The Night Carnival

Goodnight Moon.

The Blueberry Crow's Nest: when the crust flies south

The Blueberry Crow's Nest was inspired by a recipe I came across in a vintage cookbook, The Lilly Wallace New American Cookbook, published in 1945.  When I was looking through it, I found something called an Apple Crow's Nest.  After reading the recipe, I realized it was an apple cobbler that had been flipped upside down after baking.  I decided to try it with blueberries instead, adding lemon juice and cornstarch.  For the crust, I decided to adapt a cornmeal biscuit recipe I found in a cookbook titled Rustic Fruit Desserts by Cory Schreiber and Julie Richardson.  To adapt their crust, I just omitted the turbinado sugar and installed the dough differently.  I love flipping the cobbler upside down to serve because the berries are so dark, shiny, and beautiful.  You wouldn't be able to admire them if they were under a crust!  

This was also how I used the blueberries from Taylor's Market and I was looking for something I could make and submit to a contest on Food52.  Making the Blueberry Crow's Nest is easier than you might think and it was delicious.  Great summertime dessert when blueberries are in season.  

Blueberry Crow's Nest

Filling

3 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

1/4 cup sugar

1 Tbsp. cornstarch

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. fine sea salt

1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice


Crust/Nest

1 1/4 cup all-purpose unbleached flour

1/2 cup cornmeal

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. fine sea salt

1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

1 cup cold heavy cream

2 tsp. sugar for sprinkling

Fresh whipping cream or ice cream and cinnamon-sugar for serving.

Preheat your oven to 375℉ and place top rack in the middle.  Grease an 8 1/2 to 9 inch pie pan with butter (I used a metal pie pan which worked great).  Make the filling first.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and sea salt.  Add the berries and using your hands, toss until coated.  Add the lemon juice and stir it in.  Pour the filling into the prepared pie pan and set aside.

For the crust:  combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and sea salt in a medium bowl and whisk together.  Cut up the butter and add it to the mixture.  Then, using a pastry blender, a fork, or your fingers, cut the butter into the mix working until the butter cubes are mixed in and broken down into a pea size.  Pour in the cream and stir until it's absorbed into the dough and the dough is sticking together.

It's easier to work with this sticky dough in small amounts.  Pick up hand-fulls of the dough and flatten them into a biscuit or patty shape and lay them on top of the berry filling in the pie pan.  As you lay each disk of dough onto the berries, spread it out a bit.  The idea is to top the filling with the dough and spread it around so there are no gaps.  You don't need the biscuit shapes to remain after you've laid them on.  Once your dough is covering all the berries, sprinkle with the extra 2 tsp. of sugar.

Place the pie pan onto the top rack in the oven with a baking sheet on the rack below to catch the drips. Bake for about 45 min., but start checking it when there are about 5 min. to go.  The crust should be golden brown and the juice from the filling is going to be bubbling up from below.  When it's ready, take it out and set on a rack to cool for about 10 minutes.

I like to top it with fresh whipped cream, so I would use this time as it's cooling to make the cream or you could serve it with vanilla ice cream.  After about 10 min. have gone by, find a serving platter bigger than the pie pan for turning the cobbler upside down.  Place the platter upside down over the cobbler and center it.  With both hands securely holding the two together, flip them around so the pie pan is now upside down on top of your serving platter.  Using a large serving spoon, tap the bottom of the pie pan to loosen the pan from the cobbler and also run the spoon along the crust edge sticking out from under the pie pan.  Ease the pie pan off of the cobbler which has now been transformed into a beautiful blueberry crow's nest!  Serve warm with the whipping cream or ice cream and sprinkle with a little cinnamon sugar.

Caw!

Would You Like a Tastee-Freez?

"It happened on the way to the demolition derby" is my killer line this week.  After the Taylor's Market tryst, I stumbled upon the oldest Tastee Freez in America.  It was in the town of Aledo, IL, just a couple of miles from the Mercer County Fair Grounds, my target destination. It's hard to believe I've found the oldest soda fountain and the oldest Tastee Freez in America within the past month and that both are within an hour's drive of one another.  So, I couldn't not stop.  The owner's name is Lenny Bowlyou and we visited while I inhaled a pork tenderloin followed up with a rainbow crunch cone.  Lenny has owned the Tastee Freez for 23 years, but wants to sell it so he can retire and maybe move to a tropical location.  If you'd like to own a classic piece of Americana, then call the number on the sign.  One of the responsibilities that comes with the job is learning the names of everyone in town and keeping straight who's related to whom.  I fell in love with the ceramic cat and owl interior decor, so if you decide to buy the Tastee Freez, I insist you keep them.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my cousin's husband was making a demolition derby come-back and that's why I was making this trip.  The derby was out-of-this-world-fun!  I didn't expect to like it that much, but it turns out that car smashing is a riot.  Josh did great until his car caught on fire, and while I know he wasn't pleased with the outcome, it provided some crazy excitement for the rest of us.  When my Ford Escort is ready to leave this world, that's how I'm taking it out.  

Bees & Berries Cocktail: a forager's reward

Foraging for black raspberries has become my thing.  I have a friend that lets me raid his bushes, but I also find them when I'm out wandering in wooded areas around the Midwest.  There's nothing I like better than free berries, especially beautiful dark purple, almost black berries that release a burst of sweet-tartness in your mouth.  You will get snagged and stabbed by the thorns of black raspberry bushes, but if you can take it, you'll reap a wonderful delicacy.  If you're picking from a bush you have no permission to be picking from then the whole experience is heightened by the danger factor as thoughts of "I really shouldn't be doing this, I could get caught, and just this once" race through your head.  Try it at least once in your life.

The dark purple berry is what a black raspberry looks like when it's ripe.

Sadly, the Black Raspberry season is coming to a close.  In the past I've used them to make jam and pies, but this year I hadn't picked as many.  I didn't want my small bounty and the work I'd done to be all for naught, so I decided to create a forager's cocktail.  Using the fruits of your labor to make a delicious summer-time drink is the perfect reward.  I was inspired by an old book I'd recently picked up called The How and When: an authoritative reference guide to the origin, use and classification of the world's choicest vintages and spirits.  It's a 1945 edition written by Hyman Gale and Gerald F. Marco and published by Marco's of Chicago.  My recipe is an original creation, but I did get ideas on possible ingredients from looking at all the classic cocktails curated in this book.  I used vodka, but gin would also work great.  Simply delicious.  

Bees & Berries Cocktail

This recipe makes enough for two half-sized serving glasses.

2 cups of black raspberries (or try using other berries available to you)

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

2 spoonfuls of honey

1 cup of sparkling water

1 1/2 jiggers (1.5 oz) of vodka or gin

Ice for the cocktail shaker and serving glass

Crush the berries in a sieve or strainer placed over a bowl or measuring cup.  The crushing should produce about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of thick black raspberry juice.  Add the lemon juice to the black raspberry juice and mix. Drizzle the spoonfuls of honey on the bottom of your serving glass.  In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, add the berry juice, the sparkling water, and the liquor.  Shake well and strain into your serving glass, but only fill half way.  Mix the honey in with the liquids and then add ice.  Add a slice of lemon to the glass for decoration, or to squeeze in for added tartness.  

Salud!

Ramble Map: Always Brake for Open Air Markets

 

 

 

Headed to a demolition derby nearly five counties away, I cruised down the road with one hand as plum juice ran down the other.  I was taking bites from the fruit I'd just bought and thinking about the art of driving unconventional routes.  There's an art to driving fast and furious in races, there's an art to driving with efficiency from point A to point B, there's an art to driving with one hand while you have a plum in the other, and there's most certainly an art to driving slowly with wild abandon for the least direct route.

At that moment, I was savoring the art of driving slowly as an explorer of uncharted waters of the least possible direct route.  If I'd been another drone on the interstate, I'd never have found that plum.  If I hadn't been a slow cruiser with no plan other than eventually getting to the Mercer County Fairgrounds, I also might not have found that juicy plum.  You see, I'd already made a turn from a county road onto a four lane highway without noticing at the stop sign that there was a beautiful open air produce stand on my left. As I slowly rambled onto the highway amidst zipping cars, I happened to look over and I saw what I'd just absent-mindley passed.  Of course I turned the Ford Escort right back around and had a look-see.

Taylor's Market has been around since 1980 and carries a variety of Midwestern produce, along with a small selection of preserves.  Listening in to conversation, I overheard the woman at the counter talking about her father who owned the market.  She said he was getting older and there was some question or concern for who would want to take over.  The woman was hoping her son might be interested, but wasn't sure.  She herself had been working there for more than 20 years.  Businesses in need of someone to take over was a recurring theme in this jaunt as I found out later at the country's oldest Tastee Freez.  Hopefully someone will step in to carry on these local legacies.

Why in the Sam Hill was I headed to a demolition derby five counties away?  My cousin's husband was making a big come-back in demolition driving and I didn't want to miss it.  I may share some pics from the derby/county fair a bit later and I'll also have to share about Lenny and the oldest Tastee Freez in the United States.  

So, it wasn't just a plum that came out of the Taylor's Market stop.  I also bought two pints of Michigan blueberries, a brown bag of red potatoes, a nectarine, a banana pepper, and a jar of sorghum molasses. The berries are amazing...big, plump, full of flavor, and much cheaper than in any store.  The molasses I'll save for some fall/winter baking.

Note: Taylor's Market is located right off of Highway 61 between Muscatine and Davenport, IA.

This is what I made with some of the potatoes.  Slice them and toss in a skillet with olive oil, fresh ground pepper, and kosher salt.  Let them cook until brown and add sliced mushrooms, green pepper, onion, and fresh parsley.  Zip it up with some hot sauce if you like.  Easy and tasty.  

Bastille Day

Treat yourself to a store bought French pastry and reflect on the French Revolution as you thumb through classic French cookbooks while watching Les Misérables.  Vive la France!

Betty's Seductive Macaroni Salad

Back in the day, when I was a twenty-something in Seattle, I occasionally got homesick for certain things. One of them was macaroni salad.  It wasn't a staple on our table growing up, but it was always in the creamy salad lineup at picnics and potlucks.  I was usually the one spooning a heaping mound onto a paper plate that gave way onto the ground.  Sloppy with mayonnaise, chunks of cheddar, sometimes chunks of ham, and peas for a hint of green, it was not the poster child of healthy salads.  For me, it was the mix of tangy mayo with the sharpness of cheddar that tripped my taste buds.  

When I'd start pining for macaroni salad, my best friend Lydia, also a closet mac salad junkie, would go shopping with me and we'd try to track it down in Seattle grocery stores.  It wasn't hard to find, turns out macaroni salad is a deli staple with national appeal.  After careful taste testing and research, we decided Larry's Market had the best macaroni salad in Seattle.  They didn't go overboard with the mayo and more importantly, they didn't leave out the cheddar.  As is the way though, Larry's Market closed some years ago, so I can't tell you who has the best macaroni salad in Seattle these days.

The good news is, you don't have to go searching because you can make it for yourself and in doing so, you have complete control over the cheddar and mayo.  When I was looking through all my old cookbooks, a recipe for Summer Macaroni Salad in the 1967 Betty Crocker's Outdoor Cookbook caught my eye.  They referred to it as "a man-pleaser salad."  Hmmm, the picnic salad I've always lusted after was once marketed as a way for women to seduce men at a barbecue.  This makes sense to me, but I'm not comfortable with the implied sexism.  This salad should be an equal opportunity instrument of seduction.  Therefore, I'm reintroducing this version as a way to score with anyone at a picnic.  I'm also reintroducing it with some updated flavors.  If Betty Crocker had been a real person alive today, I'd like to think she'd have a thing for Sriracha.  

Betty's Seductive Macaroni Salad

This salad is best made a day ahead. It gives the flavors a chance to meld.  It's 100 percent my own concoction, and I have to say the lemon juice & Sriracha are key.

2 cups uncooked macaroni  

6 strips of bacon

3/4 cup chopped onion

3/4 cup chopped radishes

1 10 oz. package frozen peas

3/4 cup chopped red bell pepper

1/2 cup minced fresh parsley    

1 cup cubed sharp cheddar cheese 

2 hard-cooked eggs chopped

1 cup sweet relish (preferably all-natural)

3/4 cup Lemonaise or mayonnaise (see notes)

1 1/2 Tbsp of Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce

1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 tsp. kosher salt

fresh ground pepper to taste

Cook the macaroni according to the package, preferably until it's al dente so that your pasta isn't too squishy.  When it's done, drain it and rinse under cold water.  Cook the bacon strips until they're crispy, lay them on a paper towel-lined plate to absorb the excess grease.  Cook the peas according to the package, but really watch them and maybe even cook them for a shorter time than the package recommends because you'll want them to be firm in the salad.  When they're ready, pull them off the stove, drain and rinse under cold water, like you did with the macaroni.

Combine the macaroni and peas in a large serving bowl.  Chop the onion, radishes, bell pepper, parlsey, eggs, and cheese and add them to the serving bowl as you go.  Break up the bacon strips into small pieces and add to the bowl.  Combine everything as you add each ingredient. 

Add the sweet relish and stir it in.  Add the Lemonaise or mayo and mix it in well.  If you'd prefer a creamier salad, then add an extra 1/4 cup of mayo.  Personal preference reigns.  Here's where things get crazy.  You're going to kick up the flavor with some Sriracha.  Like the mayo/Lemonaise, it's a matter of personal preference.  I listed the amounts that I prefer, but if you don't like it as spicy, then start with a smaller amount and taste as you go.  Finally, add the lemon juice, salt, and pepper.  Mix everything completely.  Serve or cover and store in refrigerator to be served the next day.

Notes:  Lemonaise is a natural mayonnaise without any preservatives in it and it has a nice lemon flavor.  I stumbled onto it some years ago at my local food c0-op.  I think it's a little healthier than regular mayo, but it's not available at every store and it's a little more expensive.  Just an option.  

I also chose to use an all-natural sweet relish because in reading labels, I found that most bottled relishes have high fructose corn syrup in them.  There are some ways of making this salad healthier than Betty's old school version.

Seduce.