Peach Cake

Two posts in one day? Huh?

Mom and I made a peach cake during lunch today (we work out of their house.) I don't know if I've posted the recipe before, but it's good enough to re-post. This recipe comes from my grandmother on my father's side, and was always a favorite in the Piper household. We only had 3 peaches so we added a few plums and some blueberries, hence the weird spots.


NOTE: About a billion times more appetizing than it looks here.

NANNY PIPER’S PEACH CAKE
ingredients

About 3 lbs. peaches, halved, then cut each 1/2 into 4 slices
Crust:
2-1/4 c. sifted, allpurpose flour
3/8 c. white sugar
2-1/4 tsp. baking powder
3/8 c. butter, softened
2 medium eggs
1/4 c. milk
1-1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Topping:
3/8 c. white sugar
1-1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3/8 cup melted butter

Glaze:
1/2 c. peach preserves
1-1/2 Tablespoon lemon juice


Directions:
Grease 10-1/2" x 15-1/2" baking pan/sheet. Preheat oven to 350.

In medium bowl, sift flour with sugar, baking powder, and salt. With fork or pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

In a small bowl, beat eggs slightly with fork, then add milk and vanilla. Blend well with fork. Add to flour mixture, beating vigorously with fork until stiff - about one minute. The batter will be quite stiff.

Drop spoonfuls of batter onto greased pan. Cover your hands with flour and work the batter into place in the bottom of the pan as you would a tart.

Arrange peaches in rows over batter to cover completely - thin sides down, slightly overlapping. Place any remaining slices between rows.

Spoon/drizzle all topping over fruit.

Bake 35 minutes, or until fruit is tender and pastry is golden.

Remove to wire rack to cool slightly. In a small skillet, over medium heat, mix peach preserves, and lemon juice. Brush over peaches. Cut between rows of fruit into 10 rectangles.

Miss Me?

Greetings from Summer 2008! I can't believe I haven't posted anything here since January. I'll have to do something about that right now!

Well, it's the end of July and we're right in the midst of harvest season in Delaware and the garden is really starting to pump out veggies. We have tomatoes the size of jelly beans (literally) and tomatoes the size of softballs. We have zucchinis that look like zucchinis, and zucchinis that are obviously not zucchinis but some other kind of squash, mis-labeled at the garden store where we bought them. These mystery squashes are the focus of today's post.


In the foreground, you can see two of these mystery squashes, nothing like the zucchini in the background. When I cut them open, moisture just started oozing out of them. I could tell by the smell that they weren't your typical summer squash - they have a faint pumpkin-y smell to them, like a butternut or acorn squash would.

I kind of made this up on the spot, but it was delicous and worth saving and re-making, so I'll try to re-create it here for you now...



Stuffed Squash

4 mystery squash, carved into bowls
1 lb loose sausage
1 medium sweet onion, chopped roughly
about 3 large cloves garlic, minced roughly
2 pouches Uncle Ben's 90-second brown rice (or 16 oz. cooked brown rice)
about 6 plum tomatoes, diced into large chunks
2 packets Goya Sazón with Tomato and Coriander (this was key) or to taste
reduced-fat cheddar cheese (about 2 T. per squash)

Preheat oven to 350. When hot, put carved squash into oven on greased baking sheet. Allow to bake while prepping the filling, at least 20-30 minutes or until soft.

In a large pan, cook sausage, adding onion, garlic, and finally squash. When squash is nearly done, drain oil from pan, then add Sazon, rice and tomatoes, and cook for another minute or two.

Remove squash from oven and sprinkle about 1 Tbsp. cheddar in the bottom. Fill squash as full as possible with sausage filling. Top with 1 Tbsp. cheddar on each squash. Return to oven and cook until cheese melts.

As prepared:
Calories: 5 million
Sodium: Through the roof
Carbs: Yes, have some.

Note: use of turkey sausage or vegetarian sausage-like product will greatly reduce calorie count.

New Year! A Big Mess 'o' Untested Recipes

Happy 2008! I'm hoping that 2008 will bring about lots of changes for me, not least of them being a big change in my bloggings about food. Here's what's bound to happen, sooner or later:

• Healthy food blog and "unhealthy" food blog will no longer be separate
• Food will not be blogged! A website is in the works. Yippee!
• Did someone say "cookbook"?
• More personal recipes, follow-up reviews, and more pix

In the meantime, I've been gathering recipes to try out!

Cubano Pork Chops with Pickle-and-Pepper Relish and Char-Grilled Corn (Rachael Ray 30-min meal)

Grilled Chicken and Eggplant Stacks with Fire-Roasted Tomato Sauce (Rachael Ray 30-min meal)

Pasta Arrabbiata with Eggplant (Rachael Ray 30-min meal)

Parmesan Flats


Also from Rachael Ray Everyday Mag (Feb 2008 issue - recipes not yet listed on website:

• Sun-dried-tomato chicken rollups
• Too-tasty-to-be-good-for-you Cauliflower Mac 'n' Cheese
• Mashed-Potato-stuffed Chicken Breasts
• Little Dumpings (ricotta, cream cheese, parmesan, nutmeg)
• Chickadee wings
• Roasted Garlic Flatbread with Tangy Chutney

Argentinian Chimichurri Steak
alternate chimichurri recipe

BLUE CHEESE & ROASTED RED PEPPER SPREAD

Cheesy Artichoke Tarts

Roasted Beets with Walnut Gorgonzola Dressing

Tom Yam Goong (Vietnamese Prawn Soup)

Moroccan Olive Flatbread

Smokey Black Bean Soup (vegetarian) with Lime Cream







Indian Recipes
Butter Chicken
Daal Gohst (Lamb with Lentils)
Maharashtian Chicken Curry
Cashew Chicken
Roasted Red Lentil Soup
Naan
Vegetable Korma

I have no idea where I found this recipe, but it sounds good:

Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Spinach, Cranberries and Goat Cheese
from David Farnsworth, Dover, NH

Ingredients:
2 whole chicken breasts, boned, skin on
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
1 1/2 cups red wine
2 teaspoons salt, divided
2 teaspoons pepper, divided
4 ounces baby spinach leaves
4 ounces goat cheese
1 jar (13 oz.) hot pepper jelly
4 orange slices
4 sprigs parsley


Directions:
In medium bowl, place cranberries; add wine and set aside. Place
chicken breasts, skin side down, between layers of plastic wrap and
pound to flatten. Sprinkle inside each chicken breast with 1/2
teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Place spinach to cover inside
of breast. Top with 2 tablespoons of the cranberries and 2 ounces of
goat cheese. Cover cranberries and goat cheese with spinach leaves and
fold sides and ends of chicken breast. Repeat with second chicken
breast and sprinkle chicken skin with remaining salt and pepper. Place
chicken in 400 degree F. oven and bake for about 1 hour. While chicken
is cooking, put wine in sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium
heat. Add hot pepper jelly and whisk until blended. Stir in
cranberries and cook until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Slice
chicken, front to back, and arrange on serving dish with cranberry
sauce under and around the chicken. Garnish with orange slices and
parsley. Makes 4 servings.


Tried'n'True Recipes

This one is courtesy of my friend Denise who is a FABULOUS cook:

Carmelized Onion Tartlets

1 1/3 lbs onions, chopped fairly finely
tbsp balsamic vinegar
6 oz blue cheese, gorgonzola or stilton
50g walnut pieces
ready-made one-inch tart shells (frozen section of market for the time-impaired)

Preheat oven to 350

Peel onions and thinly slice. Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in large frying pan. Add onions and fry until softened and lightly browned. Add balsamic, salt and pepper to taste. Cook 5 min til lightly carmelized. Remove from heat.

Scoop by teaspoon into tartlet shells. Sprinkle with cheese and walnuts.

Bake 15-20 min til tartlet shell is golden and cheese is melted.

Optional: Top with dried cranberry

Creme Brulee Cheesecake

I heard that one of my readers found her creme brulee torch, so I thought it was definitely time to post this, my favorite cheesecake recipe EVER. For those of you who don't have a torch, never fear, it can be made using your oven broiler instead.

This cheesecake (my grandmother's recipe) is lighter and more custard-y than many cheesecakes. It also has quite a few less calories. Huzzah!

Crust:
1 c. graham cracker crumbs
1/2 stick butter, melted
2 T. white sugar
dash of nutmeg
dash of cinnamon

Melt butter and mix in dry ingredients. Grease springform pan and press crumb mixture onto bottom, and partly up sides. Set aside.

Filling:
1 lb. neufchatel (reduced calorie) cream cheese, softened
3/4 c. white sugar
1/2 c. skim milk
1/2 c. whole milk
3 Tbsp. flour
4 eggs, separated
1 tsp. vanilla
pinch of salt

Mix cream cheese, sugar, salt and flour and beat very well. Add egg YOLKS, then milk and vanilla. When smooth, gently fold in beaten egg whites.

Turn on oven 5 minutes before baking at 325. Pour cheese mixture into crust. Bake 1 hour. * Leave in oven for one hour more WITH OVEN DOOR OPEN AND OVEN TURNED OFF.

Remove cake. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until completely chilled.

Creme Brulee topping:
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. water

Mix in small bowl to form slightly loose "paste." Spread over top of COLD cheesecake.

Torch: Use creme brulee torch to cook/harden the topping. If using a torch, you may choose to cut the cheesecake into slices, then cover the top AND sides of each slice, and then use the torch, creating a shell of (yum) sugar over the whole slice. Or you can do just the top.

Broiler: Turn oven to broil (high) but leave rack in middle position. Place cheesecake on middle rack and WATCH CAREFULLY until brown sugar mixture caramelizes. Remove from broiler and let sit one minute, until topping hardens, before carefully slicing. Serve with fresh berries.


* To prevent cheesecake from cracking, bake in a water bath: wrap the bottom of your springform pan in aluminum foil and place it in a larger pan with water in it, just halfway up the outside of the springform pan. This will allow the cheesecake to cook more slowly and evenly. Remove foil after completely chilled.