Peaches

Peaches, originally uploaded by elskermeg.

What’s better than eating fresh, sweet, peaches over the kitchen sink with juice dribbling down your chin? Maybe nothing. Or maybe, some peach cobbler fresh out of the oven served warm on top of your favorite vanilla ice cream.

A couple of years ago, I discovered something simple that changed the way I cooked. Fresh grated nutmeg. Maybe I’m one of the few who hadn’t caught on to this simple trick but I’m putting the word out, just in case there are others who haven’t been converted! Not only does fresh grated nutmeg make a world of difference in your desserts (i.e. Peach Cobbler), it will turn your ordinary béchamel sauce into something unforgettable. Try it with spinach, egg dishes, French toast; you’ll see what I mean.

With all the special gadgets dedicated to grating nutmeg, you think that it was a difficult task! I’ve seen everything from “professional quality” microplane graters to cute, miniature graters to store in your spice cabinet. You can even find antique silver nutmeg graters. But I’ve found that I get by just fine by grating it on the side of my cheapo, very untrendy box grater (you know, the side that will rip the skin right off your knuckles, if you’re not careful!). It works just fine and you really don’t have to apply much pressure.

Well all this talk about nutmeg really is leading us back to peach cobbler, I promise! I discovered that fresh grated nutmeg tastes wonderful with fresh peaches in my favorite dessert. You can use this recipe or you can stick with your old standby cobbler recipe but just try it once with a few dashes of fresh nutmeg and see if you’ll ever want it any other way!

Fresh Peach Cobbler

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Filling:
4 C. sliced fresh peaches
1/3 C. brown sugar
fresh grated nutmeg
1 T. flour
Pinch of salt (optional)

Topping*:
1 C. all-purpose flour
1/4 C. sugar
1 t. baking powder
Pinch of salt (optional)
3 T. cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 beaten egg
3 T. milk

In a medium bowl, mix together peaches, sugar, flour, a couple dashes of fresh grated nutmeg, and salt (if using); set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt (if using). Add butter and cut in with pastry blender, two knives or rub butter into flour with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Beat the egg and milk together then add all at once to the flour mixture. Stir just until combined–don’t overmix!

Pour peach mixture into a small baking dish (8”x8”x2”). Drop topping mixture by large spoonfuls over the top of the peaches.

Bake for 30 minutes in a preheated 375 degree oven. Topping is done when golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Serve warm with ice cream and then eat the rest cold for breakfast!

* The topping part of the above recipe comes from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book.

Gelatomania!

Gelati, originally uploaded by elskermeg.

During our trip to Rome, Florence, Siena and Venice, we had the opportunity to sample many, many, many types of gelato. The combination of the miserable heat and abundance of gelato shops meant that we averaged 2 to 3 “gelato breaks” a day. At some point during the trip, I decided to start taking photographs in an attempt to document our favorite flavor combinations. The winner out of this set was the chocolate and coconut (far right). Some of the other combinations to be seen in this collage are (left to right): apricot /rice pudding, blueberry/yogurt, and chocolate/pistachio (pistachio is always a good bet in Sicily but the bright green color of this one means that they probably added artificial color and flavor). The key to finding good gelato when traveling is to look for a sign that says “produzione propria,” meaning it’s made on the premises.

Although the gelato in Florence is supposed to be the best, I’ve found that the gelato in Sicily is just as good and in many cases better than the gelato up north (like many things here). One exception was the gelato we had at Vivoli in Florence. It might be overrated (all the guidbooks point tourists there), but the rice-flavored (riso) gelato that we all tried was an experience I’ll never forget! If you love rice pudding, this is the gelato for you! If not, stay away from it because it is actually filled with grains of rice, just like the pudding. It took a minute to get past the strange texture of frozen, cooked rice but once I did, I enjoyed it more than any other we tasted. I tried the riso with fragola (strawberry) at the suggestion of the woman behind the counter. It was good but I wish I had stuck with a full cup of riso (they don’t offer cones at Vivoli). I did see some “riso” flavored gelato when we were in Siena (top photo, far left) but it didn’t have rice in it and the flavor was horrible.

 

Pear

 

pear season they say

does not begin til august

but how could i wait

 

Cheese Enchiladas

Cheese Enchiladas, originally uploaded by elskermeg.

I didn’t feel like defrosting any meat so I made up a quick enchilada sauce from ingredients I had on hand and filled some corn tortillas with a combination of sharp cheddar and monterey jack cheeses. Ready to go in about 30 minutes and the house smells great!

I’ve been craving enchiladas ever since I saw the recipe and photo for Enchiladas Chipotle over at Gardenpath. I didn’t have all the ingredients for that recipe so I made up my own with the ingredients I did have. I did use some ground chipotle chiles in addition to my regular chili powder. If you use a lot of chili powder, I really suggest trying some from The Spice House. I have the medium strength and it is pretty spicy so I wouldn’t start out with the “hot” unless you really like some heat! I think the prices are very reasonable…probably less expensive than supermarket prices in many cases. Their Web site also has a great forum where you can ask the employees any spice-related questions and they can usually come up with an answer.

Here’s how I made the sauce:

2 T. olive oil
2 T. butter
2 T. flour
2 T. chili powder (part of this was chipotle chili powder)
1/2 t. cumin
1/2 t. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 C. water
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. brown sugar
1/8 t. cinnamon
——————————–

In a small bowl mix together flour, chili powder, cumin, and cocoa powder. Heat oil and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add flour mixture and cook, stirring, for about a minute. Whisk in 2 cups of water and tomato sauce, making sure there are no lumps. Add salt, garlic powder, brown sugar and cinnamon and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Taste and correct seasonings as desired.

I’m typing this from memory so hopefully I included all the ingredients! This recipe is based on the Ten Minute Enchilada Sauce recipe I found on allrecipes.com

For the enchiladas I used corn tortillas. My tortillas were a little stale so I steamed them by placing a splatter shield over a pot of boiling water and laying the tortillas on top for a few seconds until they were pliable. I then dipped the tortillas in some sauce, filled with cheese and placed in the baking dish. After the baking dish was filled, I poured on some extra sauce and sprinkled some cheese and black olives over the top. Normally I would also include some beef, shredded chicken or shredded turkey in the enchiladas and maybe some green chiles.

Homemade Sloppy Joes

Homemade Sloppy Joes, originally uploaded by elskermeg.

I loved sloppy joes as a kid but I don’t know if my mom made them from the canned sauce, a sauce packet or from scratch. I tried the canned stuff once and it was awful! I’ve tried making up recipes a couple of times with mild success but they just didn’t taste right to me. So, I gave up and didn’t think much about it for the last year or two. But recently I’ve run across a couple of homemade sloppy joe recipes that made me want to try again! The first was at Something So Clever. The photo is what made me start craving them again! Then I ran across another recipe in Real Simple’s cookbook. I don’t own the book but was able to browse through it online and saw the recipe. This recipe is loosely based on the Real Simple version but I added ketchup and brown to sweeten it up a little bit.

Homemade Sloppy Joes

1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 T. Olive Oil
1 pound ground beef
2 t. chili powder
1 t. ground cumin
1/8 t. cinnamon
1/8 t. freshly ground black pepper
1 t. kosher salt
1 small can tomato paste
1 T. brown sugar
1/4 C. ketchup
1/2 C. water

Saute onions, peppers and garlic in olive oil until softened. Add ground beef and cook until no longer pink. Drain fat. Add all other ingredients to the ground beef mixture and cook, stirring, over low heat for a few minutes until thickened. Add more water if it gets too thick.

Serve in hamburger buns and try not to make a mess!

Yield: Four Servings

Mini cherry cheesecakes

 

Mini cherry cheesecakes, originally uploaded by elskermeg.

Today I finally decided to try out the mini cheesecake pan that I got on clearance from Crate and Barrel a while back. It came with a recipe, so I decided to try that before trying anything fancy. I did use a graham cracker crust rather than the one using ground nuts that they suggested. They were really easy to make and every single one of them turned out perfect (which doesn’t happen too often around here).

 

For this recipe you will need a mini cheesecake pan

Cherry Cheese Tarts

1 eight oz. package cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
1/4 C. sugar

Crust:
1 C. graham cracker crumbs
2 T. brown sugar
1/3 stick melted butter

Topping: Canned cherry pie filling (or whatever you prefer)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Blend cream cheese, egg, vanilla and sugar together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter until well combined. Divide mixture evenly between the 12 cups. Press crumbs on bottom and 1/3 up sides of each cup. Spoon cream cheese mixture into each cup (they will only be half filled).

Bake for 14 minutes. Remove from oven and place on rack to cool for 20 minutes. Carefully remove cheesecakes from pan and let cool completely. Top with cherries and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Enjoy!

Cracked Wheat Bread

Back to the bread! I have had a couple of (undocumented) unfortunate breadmaking experiences lately so today I decided to go back to basics and make some good sandwich bread. I started a sponge for some sourdough tomorrow and hopefully it will work out. Last week I had my first really bad experience with sourdough and had to throw the dough out but I’m determined to keep trying until I can reproduce the last good loaves I baked.

Grilled Corn, Mango and Avocado Salsa

I have been so busy with school that I haven’t had much time to post anything on here. But I made this Grilled corn, mango and Avocado salsa last night and it was so good, I had to share it! I came close to eating almost all of it myself. This recipe is from the article I mentioned in my previous post. I didn’t have any red peppers so that’s why it’s missing some color (I chopped the red onions so fine that you can’t see them). Let me know if you make it and enjoy it!

On another note, I accidentally planted bell peppers this year instead of the hot red Italian peppers I thought I had planted (pepper plants all look the same to me and there was obviously some miscommunication between myself and my Italian pepper plant vendor). So I now have bell peppers coming out of my ears! You can see a few of them in the above photo. I don’t particularly like them raw and I’ve given quite a few of them away but they just keep coming! I made some good beef curry the other night and the bell peppers were a nice addition but I need some other recipes (a good stuffed pepper recipe would be nice!) So, anyone that knows a good way to make use of my bell pepper bounty, please leave a comment with a recipe or a link. Thanks

NPR : What’s in a Name? The Avocado Story

I was checking the latest installment of NPR’s Kitchen Window and found this great little article on the avocado. It includes a few recipes that look good including the Grilled Corn, Mango and Avocado Salsa that I can’t wait to try!

If you are new to this blog and love avocados, here is a previous post with a recipe for Avocado Pie. Another avocado dessert recipe that looks really good can be found here.

If anyone has any interesting avocado recipes that they would like to share with me, please leave a comment with the recipe or a link!

Venice

Some Canal in Venezia, originally uploaded by elskermeg.

All I can say is that if you have never visited Venice, GO NOW!! If you only have a chance to visit one city in Italy, go to Venice. There is so much to see in this country but I don’t think there is anything that compares to Venice anywhere in the world. We were only there for one night and I would trade all of the rest of our trip (Rome, Florence, Siena) for just one more day in Venice.

So, we’re back home now. After a 22 hour train ride from Venice to Catania (No, it was not supposed to take that long!!), we were very happy to come back here and sleep in a real bed. I’m not sure what’s better about traveling, the excitement of starting on an adventure or the relief of coming home to your own bed and shower!

We had a great trip but the middle of summer is the worst time to be traveling through Italy. I’m glad that Penny and Robert were able to see everything but if they hadn’t come to visit, there is no way I would have been wandering through Rome and Florence in July, suffering in the miserable heat and humidity.

We didn’t have too many problems traveling by train although there were a few surprises when it came to our accomadations. The shower in the middle of our room in Rome (minus the bathroom to go around it) was one of them. Apparently private bath does not always include a toilet or the four walls and a door that normally accompany it. It wouldn’t have been a problem if I weren’t sharing a room with my brother-in-law.

And then there was our apartment in Venice that happened to be located in the attic and the ceilings were so low we couldn’t actually stand up straight when we moved around. The stairs to get up to our little hobbit room were more like a ladder and we got to wave to our landlord and his family every time we came and went as we traipsed through their living room. But 115 euros a night doesn’t get you much in Venice! We were in a great little neighborhood and we had A/C so I was more amused than upset at the whole “not being able to stand up straight in our room” thing.

I haven’t organized most of the photos from our trip yet but I’ll be posting more soon. School will be keeping me pretty busy for the next couple of weeks so these posts are still going to be sporadic.