Fruit Crisp: Lost Cause or Ripe for Perfection?

Last night I attempted to make a fresh fruit crisp with peaches and blueberries. Most crisp recipes are generally the same - they involve brown sugar, cinnamon, butter, oats and a little lemon juice - and this was no exception. Because it's summer and I don't want to heat up my whole house, I baked in my little toaster over at 450 until the top was brown and the peaches were soft. Thinking I'd finally made a good crisp, I dug in... only to find a half inch of liquid at the bottom of my dish. Absolute disappointment.

This is not the first time this has happened, and I know I'm not the only one it's happened to but... WHY?? I've set out to find the answer, preferably before I go apple picking this weekend an have a bounty of apples to make crisps. Is this a lost cause - should I switch to a more involved cobbler - or is the art of making a crisp ripe for perfection?

All suggestions on the matter are welcome... So far I have had two suggested possibilities: one being not enough butter, the other being a need for cornstarch. Thoughts?

Link to Serious Eats post

Cooking with Mayo

Yes, I tried something new last night on a whim: I used mayonnaise like I've never used it before. It was late and after a day of yard work, my husband and I were hungry - and I hadn't even thought about what to fix for dinner. Looking in the fridge, I discovered I had a drawer full of veggies but no protein to speak of... what to do, what to do? Determined to use only what I had available to me, I threw some frozen cheese tortellini (easy protein and starch in one) in a pot of boiling water and started chopping asparagus and yellow squash. But how would I tie these things together with no sauce to speak of? With mayo? Yes, with mayo!

In my experience, mayonnaise is only used in cold summer salads, sandwiches, and maybe to coat some chicken before dredging it in something. However recently my husband and I tried a Food and Wine Magazine recipe for smoky glazed asparagus - asparagus, in a mayonnaise-based marinade, grilled to perfection. The marinade consisted of mayo, smoked paprika, lemon juice, olive oil, cumin, garlic and some kosher salt and I had just enough leftover to taunt me. After some contemplation and another look through the fridge for something (anything) else I could use, I grabbed the marinade and a lemon from the veggie drawer and decided to go for it. After all, I figured, the mayo is just an emulsified form of most ingredients I would use in a saute - oil, vinegar, seasoning, egg...? Okay, maybe not but it's worth a shot.

The marinade itself was a little thick so I added the juice of one lemon and whisked it together, which gave it a zesty, smoky flavor that was great on a hot day like yesterday. After sauteing the vegetables in a little olive oil, I added the pasta to the skillet to brown it a little before adding my sauce. Once browned, I incorporated the sauce and cooked it down for a couple of minutes before tossing it with some fresh Parmesan. A quick taste told me this was something different but good. But the real verdict wouldn't come in until my skeptical (but hungry) husband tried my experiment.

We paired the pasta with a Pirovano pinot grigio and dug in. The smoky lemon flavor complemented the cheesy richness of the tortellini, and the sauce itself coated the tender vegetables with flavor. The tanginess of the mayonnaise and added lemon made it a true summer meal. The official verdict: a tasty dinner that left us wanting more! Next time, I won't be so hard on the mayo and maybe, just maybe, I'll use it in something other than tuna salad.

What are you craving?

When I saw this post on Slashfood, I couldn't wait to post about it on Live to Eat. While I'm a big fan of Allrecipes.com because of the ability to search for recipes by multiple ingredients, Cookthink offers a whole new spin on the recipe search. The new "what are you craving?" tool allows you to search not just by what ingredients you want to use, but also according to what you're craving based on the ingredient, dish, cuisine and mood - could it be any more prefect for a pregnant woman?

I thought I'd give this a test drive since I've been thinking about how to prepare that whole fryer I have thawing for dinner tonight. I did a quick search for a chicken dish prepared on the grill that's "mind-boggling." So what did Cookthink have in mind? Well there were a lot of results to choose from but some of my delicious options included:

Yogurt-Mint Chicken
Spicy Grilled Whole Chicken
Red Curry Chicken Breasts
Roast Chicken with Sweet Plum Sauce

My only disappointment is that not all of my results were for "grilled" chicken (though I'm sure all of the recipes meet the "mind-boggling" requisite). Some were sauteed, while others were pan-seared, etc. But all in all, the recipes look delicious and have me craving some juicy chicken - this might just be my new favorite kitchen tool!

A Weekend in the Virginia Countryside

My husband and I recently spent a weekend in the Shenandoah Valley, just an hour away from our home in Vienna. It was a perfect weekend getaway - the weather was amazing and it was a short drive that resulted in a beautiful change of scenery and some time to relax. The easy drive was especially nice given the price of gas these days and it enabled us to spend a little more on the food!

Along the way, we stopped for lunch in Leesburg. We decided to try The Lightfoot Restaurant and were pleasantly surprised to find that they not only have beautiful indoor dining

but also a quiet patio for outdoor dining. With the nice weather, we opted to sit outside, despite the awesome interior. Many items seemed to have a subtle Asian influence but for the most part the menu offered traditional American-style dishes. Everything on it looked exciting and as it turns out, the food was delicious.

We started with fried green tomatoes topped with jalapeño cheddar cheese, sautéed shrimp and a Szechwan chili cream. Following the appetizers, I had the Chinatown Salad- loaded with fresh veggies, chicken and crispy Chinese noodles, it was the perfect summertime lunch. My husband indulged a little more (I'll admit, I was a bit jealous) and had the BLT&C sandwich - smoked bacon, lettuce, tomato and provolone cheese. So simple yet I couldn't have made it better in my own kitchen. Other entrees that were hard to resist include a Chesapeake crab and ham Reuben sandwich, a meatloaf sandwich with red Thai curry mayo and crisp onions, and a grilled cheese of the day. I'm looking forward to my next stop in Leesburg!

After another pit stop (this time at the Tastee Freeze in Berryville), we checked in at the french country inn, Villa la Campagnette, in White Post, VA before heading off to its sister (and original) inn, L'Auberge Provencale, for dinner. A visit to the inn and restaurant has often been compared to a visit to Provence in France. I haven't been to Provence but I already like White Post, VA better because I don't have to actually travel to France to enjoy the beauty - what could be better than that?

In addition to the amazing view of the Shenandoah Valley, L'Auberge is also a four-diamond award-winning restaurant (note: jackets are required for men... something unbeknownst to us until we got there). Not only is much of the food locally grown in Virginia, but many of the herbs and vegetables on one's plate can actually be found growing less than 20 yards from the inn. Talk about fresh. The dinner was a prix fixe meal and though pricey, we did not leave unsatisfied. The food was perfect and was truly a special treat that will from henceforth be reserved only for very special occasions (read: we can't afford to go more than once every five years).

The most pleasant surprise of the weekend, however, was the breakfast we awoke to at the Villa. After our decadent meal the night before, I wasn't sure I could actually fit more food into my stomach but alas, I managed. Also prepared at the L'Auberge restaurant, we were served this elegant meal poolside amidst beautiful gardens. The meal included quail sausage, an "eggroll" omelet with fresh vegetables inside, tender potatoes, cafe aulait, fresh squeezed orange juice and a variety of breads with the best raspberry jam I've ever had. (Seriously, I could have eaten this jam right out of the jar - I suspect it was also a local product.) We left the inn at noon and didn't eat again until the evening.

All in all, we had a wonderful stay in the Shenandoah Valley despite the fact that I couldn't drink copious amounts of Virginia (or French) wine while sitting on the front porch of L'Auberge or near the pool at the Villa. I certainly won't forget the food and from now on, I will be driving less so I can save my pennies for another visit to the countryside!