Tag Archives: blackberries

bumbleberry sorbet

Posted on by
3

I love the playful images that bumbleberry brings to mind. They sound like a berry that Alice in Wonderland would have picked! However, they do not grow on shrubs or bushes. In fact, they do not grow at all. Bumbleberries are any combination of three or more berries sometimes with the addition of apple slices.

Of all the treats my ice cream machine has made this summer, this sorbet by far is the most delicious creation to date. It’s not that hard to create eye-popping delights when you are using cream, sugar and freshly picked fruits! Given Ralph’s lactose intolerance, sorbet is a better fit for us.The best thing about sorbet is that it does not call for cream.

Blackberries are at the height of their season so grab a basket and get picking! Strawberry and raspberry season have passed but you can successfully use frozen.

Bumbleberry Sorbet

makes 1 quart

1 quart blackberries, freshly picked

1 pint raspberries, freshly picked or frozen

1 pint strawberries, fresh or frozen – sliced

1 cup water

1 1/4 cup sugar

Place water in wide bottomed pot and bring to a boil

Add sugar, remove from heat and stir until sugar dissolves

Add fruit, stir then allow to sit for 10 minutes

Working in batches, place fruit/sugar mixture in food processor 1 1/2 cups at a time and process until smooth

Press processed fruit through a fine mesh sieve to remove seeds

When all the fruit is processed, place juice in fridge until well chilled at least 3 hours

With ice cream machine motor running, pour syrup into ice cream maker and follow manufacture’s instructions – my machine took 25 minutes to make sorbet

Transfer sorbet to storable container and freeze until ready to serve.

Thanks for reading.

tofu sucks

Posted on by
14

When I wrote the menu for IbN, I included a few of my family’s favorite dishes.

The first time that Sara and her boyfriend, Craig, came in for dinner he said, “it tastes like Sunday dinner at your house, except I have to pay!”

The last time that Kaitie was home, Ralph and I treated her to dinner at IbN. Her reaction was the same as Craig’s. I feel like we are at home.

My family has both enjoyed and suffered my culinary journey. Their suffering has become the stuff of legends. Whenever, something does not taste good I work on it until I get it right. I never assume that it is the recipe’s fault.

When the girls were nine years old, I experimented with tofu. For several months, I worked on every possible combination of ingredients trying to create something delicious from soybean curd.

Week after week, our suppers consisted of tofu combined with all manner of vegetable and herb combinations. My normally boisterous dinner table was glum but dutiful. Ralph and the girls would eat in silence, smile politely when finished and spend the rest of the evening trying to digest their meal.

 I would prattle on about how nutritious tofu was and “isn’t it interesting how it takes on the flavour of whatever it is combined with?”

After weeks of silence, Kaitie lost it! She slammed her little hands on the table, burst into tears and said, “it sucks!”

Ralph’s grateful admiration for her courage and her sister’s resounding squeal of agreement has become one of our family’s most beloved ‘the things Mom made us eat’ stories.

The tofu experiments ended with me trying to ingratiate myself back into their appetites with a Pavlova peace-offering.

It worked like a charm!

I prepared Pavlova at the restaurant for the first time last week. My recipe is crunchy on the outside but billowy and soft on the inside – a perfect Italian meringue. Our customers are loving it as much as my family.

I could not ask for more!

Pavlova

serves 8

preheat oven 275*F

1 cup egg whites, at room temperature

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 cup sugar

4 teaspoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Line baking sheet with parchment paper and spray lightly with baking spray

Beat egg whites with salt and cream of tartar until stiff peaks form

Gradually add sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, beat until billowy

Add cornstarch, beat well – the mixture will have a beautiful sheen

Add vinegar and vanilla

Spread out on baking sheet making a 12 x 12 square – batter should be 2″ high

Place in oven and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes

Cool completely and serve with whipped cream and your favorite fruit.

Thanks for reading.

It Was A Wonderful Summer

Posted on by
18

Early April – I picked fiddleheads in the pouring rain – they were the color of emeralds.

Late April – Molly and I loved our daily walks through the woods.

May – We found these tiny robin’s eggs in one of our sheds.

June – There were butterflies everywhere.

June – I made a different type and flavour of bread every three days.

Practising with my camera…

The buttercups were waist deep!

My girls helping with book club.

Late June – The farm started to provide fruit for all sorts of wonderful dishes.

Our yellow transparent apple tree in full bloom.

July – I used french sorrel in salads, soups and sauces.

Breakfast at the farm is magical.

Searching for tiny wild strawberries in the tall wild flowers.

Strawberry Minted Shortcake became a staple during strawberry season.

As soon as my sage was ready to pick, I used it constantly.

Late July – Dad had finished my raised herb garden with flagstone.

I was experimenting with buttermilk in all of my baking.

Our vegetable garden started to produce zucchini and continued to do so until the end of August.

I used every combination of herbs and citrus that I could imagine when grilling fish.

August – We took lovely cool walks in the woods and discovered long forgotten treasures.

Late August – Dad finishing the flagstone and granite back step.

Making pickles with little helpers.

One of my guests happily testing my new blackberry and lemon muffins.

I had raspberries, blackberries and mulberries all producing at the same time.

I baked my first blackberry pie.

September – Mom and I made mustard pickles together.

Cutting the hay for winter feed is a weekend long event.

There is nothing more peaceful than a walk through my pastures.

It was a wonderful summer.

Thank you so much for reading.

Please feel comfortable to leave a comment – I would love to hear from you.

Blackberry and Apple Crumble and CBC

Posted on by
8

I am so excited.

Thursday afternoon, I received a phone call from Information Morning, the local CBC radio show, asking if I would be interested in talking about my foodblog. I just about fell over! I love talking about blogging. I am fascinated with social media. I get such a kick out of seeing where my latest subscriber lives. I have readers from all over New Brunswick, Australia, New York, Ontario, Calgary, Halifax, New Foundland and Pennsylvania. Of course, I also have family living all over the world which definitely helps my global appeal! Just the same, I do have readers that I do not know personally.

It blows me away to think that I am talking to somebody that I have never met and that they might try one of my recipes. On the other hand, I have spoken to a number of people who read my blog yet do not cook. One reader said, ‘when I get to the recipe I sign off. I love food but do not like to cook.’ Confusing but so fun!

It’s a wonderful feeling knowing that I am connecting with people about food - in what ever way they are interested.

My blackberries continue to provide bowls of happy possibilities. The apple trees that we pruned last year are also dripping with fruit. The apples are still a little green but I picked two to mix in with my blackberries for this crumble. It was lovely.

Blackberry and Apple Crumble

serves 6

preheat oven 375*F

5 cups blackberries

2 large apples, peeled and sliced

1/3 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup oats

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated

1/2 cup cold butter, cut into pieces

Grease a large, shallow baking dish. Place half of the blackberries, one of the sliced apples and half of the 1/3 cup of brown sugar in the prepared dish – repeat with remaining fruit and sugar. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, nutmeg and salt, using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Stir in oatmeal.

Sprinkle oat mixture over the fruit so that it covers evenly.

Place in oven and check at 35 minutes. The top should be golden and the fruit should be bubbling.

Allow to cool at least 1/2 hour.

Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

My interview is tomorrow morning – wish me luck!

Thanks for reading.

Blackberry Pie is ‘blue-tooth’ worthy

Posted on by
1

I have never baked a blackberry pie. I was always told blackberries were too seedy!

One of the most wonderful things about my farm is the abundance of both wild and cultivated berries. I have wild strawberries, blackberries and blueberries and cultivated high-bush cranberries, raspberries and red currants. Wonderful and time-consuming, if I want to be able to harvest these precious little gems before the birds, deer and bear decide to dine.

I chuckled to myself, as I was picking the blackberries for my pie. I can now recognise the difference between bear and deer droppings – by the smell! It’s not as nasty as it sounds but you will have to take my word for it.

Ten minutes after the berries were picked they were in a pie crust and in the oven. It is exhilarating to bake with fruit grown on my land. There are no hormones or chemicals being used, just lovely Mother Nature. It’s a good feeling.

The pie is ‘blue-tooth’ worthy! Blackberries leave your teeth similar to blueberries but the taste is so worth it.

Blackberry Pie

makes one 10″ pie

Preheat oven 450*F

Click on link and follow recipe for my pie crust recipe. Make one double pie crust.

6 cups blackberries

1 cup white sugar

1/4 cup flour

Line pie plate with bottom crust.

Fill pie with berries.

Mix sugar with flour and then pour over berries.

Dampen edge of bottom pie crust with water and then place top crust over berries.

Crimp pie crust edge and trim excess.

Make several slits in top crust to act as a vent.

Brush top crust with an egg wash of 1 egg yolk mixed with 1 tablespoon of whipping cream.

Sprinkle with sanding sugar and place in oven.

Bake for 15 minutes and then reduce oven temperature to 350*F

Continue baking for 45 minutes or until crust is browned and fruit is bubbling.

Allow to cool for at least one hour.

Thanks for reading.

Blackberry and Lemon Zest Muffins and saving the brambles

Posted on by
1

Like any farm in New Brunswick, I am dripping in blackberries. They crawl along the edge of most of the pastures. If left unchecked, they would soon fill in whatever space they found.  Last summer, as Ralph and I were reclaiming the pastures, I chose the blackberry brambles that I wanted to keep. All the rest were mowed down. Now to anybody who has had to fight with blackberries, you know that unless you pull out all of the root system the relentless plant will continue to thrive. Because of the sheer quantity of blackberry patches, we simply committed to keeping what we don’t want mowed.

Unfortunately, Ralph did not remember which patches I wanted and which I did not. I heard the tractor in the bottom pasture a couple of weeks ago and my blood went cold…a little dramatic but since I had already finished that pasture complete with carefully mowing around the best brambles, there was only one thing that Ralph could have been doing.

I ran to the top of the hill, frantically waving my arms around like a helicopter, trying to stop Ralph from completely desiccating this year’s crop of berries. Ralph practically mowed me down before he noticed that I was trying to get his attention. He turned the tractor off and gave me that big open smile that says, ‘didn’t I do a good job!’

Arghhh…When I had mowed that pasture, I had carefully backed the tractor into the bramble careful not to touch any of the long arching, flower laden branches. The pasture had looked lovely framed with three large graceful stands of sweeping blackberry patches.

Ralph thought that they looked ‘messy’ and wanted to tidy things up for me by straightening them. So he mowed them tight to the tree line.

What do you do except sigh and have a little ‘see the beauty’ lesson. We stood and looked at how pretty the remaining bramble looked and how sad the chewed-off patches looked – a little sarcasm remnant…

Happily the surviving blackberries are flourishing and waiting to be picked for my kitchen.

This muffin recipe was inspired by Sweet Harvest Market in St. Andrews-by-the-Sea.

Blackberry and Lemon Zest Muffins

makes 12

preheat oven 350*F

Grease 12 muffin cups

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 egg, slightly beaten

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 1/4 cup blackberries

zest of a lemon

In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugars, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add egg, butter, and buttermilk. Mix gently until just mixed then fold in blackberries and lemon zest.

DO NOT OVER MIX

Divide batter between muffin cups and check at 18 minutes. Insert a wooden toothpick in the centre of a muffin. If they are baked, the toothpick will come out clean.

Thanks for reading.