Easy Fruit Crumbles

When you’re cooking for a large group of people dessert can sometimes take a backseat. If you didnt bake a cake or make a pie the day before - you’re generally too tired to make something after your finished with the savories (unless you’re serving cheese and honey…which is one of the best desserts ever). This fruit crumble could NOT be simpler. Try it!

Fruit:

4 cups of seasonal fruit (i.e. a mix of blueberries, cherries, strawberries, and raspberries - Frozen Fruit can also work)3 tbs. of strawberry/raspberry jam

Crumble:

2/3 cup of sugar

7 tbs of butter

3/4 cup of flour

Pinch of salt

Preheat Oven to 375 degrees

- Combine flour, sugar, and salt - mix in melted butter.

- In separate bowl combine fruit and jam

- Grease 8 small ramekins and arrange on a baking sheet. Divide fruit into ramekins and then sprinkle the flour mixture ontop. NOTE: you will need to put more crumble ontop of the ramekins than you might think. Flour mixture tends to seep into the fruit and can disappear into it completely

- Bake about 35 minutes and serve warm - with ice cream if you’d like.

(VARIATION: use diced apples for fruit and caramel sauce instead of jam. If using caramel sauce add an additional 2 tbs.)

 

 

 

Warm Roasted Garlic Hummus

Hummus is one of those delish dishes thats good for any occasion. Its great as a snack when you’re watching a movie, perfect for a party when you don’t want to serve a fatty dip, and great on a sandwich for a healthy lunch. Unforunately, there is a lot of mediocre hummus out there being sold to unsuspecting customers across America. Don’t settle for mediocre when you can make it yourself at home in less than 15 minutes.

This recipe serves it warm (since thats my favorite) but you can serve it chilled or room temperature - just omit the oven/topping part.

Hummus Base

1 roasted head of garlic 

1 16oz. can of chickpeas, drain MOST of liquid but save at least 3 tbs.

1 ts. kosher salt

1/3 cup tahini (sesame paste)

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (1 lemon)

3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Topping

3 tbs butter

1 cup of sliced button mushrooms

1 ts. Kirmizi Biber - turkish red pepper (or cayenne is you can’t find) 

1 minced shallot

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place garlic in oven safe pan and drizzle with olive oil. Roast garlic in oven for 20 minutes. After cooled peel the cloves from the head and set aside. Leave oven on.
 
Turn on the food processor fitted with the steel blade. Process the chickpeas and the garlic together. Add the rest of the hummus base ingredients to the food processor and process until the hummus is coarsely pureed. Taste for seasoning.

Change oven temperature to 400 degrees.

 Place in oven safe shallow casserole dish (earthenware maybe?). Heat butter in a skillet and add mushrooms, cayenne, and the minced shallot. Cook until soft. Pour over hummus base and cook in the oven for 20 minutes. Serve with wedges of flatbread.

I love Moscato d’Asti

This is just about the best brunch wine you could ever have. Its light, its sparkling, its sweet (without being too sweet), and its not too expensive. Sometimes it can bee tricky to find a good one so here are a few of my favorites.

1 - La Spinetta, 2008, Moscato D’Asti Vigneto Biancospino

This is a Piedmont sparkling wine that has yellow/light green reflections. Its sweet without being ’sticky’ and contains grapefruit/peach undertones. It also has a very low alcohol content (5.5%) so you can literally drink the entire bottle without getting a headache.

 Average Price: $19.99

 

2 - Bricco del Sole, 2008 Moscato d’Asti

Another Piedmont, the Morando family has been making wine since the beginning of the 19th century. Since 70% of their production is Moscato you KNOW it’s gonna be good. I find this to be slightly sweeter than the La Spinetta but its not hheavy at all. Still really light. Also they are ORGANIC!! Honest  - its the truth. One of the best organic wines out there.

Average Price: $15.99

 

3 - Saracco, 2008 Moscato d’Asti

Golden in color, this wine’s flavor has been compared more to pears instead of the typical ‘peach’ taste. It also can have a jasmine fragrance and a little after tingle of candied fruits.

Average Price: $ 16.99

 

Whats the difference between Asti Spumante and Moscato d’Asti??

Asti Spumante is a straightforward  fully sparkling wine with sweet/fruity flavors. Its usually just enjoyable as a dessert wine.

Moscato d’Asti is a low-alohol, semi-sparkling wine with about half the carbonation of a typical sparkling wine, and is released very soon after the vintage to preserve its uniquely fresh character. It’s not as sweet, has a very complex perfume, and a vibrant acidity. Its low alcohol level and fresh/sweetness makes it perfect as a brunch wine or simply a ’sitting-by-the-pool’ wine.

NOTE: Moscato d’Asti’s are best within 2 years of the vintage in order to keep the ‘freshness’ alive.