Grilled Peaches

Here is some advice for free: go grill some peaches as soon as humanly possible.

Have you ever been craving a delicious peach pie, but not wanted to go the the extreme lengths of making pastry, slicing peaches etc. etc? Then go grill some peaches.

Definitely just listen to me on this: on your way home from wherever you are right now, pass by a green grocer and buy maybe... 6 of the ripest, but not too ripe peaches (they still need to be able to hold their shape when you slice them in half). 

Then when you arrive home, turn on your BBQ. If you don't have a BBQ, I'm sorry, but you need to turn on your broiler even though its summer (in Vancouver this shouldn't be a problem), or maybe get out your Foreman Grill? Whatever- you need something super hot, like 400 degrees. 

While the BBQ gets nice and hot, slice the peach in half, remove the pits and dip each slice of peach -cut side down -into a plate of sugar. I used white, but I'd like to try brown next time. Don't remove the skin- its a hassle and its important for keeping the peaches from collapsing on the grill.

Place the peach slices face down on the BBQ, close the lid and go whip some cream with mint or vanilla. When you are done whipping the cream, check those peaches. The sugar should caramelize on the peach- they need about 10 to 15 minutes on a hot BBQ. 

I took a picture of Claire taking a picture. What happens before you eat good food when you make a blog together.

Serve warm with whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream. Its the perfect simple summer dessert. It literally tasted like the juicy perfect insides of a peach pie, which is the best part of the pie anyways, right?

We also ate this with a homemade pie that was reheated on the BBQ! And some wine. On a porch in the Okanagan. The Life. I never want summer to end. 

Some pretty girls eating yummy grilled things on a summer evening.

Raspberry Curd Extras

The tasty curd on ice cream

Here are some extra raspberry curd photos, including the one of the fresh curd on the ice cream that Caitlin misplaced! The curd was delicious, but as Caitlin mentioned, we recommend less lemon juice, so that it doesn't taste so much like lemon curd with raspberries but like full on raspberry curd.

Fresh Raspberry puree!The most tedious part was sieving out the seeds, but what a beautiful colour.

Meringue cupcakes

I used my extra curd as  filling for a birthday cake. It was great, as it added extras zing and flavour, and was a nice contrast to the sweet vanilla cake. More on that later!

Hot Eats, Cool Treats

Not, necessarily, together. These are just two simple and delicious recipes I've done recently, which are great for summer. 

Blueberry Crumble

Nothing says summer like a crumble. Fruit crumbles are so straight forward, and of course, best with fresh summer fruit. 

I was at my parents the other night and my mom made delish rhubarb crumble, made with fresh rhubarb, everybody's favourite!

Jan, mixing up a crumble.

 Let's take a closer look, shall we:

 

First chop up your rhubarb (or straberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, apples or any combination of such) and sprinkle with sugar and orange zest (or lemon zest). Let stand to macerate (ie. release their juices!). You can do this in the baking dish, just don't forget to grease it first. 

While the fruit is macerating make the crumble topping. Mix flour, brown sugar, and rolled oats in a bowl. Add a little cinnamon. Then, using your hands, mix in cubed, cold butter, until you have pea sized crumble pieces.

Spread crumble topping evenly over filling and bake until golden brown and/or there are juices bubbling up the sides. Let cool and enjoy!


Flavoured Vodka

Last summer, my friend Stephanie and I decided to try making flavoured vodka with Skittles. It turned out to be really tasty, altough it did take awhile, since you need to wait for the Skittles to dissolve, and then filter the product to get rid of some sediment. 

Lime, Watermelon, Blue Raspberry, Cherry and Grape

This summer we decided to try Jolly Ranchers instead, and it was ridiculously easy, and again, very tasty. 

Now I know this doesn't sound particularly sophisticated, but it was fun and easy. If you were to have friends over you could make some pretty tasty drinks by mixing up some flavours. One idea: watermelon flavour vodka with club soda and muddled mint. Do you have any ideas for the other flavours? Maybe lime vodka for a twist on a Margarita?

If you are curious to try here's how. 
1. Sepearate JR flavours. 
2. Put in bottles.
3. Pour in vodka.
4. Let sit over night.
5. Shake and enjoy. 

We used two of the big bags of JR's and each flavour got about 10 ounces of vodka.

Quaffably Delicious!

Happy Summer!

Raspberry Curd

 

A couple weeks ago I picked another huge bunch of raspberries from my backyard and made raspberry curd. I'm so impressed by the fact that only a few raspberries bushes provided more raspberries than I had time to collect or eat, and that my neighbours got plenty as well. You may still be able to get local raspberries in season, and if you find a good deal I'd really encourage you to make this curd.

Its very tarte and lemony- actually I would reduce the lemon and sugar a bit to let more of the raspberry flavour come through. Claire and I made a double recipe... why?? Turned out to be A LOT. Probably not necessary unless you want to ensure you have curd to eat for many days.

After the curd making process we chilled it and put it on some vanilla ice cream, with more fresh raspberries and enjoyed with a big glass of wine. It was awesome, but I lost the pictures so you will just have to beleive me.

Making a double recipe meant we used 15 egg yolks! An absurd amount of eggs. Which left us with 15 egg whites. What is one to do with 15 egg whites?

The answer seems obvious; the next night Claire returned to my place and we made an absurd amount of merinuge. Claire made these meringue cupcakes and they were so beautiful! So white and fluffy and smooth. We spent hours pipeing them into cupcake tins and so on, only to realize the infamous squeaky oven was out of order. The gas has been shut off at my house- we called Fortis and they said they would have someone there before the night was out! Hurray! We waited. Ate some curd. Watched some So You Think You Can Dance. Waited...Around 10pm Claire gave up and went home. The guy finally arrived at 12:10! The meringues had to wait to be baked until the next morning, since I had to work and needed to get to bed. All this waiting didn't bode well for the sensitive meringues, and they turned to sticky balls of sugar. You can't win them all.

Pouring the raspberry coulis into the curd.

The curd recipe is from Martha Stewart, and you can find it here. 

My notes on this recipe are the following- half the lemon juice content to allow the raspberry to stand out, and reduce the sugar by 1/3 of a cup just for the sake of it. Also, her weird instruction of folding the raspberry coulis into the curd after its off the burner isn't required. You can just whisk it right in and save yourself the hassle! 

Enjoy!

cm and cm

Pickled Zucchini

I joined a Community Supported Agriculture program which means each week I get to pick up a haul of fresh foods directly from a farmer. So far it's been great, but what I should have realized is that I'm now getting twice as much of those things that grow bountifully in my garden - obscene quantities of kale and other greens and of course lots of squash.

If you too find yourself with an over abundance of summer squash a quick pickle will get you out of that pickle (ha!). Also this is delicious- great on toast with cheese, thrown in a salad or just as a snack with charcuterie. I think it would also make you look cool if you brought it to a BBQ, potluck or picnic.


The key is to let the zucs drain over night so they aren't too watery. I sliced them in small rounds this time, but next I want to try using a veggie peeeler to make tangly long strings.

Really enjoyed this this morning on toast with coffee on a cabin porch. Also served as an appy with goat's cheese and crackers, and went over really well.

The recipe is from the wonderful 101 cookbooks here -

Peach Caprese Salad

I have been wanting to post a really great Raspberry Curd that Claire and I made for more than a week now, but I had a very sad mishap with my camera. I think it might be dead forever due to some contact lens solution spilling on it :(... The only upside to this was that I had no choice but to go out and upgrade to an iphone. The camera on it is decent enough to get me through until I can buy a real camera, and it also functions as a phone! I have to say I've had it for two days and its even better than I hoped. I missed my skytrain stop this morning because I was so engrossed.  All these pics were taken on it.

In the meantime here is a quick post about a perfect summer salad that I have been eating for the last 4 nights straight (and for lunch too!). I got the inspiration from Joy's crostini over here. Caprese Salad is something my parents make every summer, and once I tasted this version I couldn't stop eating it. Seriously, the sweet flavour of peaches mingling with the slight acidity of balsamic vinegar and tomatoes, the bright basil and the neutral soft cheese to balance, is off the hook.

My suggestion for the best possible salad, is to get the most ripe and juicy peaches and tomatoes you can find in your store. They make the salad. Don't settle for something too firm, is what I'm saying! You might be skeptical about savoury stuff on a peach (a grind of pepper and a sprinkle of salt) but it works, trust. 

Peach Caprese Salad Recipe:

3 ripe peaches

3 ripe tomatoes

8-10 basil leaves

2 balls of soft boccocini cheese

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

coarse sea salt

pepper

Slice the peaches and tomatoes thinly and lay out on a platter. Chiffonade the basil (ie. roll all the leaves up like a cigar and then slice through). Rip up the soft cheese and sprinkle throughout the salad, then add the basil. Sprinkle the vinegar over top, and top with a healthy amount of sea salt and a grind or two of pepper. Let it sit in its juices for a few minutes, then enjoy! 

Tastes like summer.

I enjoyed it as a side with some great homemade burgers and a glass (or two) of white wine in my garden last night. Weirdly Matt put the salad IN his burger. He said it was good?

Matt put his salad IN his burger. Something to try?

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes

The other day I had a craving for something chocolatey and delicious, so I started thumbing through my friend's cupcake book and came across these. And I knew it was meant to be because I had ALL the ingredients. This. Never. Happens. I'm always out of something or other, or am missing the secret ingredient, in this case stout. But I had it all! Including a homemade stout from a friend. Serendipitous indeed.

Ok, technically I did not have all the ingredients since it is a vegan recipe, so I substituted 1% milk for the soy milk. Hilarious? I think so. 
The recipe was easy and straight forward, mix your wet, your dry and then mix them together. What I really enjoyed is that it has a crumb topping that you sprinkle on before baking, so once they have baked and cooled, they are ready to eat. No icing required. 

Crumb topping, so easy! Just a 1/4 c of flour, cocoa, sugar combined with oil.

Ready for the oven

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes 
from vegan cupcakes take over the world by moskowitz & romero

Ingredients

Crumb Topping
1/4c all-purpose flour
1/4c cocoa powder
1/4c granulated sugar
2 tblsp canola oil

1. Sift together flour, cocoa and sugar. 

2. Slowly drizzle in oil, mixing with a fork, and crumbs will start  to form.

3. Once all oil has been added, toss and stir the crumbs with your fingers, to make as many as possible. (If the mixture is already clumpy before all the oil has been added, don't add it all).

4. Set aside. 

Cupcakes
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp   apple cider vinegar
1 cup plus
2 tblsp all-purpose flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup stout

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup canola oil

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Whisk together milk and vinegar in a large bowl. 
2. In a separate bowl sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix. 
3. Add stout, sugar, oil, and vanilla to milk misture and beat until foamy. 
4. Add dry ingredients to wet in batches and mix. 
5. Pour batter into liners, filling them 3/4 of the way. Sprinkle with crumb topping, so that they rest on top. 
6. Bake 20-22 mins at 350 C, or until a toothpick comes out clean. 
7. Once cooled you can sprinkle with confections sugar for extra pizazz, or eat as is.