Haskap Berry Grunt

One of my favorite programs is on PBS and called America's Test Kitchens.  http://www.americastestkitchen.com/  I recently purchased a cookbook through them called Cook's Country (their sister site) Best Lost Suppers.  I highly recommend this book and all the contents are a wonderful exercise in comfort eating.  But, Hey!  I have more Haskaps than most country blocks so - Thanks to Cooks Country, my spin on this wonderful recipe!

Haskap Grunt

This beautiful dessert cooks on top of the stove.  It's like a beautiful dumpling that wanted to become pie! Stewed and spicy berries are topped with dollops of biscuit dough, covered, and cooked until the dumplings are done.  I like to finish my 'Grunt' off in the oven just to brown the tops of the dumplings. This is SO easy and great with vanilla ice cream.)  Serves 12

Filling:

• 8 cups fresh haskap berries

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest and 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardmom

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1 Tablespoon instant tapioca

Topping

• 3/4 cup buttermilk

• 6 Tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoons soda

• 1/2 teaspoon ground sugar

1) For the Filling: Cook 4 cups of the berries, sugar, water, lemon zest, cardmom and cinnamon in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thick and jam-like (10 to 12 minutes).  Stir lemon juice, tapioca, the remaining 4 cups of berries and cook until heated through, about 1 minutes.  Cover and keep warm off the heat.

2) For the Topping: Combine the buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla in a measuring cup.  Whisk the flour, 6 tablespoons of the sugar, the baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl.  Slowly stir the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture until a dough forms.

3) Using a small ice cream scoop or two large spoons, spoon golf ball-sized dumplings on top of the warm berry mixture (you should have about 14 dumplings).  Cook on top of the stove for 10 minutes then cover and simmer gently until the dumplings have doubled in size and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean, 16-22 minutes.

4) Combine the cinnamon and the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a bowl.  Uncover the pot and sprinkle the dumplings evenly with the cinnamon sugar. At this time I brown the dumplings in the oven under the broiler for a couple of minutes).  Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Merry Christmas to all...

Too Much Bread!!!

I know, you're thinking "she's too rich?".  Not what I'm talking about.

A girlfriend of mine just married off her last kid.  The wedding was fabulous!  The food was great!  The band....oh, back to the food and our subject today.  She was left with bags of buns.  What to do with it (other than feed the ducks?).

I suggested a little bread pudding recipe that I had in a Maida Heatter's cookbook I've had for ages. It's the Maida Heatter's Best Dessert Book Ever and it's still in print after all these years at Amazon.com and well worth purchasing for your own collection!

Located on page 302 is the Lemon Bread Pudding recipe - which makes 12 portions.

Maida writes "This is a taste thrill when served at any temperature, but it is most spectacular right out of the oven.  The lemon curd can be prepared days or even weeks ahead; the bread can be sliced and toasted a day or so ahead if you wish; the pudding can be put together (in about 5 minutes) one hour before it is baked, and it can bake while dinner is being served.  It is an easy and foolproof recipe."

I agree with Maida, it's a simple, yet elegant dessert.  Serve this plain or with Raspberry Sauce.

Prepare the Lemon Curd first:

Lemon Curd

3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk graded 'large'
1 cup granulated sugar
Finely grated rind of 2 large lemons
1/3 cup lemon juice
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces

In the top of a large double boiler beat the eggs, yolk, and sugar to mix.  Stir in the rind and juice. Add the butter.  Place over hot water on moderate heat.  Cook uncovered, stirring and scraping the pan frequently with a rubber spatula, for about 15 to 20 minutes until the mixture is as thick as mayonnaise; it will register 180 degrees on a sugar thermometer.

Remove the top of the double boiler and set aside to cool, stirring occasionally.

You can use the curd as soon as it has cooled, or you can refrigerate it for several weeks.

Bread Pudding

1 loaf (8 ounces) sturdy, white bread.  French bread works best.

10 eggs graded 'Large'

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 quart milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Lemon Curd (above)

Butter a shallow, oblong 3-quart baking dish (13 by 8 or 9 x 2 inches) and set aside.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

With a serrated bread knife slice the bread 1/2 inch thick.  Place slices on cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 15 minutes until dry but not brown; turn the slices over when half-done.  Set aside.

In a bowl beat the eggs and 1 cup of the sugar (reserving the remaining 1/4 cup).  Beat in the milk, salt and vanilla then set aside.

In the bottom of the baking dish place a layer of the bread slices touching each other.  If necessary, break a few of the slices to fill in spaces.  Spread half of the cooled or cold lemon curd over the bread.  Then make a second layer of the bread slices, these slices at right angles to the first slices.  Again, break a few slices if necessary to fill in the spaces.  You may have a few slices left over that you will not need (*feed the ducks).  Spread the remaining curd over the top.

Now ladle the egg-and-milk mixture slowly all over the top.  Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.

Before baking, adjust a rack to the centre of the oven and preheat the oven to 350f degrees.

Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup sugar evenly over the pudding.

Place the baking dish in a large, shallow pan, place in the oven, and then pour hot water into the pan (holding your baking dish) to about 1/2 the depth of the baking dish.

Bake for about 45 minutes until the top is puffed and just barely colored.  Testing this with the point of a knife (the way custard is generally tested) is not good, because the lemon curd will cling to the blade even after the custard is done.  It is better to tap the side of the baking dish lightly and when the middle of the pudding moves only slightly, it is done. (Maida said 'I have made this many times, and now all I do is test the oven temperature with a portable thermometer and watch the clock carefully.)

If necessary, you may place the baking dish under the broiler for just a few seconds to darken the top, but only until barely golden.

Serve piping hot - right away, or at room temperature.

To serve the pudding, use wide, flat dessert plates.  If you serve this with the Raspberry Sauce, spoon  or pour the sauce onto each plate and tilt the plate to run the sauce toward the rim.  With a small, sharp knife cut the pudding into squares and, with a pancake turner, lace a portion of the pudding on each plate.

For a gorgeous decoration (when using the raspberry sauce) that takes a minute, place about 1 teaspoon of un-whipped whipping cream on the sauce alongside the pudding.  With the tip of a sharp knife or the side of a fork, pull curved lines of the cream into the sauce. 

Raspberry Sauce

(makes 2 cups)

20 ounces frozen raspberries in light syrup

Thaw the berries.  Place the berries and syrup in a blender and blend to puree.  Force through a wide but fine strainer set over a bowl to remove the seeds.

Serve cold.

It's Apple Time!

Yum!

The trees are bending and begging for relief.  Apples by the box in the kitchen and WHAT TO DO???  My dear neighbor, Alenda, messaged me, begging for my soon to be famous apple butter recipe.

Here's a solution that is easier than you might think...

Oven Baked Apple Butter
Get the largest roaster pan that will fit in your oven.  Wash, remove stems and blossom ends then cut apples into pieces, no need to peel or core if you have a food mill. Fill up the roaster with the cut apples.  Add the following for each 4 cups of cut apples:

1/2 cup granulated sugar (or to taste - some people like it up to 2 cups!)
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tsp cinnamon (I like twice this much)
1/2 to 1 cup cider or apple juice (you can always add more as it cooks if you need to).

Stir then cover and place in a 300f oven.  Bake until thick and the apples are falling well apart from 3 to 6 hours.  If you do this over night then lower the temperature of the oven to 275f.

Cool a bit then run the apples through your food mill to remove the peels and cores.  Return to the pan then heat in a 350f oven stirring often - about 1/2 hour to 1 hour, depending on how thick it is.

To test for doneness, place a teaspoonful on a chilled saucer.  It should stay smooth and mounded.

Pour into hot, sterilized pint jars to within 1/4 inch of the top.  Place sterilized metal lids on jars and screw metal bands on securely.  You may choose to process for 5 minutes in a boiling water bath.

Let cool overnight then put in your pantry.  

Legacies

A good friend of mine had sad news the other day...her dad died.

We talked for a bit about both our folks...her dad....my mom....and how it felt to be working through their deaths.  Even though they were, in his case 90-something and mom was in her mid-80's, you still have to work through a fair bit of 'stuff'.

She's going back to Ontario to bury him and tend to her mom during this transition this week-end...all the while working through the usual grieving stages that, at our age, seems so familiar.  The older you get - the more familiar this becomes!

We spoke of what our relationships were with our parents - they were both very dynamic people and we often measured ourselves against their benchmarks.  Because of this, I've been thinking (OH NO! NOT AGAIN!) about the legacy that we leave in the world. Will it be a few days? Months? Until all our kids are dead and gone?

Even if it's a short span of time, the legacy that you leave can be positive - or negative.  In her case, she spoke of a father that had been in the military during World War II and spun at the center of his universe while all the rest of the family just were satellites around his 'world'.

Grandpa Vic Devoir

Then there are souls like my granddad.  My memories of him are fond and poignant.  Memories...linking us together even though he's been gone since the early '80's.    He was a gentle man.  Loved his family.  Gardened joyfully and well.  I still wish I'd paid more attention to how he pruned the apple orchard!

He was never happier than when he was marching down the country lane with the four of us grandkids in tow, singing World War I marching songs while pacing down the road. (...had a good wife but I left, your right...)  Somehow all the people in my life, as well as myself, are measured best against this man.

My granddaughter is coming to visit this summer. What memories will she take home with her.  What legacy am I leaving?  Positive?  Negative?

Neutral? (I'm not sure if that wouldn't be the worst of it!)

Haskap time!

Today I finished picking the Haskaps. 


What was left is there for the cedar waxwings - with my blessings! 8 pounds are frozen and the remaining were made into jam: 

Haskap Jam; 

makes 12 or 13 1/2 pints. 
Clean and crush 2 1/2 pounds of berries; add 1 1/2 cups water then bring to a boil then simmer 30 minutes. Send all through a food mill with a fine blade. The resulting should provide 5 cups of fruit puree. Top up with water to make the full 5 cups.

To this, add 10 cups sugar, 2/3 cups lemon juice then bring to a full, rolling boil. Add 3 packages of liquid pectin. Stir well then return to boil, for a full minute.

Fill hot, sterilized half-pint jars to within 1/4 inch of the top then place sterilized metal lids on the tops and screw metal bands on securely. You may choose to process these in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes. Enjoy!

(check out http://www.fruit.usask.ca/haskap.html if you want to know more about them)

Once again, with feeling!...

As you probably can see, I haven't been blogging on this site since just about this time last year.  Not that there haven't been lots of things to talk about, but I just didn't find the desire to speak of those things.

In that time, loved ones have passed on (good bye Mom and Uncle Frank...I'll miss you both.) Challenges have been taken on (a new business and career for my next phase...See the changes at my other blogsite:Stitches N Bitches) 

 

Winter's been a long one! The snow stayed on the ground from mid-October, when I travelled to Portland for the Machine Quilting Exposition, and there hasn't been an iota (Dad's word) of bare ground around here until this week!  FINALLY the snow is starting to melt.  The fields are brown with touches of green starting up and today it was a balmy 12C (That's 53.6 Degree Fahrenheit for all my friends to the south).  We're expecting snow again in flurries this week-end.  I'm hoping the weatherman is lying.

I read a very interesting post today by a fellow Canadian.  One of my friends, Connie, said that you should check out this web-site where you could get an 'Artistic License' - all very bureaucratic and validating.  Just the thing for an aspiring fabric artist (like myself).  Well, one thing lead to another and I found some blogging by this character.  Even a lovely article on winter in Canada.  Check it out!

from http://www.persiflage.ca/new.htm.  Written by Hugh Briss (really?)  I quite like his article entitled 'In the Bleak Mid-Winter'  As he says in this succinct blog..."I think the only thing to do is wait. Wait for spring and the warm weather. But as Tom Petty has taught us - the waiting is the hardest part. Oh well. Good luck and I will see you in the spring".  Hopefully sooner, rather than later.