Peach Crumble

It's a good thing there are plenty of ripe peaches for sale, because for the second July Barefoot Bloggers recipe Aggie chose Peach & Blueberry Crumbles, from The Barefoot Contessa at Home. As you can tell, I left out the blueberries. Great recipe - thanks, Aggie!
(pictures coming soon)

Peach Crumble

For the Fruit:
2 lbs firm, ripe peaches (6-8 peaches)
2 tsp grated lemon zest
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup fresh blueberries (1/2 pint)

For the Crumble:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 lb (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Peel peaches with piranha peeler - or if you don't have one:

Immerse the peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until their skins peel off easily. Place them immediately in cold water. Peel.

3. Slice peeled peaches into thick wedges, and place them in a large bowl. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, granulated sugar, and flour. Toss well. Gently mix in the blueberries. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes. Spoon the mixture into ramekins or custard cups.

4. For the topping, combine the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the butter is the size of peas. Rub the mixture with your fingertips until it’s in big crumbles, then sprinkle evenly over the fruit. Place the ramekins on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and bake for 40-45 minutes, until the tops are browned and crisp and the juices are bubbly. Serve warm or at room temperature. If you want to make these early, store the unbaked crumbles int he refrigerator and bake before dinner. Serves 5 to 6.

Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

July's first Barefoot Bloggers recipe is Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes (although I think that is a bad title, because it is really so much more!), chosen by Cat of Delta Whiskey. Check out Cat's blog - not only is she a fellow Barefoot Contessa fan & cook, she's also a proud military wife - so inspiring (and she shares my birthday!). While you're there, tell her she picked out a GREAT recipe - loved this with fresh Cherokee Purple tomatoes from my garden!

Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

1/2 pound fusilli (spirals) pasta (I used brown rice pasta)
Kosher salt
Olive oil
1 pound ripe tomatoes, medium-diced
3/4 cup good black olives, such as kalamata, pitted and diced
1 pound fresh mozzarella, medium-diced
6 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped

For the dressing:
5 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
6 tablespoons good olive oil
1 garlic clove, diced
1 teaspoon capers, drained
2 teaspoons kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 cup packed basil leaves, julienned

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water with a splash of oil to keep it from sticking together. Boil for 12 minutes, or according to the directions on the package. Drain well and allow to cool. Place the pasta in a bowl and add the tomatoes, olives, mozzarella, and chopped sun-dried tomatoes.

For the dressing, combine the sun-dried tomatoes, vinegar, olive oil, garlic, capers, salt, and pepper in a food processor until almost smooth.

Pour the dressing over the pasta, sprinkle with the Parmesan and basil, and toss well.

Banana Ice Cream

A couple weeks ago, bananas were on sale at our local grocery store, and I did what any banana loving person would do . . . bought not two or three - but four bunches. We ate bananas for breakfast and snacks, made two batches of banana bread to freeze and still had one bunch leftover. I also had cream left from making ice cream. Luckily, I stumbled across a recipe for banana ice cream that called for very (very, very!) ripe bananas and cream - and best of all, did not require cooking. Perfect!

The ice cream tastes exactly as you would expect it to - like bananas and cream. It has an unmistakable banana flavor - but when combined with toppings (like chocolate sauce and toffee peanuts) it's not overwhelming. To be absolutely honest, I'm not going to sneaking little bites of this ice cream from the freezer . . . but I think if a few more "banana split" toppings were added it would make a wonderful summer treat!

Banana Ice Cream
2 cups pureed very ripe bananas (4 medium)
1 cup heavy cream
3 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/8 tsp. salt

Stir together banana puree, cream, sugar, vanilla and salt. Let stand for a few minutes; stir again to make sure sugar has dissolved. Chill mixture for 30 minutes. Freeze according to instructions for your ice cream machine. Transfer to an airtight, freezer proof container and freeze until ice cream is hard enough to scoop.
- Recipe adapted from Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich

Coming Soon

A little preview of what I'm working on for Kenzie's Kitchen:

Chocolate cinnamon cake, rum cake, and rustic shortbread tart

Garden Chicken Salad

Potato Salad

Easy Grilled Chicken & Zucchini

Roasted Vegetable Fettuccine

PLUS
Mojito Ice Cream
Banana Ice Cream