July 4th: Red, White & Gluten-Free

FreshTartSteph — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 13:00:29 PDT

July 2: John & I returned from Provence, France (post forthcoming, sometime in 2011, gah).

July 3: I hit the Minneapolis Farmers Market, hard. Five racks of Bar 5 ribs; Blue Gentian Farm lamb chops, sausage, and eggs; many pounds of greens, carrots, beans, herb, berries, onions, garlic scapes, potatoes, and general fabulousness.

Oh lovely summer.

July 4: The Annual Super Duper Shubert Coopster July 4th Celebration of course!

Ribs, as always. Kale salad. Green bean & tomato salad with garlic scape dressing.

I kept it ridiculously simple at the pool. Minnesota strawberries and a big ol' bowl of popcorn with butter and salt.

Suz brought this smashing trifle...

...and a special gluten-free version for me. I love my friend. I also love her daughter Vivian who took the kuchen pic up top, as well as the pic of me and of the sliced ribs below.

I took Suz's Kingfield Market Berry Bake-Off Winning Blueberry Kuchen recipe and substituted a gluten-free, almond meal crust. Delicious! You can see that I added raspberries as well as blueberries - red, white & blue and all. You could do that too. Or not. All good!

Blueberry Kuchen (Gluten-Free)
Adapted from a recipe by Susie Shubert
Serves 10

Stephanie's note: this recipe can be easily halved - bake in a 10-inch spring-form pan or removable bottom tart pan. It works nicely to line the pan with parchment paper.

1 stick butter (1/2 c.) + extra for buttering the pan
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 c. blanched almond flour (choose a finely milled variety from this excellent list at www.elanaspantry.com)
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 c. sugar, divided, plus a little more for sprinkling
6 c. blueberries, divided
1 tsp. cinnamon

Generously butter a 9x13 baking pan.

In a large saucepan, melt butter. Stir in 1/2 c. of the brown sugar and let cool to room temperature. Whisk in egg and almond extract, then stir in salt and almond flour. Press dough evenly into pan, with slightly higher edges. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 30 minutes. (Can be prepared one day ahead.)

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, stir together 2 Tbsp. cornstarch, 1 c. sugar, and cinnamon. Sprinkle half of the mixture over the crust, top with 4 c. of the blueberries, then the remaining sugar mixture. Shake the pan a little so the sugar sinks down around the berries and the berries are evenly distributed. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until the edges of the crust are deep golden brown and the berries are bubbling.

Transfer pan to a rack and distribute remaining 2 c. of blueberries evenly over the top. Sprinkle with a little sugar, let cool for 30 minutes, and serve warm with vanilla ice cream (or cool to room temperature).

Happy Independence Day!

FreshTartSteph — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 11:35:15 PDT

Oooh! Aaaah! Despite, pouring rain (the skies cleared!) followed by a power outage (returned after a couple of hours; nothing makes one appreciate electricity as much as a power outage!), we pulled off a grand ol' Independence Day Barbecue yesterday and had ourselves a blast. The kids swam, the adults chatted and noshed, and eventually we all dug into dinner.

After Suz's berry trifle for dessert (check out the before and 5-minutes-after pics below - we attacked it!), we headed en masse out onto the golf course for fireworks under a full moon. (And some serious digesting.)

I've decided that 4th of July means barbecued pork ribs. Silky, garlicky, crusty pork ribs, braised all day in the oven, then passed over the grill for a good crisp crust, slathered in barbecue sauce, and served falling off the bone. God Bless America! Mini-burgers with homemade mini buns were a hit too. We countered the richness with crunchy-sweet broccoli salad (a delicious, lighter version of the classic) and garbanzo salad studded with onions and pine nuts, tossed with fresh herbs and lemon vinaigrette.

Thanks Harry (it's so much more meaningful to celebrate Independence Day with a Brit, ha!), Stephanie, Miles, Simon, Cory, Susie, Bowen, Stacey, Cooper, and David for a fabulous day! Special thanks to Vivian for all the help, and to Sullivan for Neopolitan ice cream sandwiches and an annually memorable 4th-of-July quote:

"I love these hamburgers so much I want to marry them, but the funeral won't be long after..." – Sullivan Shubert, age 7, regarding mini-hamburgers, July 4, 2009
"They start big but end fast, like a good sneeze." - Sullivan Shubert, age 6, explaining fireworks to Cooper, July 4, 2008
“Wow, those would make Vivian feel fancy!” – Sullivan Shubert, age 4, regarding super-sparkly fireworks, July 4, 2006

Fresh Tart

July 4th: Red, White & Gluten-Free

Happy Independence Day!