It looks like the new “it” food is going back to vegetables. Big news at the Washington Post” that their food editor is a vegetarian. They claim in the article on the NPR web site that 39 percent of adults surveyed say they now eat less meat then they did three years ago. They claim it was for “health concerns”. I think it was probably because of the high cost of meats in recent years.
Nothing wrong with eating less meat. In fact we are probably doing the same thing. So I guess we need to work up a few interesting recipes for the secret vegans in all of us.
A trip this week to our local produce market ( always a high point of the week) Left us with a plethora of ideas for dishes this week. The one thing that caught my eye as we came in were not only gorgeous strawberries, but fantastic blueberries. I’ve been working on some shortbread recipes lately and the Blueberry Shortbread Crumble evolved as I looked through the store for more goodies.
The shortbread recipe I used for this will make either two pans or one pan and a bunch of different shapes of shortbread (which is what I did).
Equipment and special items for Blueberry Shortbread Crumble:
1 9X9 inch cake pan
large bowl for crumble mix
mixer (a we prefer KitchenAid 6 qt).
2 pints fresh Blueberries
Recipe for Crumble:
1/2 cup butter melted
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of salt
Powdered sugar for topping (optional)
Melt butter in small saucepan or in microwave (if using microwave let it cool slighty before continuing with the recipe). Put the sugars and flour into a large bowl and whisk lightly to incorporate. Pour in the melted butter and stir with a fork gently until all is mixed and large chunks are formed. Do not stir too hard and break up the crumbs you want to end with many large pieces in the mix. Set bowl aside, please note that this recipe will supply enough Crumble for two recipes.
Recipe for Shortbread:
2 cups of butter ( 4 sticks or 1 lb.) softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3 cups flour
1 cup rice flour ( if you do not have rice flour just use another cup of regular flour).
1 egg yolk
2 tsps vanilla (optional)
In the bowl of the mixer place the sugar and the butter and cream. Slowly add the flours until a dough is formed. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead into a ball, flatten slightly and cut in half. If only making one pan or making biscuits with the second half, wrap that half in plastic wrap and refrigerate.
Directions for Blueberry Shortbread Crumble
Preheat oven to 375º
Taking half the recipe of shortbread, roll out to approximately a 9 X 9 inch square which will be about a 1/2 inch thick. Take the square of dough and place into the 9 X 9 cake pan and press firmly into pan making sure it presses to all sides. You can, if you want, line the pan with parchment to make pulling it out of the pan easy, just be careful not to crack the shortbread as you remove it.
Place a layer of blueberries over the shortbread.
blueberries on top of shortbread
Now place a layer of the crumble on top of the shortbread and blueberries. press down very lightly. Place in the center of the oven and bake for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled cut into 9 squares and enjoy. Great as a breakfast treat, or as a anytime snack or microwave a short time to warm and serve with vanilla ice cream.
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1 cup rice flour ( if you do not have rice flour just use another cup of regular flour).
1 egg yolk
Instructions
Directions for the Crumble
Melt butter in small saucepan or in microwave (if using microwave let it cool slighty before continuing with the recipe). Put the sugars and flour into a large bowl and whisk lightly to incorporate. Pour in the melted butter and stir with a fork gently until all is mixed and large chunks are formed. Do not stir too hard and break up the crumbs you want to end with many large pieces in the mix. Set bowl aside, please note that this recipe will supply enough Crumble for two recipes.
Directions for the Shortbread
In the bowl of the mixer place the sugar and the butter and cream. Slowly add the flours until a dough is formed. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead into a ball, flatten slightly and cut in half. If only making one pan or making biscuits with the second half, wrap that half in plastic wrap and refrigerate.
Assembly and Cooking Directions
Taking half the recipe of shortbread, roll out to approximately a 9 X 9 inch square which will be about a 1/2 inch thick. Take the square of dough and place into the 9 X 9 cake pan and press firmly into pan making sure it presses to all sides. You can, if you want, line the pan with parchment to make pulling it out of the pan easy, just be careful not to crack the shortbread as you remove it.
Place a layer of blueberries over the shortbread.
Now place a layer of the crumble on top of the shortbread and blueberries. press down very lightly. Place in the center of the oven and bake for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled cut into 9 squares and enjoy. Great as a breakfast treat, or as a anytime snack or microwave a short time to warm and serve with vanilla ice cream.
Rants Raves and Recipes https://www.rantsravesandrecipes.com/
The most traditional Irish Soda Bread recipe is simply Soft Wheat Flour, a little baking soda ,a little salt, and buttermilk. Soft wheat has less gluten which made it easier to mill than hard wheat. In this recipe we used Swans Down Cake Flour, which is soft winter wheat. However all purpose flour will just fine. Raisins are an option and are not traditional.
Ingredients for Traditional Irish Soda Bread:
4 cups soft Wheat Flour
2 cups buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tsp salt
Sift all the dry ingredients into a bowl add the buttermilk and mix until the flour not visible. If dough very dry add more buttermilk and if too wet add a little more flour. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and form into a ball. Place onto a lightly greased sheet pan or on to a silpat or into a lightly greased cake pan. Cut a cross into the top about an inch and a half deep ( this helps the center bake). Bake at 425° for about 25 minutes then lower the temperature to 400° and bake for an additional 20 minutes. The bread will be done when it gives a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom. If the bread begins to brown too much, cover loosely with foil. When baked remove to a wire rack to cool. Can be sliced warm.
Sift all the dry ingredients into a bowl add the buttermilk and mix until the flour not visible. If dough very dry add more buttermilk and if too wet add a little more flour. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and form into a ball. Place onto a lightly greased sheet pan or on to a silpat or into a lightly greased cake pan. Cut a cross into the top about an inch and a half deep ( this helps the center bake). Bake at 425° for about 25 minutes then lower the temperature to 400° and bake for an additional 20 minutes. The bread will be done when it gives a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom. If the bread begins to brown too much, cover loosely with foil. When baked remove to a wire rack to cool. Can be sliced warm.
Notes
Traditional Soda Bread has no extra ingredients, but if you'd like add currents or raisins or nuts or anything else that would go great in a bread- don't worry you WON"T be attacked by Leprechauns if you do!
Rants Raves and Recipes https://www.rantsravesandrecipes.com/
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