Why Am I in Texas When There Are Cooler Places?

This is the time of the year-- EVERY YEAR--that I ask myself that question. I suppose the answer is that I haven't gone some other place. The secret to being as comfortable as possible for me is to stay as cool as possible and drink as much liquid as possible. Water , of course, is the logical choice, and it is a good choice. However, our gourmet world offers many options. Below find a couple of drinks that can be made at home--with a little help from Gourmet Gallery.

PEACH BELLINI

1) In a blender, combine 1/2 package of Wine-a-Rita mix (3/4 cup) with12 fluid ounces of wine or champagne and blend until mixed.

2) Fill blender with ice and mix until smooth.

Makes 12-6 ounce servings.

Or

LAVENDER LEMONADE

Brew 1quart of Sterling Earl Grey Lavender Tea. (2tablespoons loose tea in 1qt. hot water [185-205F] . Let steep for 5 minutes. Remove tea leaves and chill.

2 cups simple syrup. (Bring 2 cups sugar and one cup water to a boil stirring until sugar is completely dissolved. Chill.)

Combine tea and simple syrup in a pitcher and add 1-1/2 cups of freshly squeezed lemon juice. Stir. Add ice and one or two sliced lemons.

ENJOY.

My Fig Tree, the Birds and the Squirrels

My fig tree is as tall as the storage house at the back of the lot. It is as big as the storage house. I can only
reach about 7 feet to pick the large, luscious figs that are beginning to ripen to their sweetest. I COULD get a tall ladder and move it a few feet at a time around the tree to pick the figs. (.Don't tell.)

I devised a plan for harvesting those figs. I was willing to get in and around the first seven or so feet of the tree and pick those plump figs. And I was willing to let the wildlife have the figs in the top half of the tree. In my nicest voice I have made that fact known to the birds, squirrels and any other creatures that want to have a treat. Have they accepted my invitation--my reasonable plan. NO!!!! With unmitigated gall they have been in MY part of the tree, and not only that, they are eating figs that are not completely ripe--just barely turning color. How rude when I was and am so willing to share!!!!!. 

However, if I can get sneak enough from the birds, etc., or if they have a change of heart, I am going to make the following recipe:

JUANITA'S FIG BRUSHCETTA

l Baguette, sliced
4 ounces goat cheese
Fresh figs, sliced
Honey for drizzling.

Toast the baguette slices.
Spread with about 2 teaspoons  or so of the goat cheese.
Place 1 sliced fig on each slice.
Drizzle with honey, to taste.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Try this with a Pinot Noir, if you like a red, or a Sauvignon Blanc if you prefer white. I also found a "fizzy" Portuguese white that will be nice with this recipe.
Let me know what you think of the wine choices, please.

A Source--"Cook's Illustrated"

Entering the retail world of food has been a education for me. Even though I was a Homemaking teacher  when there were such animals and a wife and mother for even longer, so many new ideas, food and nutrition facts and new methods have appeared since then that I have had to really be alert to all things new. Among  the many magazines that pass through our doors, a stand-out is COOK'S ILLUSTRATED. In fact, it is our go-to for equipment recommendations, methods of cooking and their cookbook THE AMERICA' S TEST KITCHEN FAMILY COOKBOOK published by America's Test Kitchen is the book we recommend for new cooks who need a starter course in cooking and baking.

COOK'S ILLUSTRATED comes bi-monthly and has a plethora of information about food preparation, pots and pans, food products--too much to cover here. There are 32 items in the contents. One of them is for frying eggs. I know, I know! Who doesn't know how to fry 'em, and eggs are not that good for you. What about cholesterol? I eat them and I will continue to do so.

Pointers for the perfect fried egg, borrowed from August, 2013, COOK'S ILLUSTRATED, pp.12-13.

Preheat the pan for 5 minutes over low heat.
Use two fats--vegetable oil while the pan is heating and butter added just before the eggs.
Add eggs all at once. Cracking into small bowls and adding to skillet allows them cook at the same rate.
Turn heat to medium-high.
Cover as soon as the eggs are in place. Allow to cook 1 minute.
Remove from heat.
Wait 15 to 45 seconds.

Ready to serve.
(I have a glass saucepan lid that fits for 8 inch skillet; so, I don't have to let heat out to check.)
Now, for a strip of bacon, toasted English muffins and a little orange marmalade.

Perfect breakfast--or dinner.
BTW we have both AMERICA'S TEST KITCHEN FAMILY COOKBOOK and the current issue of COOK'S ILLUSTRATED available at Gourmet Gallery.

A Summertime Favorite, or Who Doesn't Love Peach Cobbler?

Peach cobbler always meant making a double pie crust, lining the pan with half and rolling a top crust. I still like it that way, but my niece sent me a recipe that is a hurry-up recipe that is so delicious that I usually make it that way.I have found several similar recipes, but they all require more steps than Lora's recipe. Here it is:

                               ( Luscious peaches. Watch at Farmers' Market. Probably will be the best)


LORA'S PEACH COBBLER

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

 Place 1/2 cup butter in 9X13X2 baking pan and put pan in oven to melt butter. When melted, remove from oven. Set aside.

Mix together:
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
Add 1 cup "sweet" milk

Pour into baking pan over the butter.

Add 1 quart of sweetened peaches evenly over the batter.

Place into oven and bake until golden brown--about 30 minutes.

Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

So quick. So easy. So-o-o-o-o-o-o good.

Any kind of peaches will work-- fresh, canned or frozen. I remembering reading that even the peaches that don't seem quite up to par will be wonderful in a cobbler.
Please enjoy this simple recipe.

Berries, Berries, Berries

In "the olden days" my school would dismiss mid-April so that the children could help with the crops--hoeing cotton, gathering tomatoes for the market. Not only was school out, but the berries were beginning to ripen. First, we had dewberries. There were bigger, sweeter than the mixed berries and blackberries that followed later in the spring. We picked and ate and took them home and washed them and ate them with milk, made cobblers, and jelly. (The blackberries made the best jam.) Sometimes Dad would come in from the farm with his hat full of berries--always enough for the cobbler. Mother had a special pan for that treat. I still have it--a little enamel off here and there, but it serves the that purpose.

BERRY COBBLER

Pastry for a 9-inch double-crust
l cup sugar + 2 tablespoons for topping
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 -5 cups fresh berries
4 tablespoons butter, chopped into small pieces

Heat oven to 350 F.

Roll out 1/2 the dough and line a 9" X 9" X 2" baking dish with it. Place a square of parchment paper cut to fit onto the dough. Blind bake the crust for about 8 minutes so that the bottom crust will not be soggy.
Turn oven up to 450 F.
Mix the flour and sugar thoroughly. Put berries on the blind baked crust. Add sugar/flour mixture and 3 tablespoons of the pieces of butter. Sprinkle about 4 tablespoons of water over the mixture.

Roll out other 1/2 of dough and place on top of berries folding the overlap under the bottom crust and pinch together so that the juice will remain inside the crust.* Make slits in the top crust to allow the steam to escape. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar and place remainder of butter on the top.
Bake for 10 minutes at the higher temperature; then, reduce heat to 350 F and bake for 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Cool a little if you possibly wait. Then, enjoy.

*To duplicate the cobbler below, roll out dough for top, cut into strips and weave over the top.
(Rachel can tell you how to do that.)

Back to an Old Favorite

On Memorial Day I made Cream Puffs. Remember those? Home Ec Class in high school? The lesson about leavening agents--that eggs and air and steam could make desserts rise, i.e. angel food cakes, sponge cakes, cream puffs, eclairs. According to FOOD LOVERS' COMPANION,  a cream  puff is also called choux pastry (shoo) pastry. Just in case you missed the lesson in Home Ec, during the baking, the eggs make the pastry puff into irregular domes. They are easy and fun. Not everyone in my family likes therm, but that's just fine. (The more for me idea.)

In case you cannot find the recipe, here is the Old One from JOY OF COOKING, 1952 edition.

CREAM PUFFS

"Please cease  to think of these as something to try out in your more adventurous moments. No need to shine up your rabbit's food--just have all ingredients at room temperature. But once the cream puffs are filled with, be sure that they are stored in a cool or refrigerated place, as they are subject to bacterial activity which maybe highly toxic and give no evidence of spoilage...."

Sift before measuring: 

     1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Heat:

      1/2 cup milk or water

Add: 

      1/4 cup butter

Bring these ingredients to the boiling point. Add the sifted flour:

      1/8 teaspoon salt

Cook and stir the batter until it leaves the sides of the pan and forms a ball. Remove it from the heat. Beat in one at a time:

      2 eggs

Be careful to beat l egg until well blended before adding the other. Place spoonfuls of batter in 2 inch rounds on a greased tin*, heaping them well in the center.  Allow 2 inches between the puffs. In France the dough is chilled before being baked. Bake them in a hot oven 400 F for 1/2 hour. Reduce the heat to 350 F. Bake them 5 minutes longer. Test the puffs by removing one from the oven. If it does not fall it is thoroughly done. When the puffs are cool, cut a gash in the side of each puff and fill them with sweetened whipped cream  custard, etc.

The puffs were fun. Now I need to work on making a custard that is not lumpy!!!! However, Karyn's ice cream was good in them.

*An easier method--line a pan with parchment paper.

20 Bottles of Wine on the Wall, 20 Bottles of Wine. Take One Down and Pass it Around....

By Pure Luck I won twenty bottles of wine at the Kentucky Derby Party held at the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and sponsored by the Lions' Club Foundation. This was a fund raiser for the Lions' Park that has been a place for kids to have fun for many years. Those Lions know how to give a party!!!!!

Now the question is, What to do with 20 bottles of wine? Drink some it. Yes. Share some of it. Definitely. Cook with some of it. Of course.

Drinking Some

With some Pinot Grigio or Chianti

Stuffed dates or figs:

12 dates, pitted, or 12 figs

2 to 3 ounces Stilton cheese, crumbled

6 thin slices prosciutto, cut in half lengthwise

Preheat oven to 350F. Line an baking sheet with aluminum foil

Cut a lengthwise slit in the date/fig. Stuff each one with just enough cheese to fill the cavity, but not spill out. Pinch dates/figs closed. Wrap each date/fig in a piece of prosciutto and arrange them, seam side down, on the prepared pan.

Bake for  10 minutes. Remove the oven and, using tongs, carefully turn dates/figs. Return to the oven and bake until browned and crisp, about 10 minutes longer. Serve warm or at room temperature

(From Wine Bites--Simple Morsels That Pair Perfectly with Wine. by Barbara Scott-Goodman.--Available at Gourmet Gallery.)

With some Cabernet Sauvignon: 

1 - 11 oz box of Cornmeal Rosemary Shortbread Cookies from Wackym's Kitchen (Available at Gourmet Gallery)

Some softened butter

Some crumbled bleu or Gorganzolla cheese

Mix butter and cheese.

Place a little dab on each cookie. 

Enjoy with sips of wine.