Day 22: Blackberry Grunt
A grunt is a dessert from New England. The name grunt supposedly comes from the sound it makes when the fruit filling bubbles up through the crust while baking. Similar to a cobbler, it’s basically biscuit dough put on top of a fruit filling. Here we have a fruit filling of water, blackberries, ginger and sugar. The crust is good old southern buttermilk biscuit dough just placed on top of the filling and then baked in the oven. Traditionally these are made entirely on the stove, but I didn’t feel like taking up the range with this.
Day 3: Pineapple Upside-Down Cake topped with Pineapple Slices, Maraschino Cherries, and Pecans
Today’s dish is a varient of a classic piece of Americana. This cake was baked in a 12-inch cast iron skillet, which allowed for a dark brown sugar/butter mixture to be dissolved in it before adding the mandatory pineapple slices/maraschino cherries and pouring the batter on top. The heat from the oven will cause this mixture to harden into the topping. This topping is a hop, skip, and jump away from actual candy, eliminating the need for any type of frosting. It also tastes sublime.
The cake itself is simple flour, eggs, sugar, baking powder, and salt base with the addition of pineapple juice for flavor and sweetness. The batter was not creamed fully as in a normal cake, but rather combined until it incorporated like a muffin. This creates more air pockets and a coarser texture then a normal cake. It also incorporates much less sugar then a usual cake due to the incorporation of pineapple juice and a desire for a less sweet and tender bottom to compliment the sweet topping.
Yes, the cherries are those kinds from a jar that you put in cocktails. But for this recipe it doesn’t feel the same with anything else.
Day 2: Green Bean Casserole and Green Peppers stuffed with.Ricotta, Spinach, and Prosciutto.
Casserole features shiitake, oyster, and baby portobello mushrooms with roasted onions and a cream sauce consisting primarily of chicken broth, butter and half and half. Green peppers are filled with the stuffing from the previous day’s dish and cooked in chicken broth with a covering of parmesan-reggiano cheese.
Disappointed in how the picture turned out. Need to figure out a lighting solution as flash on camera is too bright.
