Book Reviews

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I want to share with you two books that recently came into our ownership. Both of them are great gems that are going to make some yummy things in the near future.
The first book is a baking book called The Grand Central Baking Book by: Piper Davis and Ellen Jackson written by the owners of one of our local bakeries,
Grand Central Bakery.
We enjoy going to Grand Central for a treat every so often. Close by to the hospital in Portland is one of their locations and after bigger tests at the hospital I like to treat Issac with lunch from the bakery.
Grand Central uses good quality ingredients for all of their food focusing on fresh seasonal items all the year long. The following is from the Introduction of the book, " The bakery and family recipes in this book are designed to showcase easy to find local and seasonal ingredients with ease and elegance while offering a thoughtful balance of practical wisdom and professional expertise." After reading the book cover to cover they have lived up to their hopes in my mind.
I love Grand Central's cookies and breads.When I saw they had a baking book I was pretty excited.Although the book dose not feature their breads it dose have all of the cookies they bake along with many more items that I am wanting to try here at home.Through out the book there are lots of tips and ideas for using their recipes at home.Some recipes even feature seasonal variations to try as the fillings of pies both sweet and savory.
I have only tried their Dutch Baby Pancakes so far,which were excellent, but I am planning on trying out several more in the coming weeks.The first cookie I am going to try is their Graham Cracker Sandwich Cookies. I like the looks of this recipe,the one I have already was a disappointment but Grand Centrals look easy to do and like they will come out better. I am also saving some bread scraps to make the Bread Pudding Muffins for a weekend breakfast.Chance loves bread pudding and I thought the muffin size for breakfast would be a fun way to make it.
The second book we now have is "Preserved" by:Nick Sandler and Johnny Acton with a the foreword written by: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
From the foreword: Preserving is about intelligent home economy.It is a matter of maximizing resources,using know-how both ancient and modern to get the most out of your food. But this doesn't imply parsimony or tight-fistedness.If understood and practiced well, preserving techniques will never produce food that seems meager,mean,or bland.Instead they introduce a whole range of flavors and textures to the cook's repertoire,which are as pleasing and exciting as they are diverse. And I say AMEN! to that.
What excited us about Preserving is the whole book shows how to preserve some really great foods.This is not just a canning book,in fact there isn't much canning at all but how to preserve through drying,salting,smoking,sausages,pickling,fermenting (which is different from pickling.) sugar,alcohol,bottling/canning,air exclusion and freezing.Mixed in with the how to's are tidbits of historical information about some of the foods presented such as, the first foods to be pickled in the 16 century were onions,eggs and walnuts.Also along side the history are scientific facts about the how of some of the sections.
This book covers things like drying your own mushrooms,making fruit leather ( I love home made fruit leathers they beat the store stuff hands down.) mincemeat and false capers made from Nasturtium seed pods.And at the end of each chapter there are recipes using the items from the chapter. The recipes are very modern and from all over the globe.
The updated-ness of this book is awesome.Chance and I enjoy cooking good food and are trying to produce more on our own,I think this book is goiong to be put to good use.
In our up and coming seed order I had ordered several packets of Nasturtium seeds because I love them.I have wanted to try out making the false capers using the Nasturtium seeds but always wondered how I would ever grow enough to have the seed pods all at once.My dilemma is solved according to the book I can start a jar with vinegar,salt and an herb mix and keep it in the fridge.Then I can keep adding to the jar as I have more seed pods. We don't use a ton of capers in our cooking but I just thought the novelty of the whole project would be worth the effort.The recipe says the jar will keep for a year in the fridge.
Preserved is going to fill in some gaps to our putting more of our own food up.Chance and I both felt that this book was written for the two of us,there are recipes that appeal to both of our interests in food.Lots of meat and sauces for Chance to try out and lots of fruit and veg stuff for me.
Both books are great and I encourage you to check them out.
The rain here has been awful,muddy and drenching.I think January is the worst month of the year,the weather is WET,there is not a lot going on any where and I get a bit shack whacked (aka cabin feverish.) but we are mostly through the month and all will be well sooner or later.In the mean time I am working on indoor projects,sewing some and reading lots of books.
Rois

Fruit Cobbler

Today is my Mother's birthday. We are having her for dinner and dessert all of which are her choice.Her menu - Spring Rolls, Steamed Rice, Stir fried Long Beans (well she just said a veggie,that was Chance's idea) and for her treat Strawberry & Rhubarb Cobbler.
My Mom is not a pie person but loves both Strawberries and Rhubarb either together or apart.So her solution to this love is Cobbler.
This time of year there's lots of lovely fresh fruits to use when making Cobbler.And come winter if fresh fruit is not around one can use drained canned fruit.There are a couple kinds of Cobblers.One type makes a slightly sweetened Biscuit top. I am speaking American English here,Biscuit, as in Biscuits and Gravy.The type I make has a cake top.I like them both because they are different from each other.
I am passing on my recipe for Cobbler.I make Cobblers year round with whatever fruit I can come across.I have used White Spelt flour before to lower the gluten.In the fall when there are plenty of apples and pears I make the cobbler and add to the fruit some raisins or other dried fruit.

Cobbler: First preheat your oven to 350 F but if using a glass pan turn it down to 325 F.(This always true when baking in glass pans.)
You will want about 3-4 cups of fruit of your choice. I never measure the fruit.I get out my 9x13 inch baking pan and slice right into it.You will want the fruit to come up about 3/4 of the way to the top of your pan.When your pan is full of fruit you will pour around a cup of sugar and cinnamon to taste over the fruit.Stir to coat the fruit,you want the fruit well coated add more or less sugar if need be.Now dot the top of the fruit with bits of butter.The butter,sugar and juices from the fruit make what my Mom calls the liquor or just the gooey goodness. When using berries only you will want to also mix in 4 Tablespoons of flour to thicken the juices a bit.
Now for the topping:
2 Cups Flour
1 Cup Sugar
3teaspoons Baking Powder
dash of Salt About a 1/4 teaspoon
2 Eggs
1/4 Cup Oil
1 teaspoon Vanilla I have used Almond before with good results.
1 Cup Milk or Water
Mix the dry things together and give them a stir.I like to make sure I have no lumps of things like the baking powder or baking soda. Now add the eggs, oil and vanilla.

Now I have said this before but will say it again,you can use milk or water when baking,there is no taste difference just a nutrition difference.Some days milk is low or costly so never feel like you need to not bake because of this.







Measure out one cup of milk or water.You may not need all of it; I start by using 3/4's of the cup. Mix your batter,what you are looking for is a slightly thick pancake type batter that pours easily.Once there are no lumps you are ready to pour the batter over the fruit.Going back and forth slowly pour your batter over the top of the fruit.The batter will fill in the cracks and mostly cover the fruit.Do not worry about some fruit showing through the batter,while baking the topping will puff up and cover it up. Put it in the oven and bake.Depending on which kind of fruit you are using the time will be varied. Somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour.It is done when the top is golden and when you stick a knife tip or tooth pick into the batter it comes out clean. Serve the Cobbler with Ice Cream or Whipped Cream for an extra nice treat.



Yesterday while out running errands I noticed some Blackberries growing wild along the road, not uncommon here.And it reminded me to go check on my local blackberry spot soon.I pick our blackberries at a local park.Since these black jewels grow wild all over here it's easy to find some to pick for the low low cost of FREE.I am encouraging everyone to go scope out their own spot to pick.Take a walk through your neighborhood and see what you can find. Empty lots, School Yards and Parks are all spots I check.Try and find some growing away from traffic.Although the gas companies no longer put lead in car fuel it still seems a bit yucky to me and questionable.My Ball Blue Canning book reads 9 cups of crushed berries for 3 pints of jam.Pick some free berries and then all you will need is 6 cups of sugar and your jars.Voila Blackberry Jam for the winter. I LOVE Blackberry pie so I will be picking enough for jam and a couple of pies. Yum!
If anyone is interested in the making of Spring Rolls A la Rois send me a comment and I will gladly share that with you too.
Rois