Fuzzy Peaches

  There is a restaurant located here in Utah that serves a dessert called "Fuzzy Peaches". When I finally got the opportunity to try it for the first time, I was immediately hooked. The dessert consists of battered and deep-fried peach halves served over a warm cinnamon-caramel with scoops of vanilla ice cream and mango sorbet, then drizzled with raspberry sauce. Are you drooling yet?

  The small town I live in has a festival the second weekend of September each year called "Peach Days". Our town is know for it's peaches, and rightly so...they're delicious! So, every September I spend my days in the kitchen bottling peaches and creating anything I can think of to use this delicious fruit while it's in season. This year I knew if I worked at it I could recreate "Fuzzy Peaches". I did it, so here it is:

4 peaches, peeled, cut in half with pit removed

1/2 c. flour, plus additional

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 c. milk

1 eggs

oil for frying

  Combine flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and cinnamon. Add milk and egg and whisk until smooth.

  Heat 4 inches of canola oil in a large frying pan to about 300 degrees. Coat peach halves in flour, then dip in batter (being sure to coat the peach entirely). Place the peaches, cut side down, in the hot oil and cook until golden brown on each side (about 2-3 minutes per side); drain on paper towels.

  To serve, spoon some cinnamon caramel onto a plate, top with a peach half (cut side down). Place one scoop each of vanilla ice cream and mango sorbet next to the peach. Drizzle raspberry sauce over everything.

Cinnamon Caramel-I used the caramel recipe from this recipe on Bonappetit.com.

Raspberry Sauce

1 pint raspberries

2 Tbsp. water

1/4 c. sugar

1 Tbsp. corn starch

  Place raspberries and water in a saucepan; bring to a boil and continue to boil, stirring occasionally 3-4 minutes. Remove pan from heat; pour berries into a blender and pulse until smooth (you may also press the fruit through a strainer if you prefer not to have seeds in your sauce). Return berries to the saucepan; bring back to a boil.

  In a small bowl, combine sugar and corn starch. Slowly whisk sugar mixture into the berries and cook, stirring constantly, until the cornstarch cooks out (about 3-4 minutes). If your sauce thickens too much, thin with a little hot water. Refrigerate sauce until ready to use.

Vanilla Bean Banana Cream Pie

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

1 3/4 cups milk (2% or whole)

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided
1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise and seeds scraped

2 large egg yolks

2 large eggs

1/3 cup cornstarch

3-4 medium, ripe bananas

   Combine the cream, milk, 1/2 cup of the sugar, the vanilla bean, and the vanilla seeds in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a gentle boil, whisking to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat.

  

 

Combine the cornstarch, and 1 cup of the sugar in a medium bowl; add egg yolks and eggs, and whisk until pale yellow in color. Set aside.
  

  Whisk 1 cup of the hot cream mixture into the egg yolks. 

Gradually add the egg mixture to the hot cream, whisking constantly. 

Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly with a large wooden spoon to cook out the cornstarch, until the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. (The mixture may separate slightly. If so, remove from the heat and beat with an electric mixer until thick and smooth.) 

Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a clean bowl; let cool on counter while you prepare the pie crust (see my instructions for making the perfect pie crust).

  Spread a small amount of filling on the bottom of the pie crust, top with a layer of bananas. Spread another layer of filling on top, and top with another layer of bananas. 

 

Finish with a final layer of filling. Press a piece of plastic wrap to the surface of the filling (careful not to cover the crust or it will become soggy), and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Serve topped with whipped cream.

Using Ricotta Cheese Whey In Baking

  I have been making my own Ricotta Cheese for a few months now and, until yesterday, never took the time to figure out what to do with the whey that remains once the curds are strained. I was certain there were some good uses, but what I found astounded me. Whey is a complete protein with tons of fantastic benefits. Whey can be given to cats and dogs to help their coat stay shiny, can be used to water plants, can be used in place of water when cooking rice or noodles to add flavor, but best of all, is a fantastic substitute for liquids in baking breads (it substitutes straight-up for milk or water, cup for cup). A light clicked on in my head, and I realized that I had been dumping something magical down my sink every time I made ricotta cheese. Well, that won't be happening again! Whey can be stored in glass jars (with the lid on) in the fridge for several weeks, so you better believe, that's what I'll be doing.

  Yesterday I decided to try making a recipe for Pinto Bean Bread. Check out how it went!

Make The Perfect Pie Crust Every Time!

  I have to thank my wonderful mother for having the patience to teach me (at quite a young age) the skills required to make a perfect pie crust. I learned from the best-the woman won many blue ribbons at state fairs for her apple pie, and much of that had to do with her fantastic crust. Here are the rules she taught me:

  Use a fork to combine the shortening, salt and flour until it forms thick crumbs (you want chunks of shortening to remain-it gives the dough a flaky, buttery-ness)

  

  Use ice cold water, and not too much of it (sprinkle it in a little at a time, just until the dough comes together)

  Roll the dough out on a well-floured surface. The circumference of the dough should be about 1 1/2" bigger (all the way around) than your pie pan-any bigger and your crust will be too thin to hold it's own against your filling.

  Roll your dough up onto a rolling pin (or fold in fourths) and place it in the pie pan, leaving an even over-hang all the way around. Fold the ends under and into the pan. Crimp the edges. Here's where you can choose for yourself how to bake it. For some reason I have yet to buy pie weights, and I have a real problem wasting dry beans for this, so I simply poke the crust all over with a fork and bake it. Now, sometimes doing this results in my crust shrinking a little, but not so much that I've changed my ways. Maybe someday I'll suck it up and buy some pie weights.

  Bake at 375 degrees for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown (over-baking will result in a very dry crust).

  And the most important rule of all (In my mother's words): "It's not playdough"; meaning don't "work" the dough. You want to handle the dough as little as possible. Your reward for not playing with your food will be the most flaky, buttery crust you've ever eaten in your life!

My mother's pie crust recipe (double-crust):

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup butter-flavored shortening

dash salt

(I add 1 tsp. sugar because I love the extra burst of flavor)

ice water (use sparingly)

Watch for my Vanilla Bean Banana Cream Pie to follow (it's why I chose to demo a single-crust for this post).

THRIVE With The Basics Giveaway

  I've talked a little about the THRIVE foods I use and sell. Well, now you have a chance to try some for yourself! Check out my giveaway on Thrive With The Basics (Click the link in the banner below).

Summer-Squash Fritters

2-3 cups zucchini or yellow squash (I use a combination of both), coarsely grated

¼-½  medium onion, finely chopped

1 egg, lightly beaten

¼ cup flour

¼ cup cornmeal

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ tsp salt

Pepper to taste

Cooking oil for frying

  Combine all ingredients in a bowl and set aside for 5-10 minutes. Stir. Pour about 2” of oil in the bottom of a large frying pan and heat to about 300 degrees. Drop fritter batter by rounded tablespoons into oil and fry on both sides until golden brown (the key is to not cook these too quickly as they will be doughy in the middle). Drain on paper towels and serve immediately. Makes 12 (3-inch) fritters. Note: Great dipped in Ranch dressing.

I'm Behind Again!

  As my sister Michelle so kindly pointed out yesterday, I've fallen behind again. I will let you know now, I am prepping for the wedding of one of my other sisters (I'm doing the wedding cake and food for the garden reception), so my posts may be few and far between over the next couple weeks. I do have some new recipes to share today, though.

Double-Chocolate Brownie Bites

 

  These were even more delicious than I thought they would be. I wanted to try them simply because they sounded good. I was a little hesitant, however, about the amount of honey in the recipe giving the cookies a distinct honey taste instead of a rich, delicious brownie flavor. I was wrong. The honey gave it just the right sort of bite.

  I also decided to try doing half the batch rolled in sugar and the other half sans-sugar. I was concerned that the combination of lot's of honey and a cookie rolled in sugar would be so overwhelmingly sweet, it would be hard to eat just one (ultimately it turns out that might not be so bad, as I ate 4 cookies last night alone).Wrong again. We ended up loving the sugar-covered cookies, and the plain ones as well. All-in-all a great cookie choice!