Marcella Cooking Stuff • October 4th - October 10th
October 4th - October 10th
A staple gluten-free dessert in my household is a fruit crumble. Some type of in-season fruit with a crumbly crispy topping. My mother in law, Julie, always made fruit crisps for Marco growing up. When he and his sister discovered their allergies the recipe was adapted to be gluten-free and always contained oats. Then Marco developed an oat allergy and they crisps were never the same. I think Julie and I both struggled to find some combination of GF flour, goat butter, sugar, and nuts that actually stayed crumbly and crispy.
In current days I make a lot of gluten-free crumbles. We generally buy a lot of fruit, they come together pretty quickly, and they are healthy...ish. After we went apple picking I developed a recipe for a Ginger Apple Crumble. I spiraled down a deep internet hole about all the desserts consisting of baked fruit and a topping. I'm pretty happy with where I landed.
There are many variations out there. Crisp, crumble, cobbler, buckle, pandowdy, betty...the list goes on. Today we are going to focus on the crisp and crumble because they are pretty much the same thing and confusing to tell apart.
Crisp vs. Crumble
I touched on this briefly over the summer when I learned about a pandowdy. I have now spent the whole week reading about crisps and crumbles again and I don't think anyone actually knows the difference. Seriously. The big debate is about texture and oats. One with oats, one without, and nuts being optional.
Back in June, I told you guys this:
"Crisp = Fruit baked with crumble topping. Butter, sugar, flour, crumbled together.
Crumble = Exactly the same as a crisp with a textural difference that comes from adding nuts."
I'm sticking to that with a small revision:
Crisp = Fruit baked with crumble topping. Butter, sugar, flour, and oats crumbled together.
Crumble = Exactly the same as a crisp, with or without oats, and a textural difference that comes from adding nuts.
Eight out of the nine articles I read said that crisps should contain oats that "crisp" up when baked. Five of the nine agreed that a crumble should not contain oats and that nuts are optional. Many of the articles straight up said that they were unsure of the actual difference and in current times the two names get used interchangeably. So call it whatever you want, lets just keep enjoying them.
One thing I find challenging is getting an oat free gluten-free crumble to hold shape and stay crispy when baked. Often the topping mixes with the fruit juices leaving only the exterior top crisp and the underside always becomes a soggy mush. I stumbled upon Melissa Clark's recipe for The Crunchiest Summer Fruit Crumble where she bakes the fruit and topping separately...MIND BLOWN!!
Who says they need to be baked together? As long as we have baked fruit and a crumbly topping it's a crumble to me.
I used that method here. The crumb topping is mixed together in a bowl, spread on a sheet tray, and baked on its own. The butter and sugar melt together and essentially make cookie crumbles. When it's done baking you will have some large pieces that I like to break up into smaller pieces (and eat some hot right off the tray). Crumble topping can be baked ahead of time and stored in the pantry. It is also fantastic over ice cream or yogurt.
The filling is pretty straight forward, apples, sugar, cinnamon, and a squeeze of lemon juice, but I added two things to spice it up. I browned 3 Tablespoons of butter on the stove and added 1 Tablespoon of freshly grated ginger. This layers in some warm nutty spice. This crumble is very ginger forward, a little spicy, and is perfect on a cozy cold day.
The ginger you use matters! We made this a handful of times and the cheaper bleak-looking ginger didn't have close to as much flavor as fresh organic ginger I picked up at Whole Foods.
I keep these two components separate until I'm ready to enjoy the crumble. I found when I added already baked crumbles to the unbaked fruit and baked them together, I had a mushy bottom and burnt tops. Gluten-free baking is weird. This is technically just baked fruit with cookie crumbles on top but it's the best tasting gluten-free "crumble" I have made all year. I'll take it.
P.S. This must be eaten warm! Reheat your apples if you are not enjoying them right away.
Find my Ginger Apple Crumble recipe on my website, here.
Tuesday
Roasted Cauliflower with Cilantro Pesto
Spicy Honey Grilled Chicken
Guys, we are in the middle of cauliflower season!! Some may say cauliflower tastes like...farts but it certainly does not. Cauliflower is actually pretty bland. It has a mild creamy flavor to it but because it's bland is a great vessel for picking up seasonings and sauces.
I love roasted cauliflower coated in pretty much anything. For a few months, I made Roasted Cauliflower with Cilantro Pesto once a week for a client. She and I were both obsessed. This week was the first time I had made it in a while and HIGHLY recommend you guys give it a try!
We enjoyed Spicy Honey Grilled Chicken and grilled potatoes with our cauliflower this week.
Wednesday
Chocolate Chip Challah
Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies
I'm in a challah rut. The change in seasons means my house is colder and my dough is proofing differently. My last two loaves have tasted fine but I wasn't happy with the way they baked. I'm going to have to start making more loaves to work out the kinks. On a positive note, chocolate chip challah is the most perfect dessert bread!
I had to bake something else to make myself feel better. These Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies are similar to my Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies. Minus the spice and swap out the nuts. Don't like hazelnuts? Use another nut!
Oh and these are naturally gluten-free!
Thursday
Puff Pastry Hand Pies
I worked on a recipe for these hand pies to teach in an upcoming Zoom class. They are puff pastry, filled with ingredients, sealed, and baked until hot and flakey. Half were filled with gruyere, bacon, and caramelized onions. The other half were brie layered with fig preserves and caramelized onions.
Both extremely delicious but bacon makes everything better. Always! Recipe to come...
Friday
Jammy Eggs, Potatoes, and Bacon with Herb & Chili Oil
Maple Dijon Pork Chops
This is a repeat breakfast dish and quickly becoming a favorite. 6-Minute eggs, roasted potatoes, and bacon pieces, topped with fresh herb and chili oil.
For the oil I use a handful of chopped fresh dill and parsley, 4 Tablespoons of olive oil, 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar, 1 thinly sliced Fresno chili, OR a big pinch of chili flakes, salt, and pepper. Let everything sit for a bit for the flavors to meld together and drizzle over everything. (I eyeballed all these ingredients, just wing it!)
Maple Dijon Pork Marinade
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup dijon
1 shallot
This was an experiment. I coated the chops in salt, black pepper, and pink peppercorns (my new favorite seasoning) and let them rest for 30 minutes. I gave the dijon, maple syrup, and shallot a blitz with my hand blender and then let the chops marinate in the mixture for about an hour.
They were a smidge overcooked and didn't have as much flavor as I wanted. I'm going to work on these and circle back with a recipe. I think it might be good with pork roast as well!
Random thing of the week:
I decorate for every holiday but I like to take a minimal approach when picking them out. I always get fresh pumpkins for fall and this year I turned them into creatures with googly eyes. I think they are cute!
Pet photo of the week:
Lola in the window watching birds.
Thing everybody needs:
Finger Cots!!!
I cut my fingers last week. Yes, two fingers, at once 🤦🏼♀️. I used approximately 15 finger cots a day. They slip over your finger and keep things sanitary for cooking. They are also good for keeping a cut dry when showering or swimming in a lake. These are essential in my kitchen and first aid kits.
The Curry Squash Noodle recipe is coming in next week's newsletter, I promise. I want to test it one more time and I need to come up with an actual name for the dish, help!
See you next week,
Marcella