Georgia Peach Salad

It has been so great to spend a few weeks in the South! Atlanta always welcomes me home with open arms and plenty of seasonal produce. Luckily for me, when my mother picked me up from the airport, she had a backseat full of goods from the farmers market. Okra, squash, eggplant, berries, and to my delight-- Georgia peaches! I decided to make this delicious salad to feature the state fruit. This salad does not really require a recipe, so here are the ingredients: peaches, pecans, feta cheese, greens of your choice, and your favorite vinaigrette. You can make this salad your own using your favorite ingredients. Enjoy y'all!

In Season: Asparagus

Photo: Esteban Cavrico

Asparagus are one of my favorite side dishes and spring vegetables. For a light green accompaniment for proteins, blanch and serve with a spritz of fresh lemon juice. If you are looking for a heartier garniture serve with a poached or fried egg. For more tips, recipes, and ideas, check out my article featuring the irrestistable and very seasonal asapargus over at Serious Eats.

Peach Raspberry Crostata

There is something about the warm weather that ignites a fire inside of me to eat healthier. Winters in New York City are full of heavy pastas, red meat, and lots of red wine. Perhaps trading my winter parka for bare legs and chicly skimpy summer dresses makes it simply mandatory to shed the accumulated solstice padding.

With temperature reaching well into 80's there is no excuse to not take advantage of the delicious fresh fruits that are plentifully in season. Luscious peaches that are absolutely swollen with sweet nectar and raspberries that pucker your cheeks with each pop are the perfect way to celebrate sweet summer.

A crostata is a traditional Italian dessert characterized by hand folded edges and a fruit or marmalade center. The beauty of this tart lies in the encouraged roughness and versatility. You can make crostatas in any size or shape, with whatever fruits you have on hand. This is the ultimate finish to a warm weather meal or excellent to have on hand for breakfast or a snack!

Peach Raspberry Crostata

(Serves 6-8)

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus 1/4 cup

1/4 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick butter, very cold and cubed, plus 2 tablespoons

3 tablespoons iced water

6 medium peaches, thinly sliced

1/2 pint raspberries

1 tablespoon lemon zest

2 tablespoons orange juice

Directions

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Using your fingers, break the butter into the flour and sugar until it is crumbly. Add the water one tablespoon at a time until it comes together.

Turn the dough onto a floured surface and shape into a disk, wrap with plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Meanwhile, combine the 1/4 cup flour and sugar, lemon zest, and toss with the peaches and raspberries in a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate.

Preheat your oven to 450° F.

On a floured surface, roll the dough into a 12-inch circle. Transfer to a baking sheet.

Place the fruit in the center leaving a 2-inch border. Fold the edges of the dough in pleats around the fruit center. Dot the fruit with butter. Bake the crostata for 20 minutes or until the crust is golden and the fruit tender.

Baking With Ease

Photo: ndlabs

Baking can be one of the most rewarding yet frustrating activities. You think you followed the recipe exactly, but the cookies are too hard and the cake didn’t rise. What gives! Well I have compiled some super helpful tip to help you beat the baking blues and you’ll be churning out sweet treats with ease!

The Oven

Be sure that your oven is accurate with a thermometer, then bake cookies at a slightly lower temp.

Turn on your oven 10-15 minutes before you plan to use it to allow time for it to heat to baking temperature.

Uneven heating can be a problem in a gas oven, especially an older one (like I and most New Yorkers have). A good solution to the problem of uneven heating and burned bottoms is to place a pizza stone or a layer of ordinary unglazed clay tiles on the bottom rack of the oven. You can find these tiles at your local home improvement center or hardware store. The tiles will create a buffer between the burner and the baking food items, preventing burned bottoms and lopsided baking.

Preparation

Adding too much flour will make your baked goods tough and dry. Be sure to not overwork the dough; mix just until the flour disappears.

If your cookies seem to come out harder than you’d like, try reducing the flour amount in by 1/4 cup to make the most tender cookies.

Chilling the dough helps softer doughs keep their shape and makes the dough easier to work with.

It's difficult to soften butter properly in a microwave oven. Too often part of the butter melts, which will change the structure of the cookies. Butter and sugar form the basic structure of the cookies-- the sugar cuts small air pockets into the butter, which are stabilized by the flour and filled with carbon dioxide bubbles from the baking powder. Soften butter by letting it stand at room temperature for a couple of hours. You can also grate the butter into a bowl, then it will soften in a few minutes.

Take your time creaming the butter, beat/cream for at least 5 minutes to get lots of air into the butter. Add the sugar and beat/cream really well again.

Baking Vessels

Cake recipes are usually prepared for aluminum pans. If an oven type of glass utensil, or darkened tin, or enameled pan is used for cakes, the oven temperature should be set 25° lower than called for in the recipe. The degree of browning varies with the capacity of the different pan materials to absorb and reflect radiant heat.

The sheet should be 4" smaller than the oven to allow about 2" all around for the circulation of heat. An oversized baking sheet will result in poor top browning and over browning of the bottom. The oversized sheet restricts the flow of heat to the top of the oven.

Fill cake pans no more than 1/2 to 2/3 full to allow for even baking and rising.

Helpful Links

Baking Ingredient Conversion Chart

Metric Conversion Chart

Substitution Chart

I hope that these tips are helpful as you make delicious breads, desserts, and more in your own kitchen!

An Affair To Remember

Photo: Nastassia Lopez

When fellow blogger and dear friend, Nastassia asked if I would want to assist her in catering a fabulous birthday dinner, I of course said YES! What a night! Check out recipes and details here.

In Season: Asparagus

Photo: Flickr

Looking for recipes, tips, and ideas on the now in season asparagus?  Check out my weekly "In Season" article on Serious Eats: HERE! 

Pesce Pomodoro

Sometimes I find that when I really can't think of anything I want for dinner, I realize it is because I am not that hungry.  When this (unusually) occurs, nothing fits the bill better than a nice filet of fish with a few simple ingredients.  However, before you start licking your chops, it is important to make sure that we are always doing our part in fighting ocean depletion. 

Fish populations worldwide are threatened by overfishing, over consumption, pollution, and fishing techniques that are destroying marine ecosystems rapidly.  Scientists predict that if the human race doesn't make a serious effort to protect engangered sea life, major fish species may become extinct as early as 2050.  Yikes!  Luckily, the Monteray Bay Aquarium has developed an easy to use regional sustainable seafood chart that will help us make the most environmentally friendly choices when it comes to seafood. 

With my pocket seafood guide handy, on this particular evening I found some beautiful Pacific halibut filets at my local market.  I decided to grab some vine ripened tomatoes (hello Spring!), a grapefruit, and basil and wing it.  With such simple, fresh, and flavorful ingredients the result was fantastic!  A splash of freshly squeezed grapefruit juice was the perfect suddel zing for this harmonious recipe.  You can use any white fish you like-- I look forward to trying it with tilapia and striped bass!  Enjoy!

 

Pesce Pomodoro

(Serves 3-4)

Ingredients

8 medium ripe tomatoes, quartered

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons sea salt

2 teaspoons cracked pepper

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

4 cloves garlic, 2 minced and 2 smashed

1 handful basil, torn, plus a few whole leaves for garnishing

1/4 cup good parmesan, grated

2 tablespoons butter

1 fish 4-6 ounce white filet per person

1/2 of a grapefruit, juiced with 1 teaspoon zest

Directions

Preheat your oven to 425° F.

In a medium oven-proof glass dish, toss the tomatoes with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 teaspoon of salt and pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic, and basil.  Roast in the oven for 30 minutes on the bottom rack.

After the tomatoes have softened and released their juices, use a fork to lightly mash the roasted ingredients together.  Add the parmesan and mix until melted.  

Reduce your oven to 350° F. and return the tomato sauce.

Season the fish well with the remaining salt and pepper and melt 2 tablespoons of butter and olive oil over medium heat.  Sear the fish on both sides until lightly browned, about 3 minutes per side.  

Squeeze the grapefruit juice and sprinkle the zest overtop the filets and lay the fish with the pan juices in the dish with the tomatoes.  Place a basil leaf on each filet and finish in the oven for about 10 minutes or until the fish is just cooked through.  

This recipe goes beautifully with caramelized leek risotto.