Peach and Raspberry Pie

Don't actually need another pie recipe, but I finally found some ripe peaches at the market. Usually they are hard as rocks, which I don't find appealing at all. This time they were soft, so I bought six large ones. One I ate for lunch and the other five went into the pie. Unfortunately these 'ripe' peaches were just peaches that had been the rock hard ones and had sat long enough to soften and, in most cases, dry out some in the process. This leaves the peach slices more like sponges in texture than true peaches that have had a chance to ripen at least some on the tree. the good news is that cooking them brings back at least some of the juiciness, so baking them in a pie improves them a lot.

For the crust I used my favorite ready made ReadyCrust from Pillsbury from the market. Sweetie likes it and it's easy, making a pie go together much faster than if I made the crust dough.

The filling was those five peaches, peeled, pit removed, slices and the slices halved. I mixed up some flour, sugar, salt and cornstarch, grated on some freshly gound nutmeg, then sprinkled that mixture over the peaches in their CorningWare bowl. The peaches were mixed using my hands to keep from bruising the slices and to distribute the dry ingredients evenly,

Into the pastry lined pie plate I put about 1/3 of the coated peach slices, then dotted about 6-8 fresh raspberries around, covered them with another 1/3 of the peaches, repeated the raspberry dotting, then finished it off with the rest of the peaches. The top crust went on, the edges of the bottom crust resting on the pie plate rim were moistened with water and the top crust pressed down a bit. This seals the sides to keep the juices in. Top and bottom crusts were rolled under together all around the rim, then fluted. While all this happened, the oven was preheating to 425 degrees F. I painted the top crust and rim with egg white and sprinkled some clear sanding sugar on top for sparkle and a little crunch.

After cutting three slits into the top of the pie, I placed the pie on a pizza sized baking sheet, then into the preheated over for 15 minutes. Even with that short time in the oven, the peaches and the crust smelled wonderful!

Another 25 minutes at 350 degrees F and the pie was done, all golden brown and delicious looking. The filling bubbled a bit in one of the slits so I knew it would need some time to cool before slicing. Unfortunately I didn't share that information with Sweetie, so he cut a couple of slices within about a half hour of the pie coming from the oven...so the filling was very soupy. Still delicious!

Want to make this pie? Follow what I wrote above, and use THIS recipe as a template and all should be well.

XO, Elle

Chocolate Cherry Quince Frangipane Tart

Typically frangipane is an almond cream of sorts that is used as a filling in pie and tarts...and it isn't chocolate. Almond is the usual nut used. Sometimes a different nut is used, often pistachio. A few year I ago I decided to try it with chocolate because chocolate and almond go well together. I tried it with fresh cherries as the fruit and it was delicious. Now that our quince are ripening I decided to try the same tart but with the addition of quince (the pieces of fruit at the outer rim of the tart in the photo above). It's fantastic!

First you partially bake the tart crust and while it's cooling you mix together the frangipane filling. I prepared the fruit earlier. The cherries get halved and the pit removed. The quince are washed, peeled, and cut away from the core, then cut into pieces, mostly wedges. In a small pot a syrup is made by simmering water and sugar, then the quince are added and poached (basically simmered with the lid on the pot) until tender, then cooled. After cooling, you strain the fruit and it's ready for the tart. You can do this a day in advance if you store the fruit pieces in the syrup in the fridge. When you are ready to put the tart together, drain the fruit and pat dry. Use the syrup for something else...maybe over ice cream?

This makes a tender tart with a soft chocolate filling that has texture from the almond flour and this highlights the fruits. Hard to stop at a single piece.

No Quince? Just use all cherries or use all raspberries, or mix the two. I think you want a fruit with a bit of tartness to it but any fruit that goes with chocolate would probably be delicious. Apricots? Nectarines?

Chocolate Almond Fruit Tart
    Elle's recipe
Makes one 9-inch tart

To make the crust: 

Use an already made pie crust, like Pillsbury ReadyCrust or your favorite pie dough for a single crust.

Roll out the dough into a 12-inch diameter circle. Transfer to the tart pan and gently fit the dough into it. Fold the extra hanging over the sides down to make a double crust on the sides. Use your fingers to push the dough into the tart side indents. Use a rolling pin, rolled over the top rim, to clean the top. Gather up any leftover pieces and wrap in plastic wrap, and put in the fridge for patching, if necessary. Prick all over and freeze for at least 30 minutes, but longer is O.K.

 Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Put the rack in the center of the oven.

 Remove tart shell from freezer. Spray a sheet of foil with cooking spray/oil and put, oil side down on the tart, pressing down to mold the foil to the tart shape.

 Bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil carefully and use the back of a spoon to gently press down any puffed crust. If necessary, use the extra dough from the fridge to patch any holes, then bake another few minutes. Let crust cool.

 

Prepare the filling:

 4 tablespoons soft butter or margarine
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons dark cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon espresso powder
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
2 large eggs
3/4 cup almond flour or finely ground almonds

1 1/2 cups fresh fruit ( cherries and poached quince or apricot halves, drained and patted dry, or raspberries, etc.) - about a pint of fruit

 Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

To make the filling:  Beat together the butter, salt, sugar, flour, cocoa, espresso powder, and almond extract.

 Beat in the eggs, then add the almond flour, stirring just to combine.

 

To assemble the tart: Spread the filling in the bottom of the crust.

 Place the fresh fruit, cut if necessary, in rows or a nice pattern on top of the filling, pressing them down gently so the bottom of the fruit is covered.

 Bake the tart in the preheated 350 degree F oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top is puffy and bounces slightly when pressed in the middle. Cool slightly before serving.  

Italian Sausage and Kale Soup

It's going to be hot again next week, but for the last few days it's been in the upper 70s and on Monday night it rained! Fall is coming...my favorite time of year. The sound of the rain on the barn roof was soothing, which was a good thing since I'm still having a reaction to the vaccines taken on Friday. Almost normal today, but have had a headache since Friday, which I'm not equipped to handle well since I rarely have headaches. Anyway, the rain was a lovely thing to hear Monday evening and it also rained on Tuesday in the wee hours, so I didn't need to water my garden.

Today I celebrated the slightly cooler weather by making soup. I love soup, but don't often think to make it. It's pretty easy once you round up the ingredients and this one includes some of those veggies I've been growing in the garden. The amounts are pretty variable, depending on how much you have of things, particularly the veggies. You can use the amount that seems right to you. No veggie garden? You can, of course, use veggies from the farmers market or regular grocery store and celebrate the coming season. I like this way better than putting up Halloween decorations in September!

Italian Sausage and Kale Soup (with lots of other veggies)
Makes a big pot

1/2 - 1 pound Italian Sausage
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped carrots
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup water
2 cans (about 15 oz each) chicken broth or vegetable broth
1 can cannellini (white) beans, rinsed
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 - 1 cup fresh tomatoes, cored and diced
1/2 - 1 cup zucchini, quartered, then sliced 1/2-inch thick slices
1 - 2 cups fresh green beans, snapped into bite sized pieces
2 - 3 cups fresh kale

In a large heavy bottomed pot, brown the Italian sausage in the olive oil. My sausage came as a slab, so I used a spatula to divide it into large chunks and browned them so they were almost like meatballs, but you can break yours up to be smaller if you like. Once browned, remove the sausage as set aside.

If needed, add a little more olive oil, but you may find, as I did, that the sausage gave off enough fat to cook the veggies. Cook the onions over medium-high heat, stirring often, until almost translucent about 3-4 minutes. Add the celery, carrots and garlic and continue cooking another minute or two, making sure not to burn the garlic. Add the cup of water and stir to loosen any brown bits. Add the broth, beans, pepper, oregano and add the sausage back to the pot. Stir to combine and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the diced tomatoes, green beans and kale and stir to combine with the rest of the ingredients in the pot. Cover, turn heat to low and simmer for at least 15 minutes and up to an hour.

Taste and adjust seasonings, if needed. Ladle into soup bowls and serve hot. May be garnished with grated Parmesan cheese if desired.

Truly Tomato Time

Every year we wait for the harvest, especially the tomato harvest. I start the seeds indoors some years. Did that this February. I was optimistic that the weather would be good, so I planted seeds for three kinds of tomatoes and three kinds of cherry tomatoes, plus three kinds of summer squash for good measure...or because I'm bonkers. This year I also grew Cucumbers, Golden Beets and two kinds of Green Beans, plus two kinds of potatoes (and I never grew potatoes before...so really bonkers!)

The zucchini were producing by June although only a few. By July we were overrun with zucchini, but the tomatoes were still green. None of the plants had been planted out until later than usual because our spring was long and chilly. Great for enjoying tulips and later iris, but the soil needs to warm up if heat loving plants like squash and tomatoes are going to do well.

Now we have lots and lots of gorgeous heirloom tomatoes! Our favorite is the Black Krim (far left in photo above), which isn't black, but is a darker red than most tomatoes, almost a brown, and there are often bits of pink and bright yellow-green  at the stem end. The flavor is truly tomato and they are big enough to be enjoyed sliced. We often eat them sliced, with a sprinkle of garlic salt and pepper, a drizzle of olive oil and a few dashes of a good balsamic vinegar. Heaven!

Another great tomato this year is the Costeluto, a deeply lobed bright red tomato that is sort of flat-ish. It makes a great slicing tomato, too, and is also great cut into wedges in a salad.

The third one I grew this year is a yellow tomato. I forget the name, but it has a slightly elongated oval shape and a milder tomato flavor. It slices well, too, and is great in cooked dishes where it doesn't overwhelm other flavors.

The cherry tomatoes are variations of yellow/orange, red, and purple-ish sort of striped, round small tomatoes.

All of these are planted near each other, so there has been some cross-pollination. The Costeluto seems to be most susceptible to that. We've had a deeply lobed and large yellow tomato or two, some bright red but round ones and one that was sort of lobed and had the Black Krim color.

Mostly we have been eating these with very little done to them because they taste delightful as is or with just a little balsamic. I did, however, bake a tomato tart tonight that turned out very well, so I'll share the recipe in case you have lots of tomatoes yourself.

Tomato Puff Pastry Tart
Serves 6 - 8 as an appetizer

1 sheet puff pastry... I use Pepperidge Farm, thawed if frozen
2-3 large great-tasting tomatoes
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 small to medium egg
2 tablespoons fresh basil, finely cut or chopped
1/4 cup grated Parmesan...if possible use the real thing (but Costco has a nice container of it)
ground pepper for sprinkling
olive oil for drizzling

On a large piece of parchment that will fit in your sheet pan, roll the puff pastry to a 10 x 14 rectangle.

Turn the edges in an inch on each side, to make a rim. Press down lightly on the rim. Place in the sheet pan and chill while you make the filling.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Thinly slice the tomatoes and place the slices on a sheet of paper towel and let drain while you work with the ricotta.

In a small bowl combine the ricotta, egg, basil and Parmesan. Stir until it is well mixed.

Remove the pastry in it's baking sheet from the fridge. Pour the filling in the middle and use a spatula to spread it until it is close to but not touching the edges of the puff pastry. Make sure it is even.

Place the tomato slices in a pattern on top of the ricotta filling.
Sprinkle lightly with ground pepper. Drizzle lightly with olive oil, being sure to drizzle over the tomato slices and the edge of the pastry.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until the pastry is browned.

Serve at once.