peach

Peachy Peach Cobbler

 

My love for Farmer’s Markets knows no end. I’m serious. Where some girls love the mall, you will find me with my reusable bag in hand, cash in my wallet, at least one child, and sometimes the dog. Oh, and my phone camera is on, because I am enchanted by bins of melons or stacks of radishes. I will be snapping pics as I go. At one point, I had a Farmer’s Market crush on the bread truck man. It could have been the chewy molasses cookies or the almond croissants he sold. I may be that shallow.

Why is a pile of beets or bags of freshly picked greens so alluring? I love the idea of local farmers and artisans selling directly, the camaraderie of the people shopping, supporting organic produce, and the fact that rain or shine, the sky is overhead and you get to know the people from whom you are purchasing your ingredients.

There are days I make Target runs. I also go to my grocery store, often. I have yet to be romanced by an end cap and florescent lighting like I am the vegetable laden table under a tent.

Anyways…this week one of the farmer’s market in my area (yes, I frequent several) had peaches. Fresh, locally grown peaches. White and Yellow. I needed both. The farmer told me not to eat them the day I purchased them, but within two days they would be perfection. They were. Peaches on salad, peaches in oatmeal, peaches next to my sandwich, and yes. Two desserts. I made a Peach Galette and this Peachy Peach Cobbler. Peachy Peach, because I used both white and yellow peaches combined.

When it comes to cobbler I need two things: The fruit has to be cooked down before the topping is added so it is bubbly and beautiful at the same time the topping is finished – AND – the topping can’t be biscuit like, nor crisp like. (We get enough crisp in the fall with apples).

So my dilemma. Can I make a topping that had the best of both worlds? Light like a biscuit and crunchy like a crisp without being so Crumbly and heavy? I tried!

I started the topping like a dough, cutting in butter. I used a quick cook oats so it would absorb moisture and have density but not heavy crunch. And to make it light? A trick where you add Baking Powder and boiling water right at the end. The boiling water and powder fizz up and give the mixture a little bit of puff without making it like a biscuit.

Also, I used light brown sugar to match the peaches and give the topping a little more caramel feel.

Two baking times, pre topping and post topping resulted in the sweet juicy bottom and the perfect texture top to match. If I could change this again (and I will) I would play with the spices. I kept it simple to not overpower the peaches, but part of me wanted more cinnamon.

Serve this warm with the good vanilla ice cream, (or maybe cinnamon ice cream?) and enjoy. It’s really the perfect dessert for the end of August, and hey, now I have room to go buy more peaches at the next farmer’s market.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

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Peachy Peach Cobbler

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Making use of fresh summer peaches with just the right amount of topping. Cobbler topping is right between a biscuit and crisp topping, matching the sweetness of the peaches for a delicious summer dessert!

  • Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients

Scale

Peachy Peach Cobbler

Chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Filling:

  • 6 Cups Peaches (I used a combination of white and yellow peaches)
  • 1/3 Cup Light Brown Sugar
  • 1 tsp Cinnamon
  • Juice of one lemon

 

Crumb Topping:

  • 1 Cup AP Flour
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 Stick (8 TBSP) Butter (grated on box grater or cut into small cubes)
  • 3 TBSP Light Brown Sugar
  • 1 Tsp Vanilla
  • 1 Cup Quick Oats
  • 2 Tsp Baking Powder
  • 2–3 TBSP Boiling Water

Instructions

 

Preheat oven to 350*

Combine filling ingredients and place in baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes until peach filling cook and thicken.

Combine flour, salt, brown sugar. Cut in butter into dry ingredients. Add quick oats and baking powder and combine. Add in vanilla. Add boiling water and stir quickly until mixture is moistened and combined.

Sprinkle crumb topping on top of peaches and return to oven. Bake for another 30-35 minutes. Peach filling should bubble up through the crumble topping. Serve warm!

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Peach Galette

Nothing says, “I am an artisanal baker with a creative flair” like a galette. It’s baking snobbery, really. This elitist freeform pie with beautiful fruit filling bubbling to the surface. It’s ragged edges folded up just so. It brings dessert to a whole new level.

Except, if you have ever tried to roll out and fold a pie crust into a pie plate, then repeat the process over your filling…and pray it is enough…and get the top and bottom to match, then crimp edges, poke holes, etc.  you realize, a galette is really just a lazy man’s shortcut in the pie world.

A galette is actually quite brilliant because it makes a complicated process much easier, and makes you look smarter, and hey, who doesn’t want to be a show off when it comes to a fresh summer fruit dessert?

I saw a recipe on a post from smittenkitchen around the fourth of July for Star-shaped Red and Blue Berry Galettes for Independence Day. So pretty, so perfect…and the pastry dough had RICOTTA?! Say no more.

If there is such a thing as a food-spirit animal, or you’ve been asked what one thing would you bring to eat on a desert island if you could only have one food? It would be a hard question, but for me? Ricotta would win out.

Sure it wouldn’t be easy to keep on a desert island, and it doesn’t pack the nutritional value of broccoli. I’m aware. I also have no intention of being deserted on an island, so stay with me.

When you put ricotta into a crust, along with lemon zest, and fresh butter, it’s literally food porn. This dough rolled out so beautifully, and was flaky, pie crust perfection.

Now, I am a New England Girl- so I say Ga-Lette. Like Gi-llette stadium-yay Pats). I know this is wrong. But if you hear my voice when I am typing it, that’s how I am saying it. (It’s Ga-Lay in real life)

The beauty of a galette (is, you roll out the dough, place on a parchment lined baking sheet, scoop your beautiful filling on top in the center, and carefully fold up the edges.

This is not as difficult as you would think. Two reasons: 1. pinch with your fingers to make the dough go where you want it. You are the boss here.

2. “Bubbly fruit spillage is gross,” said no one ever.

Even if your perfect galette has one corner where the filling has bubbled over and made a fruity mess on the parchment, it kind of adds to the whole “I planned it to make my dessert look more free and artsy.” No one needs to know it was not on purpose.

My other go-to rule is I always pre-cook my filling. I hate HATE runny fruit filling. Such a disappointment. Sad little peaches and a puddle of peachy water. No thanks. It has to have a density to it before it goes in to the dough for me. It can only get better as it bakes. I’ve never pre-cooked my filling and ended up with a jam pie. It just hasn’t happened. So, take the extra step to make sure it turns out to be a hearty filling you can sink your teeth into.

Now, there are two schools on egg wash. Egg wash at the beginning or egg wash at the end. I’m an end times girl. I don’t want a dark brown pie crust and so my egg wash goes on right at the finish line of baking. Maybe 7-10 minutes before your end cooking time, pull the galette out of the oven, brush with egg wash, sprinkle with some sugar, and pop it back in to the oven.

I am going to say this…when you pull this amazing dessert out of the oven, bubbly, peachy, beautiful, you will want to break off just an edge piece to taste. I know. It’s just out there. But remember this, bubbly fruit filling is the same consistency of hot lava. It will burn you. Not that I know this from personal, ahem, experience. Just let it cool for a few.

On this day before I move up to a new age group check box (I hate those), I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate than to share this beautiful summer dessert with you. After all, on my almost birthday, I can be a baking snob elitist, right?

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

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Peach Galette

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Make this beautiful free form tart using the summer’s fresh peaches! No one needs to know this perfect summer dessert is easier than pie!

  • Author: chrissy@mythankfultable.com
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: Dessert

Ingredients

Scale

 

Crust:

  • 2 C AP Flour
  • ½ C Cake Flour
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 4 TBSP Granulated Sugar
  • Zest of 1 Lemon
  • 16 TBSP Cold Butter, Grated
  • 1/2 C Ricotta
  • 3 – 4 TBSP Ice Water

 

Filling:

  • 4 Cups fresh, diced peaches (I used white and yellow)
  • 4 Tbsp Granulated sugar
  • 3 Tbsp Corn Starch
  • ½ tsp cinnamon
  • ½ Lemon (juiced)
  • pinch of salt

 

Egg Wash:

  • One egg, 1 TBSP water – blend

 

 

Instructions

 

For Crust, combine flours, salt, sugar, and zest together. Cut in butter, until mixture resembles sand. Add Ricotta, blend. Add ice water as needed until crust comes together. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.

 

When ready to assemble galette, preheat oven to 400*

 

Place filling ingredients into a non-reactive pan and simmer on medium heat until thickened. Set aside.

 

Roll out crust on floured surface, place on parchment lined baking sheet. Place filling in center of crust dough, then carefully bring up sides of crust over the filling, leaving an open center for the filling to show.

 

Bake for 30 minutes at 400* until golden. I add the egg wash right before the galette is finished, for the final 7 minutes or so, then sprinkle additional sugar on top. You can do egg wash right at the beginning if you desire!

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Sweet and Spicy Peach Carnitas

The beauty of the crockpot is one can throw everything in and walk away for hours, and have a meal ready to go. During the school year, when sports have us running from one practice to another, the crock pot enables us to have a healthy, warm supper in the midst of the busy.

Enter carnitas, a sweet and spicy pulled pork that has potential as is, in a tortilla, on top of a salad. Tender, hitting all of your palette, and versatile.

Something else that works about carnitas is the fact that you can pull it out of the crockpot, refrigerate it or freeze it, and when you are ready for it, place it on a sheet pan in the oven at 350* until it has those crispy edges. This would be a meal I crockpot on Sunday, then serve later on in the week when my creativity has waned.

Sweet and Spicy Peach Carnitas

For this recipe I am using boneless pork butt roast. I am not a fan of trimming or touching raw meat- but for the sake of this recipe, I did try to trim the excess fat off of the roast first, then tried it another time just putting the roast into the crock pot as it was…and essentially I did not notice a change in flavor or consistency. SO, for this gal, from now on the roast will be going in as is.

I made a nest in the bottom of the crock pot of fresh onions, red pepper, a few pepperoncini, and here’s the summer specialness… a local farm fresh diced peach. You can add more if it suits you, the peach texture gets soft and lost into the juices but the flavor adds just that right amount of sweetness.

Place the roast on top of the fresh peach and vegetables, add your spices, and turn that crock pot on. I take the low and slow road with crockpots. So it will cook for at least six hours. When the roast falls apart and is easy to shred, it is done.

At this point, you can either throw the shredded pork into the oven to roast, or refrigerate. I save the peppers and onions to roast along with the meat in the oven, but again, that’s a personal choice.

Now to serve! I love mine with a salad and a fresh cabbage coleslaw to lighten the meal, and my daughter loves hers on a tortilla, with fresh avocado and sour cream. I don’t serve this meal like I would for a taco bar night, the toppings are simple. If I was being really good, I would make a fresh peach salsa to go with this meal.

With Fall closing in (August is like one long Sunday for teachers), I’m thankful for recipes like this, where simple and easy doesn’t mean drive-through or less than stellar suppers.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and as always, thank you for coming to the table!

Chrissy

Printable Recipe

Sweet and Spicy Peach Carnitas

Sweet and Spicy Peach Carnitas

chrissy@mythankfultable.com

Ingredients:

4 Lb. Boneless Pork Butt Roast

1 Onion, sliced

1 Large, ripe peach

1 Red pepper, diced

1 tsp black pepper

1 ½ TBSP Ancho Chili powder

1 Tbsp. Adobo seasoning

Optional:

¼ C Barbecue Sauce of choice

2-3 dashes of hot sauce of choice

 

Directions:

 

Dice red pepper, peach, and slice onion, place in the bottom of the crock pot.

Add Boneless Pork Butt Roast

Cover with spices

Cook on high 4-5 hours and low 6-8 hours or until pork is cooked through and tender

Take roast out of crock pot and shred, using two forks or method of choice.

Refrigerate or freeze

When ready to serve, place shredded pork on cookie sheet and roast in the oven at 350* until warmed through and crispy on edges.

Tomato Summer Salad

Tomato Summer Salad

“Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.”  – Miles Kingston

Typically, this may be true. But THIS salad is not your traditional fruit salad. SO…color me wiser than wise.

In our part of New England, there is this fantastic cafe named Auntie Cathie’s Kitchen. She serves gluten-free pancakes the size of a platter…either filled with fresh blueberries and served with lemon glaze or chocolate chips or peaches…(and if you can eat the whole stack you get a groovy t-shirt). When she makes an omelette, it is light and fluffy and filled with fresh local ingredients. Have I mentioned the cupcakes??? So basically, if I can pick a place to have breakfast, I am there. If you live in western mass, you need to check it out. www.auntiecathies.com

This recipe is loosely based on a recipe she made, I have changed it to suit what is growing in my garden and what I have in my pantry, but essentially it is a summer fruit and vegetable salad that goes well with everything. It’s fantastic as it is for a main dish (It is a standard lunch around here). It is great served over quinoa, or fresh greens, as a side dish, you get the picture. It’s easy, it doesn’t require you to use the oven, and its healthy!!!

Would I have thought to mix peaches and tomatoes together normally? No, but at this time of year, when the tomatoes taste like the sunshine and fresh peaches are available locally, you would not believe how amazing this combination is. Throw in some cucumber slices, blueberries, and some fresh feta, drizzle with a vinaigrette of your choice, you are good to go. I personally love Lemon and Thyme Marinated Feta from Whole Foods, but any Feta will do! Don’t want to add cheese? You do your thing. Like Pete the Cat says, “It’s All Good.”

Thanks so much for coming to the table!

Chrissy

Tomato Summer Salad

Ingredients:

Tomatoes (you can use any beautiful tomato(es) you get your hands on)

1 Cucumber

1 Fresh Peach

1/2-1 C Blueberries

1/2 C Feta cheese

Vinaigrette Dressing:

White Balsamic Vinegar (I use Grapefruit White Balsamic Vinegar from Mainly Drizzle)

Olive Oil

Pink Himalayan Sea Salt – to taste

Fresh Ground Pepper – to taste

 

Directions:

Slice tomatoes and Cucumbers. Cube peach into small chunks. Combine with blueberries and feta cheese. Combine vinaigrette ingredients (I don’t actually measure- I just do two of the vinegar to one oil) Toss and serve!

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Tomato Summer Salad