Waiting and Blueberry Lemon Crumb Bars

It’s your day off, and instead of doing productive things, you sit in a daze and think about what you are going to cook for dinner, bring to a picnic, eat for lunch, whatever. You begin to busy yourself by coming up with a dish. This part is fun, the time go by a little faster; nothing makes the clock hands fly like a little perusing on marthastewart.com or through your favorite food blogs. But then, when you finally decide on the perfect dish, all that’s left is waiting until you get to make it. The clock starts to go by much more slowly. Your fingers itch to rush to the refrigerator and start cooking right away but, oh wait, it’s only 10:00 in the morning... Whenever I find the perfect recipe I just can’t help but turn into a little Veruca Salt…”I want it NOW!”

This is what happened about two weeks ago. It was a lazy Friday, and my day was free with no task but to prepare a dessert to bring to a small picnic get-together that evening. The problem was I already knew what to bring. Days earlier, I stumbled upon a recipe for blueberry crumb bars on Smitten Kitchen and decided that I absolutely needed to make them. It’s blueberry season after all. It only made sense. So I picked up some humungous local blueberries from a nearby farm and the rest of the ingredients. Then it was time to wait.

The minutes meandered by and my mind only thought of those blueberries sitting on the counter just waiting to be made into luscious crumb bars. “Please…cook me now…please.” “Not yet,” I kept saying to myself as I did math in my head, trying to determine the earliest I could make them so that they could still be warm when I brought them to the picnic. I still had 5 hours to wait. Great.

So what do you do while you wait?

I instinctively turned to what I have deemed the cure-all for the ever-boring waiting game: Netflix instant play. Normally I turn to an episode of No Reservations but this time I checked the independent film section and by happenstance, picked a movie that I have since fallen in love with. Though I love to share recipes, I can’t refuse an opportunity to share some cinema recommendations as well, especially when it involves a film that made waiting for blueberry crumb bars a much simpler task. 

The movie was Mary and Max, a claymation/animation flick about a lonely little girl in Australia and a depressed and obese man in New York who form the most unlikely of friendships. I can’t necessarily guarantee you will all like it; it’s a bit out there. But it is bittersweet yet very touching, with both funny moments and sad, and a smashing recipe included for chocolate hotdogs. 

So, as it turned out, in my waiting to make something wonderful, I discovered something else that was just as sweet as those blueberries.

Blueberry Crumb Bars
makes 24 small bars
adapted from Smitten Kitchen

These are an ultimate summer dessert: easy to make while showcasing the wonderful flavors of fresh seasonal berries. I imagine they would be great with other fruits as well but the blueberries were divine and turned into the most wonderful, sticky jam-like filling after cooking. Though you mix the blueberries with lemon juice and sugar to make a sort of syrup, I do recommend resisting the temptation to pour all of the syrup into the bottom crust along with the blueberries. Instead, simply spoon the blueberries overtop, leaving the syrup behind so you don’t get a soggy crust like I did. They still tasted wonderful but weren’t as crisp and crumbly as I had hoped for.

So whatever you end up doing in the time before you get to make these bars, just know that they are certainly worth the wait.

Blueberry Filling
4 cups fresh blueberries
½ cup white sugar
4 tsp. cornstarch
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme

Crust and Crumb Topping
¾ cup white sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
¼ tsp. salt
zest of 1 lemon
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
1 egg
¼ cup toasted slivered almonds

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease a 13 X 9 inch baking pan. In a mixing bowl combine the blueberries, ½ cup sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and thyme. Stir until will mixed and set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix together the ¾ cup white sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, flour, salt, and lemon zest until well combined. Add the butter and the egg and use a pastry cutter to blend the ingredients until well combined and you have still have pea-sized chunks of butter. Add the almonds and mix them in.

Place half of the crust mixture into the baking dish and press it firmly into the bottom. Spoon the blueberries overtop, careful not to add too much of the liquid. Crumble the rest of the crust mixture overtop the blueberries so that it is evenly distributed. Bake for 50 minutes until the crumb topping is golden brown.

Let cool for at least an hour before cutting so they set. Cut into 24 squares. They are best served just slightly above room temperature but store any leftovers in the refrigerator. They are still really good cold but a quick zap in the microwave will easily make them warm again.

Farmer's Market Forays

There is magic in a Saturday Morning. All over the world people wake up and for many, the first thing on their mind is the farmer’s market. No need to shower. It’s worth a grubby appearance for the first pick of the produce and fresh bread. No need to eat breakfast. Chances are more than one vendor has a selection of freshly ground coffee and morning goodies from sweet pastries to egg and cheese sandwiches. Just throw something on, grab one or two reusable market bags, make sure you’ve got some cash, and walk on over.

I’m sorry…did I say walk over. I must be confusing my current life with a previous one where I either lived in London or Harrisonburg and the markets were a mere hop, skip, and jump way. Unfortunately I meant drive over. Yes, we get into the inefficient, gas-guzzling car and drive to get our local produce and artisan goods. Are you picking up on the horrendous hypocrisy my life has come to. But the sad truth is, when I am home, the nearest market is a 30-minute car ride away and turns what should be a weekly sustainable venture into a rare, fuel-costly field trip.

Luckily, last weekend was one of those Saturday mornings where I got to revisit the feeling of being abuzz with farmer’s market exhilaration. We had other errands to attend to so while we were in the neighborhood, a trip to the market was a must. It was actually only my second time at this particular town’s Saturday market. The first visit was actually rather dismal – a few bleary-eyed vendors moping around a vacant parking lot – so things must have gone though some major revamping in the last year. In fact, the market, in a new location in town, was filled with all the right smells, sounds, and sights for a hoard of food-loving locavores. The smell of local eggs turning into breakfast burritos overtook the air while samples of homemade cheeses, chips and salsa, cupcakes, bread, and grass-fed beef led to temptation at every turn. It felt like Saturday morning should feel.

In our browsing, my mom and I played my favoring farmer’s market game: come up with some amazing lunch meal based on what’s fresh at the market. It could be something different every time. And with a little glimpse at some beautiful multicolored and plump cherry tomatoes, flashing their shiny tight skin at me, inspiration struck.

From there we snagged a premade pizza crust, made from local hand milled whole-wheat flour. Next stop was cheese from Everona Dairy. They make the most incredible sheep’s milk cheese in central Virginia and we picked their award winning Piedmont cheese, known for it rich, nutty flavour and great melting qualities. And lastly, a bag of freshly picked greens, though I’m not entirely sure what the various types were. I know there were several sprouts, cress, and leaf lettuces among other herbs but regardless, it was strong and snappy in flavour. We had basil, Parmsan, pine nuts, and ricotta at home…do you see what this is all coming to.

So for lunch, we made a simple pizza, but with such fresh and exquisite ingredients, it became something much more than just simple. We coated the bottom with homemade pesto (recipe below), topped it with the Everona Dairy cheese, dolloped on some ricotta cheese, and placed the cherry tomatoes on top, cut side up so that as it cooked, each tomato became a cup of sweet, hot juice that exploded in the mouth with every bite. Once cooked in a 400-degree oven for 20 minutes we transferred our pizza to a platter and scattered over a few handfuls of the greens, a generous drizzle of olive oil, and plenty of fresh Parmesan cheese. It was nothing terribly inventive, just the result of seasonality and what we could find, but great nonetheless. We enjoyed it slowly, sitting on the back patio and savoring each bite of the well-cared-for local ingredients. Just another perfect summer lunch.

Basil Pesto
There are about a thousand things that you can do with pesto, but not being a big pasta person, my favorite way to use it is on pizza or simply spread cold on grilled focaccia or ciabatta bread along with tomatoes and slices of mozzarella. I love pesto because you don’t necessarily need a recipe; most times you can sporadically throw the ingredients into a food processor and come out with something decent, but after making it so many times, I’ve finally come up with a recipe that reflects the way I like my pesto. It’s fairly heavy on the cheese, light on the garlic, and not too runny either. But feel free to experiment not only with the pesto recipe itself, but also with its uses. Although I made my pesto pizza one certain way, it would have been great with an array of other ingredients: sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, caramelized onions, roasted red peppers, or anything laying around really. Have fun with your pesto!

Ingredients
Three large handfuls of fresh, rinsed basil leaves
1/3 cup of pine nuts, toasted
1 clove garlic
¾ cup grated Parmesan
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Squeeze of lemon juice
Salt and pepper

Toss the basil, cooled pine nuts, Parmesan, and garlic into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until everything is finely chopped. Then, with the motor running, slowly drizzle the olive oil into the top pouring spout. Scrape the sides of the bowl, add a squeeze of lemon juice, and pulse the mixture a few more times. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. Pulse one more time and transfer to a bowl and use as you desire.

Peanut Butter Pie

It’s that time of year again. Our flag waving, firework watching, parade going, time of year. We sport our red, white, and blue, maybe even get a stroke of inspiration to visit a battlefield or two. But no matter what, on the 4th of July we picnic and barbeque in a way that only Americans know how. But I’m not exactly saying that like it’s always a good thing.

It seems that although we have so much fresh produce in the summer and opportunities for innovative and delicious meals, the Independence Day cookout ignores any potential for groundbreaking feasting. It’s your average hot dog on a potato bun, overly mayonnaised elbow noodle salad, a reheated can on Bush’s Best Baked Beans, and don’t forget those festive sugar cookies with the fluorescent blue icing and little star-shaped sprinkles on top.

That’s not to say that all barbeques are bad. In fact just the other day I went to a picnic and had some of the best ribs of my life and fresh sweet corn on the cob. It was wonderful! But it is a little sad that on this holiday above all others, when we get the day off and have the time to cook, we just like to take the easy route. I suppose our efforts to reduce oven usage to a bare minimum as well as any other heat-inducing physical exertion lead to supersize packs of Costco potato salad.

But if you want to be the star of the picnic this 4th of July, to be the one that ignites the fireworks in everyone’s mouth, and to be the banisher of neon red cherry pie filling, then I have a recipe for you. In fact, I have my number one, signature, never-fail recipe for you. This is my ultimate peanut butter pie and although it absolutely screams Happy Independence Day, you’ll be coming up with excuses to make this for almost any, even the most insignificant, holiday.This pie is creamy, crunchy, sweet, and salty, and though it is sinfully rich and indulgent it still manages to be a refined and elegant dessert. And after four years of trial and error, I finally perfected it. Its peanut butter:chocolate:crust ratio has reached a level of magic so strong that you’ll swear this dessert performs some sort of disappearing act.

Happy 4th of July!

Peanut Butter Pie

This is the one time that I would suggest not buying all-natural peanut butter. Instead go for your favorite commercial brand like Jif or Skippy for a filling that is very creamy and won’t separate. And although this pie dirties up quite a few dishes and it takes a while for the separate layers to cool, there is very little oven usage and it’s a cinch to put together. Once it is completely assembled, it is best to let it set in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before serving so that the filling is firm and it cuts cleanly.

Graham Cracker Crust
1¾ cups graham cracker crumbs (make the crumbs either in a food processor or by placing the crackers in a plastic back and bashing them. Takes about 10 whole crackers)
6 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted
3 Tbs. dark brown sugar
pinch of salt

Chocolate Ganache
½ cup heavy whipping cream
4 oz chopped dark chocolate
coarse sea salt

Peanut Butter Filling
4 oz room temperature cream cheese
½ cup powdered sugar
1 cup smooth peanut butter
¾ tsp salt
1½ cups cold heavy whipping cream
½ cup roasted, unsalted peanuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare the piecrust. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, brown sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl and stir until the butter is evenly distributed. Pour into a 9-inch pie dish and firmly press the mixture down on the bottom and up the sides. You can use the bottom of a measuring cup to help evenly press the crumbs. Bake the crust for 8-10 minutes and then set aside to cool.

Once the crust is cool enough to touch, prepare the ganache layer for the inside of the pie. In a double boiler (or in just a metal bowl set over a pan of shallow, simmering water) heat the chocolate, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula until fully melted. Then add the cream and continue stirring until the ingredients are well combined and the mixture is glossy, smooth, and quite runny. Set aside about 1 Tbs of ganache in a bowl for decorating later. Pour the rest of the ganache into the baked crust and spread it evenly over the surface, pushing it halfway up the sides of the crust. Sprinkle a little bit (about ¼ tsp) of coarse sea salt over the chocolate and put the pie dish into the refrigerator until the chocolate is set, about an hour.

While the ganache cools, make the peanut butter filling. Using a handheld mixer beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar until combined, first on low and then on medium speed. Add the peanut butter and salt and continue beating until smooth. Wash your mixer’s beaters and then, in a separate bowl, beat the whipping cream on high speed until you have stiff peaks. Mix 1/3 of the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture then gently fold in the rest, reserving ½ to 1 cup of the whipped cream for decorating. Fold in the peanuts. Place the mixture in the refrigerator until the chocolate on the pie is firm.

Once the chocolate is firm, evenly spread the peanut butter mixture into the piecrust and smooth it out on top. To decorate, reheat the reserved chocolate and drizzle it over the pie. I put it into a plastic bag with one corner snipped off to do this. Then pipe the remaining whipped cream around the edge and sprinkle some chopped peanuts on top. For best results, let the pie cool in the refrigerator for about 4 hours before serving.

Fish Tacos

It’s constantly fascinating to me how a simple change in the weather can elicit such an extraordinary change in appetite. A mere two months ago I was still seeking out heavy warming soups. Now, as I sit under blueberry skies and the undulating warmth of sunshine, the mere thought of those soups past makes me sweat, though that could very well be this 90-degree weather.

My new cravings arrive as soon as June hits but the funny thing is, I have no idea where they come from. All I know is that I wake up one day and the only thing my taste buds desire is heat, spiciness, saltiness, and loads of flavor, which then progresses into burning urges to eat seafood and Mexican food. Usually I could care less about these things. In fact, they rarely find their way into our house. But suddenly I become the freak who hovers over the chips and salsa at parties nearly growling at those trying to take my Tostitos.

So couple nights ago my mom asked me what I wanted to make for dinner. “Fish tacos!”

It came out without a split second’s thought. Well of course I wanted fish tacos. I had only been craving them every day for the past two months! Ever since I ordered them at La Sandia restaurant in Tyson’s Corner, they’ve been on my mind. Grilled fish with spicy slaw, chipotle corn, and creamy avocado, paired with a cool glass of watermelon juice. It was heaven. I wanted it back. Well, turns out my mom had been thinking about those fish tacos too, though not with fond memories but resentment toward herself that she didn’t order them too. Undeniably, fish tacos it was.

Turns out, it was a lot harder than I thought it would be to find a recipe that recreated La Sandia’s tacos. There were so many varieties. Beer-battered kinds, those topped with mango salsa, and almost all were swimming it the horrendousness that is cilantro. But eventually with a recipe and a bit of, “I’ll just wing it,” we came out with something spectacular.

Fish Tacos with Chipotle Slaw and Roasted Corn
adapted from Ellie Krieger
makes 6-8 tacos

The key to these is good ingredients. i.e. try to splurge on some good quality fresh fish. We got a nice piece of barramundi and there was a moment in our kitchen after my mom unwrapped the fish where she flung it toward my nose going, “smell this, smell this!” “I don’t smell anything,” I said. Exactly.

We also used quality organic corn tortillas that we steamed and quickly crisped on an open flame. It made all the difference. We served this “taco bar/d.i.y" style with glasses of cold Vidal Blanc and I’m pleased to say it satisfied my summer cravings…for now at least.

Fish and Marinade
1 lb filet of firm white fish like barramundi or red snapper
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 Tbs. freshly squeezed lime juice
¼ tsp. salt
freshly cracked black pepper

Chipotle Slaw
7 oz shredded cabbage (aka half a bag of coleslaw mix)
½ cup plain nonfat greek yogurt (1 container of Chobani is ½ cup)
2 Tbs. Mayonnaise
1 whole chipotle pepper plus 2 tsp. adobo sauce
¼ tsp. cumin
zest of 1 lime plus juice of half lime
salt and pepper

Roasted Corn
½ cup corn kernels (thawed if frozen)
a splash of olive oil
salt and pepper

Additional Ingredients
6-8 corn tortillas
Sliced avocado
cilantro (if you really must)
lime wedges

Mix the oil, lime, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Place the fish in a large resealable plastic bag and pour over the marinade. Coat the fish evenly and let it marinate for twenty minutes.Meanwhile, prepare the slaw and corn.

For the slaw, combine the yogurt, mayonnaise, chipotle pepper and adobo, lime zest and juice, cumin, salt, and pepper into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the chipotle is completely dispersed throughout the mixture. Taste and adjust any seasoning. Pour about ¾ of the mixture over the cabbage and toss to combine. Add any additional sauce if the cabbage still looks dry and reserve the rest of the sauce for drizzling on the tacos. Set the slaw and sauce aside.

For the corn, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and mix the corn with the oil, salt and pepper. Lay the corn out evenly on a sheet pan and place it in the oven. Roast for about 10-15 minute until the kernels just start to turn brown. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. If you’d like, feel free to roast some corncobs on the grill instead, and simply cut the kernels off the cob when it is cooked.

Meanwhile heat up the grill or prepare and nonstick grill pan. Grill the fish until it is opaque throughout and easily flakes with a fork. It will take around 4 minutes per side. Once cooked, transfer to a plate to rest for 5 minutes. At this point you can grill the tortillas and prepare any additional ingredients.

To assemble, grab a tortilla and plop and nice chunk of the fish into the center. Top with a scoop of the slaw, the corn, avocado slices, and a drizzle of extra chipotle sauce. Squeeze a lime wedge overtop along with some fresh cracked pepper and enjoy.

A New Beginning

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to my new food blog Honeycomb. You may be following mine and my Nia's food adventures in To Boston and Bake Again or kept up with my food travels in London through Tuck In, but this summer I am ready to start afresh with a blog of my sole authorship, featuring my kitchen escapades and restaurant experimentation. It will definitely have a natural foods vibe with a good mix of both sweet and savory and will exhibit as much wonderful local ingredients that I can get my hands on. Never fear, I'll be shipping everything from here to my old blog to keep that going but now, as the prospects of applying for real jobs and showing employers my writing samples approaches, I need a blog that I can truly call my own. This summer has already provided me with ample cooking opportunities and I can't wait to share with you what I have done recently as well as the recipes currently meandering on my "to cook" list. As always, I hope you enjoy reading my blog as much as I enjoy writing it and I hope to inspire at least someone to get in the kitchen and enjoy some delicious, healthy food.

Cheers!

P.S. Why Honeycomb? Well I love honey, of course, and actually grew up with hives of bees in my backyard and summers filled with long days of extracting honey. Its a highly reminiscent and comforting ingredient for me. And like honey, my blog will contain food and recipes that are natural, versatile, and although simple on the outside, carry powerful flavor and complexity.