Maine Blueberry Crumble Pie

I was in Maine in July, which is officially National Blueberry Month in both the United States and Canada. On the culinary front, Maine is well-known for its agricultural and seafood bounty, but especially for lobster, maple syrup and blueberries. The state produces 25% of the blueberries sold in North America, making it the largest blueberry producer in the world.

Blueberries are native to North America and there are two types – “lowbush” blueberries which are smaller (and are often called “wild”) and “highbush” blueberries which are typically larger. In the last few years, blueberries have been marketed as health-promoting and disease-preventing because of high levels of manganese, vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin K and dietary fiber. Bluberries contain various antioxidant pigments and phytochemicals that may have anti-cancer properties and may also play a role in reducing inflammation, reducing cognitive decline during Alzheimer’s disease, and lowering cholesterol.

As you can imagine, blueberry pie (and many other creative concoctions) were on menus everywhere in Maine. This recipe is inspired by a slice I had at a restaurant in Bar Harbor. The top crust is replaced with a crumble mixture (which uses less butter but more sugar).

Serves 8

Ingredients

Crust
1 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter , chilled
4-6 tablespoons ice water or chilled orange juice

Filling
5 cups blueberries (about 2 1/2 pints), washed and dried

3/4 cup light brown sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

half lemon, juiced

pinch of salt

Topping

3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup light brown sugar

pinch of salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, chilled

Directions
1. To make the crust, in a large bowl mix flour, salt and sugar. Cut butter into small pieces and toss into flour mixture. Using a pastry cutter, food processor or two butter knives, mix butter into flour until it resembles coarse meal.
2. Add 4 tablespoons of water or orange juice to the mixture, and with a wooden spoon start to gather the dough. Add more liquid as needed.
3. Once the dough has come together, place it onto a cool, floured surface and knead a few times. Roll into an 11-inch circle. Drape pie crust onto rolling pin to gently transfer it to a metal pie tin. Fold any crust hanging over the edge onto the tin rim, and use your thumb and forefinger to create a scalloped pattern. Put it into the refrigerator or freezer while preparing the filling.
4. I usually double the pie crust recipe. An extra pie crust should be left in a flattened disk (not rolled out), covered in saran wrap, placed inside a Ziplock bag, and frozen immediately. To thaw, place frozen dough into the refrigerator overnight.
5. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
6. To make the filling, mix all the ingredients in a large bowl (you can use the same bowl that you used to make the pie crust) and pour into the pie crust.
7. To make the topping, in a small bowl mix flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Cut butter into small pieces and add to the mixture. Use your fingers to rub the butter into the flour mixture. Pour the mixture evenly over the blueberries.
8. Place the pie on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake for 60 minutes or until the berries are bubbling and the crumble mixture has browned. Check the pie after 30 minutes. If you think the crumble is burning, you can shield it by lightly covering it with foil.
9. Remove the pie and let it cool for at least 15 minutes. It will still be slightly warm if you serve it two hours later. Best served with vanilla ice cream or freshly whipped cream.

Huevos Rancheros Breakfast Burrito

I first heard of huevos rancheros in Canada – not on the menu of a Tex-Mex restaurant but on the radio. It’s actually the name of an indie rock band in my hometown of Calgary. Years later I saw the term on a menu, and finally figured out what huevos were (I grew up with French as a second language). Later still, I learned that huevos is also slang for a part of the male anatomy.

This recipe is a bastardization of the authentic huevos rancheros (literally “ranch eggs”), a Mexican breakfast dish which consists of fried eggs and tomato salsa served on a warm corn tortilla. Traditionally, refried beans (which are not re-fried at all!), potatoes or black beans accompany the dish. My version includes scrambled eggs and hearty additions of cheese, corn and chicken.

Serves 2

Ingredients
1-2 tablespoons butter
6 eggs
1/4 cup milk
pinch of salt and pepper
1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese with jalapenos, shredded
1/2 cup corn kernels
1/2 – 3/4 cup shredded chicken meat (from a roast chicken or grilled chicken breast)
2 large corn or wheat tortillas
salsa, guacamole and/or sour cream, for serving (optional)

Directions
1. Place butter in a skillet on medium heat.
2. Beat eggs with a fork until well mixed. Add milk, salt and pepper and beat again.
3. Mix in cheese, corn and chicken.
4. When butter is foaming, pour egg mixture into skillet.
5. Use a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula to slowly stir the egg mixture until thickened.
6. Cover tortillas with a damp papertowel and microwave for 10-20 seconds. Warming the tortillas make them easier to fold.
7. Divide egg mixture evenly between warmed tortillas. Top with salsa, guacamole and/or sour cream before folding – or serve these on the side.
8. Fold into a burrito (instructions here).

Oatmeal Chocolate Date Cookies

In the last couple of decades, oatmeal has experienced a renaissance. Studies that linked oatmeal consumption with lower blood cholesterol came out in the 1980s, and in 1997 the US Food and Drug Administration allowed products with oat bran or rolled oats (which contain beta-glucans) to claim that they reduce heart disease when combined with a low-fat diet. Oatmeal is high in complex carbohydrates and fiber. It has long been a staple in the diets of athletes and labourers who benefit from a slow-releasing source of glucose.

Oatmeal is a product of ground oat groats. It is a staple in Scotland where it is well-suited to the short, wet growing season. The Scots use oats in baking and a wide variety of dishes including poultry stuffing, porridge, haggis, and black pudding. In the United States, Vermonters consume more oats per capita than any other state. Traditionally, the oats are soaked overnight, cooked and then served with sugar and spices.

Before its health benefits were clear, I was a huge fan of oatmeal cookies. My father made his with honey and they were large, thin and chewy. My recipe makes dense and satisfying cookies that are perfect for breakfast or as a snack. The dates add an unusual, natural sweetness that complements the hearty oat and chocolate flavors.


Makes 24 cookies

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups quick oats (reduce to 2 cups for lighter, larger cookies)
1 3/4 cups chocolate chips
1/2 cups dried date pieces (use dried cranberries or dried cherries if dates are unavailable)

For lighter, healthier cookies change ingredients as follows:

Increase flour to 1 1/2 cups

Reduce butter to 1/2 cup and add 1/4 cup applesauce and 2 tablespoons canola/corn oil

Reduce granulated sugar to 1/4 cup

Reduce chocolate chips to 1 cup

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C).
2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl beat butter and sugars until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well. Add flour mixture and beat until incorporated.
4. Using a spatula, stir in quick oats. Then stir in chocolate chips and date nuggets.
5. Drop batter in two tablespoon pieces onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until light brown. The cookies will not spread very much. If you use 2 cups of oats, the cookies will spread so space 2 inches apart.
6. Cool for 5 minutes on cookie sheet before transferring to a wire rack. Store in an airtight container for up to 10 days or freeze for up to 3 months (to defrost leave at room temperature overnight).

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie!

On my last blog post before Aly’s return, I have selected a classic summer treat: strawberry rhubarb pie. Yes, I know I promised authentic Tex-Mex cuisine, but I was swept away by long, ruby red stalks of rhubarb and juicy strawberries in their natural, non-genetically modified state. As much as I am a pre-planner—and I am—I decided to let the ingredients drive my cooking. Seeing farm-to-market fresh produce reminded me (in an excruciatingly mouth-watering way) why cooking can be so vibrant, creative, and plain fun. After buying two pounds of rhubarb, two pints of strawberries, a bag of hand-picked oranges, and a handful of lemons, I headed home to give it all a new life form. Rhubarb is an ancient and quite versatile plant; the stalks, with their bitter taste, complement sweet fruits; the roots function as a laxative; and the leaves, well, should be avoided because they are poisonous. The earliest evidence of rhubarb comes from 2700 BC in China where rhubarb was used for medicinal purposes. Europeans took note of rhubarb after Marco Palo’s travels through China. In 1777, a British horticulturalist near Oxford was the first in Europe to mass cultivate the plant and his rhubarb farm is apparently still in existence today.

My rhubarb came from a small farm in East Palo Alto, California. As a former resident of the Palo Alto area, there was a nice symmetry in seeing my Oxford and California lives intertwine. I brought in a bit of my childhood by making my mothers’ famous orange pie crust (hint: orange juice is used instead of ice water). Once the crust is made, the rest is as simple to make as, well…pie. The fresh fruits are combined with sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice and allowed to marinate for a bit before being zapped into a gooey, yummy paste in the oven. The result is a culinary yin-yang: tart bits of fruit encased in strawberry goodness. Enjoy the quintessential summer flavor, and thanks for indulging me in cooking fun these last three weeks!

Pie Crust
· 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
· 1 cup of unsalted butter, cut into cubes
· 1 teaspoon salt
· ½ teaspoon of sugar
· 1 teaspoon of orange zest
· 5 tablespoons of very cold orange juice

Directions
1. Mix the flour, salt, sugar and zest in a large bowl. Add the unsalted butter cut in cubes and using two knives ‘cut’ the butter into the flour mixture until the butter is the size of peas.
2. Add the orange juice and stir using a fork. Add more juice or flour, as needed, until the mixture yields two round balls of dough.
3. Wrap the dough balls in parchment paper and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
4. Remove the dough balls from the refrigerator and roll out onto parchment paper covered in flour.
5. Place one rolled out piece into a 9-inch pie pan and crimp the edges. Save the second rolled out piece for the top crust.

Filling

· 2 cups chopped rhubarb
· 2 1/2 cups sliced strawberries
· 1 cup of sugar
· 2 tablespoons minute tapioca
· 1 tablespoon flour
· 1 teaspoon lemon zest
· ¾ teaspoon lemon juice
· 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
· 2 tablespoons butter, cubed small
· 1 egg white beaten with 1 teaspoon water

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 425 F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, add the chopped rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, tapioca, flour, zest, juice, cinnamon, and extract. Carefully mix the ingredients together and let sit for at least 20 minutes.
3. Pour the mixture into the pie pan and add the cubed butter.
4. Place the top crust on the pie, using a fork to poke holes into it and to crimp the sides together.
5. Brush on the egg white and sprinkle with a bit of sugar and cinnamon.
6. Place the pie on a baking tray and put into the oven at 425 F for 15 minutes.
7. Decrease the heat to 375 F and bake for another 45-50 minutes or until browned and bubbly.
8. Let sit for at least thirty minutes before cutting. The longer you wait, the more set the pie will become.