Farmers' Market Friday : peach & blueberry cobbler

Originally posted September 9, 2011 on Bettina Writes. 

One of my favorite cakes I've made features caramelized peaches with a buttery cake textured with the addition of cornmeal. I've made it as is with just peaches, or added blueberries to the peaches, or switched them out for nectarines or plums. It's delicious, but a little time consuming to make, so I was looking for a way to get the same flavors together in an easier format, when I came across this recipe for peach cobbler with cornmeal biscuit topping, from the website for the same farmers' market from where I bought my peaches and berries.

I've adapted the recipe slightly--the one on Fresh Farm's website sounds great as is, but I love the combination of peaches with blueberries (and I like to make cobbler topping with powdered sugar for the texture). I made a large version for a Labor Day BBQ to say goodbye to summer; I had to leave before the cobbler was served, but I was assured it was "scarfed down"... which is exactly what I did with the individual portion I ate for breakfast this morning. (NB: don't miss the bonus recipe at the bottom!)

Farmers' Market Friday : figs & ricotta

Originally posted September 2, 2011 on Bettina Writes. 

One weekend's farmers' market bounties

So, the title of this post is a little misleading. My local farmers' market is actually on Sundays, but 1) posting this on Friday gives me time to cook, eat and write, and 2) I like alliteration. Here's something I put together using mostly ingredients from said market. Call it a tartine, a crostini, an open-faced sandwich--whatever you call it, it makes a tasty hors d'œuvre, snack, breakfast or lunch. But first, a little bit more on farmers' markets.

Quick tip: grilled cheese

Originally posted August 18, 2011 on Bettina Writes. 


Here's just a quick cooking tip that's new to me: when making grilled cheese, coat the bread with mayo instead of butter.

I've only started to hear this recently--the first time I heard about it was my sister's boyfriend, and to be honest, didn't really give it a lot of merit at the time. However, as it kept popping on food tv and blog circles, it started to make more sense: mayo is mostly oil, so it will brown and crisp like butter, but the emulsification with eggs lowers the burn/smoke point so your sandwich gets sufficiently melty inside but not burnt on the outside (and for those mayo-haters, it does NOT make the sandwich taste like mayonnaise).

I'm pretty sure I'll be making all my grilled cheese sandwiches (including grilled ham, egg and Jarlsberg sandwiches like pictured above--yum) this way from now on.

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Sunday eggs with swiss chard and ricotta

Originally posted August 14, 2011 on Bettina Writes. 

One of my favorite things about living in D.C. is the access to beautiful produce at local farmers' markets, especially in the summer. The one I most frequent happens to be today, on Sundays. Really I should call this "Sunday scrambled eggs with garlic swiss chard and ricotta on fried potatoes," but that's a little wordy, isn't it? Plus, I think these eggs would be just as delicious on potatoes as they would with some rice or a nice piece of crusty bread (hell, even some spaghetti... I don't know why but in my mind the only noodle that would work is spaghetti).

Bacon chocolate chip cookies

Originally posted August 9, 2011 on Bettina Writes. 

One day, I'll have a blog named "Bakin' with Bacon," and it will all be recipes that include my favorite porcine product, and when it makes me wildly famous, I'll get to spend quality kitchen time with Kevin Bacon, because in this fantasy he loves a pun as much as I do. That day is not today, but that doesn't mean pig candy can't make a guest appearance here every now and then. And what better grand entrance than with bacon chocolate chip cookies?