Summer Baking (Part 1)

Blueberry Oatmeal Crumble

Adapted from: The Farm found on “Leite’s Culinaria“

The Recipe & Procedure

1. Gather 12 ounces of fresh blueberries…

2. Mix blueberries with 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1 to 2 tablespoon lemon juice. Then transfer berry mixture into buttered 9-inch pie tin.

3. In another bowl, stir together 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup quick cooking oats, 1/2 cup light brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon salt. Then blend 1/2 stick unsalted butter cut (already cut into cubes) in the flour mixture.

4. Bake in preheated oven (375F) for 25 to 35 minutes or until berry filling is bubbling and the crumble is browned. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream on top!

Happy Fourth of July!

I’ve been so busy between volunteering as a Teacher’s Assistant for a week at my old school, then starting my Nutrition class at Skyline College, and interning at the Chinese Hospital to publish their annual newsletter.

Whew.

I know my friends may think I’m crazy for doing all this during summer, but to be honest, I love to keep myself occupied. I enjoy lounging at home but it’s nice to have stuff to do, things to do, and people to see.

Because I’ve been so busy  I haven’t had time to update the blog. I’ve been meaning to update it with fabulous pictures of the restaurants I’ve been to so I finally did that in the first post of today. Haha. I go about a month with not a peep and suddenly two posts in a day. Look out!

Red, White, and Blue Berry Yogurt Cake

Inspired by Nicole Weston (Baking Bites).

With my new Android phone I’ve been able to receive tweets directly on my phone. I use my Twitter account basically to follow other bakers, bloggers, and food-related people/organizations like SF Food Carts (@sfcarts). One of those bakers is Nicole Weston (twitter alias: @bakingbites).

She tweeted “The perfect cake for 4th of July. Or any day in July, really. http://fb.me/E50y6aCr” on June 24th.

Nicole Weston's (aka Baking Bites) original Red, White, and Blue Berry Yogurt Cake. All credits to her. Delicious looking, ain't it?

Always wanting to bake for a holiday, I clicked on the link. When I saw her picture of the cake (shown above) and read the directions, I knew that the cake was within my ability.

“I can do that!” I remember thinking my mood suddenly lifting.

And that’s just what I did today. I baked that cake and made the frosting. I’m going to cut a slice for my dad so he can try it as well as cut more slices to share with Eric (my friend, buddy, and family friend). Of course, if I remember any other people who would like to have some, I would share with them too! That’s the best part of baking: sharing with others.

Please see Nicole’s site “Baking Bites” for the recipe.

My version of Baking Bite's Red, White, and Blue Berry Yogurt Cake

Slice of Berry Cake

Moist Banana Walnut Bread

Adding the toasted walnuts and sprinkle of (improvised) oatmeal

I can’t remember how many times I’ve posted a recipe for banana bread here. My go-to recipe for this has been from this random blog I found about two years ago, but I’ve found another favorite.

This recipe for banana bread is from San Francisco’s beloved bakery Tartine. I went here last year for my birthday and loved the experience. Luckily my mom anticipated my attachment to Tartine and gave me the cookbook right then there too.

I don’t think I’ve made anything from the cookbook until now because I was looking for another banana bread recipe for my mom’s coworker on his birthday.

This banana bread is rich with a tender crumb. It uses three bananas  – most recipes I’ve come across only use two – and real butter – not oil like most recipes. Oh, but this makes all the difference.

If you would like this recipe, please email me at: nell.notebook@yahoo.com

I would be happy to share this wonderful recipe with a fellow baker. :)

Finally, Happy 4th of July to you all!

American Tart: Banana, Strawberry, Blueberry Galette

By the looks of it, you might be thinking… “Hey…there’s some red…white…and blue… Oh! I get it! It’s an American Tart! Gotcha! …But wait, it’s past July 4th…”

Yes, I’ll agree with you, it’s a great idea for July 4th. Had I realized that earlier I would have made it then. I didn’t actually notice the colors until I was assembling the galette.

The story behind the galette is quite simple. If you’ve read my last post, then you’ll know that I made the savory onion, potato, Gruyere galette about a week ago. When I made the crust or that galette, I had made a second one for another galette. Since I had three ripe bananas at home and an abundance of blueberries, I decided that I’d make a galette with those two items. The strawberries came in at the last minute.

My favorite part about this galette is that because I used ripe bananas, I only used 1/4 cup of sugar for the filling. :)

If you’d like to make the recipe, then here it is! Just remember that this is my own experimental recipe!

American Tart: Banana, Strawberry, Blueberry Galette Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 flaky tart/pie dough from here
• 3 ripe bananas (#7 at the right), sliced and chilled
• about 5 or 6 medium strawberries, sliced from top to bottom
  
• about 1/4 cup of ripe fresh blueberries
  I suggest fresh because it bakes quicker; otherwise, frozen blueberries at room tempt should work fine
• 1/4 cup of white granulated sugar
• 1 egg for egg wash

Directions:

1. Roll out the pie dough into a 10in circle, about 1/4 inch thick as best you can; galettes don’t have to be perfectly circular because you will end up folding the sides later. Place rolled out dough on a baking sheet either lined with parchment paper or greased. Chill about the dough on baking sheet for at least 30 minutes while you prepare the filling.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Place the rack in the middle.
3. Place the sliced strawberries and blueberries in a medium size bowl. Add the sugar and mix just until the sugar dissolves and the natural juices of the berries show.
4. Take the dough and baking sheet from the refridgerator. Arrange the bananas pointing towards the center of the dough. The bananas should be easier to work with since they’ve been chilling. If you didn’t chill them, don’t worry. You’ll just have a stickier mess. :) Arrange the strawberries facing outwards and add the blueberries around it. It should look something like this.
   



5. Fold up the sides of the tart so that it’s pleated and looks pretty. The berries will get very juicey if you placed the on top like I did, so make sure that your crust comes up pretty high, unlike mine below. I didn’t fold the tart high enough so the juices spilled out on the baking sheet, which resulted in a big mess.
   



See? The blueberries are peaking out. Try covering them or use less bananas.

6. Brush the tart dough with the whisked egg. This will make the tart a golden brown color.
7. Place tart in preheated oven and bake for about 37 – 40 minutes or until crust is a golden brown color and fruits are somewhat soft.
8. Once done, let it cool on a cooling rack for at least 10 minutes. Otherwise serve warm and garnish with ice cream, whipped cream, or fresh berries. :)
   



9. Enjoy!

What I’ve Been Making Lately

Breakfast: Whole Wheat Pancakes with Strawberries

Well, I’ve been having quite fun making breakfast on Saturday and Sunday mornings for the past two weeks and I’ve finally gotten around to posting the recipes and (delicious) photos. (You’ll come to learn that I use the word delicious a lot because, well, it is. :) )

Whole-Wheat Pancakes with Strawberries

This is a great alternative to the regular white flour pancakes. It keeps you fuller, offers more fiber, and is just naturally better for you than the processed stuff.

Ingredients:

– Bob’s Red Mill Buttermilk Pancake Mix (found here)
*Just as a note, Bob’s Red Mill has so many other good mixes, flours, oats, and organic, non-gluten products. Check it out. I found it in my local Lucky’s Grocery store.

Directions:
You can either follow the directions on the back, or do what I do, which is…. omit the egg and just keep the same amount of water.

1. Prepare and mix batter according to instructions on the box or on your recipe card.
2. Pour about a teaspoon of oil on a pan on low heat. Sometimes I don’t even have to use oil if I use a non-stick pan.
3. Pour about 1/4 or 1/4 of a cup of better into the pan.
4. Watch for the bubbles to show evenly throughout the pancake and for the edges to turn slightly golden. (See picture below)
5. Flip the pancake over. Cook otherside for less than a minute. Once done cooking, remove from pan immediately to prevent burning.
6. Continue with the rest of the batter. Then marvel at your beautiful pancakes!

Look for the bubbles and at the edges turning golden.

Lunch Time: Stuffed Tomatoes with Noodles

I took this idea from the “stuffed pepper” dinners I’ve seen on TV and in the magazines. This is a good alternative, but I must admit that there is an intense tomato flavor. Have more stuffing on the side.

Ingredients
serves 2

• 2 large, round, stuffing tomatoes (or peppers)
• 1.5lbs ground meat (i used lean ground turkey and sausages)
• vegetables (optional), (i used broccoli)
• 3-4 cloves cut garlic
• pepper and salt for seasoning and to taste
• pre-cooked noddles
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

1. Heat a pan with a tablespoon of olive oil.
2. Put in cut up garlic. Cook and stir until slightly brown.
3. Put in ground meat (and sausages if uncooked) and cook until no pink shows, breaking it up into small pieces. Add in a pinch of salt and pepper. Put in sausages if already cooked and add in the vegetables. Add in some more pepper if needed.
4. Cut up tomatoes and take out the seeds while the meat is cooking. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
5. Once meat is done cooking, divide everything into two equal portions, and put in the tomatoes. If there is extra, save it for the topping of the noodles.
6. Place tomatoes on greased baking sheet, and bake for about 25 minutes. Watch the oven consciously. It will be done when the tomatoes are tender, but not completely wilted. Tomatoes should serve as a bowl for the meat so try not to over cook it.
7. Serve with noddles!

Dessert: Blueberry Galette with Lemon Ice Cream

Ingredients
Serves 6-8

For lemon ice cream

• 1 pt superpremium vanilla ice cream
• 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh lemon zest
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

For galette

• 1 lb fresh blueberries (3 cups)
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 (9-inch) refrigerated pie dough (from a 15-oz package)
• 1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

Directions:

1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 425°F. Line a large baking sheet with foil and butter foil.
2. Make lemon ice cream:
   Transfer ice cream to a microwave-safe bowl and microwave at 30 percent power at 10-second intervals until softened, about 50 seconds total. Stir in zest and juice, then thinly spread in a shallow baking pan and freeze while making galette.
3. Assemble and bake galette:
   Stir together blueberries, cornstarch, zest, juice, cinnamon, salt, and 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl until combined.
4. Unwrap pie dough and unfold onto baking sheet, then spoon blueberry mixture onto center of dough, leaving a 1 1/2-inch border around edge.
5. Fold edge of dough over 1 inch of blueberry mixture, pleating dough, then dot blueberry filling with butter pieces. Lightly brush pastry with some of beaten egg and sprinkle with remaining teaspoon sugar.
6. Bake until blueberry filling is bubbling and pastry is golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool slightly on baking sheet on a rack. Serve warm galette with scoops of lemon ice cream.

I hope you enjoy the recipes as much as I did. I have to say that the Blueberry Galette and lemon ice cream are probably the best recipes. But let me know, I could be wrong.