Simple Summer Peach Pie

There is something very therapeutic about going into the kitchen and making a fruit pie from scratch. It's like I'm playing Little House on the Prairie or something.  It's kind of cozy.  Yeah, I know it's the middle of July and I'm running my air conditioner 24/7, but now is the time when peaches are is season.  A warm fruit pie with vanilla ice cream melting over the top is hard to beat in any weather.   Especially when it's Alton Brown's homemade vanilla ice cream.

My husband had bought a huge bag of peaches a couple of weeks ago from a fruit stand and asked me to make him a pie.  The whole baking a pie from scratch might have really sent me over the edge in this sweltering heat if I hadn't had a major step already done and in my freezer--the crust.  I make several pie crusts at a time and freeze them so I can have them ready when the pie notion hits.  I talked about it in this blog post right here.

Here are a few pie notes:

-This pie is not very sweet.  You could definitely increase the sugar to 1 cup if you like it on the sweeter side, which is the way I usually prefer most of my desserts.  For some reason, though, I really liked this not so sweet.  It was a great balance with the ice cream.

-I like using cornstarch in my fruit pies as a thickener instead of flour.  I have better success that way.  Maybe that's just me.

-If you want your pie to slice nicely, you are going to have to let it cool for a good 30-60 minutes.  And if you will not be taking a hundred photographs of it, then go ahead and slice it about 15 minutes after you remove it from the oven.  It will probably fall a part a little, but still be hot enough to melt the ice cream.  Yum.

About the ice cream.  Alton Brown's vanilla ice cream is the bomb.  I love it.  It's so smooth and creamy--the texture is perfect.  Alton really nailed it with this recipe.  I'm not going to retype the recipe here, but I have just a few notes:

-I strain the base through a fine wire mesh strainer.  Anytime I am making a custard I do this. There will be little bits of eggs that have scrambled that will need to be strained out.  I don't care how careful I am when tempering.  It always happens.

-I use 1 cup and 3 tablespoons sugar.  His recipe calls for 9 ounces.  I put in a little extra.

-I can't tell you how important it is to chill your base a good 8 hours or overnight and half the next day before freezing in the ice cream maker.  The texture of the ice cream will be dramatically better than using it at room temperature.  I always make my ice cream bases the day before I freeze them.

-I have made the chocolate version approximately four times already this summer using my beloved dark cocoa powder and the same amount of sugar as the vanilla.  Each time I make it, it's gone in the blink of an eye.  This is the only photographic evidence I have of the chocolate:

It's that good, people. 

Simple Summer Peach Pie

Printable Recipe

5 cups sliced peaches

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter

1 egg

1 tablespoon water

2 unbaked pie crusts

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Stir together the peaches, sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon in a large bowl.  Pour into an unbaked 9-inch pie crust.  Cut butter into small pieces and dot the top of the fruit. 

Roll out the remaining pie crust, cutting out shapes out if desired.  Place on top of pie and crimp edges.  Make slits in top with a knife to let steam escape if not cutting out shapes.

Beat together the egg and water.  Lightly brush the mixture onto the pie crust shapes and around the perimeter of the crust.  Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake for 50-55 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown.  Let cool on wire rack completely before cutting.

Oreo Eton Mess

Eton mess is an English dessert made of whipped cream, fruit, and crushed meringues.  I had strawberries, I had heavy cream, but I had no meringues.  That's when I eyed the Oreos.  Because Oreos and meringues are so closely  related, it totally makes sense to substitute one for the other.

This little dessert is kind of romantic.  I can just picture two people who are in love playfully feeding this to each other.

Did I just type that?

But wait!  Spoon it into a jelly jar and it becomes quirky and fun!  Like for kids!  

I loved this.  With just four ingredients it was fast and easy, and fuss free.  I honestly wasn't expecting it to taste as good as it did.  Just the kind of summer dessert that will make someone feel special.

Now let me go feed this to my husband.

Oreo Eton Mess

Printable Recipe

1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced

5 tablespoons sugar, divided

18 Oreos

2 cups heavy cream, chilled

Place strawberries in a bowl and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar. Stir gently, then let set to macerate for about 10 minutes.

Crush Oreos so that there are some coarse, bigger pieces as well as some fine crumbs.  Place the heavy cream in a bowl and whip on high speed until foamy.  Add 3 tablespoons sugar, then whip to stiff peaks.

Gently fold in strawberries and crushed cookies.  Serve immediately.  Refrigerate any leftovers.

Eggplant Parmesan with Fire Roasted Pasta Sauce

Since I have been working so hard lately freezing tomatoes and all kinds of veggies, I wanted to make a meal where I could really taste the fruits of my labor, and I decided that meal would be Eggplant Parmesan.  I know it's not a summery meal--it's kind of heavy with all the cheese--but a few days ago I was in the mood to make something from the tomatoes I had put up, plus I had a gorgeous eggplant that I needed to use.

I spent quite a bit of time making homemade tomato sauce, boiling pasta, breading and frying eggplant--it was really a beautiful dish in the end.  And I served it with salad and garlic bread cheerfully to my husband who wouldn't even take one bite.  He reminded me that he has stated before that he doesn't like eggplant.  My forty year old brain forgot this little detail.  Apparently, he feels about eggplant how I feel about raisins--that they come from the devil--so I wasn't too upset. 

Oopsie doodle! Wife fail.

So, I whipped him up some sloppy joes straight from the can, because I really know how to bring it to the I-screwed-up-but-here-let-me-fix-everything-right-quick department, and I ate my meal of eggplant parmesan.  But I really felt like it need to be shared, so I gave the rest of it to my daughter and her husband.  They ate it the next night and they liked it so much that my son-in-law actually messaged me with the ultimate compliment,  "That eggplant stuff is fine!"

So if you like eggplant, you will like this.  And if you don't?  Well, then you probably won't.  I followed this recipe from The Southern Living Ultimate Cookbook, but had to make some changes because I had some issues with some of the measurements.

A few notes:

-I love the sauce, especially using fire roasted tomatoes.  To begin with, the sauce looked very, very watery.  I was worried.  But if you'll look at the picture below, you'll see the line where the sauce originally filled the skillet to.  It reduced by well over half, so go ahead and add the full amount of water.

-I had plenty of sauce left for another meal.  I will do Chicken Parmesan soon, so my husband can eat with me.  By the way, the sauce is supposed to freeze well.  We shall see.

-I wanted to serve this over spaghetti noodles , but I only had vermicelli.  I so need to go grocery shopping soon.

-The original recipe (the one in the cookbook that I followed, not the online one) calls for two large eggplants.  I am not sure how they fit all of that into an 11 x 7-inch dish, which is what the recipe called for.  I had one large fresh eggplant and I had thawed out some that I had frozen.  I fried it all up, but I could not fit it all in.  The pan was very, very full.  One eggplant should do ya.

-Place your pan on a baking sheet in case it bubbles over.

-DO NOT forget to salt the eggplant when you're done frying.  Talk about bland if you don't!  Blech!

-The dished above could really have benefited from a sprig of basil or parsley.  Like I said, I need to go grocery shopping in the worst way.

Eggplant Parmesan with Fire Roasted Pasta Sauce

Printable Recipe

3 eggs

3 tablespoons water

1 1/2 cup Italian flavored breadcrumbs

1/4 cup finely shredded parmesan cheese

1 large eggplant, sliced into 1/2-inch slices

Canola oil for frying

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup finely shredded parmesan cheese, divided

2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided

3 cups fire roasted pasta sauce, recipe below

Whisk together the eggs and water in a pie plate.  Combine the breadcrumbs and 1/4 cup parmesan in another pie plate.  Coat the bottom of a heavy skillet with canola oil and heat over medium high heat.  Dip the eggplant slices into the egg mixture, then dredge in the breadcrumb mixture.  Cook eggplant until golden brown, about four minutes, turning once.  Place on a paper towel lined plate to absorb excess oil; season with salt and pepper.  Add more oil between fryings.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray an 11 x 7-inch glass baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.  Place eggplant slices in a single layer on the bottom of baking dish, cutting to fit if necessary.  Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of the parmesan and 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese.  Repeat layers twice, ending with cheese.  Spoon 3 cups tomato sauce over the top; cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes.  Uncover and sprinkle with remaining parmesan and mozzarella cheese.  Bake for ten more minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly, placing under the broiler if desired for golden brown color.  Let stand for 20 minutes before cutting and serving over spaghetti noodles or other pasta.

Fire Roasted Pasta Sauce

Extra virgin olive oil, to coat pan

1 small onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 (14-ounce) cans fire roasted tomatoes, undrained

2 (6-ounce) cans tomato paste

4 cups water

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons dried basil

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Coat the bottom of a large high sided skillet with olive oil and heat over medium-high heat.  Add onions and garlic and cook until tender, stirring often.  Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer, stirring often.  Cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until mixture is reduced by half.  Approximately 6-7 cups.