When I think of purple foods, the first thing that comes to mind are blueberries. There are, of course, other purple foods — plums, potatoes, cabbage even artichokes, eggplant and asparagus — but the easiest for me is blueberries as I have a whole bunch frozen in my fridge plus the jar of jam that I made last year. The color came out very dark but the glaze was perfectly blueberry-esque.
I haven’t been showing a lot of my sourdough bread baking lately, but here is a (green!) bread that I made this week: Green Olive and Rosemary Focaccia. I think that Alice (Alice in Wondoughland) was a little tired, because it didn’t rise nearly as much as I had hoped, but it still tasted delicious. I am a huge fan of olives though generally prefer black over green. These were bright and briney and with a little extra olive oil, the bread was great.
It wouldn’t be Easter if I didn’t make some variation on the Hot Cross Bun. Everyone has their own, there are literally thousands of styles, combinations and variations. This year, I went for the somewhat rustic Cranberry Walnut Whole Wheat Sourdough Hot Cross Buns version. It’s an enriched sweet (but not too sweet) sourdough brioche dough, fruit and nuts added. Eat with sweet jam or honey or make into a bacon sandwich. nom nom nom.
These are Maple Bacon Cheddar Biscuits… a little sweet, a little savory, cheesy, bacon-y… which is to say that they are perfect for a breakfast sandwich or as an accompaniment to savory things like soups and chowders too. I like that neither the bacon nor the maple syrup are too overwhelming. The sharp cheddar is just right too.