summer cool down

as most of the people living back east already know, its been hot hot hot for too many days in a row...and for those in other parts of the world, you have no doubt heard all of us complaining about it, and we promise, its justified!  here is a drink we cant stop sipping and one that we think is a perfect cool me down treat on a hot summer weekend.  

we have started to get some amazing produce from our local csa in the last few weeks, and recently received some strawberries that were to die for.  we quickly remembered this great strawberry cup recipe from gourmet in print a few years ago.  we made the shrub syrup (the gourmet recipe without adding the soda water and ice cubes), added a little adult enhancer and a bit of cucumber and we think it pretty delicious, let us know what you think!

strawberry cucumber cocktail
makes 1 drink

1 oz. strawberry shrub syrup (recipe)
1.5 oz. quality vodka
2 oz. soda water
garnish with persian cucumber ribbons

combine with ice and stir

all images ©andrewpurcell 2013

raspberry bars, etc.

we've been so busy these past few weeks - eating, working, eating some more, entertaining & enjoying spring in this amazing city. we had a good friend & fellow foodie here for a long visit and hit up many great places for food, drinks, coffee, etc. it's tough to pick any favorites from the past few weeks but several food related highlights include a great cheese & beer dinner here, small tasty plates and wonderful atmosphere here, an icy treat before brooklyn flea, best deviled eggs ever here, and awesome sangria here!

got a few great cookbooks recently that i'm sure we'll posting recipes from soon - Molto Gusto and The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook. both are filled with beautiful images of amazing food! also excited for new music from one of our favorite voices and these guys too.

not much time for cooking or baking lately but we're excited to get to the green market this week to see what's in season and inspiring. in the meantime, these raspberry crumb breakfast bars from Baked are a perfect treat with a cup of coffee any time of day as we anxiously await the release of their next cookbook. enjoy!

Raspberry Crumb Breakfast Bars

for the crust & crumb:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 1/4 cups rolled oats

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into pieces

for the filling:

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1 tbs lemon zest

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbs all purpose flour

1 lb fresh or frozen raspberries

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 tbs unsalted butter, melted & cooled

preheat oven to 350 degrees F. grease the bottom and sides of a 9x13-inch baking pan and set aside. combine flour brown sugar, oats, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon in a food processor and pulse until just combined. add butter and pulse until loose crumbs form. reserve 1 cup of the mixture and set aside. pour the rest of the mixture into the prepared pan and use your hands to push the crust into an even layer in the bottom of the pan. bake until golden, 12-15 minutes. transfer pan to a wire rack and cool.

in a medium bowl, whisk sugar, lemon zest, cinnamon and flour together. add the raspberries, lemon juice and butter and toss gently until the raspberries are evenly coated. spread the raspberry filling evenly on top of the cooled crust. top with reserved cup of crumble mixture and bake 35-40 minutes or until top is golden brown. let cool completely before cutting into squares.

cherries, blackberries & goat cheese

we love all the fresh sweet fruit that comes along with the summer months ahead and really love baking with it. i rarely bake with cherries though - even with the best intentions, i end up eating the whole bowl before they make it into anything as an ingredient! amazingly we had some leftover cherries from farmer's market earlier this week and i was just thinking of what to make when the July issue of martha stewart living arrived in the mailbox. perfect timing! since i can't ever follow a recipe, i changed things up a bit - added blackberries, crumbled goat cheese between the layers and substituted whole wheat pastry flour for the all purpose. the outcome is delicious and we've already put quite a dent in the cake since it came out of the oven. a word to the wise - buy a cherry pitter! it will make life, or at least baking with cherries, so much easier. and put an apron on because that cherry juice goes everywhere!

Cherry Blackberry Crumb Cake

(adapted from July 2009 Martha Stewart Living)

For the topping

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

4 tbs unsalted butter, cold & cut into small chunks

For the cake

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 stick unsalted butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup buttermilk

2 1/2 cup mixed cherries and blackberries, pitted & cut in half

4 oz goat cheese, crumbled

preheat oven to 350 degrees F. grease a 9-inch square baking dish. make the topping by combining flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon in a small bowl. work in butter with a pastry cutter or your fingers until it resembles a coarse meal and set aside. to make the cake, combine flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. with an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until pale yellow and fluffy. beat in eggs and vanilla and scrape down the sides of the bowl. working in batches, add flour mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour. beat until combined and pour into prepared pan. spread out evenly with a spatula. cover cake with cherries and blackberries and then evenly distribute crumbled goat cheese. sprinkle with crumb topping and bake for 1 hour, or until a cake tester comes out clean. let cool before cutting.

sneak peek

sorry to tease you today with lovely photos but no recipes. you'll have to wait until the july/august issue here to see the recipes i developed for this red currant tea cake and a fresh berry tart. the assignment made me so excited for summer to arrive! just got the latest issue of this in the mail yesterday and really love molly's article. glad to know rice pudding holds a special place in other people's hearts.

we're fifty!

well, we're not literally fifty. today is our fiftieth post on pictures & pancakes so we thought it was high time we share a delicious recipe for pancakes. most times i believe that simple is better and when it comes to pancakes, nothing beats good ol' fashioned buttermilk. you can get crazy with the toppings but leave the pancakes alone. everyone likes them a particular way - i'm a blueberry girl and andrew is a banana pancake guy. i also like to add a little lemon zest to the batter if i'm making the blueberry version. one more tip - do not over mix the batter! it'll be a little lumpy but that's okay.

Buttermilk Pancakes

1 1/3 cup flour

3 tbs sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

2 eggs, beaten

2 tbs unsalted butter, melted

1 tbs vanilla

in a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. in a separate bowl, combine buttermilk, eggs, butter and vanilla. add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and whisk until just combined.

heat griddle over medium high heat and grease. pour 1/4 cup of batter over heat and cook until bubbly around the edges. flip and cook until brown.

Blueberry Sauce

1 cup maple syrup

1 1/2 cups blueberries

in a small saucepan, combine maple syrup and 1 cup blueberries. bring to a boil and simmer until blueberries release their juices. remove from heat and stir in remaining blueberries.

Caramelized Bananas

4 tbs unsalted butter

4 tbs brown sugar

2 bananas, sliced

in a small saucepan, melt butter and add brown sugar. swirl to combine and carefully add sliced bananas in a single layer. cook over medium high heat until they begin to brown on each side. serve over pancakes with maple syrup.

jam

here's the last installment of homemade gifts for this holiday season. as you can see, we've been enjoying this berry vanilla jam and our first ever attempt at preserving. it was so much fun to boil the jars and then listen intently for the popping noise they make when they seal. we knew we were successful the next day when we checked the seals on all the jars and then opened one right away to taste! when i make small batches of this jam and don't preserve it, i eliminate the pectin - i think it thickens nicely with just the fruit and sugar. we're already enjoying the holidays with family and friends and will try to blog occasionally over the next few weeks from our travels. merry Christmas and happy holidays to everyone!

Berry Vanilla Jam

makes eight 8-oz jars

5 cups crushed mixed berries (strawberries, raspberries & blueberries)

1 vanilla bean, cut in half & scrapped

4 tbs lemon juice

1 pkg fruit pectin

7 cups sugar

Combine mixed berries, vanilla bean and lemon juice in a large, stainless steal saucepan. Bring to a full rolling boil over high heat and stir in pectin until dissolved. Add sugar all at once, stirring constantly, and boil for 1 minute. Follow preserving instructions.