Me DID Have This: the perfect Mother's Day!

I woke up on Mother's Day morning to not one, not two, but three lovely children totally passed out.  It was in a word, SERENE.  So instead of doing what normal, sane people do and relax, I sat on the floor, combing through all of the old issues of Cook's Illustrated that have been accumulating in my bookshelf.  Coming across the recipe entitled "The World's Best Blueberry Muffins", I couldn't resist. 

The pictures did not turn out very well - they looked good on the tiny little screen.  Well, you get the idea.  And if not, c'mon over this weekend, I think these muffins deserve an encore.

While the muffins were in the oven, I was 'burdened' by playing with a happy, smiley baby.  Boy, life is tough.

Here's the recipe copied from the May/June 2009 issue of Cook's Illustrated.

MAKES 12 MUFFINS

Lemon-Sugar Topping

1/3 cup (21/3 ounces) sugar

1½ teaspoons finely grated zest from 1 lemon

Muffins

2 cups (about 10 ounces) fresh blueberries, picked over

1 1/8 cups (8 ounces) plus 1 teaspoon sugar

2 1/2 cups (12½ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon table salt

2 large eggs

4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk (see note)

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract


Note: If buttermilk is unavailable, substitute 3/4 cup plain whole-milk or low-fat yogurt thinned with 1/4 cup milk.


1. FOR THE TOPPING: Stir together sugar and lemon zest in small bowl until combined; set aside.


2. FOR THE MUFFINS: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray standard muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Bring 1 cup blueberries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with spoon several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to ¼ cup, about 6 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.


3. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl. Whisk remaining 11/8 cups sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick and homogeneous, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla until combined. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour; do not overmix.)


4. Following photos above, use ice cream scoop or large spoon to divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly). Spoon teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter. Using chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure-eight motion. Sprinkle lemon sugar evenly over muffins.


5. Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes, rotating muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking time. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.

BEST BLUEBERRY MUFFINS WITH FROZEN BLUEBERRIES

Note: Our preferred brands of frozen blueberries are Wyman’s and Cascadian Farm.

Follow recipe for Best Blueberry Muffins, substituting 2 cups frozen berries for fresh. Cook 1 cup berries as directed in step 2. Rinse remaining cup berries under cold water and dry well. In step 3, toss dried berries in flour mixture before adding egg mixture. Proceed with recipe from step 4 as directed.

 
 
 
 

Mother's Day 2010                         

Can Me Have This: The Apple/Cherry Pie - AKA "THE SWEENEY TODD"

Not to steal the words of a wise woman named Mrs. Lovett but I have always wanted to open a pie shop.  I would of course, pay homage to this colorful character and call the shop "Mrs. Lovett's Pies".  Everything (well, almost everything) would have an element of red in it.  A peach pie infused with wild raspberries, an apple pie with dark cherries, strawberry/rhubarb would be a daily special, et.al.  Too dark?  Maybe.  But funny, I think. 


I made a apple cherry pie the other day that was 'to die for'.  (you didn't think I would leave that out, did you?).  The pie was perfect.  Very flaky crust, nice tart apples complimenting the sweet cherries.  More than that, it was chunky.  For those of you who are big "Sweeney Todd" enthusiasts as I am, you just did a collective groan.  You did, I heard it.


No recipes on this post.  Go bake a pie and make it red.  Make Mrs. Lovett proud.

Can Me Have This: Various tidbits, here and there

So the last few months have not been kind to me in terms of getting my stuff done. The trade off is that I get to sit and stare at a little baby boy, while two crazy girls are climbing all over me. Although that may sound (insert your own adjective here), I find it incredibly (insert your own adjective here). In all seriousness, adjusting to three has been much easier than anticipated.

My time to bake/cook has been severely cut down but I manage to whip up some tasty, and oh so fattening concoctions.

My very dear friend, Teresa, not only is an amazing cellist but an amazing cook. She shared with me a very simple, yet, necessary recipe that all should make. Behold, the SCALLOPED POTATO:

Preheat oven to 350

9x13 baking dish

lots and lots of potatoes (Damn you Dan Quayle for always making me look up how to spell POTATOES!!!!)

16oz. cream, yes, the heavy kind. No skimping here

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. flour

minced garlic to taste

pepper to taste

Gruyere, fontina, or any other type of melt-y cheese. I used a combination of both.

ham (optional)

Peel and slice potatoes to about 1/4 in. thick. Layer them in the dish. Slice the ham into edible portions and layer with the potatoes.

Mix everything else and pour over the potatoes. The garlic, pepper, and salt will sink to the bottom so I put some milk in and pour it in.

Grate cheese and cover every possible inch on top.

Bake uncovered for about an hour. You'll know when it's done. Trust me