Blackberry Pie

Yes my friends, it’s time for blackberries. The season is here, the berries are ripe and ready for picking. Blackberries grow wild here along the American River, and pretty much around all of the creeks and streams in California. Heck, they even grow wild in empty lots and neglected back yards in San Francisco. Hank, I, and our friend and fellow food blogger Amber went berry picking at the river this week and brought home a couple pounds of fresh, ripe, juicy berries, perfect for a pie. And a perfect pie it is, or was. It didn’t last long. Honestly I think it was one of the best pies I’ve ever made, and that’s saying something, because I like to make pie. The filling held together (instant tapioca is a great thickener), the additions of lemon, cinnamon, and almond extract just intensified and enhanced the blackberry flavor. And the crust? Well, in my opinion, homemade pie is just an excuse to eat homemade butter crust.

Not everyone has access to wild blackberries. If that’s you, you can easily use market berries or frozen berries. Trader Joe’s carries a good quality bag of frozen mixed berries that would work perfectly well with this pie. If you do have a blackberry bush nearby, pick only the berries that are all black, or deeply purple. If the berry still has red in it, it’s not ripe and will be unpleasantly tart. A truly ripe berry should be easy to pick. You shouldn’t have to tug on it too much to get it off of the vine. Wear long pants and a long sleeved shirt for picking, the thicker the cloth the better, as you’ll need protection from the berry plant’s many many (ouch) thorns. Put the berries in a bucket or thick plastic bag. The juice from the berries will go through any paper bag.

Apple Cranberry Currant Crumble Pie

They say that as you get older you develop more of a sweet tooth. If my parents are any test of this theory, I would have to say, yes this does indeed seem to be true. When my siblings and I were kids (in the 60s) we had dessert once a month (not counting the coffee cake dad made on Sundays). These days nary a pie recipe gets published that my father doesn’t want to try, especially when I’m around to make the crust. He made this delicious crumble pie from one in Sunset Magazine a few days ago and it was half gone by noon. There are three of us. The pie serves 12. Did I say it was half gone by noon? You get the picture.

Chicken Salad with Roasted Bell Peppers and Toasted Almonds

Now here’s a twist on a summer chicken salad. This one is inspired by the flavors of Spain, with roasted bell peppers, toasted almonds, garlic and parsley. Chicken breasts are first gently poached in chicken stock, to help the chicken hold on to flavor. (You can easily re-use the stock for another recipe, just boil it down for ten minutes before chilling.) Serve with lettuce, on bread for a sandwich, or just as a side. Great for a summer potluck or picnic. Enjoy!

Homemade Pizza

 

What to do when your 8-year old nephew comes to visit? Make pizza, of course! Well, not of course, actually. I didn’t think of it until we exhausted Sorry, Monopoly, and gin rummy. But it did turn out to be a brilliant idea as dad had just received a baking stone for Christmas, and my nephew Austin loves pizza. I told him if he helped me make it and didn’t make too many faces I would put him on my website and he would be famous. That seemed to get his attention. He thought the dough was “slimy and gross” but he loved picking his own toppings, and the finished product was “awesome”.

The following method I patched together from recipes in both Joy of Cooking and Cook’s Illustrated’s The Best Recipe. I made two batches of dough, four pizzas in all, with varied toppings. Next time I’ll be a bit more patient with stretching out the dough so I can get it even thinner. Look to the end of this post for some excellent links about pizza from other food bloggers.

classic toffee

Baby gazelle's horns "a Marroco recipe"

These very sweet Moroccan pastries are called Kabb el Ghzal and are excellent with a glass of sweet mint tea. The biscuit shell pastry encases a rich, soft, sweet marzipan filling.