Ribs, hotdogs, hamburgers, chicken, salmon, cole slaw, potato salad and corn on the cob are all prime ingredients for a great cookout. It seems every week there is talk about a cookout.
Whether you had one at home or at your friend’s home, someone is always mentioning how good the food was at the last cookout. There is something that can grab a lot of the talk the next day — if only someone remembers to bring it. Can you guess what it is? That’s right, dessert, but you cheated. You read the title so you already knew where I was going with this.
Dessert is always talked about during the days after the dinner. The problem is that when we have a cookout, that course is often forgotten. Last week, I was at the farmers’ market in Tahoe City and it was pretty impressive. One stand had enough berries to satisfy a bear’s sweet tooth for a year. The berries that really caught my eye were the raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. Pint after pint was laid out on the table just begging to be gobbled up.
There are so many ways you can work berries into your diet. Starting with pancakes for breakfast through dessert for dinner, they can fit into any menu, but I was interested in one of the great berry desserts of all time: the Berry Crisp. It is wicked good for cookouts — easy to make with a ton of flavor. The recipe is basic, which means it will work great with other fruits, as well as berries. It is also easy to make changes, too.
For example, I will often use honey when using peaches; my favorite sweetener is maple syrup, which I use for apple crisp. You also can substitute or add chopped nuts to the topping, as well as the filling. Walnuts are always a great match, especially with apples; pecans are great with any fruit. Try a peaches and pecan crisp while the peaches are still in peak season and you will be in crisp heaven.
For the berries, I use a slightly less amount of blackberries than blueberries and raspberries because they have a stronger flavor. Another thing I tried and liked was something I found on the Web while looking for new ideas: put a little of the topping in the bottom of the pan and then add the fruit in and the rest of it on the top.
It doesn’t matter what type of crisp you make but try to get down to any of the farmers’ markets to get some of the absolute best fruit anywhere and make a crisp for your next cookout. Enjoy your dessert.
Berry Crisp
1¼ C blackberries
1¾ C blueberries
1¾ C raspberries
4 T sugar
2 C flour
2 C oats
1½ C brown sugar
1 t cinnamon
½ t nutmeg
1¼ C butter
Toss all the fruit with the white sugar and let sit while you make the topping. Mix all the rest of the ingredients together in a bowl except the butter.
Once those ingredients are well mixed, cut in the butter using your fingers or a fork until crumbly. Press half the topping into a 9-inch-by-13-inch pan. Pour in the fruit and cover with the rest of the topping.
Bake at 350 degrees F for about 30 minutes or until the topping is golden and the fruit is bubbling.
