Lemon-Berry-Basil Fizz

School's out and it's time for afternoon cocktails on the porch. We love strawberry and basil together - sweet, bright, fresh from the garden flavors that get a boost from a refreshing blast of lemon. This cocktail is porch-rocker perfection in a glass, right in the height of berry season. Feel free to improvise with other fresh berries!

Lemon-Berry-Basil Fizz

(makes one drink)

2 fresh strawberries, hulled

2 basil leaves, chopped

2 ounces Acqua di Cedro (lemon-infused grappa)

3 ounces club soda

Muddle strawberries and basil in a glass with ice. Add grappa and club soda. Give a quick stir and enjoy.

Strawberry Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake (Secret Recipe Club)

It's May's Reveal Day for Secret Recipe Club and we've once again attempted to stray out of our comfort zone and bake something. A cake, no less. Neither of us can remember ever baking a cake together, and most of our combined experiences with making cakes have involved Betty Crocker. That said, now that things are starting to grow in the garden again, we've also been wanting to cook with something homegrown. Unfortunately, since it's still early in the growing season here, the only thing we currently have growing is rhubarb. And what are the odds that our assigned blog would have a recipe with rhubarb as the ingredient?

Not too bad, as it turns out. In fact, Taryn, the author of Sweetly Serendipity had not one, not two, but three recipes with rhubarb in them. The dilemma was which one to choose. Rhubarb Buttermilk Muffins sounded pretty good, but Taryn herself admitted that "they weren't the best." Been there! So it was between Lemon Rhubarb Buttermilk Cake and Upside-Down "Strawbarb" Cake. For some reason, the strawberries sounded more appealing so that's what we made. 

It was definitely the right choice, for we are mad for this cake! Not too sweet, with a moist, silky texture and crunchy sweet "crust", this is one of the finest cakes we've ever had, nevermind that it's the only one we've ever made from scratch! We had to bring some to the neighbors for fear we'd eat the whole thing in one night. We attempted to create a basil-oil-infused cream to go with it, but it flopped. No worries, for while it may have been an interesting addition, it was completely unnecessary. This cake possesses all the characteristics we think a dessert should have, including how yummy the house smelled while it was baking. 

We highly recommend this cake, which Taryn adapted from a recipe by Martha Stewart. However, we did take advantage of Taryn's excellent suggestions, and so here is the recipe we made, as per Sweetly Serendipity.

Strawberry Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake

Ingredients:

For The Topping

• 4 tablespoons salted butter, melted

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• Pinch Kosher salt

For The Cake

• 1 1/2 sticks salted butter, room temperature

• 1/2 pound rhubarb, trimmed and cut on a diagonal
• 1/2 pound strawberries, hulled and chopped

• 1 3/4 cups sugar, divided

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

• 1/4 cup Grand Marnier (or other orange liqueur)

• 2 large eggs

• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup buttermilk

• 
  

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the topping by stirring together the butter, flour, sugar, and salt until moist and crumbly; set aside. Butter a 9-inch pie dish, then dot it with 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) of butter cut into pieces. Toss rhubarb and strawberries with 3/4 cup sugar; let stand for 2 minutes. Toss again, and spread in the pie dish. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat remaining stick of butter and cup of sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in Grand Marnier, then beat in eggs, one at a time until incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl. Stir the sour cream and buttermilk together in a separate small bowl. Beat in flour mixture in three additions, alternating with sour cream/buttermilk mixture, until smooth. Spread evenly over the rhubarb and strawberries. Crumble the topping evenly over batter. Bake for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake, and invert onto a serving plate. Let cool completely.

Cocktail Time! The Berry Patch

School may have started, but it's not the end of summer yet! Labor Day weekend is upon us, and fall does not officially start until the autumnal equinox on September 23rd. In the "spirit" of prolonging every teacher's favorite season, we gathered a few tantalizing summertime ingredients to create a cocktail we're calling "The Berry Patch" (special thanks to D and J for taste-testing and tweaking the name). Light, sweet, herby and slightly bubbly, these go down nice and easy!

The Berry Patch

(makes a small pitcher, about six drinks)

Ingredients:

12-14 fresh strawberries, chopped

6-8 leaves fresh basil, torn

1 cup cranberry juice (100% juice, not cranberry cocktail)

1 cup lemonade (we like Newman's Own Lightly-Sweetened)

1 cup vodka

ice

club soda (optional)

extra berries and/or basil leaves for garnish

In a pitcher, muddle the chopped strawberries with the torn basil leaves.

Add the cranberry juice, lemonade and vodka.

Add ice, stir and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Strain into chilled martini glasses. Add a splash of club soda on top if you like it bubbly, and garnish as desired.

 

Berry Easy Pie

A week or so ago, we made a simple and delicious dessert - grilled poundcake with balsamic berries. Berries are in full season in Connecticut right now, and we picked up a pint of fresh local strawberries at the Farmers' Market. So we decided to do a twist on last week's success and turn it into another scrumptiously easy summer weeknight treat - Berry Easy Pie.

One thing that makes this pie so easy is that we used a store-bought crust. It's the end of the school year, and as teachers, we are very busy (and bordering on burned out), so that is our excuse. If you have the time and the skill, obviously feel free to make your own. The refrigerated crust from Pillsbury contains two pie crusts; we used one for our Meatless Monday tart, then made a dessert pie with the other one so as not to let anything go to waste.

The small yet oh-so-sweet CT grown strawberry

First, we pressed the crust into our pie pan and sprinkled it with some freshly ground black pepper. Then we pricked it all over with a fork, filled the crust with pie weights (raw beans work if you don't have weights), and baked it for 15 minutes, just enough to get it going. After that, we filled it with our delicious mixed-berry filling, the highlight of this being the local strawberries, of course. Nothing says "summer has begun" like Connecticut-grown strawberries! We poured the filling into the crust and returned the pie to the oven to finish. A light dusting of confectioner's sugar and voila! Berry Easy Pie!

Store-bought pie crust sprinkled with black pepper

Mixed berries tossed in sugar and cornstarch

As it sat on the windowsill (like a good pie should), Chris looked wistfully upon it. He said, "I forgot all about potluck lunch tomorrow. Any chance...???" That's when Amy knew she would not get a taste of the pie. Not even a sliver! However, all reports say that it was a little tart, a little sweet, a little spicy, but also a little dough-y (and not in a good way). Not a complete success, but still, a pretty good start. Any ideas on how we can improve it?

Ingredients:

1 refrigerated pie crust, thawed

2 teaspoons ground black pepper

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup corn starch

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 pint blackberries

1 pint raspberries

1 pint strawberries, hulled and chopped

confectioners' sugar for dusting pie

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Press pie crust into bottom and sides of pie tin and sprinkle with black pepper. Line the crust with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, remove weights and foil, and set aside. Reduce oven to 350 degrees. Combine sugar, corn starch, balsamic vinegar and berries in a bowl, tossing until berries are well coated. Pour berry mixture into crust and return pie to oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Allow to cool then serve dusted with confectioners' sugar or with other desired topping.

Almost Wordless Weekender: Scenes from the Coventry Regional Farmers' Market, CT

Scenes from today's Coventry Regional Farmers' Market.

Chef Scott Miller of Max Oyster Bar prepares his

Connecticut Landed Fluke Ceviche.

 Connecticut Landed Fluke Ceviche.

Dahlias.

Lettuce is definitely in season here in CT.

The Fish Market sells Mystic oysters for $1 each.

A variety of radishes.

Sugar Snap Peas.

 It's June, so of course, fresh local strawberries.