Before peach season entirely draws to a close, I felt I needed to have at least one peach pie in some shape or form. As we start to enter autumn and pecan season, this pie seemed like a natural bridge for my cravings (and entirely in line with other favorite pies of mine).
There are three major elements to this pie: the crust, the peach filling, and the pecan topping. I fell in love with each and the trio was a great mix. The crust was a pâte sablée (sweet pie dough) made with ground almonds for an assertive, sweet, but nutty flavor and a crisp, crumbly bite. The filling has the sweetness of peaches, accentuated by the tartness and added creaminess of quark (if you’ve never heard of it, it is a kind of cheese. I would compare it to a mix of cream cheese and sour cream as far as texture/flavor), the total combination of… click to read more…
Posted by mike on September 20th, 2009 in Dessert, Fruit, Pie
While I try to have a lot of variety in my cooking, there’s still a ton I haven’t tried. For some reason, German food has been stuck in this category for a long time and I’ve been meaning to remedy this for…just as long a time. Finally though, after hearing mention of beer brats at work, I couldn’t take it any more and decided to try to dress up this comfort food to be more than what most view it as: a glorified hot dog (so don’t go putting bratwurst in hotdog buns! Its better than that!).
This is a simple meal to prepare, and its really big on flavor. The brats are parboiled in a mixture of beer, shallots, and spices (think the sweet but savory, clean flavors of juniper and caraway) before they get crisped up with the smoky flavor of the grill, leaving the beer mixture to reduce to a thick sauce. These are served alongside… click to read more…
Posted by mike on September 8th, 2009 in Barbeque, Fruit, Main course, Mediterranean, Pork, Sauce, Side dish
Just like I get the strong urge to braise everything in the winter, I find myself wanting to preserve everything I encounter during the summer. After enjoying many a peach (and I must confess, I think I prefer Carolina peaches over Georgia peaches…), I vaguely recalled a recipe for peach preserves I had encountered and knew I had to make some for myself while I could still find some amazing local peaches.
My first inclination when it comes to preserves is always jelly or jam, so I thought I’d try to not do that, instead opting for larger chunks of fruit and a looser syrup. Also, while the best preserves tend to be simple (e.g. just fruit + sugar), some pairings are a match made in heaven, and peach + cardamom is such a match. They both offer such a distinct sweet flavor and richly complex perfume…its really something. Its taking me some restraint… click to read more…
Posted by mike on August 21st, 2009 in Dessert, Fruit
Having lived in Florida, I developed an appreciation for Georgia peaches–golden, delicate, deliciously perfumed, sweet, supple peaches. I always buy way too many at a time (a habit of mine with many a fruit) and tend to just wolf them down and make a mess of myself. I was tempted to make a peach pie, but opted for ice cream instead. Despite having posted other ice creams recently, this is actually one of the first things I made after I moved to North Carolina–having an empty freezer just didn’t sit well with me, so I addressed that issue very promptly with some peach ice cream, accented with a handful of other flavors that I thought would complement peach nicely.
I didn’t want to overwhelm the peach flavor, but rather, wanted to enhance it. I chose to do so with two major side kicks: praline (which is caramel + almond + pecan) and ginger. These added a bit… click to read more…
Posted by mike on August 5th, 2009 in Dessert, Fruit, Ice Cream/Sorbet
After having finally tried my hands at making beans the real way rather than from a can, I’ve been meaning to do it again because man oh man were those good. I wanted to do something more than just feature beans as a side dish though, so I decided to try to make them the star of one of my favorite meals: chili. Since this wasn’t going to be loaded up with beef like I’m used to though, I thought I needed to ensure there was still a good amount of protein, so in addition to the beans, I also added some quinoa after seeing the two together.
Now I realize this meal could have gone all vegetarian, but I couldn’t help myself–I live in swine country, so I used a bit of pork for seasoning (some chorizo and fatback) to enrich the flavor of the dish. The result… click to read more…
Posted by mike on July 28th, 2009 in Fruit, Main course, Mexican, Pork, Soup & Stew
Mangoes hold a special place in my house. The only tricky thing is the weekly gamble where you think you have a good looking mango and hold your breath as you cut into it to discover whether or not you actually have a well disguised dud. Much to my delight, I chanced upon some incredible mangoes recently and thought I had to do something with them right away. I’ve done some mango desserts before, and I didn’t want to do more of the everyday kind of mango dishes, so I thought back to something I’d only had once before: mango pie.
I loved the taste when I’d first had it, but there was one thing I didn’t care for (and if you look into mango pie, you’ll find so many of them do the same): they’re gelatinous. Not just a little bit, but to the point where its distracting–as if the pie crust is simply… click to read more…
Posted by mike on July 24th, 2009 in Dessert, Fruit, Pie
