Mixed Berry 'Bubbly' Pies for #BakingBloggers

I love being part of this group, Baking Bloggers.  Sue of Palatable Pastimes is our hostess and we all vote every month on upcoming themes.   Which is fun. This month is no exception. 

I've visited my culinary heritage with a couple of the recipes, I've stretched my baking knowledge, and have just plain had fun playing with food.

And...

If I can't have fun in the kitchen, I don't want to play.

All that being said, this month we're Baking with Summer Berries. 

Coincidentally, I've also been re-reading my Dragon Riders of Pern series again, and while reading about Piemur, an apprentice in the Harper Hall, and his finagling of 'Bubbly Pies', I decided to try my hand at what I imagine a Bubbly Pie might taste like on Pern.

They're described as a hand pie with a berry filling which tastes amazing, straight out of the oven, and if Piermur can get one that fresh, he loves biting into it and burning his mouth a little on the filling.  And as he describes it, after biting into the pie, the filling should burst out and drip onto the hands and the face. And it has to be small enough to be able to fit the whole thing into his mouth. 

Well gee...
The wild blackberries are ripe now and I've been picking and freezing them, handful by scant handful, and I had a few blueberries in the freezer as well, so I combined the two. There is just something soul-satisfying about foraging and using what you foraged in a recipe.
  I would have gotten some raspberries as well. but didn't want to take out a second mortgage.
In our neck of the woods, they're just a tad on the pricey side.
Both blackberries and blueberries are summer berries.

I used my Tarteletter shell recipe, for two reasons.   One, it's such an easy and forgiving and stretchable pastry, and two, I liked the slight tang of the cream cheese in it, which I thought complimented the berries.  And the lemon zest I added to the dough helped as well.

Since both the berries I used were frozen, I kept them in that state until I was ready to build my hand pies.

Bubbly Pies

Yield: 16-20 mini pies

Author: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking

prep time: 10 Mcook time: 30 Mtotal time: 40 M

These are great straight out of the oven, or with a dollop of ice cream on top or whipped or just because.

ingredients:

Filling

•  2 cups frozen blackberries
• 2 cups frozen blueberries
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2-3/4 cup sugar

Crust

• 4 oz. Cream Cheese
• 4 oz. Butter
• 2 cups AP flour
• 1/2 tsp. lemon zest
• 1-2 tablespoons ice water

instructions:

How to cook Bubbly Pies

1. Mix the sugar, cornstarch together and then add to the frozen berries. Let sit for at least a half hour to let the berries start to thaw a little. Mix together until evenly combined.
2. In the bowl of a food processor, mix the cream cheese and butter into the flour and lemon zest until evenly combined. Turn out onto the counter and form into a ball. If it does not come together add 1 tablespoon of ice water and try again. Add more water as needed. Form into two flat disks and place in fridge for at least 1 hour to cool down.
3. When ready to bake, turn oven to 375-400 degrees and remove the dough from the fridge. Roll out into a thin sheet. Cut out rounds for either individual tarts or freeform tarts. Place the dough into the pan or tart pans, and then add the fruit mixture, mounding it up slightly. Add another round of pie dough on top. You can either crimp the edges together or float a slightly small disk of dough on top.
4. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the crust is brown and the filling is bubbling out.

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Baking Bloggers

Baking with Summer Berries

• Bora Berry Tart by Sneha's Recipe
• Lattice Top Blackberry Pie by Palatable Pastime
• Brownie Berry Dessert Pizza by Simply Inspired Meals
• Make-Ahead Mixed Berries Baked Oatmeal by Hardly A Goddess
• Mini Fruit-topped Pavlovas by Food Lust People Love
• Mixed Berry Bubbly Pies by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Mixed Berry Cheese Danish by Cookaholic Wife
• No Churn Roasted Strawberry Ice Cream by Caroline's Cooking
• Roasted Blackberry-Cherry Tomato Chutney On Venison Medallions by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Strawberry Crisp with Pepita & Chia Seed Topping by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Strawberry Shortcake Bars by A Day in the Life on the Farm

First Monday Favorites - June 2019 - 31

It's time for First Monday Favorites again.

Here is where you share your favorite recipe from last month, the one recipe you made that you'll make time and time again.

I had a couple of contenders this month for my favorite recipe.

I made some Øllebrød

Apparently this is a staple or was a staple in many homes in Denmark, although I'd never had it until I made it for a Soup Saturday Swappers event.

All I can say is this, where has it been all my life. And why oh why did my mother never make it?

At any rate this is my favorite recipe from last month.  I'll be making this again soon. 

Stop on by and link up your favorite recipe from last month.  Not the one with the most views but your own personal favorite, the one you'll make time and time again.  

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Dolmades

I've been meaning to post this for over a week now, but life keeps tripping me. 

I'm really getting tired of the skinned knees, I tell you.

I've told you about my friend Harriet who passed away last month.  I wrote a little tribute to her here, and showed a few pictures of some of the food she made and shared with us over the years.

Well last week we had our Community Potluck which she instigated and we turned it into a mini-memorial for her. 
I wanted to make something special as a bit of a tribute to her.  She loved Greek food, so it was an easy decision to make these Dolmades.

Luckily for me, a few years ago another friend had showed me how to make Stuffed Grape Leaves, so I knew how to roll these up.  

Here's a few pictures of the process, and believe you me it is a process.

I had to grind my own lamb, even.
Cutting the meat from the bones, I did not discard the fat.

 The lamb, ready for the grinder. 

 After being ground up, I also ground the onion up at the end, which had the added benefit of pushing the remainder of the lamb through the grinder.

The lanb, ground beef and onion in the bowl.

 After adding the par-cooked rice

I spared you the shot of me using my gloved hand and mixing the ingredients together.  By mixing them by hand, I could get a feel for the meat.  I also did take a small ball of meat and cooked it to taste for seasonings.  Even though the rice was still a touch crunchy.

The plate I portioned the meat mixture out on.  Doing this, helped me to not only keep the dolmades consistent in size, but also helped me to get them rolled quickly.

After separating and rinsing the grape leaves.  I removed all the torn leaves and set them aside.

The rolling process.  Setting the meat on the grape leaf, with the veins on the inside.  Always do it smooth side out.

The first part of rolling the dolmade

The sides are tucked in.

And then it's just a case of rolling them up neatly.  You want them firmly rolled but not too tight as the rice needs room to expand as it cooks.

After all the dolmades were rolled. 

tucked firmly into the pot.

 An additional layer of grape leaves spread over the top, ( I did have extras)

Because I didn't want a disaster, I not only placed a plate on top of the grape leaves, but also put a bowl containing some water on top of the plate.  This kept the dolmades submerged. 

After removing them from the cooked broth, I placed them into a serving dish and brought them to the potluck.   I served them alongside some Avogolemono Sauce and some Tzatziki Sauce.

Dolmades

Yield: 15-20 for appetizers or 6-8 for dinner

Author: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking

prep time: 1 hourcook time: 2 hourtotal time: 3 H

Dolmades are a fun appetizer to not only make and eat but also to serve.

ingredients:

• 1 lb. Ground Lamb
• 12 oz. Lean Ground Beef
• 1/2 cup par-cooked long grain rice
• 1 small onion, ground or finely minced
• 1 tsp. dried mint
• 1/2 tsp. dried dill
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground pepper
• 1 jar (16 oz. Grape Leaves)- at least 60 leaves
• 1 lemon - juiced or
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 2+ cups  chicken broth or plain water
• 1 whole head of garlic - peeled

Avogolemono Sauce

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1 cup liquid (use the cooking liquid from the dolmades

instructions:

How to cook Dolmades

1. Remove the grape leaves from the bottle and separate them.  Rinse in cool water and drain in a colander.  I found it was easiest to submerge them in a bowl of cool water and gently tease the leaves apart, then spread them out in layers in a colander.   Remove any stems.   Place any extra large or damaged leaves to the side.  You'll use these to place on the bottom of the pot you cook the dolmades in. 
2. Par-cook the rice in a half cup of water in the microwave for 2-3 minutes.  The rice will absorb the water.  Set aside and let cool or spread the rice out on a plate to hasten the cooling process. 
3. Place the meat, onion,  rice and seasonings into a bowl. Using a gloved hand, mix well. 
4. As soon as the meat mixture is mixed together, you are ready to roll the dolmades. 
5. I found it easiest to portion out the meat using a small ice cream scoop.  Each scoop was about a tablespoon.
6. On a cutting board or other clean surface, spread a grape leaf out, smooth side down.  Place a tablespoon of the meat mixture on the leaf, the side with the veins. Form into a small cigar shape.   Starting at the stem end, form the meat into a small cigar shape, then roll the leaf up from the stem end, tucking in the leaf on each side.  Continue to roll it up firmly but not too tightly.  The rice will expand as they cook, and you don't want any escapees.   Place the rolled up dolmade onto a cookie sheet or other flat surface, seam side down. 
7. Continue to roll up each Dolmade until you either run out of meat or grape leaves. 
8. Layer the bottom of the pot you're cooking the dolmades in with the reserved grape leaves. 
9. When finished with the entire recipe, place all the dolmades into a large pot, layered them neatly but tucked together firmly,  on top of the reserved grape leaves.  Add enough broth or water to just cover the dolmades.  Add the lemon juice and the garlic cloves.   Place a smaller plate on top to keep the dolmades from floating as they cook.  Bring the pot to a boil, then turn the heat down to just simmer and let cook for 1 1/2-2 hours.  Checking to make sure that the broth hasn't cooked away, from time to time.  If the liquid has reduced too much, add a little more water.  The grape leaves at the bottom of the pot will help to keep them from scorching.
10. When done, remove the dolmades and serve with an Avogolemono Sauce.

Avogolemono Sauce

1. Whisk together the eggs and lemon juice. 
2. Place in a pot, and add a little of the hot broth from the cooked Dolmades, whisk together and add more of the broth until it's tempered.  Turn on the heat and cook together for 10 minutes or until it has thickened

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Øllebrød (Danish Rye Porridge) for Soup Saturday Swappers

I bet you didn't think I'd make another soup from my Danish background?
Well, tough, I did.  Technically, this is a soup.

Well, maybe a cross between a soup and a porridge.

Literally translated, it means beer bread.  

And I can't honestly say I grew up with it, cause when we had good ryebread in our house, we ate every crumb, stale or not.

Trust me, we did.

BTW, it's time for our Soup Saturday event.  This month we were tasked to make a soup using a craft beer.  And while I had fond memories of the Beer Cheese soup we used to get at a now defunct restaurant in Dallas, I really didn't want to try my hand at recreating it.
Kathy of  A Spoonful of Thyme is our hostess this month, and it was her idea for us to share Soups made with Craft Beer.

So I went to my Danish roots.  And decided to make some Øllebrød.  As I said in the beginning, this is kinda a cross between a soup and a porridge.  

However, in days past, or times of yore, this was a way of using up the end pieces or the last of the loaf of rye-bread.  Back then it was a waste not, want not, way of life and this was often served as a breakfast.  Although it could accompany all three meals of the day, or just replace an evening meal. 
I think it was also an inexpensive way to fill up a little before the main meal.  

In Denmark this is usually made with a beer called a Hvidtøl (White Beer) , which is a seasonal beer, showing up in December. Usually it's very light in alcohol, only about 2 % or so.  It's also a dark malty beer with a hint of sweetness.

Obviously I don't have access to it here, and while I was going to use a local dark beer I absolutely love, I didn't really want to purchase a half gallon.
I love my beer, but that was a bit much when I only needed about a regular size bottle of it.
Not that I wouldn't have enjoyed the rest of the beer, but I had plans for the next couple of days. And Hooter Brown is pretty strong.

And now that I know that they sell it, I'll plan to get some, when I have time to drink it.

In the meantime, I drew upon my scant knowledge, OK, so I have a decent knowledge of some of the dark beers available to me here, and decided to use a bottle of Negro Modelo beer.  Not quite a craft beer, but close enough.

You serve this topped with some whipped cream, or a drizzle of heavy cream or whipped yoghurt or Aeggesnaps.

Rye bread slices soaking. 

Slices broken up a little and simmering in the beer and water.  I make my bread with a lot of seeds.

My first bowl, which had the seeds strained out.  I just topped mine with some lightly sweetened whipped cream and a touch of grated lemon zest. 

After eating half the bowl, I decided to top it off with some of the soup that hadn't been strained, plus of course more whipped cream

after which I ate the whole thing. 

 What can I say, it was totally delicious and filling. 

Øllebrød

Yield: 4 servings

Author: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking

prep time: 45 Mcook time: 30 Mtotal time: 75 M

This soup/porridge is traditionally served for breakfast, but it can also be served for dinner or even a late night hangover.

ingredients:

• 1/2 loaf Dark Danish style rye bread, cut in slices or chunked
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 bottle Negra Modelo Beer (about 2 cups)
• 1/2 cup sugar (less if you don't want it as sweet)
• Juice and zest from one lemon

instructions:

How to cook Øllebrød

1. Soak bread overnight in the water, or for several hours. You can also do a shortcut here, place the bread in warm water, on low, very low heat on the stove for about 30 minutes.
2. Break up the bread in the water and add the beer. Simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the sugar and stir, then add the lemon juice and 3/4 of the lemon zest. Let come to a boil, then turn off the heat and let sit for a couple of minutes. (If using a seeded rye bread, you can put it through a sieve and strain out the seeds if desired.) Use an immersion blender and blend the soup together. Top with a little lightly whipped cream and sprinkle with some lemon zest to serve.

All recipes and their respective images are either original or adapted and credited, and are all the sole property of Sid's Sea Palm Cooking © 2011-2020, with all rights reserved thereof.

This recipe and many more Danish Recipes are in my cookbook Hygge- Danish Food and Recipes Dansk Mad og Opskrifter til et Hyggeligt Hjemme, available on Amazon. Also available as an ebook.

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• Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm: Fasolada
• Karen of Karen's Kitchen Stories: Pressure Cooker Beef and Beer Soup
• Sue of Palatable Pastime: Ale Onion Soup
• Sid of Sid’s Sea Palm Cooking: Øllebrød (Danish Rye Porridge)
• Sneha of Sneha’s Recipe: Veg Chessy Beer Soup For Two
• Kathy of A Spoonful of Thyme: Ale and Cheddar Soup
• Cindy of Cindy’s Recipes and Writings: Boozy Potato Soup

Sole wrapped in Grape Leaves for #Fishfridayfoodies

It's that time.
For great Fish or Seafood recipes that is.

Sneha of Sneha's Recipe is our hostess this month and the theme she came up with was to Fry or Bake Fish or Seafood in Leaves.

My mind immediately flew to baking something on a banana leaf, but then I remembered that all our banana's went bye bye after Hurricane Michael.

Then my mind went blank.  I couldn't think of any leaves, other than lettuce or cabbage.
Sometimes.
But then I got one of those pokes, I was making Dolmathes or Dolmades, if you wish for a potluck and since you use Grape Leaves, I thought they would be perfect. 

 I unwrapped the fish, cause I could, so there.

So I did, use Grape Leaves that is and paired it with a Avogolemono sauce.
Which might just be my new favorite sauce.

Sole wrapped in Grape Leaves

Yield: 2 servings for a meal or 6-8 servings as an appetizer

Author: Sid's Sea Palm Cooking

prep time: 5 Mcook time: 10 Mtotal time: 15 M

This is a fun way to make fresh or frozen Sole. You can make it into appetizers or into a light meal.

ingredients:

Grape leaf wrapped Sole

• 1 lb. Fresh or Frozen Sole Filets, cut into tidbits if desired or cut into 8 pieces which will fit into a grape leaf.
• 1/2 lemon sliced thin
• 8 large grape leaves
• Butter
• Olive Oil
• Cavender's Greek Seasoning

Avogolemono Sauce

• 1 egg
• Juice from 1/2 lemon
• 1/2-3/4 cup chicken broth or fish stock

instructions:

How to cook Sole wrapped in Grape Leaves

Fish

1. Cut the fish into 8 pieces, small enough to fit into a folded over grape leaf, if being wrapped. Sprinkle with the Cavender's Greek Seasoning.
2. Heat the butter and olive oil over low heat until the butter is melted. Place the grape leaf wrapped sole into the pan and place the lemon slices on top. Cover and let cook for about 5 minutes or until the fish is cooked through.  Remove from heat but keep warm if sauce is not quite ready.

Sauce

1. While the fish is cooking, prepare the Avogolemono sauce.
2. Whisk the egg together with the lemon juice. Heat the stock and then temper the egg with a little hot stock, adding the egg/lemon mixture back into hot stock, whisking constantly until it thickens. This takes about 5-8 minutes. Just long enough for the fish to cook.
3. Serve the fish on top of the Avogolemono sauce. You can make a simple couscous to go with this as well if desired.

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In other words, it's Fish Friday Foodies Time!

For Fish Friday this  month our host  is Sneha and the theme is
Fry/Bake Fish Or Seafood In Leaves

Cod in Lettuce Leaves with Shallot, Lemon, and Dill Sauce From Karen's Kitchen Stories
Seafood Stuffed Cabbage Rolls From A Day in the Life on the Farm
Sole wrapped in Grape Leaves, Greek style From Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
Wrapped Fish In Harissa Paste From Sneha's Recipe 
Steamed Fish, Tuvalu-Style From Culinary Adventures

Would you like to join Fish Friday Foodies? We post and share new seafood/fish recipes on the third Friday of the month. To join our group please email Wendy at wendyklik1517@gmail.com. Visit our Facebook page and Pinterest page for more wonderful fish and seafood recipe ideas.