If I were his World Cup Chef: Michael Bradley (USA)

This story is #19 of 32, in my "If I were their World Cup Chef" series. Each post honors one world football player from each of the 32 national teams at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. As my muses, each inspires a recipe that I am privileged to offer as my gift ... to thank them for making the world more beautiful.

If you are following the Original LA Farmers Market/Monsieur Marcel recipe series, the end of recipe has grocery shopping tips.

Earlier in this series I admitted that my nicest problem to date had been choosing one muse only for Spain. David Villa has turned out to be his national team’s golden boy as Spain heads to its semifinal match with Germany this week.

Team USA posed a different type of challenge for me (whole separate story) so here we are, the day after 4th of July, when I am craving the apple pie that was missing at our party yesterday, come to think of it ... Michael Bradley has suddenly popped up on my radar. He is one of the most promising stars for the future of the US team, so I am sure he won’t mind my delay in telling a story for him now.

Celebrating his 23rd birthday the end of this month, our handsome American is the son of the current US national coach, Bob Bradley. His latest claim to fame was scoring his eighth international goal in the US’s controversial match with Slovenia on June 18, which tied the match 2-2 and kept USA on their successful journey to the next rounds.

Perhaps unusual for an American player, the young Bradley was drafted as a 16-year-old with (MLS) Major League Soccer's MetroStars (now the NY Red Bulls) through a youth program called Project-40 which encourages early (pre-college) player entry into MLS. Up until just about that time, he had been training at an Under-17 academy in Florida, which prepares youth for the US national team.

In between all that (2004) and this World Cup, he played in Holland, as the youngest US player ever sold by MLS and has since moved on to Germany's Bundesliga, where he intends to stay with his current club Borussia Monchengladbach until 2012. He has been instrumental in leading the US to impressive victories in the 2007 Gold Cup CONCACAF, the 2007 FIFA Under-20 World Cup, the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa and, in US qualifying rounds for this 2010 World Cup.

Being the target of both criticism and praise as the coach's son, I am most endeared by the praise. Complimentary journalists have hailed him as having a knack for being in the right place at the right time, mature beyond his years, heady, passionate and, a soccer junkie since he has apparently followed AC Milan (my favorite Italian club) very closely from the time he was 6 years old.

I predict that he will be enjoying a long, incredibly successful adventure ahead, and that we will all be expecting more great things from him.

If I were his World Cup Chef, I would want to put something summery and beautifully American on the table. I hope he doesn't mind that I can't really get past that apple pie idea. I'm thinking more like a mix of fruit, to include summer cherries and blueberries that are so tempting right now. I'd top it with a buttery and mildly sweet&spicy crumble topping and suggest it be served with ... perhaps some still-delicious homemade vanilla ice cream that someone made for the holiday yesterday but, is leftover because everyone was too full from the barbeque buffet.

In that case especially, I think he wouldn't be able to resist a second or third or fifth or seventh serving. There might still even be enough to share with Dad if he wanted or, not.

Summer Fruit Crisp in Red, White, and Blue, for Michael Bradley

3 Fuji apples, peeled, cored, sliced
2 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup fresh cherries, pitted
Juice of one fresh orange
1 Tbsp cinnamon-sugar

Toss fruit with juice and cinnamon-sugar. Preheat oven to 375F, coat square glass baking dish with cooking spray. Place fruit in dish and prepare topping:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup GrapeNuts cereal or toasted wheat germ (optional)
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp freshly-ground nutmeg
3/4 cube (6 Tbsp) butter, melted

Combine all ingredients except butter, in large bowl. Blend melted butter into mixture, combine well. Spoon topping evenly over fruit. Bake for 25-30 minutes until topping is lightly browned. Serve warm, topped with favorite ice cream if desired. Yields 6-8 servings.

Where to shop ~
for specialty ingredients and pantry staples, I love Monsieur Marcel
for produce, Farm Fresh and Farm Boy Produce
for breads, Thee's Continental Pastries, Monsieur Marcel, Breadworks
for fresh seafood, Bob Tusquellas Seafood Market
for meats, Huntington Meats, Marconda's Meats
for things hot, Light My Fire