Blueberry Crumble Pie

The pie filling is:

6 cups of fresh (or frozen) blueberries, rinsed and stems removed (if using frozen, do not defrost)
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1 tbls lemon juice
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup white granulated sugar or other sweetener like honey or maple syrup

1/4 teaspoon allspice

Gently mix the blueberries, sweetener, flour, allspice, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a large bowl. Transfer them to the chilled bottom crust of the pie pan and crimp the edges with your fingers. Pre-heat the oven to 400°F.

The crumble is:

3/4 cup flour
2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated raw sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
8 tbls (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 3/4-

inch pieces

Mix the dry ingredients together and cut in the butter with two table knives until a granular, crumble forms. Sprinkle over the top of the filling. Bake for 40 minutes, covered with foil, shiny side down. Uncover and bake for 5 more minutes.

Set out to cool for at least 20 minutes to let the filling gel. Whip heavy cream and sugar. Best served slightly warm!

Tibetan Beet Chicken Stew

This recipe produces a heavenly scented meal. It took some effort to prepare the beets. They needed to be peeled and chopped and that can be a bit messy, but if the hot pink won't wash off of your hands or cooking surfaces, use baby wipes.





1 whole hen quartered (I used 4 thighs with legs from Plato Dale) laid on 4 tbls of sesame seed oil in the bottom of a crockpot. Add in 3 small to medium sized onions chopped with their greens, 20 crushed garlic cloves, 4 chopped carrots, 12 beets peeled and chopped.

The stew is flavored with Advieh, a blend of seasonings similar to a masala, made up of: 

2 tbls each of black peppercorns, cloves, cumin seeds, cinnamon, cardamom seeds, bay leaves

¼ cup coriander seeds

1 tsp dried crushed chillies
1 tbls dried rose petals (optional)

Pour in a vegetable stock made from carrots and onions and celery leaves boiled soft in water and then pureed. 6 to 8 hours on low. Strain out the cardamon pods and bay leaves. Serve over rice.