Peach Paradise with a few Raspberries thrown in the mix...and a recipe for the best waffles ever!

My friend Anne and I had the second annual peach picking festival at Apple Annie's in Wilcox this Saturday. It was a beautiful day and highly entertaining. For one, we got yelled at by a gentleman we dubbed "Apple Andy," yes, we are clever. What on earth did we do to get yelled at, by this fella? I will tell ya...ahem...story time:
Apple Annie's orchard offers a ride around the orchard to your fruit picking destination on a flatbed attached to a tractor, driven by Apple Andy. Anne and I had traveled all around the orchard and the tractor finally reached the peach part of the orchard, where a group of people had gathered to get back on after their peach picking experience. Anne and I grabbed our buckets and were set to disembark, when from the tractor we hear Apple Andy's dulcet tones telling us to, "SIT DOWN!! YOU'RE NOT THERE YET!" We confusedly complied, sitting sheepishly back down. The tractor then traveled, about 10 feet, stopped and we heard the Jolly Andy yell, " Peaches!!" Yes, yes...quite entertaining. I still haven't stopped laughing!

Anyway...we drove 2 hours down, 2 hours back, spent 10 minutes picking peaches, and 20 minutes sitting in the orchard eating peaches and talking about what a lovely day it was...and every minute was worth it!! Especially, the snow cones for the ride home. And then, Anne and I teamed up the next day for the peach cooking extravaganza! We accompanied this peachy chaos by inviting a few friends over for "breakfast for dinner" so we could have peach pancakes and use the raspberry-peach syrup (was supposed to be jelly, that didn't gel) on La Gaufre de Liège waffles. Which are Belgian waffles, using Belgian sugar. It is a wonderful sweet happy way to eat dinner. But no peach fest is complete without peach pie accompanied with my raspberry ice cream! So let the deliciousness begin!!!

Paula Peach Pie

9 pounds fresh peaches
2 teaspoons Fruit Fresh, (fruit preservative)                                        
3 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons quick cooking tapioca
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1 9-inch pie, top crust
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon or nutmeg

To peel the peaches, first bring a pot of water to a boil. Using a paring knife, score the peaches with an X into the skins only. Gently drop the peaches in the boiling water for approximately 30 seconds to 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, remove the peaches and place them in iced water for a minute. The skins should slip off easily. If not, place back into the boiling water for another 30 seconds.

Slice the peaches and put them in a bowl. Sprinkle Fresh Fruit and sugar, and stir into peaches. Stir in remaining ingredients and mix well.

Line 4 pie pans with heavy foil or freezer paper, placing a piece of plastic wrap over foil. Put 4 to 5 cups filling each pan. Loosely fold wrapping around pie and freeze until firm. When filling is frozen solid, remove from pans and wrap tightly. Return to freezer until ready to use.

On pie baking day, for each pie, simply place frozen pie filling in pie shell, add 1/2 a stick of butter and sprinkle with cinnamon or nutmeg. Top pie with an additional pastry crust, seal well, and bake for 50 to 60 minutes in a preheated 375 degree oven.

I did one lattice and one with brown sugar, oatmeal, butter topping

Blushing Peach Jam

 Categories: Yield: 2 Dozen

2 c Crushed peeled peaches

2 c Red raspberries; crushed                                          

1/4 c Lemon juice

7 c Sugar

2 pk Liquid fruit pectin

1/8 ts Almond extract

Mix peaches, raspberries and lemon juice; mix in sugar. Bring to a full rolling boil; boil 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in pectin. Return to a boil; boil 1 minute, stirring. Remove from heat; skim off foam. Add extract; pack into hot jars, leaving 1/4" headspace. Seal jars; process in boiling water bath 15 minutes

La Gaufre de Liège

This is a type of waffle from the city of Liège, Belgium.

The waffle should be eaten warm. The Perlé sugar gives the waffle a sweet and crunchy taste.
Ingredients

2 1/2 cups.	Flour
1 tablespoon	Dry Yeast
1 teaspoon	Salt
1/2 teaspoon	Cinnamon
2	Eggs
3/4 cup	Milk
1 teaspoon	Vanilla
1 3/4 sticks	Butter
1 cup	Perlé sugar(I get mine from AJ's Fine Food in Tucson...they used to have a similar kind at IKEA, but I haven't seen it in awhile.)

 Preparation

Mix the flour, dry yeast, salt and cinnamon together in a bowl.

 Add the eggs, milk and vanilla

Knead all these ingredients together well until they look like pizza dough.  Let it rest for about 30 minutes.

In a separate bowl mix the butter (cut in small pieces) and the pearl sugar.

Add this mixture to the dough and mix thoroughly until the sugar and butter are totally integrated with the dough.  Let it rest for another 15 minutes.

Bake on a hot waffle maker – about 2-3 minutes.  DO NOT ADD GREASE OR PAM

The number of waffles from this recipe depends on the size.  You could get from 10 to 30.

Anne made peach pancakes, she just chopped up the peaches in to small pieces, added the cinnamon-sugar from the pie filling and added it to Bisquick and pancaked away! 

 The final thing I made, which I don't have a picture for is raspberry icecream.  This has been dubbed by me, "The man wooer"  I will always make it or creme brulee for a man I am trying to woo.  It has not helped me to successfully keep the man for a lengthy period of time, but does, at least, keep him coming back for awhile.  I really need to figure out the rest of the wooing part, can't seem to get past the food part, oh well.

So here is the recipe...try your own wooing.

Raspberry Ice Cream

Ingredients

(1 servings)

1 pt Fresh raspberries
1 c Sugar (sometimes a 1/4 more depending on the sweetness of the berry)
1/2 Lemon; juice of
2 lg Eggs
2 c Heavy or whipping cream
1 c Milk

Instructions

Compare to other fresh fruit, raspberries are intensely flavorful and very tart, so to make ice cream you need less fruit and more sugar. Toss the raspberries, 3/4 cup sugar, and the lemon juice together in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Whisk in thr remaining 3/4 cup sugar, a little at a time, then continue whisking until completely blended, about 1 minute more. Pour in the heavy cream and milk and whisk to blend. Drain the juice from the raspberries into the cream mixture and blend. Mash the raspberries until pureed and stir them into the cream mixture. Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze following the manufacturer's instructions. Makes 1 generous quart. NOTE: If you prefer a chunkier raspberry ice cream, return the raspberries to the refrigerator after pouring off the juice. After the ice cream stiffens, about 2 minutes before it is done, add the whole raspberries. 

(I am currently working on a peach crumble...so stay tuned!!!)

The Great Black Beans and Rice and Mango Salsa with Naan Experiment

That is a literal and figurative mouthful!!! So I had the afternoon off from my second job, which is awesome, I have so much work I need to finish, so instead, I decided to cook. A relative of mine(Thanks Brooke!http://youcangetfit.wordpress.com/) posted a black beans and rice on her blog not long ago, and I have made it regularly since then, and I had a mango and thought mango salsa would go splendidly with it. I like to eat it alone, with salsa, in a tortilla, or in a quesadilla, leftovers can be turned into tortilla soup. Lots of fabulous options. Today I am going to make a simple Naan to eat it with. It is all super simple, so that I can get some actual work done...bummer :( Eat on!! (mmmmm...I just ate it, all the flavors together is fantastic!!! The naan is an excellent holder, full of flavor and sweetness...did I mention this is really good?? mmmm...)

Black Beans and Rice, Spanish Style
from How To Cook Everything *with Sara modifications
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 red or yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped
* my addition, 2 carrots and celery chopped, two chipotle peppers in adobo, and remove after cooking, ½ cup sweet frozen kernel corn, 1 tbsp pinto bean seasoning from santa cruz chili factory and a chunk of ham.
1 tbsp minced garlic
¾ c dried black beans, washed, picked over, and soaked if you have time
1 ½ c long grain rice
1 c chopped tomato (canned is fine, include the juices)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ c chopped fresh parsley or cilantro
1. Put the oil in a large ovenproof pot over medium heat. When hot, add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add the beans and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to low so that the mixture bubbles gently. Cover loosely and cook, stirring occasionally and adding water if necessary, until the beans are about half-done—softening but still tough in the middle—about 40 minutes (an hour or more if you didn’t soak the beans at all). Heat the oven to 350 F.
2. Use an immersion blender or a potato masher to semipuree the beans in the pot (leave at least half unpureed). **I don’t always do that.
3. Stir in the rice, tomato, and a good amount of salt and pepper. (If you don’t want a crust to develop, cover the pot.) Bake in the oven until the rice and beans are tender, about an hour, adding a little water if needed. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with parsley and serve or store, covered(reheat and stir in a little water and olive oil just before serving).

 Mango Salsa

Ingredients

1 mango - peeled, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
¼ red onion, chopped finely
½  fresh jalapeno chile pepper, finely chopped
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

Directions

1.                        In a medium bowl, mix mango, red bell pepper, onion, , jalapeno, lime juice. Cover, and allow to sit at least 30 minutes before serving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Naan

Original Recipe Yield 14 servings

Ingredients

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons salt
4 1/2 cups bread flour
2 teaspoons minced garlic (optional)
1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions

1.                       In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.
2.                       Punch down dough, and knead in garlic. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
3.                       During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat.
4.                       At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.

Venturing into the Unknown World of Eggplant Parmesan

I have never bought or cooked with an eggplant. I am not even sure if I have ever eaten one. I am sure I have, it has just not left an impression upon my mind. So I got one from my bountiful basket and decided to make eggplant parmesan. I bribed Anne into coming over and eating it if she would help me staple my syllabi, which I somehow managed to not to have stapled when I turned them in for copies. She gave the eggplant parmesan rave reviews, and I gave her stapling 2 thumbs up! I made my marinara, adding fresh basil, rosemary and oregano and boiling some fresh tomatoes and peeling them and adding them to canned whole tomatoes and fire roasted diced tomatoes and pureed them all together with the fresh herbs and sauteed onion, garlic, celery, carrots, mushrooms, peppers. I used big slices of mozzarella and plenty of freshly grated parmesan. So FUN!!! Bon Appetite!!

Eggplant Parmesan: Parmigiana di Melanzane

Ingredients

• 2 pounds (about 2 medium-sized) eggplant
• Salt
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup fresh bread crumbs, seasoned with 1/4 chopped fresh basil leaves and 1/4 cup parmesan
• 2 cups marinara sauce
• 1 pound ball fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Wash and towel dry the eggplant. Slice the eggplant horizontally about 1/4-inch thick. Place the slices in a large colander, sprinkle with salt and set aside to rest about 30 minutes. Drain and rinse the eggplant and dry on towels.
In a saute pan, heat the extra-virgin olive oil until just smoking. Press the drained eggplant pieces into the seasoned bread crumb mixture and saute until light golden brown on both sides. Repeat with all of the pieces. On a cookie sheet lay out the 4 largest pieces of eggplant. Place 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce over each piece and place a thin slice of mozzarella on top of each. Sprinkle with Parmigiano and top each with the next smallest piece of eggplant, then sauce then mozzarella. Repeat the layering process until all the ingredients have been used, finishing again with the Parmigiano. Place the pan in the oven and bake until the top of each little stack is golden brown and bubbly, about 15 minutes.

Sara’s Marinara Sauce

3 Tbsp olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

½ onion chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

½ bell pepper chopped

1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes

¼  minced fresh basil (but I often do more…depends on my mood)

½ tsp oregano and thyme

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp sugar

Dash of chili peppers

Cook the oil, onion, bell pepper and garlic in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring often, until fragrant but not browned, about 2 minutes.  Puree tomatoes in a blender. I add the basil in and pulse them a few times in blender.   Add tomatoes to saucepan with garlic.  Bring to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened, 15-20 minutes.

Stir in the sugar and spices.  Season with salt to taste. 

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Bread and Amazing Zucchini Bread

I have the opportunity to bring treats for my new university students. So what better way to welcome them then my best sweet breads. I just keep trying to work the breads as best as possible, making them sweet, moist and popping with flavors. Emphasizing the S in flavors. I have worked hard on creating these, and I think I am finally done messing with them. My favorite secret ingredient for sweet breads...molasses. It brings a richness to breads that just really kicks it up! So hope you will try it!!

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Mix together:

2 cups flour

¾ cup sugar (I use ½ white, ½ brown)

¾ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

In another bowl mix together:

3 very ripe bananas mashed

6 tbs butter melted

2 eggs, beaten

½ sour cream

1 tsp vanilla

1tbsp molasses

Combine dry mix and wet mix, stir in:

1 bag peanut butter baking chips (or chocolate chips)

Topping:

1 Tbsp butter

¼ cup chocolate chips

¾ cup powdered sugar

3 Tbsp chunky peanut butter

Mix together until crumbly.

Pour banana bread batter into greased 9 inch loaf pan.  Add peanut butter/sugar topping to the top.

Cook in 350 degree oven for 55 minutes. 

 Zucchini Bread

Cook Time: 1 Hour Ready In: 1 Hour 40 Minutes
Servings: 24


INGREDIENTS:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon *** I used a 1 1/2 of pumpkin pie spice, 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 eggs

1 tsp molasses
1 cup vegetable oil
2 1/4 cups white sugar *** I used 1 cup white sugar 1 1/4 cup brown sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped walnuts

**topping Demetra sugar sprinkled or brown sugar
DIRECTIONS:
1. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool

Yummy and Easy Together in Broccoli Cheese Soup!

You can probably tell I have an obsession with soups. I like to make one a week, for a healthy, easy, fast meal during the week, when I don't have a lot of time to cook or eat. This one is super easy, and very tasty. It starts off the way most of my meals do...sauteing onion and garlic. My momma always used to tell me and my girlfriends, that to make a husband happy when he came home from work, was to have an onion sauteing, and even if you had no idea what you were going to make, it gave him hope that a meal was forthcoming and he could then go happily off doing other things, and leave you to figure out what was next without input. Whew!!! Awesome run-on sentence...or stream of consciousness in my case :) Of course the cheese is an essential component. I always choose to be the cheese grater/taster...I am really good at testing!! The broccoli is from my bountiful basket. I have a lot of meals to make in the next couple days, I need to use my bountiful basket bounty in fun ways before the week and 12-16 hour work days begin!! woohoo!! So keep eating!!!

Sara’s Broccoli Cheese Soup

1 lg head broccoli cut up

½ cup butter or margarine

1 med onion, chopped

½ cup flour

Salt and pepper to taste

2-cups milk

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup medium Cheddar cheese, grated ( umm....and then add even more, cheese is awesome.)

Cook broccoli pieces in small amount of water.  Sauté onions in butter until transparent. Add flour.  Add milk slowly, stirring continually.  Stir in cheese and blend until smooth.  Slowly blend chicken broth into mixture.  Add broccoli.  Stir to mix well and season to taste.  Simmer about 15 minutes.

Added pictures of my bountiful baskets bounty...because it is pretty.

The Mother of all Gazpacho

I had never even heard of Gazpacho until a few years ago when I had a tomato and pepper garden and no idea what to do with all the tomatoes and peppers.  My mom suggested gazpacho..."cold tomato soup?" I queried incredulously, you have to be kidding.  She wasn't, and being the dutiful...okay, curious daughter that I am, I made it for her, and have made it every summer since.  I base mine off of the America's Test Kitchen recipe, because it is the best.  I like my gazpacho like myself, happily chunky.  Once again I use my favorite secret ingredient, which is not so secret, and ask you to enjoy the Mother of all Gazpacho and party on Garth!

Chunky Gazpacho

(which doesn't have to be chunky if you don't want it to be...all you have to do is blenderize  it! yes I know blenderize is not a word, but slenderize and tenderize are, so I vote for blenderize!!! )

4-5 ripe tomatoes cored and cut into 1/4-inch cubes   

1 large red bell pepper cored, seeded, and cut into slices  then into 1/4-inch cubes  

1 large cucumber peeled and the and  seeded and cut into 1/4-inch cubes

½ small sweet onion 

3 medium cloves  garlic , minced or pressed through a garlic press

1 teaspoons  table salt   

1/3 cup  vinegar, sherry or my personal favorite, red wine vinegar

ground black pepper 

5-6 cups  tomato juice   

1 to 11/2 teaspoon  hot pepper sauce depending on how much spice you like,  my secret ingredient and makes you come back for more, Chipotle Tabasco sauce 

8 ice cubes 

extra-virgin olive oil for serving

**this time I also added on finely chopped celery stalk, finely chopped carrot, and not so finely chopped, but heavily sampled avocado.

**serve with cubed French bread or garlic croutons.

1. Combine the tomatoes, bell pepper, cucumber, onions, garlic, salt, vinegar, and pepper in a large (at least 4-quart) nonreactive bowl. Let stand until the vegetables just begin to release their juices, about 5 minutes. I like to let it sit for even longer, like 10 minutes.  Stir in the tomato juice, hot pepper sauce, if using, and ice cubes. Cover tightly and refrigerate to blend flavors, at least 4 hours and up to 2 days.

2. Adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper and remove and discard any unmelted ice cubes. Serve cold, drizzling each portion with about 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil and topping with the desired garnishes.

Adventures in Pineapple Upside-down Caking and bonus bean dip

Yes, I know caking is not a word...but it worked for this post! :) So as many of you know, I made a pineapple upside down cake on Friday and proceeded to burn myself by losing my thumb positioning on the heavy ceramic pan and it slipping backwards and burning me. Being the glutton for punishment that I am, I decided to try again. This is an easy recipe with a box cake shortcut, that I thought I would share anyway and as an added bonus, I am including for the first hundred readers the Anderson Famous Bean Dip recipe...which isn't really a recipe but a conglomeration of lactose ingredients with a few beans and spice in between. So enjoy and try to not to burn yourself!!

my favorite part... the caramelized nuts...

 so heavenly!

Easy Pineapple Upside-down Cake

1 can sliced pineapple, drained (reserve some of the pineapple juice and replace some of  the water in the cake with pineapple juice)
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup nuts of your choice, halved or chopped
1 box of white or yellow cake mix I look for super moist or pudding in the mix ones (which usually calls for eggs, oil and water)

In a bowl, mix the box cake as directed on the back of the box.

Melt the butter and pour on the bottom of a 9x13 pan, sprinkle the brown sugar over the butter evenly. Add the nuts evenly over the top and add the pineapple in rows on top of the butter/sugar mix. Add the cake mix on top of the pineapple.

Add the cake to the preheated oven (see box for temperature) and cook for time designated on the box.

Take cake out of the oven and using a cookie sheet, flip the cake onto the cookie sheet so that the cake is on the bottom and the pineapple and brown sugar at the top. Using a spoon carefully remove extra sugar and nuts on the bottom of the pan and eat it, making sure it is cooled first.

Yeehaw!

Anderson's Famous Bean Dip

3 cups refried beans or (2 cans of Rosarita's refried beans)
1/2 block of cream cheese
1/2 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
2 Tbsp of bottled jalapenos, pureed with some of the beans or 2 Tbsp of salsa or my personal favorite, 2 tsps of Chipotle Tabasco sauce

In a crock pot or sauce pan, mix in beans, cream cheese, sour cream, 1/2 of the cheese and spice of your choosing. Warm it up on med-low, melting everything slowly and testing often, add more spice and rest of cheese near the end to get some good melting. Serve with chips and enjoy!