Berry Pickin at Swanton Berry Farm

We spent a luxuriously long weekend for the 4th doing all sorts of pleasant things - eating and drinking with friends, soaking in thermal pools, walking on foggy beaches and picking berries, among other things. Halfway between Santa Cruz and San Francisco we stumbled upon Swanton Berry Farm, which I am familiar with from the local farmer's markets up here but have never had the fortune of actually visiting. We had a great afternoon with only a few tense moments (upon arriving we found a quiet little patch and set to picking, only to realize later that we were in the "no picking" zone - we stealthily tiptoed away to find a sanctioned area to resume picking). We picked 3 pounds of tayberries, olallieberries and blackberries and probably ate our way through a solid amount as we worked. In spite of getting home fairly late - I decided to throw together a quick little berry buckle, enjoying some nice wine and cheese as I baked. I based my recipe on Smitten Kitchen's Brown Butter Nectarine Buckle Recipe and tweaked it here and there. See below for what I did.

For a nice article from Saveur about Swanton farmer Jim Cochran and his delicious berries you can click here. 

Brown Butter Berry Buckle: To begin, melt one stick of butter in a pan and let brown (keep a close eye on it as it doesn't take much to go from browned to burnt). Once browned, set aside to let cool. In a medium bowl combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 3/4 tsp salt and a pinch of nutmeg. Then in a large bowl whisk together the browned butter and 1 cup sugar. Whisk in two eggs, one at a time. Stir in 2/3 cup buttermilk. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir to combine. In a separate bowl combine the juice of half a lemon, about 1/3-1/2 cup sugar and about 2 cups of berries. Grease a cast-iron skillet, line with parchment and pour the batter on in. Pour the sweetened berries on top of the batter and finally top with streusel. (I made the streusel by combining 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup each of brown and white sugar, 1/2 tsp salt and 3/4 cup chilled butter. Cut until the mixture resembles coarse meal and then mix in about a cup of oats.) Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.

As an aside - we got to enjoy an afternoon at Refuge Spa in Carmel Valley and I definitely recommend it if you are nearby. You can read about it here courtesy of Sunset Magazine. 

One last thing, in case you have never heard of a tayberry here is a little information from YumSugar. 

Piggie Pie

As I said earlier, I hang on to my food magazines for much too long. I flip through each a couple of times before I feel that I really I've gotten as much out of it as possible – only then am I ready to let go and recycle. This past weekend (while recuperating from a nasty cold), I was reading through a particularly mature copy of Saveur (circa. summer 2010), and stumbled upon an article giving a rundown of the best of the best when it comes to meat cookbooks. There were many I had expected – mentions of Lobel's Meat Bible and Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage meaty tome – but there were also some unknown (to me, at least) treasures. I was immediately drawn in by the title of the book "Pig: King of the Southern Table," but my knees started to quiver when they mentioned a dish called "Texarcana Pork and Bean Pie with Cornpone Topping." Having little to no knowledge of Southern cooking, I had no idea what this title actually meant but, I wanted it (and I thought I might be able to actually taste it in spite of my stuffy nose). Off I went!

I struck it rich, and found the recipe (and maybe even the whole cookbook . . ?) online through Google Books (very exciting).

I changed things a wee bit – just a smidgen. I didn't have lard (I don't use it often enough to keep a tub on hand, but I certainly hope to someday), so I substituted butter and browned 1 pound (perhaps a little more) of ground pork with one diced onion. Once browned, I added 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin (was out of chili powder . . . woopsy), a light sprinkling of cayenne, and salt and pepper. I added a can of pinto beans, crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce and simmered for 20 minutes. I didn't add the raisins as instructed because I often don't like sweet items in my savory foods (particularly when it comes to raisins - like in noodle kugel - although I do like them in tagines, which is, admittedly, completely contradictory).

While it was simmering away, I made the 'cornpone' topping by mixing together 1 cup cornmeal, two tablespoons flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 cup milk and 2 tablespoons melted butter (I didn't have shortening either). 

Once the pork mixture had simmered, I stirred in one can of crisp, sweet corn (I added corn instead of the raisins) and about 3/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese. I popped it all into a casserole dish and finished it by spooning the cornpone mix on top. I put the casserole in a 400 degree oven for about 40 minutes, until the cornpone topping is golden brown in color.

To add an extra bit of nutrition, I served the pie with sour cream and a little fresh cilantro. While not haute cuisine, I loved this pie and had it for leftovers atop a baked potato which was also quite tasty. Definitely good cold weather food (aka summer-in-San-Francisco food).