Rhubarb Crisp/Crumble

Despite all this avowed loyalty to the southwestern lands of the US, I am and always will be a midwesterner at heart. Living in Michigan during my "formative years", I was able to experience the joys of a garden that, in the summer time, bestowed all kinds of delicious fruit and vegetables. Although I was more than on board with picking and eating the berries or snap peas directly from my mother's well-tended garden, I was always wary of the large celery-type looking thing that was rhubarb. It didn't help matters that my mother had warned me off the stuff by saying that the leaves were poisonous.
Why would anyone eat such a thing?

She would attempt to incorporate it into various summer pies or cobblers, but my mind was resolutely made up that no quasi-posionous foot item that so resembled a vegetable could possibly be delicious.

This opinion stuck with until my move to England, where I found it incorporated into all number of desserts, usually served with custard or cream. And thus only recently did I discover the joys of fresh summer rhubarb, made better still by combining it with sugar, rolled oats, and cinnamon. The crumble or crisp being one of my favorite desserts, when Bittman came up with this easy beauty of a rhurbarb crumble, I couldn't pass it up. Although it was in season when I made this, I still worried that my "Tesco-sourced" rhubarb would be too tart for the scant amount of sugar that Bittman includes with the recipe. So I upped it by about 1/4 cup.
Tell me adding sugar to anything is wrong.
Go ahead, tell me.

Rhubarb Crisp/Crumble

Time: About 1 hour, largely unattended

Ingredients

6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces, plus more for greasing the pan

2 1/2 to 3 pounds rhubarb, trimmed, tough strings removed, and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces (about 5 to 6 cups)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon orange or lemon juice
1 teaspoon orange or lemon zest
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, or to taste
Pinch salt
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup pecans.

Preparation

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8- or 9-inch square baking or gratin dish with a little butter. Toss rhubarb with white sugar, orange or lemon juice and zest, and spread in baking dish.
2. Put the 6 tablespoons butter in a food processor along with brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt, and pulse for about 20 or 30 seconds, until it looks like small peas and just begins to clump together. Add oats and pecans and pulse just a few times to combine.
3. Crumble the topping over rhubarb and bake until golden and beginning to brown, 45 to 50 minutes.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

Coconut Cookies: Two Ways!

A friend of mine had a birthday recently and she is helplessly addicted to coconut. While I had originally planned to make coconut macaroons for her, I discovered only too late that what I thought was shredded coconut in my pantry (the ingredient called for by the recipe) was instead powdered coconut "cream". I was a bit worried but curious how it would turn out if I used it instead.
Lo and behold it worked like a charm!
And then, in a mood of particular curiosity and wanting to use up all other coconut products I had lying around (as you do...) I used dried coconut milk as a substitute ingredient for the next batch which came out as an entirely different cookie and consistency. But just as delicious! The powdered coconut milk kept the cookie moist in the middle but still retained a firm shape and coconut flavor. These are great recipes if you only want a few cookies and not an entire tray full. Enjoy!

Coconut Macaroons (Amended)

Ingredients

1 egg white
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp almond extract
3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut (or, in my case, powdered coconut "cream")


Preparation

Stir together all ingredients except for the coconut in a large bowl. When combined, slowly add the coconut while stirring. Divide into fourths and drop onto a baking sheet lined with foil, buttered and floured. Baked for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes:  4 cookies

Coconut Milk Cookies


Ingredients

1 egg white
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 cup "powdered coconut milk" (I used the brand Maggi)

Preparation

Stir together all ingredients except for the coconut in a large bowl. When combined, slowly add the coconut while stirring. Divide into fourths and drop onto a baking sheet lined with foil, buttered and floured. Baked for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes: 4 cookies

Cream Cheese and Pecan Stuffed Berries

 
On summer nights it's hard serving warm cookies, cakes, or really anything that requires an oven for dessert. You want something that's light but sweet, and reflects something of the season. Berries are all over England right now. You can't move for strawberries, raspberries, or blueberries, the three-way tie for my favorite fruit. While the Brits can't pass up on their strawberries and cream (classic), here's a new twist on the same idea. The slicing of the strawberries was perhaps the most challenging bit of this, but once you get the knack, you can do all 20 (or however many) in minutes. And if you want to bypass that step altogether, opt for raspberries. Nature has already provided a space for you. And Nature, we are so, so grateful.
 

I tried to remember to take a picture of the dessert when it was sprinkled with pecans. But alas. They were gone in minutes and the photo was not to be. 

 

Ingredients

• 20 whole large strawberries, hulled (and/or raspberries)
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup confectioners' powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla and/or almond extract
• 2/3 cup chopped pecans

Directions

-Cut a thin slice from the bottom of each strawberry so the berries stand upright. Place berries, cut side down, on a serving platter.

-Carefully cut the berries into 4 wedges, cutting almost to, but not through, the bottoms with a criss-cross cut. Fan wedges just slightly, taking care not to break them. Set aside.
-In a mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until combined but still stiff.
-Using a teaspoon or a plastic bag with a small hole cut in one corner, fill the strawberries with the cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle chopped pecans on top of the stuffed strawberries.
-Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Pistachio-Lime Wafers

This recipe comes from the book Savor the Southwest, an attitude and overall culinary mission I try to adhere to even when in the UK. While the original recipe called for orange rather than lime, I almost always prefer the latter to the former. And to me, lime speaks of nothing more than Mexico, tequila, and all good southwestern flavors. And top that with chocolate? I'll savor these cookies any day. Gladly.

Makes 2 dozen cookies
Time: 1 1/2 hours (includes chilling)

Ingredients
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2+ teaspoons grated lime zest
1/2 cup shelled pistachios, toasted and finely ground
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg white
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Preparation

Toss together the flour, lime zest, nuts and spices. Set aside.

With an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a regular hand mixer), beat the butter until light, about 5 minutes. With the mixer running, add the sugar and beat well; add the egg white and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, another 2-3 minutes. Add the flour mixture, one third at a time, until a smooth dough is formed, about 3 minutes. Put half of the dough on a piece of parchment paper; cover with another piece of parchment paper. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick. Repeat with the other half of the dough. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

Preheat an over to 325F. Transfer the dough from the refrigerator to a work surface, remove the top sheet of parchment paper. With cookie cutters, cut the dough into 2-inch rounds or into desired shapes. Remove the cut shapes from the parchment and put on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until lightly golden, 12-14 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

Melt the chocolate in a microwave or in the top of a double boiler over hot water. dip the top of each cookie into the melted chocolate and place, chocolate side up, on a piece of waxed paper. Allow the chocolate to harden, abotu 1/2 hour.

Chocolate Truffles with Anejo Tequila and Chipotle

Oh Rick Bayless. God of Mexican food. I mean, honestly, why wouldn't you combine chocolate, tequila and chili? All good things combined to make one amazing dessert. Oh yes. Amazing.

Ingredients

12 ounces 60% dark chocolate, roughly chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
3 tablespoons anejo tequila or creme de mezcal
1/4 cup sifted cocoa powder for coating the truffles
1/4 teaspoon chipotle chile powder for coating the truffles

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Directions

Place a medium saucepan filled with about 1 inch of water over low heat. Bring the water to a simmer.

Scoop the chopped chocolate into a heat resistant bowl which will fit in the saucepan without touching the water.
In a separate small saucepan, heat the heavy cream to a simmer. Pour the cream over the chopped chocolate, let sit for 1 minute, then stir.
Place the bowl onto the pan with simmering water and continue stirring until almost all of the chocolate has melted, about 2 minutes. Remove the bowl from the heat and add the tequila and the chipotle chile powder. Continue stirring until all the chocolate has melted.
Place the ganache mixture in the refrigerator to chill. It will take between 1 to 2 hours for the ganache to harden enough to roll into balls. Mix together the cocoa powder and chipotle chile powder. Using 1 tablespoon of ganache, roll into small balls. Place them into the cocoa powder mixture and roll to coat. Arrange the truffles on a serving tray and refrigerator until ready to serve.

COOK'S NOTES: There is a danger of the chocolate separating when you're heating it over the simmering water. If that happens (i.e. if you see the chocolate change colour and start to ooze oil), pour some hot water into the bowl with the chocolate and keep stirring. That should whip the chocolate back into shape and give it that nice glossy look again. This is a life-saving tip and has saved me on more than one occasion!