Thursday, July 1, 2010
Betrayed
Monday, June 28, 2010
Poor Forgotten Little Blog
Vacationed on a distant island.
Had my eyes checked.
Picked some berries.
Drank martinis.
Cooled off.
Shopped for furniture.
Watched the vines grow.
Went to the seashore.
Met some princesses... and some frogs.And still had time to read a few books.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
And Whiskers on Kittens
A brief wet spell in the Napa Valley makes for fun shooting. The gardens and grounds are full of blooms, some I don't remember seeing before. The pink dogwood has come and gone, and the white dogwood is just starting. I've seen irises in an abundance and diversity of colors, including a gorgeous yellow-gold. Tried to shoot that yesterday, but there was just enough of a breeze to thwart the close-up focus.Today, blue skies are alternating with dishcloth-gray clouds seeping a bone-chilling rain and mist. The calla lilies outside my office window still look starched, fresh and white, but the deep purple irises of my grandfather's that I have in pots in the back have taken a beating. Still beautiful though.
What is spring without rain, asparagus and strawberries? I picked the last shoots of asparagus in the garden a few days ago. So sweet you could eat them raw. There may be a few more reaching edible height soon, but they are consistently available at the store now too.
Have I stressed to you the importance of buying organic strawberries? Strawberries have a soft and vulnerable flesh. Conventional farmers use pesticides and herbicides on them, and these are absorbed into the skin of the strawberry. It is number one on every list I've seen of recommended foods to buy organic vs. conventional. So, from the time organic strawberries are in season in the spring to the time they go out of season (if they do), they are a constant presence in the refrigerator.
To keep them fresh and ready to eat, I rinse the strawberries well when I get them home, then place a dry paper towel on top. Snap the lid closed (or put a rubber band around the basket and paper towel) then flip them over (on a plate for a basket without a lid). The remaining water drips onto the paper towel, preventing rot, and the moist paper keeps the berries from drying out in the refrigerator for the few days it usually takes us to polish off the basket. I call it a "strawberrium". Pics here, in case this doesn't make sense. (Strawberry Rhubarb Pie link here.)
If get a good price at the market at the height of the season and have too many to eat fresh, I hull the berries, cut them into small pieces and place them in a single layer on a parchment-covered baking sheet in the freezer. After they're frozen, I allow the sheet to sit at room temperature for a few minutes, then pop them off into a zippered freezer bag to use for smoothies.
You can also make up a batch of cobbler dough, and cut or pat it roughly into rounds to fit 8 oz ramekins. If you're not going to use it right away, wrap the rounds individually in plastic wrap and place in a zipper bag in the freezer. When you feel like a little cobbler, set out a dough to defrost for an hour (or all day in the fridge), fill a ramekin with berries (frozen raspberries are delicious too), sprinkle with sugar. Top with a defrosted dough round and bake at 425 for 20-30 minutes or until dough is golden brown.
Here's my favorite smoothie at the moment:
Buttermilk Berry SmoothieSpringy watercolors here.
2 c buttermilk (less fat and more protein than milk or soy milk)
(You can also substitute 1 c buttermilk and 1 c milk of your choice if buttermilk is too tangy for you, or milk plus 1/2 small container plain yogurt.)
1/2 - 1 c fresh strawberries, cut into small pieces, or any other berry, fresh or frozen
(I love blueberries in this.)
4 level tablespoons hemp powder
1/2 - 1 tablespoon agave syrup, or to taste
This is about 400 calories, so it makes a solid breakfast, with an almost perfect ratio of fats to protein to carbs, and half of the daily recommended amount of fiber. To reduce the calories, you can substitute water or non-fat milk for 1/2 the buttermilk. Buttermilk (be sure to buy organic if you can get it) also has beneficial "probiotic" cultures for your digestive system. You can tinker with the quantities. Sometimes I add a tablespoon of ground flax seed, but mind the fiber if you're not used to it.
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Here's another totally unrelated tip that I don't have another place for: next time you use a paper toilet seat cover, turn it perpendicular to the seat instead of trying to line up the opening with the seat. It won't slip in as easily.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Chicken Masala and Caramelized Carrots
Easy Chicken Masala
Position racks in the top third and the bottom third of the oven so that the chicken and the Caramelized Cumin-Roasted Carrots can roast together. This dish is part of the Chicken Masala Menu for 4.
Ingredients
- 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
- 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
- 1 large garlic clove, pressed
- 1 4- to 4 1/2-pound roasting chicken, cut into 8 pieces, backbone removed
- 2 small onions, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
Preparation
- Mix yogurt, chopped cilantro, olive oil, garam masala, salt, and garlic in 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Add chicken to marinade, 1 piece at a time, coating all sides. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 2 hours. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated.
- Position racks in top third and bottom third of oven; preheat to 400°F. Arrange onions in thin layer on large rimmed baking sheet to form bed for chicken. Top with chicken pieces in single layer, spacing apart for even roasting (chicken will still be coated with marinade). Discard remaining marinade.
- Roast chicken on top rack until cooked through and juices run clear when thickest portion of thigh is pierced with knife, about 1 hour. Serve chicken atop onion slices. Spoon pan juices around.
Ingredients
- Nonstick vegetable oil spray
- 12 medium to large carrots, peeled, cut on diagonal into 1/2-inch-thick pieces
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
- 2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray large rimmed baking sheet with nonstick spray.
- Combine carrots and all remaining ingredients in large bowl; toss to coat. Spread in single layer on prepared baking sheet. Roast carrots until tender and lightly caramelized, turning carrots over once, 35 to 40 minutes.
Adorable Little Cake
This cute little cake is from Bon Appetit. I made it for my special guys for Valentine's Day using milk chocolate. This one was made for me by my adorable husband for my birthday using 70% chocolate for the cake and 62% for the icing. Besides using three bowls, it's really a simple and fool-proof cake. Here is the recipe from their website (apparently they are a little formatting-happy over there):
Top Tier Devil's Food Cake with Sour Cream-Fudge Frosting
Ingredients
Cake
- 1/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 ounce high-quality milk chocolate (such as Lindt, Perugina, or Valrhona *or Scharffenberger if substituting dark), chopped
- 1/4 cup boiling water
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
- 2/3 cup cake flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Frosting
- 8 ounces high-quality milk chocolate (such as Lindt, Perugina, or Valrhona *or Scharffenberger if substituting dark), chopped
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2/3 cup sour cream
- 4 teaspoons light corn syrup
- Organic roses (for garnish) *optional- we decorated simply with shaved chocolate
Special Equipment
- 2 5-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides *I used large ramekins. The first time, I trimmed using a large biscuit cutter to adjust for the shape of the ramekin, the second cakes required no adjusting. You can make one tall, 4-8 layer cake (if you halve the 4" layers) or two four-layer cakes in this size.
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Test-Kitchen Tip
Five-inch cake pans are available at some kitchenware stores and restaurant supply stores and online from cheftools.com and amazon.com.
Preparation
Cake
- Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 350°F. Butter two 5-inch cake pans with 2-inch-high sides. Line bottom of pans with parchment paper; butter parchment. Combine cocoa powder and milk chocolate in medium bowl. Pour 1/4 cup boiling water over; whisk until mixture is smooth. Whisk in buttermilk.
- Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in another medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat both sugars, oil, egg, and vanilla in large bowl until well blended. Add flour and cocoa mixtures; beat until blended (batter will be thin). Divide batter between pans.
- Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out with some crumbs attached, 28 to 30 minutes. Cool in pans on racks 15 minutes. Turn out onto racks; peel off parchment. Turn over; cool on racks.
Frosting
- Place chocolate in large metal bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water and stir until melted and smooth. Remove bowl from over water. Add butter and stir until melted, then add sour cream and corn syrup and whisk until smooth. Let frosting stand at room temperature until thick enough to spread, about 20 minutes.
- Using serrated knife, trim top of cakes to make level. Cut each cake horizontally in half. Place 1 cake layer, cut side up, on platter. Spread 1/4 cup frosting over, leaving 1/2-inch border. Top with second cake layer, cut side down. Spread 1/4 cup frosting over, leaving 1/2-inch border. Top with third cake layer, cut side up. Spread 1/4 cup frosting over, leaving 1/2-inch border. Top with remaining cake layer, cut side down. Spread 1/3 cup frosting over top and sides. Chill until frosting is set, about 30 minutes. Keep remaining frosting at room temperature.
- Spread remaining frosting evenly over top and sides of cake. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover with cake dome and store at room temperature.
- Arrange roses atop cake and serve.
Aebleskivers
Aebleskivers! (Also seen as Aebelskivers or Ebleskivers.) Another recipe (besides Dutch Baby, which has entered my permanent repertoire) that was an obsession of my grandmother's. I don't know how many times she called to offer me the cast-iron aebleskiver pan in her garage, or how many times I refused it. It became a running joke, along with our separated eggs, that made us both laugh. I have the pan now, Grandma! And I'm using it!AEBLESKIVERSThe traditional Danish version that gives the dish its name (aebleskiver = apple slices) is made by poking a small chunk of apple into the middle of the ball before turning, and is served with jam. Apple chunks are yummy, but keep them small so they aren't too crunchy.
3 eggs, separated
2 cups buttermilk
2 T sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 c flour
1 tsp bp
1 tsp bs
Whisk yolks briskly, add sugar, salt, vanilla and buttermilk, whisk to combine.
Sift together flour, bp, bs, add to egg mixture.
Whisk egg whites to soft peak stage, fold in gently. Set batter aside.
Preheat and lightly oil an aebleskiver pan.
Pour batter to fill pan hollows. (I use a soup spoon for portioning.)
When top bubbles and edges dry, use a skewer (I use a skinny crab fork) to scoot the aebelskiver about a 1/3 turn. Wait just a minute or two for the new section to brown, then turn it the rest of the way. If you've over-filled, just poke the excess back into the ball when you turn it.
Applesauce and blueberries, which I also tried, were too messy and sticky. Not recommended.
blueberries sticking to the pan
(An entertaining video for Takoyaki, or Japanese Octopus Balls, a savory dish which uses a similar turning technique and pan, is here.)
I promise to use my good camera not the iPhone, from now on. I promise to use my good camera not the iPhone, from now on. I promise to use my good camera not the iPhone, from now on. I promise to use my good camera not the iPhone, from now on. I promise to use my good camera not the iPhone, from now on. I promise to use my good camera not the iPhone, from now on.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
I'm Accustomed to the Smooth Ride
"Years ago, there were tribes that roamed the earth, and every tribe had a magic person. Well, as you know, all of the tribes have dispersed, but every so often you meet a magic person and every so often, you meet someone from your tribe. Which is how I felt when I met Paul Simon."
My two favorite passages from Carrie Fisher's book, Wishful Drinking.
Beautiful Soup
Parsnip Soup with Ginger and Parsnip "Croutons"
(from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone)
3 large parsnips, about 2 lbs, peeled
6 cups basic vegetable stock or water (below)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro stems, plus sprigs for garnish
4 thin slices ginger
3 tablespoons butter or canola oil
1 large onion, chopped
3/4 lb carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 T white rice
Salt and freshly milled black pepper
1 cup (or more) milk, cream or almond milk to thin the soup, as needed
Cut two of the parsnips crosswise in half, then quarter each half lengthwise. Cut away most of the cores. (Note: this is an important step, especially with larger parsnips, as the core is woody and fibrous.) Reserve the other parsnip (to be diced and sauteed as garnish later.)
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil or butter in a soup pot over medium heat, letting it brown a little. Add the vegetables, remaining ginger and the coriander. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion and carrots have begun to brown here and there. Add the rice and 1 1/2 tsp salt and cook a few minutes more. Add the strained stock and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, partially covered, until the vegetables are very soft, about 35 minutes. Remove the ginger, then puree the soup, leaving a little texture or not, as you wish. Thin if necessary with the milk. Check for seasoning, add salt if necessary.
Dice the third parsnip into little cubes (remember to remove the cores) and cook in a skillet in the remaining butter, until golden and tender, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve the soup with a spoonful of the parsnips and garnish with sprigs of cilantro.
If you've never cooked with parsnips before, give them a try. They make plain soups, like potato, more interesting and tasty. Here's one of my favorite recipes, for a deceptively simple soup that tastes richer than it is. Cauliflower-Parsnip-Leek soup, from chowhound.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Two Delicious Soups for the New Year
Tonight, I blog.*
Right at this moment, I could call AT&T from my phone and crawl my way up the service ladder in search of someone who might be able to take a sensible look at all of my plans and figure out a way that my minutes and bytes could be shared. The thought of it makes my upper lip begin to curl in a peculiar way. So I’m putting it aside for tonight, in favor of more calming pursuits.
Because what I really wanted to blog about was…soup.
One of the things Mike got me for Christmas was Deborah Madison’s classic cookbook Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. The first recipe I made from it, which I’ve included for you below, is chock-full of green nutritiousness, cooks up quickly, and is just the thing for a cold January night. Surprisingly tasty for a soup with so few ingredients. The second soup, which Mike and I made the following night, was a serendipitous coming together of wintry ingredients that will definitely make a repeat appearance.
Chard Soup with Sorrel or Lemon (Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone)
2 T butter
1 onion or two medium leeks (white parts only) chopped
3 red potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 bunch chard, stems removed, about 10 cups leaves
2 cups sorrel leaves, stems removed, or juice of 1 large lemon
Salt and freshly milled pepper
1/3 cup crème fraiche or sour cream
optional: ½ cup cooked rice or small toasted croutons
Heat the butter in a soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and potatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to color, about 8 minutes.
Add ½ cup water and scrape the bottom of the pot to release the juices that have accumulated. Add the greens and 1 ½ tsp salt. As soon as they wilt down, after 5 minutes or so, add 6 ½ cups water. Bring to a boil then lower the heat and simmer, partially covered, for 12 to 15 minutes.
Puree the soup and return to the pot. (Note, a “stick” or immersion blender is lovely for pureeing hot soups in the pot. If you don’t have one, they are well worth the investment for this application alone. Otherwise, carefully transfer a portion of the soup at a time to a blender or food processor to puree, taking care that the top is on loosely enough to allow steam to escape, or cool the soup and puree, then finish the recipe when reheating.)
Taste for salt and season with pepper. If you didn’t use sorrel, now is the time to add the lemon juice. Mix the crème fraiche with some of the soup to smooth it out, then swirl into the soup. Serve with rice or croutons in each bowl. (Or with a crispy grilled cheese sandwich, as we did.)
Chicken and Black Eyed Pea Stew
2 T olive oil
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 onion, quartered and sliced
1 yellow or orange bell pepper, trimmed, quartered and sliced, optional
1 T Better Than Bouillon organic chicken stock concentrate, or 1 T gray sea salt
1 container fresh black-eyed peas (if using dried, soak, cook and drain according to package instructions)
8 oz button mushrooms, trimmed and sliced thickly
3 chard leaves, stems removed, rough chopped
In a soup pot or sauce pan, brown the chicken in the olive oil, turning once. Once the chicken is a little brown on both sides, add the onion and pepper and sautee, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly blond. Add 4-6 cups water and desired quantity of salt or bouillon concentrate to taste, deglazing any meat bits from the bottom of the pan by scraping with a spoon as you stir. Allow to come to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer 30 minutes or more, or until the meat yields easily and falls apart.
(If desired, remove the chicken and some vegetables to a cutting board with a slotted spoon and roughly chop into bite sized pieces.)
Sautee mushroom slices quickly over medium-high heat, add to broth. Add the peas and cook in the pan broth until tender. If removed, return chicken and vegetable pieces to pan. Add chard and simmer until just tender.
This would be great with a trencher of buttered Acme levain bread.
Following the recipe up to the part where the meat yields easily is also the way we make chicken for tasty burritos and tacos, or a quick, flavorful stock to serve as a base for an ad-hoc soup. The whole soup can of course be made vegetarian, omitting the chicken and using just salt or vegetable stock. I actually made the chicken the night before and put the whole thing in the fridge, then Mike cooked the beans in the stock while he chopped the cold cooked chicken, adding the mushrooms next, then the chard.
The possibilities with other legumes—white, lima, lentil, split pea, garbanzo, and other winter greens, are endless. I like the grassy, slightly meaty flavor of the black-eyed peas. Containers of fresh peas can be found at Whole Foods. (Don’t know if they are available just this time of year, or year-round.) For me, they were a flavor revelation over the dried variety. This is one of those soups wherein the flavor is greater than the sum of the parts, the mushrooms building on the earthy flavor of the beans.
Happy Cooking!
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*Or tonight I would be blogging if my INTERNET CONNECTION had not been SUSPENDED. Due to geological limitations, I have few options for internet service. One is/was satellite, which was offered via Hughesnet, my nominee for the title of Worst Customer Service Ever. The other is the AT&T “aircard” which has a limit of 5GB per month. Each month, up until today, I’ve received a “Danger danger, you are nearing the limit of your coverage” notice, but had not gone over, remarkably, until last month. Today, I received said notice, and then, in the middle of my email session, prior to logging on to the blog, my connection was dropped, and my little blue “connect” button turned a forlorn shade of gray.
Each time I received the warning message in the past, I dutifully called AT&T “Customer Care” to ask what could be done. The message offers: “As a valued customer, we would like to assist you to avoid possible service interruption and minimize a costly bill. Please call us at 1-800-331-0500 or 611 from your wireless.”
Each time I call, I speak with a series of ascendingly infuriating but innocent first level Santa’s helpers, who read me the script about how many k’s I have in my plan and don’t know the difference between the letters K, M and G. I confess, sometimes I find them confusing too. The point is, there is nothing they can do for me.
I have an iPhone with AT&T, for which they charge me too much money and with which I have unlimited data. I have a home phone line with AT&T for which I am charged approximately $25 per month and on which I send approximately 3 faxes. And I have the air card, for which they charge me $59, yes, that’s $59 per month and limit me to 5GB. So I’m forking out just under two bills per month and right now I am proxy-blogging on a word document because I can only connect to the internet via the iPhone. Something is rotten in Denmark. Or wherever AT&T has its lair these days.
I’ll get back to those robber barons at AT&T later…
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Facebook Ate My Blog
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Pilgrimage
They have come from hundreds, even thousands of miles away, on fragile wings, sometimes fringed with wind-wear. To see them, it’s astounding that they travel at all. Fewer and fewer of them each year, dwindling to naught or simply dipping, we don’t know.
When I lived in Santa Cruz, on the west side, the park was an easy bike ride from my shabby student rental in “the circles”. I don’t know how many visits I made on my new bike, helmetless in those days, hair blowing dangerously in the wind, before they arrived that first time. Down West Cliff Drive, hook a right at the park on a quiet weekday morning, follow the road and then head down the dirt path to the right.
Riding that bike, the first bike I’d ever purchased with my own money—probably the first big thing I’d ever purchased, if I think about it—was one of my favorite things to do. Sometimes I felt like I was ten years old again, riding wherever I wanted to go as fast as I could, with no particular destination.
The first time, I don’t know that I knew they were there before I went, or if I had heard they would come. Dripping from branches, in flickering clusters, they warmed themselves in shafts of light that seeped through the canopy of eucalyptus into the quiet grove. What I remember is how magical and serene it was to ride through the mist and stay there in the quiet of that half-lit grove among them.
Now, twenty-five years later, young, clean-shaven park rangers patiently answer questions from a road-addled tourist at the gate. Yes, the butterflies are here. Yes, you can take your dog into the park, but not to see the butterflies (duh) and please make sure your car is parked in the shade with the windows down and obvious water for the dog and don’t stay too long because other people get really upset if they see a dog in a car for a long time. Ten dollars for day use, please.
The quiet dirt path has been replaced (very necessarily) by a new boardwalk, which is attractive and sturdy, designed to take the abuse of eager nature-lovers. At the base of the walkway in the grove itself is a low multi-level deck.
At first, it is lovely just to see the Monarchs flitting silently between the trees. You'll notice that there are no close-up photos. The butterflies are very, very high up, though when it's quiet, and bored children have dragged their parents back to the beach, they'll swoop teasingly close to the deck.
A mother and her young daughter were lying on the edge of one of the deck’s steps, looking up at the treetops. They were talking sweetly, sharing an enviable mother-daughter moment. A small family group was listening to a female ranger talk in whispers about the butterflies and their journey. I caught just the end, just enough to hear her say, “…people who saw them twenty years ago, in the 80s, say that there were hundreds and thousands of them…what you can do is plant milkweed to grow during the seasons that they are traveling…”
I don’t want the butterflies to be just another thing that is dwindling, dying, disappearing. Once there were hundreds, herds by the millions across the plain, great black clouds of wings in the sky, etc., etc. My generation really is Generation D, for disappointment. Everything “used to be” bigger, more. Everything is just outside of our grasp, lost to us by just a little bit.
But then I think, how lucky that I was one of the people who saw them then, who got to stand in that grove alone, on a quiet weekday, not surrounded by well-meaning eco-tourist families whispering questions below the fluttering clusters of insects. I could come down any morning I wanted, and see them hanging on drooping eucalyptus branches, wings still too wet with dew to fly.
As soon as the woman and her daughter left, I found my own spot on the deck and leaned back, resting my head against the wood. The family group moved on, and the couples that trickled down into the grove were respectfully silent.
Directly above my head was a branch whose clustered leaves fluttered—every bare twig shimmered with the dun undersides of their orange and black wings. The sky was blue, and the smell of eucalyptus was caught up in the occasional breeze. There was a serenity in the scene that made me wish to stay. But I had promised the rangers that I wouldn’t leave my dog for long, even though she was safely parked in deep shade, and so I had to be on my way.
First stop: The Bagelry, downtown Santa Cruz for a "Dark Star": An "everything" bagel with thickly-layered with cream cheese, chopped olives and chopped walnuts. (PS- they call it the "Ultimate" now.) Mike’s favorite from his MBA days. Mike does not have a Master’s in Business Administration, but he was once the assistant dean at the Monterey Bay Academy. After a walk around the block with the dog, fill the water jug, use the clean bathroom for customers only and park in the free parking for customers only.
Second stop: Butterfly grove
Third stop: Lighthouse point
Fourth stop: Caffe Pergolesi for a chai (the chai by which all others must be judged-- perfect.)
Fifth stop: Pizza My Heart for a pesto pizza to bring home to Mike. Another favorite.
Sixth stop: Cemetery
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
For the Lovely Ladies from Ohio
(Didn't realize until re-reading this post just now that it is rather autobiographical, so pardon the personal details. Scroll down to the food if you get bored. Or hungry.)
Any Fruit Coffee Cake
From one of Grandma's old cookbooks, it's called the "Any Fruit Coffee Cake".Best if left to rest a bit, but too tempting warm!
Note: the ingredients are grouped together to save space, but the sugar, butter and flour will be divided and used in separate sections of the recipe. In case you're one of those folks who jumps ahead without thoroughly reading the recipe like I am.
1 1/2 cups chopped, peeled apples, apricots, peaches or pineapple or 1 1/2 cups blueberries, raspberries, or any other berry. I used apples.
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
6 T butter
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup buttermilk or sour milk (since I almost never have buttermilk in the house, but I almost always have yogurt, I substituted almost 1/2 cup plain yogurt thinned with enough milk to make it 1/2 cup)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon* my own addition. Optional if using fruit other than apples or pears.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Step 1: Fruit
(If using raspberries, do not simmer.)
In a saucepan combine fruit with 1/4 cup water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat. Cover and simmer 5 minutes (or less if you like a bit more toothsome fruit) or until tender. Combine 1/4 cup of the sugar and cornstarch. Stir into fruit mixture. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Set aside. (This will produce that shiny, pretty stick-together fruit filling you always wondered about.)
Step 2: Cake
In a mixing bowl, stir together 1/2 cup of the sugar, the 1 1/2 cups flour, the baking powder and baking soda. Cut in 4 tablespoons of the butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Combine the egg, buttermilk (or substitute), and vanilla. Add to flour mixture. Stir until moistened. Lightly grease an 8x8x2 baking pan or equivalent round. Spread half of the batter in the pan (it will be thick, and may only make a thin layer). Spread fruit mixture over batter. Drop remaining batter in small mounds atop filling.
Step 3: Topping
Combine the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour and cinnamon. Cut in remaining 2 tablespoons of butter with a fork until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over batter. Bake in 350 degree oven 40-45 minutes or until golden and a tester comes out clean (except for fruit).