Rosie Makes A Peach Crisp.

 
 Ahhhh...  Peaches.
Summertime.
Just Ahhhhhhhh...

I've already made peach ice cream.

 And I've made a peach syrup for my waffles.


Now, I'm making a peach crisp.
And it's gonna be good.

 Peach Crisp
 
 For the topping: 

In a food processor, pulse to combine:
⅓ cup flour
⅓ cup sugar
⅓ brown sugar
1 cup oats
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp kosher salt

Add 1 stick unsalted butter, chilled, cut into ¼-inch dice.  Pulse 15 or so times until you have the texture of coarse meal.

Add in 1 cup chopped pecans.  Pulse about 5 times to combine. 

Refrigerate topping while you make the filling.

For the filling:

6 cups sliced peaches

zest and juice of ½ lemon

1/4 cup sugar

1 TB cornstarch

Mix all together.

 Spread the peach mixture evenly in a buttered
 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

 Sprinkle the topping evenly over the peaches.

 Bake in a 350° oven for about 40 minutes, rotating halfway through baking,
covering with foil if the topping gets too dark.  You want it nice and bubbly.
  

 Serve with vanilla ice cream.

 Now, if you want to throw in
some more fruit, say some
strawberries, blueberries,
and blackberries,
feel free to do so.

It only gets better!

Enjoy!

Cornbread Muffins.

As you know, Rosie is always on the lookout for cornbread recipes.
Here's the latest, thanks to America's Test Kitchen.

I was watching America's Test Kitchen the other day and they had this recipe for cornbread muffins.  They used a technique of whisking milk and cornmeal, then nuking and whisking some more, until it got thicker and thicker, with a consistency of polenta.  It's a good technique and one I've since used in making a corn bread pudding with excellent results.

I scribbled the recipe down as I was watching.  Glad I did, since the recipe for cornbread muffins in my "The Complete America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook 2001-2015" is not the same recipe.  Doesn't have that technique.

Here are my scriblings:

Do you need that transcribed for you?
OK.

America's Test Kitchen Cornbread Muffins

For the dry ingredients:
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
1 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 14 tsp salt
Whisk all together.

For the wet ingredients:
1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup cornmeal
Whisk milk and cornmeal until smooth.  Nuke for about a minute.  Whisk.  Nuke again.  Whisk until smooth.  Continue nuking for a minute, then whisking until smooth, for about 10-15 minutes until the mixture gets thick like polenta.
Add in:
1 cup sour cream
1 stick melted, unsalted butter
3 TB sugar
2 eggs, beaten

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients.
Ladle into greased muffin tins.
Bake at 425° for 13 - 17 minutes, rotating halfway through, until nicely browned and a toothpick comes out clean.

Excellent corn muffins!

Perfect with a schmear of butter right out of the oven.
Or sliced and sautéed in butter for breakfast.  With fresh salsa.

Rosie Makes Peach Ice Cream

Mr. Hawthorne and Good Neighbor Zippy drove up to Currituck the other day to get corn.  Besides a bushel of delicious corn, they came back with some of the sweetest, juiciest peaches I've ever had.

Peach ice cream was calling out to me.  And I obliged.

Rosie's Peach Ice Cream
4 egg yolks
2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
1 TB vanilla
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups chopped peaches
2 TB sugar

In a medium sauce pan combine milk, sugars, and vanilla.  Bring just to a boil.

Whip yolks until frothy and lemon-colored.  Temper the yolks by slowly whisking in a cup and then some of the hot milk mixture.  Pour egg mixture back into sauce pan and cook over medium low heat, whisking constantly, until mixture has thickened - about 4-5 minutes.  Chill.

Peel and chop peaches and toss with 2 TB sugar.  Cover and chill.

Drain peach juice into custard mixture.  Stir in heavy cream.  Pour into ice cream maker and process, scraping down the sides as needed.  When ice cream is almost done, stir in chopped peaches.

And enjoy some of the best ice cream ever.

Enjoy the taste of summer!

Rosie Makes Fried Shrimp.

Yep.

This is fried shrimp.

That's how light the batter is.

Rosie's Fried Shrimp

½ lb large shrimp

1 egg white

¼ cup cornstarch

1 TB club soda

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Beat egg white until frothy, not stiff peaks.

Stir in cornstarch and club soda.

Season with ¼ tsp kosher salt and ½ tsp pepper.

Heat an inch or so of peanut oil to 375°.

Drop shrimp in egg white mixture, then drop into hot oil, one at a time.

Do not crowd pan.

After about a minute, turn shrimp over.

Continue cooking maybe 30 seconds and remove from oil, draining on rack.

Please, do not overcook your shrimp.

When I fry shrimp, by the time I put the shrimp in one at a time, it's time to turn them over,

starting with the first shrimp you put in and continuing around.

By the time you've turned them over, it's time to start taking them out, starting with the first shrimp again.

The batter is almost a no-batter.

The shrimp flavor comes through without any excess batter getting in the way.

Too many times, I've had fried shrimp that's all batter and not much shrimp.

That ain't the way to do it.

You want the shrimp flavor to shine, not be overwhelmed by the batter.

I like to serve this with a sinus-cleaning cocktail sauce.

Mix your own amounts of:

ketchup

horseradish

Lea & Perrins

lemon juice

And I go heavy on the horseradish.

A simple and the perfect accompaniment for fried shrimp is coleslaw.

Rosie's Coleslaw

about 4 cups shredded cabbage
1 carrot, shredded
Dressing:
1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp sugar
lots of ground pepper
pinch kosher salt
Mix together all dressing ingredients.  Pour over cabbage and carrot mixture and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate.  Let the flavors develop for at least an hour.  Taste test and adjust seasonings if needed.

Rosie Makes Tabbouleh.

Today, I'm making tabbouleh.
But first, enjoy my little hummingbird having a mid-morning snack!

I love grains.
I love salads.
And tabbouleh is the perfect marriage.
Grain is brought to you in the form of the nutty goodness of bulgur wheat.
Salad is brought to you in the form of fresh summer goodness from my garden.

In case you don't know, bulgur wheat is a whole wheat grain that has been cracked and partially cooked.  It's been a staple in Middle Eastern cuisines for centuries and is most well-known as the main ingredient in tabbouleh.

What is tabbouleh, you ask?  Tabbouleh is a traditional Lebanese salad - a staple - originating in the mountains of Lebanon and Syria.  Basically, tabbouleh is a combination of bulgur wheat, tomato, onion, cucumber, parsley, and mint, with an olive oil and lemon dressing.  The amounts of individual ingredients are not etched in stone, so you can tailor this salad to your own tastes.  Depending on who's making the dish, tabbouleh has many variations.  It can be wheatier or mintier and you can add all sorts of "non-traditional" additions.  It's definitely tinkerable, depending on what you have and what your tastes are.  Think:  pomegranates, nuts(walnuts, pecans), fruits (apples), beans (garbanzos), alternative greens (kale), citrus (lime), olive oil (citrus-infused).  So many possibilities!

 Besides being just ultimately delicious, tabbouleh is also healthy.  Just don't let that "healthiness" deter you from trying this dish.

The first thing you do is prepare the bulgur wheat.

Pour a cup of the grain in a heat-proof bowl and pour in boiling water to cover the bulgur.  Cover the bowl and let sit for an hour or two so that the wheat absorbs the water.  Drain off any excess water.  The prepared bulgur wheat is now ready for its accoutrements.

Rosie Note:   I started with a cup of bulgur wheat.  After the grain absorbed the water and expanded and after I added the vegetables and herbs and dressing, I ended up with 6 cups of tabbouleh.

 Rosie's Version Of Tabbouleh
prepared bulgur wheat
1 cup parsley, finely chopped
1 cup mint, finely chopped
1 cup diced cucumber
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 cups chopped tomatoes
1 clove garlic, minced

Combine all ingredients.

Dressing:
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Slowly pour the oil into the lemon juice, whisking constantly, until you have a nice emulsion.  Season with salt and pepper.

Pour dressing over above bulgur mixture, tossing to coat.

Adjust seasonings if you wish.

Rosie Note:  As for the olive oil,  I used Bertolli Extra Light Olive Oil, mainly because I didn't want the oil to detract or distract from the other flavors in the tabbouleh.  I wanted a neutral oil.
I would suggest using a milder oil in your tabbouleh before experimenting with more highly flavored oils or citrus-infused olive oils.  I simply am recommending finding a comfortable base point, then branching out.





Combine vegetables and herbs with bulgur wheat, then pour in dressing.

Mix well.  Adjust seasonings if you like.

As for serving tabbouleh, you can always wrap it in a lettuce leaf,
preferably one grown in your own garden.

Or you can just scoop it up with a Tostito.

Enjoy!