A Peach for Your Thoughts?

Our neighbors were skeptical when my dad planted a peach tree in our front yard in Bangor, ME. They didn't think there was any way he would be successful in growing anything edible... the dirt wasn't that good, and let's face it, the climate up there is pretty different from the normal peach climate. Well, my dad is an amazing gardener. He makes dirt (he's an expert composter!) that plants crave and thrive on, and after a visit home this weekend my brother tells me that we now have a beautiful tree covered with juicy peaches... in central Maine!

Even if you don't have your own peach tree, there are loads of peaches at the local farmer's markets and grocery stores, and they're begging to be eaten. I'm usually a peach purist, and just love the velvety goodness of a juicy peach in my paw, but recently I've found some new ideas for peaches that I'm dying to try. Do fresh peach bellinis and peaches wrapped in bacon sound good to you? They do to me!

Emily's Fresh Peach Bellini

Peach Puree Ingredients:
6-8 large, juicy peaches (buy local peaches from your farmer's market for the best results)
1/2 lemon
1/4 c. sugar

Peel and slice the peaches and put them in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until you have a fine puree with no lumps. Squeeze half the lemon (remove all of the seeds first!) into the processor and add the sugar. Pulse again and then have a little taste. Depending on the sweetness or tartness of your peaches, you may need a little less sugar or lemon juice. You should end up with a very peachy, sweet and a little bit tart puree that is perfect for mixing into cocktails.

Combine 1 part peach puree with 3 parts champagne, and give the mixture one stir for good measure. I like adding a little St. Germain liqeur for a different twist, and garnishing with a lemon twist or a slice of peach. Delish!

Pancetta-Wrapped Peaches
Food & Wine Magazine, July 2008

This recipe from Stuart Brozia of San Francisco's Rubicon restaurant can be used as a unique addition to a summer salad, or as a delicious hors d'ouevre.

Ingredients

16 thin slices of pancetta
2 medium freestone peaches—halved, pitted and cut into 8 wedges each
Salt and freshly ground pepper
16 basil leaves
1 tablespoon olive oil
Aged balsamic vinegar, for drizzling

Directions

Place the pancetta slices on a work surface. Position a peach wedge at the edge of each piece of pancetta and place a leaf of basil on top of each one. Season with a little salt and pepper and then roll up the pancetta around the peaches. Heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the peach and pancetta bundles and cook until the pancetta is crispy on brown, flipping every minute or so to make sure they cook evenly. Don't overcrowd your pan and do small batches until all of your peaches are cooked. If you like, drizzle with some good balsamic vinegar before serving.

For more details on this recipe and some other great peach recipe ideas, check out the peach slideshow on the Food & Wine website, like arborio rice pudding with peaches and churros... I can't wait to try that one too!

Mojito Heroes

At this point the mojito trend has made it even to the most distant outposts of society. Not quite trendy in the city anymore, but still popular, every restaurant around is trying to reinvent the cocktail with their own unique twist. Even mango and raspberry mojitos now border on passé, but if you're a mojito-lover, have no fear -- here are a few new variations on mojito that will surely prevent this drink from going the way of the cosmo:

Kumquat Mojito
(from Food and Wine, June 2008)

Ingredients

20 kumquats ( 1/2 pound), halved lengthwise
1 cup mint leaves
One 10-ounce can frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1 3/4 cups white rum
1 quart club soda
1 large lime, cut into wedges

Directions

In a large pitcher, combine the halved kumquats and mint leaves. Using a large wooden spoon, vigorously muddle the mixture. Pour in the juice concentrate, rum and club soda and squeeze in the lime wedges. Fill the pitcher with ice and serve.

Kumquats can be found in the specialty fruits section of most grocery stores, and they are eaten whole -- no peeling necessary. They're delicious on their own, and make beautiful cocktail garnishes as well!

Cherry Mojitos
(Martha Stewart Living, May 2007)

This recipe features vodka, rather than the usual rum.

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups fresh lime juice (about 9 limes)
3 pounds dark cherries, such as Bing, pitted (a cherry pitter isn't necessary, but it makes the process a lot more pleasant!)
1/4 cups black cherry vodka (like Effen Cherry vodka)
1 (750 ml) bottle sparkling water

Directions

Bring sugar and 1 1/4 cups water to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat; let cool completely. (Makes about 2 cups syrup.) Syrup can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 1 month.

Put lime juice into a medium bowl. Halve 2/3 of the cherries; add all cherries to lime juice. Stir in syrup. Refrigerate at least 1 hour (up to overnight). Stir cherry mixture and vodka in a large serving bowl. Fill 12 glasses with ice. Spoon 1/2 cup cherry-vodka mixture into each glass. Top with sparkling water; serve immediately.

Do you have another favorite mojito ingredient? I've tasted watermelon, coconut, green tea and blackberry mojitos and they're all delicious. Pretty much any fruit will work, so try making up your own mojito and please let me know how it turns out!

P.Y.O. Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Nothing kicks off Summer like getting up early in the morning and going to pick your own strawberries. There's something so romantic about gathering the berries, hot and juicy in the morning sunshine, and then bringing them home to make a fluffy shortcake or tart strawberry rhubarb pie.

It was a tradition in my family to get up at 5:00 am on strawberry-season mornings in late June to be among the first pickers in the field. Even in Northern Maine it was a race to get into the fields first and pick the ripest berries -- on those June mornings you might even see "traffic" on the dirt roads to the best berry farms. We'd all come home with berry-stained shirts, but nobody was as much of a berry fiend as my little brother -- he'd plop down in a corner of the field and eat every berry in sight. The farmer made idle threats that she should start weighing him before and after letting him onto the field so she could charge my mom for the difference.

Berry-picking season is just getting started in the Boston area and will last for a couple of weeks, so you have plenty of time to get out to the closest farm and pick your own sun-riped berries. If you can manage to restrain yourself enough and not eat all of your berries on the way home from the farm, try my mom's amazing strawberry rhubarb pie recipe below.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Pastry Dough Ingredients:
1 stick (1/2 cup) plus 1 tablespoon cold butter (no substitute) cut in pieces
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 to 5 tablespoons ice water

Filling Ingredients:
4 cups rhubarb, trimmed and cut in 1/2" chunks
2 cups stemmed, halved strawberries
3/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch

Pie Crust Pastry Directions:
In a food processor whirl the butter, flour, sugar, and salt until you have fine crumbs. Add 4 tablespoons of ice water and whirl. If it does not form a ball, add one more tablespoon of ice water. You may need more or less depending on humidity, so add the water gradually. Do not process any longer than necessary for a tender crust. Roll dough on a heavily floured board to fit your pie plate for one bottom crust and one top crust. Place the crust in a deep dish pie plate and fill.

Filling Directions:
Mix all ingredients and pour into the crust.

Pie Assembly & Baking:
Place the top crust over the filling and pinch the edges of the pie to seal the crusts together. For a shiny, sparkly finish (not necessary, but a good portion of being a true apronista is in the presentation), use a pastry brush to brush on a tablespoon of milk, and then sprinkle with granulated sugar. Protect the crust with a ring of aluminum foil or a crust protector. Place the crust protector over the pie. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes. Remove the pie crust protector and bake another 30 minutes or until the filling is bubbling around the edges and the crust is golden.

Variation:
Instead of using two pastry crusts, substitute the top crust with a buttery streusel topping. We recommend using only 3/4 cups of sugar in the pie filling if you use the streusel crust.

Streusel Topping:
3/4 cups flour
3/4 cups brown sugar
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Add all ingredients to the food processor bowl and whirl to fine crumb. Gently pour over the filling and pat gently. Follow standard recipe baking instructions.

Boston.com recently featured a great list of P.Y.O. berry farms in the Boston area. Check out the list and the recipe, and let me know how your pie(s) turn out!

Sassy Summer Sangrias

There's nothing quite like sipping an icy cold glass of sangria in the summer. A sweet and fruity red wine sangria is certainly delicious, but have you tried making your own white wine sangria? The lighter white wine flavor can take on fruits with brighter flavors, including fruits like peaches, raspberries, mangoes, kiwis and even rhubarb. Here are a few of my favorite white wine sangria recipes. They're not just delicious -- they're sassy!

Strawberry Rhubarb Sangria
(from Blueprint Magazine, Summer '07)

Ingredients:

1 cup granulated sugar
1 whole vanilla bean, halved and scraped
5 stalks rhubarb, 4 coarsely chopped, 1 cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
4 ounces brandy
1 bottle sparkling rose
1 cup red wine
1 tablespoon superfine sugar
2 limes, juiced

In a saucepan, combine granulated sugar, 1 cup water, and the vanilla bean. Simmer until sugar dissolves, turn off heat, and add chopped rhubarb. Cover for 5 minutes. Break up rhubarb with a spoon and set aside for 30 minutes, then strain.

Crush 12 berries into the brandy in a bowl; let sit for 30 minutes. Strain. Combine brandy mixture, rose, red wine, superfine sugar, lime juice, and the rhubarb syrup in a pitcher, and stir in rhubarb slices and rest of strawberries. Serves 6.

(I always leave out the vanilla bean and it's still delicious.)

Sangria Flora
(from Food & Wine Magazine, July 2008)

Ingredients:

One 750-milliliter bottle Sauvignon Blanc
1 1/2 cups St-Germain elderflower liqueur (or elderflower cordial)
1/4 cup Cointreau
6 strawberries, sliced 1/4 inch thick
6 raspberries
2 peaches, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 orange, thinly sliced crosswise
1 pound green and red grapes
Ice

Combine all of the ingredients in a pitcher and let stand at room temperature for 3 hours, or cover and refrigerate overnight. Serve in wineglasses over ice.

Do you have a favorite sangria recipe? Please leave a comment and share your favorite white wine sangria ingredients!