Well I’ve finally gotten my head out of the show-biz clouds and I’m back to the ol’ bump and grind.  My TV pilot is in editing now and there’s nothing for me to do except sit and wait.  It’s killing me to be idle, but I know the editing team is working their magic on the more than 24 hours of film we shot for a 23 minute episode.  Isn’t that crazy?!  That’s a helluva lot of footage. I know it’s going to be great.

So I’m back at work (oh yeah, still have that day job) and making time for all the fun things I enjoy: hitting the farmers markets a few days a week, taking care of my vegetable garden, and doing some road biking in the early mornings.  I suffered a running injury over Fourth of July weekend, so I made the plunge on a spiffy new Specialized.  I love the wind on my face and being able to cover such great distances in a short amount of time.  I’m seeing more of my neighborhood (the whole city, actually) than I could ever see before on foot.

And I’m spending more time with friends than ever.  With school behind me and the pilot wrapped up, I’m loving leisurely dinners at some of my favorite spots in the Bay Area.  I had a fabulous dinner with two of my closest girlfriends earlier this week at Farina in the Mission.  It was a farewell meal for my friend Richa, who is off to trek in Nepal for a month.  She is a brave, adventurous girl with a big heart and a strong spirit; We were missing her before the meal even ended.  We had tender house-made pasta and a bottle of spectacular red wine, Occhipinti SP68, which is bottled by the beautiful 28-year-old Sicilian winemaker, Ariana Occhipinti.  (Here’s her website, if you happen to read Italian.) The woman herself will be at Farina next Tuesday for a special wine dinner in Celebration of SF Natural Wine Week and I’ve already made a reservation.  Come join if you’re in the Bay Area!

And of course I’m cooking and baking a lot.  I’ve been having squash with almost every meal because I seem to have planted the world’s most prolific squash plant this year.  (And squash is a pretty prolific crop to begin with, as you may know already if you’ve ever grown one.)  And I’m baking a lot, mostly cobblers and pies because I buy too much fruit at the farmer’s markets and I hate throwing it away.

Which leads me to the Best Fruit Cobbler Ever recipe and the story of Berk.  Berk is a colleague of mine, a Turkish-born software engineer who knows his sweets — he always brings delicious little candies and desserts back from Turkey when he goes home to visit his parents.  And when his mother comes to visit him here, she bakes decadent homemade goods that Berk brings in to share with all of us.  But Berk is also a man of few words.  And that is why, after I brought this cobbler into the office a few weeks ago, it seemed notable that Berk stopped me in the hallway to tell me it was the best fruit cobbler he had ever had.

The BEST.  Ever.

Those were his words.

Try it for yourself and let me know if you agree.

Filling

8 cups pitted and sliced stone fruit*
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
grated zest and juice of one lemon

Crust
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup buttermilk, room temperature

To prepare the filling, combine the sugar, flour, and lemon zest in a small bowl.  Whisk to combine.  Place the sliced fruit into a large bowl and toss with the lemon juice.  Sift the flour mixture over the fruit and stir gently with a wooden spoon until no white flour remains.

Grease an 11 by 9 by 3 inch baking dish with cooking spray.  Pour fruit filling into dish and set aside.

To prepare the crust, mix together the flour, 1/4 of the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.  Whisk to combine thoroughly.

Combine the buttermilk and melted butter in a separate bowl and whisk to combine.

Slow add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and stir to form a soft dough.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 20 minutes or until the dough is firm enough to roll.

While the dough chills, preheat the oven to 375F.

With lightly floured hands turn the dough onto a clean, lightly floured work surface and roll into a 12- to 14-inch round, about 1/4 inch thick.

Using a sharp knife and a ruler or straight edge, cut strips of dough and arrange them over the cobbler in an alternating basket-weave pattern, leaving 1-inch gaps for steam to escape. Trim any long ends even  with the edge of the baking dish.

Brush the strips with egg wash (I egg beaten lightly with 1 tablespoon water), sprinkle with turbinado sugar, bake for 40 to 45 mins until fruit is bubbly and the top is golden brown.

*Peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots, blueberries, or any combination of the above work great.  You can peel the fruit if you wish by dunking it in simmering water and removing it with a slotted spoon after 60-90 seconds.  The skins should just peel off once the fruit is cooled.  Note that apricot skin is so delicate, there’s really no need to bother.  And if you’re using blueberries (as I did in the photo) they just go in whole.

Did your mom ever pack those Jell-O Pudding Cups in your lunch box when you were a kid?  And wasn’t there something irresistible about plunging a plastic spoon down into that rich, creamy pudding and taking a big, sugary bite?  Well, here’s a more grown-up version of the classic pudding cup, less sweet and far more sophisticated: Layers of pound cake, fresh fruit, and vanilla custard served inside an elegant glass tumbler.  Finish with a long-handled ice cream sundae spoon (check your local kitchen supply store, such as Williams Sonoma or Sur La Table) and you’ve got a very R-rated dessert that kids will love, too.

Make the pound cake:

3 large eggs, room temperature
3 tablespoons milk, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350F and place rack in center of oven. Butter or spray with a non stick vegetable spray, a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and butter the paper.

In a medium bowl lightly whisk the eggs, milk, and vanilla extract together with a fork.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar) and mix on low speed for about 30 seconds or until blended. Add the butter and half of the egg mixture. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for about one minute to aerate and develop the cake’s structure. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Gradually add the remaining egg mixture, in 2 additions, beating about 30 seconds after each addition to incorporate the egg and strengthen the cake’s structure.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Bake for about 55 to 65 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If you find the cake browning too much as it bakes, cover with a piece of lightly buttered aluminum foil after about 30 minutes.

Remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and cool completely on a lightly buttered wire rack.

Make the vanilla custard:

4 large eggs
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons cornstarch
4 cups half-and-half
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp of salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons butter

In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and cornstarch, whisking until the cornstarch is completely absorbed. Whisk in 1/4 cup of the half-and-half

In a medium saucepan, combine the remaining half-and-half, sugar and salt and bring to a boil. Whisk 1/4 cup of the hot half-and-half mixture into the eggs, then pour all of the egg mixture back into the boiling half-and-half, whisking constantly. The mixture will become very thick. Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla and butter.

Transfer to a bowl and immediately press a piece of greased plastic wrap over the top of the cream to prevent a “skin” from forming.

Prepare the fruit:

Wash and dry one pint of fresh, ripe but firm strawberries. Remove tops (reserve them for later use) and slice vertically into 1/4 inch-thick slices. Rinse and dry 1 pint of fresh blueberries.

Prepare the pudding cups:

Cut one 1/2-inch thick slice of pound cake.  Using the bottom of a glass tumbler (drinking glass) as a guide, trace a round of pound cake to fit snugly into the bottom of the cup.  Set the glass aside and cut the pound cake circle with a paring knife, then fit it into the bottom of the cup.  Top with a spoonfull of the custard, just enough to give the strawberry slices something to sink into.  Place strawberry slices into the custard, thick ends down and sliced faces pressed flat against the interior walls of the cup (they will look like upside-down triangles from the outside of the cup.) Depending upon the size of the cup, you will need 4 to 6 strawberry slices each.  Spoon more custard into the cup, being careful not to disturb the arranged strawberry slices.  Use a spoon to gently press the custard into the base and out to the edge of the glass.  Add enough custard come almost to the top of the glass, leaving about 1/4 inch at the top.  Arrange fresh blueberries over the top, and top with a reserved strawberry top.

Makes 8-12 pudding cups, depending upon the size of tumbler used.

But what I really love is blueberry pie.  Blueberries don’t grow here; they’re an East Coast treat.  And as far as I can tell, East Coasters take them for granted the same way we take for granted our blackberries, always trying to hack them back and keep them out of their yards.  What a shame!

Luckily, you can buy blueberries at the grocery store, and this time of year they’re so sweet and fresh, they almost taste like you picked them yourself.  They’re lovely on their own, of course, but I think homemade pie is where they really belong.  There’s just something about a flaky, buttery crust, a bit of sugar and a  squeeze of fresh lemon juice that puts them at their best.

RECIPE:

My recipe for blueberry pie is the same recipe I use for most fruit pies: 4 cups berries or sliced fresh fruit, 1/2 cup of sugar (more or less depending upon the ripeness and natural sugar content of the fruit), 3 tablespoons of corn starch, and the juice and zest of one lemon.  This recipe works well with blackberries, blueberries, peaches, apricots, and nectarines, or any combination of those.  If you’re using stone fruit, don’t forget to remove the skin before slicing.

Start with one recipe for pie crust. Then make the filling: Whisk together the sugar and cornstarch, stir gently into the berries or sliced fruit, and add the zest and juice to the fruit/sugar mixture.  Stir until all of the sugar mixture is moistened by the lemon juice.  Press the bottom crust into a pie plate, pour the fruit mixture into the crust, and cover with a lattice or plain top crust.  Brush with egg wash (one egg beaten gently with 1 tablespoon of water) and bake for about 45 minutes at 375 F, or until the top is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling.

I made blueberry pie last weekend and photographed it for you, of course.

Oh — and then the exciting news!  I made another pie a few days later and filmed the whole thing (well, I didn’t film it, my friend Olivier did)  including a demonstration of how to make the lattice pattern with the top crust.  The video–the first in a series for my blog–will be posted soon.   Stay tuned for that.