Blackberries, Apples, Lavender and Rosemary

The bounty of summer is certainly showering on Seattle. All those front yard vegetable patches are dutifully producing cheery tomatoes, quaint bean stalks, greens and summer squash. While on long runs, I notice the high percentage of yards around Seattle that have some sort of cultivated garden. Though it does make the neighborhoods charming, the real shock factor is how prolific the uncultivated producers are. The rogue blackberry bush, the sidewalk apple tree, the sweet pea entangled in I-5 fencing. Fruit is dropping from everywhere, and most of it, seems to be from untended plants.

Compared to the coaxed basil or caged tomato vines in their planter boxes, these wild plants are dominating the summer bounty. I can’t help but be totally impressed by the production of the uncultivated. They are everywhere, like weeds! Massive walls of blackberry bushes line the Burke Gillman Trial and I-5 entrances around the city. Who needs watering from a hose every morning, or snail pellets, we’ve been here for decades doing what we do naturally—Thriving! The faint-hearted gardens are like domesticated house cats compared to these wild cougars of the urban environment.

After finishing Michael Pollan’s book Omnivore’s Dilemma, I was inspired to be more conscientious of where food comes from, and how our industrial/capitalist perspective has distorted the notion of food availability to something processed and purchased rather than, a product of sun, soil and fertilization. As the rogue blackberry bush demonstrates, producing food is not a zero sum enterprise, and certainly not, a negative sum enterprise, like our industrial food system. Our current food system pumps roughly ten units of petroleum energy into the seed production, fertilization, harvest, and transportation for one unit of food (See Alternative Radio’s piece with Vandana Shiva on social justice and development). When done locally, producing food is a positive sum enterprise, in which the energy of the sun produces a unit of food using inputs of water and non-exhausted soil.

In honor of these principals, I decided to put all of this excess sidewalk produce to use. As fallenfruit.org points out, many of the trees in our neighborhoods have been here longer than we have, and will continue to be here once we move on. For me, forging these berries and apples is a reminder of my relation with my local space in comparison to the trees in my neighborhood(my garden will most likely stop being here once I move). Pollan even puts a name to the practice of forging in urban areas:

“The Romans called it usufruct, which the dictionary defines as “the right to enjoy the use and advantage of another’s property short of the destruction or waste of its substance.” P. 398 Check out fallenfruit.org for more on forging neighbor’s fruit.

There are plenty of blackberries in the backyard to eat fresh every morning. With this monster of a bush residing conveniently in my backyard, it is simple enough to walk out to the back for some sun-warmed berries to add to my morning yogurt or oatmeal.

But, I never turn down an excuse to bake, and decided to turn the summer bounty into a sort of celebratory bake-off. Pollan discusses the motivation to transform a bowl of cherries into a galette in his final chapter, A Perfect Meal. He acknowledges that through his forging, hunting, and preserving he learned a great deal about nature’s process of cyclical growth and harvest, why not just eat the cherries fresh on a bowl of ice? But for his dinner party, he explains that cooking is a gesture of gratitude and appreciation for the people you share a meal with. He goes on to argue well-executed and flavorful cooking is a “way to honor the things we are eating, the animals, plants and fungi that have been sacrificed to gratify our needs and desires, as well as the people that produced them.”

“Cooking something thoughtfully is a way to celebrate both that species and our relation to it.” P. 404

With that sentiment in mind, I thought, why of course I must honor this prolific blackberry thicket by adding butter, sugar and a crumbly oat top. DUH. I will enjoy it that much more. But, all sarcasm aside Mr. Pollan, I do agree. One of the reasons I have always been fascinated with baking is for the seemingly simple steps that transform ~ a dozen ingredients into a cohesive, entirely different and enhanced final product. The blackberry’s juice and tart sweetness fuse with the lemon juice and nectarine chunks for a delicious filling under a crumbly oat top. C-E-L-E-B-R-A-T-E. Trust, me this morning when I had a slice of this crumble with my coffee, I appreciated that rogue thicket in the backyard fully; turning the sun and soil into a berry I could then transform into this delicious breakfast. Just think—circle of life (with a final touch by Martha).

Blackberry Nectarine Crumble (Deep Dish)

Bake 375 degrees, 35-45 min.

Crumble Top

Adapted from Martha Stewart’s recipe for a Sour Cherry Pistachio Crisp. I did not have ground pistachios, but this would be a great addition to the next crumble. This recipe for a crumble top is the best I have ever come across, and will use it many more times to come. I will be sure to store this in favorites section.

½ cup chopped unsalted pistachios

½ cup plus two tablespoons all-purpose flour

½ cup rolled oats

¼ tsp baking powder

salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

¼ cup granulate sugar

3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar

1. Whisk together flour, pistachios, oats, baking powder, salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
2. Put butter, brown and granulated sugar in a bowl and mix at medium speed until creamy.
3. Stir flour mixture into butter mixture until just combined. Work mixture through your fingers until it forms coarse crumbs ranging from small peas to gum balls, set aside.

Pie Crust

Adapted from a Patee Brisee Recipe in Martha Stewart Living and California Heritage Cookbook (The Junior League of Pasadena-1976). The California Heritage Cookbook had a great suggestion; after cooking the pie crust for 15 min by itself with foil and rice weights, brush the top of the pie with a lightly whipped egg yolk and cook for two minuets until eggs sets. This prevents the blackberry/nectarine juice (and, trust me, this is a very juicy pie filling) from making the pie crust soggy.

Patte Brisee

Enough for two nine inch single crust-tarts. Originally served with a savory tart.

2 ½ cups all purpose flour, plus more for work surface

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) chilled, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

¼ to ½ cup ice water

1. Combine flour, salt and sugar. Use a pastry cutter to add butter until mixture resembles coarse meal
2. Add ice water until dough just holds together.
3. Turn out dough on a lightly floured surface, divide in half and shape into a disk.
4. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill at least 1 hour or overnight.

Blackberry-Nectarine Filling

6 chopped nectarines

4-5 cups fresh blackberries

¾ cup sugar

juice of 1 lemon

cinnamon

corn starch (optional)

tapioca balls (optional)

I didn’t just celebrate the berries, but also the crisp, tart green apples covering the branches (and sidewalks!) of some neighboring trees. I decided on one of my mother’s favorites; the apple galette. The name is French prissy (or is it prisee?... as in pate brisee), making this rewardingly simple desert much more elegant.

Using the same basic pie crust recipe, and the CA Hertiage’s tips on using egg to enhance a pie crust, I adapted the apple pie filling from my William and Sonoma Essentials of Baking recipe for Apple Pie.

Apple Galette

Bake 375 for 35 min.

Basic Pie Crust

From California Heritage Cookbook

1 ½ cups flour

½ tsp. salt

6 tablspns firm butter, cut into small pieces

3 tablspns shortening (I substituted butter)

3-6 tblspns ice water

1 egg yolk

Work flour and butter together using pastry cutter until butter is about the size of small peas. Ass the water an quickly work together with your fingers into a smooth ball. Wrap in waxed paper and chill for at least 15 min before rolling

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out into a circle about 1/8 inch thick, 2 inches larger all around a 9 inch pie pan. Fit pastry loosely into the pie pan, then press it lightly into the bottom of the pan, flute and chill for 30 min.

Place a piece of aluminum foil in the pastry shell to form a lining, then fill with dry beans or rice to keep shell from puffing when baked.

Place in preheated 425 degree oven for 15 to 20 min or until the bottom is set and edges lightly browned. Take form oven and lift out the foil and beans. With a pastry brush, coat the shell with lightly beaten egg yolk. The yolk seals the crust and prevents it from soaking up any liquid and becoming soggy. Cool the shell before filing.

I used the remaining egg white brushed over the edges of the galette. It added a pretty sheen and crispy outer texture.

Apple Pie Filling

6 Apples

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, strained

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 ½ tsp nutmeg (I substituted cinnamon, a lot of cinnamon)

1. Slice apples into ¼ inch slices. I kept the peels on, some suggest peeling the apples prior to slicing.
2. In a large bowl, combine the apples, lemon juice, melted butter, brown sugar, cinnanmon. Using a large spoon, stir until blended.

In my celebration of summer’s abundance, I wanted to highlight another plant in nearly every Seattle front yard. Actually two. Two herbs: rosemary and lavender. After walking back home from a morning run, I covertly snapped off some lavender stalks gracing the front entrance to a nearby Mormon Church. The sun and the Later Day Saints will be blessing this cake. Beat that Pillsbury. Briskly turning the corner without looking to see if Joseph Smith was chasing me down, I knelt by a neighbor’s hearty looking rosemary bush for some fresh branches. Just like that I had a bouquet that would add a unique fragrance to a cake. I let these herbs dry for a day before adding them to the cake.

I have wanted to try a savory/sweet olive oil, polenta cake. 101cookbooks highlighted one recently, and I remember some delicious sounding almond versions. Regardless, I have been interested in experimenting with the earthy tones of olive oil and hearty polenta texture in a cake. With that said, this recipe did not exactly hit the note I was looking for. I wanted more cake, this was more like cornbread. I will try the 101cookbook version next time and be sure to get fine grind polenta. Martha Stewart Living had a delicious-sounding version for an Almond-Polenta Cake with almond paste that I would like to try.

Lavender-Rosemary Polenta Cake

Adapted from William and Sonoma’s Essentials of Baking Cookbook.

¾ cup golden raisins (I left these out, the recipes says to soak them in brandy)

¾ cup find grind polenta or cornmeal

1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

1 tblspn orange zest

3 large eggs

½ cup olive oil

¼ cup honey

¾ cup plain yogurt or buttermilk (I used whole milk)

¾ cup toasted pine nuts

1 tablspn dried lavender flowers

1 tblspn finely chopped rosemary

Glaze (I left this out, making the recipe more like a cornbread instead of cake)

¼ cup honey

¼ cup fresh lemon juice, strained

1 tablspn dried lavender flowers

1.Toast pine nuts. Soak raisins in brandy, if using.

2. In a small bowl combine polenta, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon zest. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk eggs until blended, stir in olive oil, honey, and yogurt. Add all but 3 tblspns of the pine nuts (for topping), lavender, rosemary and orange zest.

3. Add dry ingredients to the mixture and stir until just combined. Pour batter into prepared 9 inch spring foam pan (I used a deep dish skillet).

4. Bake for 25-30 min in 350 degree oven

5. Make glaze in small saucepan by combining lemon juice (orange juice), honey, lavender flowers. Bring to a boil over medium heat stirring until sugar is dissolved, then remove from heat and let cool.