Palisade Peach Pie

I had never heard of Palisade Peaches before, but my BFF raved about them when we were talking about peaches (like you do) and so when I saw a pick up truck with a giant "Palisade Peaches" sign, I knew I had to stop.  I got a huge bag of peaches for $8, one of which was eaten by Miss F straight away, and knew pie was in my future.  I used refrigerate pie crusts because I didn't want to try and deal with making pie crust in a kitchen with out air conditioning.  We are hosting Thanksgiving in Colorado and I will attempt homemade crust then, when there will hopefully be snow on the ground.  C loved the filling, but was meh on the crust.  I guess he much prefers homemade, who doesn't?

Palisade Peach Pie

3 ½ pounds peaches
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ cup flour
2 refrigerated prepared pie crusts

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Bring a large pan of water to a boil and make a large bowl of ice water. Score an “X” into the bottom of each of the peaches. Boil each peach for a minute, then put straight into the bowl of ice water. Peel the peaches, then slice into wedges.

In a large bowl, stir together the peaches, lemon juice, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and flour. Place the one of the pie crusts into a pie pan. Add the peach mixture to the pan, mounding high in the center. Top with the second pie crust and crimp the edges to seal. Make three cuts in the center of the crust to vent the pie.

Place the pie on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees and cover the edges of the pie with foil, bake for 30 to 40 minutes more. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and cool. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

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Peach Cobbler

We are a nectarine family. Peaches are okay, but I much prefer a smooth skinned nectarine to a fuzzy peach. Except for baking, where the skin doesn't matter and the fruit is baked. I am so-so on a biscuit topped cobbler, I prefer a more pie crust type recipe. But why not just bake a peach pie? My main aversion is that pie crusts can be tricky in the summer because it is so hot and humid here. So I was looking for a new cobbler recipe and this one was really intriguing. The cobbler topping is a cross between a sugar cookie and a pie crust, which is just perfection. I much prefer it to be warmed and topped with Tillamook vanilla bean ice cream. Delicious. This recipe is adapted from The Kitchn.

Peach Cobbler

8 to 10 large peaches
¾ cup sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons cornstarch

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ sticks (12 tablespoons) butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Peel and slice the peaches. Stir the sliced peaches with ¾ cup sugar, lemon juice and cornstarch. Pour the peaches into a 9x9 glass baking dish. Stir together the flour, sugar and salt together in a mixing bowl. Pour in the melted butter and stir to combine into a crumbly dough. Pat handfuls of dough into palm sized disks between ¼ and ½ inch thick, lay the disks over the peaches in a cobblestone pattern. Place the cobbler on a baking sheet and bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until the topping is golden brown at the edges. Cool and serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

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Secret Recipe Club: Peach Vanilla Pie

It's time for another post from the Secret Recipe Club. This month I received the fantastic blog, I Am a Honey Bee.  There were so many amazing recipes to choose from, but I settled on a recipe for vanilla peach pie.  It's peach season here in Texas, which means giant, juicy and sweet peaches for 99 cents a pound.  The original recipe didn't call for peeling the peaches, but I figured it would help the texture of the filling.  I learned the peach peeling technique from making Miss F's food when she was a baby.  It really helps cut a lot of time and makes it crazy easy to peel a peach.

Vanilla Peach Pie

Pie crust (recipe follows)
8 large fresh peaches
½ to ¾ cup of vanilla infused sugar
¼ cup flour
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Roll out 2 discs of dough. Set bottom dough in pie plate, refrigerate. Slice the top crust into eight ¾”wide strips and refrigerate.

Boil a small saucepan full of water, enough to cover a peach. Drop a peach into the water for 30 seconds, remove with tongs and set aside. Repeat with remaining peaches. Remove skin from the peaches and slice.

In a large bowl, combine the peaches, vanilla sugar and flour. Place peaches in the bottom crust and then cover with the strips of pie crust in a lattice design. Place the small pieces of butter in the places where the crust is open to the fruit.

Bake the pie on a sheet tray at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Turn the oven down to 350 degrees and continue to bake 35 minutes, or until crust is lightly browned.

Pie Crust

2 ½ cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch cubes
3 to 4 tablespoons ice water

Pulse flour, sugar and salt in a food processor until combined. Add butter and process until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. With the machine running, add ice water in a slow steady stream until mixture just begins to hold together.

Shape dough into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1 hour or up to 3 days, before using.

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White Wine Peach Sangria

It wasn't long ago that I made a batch of Sparkling Sangria for my Foodbuzz 24x24 party. The real reason behind making it was to do a trial run for a baby shower I was hosting. Both bottles of champagne exploded all over the kitchen floor, so I thought it best to try a sangria without the explosion potential. When I saw the recipe on An Apple a Day for White Wine Sangria, I knew that it would be perfect for the shower. And it was! Though, it wasn't without a struggle. The lovely drink dispenser just stopped working after 30 minutes or so. I transferred the Sangria to a punch bowl and the guests were able to scoop the fruit into their glasses, so it worked out for the best anyhow.

White Wine Peach Sangria

¼ cup sugar
¼ cup water
2 bottles white wine (I use Walgreen's Southern Point Chardonnay, it's ~$3 and has a great light taste)
¼ cup brandy
1 can peach nectar
2 large peaches, sliced
5 strawberries, halved

Bring the sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat to make a simple syrup. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool. In a large pitcher combine wine, brandy, nectar and simple syrup. Stir to combine. Add peaches and strawberries. Serve over ice.

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Recipe Swap: Peach and Blueberry Crisp

This week's recipe swap was dessert. I submitted my mom's chocolate cheesecake recipe, which is probably my most favorite dessert. I got Peach Blueberry Crisp from The Cookaholic Wife, which I was super excited for. I did change the original recipe by using fresh peaches and blueberries. Texas peaches are at their peak right now, which made it a bit more work, but it was totally worth it. I used the trick I learned while making Miss F's baby food, you boil the peach for 30 seconds and the skin peels right off, so much easier than using a knife to peel it. I sent the crisp and a gallon of ice cream to work with C and he said everyone enjoyed it. This is such a lovely summer dessert.

Peach Blueberry Crisp
Peach-Blueberry Mixture Ingredients:
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
5 large peaches
1 pint blueberries
½ cup sugar
¼ cup flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Crisp topping (recipe follows)
vanilla ice cream (optional)

Crisp Topping Mixture Ingredients:
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup old fashioned oats
½ cup light brown sugar
¼ cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 375. Grease an 8x8 baking dish with butter. Bring a small saucepan filled with water to a boil. Boil each peach for 30 seconds, let cool. Peel the peaches and slice. Combine the peaches, blueberries, sugar, flour, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Toss well to mix. Transfer the fruit to the baking dish. Place the baking dish on a foil lined cookie sheet to catch any juices that might bubble over.

Combine all of the crisp topping ingredients in a large bowl and using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Spread the crisp mixture on top of the fruit and bake until crisp is browned on top and the juices have thickened around the edges, about 55 minutes. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

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Peach Oat Muffins

Miss F is obsessed with the Banana Applesauce Oat Muffins, so I decided to try another flavor as I was getting bored making them nearly every week. She was not as much a fan of the peach muffins. And she loves peaches. She is a peach monster. I think she ate a whole peach while I was chopping them for the muffins. I thought they were fantastic, but I guess it is back to the old muffins for Miss F.

Peach Oat Muffins
makes 12 muffins

¾ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup whole-wheat flour
¾ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
¾ cup natural applesauce
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
¾ cup white sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
3 peaches, pitted and chopped

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a muffin tin with baking cups.

Combine the flours, oats, spices, baking soda and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the applesauce, oil, eggs, and sugars. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir to combine. Fold in the peaches.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan. Bake for 25 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack.

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Peach Barbecue Sauce

Lesson learned on this one. If your hot pad gets wet, it no longer protects you from the hot. I have a huge burn blister on my thumb...ouch. This barbecue sauce works well on chicken, but it would also be great on pork. The peach isn't overly sweet, the ginger counters it nicely. I am going to be so sad when the summer fruit season is over. I didn't bother to tell C that there were peaches in the sauce, what he doesn't know, won't hurt him (or cause him to turn his nose up!)

Peach Barbecue Sauce
makes 2 cups

¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon onion, minced
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground mustard
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup water
1 cup tomato ketchup
1 peach, peeled and pureed
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon butter

In a medium saucepan, combine all the ingredients except the butter. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. With a whisk, blend in the butter until incorporated.

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Peach Cobbler

I flashed back to making all sorts of baby food when I started making this dish. I peeled so many fruits by blanching them for Miss F. This time, I had Miss F at my feet begging for any peach slices I was willing to give her. The recipe calls for six peaches, I used 8, I am guessing she and I ate at least two by snacking. When C got home from work, he asked what it was. I told him that I had made peach cobbler. He said that it wasn't cobbler, cobbler is in a square dish, not a round one. Who knew that the dish shape determined the whether it was in fact cobbler?

Peach Cobbler

6 large peaches
¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
¼ cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil. Blanche each peach for a minute or so. Peel the peaches once they have cooled. Cut the peaches into thin slices and toss with sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch in a 2-qt. nonreactive baking dish.

Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in water until just combined.

Drop spoonfuls of topping over the peaches. Bake in middle of oven until topping is golden, about 30 to 35 minutes. Topping will spread as it bakes.

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A year of pies: Peach

Since peaches were on super sale, this month's pie got made the very first day of the month. The filling was very runny, but wonderfully tasty. Even Miss F enjoyed it~ her first dessert ever. C ranked this better than the cherry, but not as good as the blueberry (top rated pie!) I only increase Martha Stewarts crust recipt by 50%, since it makes so much and I still had crust leftover after making the double crust. I made a nifty peach topper for the pie and saved the rest in the freezer.

The easiest way to peel a peach is to submerge it in boiling water for 30 to 45 seconds, then dip it in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. The skin comes right off!

Peach Pie

Pie crust (recipe follows)
4 to 5 cups peaches, peeled and sliced (about 7 large peaches)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 egg

Preaheat the oven to 400 degrees. Combine peaches, sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Spoon filling into 9" pie crust and top with the second rolled out crust. Crimp the edges and brush the top of the pie with an egg wash. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes on a baking sheet to catch any possible overages. Let cool for 3 hours before serving.

Pie Crust
(two crusts)
3 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into 1//2 inch cubes
5 to 6 tablespoons ice water

Pulse flour, sugar and salt in a food processor until combined. Add butter and process until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. With the machine running, add ice water in a slow steady stream until mixture just begins to hold together.

Shape dough into two disks, wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1 hour or up to 3 days, before using.

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