Blueberry-Strawberry Pound Cake and Mulberry Blueberry Coconuty Crumble Muffins

Today is the first day of summer! And, berries are in season! I highly encourage you to go berry picking at a local farm in your area. Berries are very rewarding to pick, a good work-out (all that bending and picking), and a fun great activity to do with friends and family! Plus, it tastes so much better when you pick your own berries ;). 

The Blueberry-Strawberry Pound Cake recipe is actually taken from Molly Wizenburg's recipe for Blueberry-Raspberry Pound Cake. I used strawberries instead of raspberries. Baked and served with tea, these slices of berry heaven were a hit with friends. The cake is not as heavy as it sounds (the word "pound" always turns me off but trust me this cake isn't too heavy). Please check out Molly's book A Homemade Life as well as her popular blog Orangette. I get inspired by reading books by successful bloggers and definitely feel that food and literature go hand-in-hand :). Please subscribe to my page in the upper right hand corner! I have three lovely followers now but would love even more <3!

Mulberry picking with my husband in our backyard :)

Aren't berries so pretty?

Blueberry Strawberry Pound Cake

*I actually halved this recipe because I didn't have enough butter, and it still turned out fine! 

Ingredients:

2 cups plus 8 tablespoons cake flour (I made this with a recipe online using regular flour and cornstarch)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 large eggs
1 2/3 cups sugar
2.5 sticks butter (10 ounces) unsalted butter, diced, at room temperature
2 tablespoons kirsch (I omitted this because I didn't have it on hand)
1 cup blueberries, rinsed and dried well
1 cup raspberries, rinsed and dried well

1. Set an oven rack to the middle position, and preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

2. Butter a standard-sized 9-cup bundt pan and dust it with flour, shaking out any excess. (If your pan in nonstick, you can get away with a simple coating of cooking spray, no flour needed.)

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 cups plus 6 tablespoons flour, the baking powder and salt.

4. In the bowl of a food processor, blend eggs and sugar until thick and pale yellow, about 1 minute. Add butter and kirsch, and blend until the mixture is fluffy, about 1 minute, stopping once to scrape down the sides of the bowl. If the mixture looks curdled, don’t worry. Add dry ingredients and process just to combine. Do not over mix. The batter should be thick and very smooth.

5. In a large bowl, toss berries with the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour. Pour batter into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly across the top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the cake’s center comes out clean, 1 to 1 1/4 hours.

6. Transfer cake to a rack, and cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Carefully invert the cake out of the pan onto the rack, and cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

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Mulberry/Blueberry Coconuty Crumble Muffins

*I adapted this recipe from a recipe on allrecipes.com for blueberry muffins. It's the same recipe but I used coconut oil instead of vegetable oil and used half white flour/ half wheat pastry flour. The result was a healthier muffin that tasted a little coconut-y! which was delicious :). I also substituted half of the white sugar with brown sugar. 

Ingredients:

for muffin:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup wheat pastry flour (or you can just do 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour)
3/4 cup white sugar (make half of that brown sugar if you'd like)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup coconut oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 cup fresh blueberries or mulberries, or any berry! Berries are versatile!

for topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Strawberries and Gouda Goat Cheese Salad and Thoughts on Food

didn't even know Ohio was shaped like a heart till recently :P

When I first discovered that my husband was from Ohio, I had no idea what Ohio looked like. I imagined miles upon miles of cornfields, farms, and very rural landscapes, as well as people with country accents. When I moved here, many of my friends thought the same thing. What I discovered in Ohio were very friendly people, a relaxed lifestyle, and most of all, an easy to navigate and pretty incredible food scene. Maybe it's the novelty of being in a new place, but I have started to become very interested in the farmer's markets around Columbus, as well as the local fruit stands and brand-name stores like Whole Foods.

North Market, the foodie heaven of Columbus

North Market is a huge factory cum farmer's market/foodie heaven. Yesterday I took my friend there, and she was amazed. There's something awesome about taking very curious people to a place that you've frequented often--you start to see it with new eyes. She bought lots of things, namely ground Bison meat, dark chocolate, and hibiscus powder from the spice shop. We went to the Curds and Whey cheese kiosk and decided to try all of the weirdest cheeses, from caramel-colored cheese to a super pungent cheese that made me shiver after I ate it. After we felt our sample quota starting to run out we settled on a delicious creamy goat gouda. 

Curds and Whey with owner of 25 years, Mike

And I started to realize even more how North Market has some of the most interesting foods, things you couldn't get at your normal grocery store, and that you're supporting local grocers, people who have made finding the best cheese their goal in life, and there they are, every week, just for you. I thought nothing could top Berkeley, or California's farmer's markets, or Berkeley Bowl, etc...and I still think Berkeley wins in foodie-ship, but the best thing about North Market is that it's open every week! It doesn't come and go like a farmer's market does (though I do love those too, because they are seasonal and that makes everything even more precious). 

Not only does Columbus have North Market, they have cute little fruit farms that are only 30 minutes to an hour away (I used to have to travel an hour or two in california!) and provide an authentic tractor ride and fruit picking experience for you. Today I picked strawberries with a friend at Doran's Farm Market! This was my first time, so it made it even more fun. And at $8 for 2 lbs of fresh strawberries, a pound of green beans and some snap peas, I think it's definitely a steal!

mm small and sweet <3

I used the gouda goat cheese I bought from North Market and my fresh strawberries from Doran's to throw together a simple summer salad. The olives and lettuce were already a salad from yesterday so I just threw in the other ingredients and some olive oil mixed with sweet rice vinegar.

munching salad by the window

The sweet strawberries perfectly complimented the creamy and tangy goat gouda. In short, I felt like a sunkissed organic hippy child thriving on the best produce of my neigbor's farm. His farm of strawberries and goats. The only thing I didn't have, which I would have substituted for the olive oil vinegar dressing is a good homemade poppyseed dressing. I found a good recipe for the dressing here or I like Brianna's poppyseed dressing. I like salads because you can throw together a couple of your favorite fruits and vegis with your favorite dressing and more likely than not, it'll taste good.

Strawberry Goat Gouda Salad 

Ingredients:

• Romaine lettuce, or spinach
• 5-6 ripe strawberries, or as much as you'd like!
• several slices of Gouda goat cheese (can buy from whole foods or specialty cheese shop)
• olives (optional)

1. Tear Romaine lettuce into bite size pieces. Cut up strawberries into thin slices or leave whole if they are small. 

2. Toss lettuce and strawberries in a salad bowl and top with poppyseed dressing. Slice up thin slices of the goat gouda and place on top of salad.

3. Enjoy!

From my happy tummy to yours, 

Kaori <3

Saltim Bocca alla Romana

Saltimbocca alla Romana

Exactly 9 months ago I was studying abroad in Rome, meandering through the streets of Via de Fienaroli, looking for good food to eat, and particularly, looking for a good cooking class. I had looked around a little bit online, found a couple that seemed nice, but very pricey, and conducted by foreign cooks who were living in Rome and claimed to have mastered the Italian cuisine. However, I did not know that the best cooking class was just around the block from my dorm building! After eating some OK pizza with a couple friends down the street from the building we were staying in, I stopped by the restaurant next door because it had a sign posted in the window, "Cooking Classes in Rome". I was curious, I was excited, could this be the cooking class I've been dreaming about? I went inside and inquired. Turns out that this cooking class was run by the former chef of the restaurant, who now conducted cooking classes at his own building, which also was not so far away, just a few tram stops down.

What I discovered was a marvelous cooking class run by Chef Andrea Consoli, a jolly, enthusiastic chef who took my classmates and I into the comfort of his kitchen and taught us how to cook authentic Italian food for an affordable price, using natural and organic ingredients. Not only was the food good, a few of my classmates were melted by his kindness and his Italian suave ;). And this, is how I came to discover the mouth-watering Saltim Bocca, which we made during the course of our decadent 5 course meal. You can check out Cooking Classes in Rome here.

"Saltimbocca" literally means "jump into your mouth". They literally do. You will have a hard time keeping these delicious morsels of beef, prosciutto, and melted cheese away from your lips, and I encourage you not to. When I first heard "Saltim Bocca" I knew, with my limited Italian (I only took beginning Italian, I wasn't really there for the language, folks) that "bocca" meant mouth. So when I first heard the term, it sounded like "salty mouth". Which is sort of the key to these delicious packages of meaty-cheesy-sagey delight. The prosciutto, layered on the inside of the thinly-sliced beef, lends the beef a savory saltiness. The sage leaf on top emphasizes the flavor of the beef and adds a slight sagey nuance to the meatiness. The cheese, (Chef Andrea suggests using Edam cheese but since I can't afford that expense I used Monterey Jack, which was equally mouth-watering) brings it all together in a creamy, meaty, sagey little present of joy that will leave your guests drooling and you wondering why you haven't made it until now.

meaty morsels of delight

If I had to sum up my 4 months in Rome it would probably taste something like a Saltim Bocca. When I first arrived, hardly knowing the Italian language, people seemed a little tough and harsh to me, like a piece of overcooked beef without flavoring. However, when I started to learn the language little by little, I discovered the prosciutto, the delicious saltiness of Italian culture. I started to understand that all that sass and hand gestures, everything...is so fun, so tasty, so full of life! I saw a car almost hit another car and even though one of the drivers was obviously at fault, she was flailing her fists under her chin, equally upset at the incident. People aren't afraid to express themselves, just like that salty prosciutto isn't afraid to release it's pungent flavor from beneath the thin blanket of beef. The cheese in the very center represents how romantic Italians are (myself and my friends were constantly stared at and sometimes even followed by mischievous, dreamy-eyed men), and how seriously they take friendships. While Italian people seem like tough beef on the outside, they are oozing cheese on the inside, some of the kindest, most generous, and friendliest people you will meet. And so, my experience with Italy can be summed up in the delicious savoriness of the Saltim Bocca. I do not say this lightly--you will, with no doubt, be head over heels about this dish. And the best part about it is that it's SUPER easy to make!!

Saltim Bocca, a recipe from Chef Andrea. Enjoy!

Saltimbocca alla Romana (Saltimbocca roman style)

Note: Saltimbocca, the word translates as “jump in the mouth”
 
Ingredients for 4 servings:
- 1 lb / 500gr thinly sliced beef cutlets (scallopini or tenderloin)
- 10 slices thinly sliced prosciutto
- 10 slices thinly sliced edam cheese (american cheese, swiss cheese or sliced mozzarella cheese is fine as well.....remember it has to be soft and mild cheese)
- 20 fresh sage leaves, plus more for garnish
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
 
Instructions:

Put the beef cutlets side by side on chopping board. Lay a piece of prosciutto on top of each piece of beef and cut it into small squares. Gently flatten the cutlets with a rolling pin or meat mallet, until the pieces are about 1/3 inch thick (about 0,5cm thick) and the prosciutto has adhered to the beef.

Then lay the cheese in the center of each cutlet square.




Wrap beef around or just fold beef in half. Lay a sage leaf on top and weave a toothpick in and out of the beef to secure the prosciutto, cheese and sage.

   

 
Heat the oil and in a large skillet over medium flame. Put the beef in the pan, 

non-sage side down first. Cook for 3 minutes or until crisp and then flip the cutlets over and saute the other side for 2 minutes, until golden. 

Transfer the saltimbocca to a serving platter, remove the toothpicks, and keep warm. Don't season with salt or pepper since prosciutto is salty and you don't need to add more seasoning to your plate.
Once done, serve immediately :). A side of pasta or minestrone with noodles can be nice, it's what I served my husband's family last night.

finished saltim bocca

small saltim, large saltim

Large Saltim Bocca
I tried my own varied version of the Saltim Bocca recipe, this time using a large slice of thin beef, layering it with prosciutto, and filling it with spinach as well as the cheese, and putting sage leaves on top. Make sure to dip the sage leaves in olive oil so that they will stick onto the beef. I tested it and the leaves will stick onto the beef without toothpicks. This larger version will need a longer cooking time since the beef needs to cook all the way through.

filled with prosciutto, raw spinach and cheese

Buon appetito!

Thank you for those who have been following my blog! If you try out this recipe please let me know how it turns out and please subscribe to my blog today if you would like an update of delicious summer recipes every week!

With love,

Kaori