Peach Triffle with Lemon Mousse

This dessert is featured on the last page of the Martha Stewart Living magazine for August 2010. I usually don't like the way triffles look - usually messy and unappetizing but the photo of this triffle looked so good! And because I love lemon curd and whipped cream, the two together with warm peaches sounded perfect!

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1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

4 large egg yolks

1/4 cup dry white wine

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest, plust 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (2 lemons)

Salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into small pieces

3 1/2 pounds stone fruit, such as peaches, nectarines or plums (about 8), halved, pitted, and cut into 1/2-inch wedges - I used white peaches. I peeled most of the skin off because I don't like fuzzy peach skin.

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 loaf homemade or store bought pound or sponge cake, sliced 1/2 inch thick - I used a bakery-bought shortcake

Whisk together 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, the yolks, wine, lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Simmer, stirring until thick, 3-5 minutes.

Strain through a fine sieve into a bowl (I did not do this because I don't have a sieve but it really is needed). Stir in grated zest. Gradually whisk in butter until smooth. Press plastic wrap directly onto surface of curd. Refrigerate until set, about 1 hour or up to 2 days.

Preheat overn to 425 degrees. Toss fruit with remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Roast fruit on a rimmed baking sheet (may need 2 sheets), rotating their positions halfway through, until caramelized and juicy, 15-17 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, with juices. Let cool slightly.

Whisk (I used an electric hand mixer) cream until soft peaks form. Whisk curd to loosen. Working in 3 additions, fold whipped cream into curd.

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Layer a third of the cake in the bottom of a 12-cup bowl, or a footed triffle bowl. Cover with a third of the lemon mousse. Spoon a third of the roasted fruit over lemon mousse. Repeat twice. Refrigerate for 2 hours or up to 1 day.

I did not assemble the entire dessert. I just made two individual servings and then saved the rest to assemble single servings later. This works well too if you're not feeding a crowd!

I used shortcake from the PA Bakery. I am having some cake by itself right now for breakfast and it's very tasty alone!

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Blueberry Cobbler

I have been on a blueberry kick lately and mostly because they were on special at Karns for $1 a pint which is amazing! I am sure the sale is over now so I'm regretting that I didn't fill my cart with them. They were delicious! I made a blueberry cobbler to take to my friend's house on Saturday and was craving even more yesterday so I used a new recipe from The Pioneer Woman (thank you, Rebecca for the cookbook!). I liked it better than the one I made a few days ago. This recipe is more like a gooey cake with a sugary, crispy top.

The recipe is originally for a blackberry cobbler but I just used blueberries instead. And the original recipe called for self rising flour but I changed it because I only had all purpose. But if you have self rising, use it and omit the baking powder and salt.

1 stick butter
1 cup plus 4 tablespoons sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 cups blueberries (1 pint - a little more wouldn't hurt either!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter in a microwavable dish. In a medium bowl, mix together 1 cup sugar, baking powder and salt. Whisk in the milk. Pour in the melted butter and continue to whisk until combined.

Butter a 2 or 3 quart baking dish.

Pour batter into baking dish. Rinse and pat dry the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberries evenly over top of the batter. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of sugar.

Bake for 50 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with 2 more tablespoons of sugar (it can be less if you want). Return to oven and bake for 10 more minutes.



Serve with ice cream or whipped cream. I had neither so I ate mine plain.

This is a different take on a cobbler but I really liked the gooey and crispy textures!

My First Blogiversary celebrated with Blueberry Orange Muffins

This time 365 days ago I sat down to write my first blog post on Hope in the Kitchen. 187 posts later, I am thrilled with the results. I've tried cooking some things I've never cooked before, visited some great restaurants and met some fun people. I hope my writing has been a source of entertainment for you all, if nothing else.

It is my 2010 New Year Resolution to publish more posts. Since I've met Adam, our lives have been so wonderfully busy. And then we added to our little family when we brought Baxter home 6 weeks ago. I just get caught up with the greatness of my friends, family and boyfriend, that I don't make time to cook. I'm going to work harder to spend more time in the kitchen with my trusted (and handsome) assistant and our little (but growing quickly) pup at our feet waiting for scraps to fall (sometimes directly into his mouth).

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I want to do a series on 20 Healthy Foods. I was thinking 20 Foods in 20 Days but then I got to thinking harder, and more realistically, then reconsidered. So this 20 foods project will be featured along with a recipe but it may take more more than 20 days. These 20 Healthy Foods series is inspired by an article in Oprah's January 2010 edition of the O Magazine.

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Today is the first day of 20 Healthy Foods and I am featuring blueberries, which are packet full of wholesome nutrients. Maybe muffins aren't the best way to eat these sweet little bluies, but I couldn't resist the recipe.

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In addition to containing high levels of age defying antioxidants, from O I've learned blueberries contain anthocyanins, a plant compound that may have antidiabetic effects. Also, through new research, blueberry nutrients have showed to protect heart muscle from damage.

So this morning I was feeling extra ambitious and surprisingly woke up at 6 am to make blueberry orange muffins. These rather healthy muffins are less sweet than traditional blueberry muffins and have a rather long and diverse ingredient list. The use of brown sugar makes the sweetness more pleasant than white sugar.

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Adapted from Eating Well.

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 large egg
1 large egg white
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup nonfat plain yogurt
2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest
1/3 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups blueberries (I used Dole frozen blueberries, thawed)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line 12 muffin tin with liners.

Whisk all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl.

Whisk egg, egg white and brown sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Add yogurt, orange zest, orange juice, oil and vanilla; whisk until blended.

Make a well in the dry ingredients; add wet ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. Fold in blueberries.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle tops with granulated sugar. Bake until tops are golden and spring back when touched lightly, 20 minutes - be sure not to overbake because they will get very brown very quickly. Carefully remove muffins from pan and let cool on cooling rack.

Made sure not to let too much of the liquid from the bag of frozen berries into the batter.

Apple Salsa

Last Sunday at my cousin Katherine's baptism luncheon, my Aunt B made a delicious apple salsa with cinnamon and sugar chips. So sweet and refreshing, I had quite a bit of this creation. I was raving to Aunt B about the recipe so she sent it to me. I whipped it up last night and it served as a late night snack and for this morning's breakfast.

This would be a hit at a party (where I first tried it) or served with grilled fish.... or a cheesecake topping.... Lots of options!

Apple Salsa:

2 medium tart apples

1 cup strawberries

2 medium kiwis

1 small orange

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons apple jelly, melted

Cinnamon & Sugar Chips:

8 flour tortillas (7or 8 inches)

1 tablespoon water

¼ cup sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

In a bowl, chop and combine apples, strawberries, and kiwi. Zest orange peel to measure 1 ½ teaspoons and squeeze juice from orange. Add zest and juice to apple mixture. Stir in brown sugar and melted jelly.

For chips, brush tortillas with water, cinnamon, and sugar mixture. Cut each tortilla into 8 wedges. Place in a single layer on un-greased baking sheets. Bake at 400° for 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve with salsa. Makes 4 cups.

Vanilla Baked Peaches and Blueberries

On Saturday night I wanted a light and fruity dessert and came across a recipe for Vanilla Baked Peaches and Blueberries in the John Ash book. I was rushing the peach season and bought 3 peaches at the grocery store. Sadly, they were not very good at all - gritty, not sweet and wouldn't peel even though they were ripe - and one was moldy inside. However, after the 2 non-moldy peaches roasted for awhile, they tasted quite good. I will try this recipe again when we are abundant with peaches later in the summer. I need to learn to work with what's in season, even though these summery fresh fruit recipes are tempting.

I halved the below recipe because there were only two of us and we still had some leftovers for the next day!

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup crisp, light-bodied white wine (I used Chardonnay)

2 3x1/2-inch strips of orange zest

1 small cinnamon stick broken in half (I didn't have sticks so I added 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, which works well too)

1 3-inch vanilla bean or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used extract)

6 large ripe peaches, halved & pitted (I peeled them too because I hate peach skin)

4 small 1-inch sprigs of rosemary, optional (I didn't use but I definitely will when my herb garden is in full swing this summer)

2 cups fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 375 degress. In a small saucepan, combine sugar, wine, zest, cinnamon and vanilla (if using bean, slit and scrape seeds into pan). Over medium heat, bring mixture to a boil, and then reduce the heat and simmer for 2 minutes or so. Remove the pan from the heat.

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Place the peaches cut side up in a baking dish just large enough to hold them in a single layer. Tuck rosemary sprigs, if using, in between the peaches and pour the sugar syrup over them. Bake for 30-35 minutes, basting freqently or until the peaches are cooked through but still maintain their shape. After 20 minutes, you can sprinkle the blueberries around the peaches to let them soften just a little and infuse the peaches and syrup with their flavor. Don't leave the blueberries in for longer than 10 minutes or they'll get mushy. Or you don't have to roast the blueberries at all.

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Spoon the fruits and syrup into bowls and serve warm or at room temperature with creme fraiche, yogurt or ice cream.

We ate our's warm with vanilla ice cream!

RR's Apple Fritters

We had some softening apples that I was going to turn into a crisp or pie but then I got to thinking and that's kind of boring. Not that those desserts aren't delicious; they are and I love them. I just wanted to look for something different to make with apples and I found the answer in a Rachel Ray cookbook:

4 medium sized apples, washed

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 cup Bisquik

3/4 cup water

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Vegetable oil

Core and slice apples into 1/4-inch rings. Place in a bowl and add lemon juice. Coat the rings with the juice to prevent browning.

In a large pot or deep saucepan, add 1-inch of vegetable oil and heat over medium high heat. To test temperature of oil: oil is ready when a 1-inch cube of bread browns nicely in 40 seconds.

In a medium bowl, mix Bisquik, water and nutmeg.

Coat a few rings of apples in Bisquik mix. Place one ring at a time in the hot oil. Let fry 4-5 minutes until brown and the apple is soft. Put fried rings on a paper towel-lined plate to absorb excess oil. You'll have to do a few batches to fry all the apples.

Serve warm, sprinkled with powdered sugar.

You can flip the fritters in the oil to get each side evenly brown but it's not necessary.

These were a yummy treat! Really make sure you sop up as much of the oil as you can with paper towels. These would be good topped with vanilla ice cream too. It's such an easy recipe! I used Gala apples but Rachel recommends golden delicious.

Apple Tarte Tatin

After visiting a friend in Normandy and eating her mom's incredibly delicous apple tart, I knew I had to work on creating something like it myself. This visit was nearly 4 years ago and I haven't tried a French apple tart yet. Since Normandy is famous for it's crepes and tarts and I've been there to try the real things, I thought I would be up to a big challenge to match the perfect taste, which I have now realized I am...

I was going through some of my Aunt's old cookbooks - the ones at the grocery store check out that are 5 1/5x 8 1/2 - and many of the recipes didn't look too appetizing to me. Then I found a Land O Lakes Recipe Collection called From The Market: Fast and Fresh (date unknown but I'm guessing from the '80s), and inside I found a recipe called Caramelized Apple Tarte Tatin. We were having leftovers for dinner but didn't have a dessert, so I thought I'd give a French tarte a try. It was interesting... read on...

Pastry:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cake flour (1/2 cup minus one tablespoon can be used instead of cake flour - what I did)

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup butter

3 tablespoons cold water

Apple Layer:

6 small tart red cooking apples

6 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup sugar

Directions:

In a medium bowl combine flours and 1 tablespoon sugar. Cut in 1/2 cup butter until crumbly (I used my hands). With fork, mix in water just until moistened. Form pastry into ball. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate until firm (1-2 hours).

Core, peel & slice apples into 1/8-inch slices. Keep slices in a bowl of cold water until ready to put in pie plate.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll chilled dough into 12-inch circle; set aside.

Grease sides of a 10-inch quiche pan or pie plate (I used pie plate but wished I had a tart pan to use), then arrange sliced apples in pinwheel form; dot with 6 tablespoons butter. In 2-quart saucepan, cook 1/3 cup sugar over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and forms a caramel syrup (approx. 7 minutes - watch very closely; burns easily). Drizzle over top of apples. Place rolled pastry over apples, tucking edge of pastry into pan to seal. Prick all over top of dough with fork. Bake 30 minutes or until pastry is golden brown. Let cool 15 minutes in pan, then invert onto serving platter; serve warm with whipped cream.

The flour, sugar and butter as I was adding the water.

The pastry right before I wrapped it up and put it in the fridge.

You can see the little recipe book in the background and how the tart is supposed to look!

Slicing the apples. I used empire which are sweet but worked well anyway - may tart was probably sweeter than intended but that's how I like it!

The pastry over the apples right before it goes in the oven.

The tart inverted on a plate. The shell cracked a little in one area because the edges stuck to the pie plate. You could leave the skin on the apples to give it color. Adding cinnamon may give it color too, although it's not typically used in a French tart.

I say to grease the sides of the pan because the portion of the dough I tucked into the plate stuck to the pan and didn't cleanly invert. Also, I had to make the caramel sauce twice because the first time the sugar burnt. The second time I was very cautious and I think I didn't let the sugar get to the correct stage before I poured it over the apples - as soon as the caramel hit the apples, it sizzled and then hardened. It baked up just fine but I think it is intended to let it get to more of a soft ball stage. Either way, it will work. My tart didn't look fancy, but it was very tasty. I need to work on my pinwheel formation. I lost count of how many apples I peeled so I think I just tried to crame too many in there! Once the fall comes around and there are tons of apples available, I'll try again at home where I have a tarte pan. Chez Greg is slowly getting a stocked kitchen but it's a work in progress.

Smoothie Time

I think several people out there have gone through a smoothie phase where you get obsessed with blending yummy fruit drinks (or as Greg calls them, fruit frappés). I was in this phase a few summers ago but just recently I've been thinking about making smoothies more often.

This was my concoction this morning:

• a container of strawberry yogurt
• about 1/2 cup apple juice
• about 5 frozen fresh pineapple chunks
• a sliced frozen banana
• a squeeze of light agave nectar (a little goes a long way)

All into a blender and out comes a sweet drink with a large portion of your daily dairy and fruits.

I decided to experiment with the agave and it gave it a surprisingly sweet tinge, similar but distinctly different than honey.

Whenever our bananas over rippen and we don't have time to make banana bread, we throw the entire banana into the freezer. Then just let it sit for a few minutes to thaw a bit before it's peeled and thrown into the blender (frozen banana is always the base to my smoothies).

Have fun playing with whatever fruits you have in your kitchen! The sky is the limit with combinations. I almost always use yogurt, a frozen banana and orange juice (we just didn't have any this morning).