Berry Shortcake

Cranberry Walnut Bread, remember that recipe I posted awhile back?  Well, it is very versatile.  I made a "shortbread" out of it, kind of like my Mom always made it.  Sort of biscuit-y tasting, not sweet, really meant to sop up the juices from sweetened berries.

The way I did it was to use the basic recipe but omit the cranberries and walnuts and cut down on the sweetener and used lemon juice (only a little) instead of lemon extract.  Then I baked it in a cake round instead of a loaf pan, mostly because my loaf pan was a scratched up rusty mess and I had to get rid of it.

Then, I defrost, or warm, my berries (I have blueberries and raspberries on hand) and pour them on top of a slice of shortcake.  Dollop on a globule of lemon custard and, if you're doing dairy, either some sour cream (which is what my family liked on shortcake) or whipped cream.

I'll post a picture later.

Spicy, Roast Chicken -- Torture for the nose

I keep coming back to this chicken.  This is why I have a couple of marjoram plants in my yard.  In fact, one grew so big it took over my small planter, so I dug it up and took a bit of the top/roots and replanted and threw the rest out. Surprisingly I found a couple of cilantro plants growing underneath that bushy majoram!  So I'm nurturing them along.

I didn't use a cut-up chicken but instead butterflied one, less work and I love how much skin gets exposed and crispified.

The tomatoes caramelize, the juices and fats mingle with the garlic, marjoram and tomatoes and it makes an amazing sauce.

When I started cooking it I had the tomatoes piled up on top of the chicken, but knocked them down below partway through.  There's just so much flavor in that mixture.

I now have a cherry tomato, thyme, marjoram, mint and cilantro growing in my raised bed which I built from cedar fence planks and 2x4's.