just about anything else you can think of to put it on.
If continuing immediately, reduce heat to 325° and fill ramekins or custard cups 1/3 full with cooled fruit mixture.  Place custard cups onto sheet pan or large baking pan with sides (you'll be adding water in a bit)
Prepare custard:
Pour heavy cream into a medium sized saucepan and then split vanilla bean in half lengthwise.  Scrape vanilla into cream and then place bean pod into cream as well.  Heat over medium heat until scalded...be careful not to boil and do not stir the pan. 
In mixer: mix together egg yolks and sugar until well blended.  Once cream is scalded, add to egg and sugar mixture in a slow stream, with mixer on medium speed.  Do not mix too long, or you will form a foam that is not desirable for the brulee. 
Strain brulee into a large measuring cup or heat proof pitcher.  Divide custard evenly among ramekins filling just below the top if there is enough batter.
Fill pan with hot or boiling water to fill just halfway up the sides of the ramekins or custard cups
Bake at 325° for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes or until set.  The custard will still have some jiggle when done, and will firm up in the refrigerator. 
Carefully remove ramekins or custard cups from water bath, taking care not to drip water onto custards remaining in the bath.  Cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before refrigerating.
May be stored covered in refrigerator for up to 5 days.
To serve:  sprinkle each custard with approximately 1 tbsp turbinado or superfine sugar and use a torch to carmelize.  If you do not have a torch, place under the broiler for a couple of minutes...watch to be sure it doesn't burn.  You want it to be brown and carmelized, not blackened.
Top with a fresh strawberry fan and indulge!
While this sounds hard, it is a great way to impress friends, family and company by using what's fresh and local for a tasty treat.
Tip:  Don't know what to do with the leftover egg whites?  Here's a couple of suggestions:  Make an egg white omelet for breakfast...make some meringue cookies or use them for a meringue topping for a pie.  Surf the web for ideas on uses for egg whites...regardless, don't waste the fantastic local organic eggs you purchased at market!

Bagels

My breadmaking ventures have now branched out to bagels.  I wish I had known earlier how simple they are to make!  Each week before heading off to the Farmer's Market I put together a batch and pop them in the oven to proof.  By the time I return from the market the bagels are ready to shape, boil and bake.  Alltogether they only take about 2 hours until good eats.

Our favorite flavor is Everything Bagels and I mix up my own everything mix using 2 tbsp each of the following: Dried garlic flakes, dried onion flakes, toasted sesame seeds, poppy seeds, kosher salt, and then I add a couple grinds of black pepper to the mix.  Stir it up and top bagels before baking...delicious!

Here's a simple bagel recipe to try for your first venture: http://hubpages.com/hub/Homemade_bagel_recipe_Make_great_nadrolled_water_bagels__its_as_easy_as_baking_a_loaf_of_bread
Bring on the cream cheese and have a great start to your weekend!

Asparagus-Sweet Asparagus!!!

Beast's Kitchen has been on a hiatus while I've been in training at my new job at Sub-Zero and Wolf Appliance.  Soon I'll be moving home and working part-time from home and will have more time with Beast, who misses me dearly, and for writing.
This morning is a bit dreary in Madtown, but it was well worth getting out for the early spring Asparagus at the Dane County Farmer's Market.  I wait for this time of year all winter and don't really even care that the average price for the first couple of weeks is $5/lb.
I am in heaven...today I'll be grilling fresh local asparagus coated with olive oil and lemon zest--it doesn't get much better!
And I heard from one of the farmers that the morels should be early too...maybe even as soon as next week.  I expect those will run around $30/lb for the early ones, but what could be better than morels sauteed in garlic butter with a side of grilled asparagus-Delish!

Corned Beef Time

It's time again for Corned Beef for St Paddy's Day
Last year I tried corning my brisket myself and we thought it was pretty fun, so I'm doing it again this year.  If you get started today you still have time to corn your own brisket in time for St. Patrick's Day.
Here's the recipe again--the best part is you can use an organic, pasture raised local brisket...
Here's the recipe I used--I mix my own pickling spices, but you can purchase pickling spices already mixed at the store as well. I used a 3-lb brisket but this brine is sufficient for up to 8 lbs of brisket.


For the brine:
Place the following ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until the salt and sugar are dissolved in the mixture. Take off heat and cool before using.
6 cups water
2 cups amber beer
1 1/2 cups kosher salt
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup pickling spices

Recipe for pickling spices:
1 t allspice berries
1 t coriander seed
1 t dill seeds
1 t ground mace
1/2 t cardamom seed
1/2 t yellow mustard seed
1/2 t brown mustard seed
6 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick, crushed
2-1" pieces dried ginger
1 bay leaf, crushed
1 t black peppercorns

Trim any excess fat off the brisket and pierce all over so that the brine will soak in better. Place brisket in a glass or plastic container and cover with brine. Weight down the brisket with a couple of plates so that it stays submerged and refrigerate. Ideally you want to brine the brisket for 10 days, but can do as few as 4. On the 4th, and 8th day remove the brisket from the brine and rinse it with water and then place it back into the brine. On the last day rinse the brisket before slow cooking. Brisket is a meat that is best served by slowly braising over a low temperature. A slow cooker is perfect. Just place the brisket and any desired vegetables in the pot and add a couple of cups of liquid (I'm using stout beer), cover and leave it for several hours. It should be fork tender when you get back to it. If you don't have a slow cooker or crockpot, you can achieve he same thing in a covered dutch oven or roasting pot in the oven at about 225° for about 6 hours.

Enjoy!

Breakfast Pizza with Farmer's Market Ingredients

Recently I've made a couple of breakfast pizzas with ingredients fresh from the Dane County Farmer's Market.  They might just be Tim's new favorite....after breakfast cheesecake, of course.

The first one was inspired by some leftover dough from pizza night the previous evening and I topped it with queso, sauteed baby bella mushrooms, spinach, artichoke hearts, scrambled eggs and cheese.  It was divine.
The second one I made with an herbed crust rolled super thin, and topped it with queso, sauteed onions and spinach, bacon, scrambled eggs and cheese.  It too was quite good, but we preferred the first version more for some reason. 

A tip if you try this:  scramble the eggs soft because they'll cook more in the oven as the pizza cooks and you don't want them to end up rubbery.

Ambergeddon Beer Cheese Soup

March 1: Beer Day
(Tim says every day is beer day...)
Check out my recipe for Ambergeddon Beer Cheese Soup on Examiner.com here:
Ambergeddon Beer Cheese Soup
Cheers to Beer Day!