Fruit Crumble Bars

I had leftover fruit in the freezer from those Christmas pies and it was Sunday so... I started with this recipe from smitten kitchen which uses fresh blueberries and I modified it a bit and ended up with this blueberry/cherry mash-up recipe: two types of bars, one pan. Based on this experiment, I'd say any type of fruit could be used and that frozen fruit works fine.

First, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease a 9x13 baking tin.

For the CRUST combine the following ingredients in a large bowl
     1 cup sugar
     1 tsp baking powder 
     3 cups flour 
     1/4 tsp salt 
     lemon zest from one lemon  
Once combined, cut in (with pastry cutter, a fork or your fingers)
     1 cup cold butter (2 sticks / 8 oz) cut in small pieces 
     1 egg
Until all ingredients are combined and the mixture is a course crumble.
Press half the crust into the bottom of the greased baking pan. 


For the BLUEBERRY FILLING combine the following in a small bowl
     1/4 cup sugar
     1 Tbs lemon juice
     2 tsp cornstarch
     dash of cloves
     1/2 tsp cinnamon
Toss this mixture with fruit to coat.
     2 cups of blueberries (frozen)

For the CHERRY FILLING combine the following in a small bowl
     1/4 cup sugar (+ 1/8 cup if the cherries are sour rather than sweet)
     1 Tbs lemon juice
     2 tsp cornstarch
    1/2 tsp almond extract
Toss this mixture with the fruit to coat.
    2 cups of cherries (frozen)

Pour filling(s) over prepared crust


Crumble the remaining crust evenly over the filling


Bake 55 minutes (check after 45) - until top is browned and filling is bubbling


Chill completely and cut into squares

NOTE: These were pretty good the day they were made but they went downhill fast. Make them the day you want to eat them. They are best when the crust is crisp and cookie-like but the crust gets a bit soft by the next day, quite soft by the day after and not-worth-the-calories soft by the day after that.

Small Variations

The guys over at tweet me harder rate and conduct a semiotic analysis of junkmail

The blogess has a ground breaking discovery about cats, towels and looking younger.

January

For, after all, you do grow up, you do outgrow your ideals, which turn to dust and ashes, which are shattered into fragments; and if you have no other life, you just have to build one up out of these fragments. And all the time your soul is craving and longing for something else. And in vain does the dreamer rummage about in his old dreams, raking them over as though they were a heap of cinders, looking in these cinders for some spark, however tiny, to fan it into a flame so as to warm his chilled blood by it and revive in it all that he held so dear before, all that touched his heart, that made his blood course through his veins, that drew tears from his eyes, and that so splendidly deceived him! ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky White Knights




http://www.theroadtothehorizon.org/2010/01/terror-alert-levels-in-chaos-around.html

Chili Recipe

This is my first foray into the world of Chili - I started with this recipe but made some changes:

Chili Recipe

8 slices of bacon chopped fine

Fry the bacon on medium heat in your chili pot until it is browned and crisp then remove bacon to a paper-towel lined plate. Pour bacon fat into a bowl and reserve.

2-3 lbs boneless well marbled beef pot roast cut in 1/2 inch cubes

Brown batches of beef cubes in 2tsp of the reserved fat over med-high until well browned on each side - as cubes are browned, remove to a plate until all beef is well browned.
1 large onion minced

3-5 jalapenos seeded and minced (heat source - don't use your bare hands to slice)
3 Tbs chili powder (it's not hot)
1 Tbs ground cumin
1.5 tsp dried oregano

Add 2-3 Tbs of reserved bacon fat, onion, peppers and spices to pot over med-low heat and cook about 5 mins.

1 Tbs Brown Sugar
5-8 cloves of garlic minced

Add sugar and garlic and cook about 30 seconds.

1 28oz can of diced tomatoes (not drained)
3 cups water

Add tomatoes, water, beef and bacon. Simmer 2-4 hours adding water as needed - should be thick and dark.

1 can red kidney beans drained and rinsed
1 can black beans drained and rinsed

Add beans and simmer for another 30 mins. Note, adding beans as close to serving as possible keeps them firm.

Note: I served it with thick slices of buttered fresh bread. I used only 3 jalapenos and thought it could have used more heat - a pinch of cayene or some hot sauce can be added but I think just adding another pepper or two and only seeding - not removing the ribs would have probably been enough.