Strawberries and a couple shortcakes

Here's just what you need to bring that warm summer evening to a close. Strawberry shortcakes!

Our version of this classic dessert is based on a substantial biscuit with a hefty crust and a dense but soft interior. It's the perfect foundation for home-made strawberry frozen custard, fresh strawberries, and freshly whipped cream - a triple play that'll bring smiles every time.

The key is to keep is fresh - these strawberries came straight from our garden and the cakes are served hot out of the oven.

In case you're not convinced yet, here's a couple more shortcakes to win you over.

Catching Up

I've had pictures from three cooking expeditions on my camera for quite a while. So this post might look like I've been butchering-bakering-&-candlestickmakering up a storm, but actually this collection goes back at least a week or three.

First: The Birthday Gift That Keeps On Giving

I believe I was turning 29 when Steve and Rachel gave me two bags of rice, a Japanese red rice and a black sweet rice. I've cooked almost all of the red rice, but the black sweet rice is a little harder to use in savory dishes. I was happy to learn that you could make a rice porridge out of it from my Moosewood Cookbook. The rice is still a little crunchy (actually, squeaky is a better word for it), and this makes a great dessert. It also happens to be vegan, which I don't usually think about too much, but comes in handy every once in a while. No cows or rices were harmed in the making of this porridge.


Second: My Own Personal Dannon Factory

I've been eating a lot of plain yogurt lately, and a recent article in the NYTimes had me thinking that it might not be too hard to make my own. Turns out, it's not hard at all.

There are websites and recipes galore, and they're all more or less the same. Basically, you heat milk till it's nearly boiling, let it cool about forty degrees, mix in a batch of existing yogurt (with live bacteria cultures), pour it into containers, and keep it warm for the next several hours while the bacteria go crazy. Then refrigerate and enjoy over the next week or so. I let my yogurt go about six hours in the fermenting stage, which is a little longer than most recipes call for, but results in a yogurt that's a little thicker and tangier. Now if I could only find a good granola recipe...



Third: An Apple Pie a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

Nothing too fancy here, but I had some leftover Granny Smiths and a couple pie crust balls in my freezer and decided to put together an apple pie (à la mode).

It's Slaw Season

For some reason I've been eating a lot of cabbage recently (may or may not be due to the cheapness of said cabbage), and though I like my old stand-by coleslaw recipe (1 chopped head of cabbage, 2 grated carrots, 3 generous dollops of mayo, 1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning), I've decided to branch out a little and try some new coleslaw recipes. And since everybody in the family is becoming vegan, why not make a slaw without any animal products?

So here's a shot of last night's Lime and Peanut Coleslaw. Mine isn't quite as colorful as the recipe because I substituted an avocado for the grape tomatoes. But it's still tasty. And if you're Dad (and you like tons of cilantro), be sure to add in a little extra.



And then to disprove my claim about us all becoming vegans, here's a photo of the coleslaw complete with a bacon cheeseburger. Did you know you can grill bacon? I don't know how I've gotten this far in life without knowing that.

First, and first

First grilling of the season (it's on, barbecue lovers!)

First meal in my new dining room.

Slow cookery and baking

I hesitated to post because I have yet to photodocument myself cooking anything tasty, interesting, or needing of pictures. However, this blog has fallen into a bout of after-lunch lethargy, so I decided that standards are now low enough to admit my food pictures.

I made some onion soup the other day. It wasn't a terribly complicated recipe. Actually, it was outright easy. But I wasn't terribly hungry at the time and hence decided to fully tease out the process of cooking down the onions. The cookbook said to give it 30-40 minutes. I think I maybe let mine go for an hour or two.


This had the effect of heightening my anticipation (smell of cooking onions) as well as fully wringing out the flavor of the otherwise unpleasant fruit (yes, onions are a fruit. go look it up).


I also made some banana bread. It was supposed to be a great recipe. I had made it for my roommate and his girlfriend a couple weeks earlier and they'd raved about it. Once again, setting out in great anticipation, I whipped it up a couple afternoons ago. As I took this picture, I was actually thinking about writing up the blog post, wondering how to communicate that I'd just made the world's best banana bread without coming across as too arrogant. Well, it turns out it wasn't necessary to solve that little conundrum. The bread was on the dry side (perhaps overcooked), lacking sweetness (despite 3/4 cup of sugar!), a little too homogeneous (I guess I like my banana bread a little chunky) with no overall remarkability. So, here's the picture, but I won't post the recipe:


Also, I admit that onions are not a fruit. But at least I got you to go to Wikipedia and thereby learn that onions are "one of the oldest vegetables known to humankind."

And Now for Something Completely Different

A nickel to anyone who knows where this post title comes from. But I don't mean it only as a riddle. I present for you all something not butchered, baked, nor candlestickmade. A long time ago (back before the long winter nights came and sucked all the warmth from the world), I put away several jars of dilly beans. I'd always meant to throw a photo or two up on Barnhart Central. But now that we have the Barnhart Cooking Show online, this seems like the best place to do it.

And for the record, I opened the first jar just a moment ago, and the dilly beans are great. Maybe a touch too salty, but very crisp with a pungent dill bouquet and earthy, jalapeño undertones.

I'm actually kind of sad about these apple dumplings, because I ate so much for dinner that I don't think I'll be able to enjoy these tonight. A picture might be worth a thousand words, but I still can't taste it unless I actually put it in my mouth.

Happy 2009 to everyone, and Happy Birthday to only Ben. :)