Monday, May 27, 2013

Peaches and Dream Pie

Happy Memorial Day!  I hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend with friends and family!

I know it's not quite peach season but the first official weekend of summer has me thinking peaches! This is a recipe I made almost a year ago.  Last summer produced some the best peaches I'd experienced in years. I believe I read somewhere the hot summer produced a sweeter fruit?



 Pie crust and I just don't get along.  So I must confess, the crust for this was a boxed pie crust.   Isn't the color of these peaches just beautiful?  In reading the reviews of this pie, it received more nays than yeahs.  It's much different than what we all expect when we think of pie.  At our house, it was a yeah.  It reminded us of a custard pie. 




Peaches and Dream Pie
Recipe Courtesy of Baked Explorations

Ingredients
1 ball Classic Pie Dough
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon fine salt
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter

 In a medium bowl, whisk the flour,sugar and salt together. In a measuring cup,stir 3/4 cup water with several ice cubes until it is very cold Cut the cold butter into cubes and toss them in the flour mixture to coat. Put the mixture in the bowl of a food processor and pulse in short bursts until the butter pieces are the size of hazelnuts. Pulsing in 4 second bursts, slowly drizzle the ice water into the food processor through the feed tube. As soon as the dough comes together in a ball, stop adding water. Remove the dough from the food processor and divide it in half. Flatten each piece into a disk and wrap each disk first in parchment paper and then in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough until firm, about 1 hour. (The dough can be kept refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3months. Thaw it in the refrigerator before proceeding with your recipe).

 For the Peaches and Dream Filling
10 canned peach halves, or about 2 1/2 cups fresh diced,peeled peaches
 2 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
 2 tablespoons honey
 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
 2 tablespoons all purpose flour

 For the Pie Topping
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter,cut into 1/2 inch pieces

Make the Crust
Dust a work surface with a sprinkling of flour. Roll the dough ball out into a 12 inch round. Transfer the dough to a pie dish and carefully work it into place, folding any overhang under and crimping the edge as you go. Cover the crust in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes.

 Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
 Make the Peaches and Dream Filling Arrange the peach halves cut side up on the bottom of the pie shell or spread the diced fresh peaches in the pie shell. In a medium bowl,whisk together the eggs, sour cream, and honey until they just come together. Sprinkle the mixture with the salt, brown sugar, and flour, and whisk until just combined. Pour the mixture over the peaches. Make the Pie Topping Place the sugar, flour, and butter in a bowl. Use your hand to work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mix looks like coarse sand. Assemble the pie. Sprinkle the pie topping across the filling, and bake for 45 minutes, or until the filling is bubbly (place a sheet pan on the oven rack directly below the pie to catch any filling that bubbles over ). Let the pie cool overnight before serving.

 BAKED NOTES:
At least 90 percent of the peaches and cream recipes that crossed Matt and Renato's path specified the use of canned peaches. Perhaps they were written in an era when fresh peaches were difficult to locate, or perhaps the sugar content of a canned peach was an added plus, but they tested fresh peaches in place of their canned counterparts in several recipes without any problems.

I am linking this to On the Menu Monday and Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday!!!

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Super Smoked Sweet and Spicy Wings

A few weeks ago I shared this recipe for Smoked Mac and Cheese, prepared in Tim's smoker. We are loving this smoker, you can make just about anything in it. The flavors in these wings are a nice combination of smoky, sweet and spicy. You can adjust the sweet and spice to your own taste.



 Super Smoked Sweet and Spicy Wings
 Recipe Courtesy of John McLemore

2 1/2 tablespoons ground black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon seasoned salt
5 pounds chicken wings, rinsed and dried
1 cup honey
 1/2 cup hot barbecue sauce
3 tablespoons apple juice
Suggested wood for smoking Apple wood chips 1. In a small bowl, mix together the black pepper, onion powder, chili powder, garlic powder, and seasoned salt. Place the chicken wings in a large Ziploc bag. Pour in the dry rub and shake to coat the wings well. Marinate for at least 30 minutes (at room temperature) or as long as 24 hours (in the refrigerator). 2. Preheat smoker to 225˚F. Place the wings on the top rack of the smoker and cook for 20 minutes. Turn wings and cook for another 25 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 165˚F. 3. While the wings are cooking, mix the honey, barbecue sauce, and apple juice together in a small saucepan.Cook over medium heat until warmed through. Remove the wings from the smoker and place in a disposable aluminum foil pan. Pour the warm sauce over the wings and toss to coat evenly. Return to smoker on second rack and cook for another 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the smoker and serve immediately.

I am linking this to On The Menu Monday, Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday and Foodie Friday.

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

I love a good muffin. I love sweets and always enjoy a delicious muffin for breakfast. When browsing, Jenny's Cookbook, my assigned blog for Secret Recipe Club this month, I found this recipe for Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins. This recipe was just what I was looking for, a quick recipe using ingredients I had on hand.

These are a moist, delicious muffin with a crunchy top.  A half recipe made 9 good size muffins.



Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
 Recipe Courtesy of Jenny's Cookbook
Makes 18 muffins
Ingredients
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
 3 ripe bananas, mashed 1/2 cup margarine, melted and cooled
1/2 cup 2% milk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla oats and sweetened shredded coconut
 Directions Preheat oven to 350F. Line 1 and 1/2 muffin trays with paper liners (18 muffins). In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients and chocolate chips together. In another bowl, combine bananas, margarine, milk, eggs and vanilla. Add wet mixture to dry mixture and stir until just combined. Use an ice cream scoop (about 1/3 cup) and divide the batter between the paper liners. Sprinkle on some oats and coconut. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire racks.

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Cacio e Pepe with Lemon

We recently finished a five week wine and cheese class at our local Hy Vee store. What a great way to learn about wine and cheese.  It's so interesting to see how tasting the wines and cheese together enhances the flavors of one or both of them.  During the class on "The Kings of Cheese" we tasted one called Grana Padana. Not only did I love the flavor, what a fun name!!! I bought a piece and was looking for a recipe to use it in when I ran across this recipe. Perfect, I also just happened to have a Meyer Lemon from my plant that needed to be used. Cacio means cheese and pepe, pepper. For those of you who enjoy a simple yet delicious pasta, this is for you! If you're looking for a pasta recipe that is easy yet elegant enough for a dinner party, give this one a try.  We'll be having this one again, soon!!!!


 Cacio e Pepe 
Recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart Living

 Ingredients
Coarse salt 8 ounces
Thick spaghetti or bucatini
 1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, softened 3 ounces
Grana Padano cheese, grated (1 cup)
 2 teaspoons freshly cracked pepper (use a mortar and pestle or the coarsest setting on a grinder), plus more for garnish
3/4 ounce Pecorino Romano cheese, grated (1/4 cup)
1 small lemon (preferably Meyer)
High-quality extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Directions
Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Add pasta, and cook until very al dente, about 2 minutes less than called for in package instructions. Reserve 1 cup pasta water before draining.
Transfer pasta to a 12-inch skillet (preferably nonstick). Add butter and 1/2 cup pasta water. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. The heat helps the starch in the water meld with the fat from the butter, which prevents the Grana Padano from becoming stringy in the finished dish.
Reduce heat to low, and mix in Grana Padano and cracked pepper. Grana Padano is softer than Pecorino Romano; it will melt into the buttery water, creating a sauce as the pasta finishes cooking. Toss pasta with tongs to thoroughly coat it with sauce. Keep everything at a gentle simmer just until cheese melts and sauce thickens slightly, about 1 minute.
Remove from heat, then stir in Pecorino Romano. (Always add Pecorino off direct heat; it clumps when cooked.) Zest lemon over the pasta. Any type of lemon will do, but a Meyer is particularly nice in this dish: It's sweeter in flavor and aroma, with back notes of orange and lime.
If pasta looks dry, toss it with a bit more pasta water until it has a glossy coating. Divide between 2 warm bowls. Drizzle each with oil and lemon juice, and garnish with more cracked pepper. Serve immediately.

I am linking this to On The Menu Monday and Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday!!