Posts Tagged "crisp"

Blueberry and Peach Crumble

Posted by Mal on Aug 22, 2012 in All Recipes | 2 comments

What do you do with peaches that won’t make it through the weekend?  A weekend in which you won’t be around to enjoy a big ole’ juicy peach with breakfast or post weekend morning run?  You know … with the juice running down your chin and also down your forearm until it drips off your elbow.  Peaches that are best eaten over the sink or in the back yard with your head pitched forward, which causes your butt to kinda stick out as well…all so the juice doesn’t drip down your chin and down your frontside. And the slurping…peach eating is always accompanied by slurping, which kinda drives me bonkers, but is totally necessary. Peaches should be served with bibs…kinda like lobster dinners.

What does a girl do when she finds herself, ready for a weekend away, with 2lbs of ripe peaches on her counter, late Friday afternoon?  Oh, and she is me?

Well, you take the pint of blueberries that were meant for your roadtrip snack ( yeah, I am that girl eating fruits and veggies on road trips…along with beef jerky.  Always beef jerky.)  and you slice the peaches, foregoing any peeling ( and then hours later, you will find yourself telling your brother to suck it up when he mentions he doesn’t like the texture of peach skin in his desserts, because I could have just left the peaches to rot or simply given the dessert away, and it must not have bothered him too much seeing how he had several servings…brothers can be such buttheads.  He is also the brother that doesn’t like too much chocolate…how are we even related?!?!?)  Anywho…you take said blueberries and perfectly ripe peaches, toss ‘em in a deep dish pie plate, smother ‘em with a hefty dose of coconut crumble, throw it in a preheated oven, squeeze in a quick workout (because we all know that workouts do not happen on weekends spent at home home.   I always have good intentions but sleeping in, motorcycle rides, rocketering – totally a thing, socializing, and playing with the niece and nephew always takes precedent…)  … snap a few quick pictures and load up the piping hot crumble in the car and hit the road…all the while praying that there are no quick stops along the way, because hot peach blueberry crumble would not be pretty inside my Jeep.

see..rocketering.

hands down…i am the best influence these kids have…

because where else would they learn illegal moves on a playground?

I know this might be my 1,986th recipe for peaches this summer, but I don’t think there has been a week that I haven’t been overloaded (in the best possible way) with peaches…and since I post what I am eating…peaches it is!

This crumble is very similar to my peach pie from a few weeks ago…so(ooo) if you were wondering if could just forgo the crust and make it a crumble, by golly you can!

Mango Rhubarb Crisp

Posted by Mal on Apr 28, 2012 in All Recipes | 0 comments

My cat crouches behind the toilet ( I really dislike this word by the way, always have)… ready to attack, when I am taking a shower.  Weird, right?  I thought so.  He then slinks out of the bathroom once the water is turned off…as if I didn’t see him.  Stan is a weirdo.  A big furry weirdo.  Proof is below.

I bought jeans online last week from Lands End Canvas and they were waiting for me when I got home.  I LOVE Internet shopping.  Let me tell you about these jeans….they fit better than any jean I have ever tried on in any store.  In any store, alone, in the dressing room, near tears, under horrible lighting, silently hating my thighs.  And my butt.  Jean buying takes a day of high confidence because it is going to be in the gutter by the time you give up.  Jeanless and mad at the world of fashion. But tonight, I am sitting in new jeans, feeling pretty darn good about my thighs and butt.  Between Stanley and these jeans…I think the world might be coming to an end or Hell just froze over.

These jeans fit great even after eating most some of the mango rhubarb crisp.  I grab a forkfull with each pass through the kitchen.  It is hiding in the oven right now.  OK, so I put it in the oven to hide it from myself.  But I know where it is…

Crisps are absolutely the easiest thing in the dessert world to make.  Go here if you need a clear-cut guide to the differences between crisps vs. crumbles vs. cobblers vs. brownbettys vs. buckles vs. pandowdys.  Or just trust me.  A crisp is a fruit on the bottom and a flour/oat(sometimes)/butter/sugar mixture sprinkled on top.  You get the pie like feel, but there is no crust to worry about.  If the final product ends up juicier than expected…not bottom crust is gonna get soggy.  Nah, the extra juice is just drizzled over an extra scoop of ice cream.  Whats the harm in that?  To say the least, crisps are a forgiving specie.  And I love them.

Rhubarb is easy to find this time of year – you know, the pink/red celery looking stalks in the produce section that most veer away from.  Rhubarb is commonly prepared with strawberries, which don’t get me wrong, is one of my favorite flavor combos out there.  They are like peas and carrots or pb and j.   But peas taste good with potatoes and pb is lovely with honey.  What I am trying to say….rhubarb tastes great with other fruits.  And guess what is in season now too?  Mangos.

The sweetness of the mango pairs well with the rhubarb’s tartness.  Mango rhubarb…watch, it’ll be the next big thing.  You saw it here first

Eat this warmed with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream OR grab a pint of lemon gelato/ice cream.  Lemon, mango, and rhubarb….sigh.  So good and so tart.  I love tart.

P.S.  I also bought wedges.  Boy do I love a good wedge.  The shoe not the salad.  I have never had a wedge salad (gasp!).  They look quite difficult to eat.  But wedge shoes, those are a cinch to wear!  Okay, enough about shoes…go make this crsip for your family, friends, neighbors, or yourself.  You will be glad you did!

Mango Rhubarb Crisp

9 inch round, deep dish pie plate

Ingredients

• 1 Cup All-Purpose Flour
• 1/4 Cup White Sugar
• 1/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar, packed tightly
• 1 Cup Old Fashioned Oats
• pinch of salt
• 1 Stick Butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 2 Cups Rhubarb, large dice (about 4 stalks)
• 3 Cups Mango, cubed (about 2 mangos)
• 1/4 Cup White Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
• Juice of 1 Lemon
• Zest of 1 Lemon, grated

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Stir together flour, white sugar, brown sugar, oats, and salt in a medium bowl.  Stir in melted butter.  Place bowl in fridge until needed.

In a large bowl combine rhubarb, mango, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and zest.  Toss to combine.  Pour mixture into a 9inch deep dish pie plate (or any deep dish that is oven able).  Remove topping from fridge and evenly spread it over the fruit.  Place dish into preheated oven and bake until topping is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling up along the sides.  About 40-50 minutes.  If the crumb topping begins to brown too quickly, tent with tinfoil to prevent further browning.(there won’t be a lot of liquid with this fruit combination, so not a lot of bubbling juice, but there will be a little bit)

Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving.  It is good cold too!

Berry Crisp

Posted by Mal on Jul 11, 2011 in All Recipes | 0 comments

I have this new found love for Jeff Bridges.  The drunken, dried up, cowboy/country singer is played well by him.  I am not sure if that is a compliment or not, but I liked him in Crazy Heart and just finished True Grit and I have to say I enjoyed that as well.  Who knew?  Well, a few people, since he was an Oscar nominee for both and won once…

I suppose I should have known. 

I bet Jeff Bridges likes berry crisps.  He looks like a lover of crisps.  I like guys that like crisps…keeps me from eating the whole crisp.  Which my thighs thank you for, by the way.  I have used the word crisp a lot in the last 3 sentences…Crisp, one more for good measure. 

This crisp is super easy to make.  Trust me, I wouldn’t lie to you.  Not my style. 

I was raised with crisps that were topped with a combination of white and brown sugar, flour, and butter.  No oats.  Oats were not allowed.  Oats were not included.  Oats were forbidden.  But with some careful consideration I now, sometimes add oats…they are nice every now and then.  However,  my mom’s apple crisp – that, by tradition, can not, will not, should not ever contain oats.  It just wouldn’t be the same.  A chilled fall night with apple crisp that contained oats would feel foreign and wrong.  So very wrong.  I am pretty serious about my crisps. 

So are you ready to make a crisp? 

Lets roll…

You will need 8 cups of mixed berries.  I used strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries.  I also tossed in an apple because it was sitting there…

Mix berries with corn starch, sugar, vanilla, lemon juice and zest…pour into a DEEP dish pie plate.  Set aside.

Butter, brown sugar, white sugar, flour, oats, salt…mix until it looks like this…

Sprinkle it over the berries similar to the above…

Bake until it looks like this…Oh, how I love thee

Serve it up or…when no one is looking, eat straight from the dish.  Its best that way.  Just say that there was a lingering berry or the edge needed straightened if you are caught in the act…or just give ’em a fork and have at it – they will thank you for the gesture because they too were dying to dig in.  Fact.

Berry Crisp

Serves 6 to 8

*I used a 10 inch deep dish pie plate.  If you are using a shallow dish, then halve the filling…simple as that.*

Ingredient

Filling

• 8 Cups Mixed Berries.  I used strawberries (sliced), blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and a sliced apple (because it was there)…you pick the mix.
• 3 to 4 Tablespoons Corn Starch – Juicy berries require more cornstarch.
• 2/3 Cup White Sugar
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
• 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
• 1/2 Teaspoon Lemon Zest

Crumb Topping

• 1 Cup All-Purpose White Flour
• 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1/4 Cup White Sugar
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 Cup Old Fashioned Rolled Oats ( instant is fine too)
• 6 Tablespoons Butter – chilled and cut up into chunks.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Wash all berries and pat dry. 

In a large bowl, toss together berries, corn starch, sugar, vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon zest.   Pour them into a deep dish pie plate.  Set aside. 

In another large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, white sugar, oats, salt, and butter pats.  Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut the butter into the flour and sugar until butter is pea-sized.  You can pulse everything in a food processor if you are in a hurry – but oats will not remain whole, so proceed with caution. 

Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the berries.  Place on a cookie sheet and then place in oven.  (cookie sheet will catch anything that may boil over the edge…therefore preventing smoke from rolling out of your oven)

Bake in preheated oven for 1+1/2 hours (deep dish pie plate) or 30 to 40 minutes (shallow pan).  The berries will be bubbly along the edges and the top will be golden brown. 

Let cool for 30 minutes before serving.

*I do not like a runny crisp, so I baked mine about 20 to 30 minutes beyond the bubbling edge stage, ensuring that the cornstarch thickened the juices. 

*If the top gets too brown, then loosely cover with tin-foil. 

*If you remove from the oven and let it cool and then realize that it is too runny for your liking, toss it back in the oven.  No harm, no foul.  This is a very forgiving thing, this crisp. 

Enjoy! 

Love,

Mal