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Rhubarb pie and the farmers’ market

rhubarb

It’s been a brisk week in Wisconsin. I’ve gone through these days trying to decide if a sweater was necessary or if it really was as warm as I hoped. Usually a sweater improved the situation. Because of the briskness I took the opportunity to fix a few of my cold weather favorites that I was craving. Most notable was my black bean soup. There isn’t any photos because, well, we ate it… and nope, we didn’t stop to take pictures. It was good though and it always reminds me of the first time I made it in San Francisco. My version is a riff on Deborah Madison’s recipe from her Green’s cookbook. I’ve made it so many times over the past 20 years and it always satisfies with its spicy beaniness.

I’ve made a few rhubarb pies while it’s still in season. Fortunately I saved some of the frozen strawberries from last year’s bounty so we could have our favorite strawberry rhubarb pie. I think I’ll pick up some more rhubarb at the farmers’ market tomorrow…we never tire of pie and this might be the last weekend for rhubarb.

I’ve been thinking about our farmer friends a lot this week. Gas went up another 10 cents and I’m noticing some price increases at the grocery store…although I must admit that the items I buy at the store are few, they are things like flour, olive oil, butter (if I don’t make my own), chocolate, coffee, and wine. The farmers who faithfully show up to the market each week so we can have eggs, yogurt, milk, cheese, veg, fruit, mushrooms, and meat have to be feeling the pinch. I know from experience that the profit margin for most farmers is pretty thin and I’ve never known a rich farmer…at least if you judge riches by money. I do know a lot of happy farmers.

All of this is just to say that if you’re going out tomorrow, stop by a farmers’ market. If you happen to live in Madison you really should consider going to the best farmers’ market, the Westside Community Market. Nope, they don’t pay me to say that…I just say it because it’s true. I even have a list of 10 reasons why the Westside Side Community Market rocks:

  1. You can walk in any direction you want. That’s right folks, no counter-clockwise march here…just flit about and enjoy.
  2. Nick Kirch and the crew from Blue Marble Dairy will be there and their dairy products are awesome. So fresh and delicious. I love their milk and cream.
  3. Eric Johnson from Jordandal Farm will have chickens this week…apparently many chickens…I’m seriously excited because that means it’s BBQ Bird time…woot.
  4. Madison Sourdough’s perfect pain au chocolat. Their sourdough loaf is my favorite for sandwiches. The baguettes…arguably the best outside of Paris.
  5. The mushroom man had such huge morels last week…will he have them again this week?
  6. Bruce Workman from Edelweiss Cremery will be there with his Emmenthaler cheese. I also have a soft spot for his Muenster cheese.
  7. Peter Potter and his crackers…add any of his flavorful flatties to that Muenster and you’ve got the perfect afternoon snack.
  8. Dreamfarm’s eggs. I don’t know about you but I love Diana’s eggs. Lately we’ve been getting lots of double yolks…always a sign of a lucky day.
  9. Dreamfarm’s goat cheeses. I think that that Diana’s rosebud cheese is my favorite.
  10. Maple Syrup guy will be there only 2 more weeks…time to stock up.

Oh, don’t forget the rhubarb! Here’s my recipe.
rhubarb pie

May 23, 2008 | Filed Under Local, Westside Community Market, baking, ethical eating, farmers market, favorite products, food, food porn, fruit and nuts, pie, quick and easy, recipe, sweets | 5 Comments 

Frozen cheese and sherbet cake

frozen cheese and sherbet cake

I’m only human and occasionally I have moments of lapsed judgment. When I was younger that might have entailed too much alcohol, hilarious dancing, and howling at the moon…seriously folks, I was a wide wild child. But now that I’m older I try not to damage myself…so in this case my lapsed judgment involved some organic berries trucked in from Cali. I know…the carbon footprint on those delicate little guys is almost more than I can bear; and although I hesitated, I still did it.

frozen cheese and sherbet cake

Because that’s when I began to imagine this frozen confection. I had some graham crackers from TJ’s that were nixed for s’more duty by my youngest, so I figured they could be used for a crust, and as I shopped I decided that some raspberry sherbet sitting on top of that crust wouldn’t be a bad thing, especially if I embedded the berries in the sherbet. Then in the back of my mind I’m going over what I could add for the next layer and I decided cream cheese and Greek yogurt mixed together with some vanilla would be a tangy, creamy counter point to the sherbet and berries.

frozen cheese and sherbet cake

Was it good…yup, it was. Did it have problems…oh yeah…major problems…

  • It weighed a ton.
  • I forgot to chill the cheese mixture after I whipped it up and when I put it on top of the sherbet it made the sherbet melt.
  • Once it was fully frozen it was solid…solid like a rock.
  • Did I mention it was heavy?
  • The berries were large and when they froze they were like stones.
  • It had to sit on the counter for at least 30 minutes before it could be cut.
  • It then had to sit on the plate for another 10 minutes before it could be approached with a fork.
  • It had the potential to damage teeth.

Obviously I need to rework this concept. Here’s the thing, I like cheesecake but I don’t like cheesecake that’s baked…it’s texture really freaks me out. The cheese portion of my cake was delicious, tangy and cheesy, but alas, frozen hard as a rock. The sherbet was a good addition with its sweet smoothness contrasting nicely with the crunchy hardness of the crust, but it melted before the cheese mixture softened. I think when I try to make this again I’ll use gelatin instead of freezing it…that would give my cheese portion some sturdiness. The sherbet could be substituted with… a fruit puree? Hmmm, I’m not sure about that. I do think the next crust should be made with amaretti cookies, that would be an improvement.

Okay my über intelligent, creative readers…any suggestions on how to fix this?

May 15, 2008 | Filed Under baking, food, food porn, fruit and nuts, recipe, sweets | 18 Comments 

Dorie’s great grain muffins…a taste of yellow

multigrain muffin with cranberries and pistachios

You know how much I love strawberry scones, right? Well, even though I haven’t made them as often as I did last year, I still make them…or at least I intend to. On Sunday I fully intended to make scones using Dorie Greenspan’s recipe…but then I remembered all the pain au chocolat that I’ve been eating because Cameron has been turning out such perfect delights lately, and then I thought about the baquette and butter splurge I went on the other evening, and I said to myself “hmmm, you need more whole grains”. Of course Dorie had the answer in the form of her great grain muffins.

A good muffin can be really good, but a bad muffin is often no better than a doorstop. Back in the 80’s I bought Jane Brody’s Good Food Book and learned a lot about whole grain cooking but as usual for me I went overboard…the details are unclear now but what I do remember is that the muffins I made were really dense (like a hockey puck) and heavy and I’m sure they had no resemblance to anything in Jane Brody’s book. The worst part is that I actually gave them to people to eat…I had no frame of reference on what a good muffin should be since I’d never made muffins before and honestly there were no muffins in my background…it wasn’t something my mom ever made.

These muffins are the good kind. They rise up with a nice perky little domes, their texture is good, they’re not heavy or dense…but they are satisfying. I chose to add dried cranberries and pistachios and I think it was a good choice. The colors add some interest and the flavors are well matched. taste of yellowSpeaking of color…this post is my entry into the Taste of Yellow blogging event hosted by Barbara over at Winos and Foodies. I doubt that there is anyone who hasn’t been touched by cancer in some way and LIVESTRONG Day is the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s one-day initiative to raise awareness and funds for the cancer fight. LIVESTRONG Day 2008 will occur on Tuesday, May 13.

multigrain muffin with cranberries and pistachios

Great Grains Muffins
adapted from Baking From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan
printer-friendly recipe

1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons plain yogurt
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 stick of butter, melted
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup pistachios

Preheat the oven to 400° and butter a 12 count muffin tin or line the cups with paper muffin cups.

Combine the flours, cornmeal, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Stir to combine. In another bowl combine the milk, yogurt, syrup, sugar, eggs, and butter. Whisk to combine. Add the cranberries and pistachios to the dry mixture. Fold the wet mixture into the dry mixture making sure to only stir enough to combine…don’t over-stir. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until the tops are golden and a thin knife inserted into a muffin comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let it rest for 5 minutes. Gently remove the muffins and allow them to cool, or eat them right away…that’s what we do!

April 23, 2008 | Filed Under baking, blog event, breakfast, cookbook, food, fruit and nuts, recipe, sweets | 3 Comments 

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