Fresh Blueberry Pie

3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cold water
5 cups fresh blueberries, divided
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 pastry shell (9 inches), baked

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, cornstarch, salt and water until smooth. Add 3 cups blueberries. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened and bubbly.
Remove from the heat. Add butter, lemon juice and remaining berries; stir until butter is melted. Cool. Pour into pastry shell. Refrigerate until serving. Yield: 8 servings.

NOTES:

• Recommended by Like Mother Like Daughter and from Taste of Home.
• I made the recipe as is and really liked it!
• Using a frozen crust made this a super easy dessert.
• Having uncooked berries really makes a difference!  It's pretty delicious.

Sour Cream Cucumber Salad

1/2 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
Pepper to taste
4 medium cucumbers, peeled if desired and thinly sliced
1 small sweet onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings

In a large bowl, whisk sour cream, vinegar, sugar and pepper until blended. Add cucumbers and onion; toss to coat. Refrigerate, covered, at least 4 hours. Serve with a slotted spoon. Yield: 8 servings.

NOTES:

• Delicious and I always have the ingredients on hand.
• It's very easy to adjust the amount.  (Hello, single cucumber!)
• Much better with some dill weed, obviously.
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Key Lime Pie

from The Gourmet Cookbook

1¼ c graham cracker crumbs (from nine crackers)
2 T sugar
5 T unsalted butter, melted
1 (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk
4 large egg yolks
6 T fresh or bottled key lime juice (I used 8.)
¾ c cold heavy cream

Put a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350°. Butter a 9-in pie plate.

Stir together cracker crumbs, butter and sugar with a fork until well combined. Press evenly into pie plate and bake for 10 minutes.

Whisk together condensed milk and yolks until well combined. Add juice and whisk well. Pour filling into crust, bake for 15 minutes. Cool completely on rack, then chill for at least 8 hours.

Just before serving, beat the cream until it just holds stiff peaks. Spread cream on top of pie.

Blueberry Coffee Cake Recipe

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• 200 grams (1 2/3 cups) flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• a good pinch salt
• 115 grams (1/2 cup or 1 stick) butter, diced, at room temperature
• 200 grams (1 cup) white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 240ml (1 cup) plain yogurt or fromage blanc or sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 500 grams (3 cups) blueberries, fresh or frozen (no need to thaw)
• 40 grams (1/4 cup) brown sugar

Preheat your oven to 180°C (360°F). Grease a 22-cm (9-inch) cake pan, preferably nonstick with a removable bottom.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a food processor, mix together the butter and white sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Add the yogurt and vanilla, and mix again. Add the flour mixture, and mix again until just combined.

Pour half of the cake batter in the cake pan. Pour half the blueberries over the surface. Cover with the rest of the batter, top with the remaining blueberries, and sprinkle evenly with the brown sugar.
Bake for 1 hour, until the top is golden brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a rack, let stand in the pan for 10 minutes, then unclasp the sides of the pan and let cool completely before serving.

Best Zucchini Bread

 The zucchini bread recipe in the red Cook's Illustrated book is simply the best.  This one is virtually identical (the only difference is that it shreds the zucchini in the food processor instead of by hand).

Chicken D'Arduini

One of Johnny's all-time favorites, but I rarely make it because I cannot stand video recipes with no written component.  Here's the original video if that's your thing, but he finally wrote the instructions down for me.  It really is a great meal.

Chicken D’Arduini

Ingredients:

8 chicken thighs (bone-in, but skinned)8 chicken legs6 cloves garlic1/4 cup olive oil1/3 cup chopped Italian parsley1/4 cup chopped basil1 tbl dried rosemary1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes2 oz anchovy fillets1/2 plus 1/3 cup red wine1/4 cup vinegar1 1/2 tsp salt

Slowly simmer garlic, anchovies, and olive oil on low heat until it begins to smell and anchovy begins to melt.  Add chicken to the pot and add basil, salt, red pepper flakes, rosemary, and parsley.  Add wine and vinegar, and stir to make sure all the spices are mixed.  Turn the heat to medium and put on the lid, letting it cook for 30 minutes.  Remove the lid, toss the chicken a bit, and turn the heat up to high until the liquid has reduced a bit and the chicken looks cooked.  Add mushrooms and olives.  Add the final 1/3 cup of red wine, and let simmer long enough to cook out alcohol.  Serve on pasta. 

Fresh Cherry Crisp

FOR THE CRISP TOPPING

1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup butter, melted

FOR THE FILLING

2 cups pitted cherries
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Spray four ramekins with non-stick cooking spray.
Combine oats, 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, baking powder and baking soda together in a medium bowl. Whisk together well to evenly combine.
Add brown sugar and melted butter to the flour mixture and mix well to form a clumpy dough. Set aside.
In another bowl combine pitted cherries, granulated sugar and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour. Mix well so the cherries are coated with the flour and sugar. Divide them between the four sprayed ramekins.
Cover cherries with crisp topping, dividing it evenly between the four ramekins.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, until crisp topping is golden brown.
Notes:
You can easily double this recipe and prepare in one 9"x13" baking dish.

NOTES:

• Easiest dessert ever AND quite delicious served warm with a little ice cream.
• I made it as directed except I added a few blueberries to get more fruit.
• I baked it in a 9x9 pan instead of ramekins.
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