Well. I was admittedly a bit taken aback by the comments on the questions posting at TWD–“Bland” “Boring”…”I changed this, I changed that…” Hmm. In the end I was left wondering had anyone actually made THE RECIPE?

The Wild Berry Crumble is one of the most basic recipes…Biscuit topping, mixed berry filling. And reading the recipe for the biscuit topping left my mouth watering for that biscuit. I determined to make it as written since I figured I’d learn something no matter what.

I learned I love plain biscuits.

The topping goes together in minutes. Flour, Baking powder, a bit of sugar and cold butter all bound together by a touch of heavy cream. Roll it out to a rough circle.

The fruit filling uses fresh OR frozen berries…and since it was pounding rain, I decided to go frozen (quel horror!). I had an unopened package of mixed berries, some strawberries and I rounded it out with a few peaches. (Not berries, you say? Okay, mixed fruit.)

The only change (didn’t I say I was making it as written? I lied.) was something I always do with pies and such: I brushed the top with cream (sometimes I use egg wash) and sprinkled it with raw sugar.

Oh, I also baked a tiny bit of biscuit–stuff that was just hanging over the edge–up for myself as…well, as a biscuit. I’d whip this up in a heartbeat for morning biscuits.

My only tip is to cook it the full time–I thought it looked brown enough at about 35 minutes, so I took it out only to find it gummy. I put it right back in, cooked it another 20-25, letting it cool completely so the biscuit soaked up the juice.To each his own, but this is my kind of simple dessert. The biscuit complemented the berries and the berries the biscuit. I only wished I’d braved the rain for a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Not that that stopped anyone from enjoying it.

BTW? Makes a great breakfast, too.

Well. I was admittedly a bit taken aback by the comments on the questions posting at TWD–“Bland” “Boring”…”I changed this, I changed that…” Hmm. In the end I was left wondering had anyone actually made THE RECIPE?

The Wild Berry Crumble is one of the most basic recipes…Biscuit topping, mixed berry filling. And reading the recipe for the biscuit topping left my mouth watering for that biscuit. I determined to make it as written since I figured I’d learn something no matter what.

I learned I love plain biscuits.

The topping goes together in minutes. Flour, Baking powder, a bit of sugar and cold butter all bound together by a touch of heavy cream. Roll it out to a rough circle.

The fruit filling uses fresh OR frozen berries…and since it was pounding rain, I decided to go frozen (quel horror!). I had an unopened package of mixed berries, some strawberries and I rounded it out with a few peaches. (Not berries, you say? Okay, mixed fruit.)

The only change (didn’t I say I was making it as written? I lied.) was something I always do with pies and such: I brushed the top with cream (sometimes I use egg wash) and sprinkled it with raw sugar.

Oh, I also baked a tiny bit of biscuit–stuff that was just hanging over the edge–up for myself as…well, as a biscuit. I’d whip this up in a heartbeat for morning biscuits.

My only tip is to cook it the full time–I thought it looked brown enough at about 35 minutes, so I took it out only to find it gummy. I put it right back in, cooked it another 20-25, letting it cool completely so the biscuit soaked up the juice.To each his own, but this is my kind of simple dessert. The biscuit complemented the berries and the berries the biscuit. I only wished I’d braved the rain for a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Not that that stopped anyone from enjoying it.

BTW? Makes a great breakfast, too.

One of the comments on the TWD (Tuesdays with Dorie for those of you new here) brownies entries from one of the many visitors there was that those Rum Raisin brownies were good, but Ina’s were better…Oooh. Them’s fighting words. And Rachel, she who bakes, swears by Ina’s..and we’ve discussed them before. We almost always get around to how her husband won’t eat them because of the THREE CUPS of walnuts in them..Being a brownie purist, I can empathize, Mike.

So I decided to make Barefoot Contessa’s Outrageous Brownies without three cups of walnuts. But first can we just take a moment to discuss the number of people the Contessa’s recipes feed? Gazillions. And Ina, gorgeous as she is, is not a rail. Dorie’s recipes feed, say, 12. 12 Madeleines. That’s all. Dorie? A rail. A gorgeous rail, but…a skinny baker. Who wants 12 madeleines? (Me. All twelve of ’em.) If you’ve got a single teen in the house, four go to him (hi, Ian!)…Dorie’s brownies. 16: that’s 16 2×2-inch squares. Ina’s Outrageous brownies? A half-sheet tray full….
Just an observation I’ve had to make.

Back to the brownies. Lots of butter, some unsweetened chocolate. Coffee. Did I say butter? Then you add extra chocolate chips. Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate…Then she says cut them into three by three squares. No thanks. I couldn’t eat all of a 2×2 square–
but not because they weren’t good. Heh. And not because I didn’t try. These are Outrageous. I will def. add these to my mix…

I packed a bag and froze them for Rachel (she was in Costa Rica playing in the sun, poor girl) and marked them with a “Don’t Eat!!” They survived, and she got them yesterday. Mike, my fellow brownie purist, gave them pretty high marks, I hear. I think Rachel missed the walnuts.

One of the comments on the TWD (Tuesdays with Dorie for those of you new here) brownies entries from one of the many visitors there was that those Rum Raisin brownies were good, but Ina’s were better…Oooh. Them’s fighting words. And Rachel, she who bakes, swears by Ina’s..and we’ve discussed them before. We almost always get around to how her husband won’t eat them because of the THREE CUPS of walnuts in them..Being a brownie purist, I can empathize, Mike.

So I decided to make Barefoot Contessa’s Outrageous Brownies without three cups of walnuts. But first can we just take a moment to discuss the number of people the Contessa’s recipes feed? Gazillions. And Ina, gorgeous as she is, is not a rail. Dorie’s recipes feed, say, 12. 12 Madeleines. That’s all. Dorie? A rail. A gorgeous rail, but…a skinny baker. Who wants 12 madeleines? (Me. All twelve of ’em.) If you’ve got a single teen in the house, four go to him (hi, Ian!)…Dorie’s brownies. 16: that’s 16 2×2-inch squares. Ina’s Outrageous brownies? A half-sheet tray full….
Just an observation I’ve had to make.

Back to the brownies. Lots of butter, some unsweetened chocolate. Coffee. Did I say butter? Then you add extra chocolate chips. Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate…Then she says cut them into three by three squares. No thanks. I couldn’t eat all of a 2×2 square–
but not because they weren’t good. Heh. And not because I didn’t try. These are Outrageous. I will def. add these to my mix…

I packed a bag and froze them for Rachel (she was in Costa Rica playing in the sun, poor girl) and marked them with a “Don’t Eat!!” They survived, and she got them yesterday. Mike, my fellow brownie purist, gave them pretty high marks, I hear. I think Rachel missed the walnuts.

The beginning..Ack! Why did I think I posted this already?

Well, with The Contessa’s Pasta, Pesto and Peas, we found another winning dish for the family. Of course, as she wrote it–cup and a half of mayo and all–it seemed like such a side dish–a pasta salad for a ladies lunch. And although we are only four at home these days, two of us are Gary and Ian–Husband and Son–and they eat like guys. No little side dish of pasta for them.

So I fiddled. It just so happened that Ian saw Giada doing a pea pasta on Food Network earlier in the day. She’d added sausage and ricotta (which Ian loves since I made that fresh ricotta). So I eliminated the mayo. Added whole milk ricotta (no time to make the real thing, although I did do it a second time when I was at my mom’s–didn’t even use a thermometer, it is THAT easy). Anyway. Then I browned up half a pound of sweet Italian sausage and added that. Topped it with toasted pine nuts (I love toasting nuts to use in recipes. Better flavor, better texture.)

Total hit.

True to form, this should have fed a gazillion, although the recipe says 12 (I think). And I think she means 12 as a side dish. If I were planning a party, I’d make this amount for about 20. At least.

But that Contessa. She can whip up a dish, can’t she?

The beginning..Ack! Why did I think I posted this already?

Well, with The Contessa’s Pasta, Pesto and Peas, we found another winning dish for the family. Of course, as she wrote it–cup and a half of mayo and all–it seemed like such a side dish–a pasta salad for a ladies lunch. And although we are only four at home these days, two of us are Gary and Ian–Husband and Son–and they eat like guys. No little side dish of pasta for them.

So I fiddled. It just so happened that Ian saw Giada doing a pea pasta on Food Network earlier in the day. She’d added sausage and ricotta (which Ian loves since I made that fresh ricotta). So I eliminated the mayo. Added whole milk ricotta (no time to make the real thing, although I did do it a second time when I was at my mom’s–didn’t even use a thermometer, it is THAT easy). Anyway. Then I browned up half a pound of sweet Italian sausage and added that. Topped it with toasted pine nuts (I love toasting nuts to use in recipes. Better flavor, better texture.)

Total hit.

True to form, this should have fed a gazillion, although the recipe says 12 (I think). And I think she means 12 as a side dish. If I were planning a party, I’d make this amount for about 20. At least.

But that Contessa. She can whip up a dish, can’t she?

First, thanks to anyone who visits this little blog. I’m having fun with it, and I so appreciate your comments.

I want to encourage everyone here to consider participating in the Great American Bake sale–it’s our virtual Bake Sale. The Tuesdays with Dorie crowd has put together a team, and we are encouraging our bakers to donate what they might spend on their weekly recipe to our team’s site:
Tuesdays With Dorie Great American Virtual Bake Sale
(Look for the “Make A Gift” link by the thermometer)

Browse the site, too. I am a huge fan of Share Our Strength, an organization with a simple goal: ending childhood hunger in America. I’ve participated in several of the group’s events over the years, and I’m proud that LW of the TWD group jumped on board.

So if you can spare a the equivalent of a couple of cups of mocha lattes from You-Know-Where, head over to the link–it only takes a few minutes.

B

First, thanks to anyone who visits this little blog. I’m having fun with it, and I so appreciate your comments.

I want to encourage everyone here to consider participating in the Great American Bake sale–it’s our virtual Bake Sale. The Tuesdays with Dorie crowd has put together a team, and we are encouraging our bakers to donate what they might spend on their weekly recipe to our team’s site:
Tuesdays With Dorie Great American Virtual Bake Sale
(Look for the “Make A Gift” link by the thermometer)

Browse the site, too. I am a huge fan of Share Our Strength, an organization with a simple goal: ending childhood hunger in America. I’ve participated in several of the group’s events over the years, and I’m proud that LW of the TWD group jumped on board.

So if you can spare a the equivalent of a couple of cups of mocha lattes from You-Know-Where, head over to the link–it only takes a few minutes.

B