"Mojito" Iced Tea

This recipe for "Mojito" Iced Tea caught my eye when I was reading an article about cold-brew coffees and teas not too long ago.  I was waiting to get some of the components to try it out, but I gave up and substituted instead.  I could not get full-leaf oolong tea, so I used the Tazo China Green Tips, which I think were the only plain green tea we had in the house.  I also didn't measure the mint and lemon balm, which might have thrown it off a little.  Was I supposed to halve that peach?  I don't think so, but it looks pretty, so whatever.

This was a bit bitter on its own, perhaps from being tea and steeping for hours and hours, but it was actually really good in iced tea lemonade (our lemonade used a variation of Martha Stewart's classic lemonade recipe, most notably that we used HALF the sugar and it's still too sweet for us).  I won't make this again anytime soon... maybe when I get the right tea?

Canning: Peaches!

Honey Spiced Peaches
It took me a while to get around to using these, but I thought they were very tasty.  I thinly sliced the wedges and laid them neatly on the raw side of a pancake while the other side was cooking, then flipped them over and let the peaches caramelize a bit and cook into the pancakes.  This was a great use of these peaches and I will definitely be using it again.

Peach Salsa
I was pleased when I popped open a can of peach salsa.  It was pleasantly spicy!  There were also sweet notes from the peach.  I had it with tortilla chips, but I think it would be good over fish or chicken as well (warmed up of course).

Peach Rum Sauce
This is the only canning recipe I got to try that day, as there was almost a full jar left over.  I made it twice - it is SO delicious!  I reduced it like, forever, so it was super thick and the alcohol was mostly gone with only the flavor remaining.  I tried it plain (yum), stirred into plain Greek yogurt (double yum), and on vanilla ice cream, which I didn't care for after a few bites because the vanilla overpowered the flavor of the sauce and conflicted with it in not the best way.  This did make me wonder, though, whether I could stir this into a plain custard ice cream base BEFORE making the ice cream - peach rum ice cream.  Sounds delicious!!!  Later, I used the peach rum sauce as a base for a spicy barbecue-ish sauce with braised chicken breasts.
I looked at both the original recipe in the Ball book and the recipe linked here, and decided to modify the linked recipe slightly by using an extra 1/2 cup of sugar (regular) and only 1 cup of rum.  In the future, I might reduce the sugar slightly, but it was delicious so I'm not sure whether it's necessary.  I ended up making a second batch (1.5 times the original recipe) and leaving it as-is.

Note: I waited to post this entry until I had tried all the products in order to note suggestions for next year.  All of these things were canned in August, except the second batch of Peach Rum Sauce, which was done in September.

Rose Bakery's Classic Pancakes (with a little twist)

The featured cookbook for March and April over at the 101 Cookbooks Library is Breakfast, Lunch, Tea: The Many Little Meals of Rose Bakery.  I was going to sit this one out... until I found a list of the recipes in the book.  Hazelnut Brownies, Ricotta Pancakes, Maple Syrup Scones, Brownie Cheesecake, Raw Muesli, Cheddar Cornmeal Scones, Quinoa and Pepper Salad, Coconut Custard Slices, Honey Granola, Courgette and Millet Risotto, Oat and Coconut Cookies... Within minutes I had ordered it from Amazon.

I was determined to make Sunday morning's breakfast from this book, but being the poor planner that I am, didn't choose a recipe until I woke up and was already hungry for breakfast.  I sprung for the Classic Pancakes, because who doesn't have the ingredients for pancakes, and I decided I would use some thinly-sliced honey-spiced peaches from last summer's peach canning frenzy to sweeten them up.

Right from the start, I decided to make some changes.  First, I used half whole wheat pastry flour.  I can't justify to myself using only all-purpose flour in any recipe when it is so easy to substitute better-for-you whole grains.  Then, as I made the batter, I discovered that I had been moving too slowly, and my melted butter had turned back into tiny little solids after I added the cold milk - I should have mixed it right away, but I was too busy making my coffee.  Oops!  I tried to get them to re-melt but eventually just decided to finish the batter as-is and hope it worked out.  I'm not sure if it worked out the way the recipe intended, but our pancakes came out fine!  The batter was super airy, like the Hazelnut Muffins and Millet Muffins - I think it may have had something to do with the butter, but maybe not.  As a result, though, the pancakes were super thick and did not spread very well.  (This worked out for us later when we went to put the last two pancakes in a rectangular container, and they actually fit pretty well because they hadn't spread to the sides of the round pan!)

While the first side of the pancakes were cooking, I thinly sliced the honey-spiced peaches and laid the slices neatly on the uncooked top side of the pancake.  When I flipped them over, they caramelized a little bit.  It added the perfect amount of sweetness for me.  Although this pancake recipe was good, it was not amazing - and the amount of butter makes it more of a special-occasion recipe.  I probably will not make it again, but only because there are so many other pancake recipes out there to try.

Peach and Blackberry Crisp

I had some peaches from the market sitting on my counter, begging to be used.  I didn't want to eat five peaches at that moment and I have been craving a baked fruity dessert for quite some time now.  I recently saw this peach and blackberry cobbler, which got me thinking that I should use the blackberries in my fridge in this baked dessert.  I didn't want to make a cobbler with a biscuit topping, though - I was looking for more of a crisp/strudel type topping.  I visited a few of my favorite recipe sources online and found this plum and peach crisp recipe, which I had wanted to try last year when I first started cooking.  I decided to use that recipe as a base.  I didn't measure the fruit at all, but stuck with the 1/4 cup of sugar.  I think the tartness of the blackberries definitely needed it.  The "crisp" topping was not exactly crisp - it was more like a chewy oatmeal cookie, which was absolutely delicious!  This was a fun, impromptu dessert (and breakfast!) which can definitely be made again and with other fruit as well.  I think some apples would be delicious in the fall/winter - maybe with some cinnamon - the oatmeal cookie-like topping would go great with apple and cinnamon, and maybe I'll add some walnuts too.  There are so many ideas and flavor profiles to play with here!  (I would be happy to take some suggestions, too.)

Ginger Peach Muffins

I've been waiting to make the Ginger Peach Muffins from Good to the Grain since I first got the book back in March.  When delicious, ripe, juicy peaches started showing up at the markets, I broke out the recipe.

There was some hesitation from my primary taste tester, who doesn't like ginger (but will eat anything I make with it despite that preference).  The recipe includes both fresh ginger, used to saute the peaches, and crystallized ginger, which melts on the inside of the muffin.  The final product, perfectly moist when warm, tasted more like gingerbread than actual ginger - the whole was greater than the sum of the parts.

The peaches were delicious, of course - sliced, sauteed in honey, butter, and ginger, and stuck on top of the batter in the muffin cups.  After the first batch, though, we decided it would be an improvement to also dice some peaches up and mix them into the batter.  This was definitely an improvement upon an otherwise perfect recipe.  I thought it made a difference.

Another note - all of Kim's muffin recipes make weird numbers of muffins, usually 8-10 instead of the standard 12.  After the first batch, I decided I could easily stretch the batter to make 12 muffins, which is good for a number of reasons: 1, it makes more muffins; 2, each muffin is less calories; and 3, they are not ginormous and spilling all over the pan (like the first batch).  I found this to improve the quality of the final product as well and I will do it again next time.

Like every other recipe in Good to the Grain, I will be making this again.  YUM.

 

Peach and Fig Crisp

For my birthday, my mom got me a book called Clean Food. I love reading cookbooks, which is kind of weird. It makes sense to me because I like TV shows but not movies, and I like magazines more than books. I like cookbooks because I can read one recipe at a time if I want. I don't have to remember a plot next time I pick up the book, and I'm not obligated to go back to it later. I also use my cookbooks as a reference when I have something that I have to use (or just really want to use) without any idea what I'm going to do with it.

I had fresh figs from my Nonna and I wanted to make something with them. My mom and sister are perfectly satisfied just eating them right out of the tupperware, but I wanted to MAKE something with them. We were going over Ken's for his birthday and I thought I should bring a dessert. Looking through all my books, I found nothing for fresh figs and I was getting frustrated. I don't like to use the internet for recipes too often, because I can't connect with and develop a trusting relationship with the internet the way I can with a cookbook (and sort of the author). So I finally came across ONE fresh fig recipe in Clean Food. Finally. I was relieved. And lucky for me, it sounded REALLY good - Peach, Fig and Bourbon Crisp.

It turned out not to be too "crisp," but it was tasty. I had a fun time explaining agave nectar to the victims of this experiment (I wouldn't allow it to be counted as a dessert option until I tasted it to make sure it wasn't horrendous) and it turned out to be a pretty big hit. Next time I will try harder to find better peaches (although it is the middle of October, so I shouldn't be looking for peaches at all) but I can't wait to make this again - next year, maybe.

Unfortunately, my camera battery is dead and I cannot find the charger for the life of me, so there is no picture of this little masterpiece. Maybe next year :)

Peachy Fruit Smoothie

I have been craving a smoothie lately and didn't feel like cooking breakfast for myself, so I made up this smoothie. It is peachy and very delicious, although I think it may need a little extra liquid next time, because I am eating it with a spoon.

Ingredients:
1/2 bag frozen sliced peaches
1 frozen (or fresh) banana
6oz. pineapple juice
juice of 1 valencia orange
1 Tbsp ground flax seed

Directions:
1. Put everything in a blender and blend until well mixed. Add more liquid if necessary.

Peach Caprese Salad

I am working from home today so I decided to make myself something interesting for lunch. Based on the success of yesterday's lunch, I wanted to make a more classic caprese salad. But I also wanted to put a twist on it. I decided to add peaches so I could get that different kind of fruit taste that I liked so much yesterday.

Here is my "recipe":
1 1/2 tomatoes, sliced
a few rings of red onion
6-8 basil leaves
a few slices of fresh mozzarella
1 peach, sliced

Directions: Layer on a plate in order of ingredients. Top with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

This salad was pretty delicious. The peach was a nice touch. I would recommend saving the peach for absolute last - drizzle the olive oil and season with salt and pepper, THEN add the peaches on top. It is just a little weird to have your peaches covered with oil and salt and pepper. I will probably be having this again this week if my basil will survive long enough!

Layered Salad

One of the recipes that stood out to me from Food Matters was the Layered Salad. Mark Bittman gives a recipe, but each ingredient line has different choices. So for the bottom layer you would choose tomato or orange, etc. This is his twist on the classic tomato/mozzarella layering which you probably see quite frequently. In this salad there are several layers, and only one of them is cheese, which makes the idea of a layered salad more in line with his plan for "sane" eating - consuming less animal products. I really like this "diet" because you don't have to deny yourself anything; you only have to learn how to enjoy things in moderation.

For this salad, I layered (from bottom to top): oranges, red onions, feta cheese, peaches, and granny smith apples. The dressing (for which he offers a few variations) is lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, and two chopped basil leaves. I made this in a small square tupperware to take with me to work. This is just one of many possible combinations for the salad.

In Food Matters, Mark Bittman suggests spending a little extra time when you have it to do prep work like washing and slicing. This way you always have stuff on hand and ready to go, whether it is for snacking or cooking with. These things will keep in the refrigerator for a few days, or you can freeze them. I should have considered that, because I underestimated how long this salad would take me. I did it while getting ready for work, and it took me at least 20 minutes. (If you know me, you know this threw me into a panic and made me almost miss the train... and you also know I prioritized this salad over my hair, putting work clothes on, etc.) Another negative effect of the time crunch was that the top layer, the apple, was supposed to be either chopped finely or grated. I would have liked to grate the apple, but I unfortunately did not have time and had to put small slices on instead.

The combination of ingredients was surprisingly good. The slight saltiness of the feta, plus the salt and pepper in the dressing and the red onion, gives a different taste to this otherwise being a fruit salad. Next time I would cut everything into smaller pieces to get more variety in each bite. The apple definitely needs to be grated and maybe tossed in the dressing to coat it up with lemon so it doesn't brown. I might also use crumbled feta rather than the slices since it was falling apart with each bite anyway. I would also like to try mint instead of basil - I think that would be a very interesting flavor.

I know it doesn't look too pretty in the picture, since it's in a tupperware and there isn't great lighting, but the mix of colors is beautiful and the red onion especially adds to the aesthetically pleasing dish. This could be a great picnic or barbecue salad.

I also have tomato and mozzarella, so I might try another variation of the salad with the more vegetable-y ingredient choices for tomorrow's lunch. But you don't even really need to follow the recipe to make this - you can easily just make up your own stuff. The idea to keep in mind is that you want the bulk of the salad to come from plants, not animals.