I’m going a bit nuts with the crisps and cobblers, but I’ve got all this great fruit that I want to use up, and crisps are quick and easy and not too bad for you.
There’s a spot a couple miles from my house that sells blackberries. It’s not even a farm, just a house, but they have blackberry bushes in the back of their property that put out the best blackberries I’ve ever had. I’m talking berries as big as even MY thumb, and sweet as can be. Black purple fruit just full of blackberry perfection.
I also have some nice herbs growing in hanging baskets that I’ve been trying to use this summer. I like herbs and fruit paired together; the combo can turn a dessert into almost a side dish, especially when baked on the Bubba Keg or Big Green Egg.
Sunday, I fixed herb-marinated chicken breast with lots of farmers market veggies - grilled potatoes, carrots and baby onions, also marinated in herbs, balsamic vinegar and olive oil, with some honey added to the carrots.
The meal was very good and fresh, and the blackberry thyme crisp at the end was really kind of an elegant touch, if I do say so myself.
The crisp recipe is pretty simple, and I made a small crisp. For more than a couple people, the recipe could be doubled.
Filling:
- 1 quart fresh blackberries
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2-3 tbsp cane sugar (use more if berries are more tart)
- 4-5 sprigs thyme, leaves removed from stems
- juice from 1/2 lemon
Topping:
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 3/8 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 stick butter, melted
Combine filling ingredients gently so as not to break up the berries, and put into small baking dish.
Combine all topping ingredients, and cover the berries in the baking dish
Bake at 375 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, until the top is browned nicely and the filling is deliciously bubbly. Serve as is, or with a dollop of creme fraiche.
The crisp can be dessert, or try it next to an ancho rubbed pork chop. And baking it on the grill, with a bit of wood smoking while it baked, gave the crisp a bit of smokiness, making it a bit more savory, which went really nice with the sweet-tart berries and thyme.
Do you do any fruit/herb combos? Let me know, so I can try some new ones!
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what a unique and altogether delectable combination! you do glorious work. i’ve not experimented with the herb-fruit marriage, but now i think i will!
Grace,
As always, thanks for the kind words. I’m just starting to try out the herb/fruit thing, but I really like the flavors that come out. I have some melon I think I’m going to try with something later.
If you try anything you really like, please let me know.
I love that you cooked this outdoors and let the flavors from the smoke in the grill add a lovely touch to this crisp!! beautiful!!!!!!!!!!
I just finished making this with our haul of wild plums and blackberries! So amazing and so simple to put together for breakfast today. I omitted the Lemon juice because the plums were so tart already, and used olive oil instead of butter (we never seem to have any around when I need it!).
Also, another good combination (not for cobbler though!) is fresh heirloom melon with lavender and sea salt.
Jen,
The smokiness really makes this a fun dessert, I think.
Chloe,
Plum and blackberry sounds great, too, and I’ll have to try the melon with lavender and sea salt! Thanks for the tip.
This looks like good fun. I’ll be making it this weekend to serve after pulled pork sandwiches.
Yum.
It actually works a bit served with the pulled pork. The wood smoke pushes it to be a bit more savory, I think.
Blackberries and thyme is not a combination we have thought of before, but it sounds and looks fantastic!
Although not a herb, an interesting way to grill pineapple is to soak it in Muscat for 4 hours, grill it briefly on a hot grill and then top it with cracked rock salt after it has come off the grill. There’s something about the combination of sweet and salty that makes it delicious!
HB,
I love grilled pineapple, though I haven’t tried salt on it. I’ve soaked it in rum, but i find I really like it with nothing added at all, just grilled.
Wow, looks fabulous. I haven’t used the BGE to cook dessert yet, but it looks like I should!
Ninette,
The BGE is about as versatile as you can find… You’ll have a great time exploring doing different things. Just use a good quality lump charcoal and no wood for desserts.