summertime, 3

One of the best things about summer is the abundance of amazing peaches. Oh wait, I said that in the last post.

peach "pies"
I was browsing around online and this really caught my eye because it barely touches the peaches. They're roasted, just till tender, and then set onto pastry. It's a beautiful presentation, and really showcases how great ripe peaches are. No disguising, no gelatin, just yummy peaches and fresh cream.

INGREDIENTS
Pastry Rounds
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
- Pinch of kosher salt
- 1 stick (4 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 2 tablespoons ice water

Filling
- 4 large peaches (about 6 ounces each), sliced 1/2 inch thick
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar, plus more for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS
1. Make the pastry rounds: In a food processor, pulse the flour with the sugar and salt. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Drizzle the water over the mixture and pulse just until a dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat it into a disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

2. Preheat the oven to 425°. Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces. Working with 1 piece at a time and keeping the rest refrigerated, roll the dough between 2 sheets of wax paper into a 4-inch round. Refrigerate the pastry round and repeat with the remaining dough.

3. Arrange the pastry rounds on a baking sheet and bake about 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Transfer to a rack and let cool.

4. Make the filling: Butter a large rimmed baking sheet. Spread the peaches on the sheet and sprinkle with the granulated sugar. Roast for 15 minutes, or until the peaches are soft and slightly browned at the edges; let cool.

5. In a medium bowl, beat the heavy cream with the 1 tablespoon of confectioners' sugar until soft peaks form. Place 4 of the pastry rounds on plates. Top them with half of the peaches and half of the whipped cream. Lay a second pastry round on the cream and top with the remaining peaches and whipped cream. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar and serve immediately.
Recipe by Eric Moshier from Food & Wine magazine, July 2002

vanilla

My friend sent me some vanilla beans from Hawaii. What better way to showcase than to make some vanilla ice cream.

vanilla ice cream with chocolate chip cookies
This may have been a little too creamy. I know, is there really such thing? But the mouthfeel was a little too rich, like it coated your mouth with a film. It was a 2/1 ratio of cream to milk, so maybe next time I'll do half and half. I had some chocolate chip cookie dough in the freezer, so I baked some up to eat with the ice cream. Very yummy!
[ice cream: cream, milk, sugar, vanilla beans; cookies: butter, sugar, brown sugar, flour, chocolate chips, vanilla, baking powder, salt]

baking disaster

D insists that I share all my cooking disasters as well. This one is up there with the awful waffles.

jelly roll
I had signed up to do some recipe testing for Cook's Illustrated. With the way I made it, it's not going to make the cut. I wonder what other recipe testers ended up with. I thought it would be easier than it was, and the whole thing was so overly sweet, I couldn't really eat it. D managed to eat most of it himself, although I was going to throw it away.

sushi feast

After a weekend of cooking (short ribs for mom & dad's dinner party, brunch for some friends - sorry, no pics of either ones of these, all repeats anyway) we were having some friends over for dinner and I didn't want to cook anything. Slicing fish didn't count, so we assembled this sushi feast.

sushi
I love raw fish. I was quite pleased with how well the halibut turned out. I did it more crudo-style, with olive oil, lemon juice, and sea salt. I also prefer the Korean style of nori. It's brushed with oil and sea salt and toasted. Very tasty.
[salmon, yellowtail, halibut, spicy tuna, unagi, avocados, radish sprouts, cucumber, masago; sushi rice, nori]

peach cobbler
L brought this for dessert. Not a traditional pairing with sushi, but tasty nonetheless. Very, very buttery crust.