Mess of Greens

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peaches

Cous Cous with Peaches, Sweet Corn and Bacon

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This week at the store I had a little freak out. I looked around and noticed that watermelons, peaches, and corn were on sale. BIG time sale. For Labor Day.

Know what that means? Summer is ending, officially. No more seersucker. No more white dresses. No more white shoes (do people even wear white shoes?) I know everyone is getting excited about the advent of pumpkin-spice deodorant and pumpkin-flavored cheeseburgers and what not, (Before you get offended, know that I’m VERY excited about this, too) but still, I can’t help but feel like my toddler when I just told him that no, he can’t eat the entire bag of cheetos by himself (he’s started hanging his head, poking his lip out, and mumbling sadly). I HATE summertime hot weather, but I LOVE summertime produce.

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Personal Sized Bourbon Peaches & Cream Trifle

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IMG_3686We’re the kind of people who order one big dessert and get 4 spoons. The folks who say “taste this! It’s AMAZING!” and let everyone sip the cocktail we ordered. Ones who drive everybody crazy because we want to dip our fork into your plate because what you got just looks so darn delicious. And then we pass you our plate whether you wanted it or not. Sharing food is our thing. (Unless you’re my dad. He wants the food on HIS plate and don’t you dare take a bite unless he gives it to you. But then, if you ask for a taste he’ll always give you the best bite anyway because he’s just kind like that. Must be the PRINCIPLE of the thing, huh?)

Anyway, this dessert is great for our kind of people because you can A) make one and pass it around so you can share it or B) make 4 and everyone gets their own damn delicious dessert.

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Peach Granola Sundaes (and a kitchen fail)

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Failure is part of life. I’ve learned that failing is one of the best ways to learn something new, and the best way to get better at something. People often think of failure as a bad thing, but for me, it’s important, and necessary and a sign that I’m taking the right risks.

And thank goodness, because I fail in the kitchen A LOT.

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How Sweet Eats Blueberry, Peach & Basil Crisp

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I’ve told y’all about Cook Book Club, right? Getting together with the coolest, funnest gals in the Delta to cook and eat is really one of the most fun nights of my month. I was responsible for our dessert last time, and decided to take advantage of summer’s bounty. First of all, crumbles with fruit are my favorite, secondly the addition of basil was genius and clever and wonderful. Plus, I had a TON of frozen blueberries from my aunt’s farm last summer, and grabbed some fresh juicy peaches from the farmstand and went to town on this year’s cookbook, Seriously Delish from the blogger over at How Sweet Eats. She has some pretty fun, (seriously, truly, not very health) recipes and I’ve enjoyed it. This time, though, I cheated and used her blog for my recipe. This one isn’t really original, and y’all, rather than just re-write her directions, I’m sending you over there to see what she’s about. 😉 If you decide to make it, though, a few notes:

1) It needs at least 2x more crumble on top. AT LEAST.
2) Definitely double the basil. Otherwise it’s not quite noticeable.
3) Actually, also consider using this recipe instead for the topping.
4) DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER serving crumble without ice cream. DO NOT.

But also, um, check out how mine turned out because it hit my sweetspot for sure.

 

 

Your New Summer Staple: Bourbon-Peach Ice Cream

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There’s one thing every good southerner knows… know matter how you take your bourbon, it’s going to be so good.

Some people like it in a pecan pie, others on the rocks… my friend Shelton introduced me to a Bourbon and Ginger cocktail a few years ago and something about that combination is dynamite. In fact, it’s my winter go-to cocktail. But then, there’s this other summertime combination that really knocks my socks off… bourbon and peaches. The sweet juiciness of the peaches is just complimented so beautifully by smooth, warm bourbon and this is definitely true when they come together in a silky, simple custard-based ice cream .

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Grilled Peach and Balsamic Swirl Ice Cream

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The weather’s been crazy-cold all over the south this week… people stranded on highways in Atlanta, Birmingham travelers having to sleep in hotel lobbies… but here in the Delta it’s been grey and just SUPER cold. There’s ice on Deer Creek and the poor ducks have had to make a little swimming hole for themselves.

And all this cold made me wish for a recipe I made over Labor Day weekend that oozed summer…I can’t say it’d be particularly fun to make right now since it depends on grilling-weather, but just remembering it’s flavor makes me think of warmer days and green grass.

So, for your own warmer-weather memories…the recipe for Grilled Peach Ice Cream with Balsamic Swirl. (let’s be clear… we’re talking grilled peace ice cream NOT grilled peaches WITH ice cream. there’s a difference and it’s important.)

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Blueberry & Peach Crumble

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ina garten is my cooking hero. no…scratch that. outside of my own immediate family, ina garten is my cooking hero. now, don’t get me wrong, i think that the fantastic bloggers over at smitten kitchen and bake or break are pretty fantastic, and i’m a big ole fan of Lynne Rossetto Kasper at the Splendid Table on APM, but something about Ina Garten’s recipes and style really resonate with me. For her, food is a way of showing her love, her care, her respect for other people.the Barefoot Contessa has this great way of balancing simplicity with detail. to me, this, and creating something that gives joy, tastes good, and brings people together, is what food is all about.

this summer crumble recipe from the barefoot contessa blends freshness, simplicity, love, and togetherness in just the right way. i’d decided to make the crumble in the first place because boone and i were both going out of town and i had a huge pile of peaches that were all on the over ripe side of ripe, a huge bag of fresh blueberries from my aunt’s farm in south mississipi, plus we were heading to a dinner party for some friends who’d just moved into a big old farmhouse. i was running a little behind schedule and decided i’d wait to bake it until i got there…it was so easy that i pulled it together and we were only a few minutes late. as far as the baking goes, it was too bad they’ve got an antique stove and oven combo. it turns out the stove works perfectly but the oven…not so much. anyway, that just meant that i saved the crumble, baked it at my house, and served it to boone as a going-away brunch before he left for a week long trip to NC, then took the rest over to a pal and new neighbor. it was a hit.
the next time you’re looking for an easy-peasy dessert, try this one on for size.
Blueberry & Peach Crumble
Serves 6 to 8-ish (depending on how hungry you are)
What you need: 
For the Fruit:
4 to 6 ripe peaches
1 cup fresh blueberries (mine were fresh but I’d frozen them the day before)
2 tsp grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup stevia (or 1/2 cup sugar)
1/4 cup flour
For the Crumble: 
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 cup stevia
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 pound (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced

What to do:

Preheat the Oven to 350, and then get your stockpot out and boil some water. cut an “x” in the bottom of each peach and then drop the peaches into the boiling water for 30 seconds or so, and pull them out with tongs and drop them into ice water or cold, cold water..Let them cool briefly. The immersion will help you easily peel the skin off, which helps with texture and flavor. They’l start slipping and sliding everywhere, so be careful as you cut them into smaller wedges. (I sliced from top to bottom and the pit came out pretty easily.)

 

grate the lemon zest, and then mix the peach slices, blueberries, stevia, flour, lemon zest and lemon juice together and pour into your baking dish. my hero suggests using ramekins, an idea i LOVE but one that just didn’t work since i needed to transport them.
 

after you’ve prepped the fruit, it’s time to make the crumble. y’all, this was so crazy easy.. i’m a dough moron (meaning that rarely does pie dough or pizza dough or bread dough EVER turn out like i want it to, but this was too simple to mess up)
basically, you cut the butter into little pieces then mix it with the flour, brown sugar, stevia, and salt using your paddle attachment on your mixer. i smushed it around with my hands a little bit for good measure, but once everything was combined and rolling around in little pea-sized balls, i knew it was ready to go. i took the dough-peas out of the mixer and smushed them again into flat little pieces, then laid them on top of the fruit until in covered most of it. (of COURSE you could do something fancy with cookie cutters if you felt so inclined, but remember, i was pressed for time and not really into that sort of thing, anyway.)

 

Bake the crumble for 40 to 45 minutes at 350 until it’s bubbly and brown, and serve. Honestly, i’m of the school that pie NEEDS vanilla ice cream to “cut the sweet” but this was just the right amount of sweet and fruit, so it didn’t even need it.besides, my weight watchers commitment is totally on a backside with leading a teacher retreat, moving to a new town and house, going to a 4th of July BBQ, and attending a week long conference in LA so i couldn’t in good conscience have this crumble AND ice cream for breakfast.
but you could. 😉

 

 

Bourbon Peaches & Cream Popsicles

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 Bourbon Peaches and Cream Popsicles
Weight watchers points: 2 per popsicle

Last fall I bought twelve popsicle molds on sale so I’d be ready to go when this summer rolled around. I had the molds, but the only recipe I could remember from my childhood summers involved freezing snapple lemonade…delicious, refreshing, but not exactly gourmet.

But….thanks to pintrest, sometime around January I found this dressed-up popsicle recipe using some classic southern ingredients (ahem…peaches??? bourbon? yes, please). This weekend ended up being around 85 degrees, so I decided it was absolutely alright to break out the molds and test them. Since I’m still trying to stay true to my weight watched commitment, I ended up modifying the ingredients a little from the original to make it lower-calorie.. read on for the recipe!
What you need:
1  1/2 cup peaches (fresh is best, but i used frozen peaches without added sugar)
2 oz bourbon
2 packets truvia (or any kind of stevia crystals)
1 1/2 cups greek nonfat yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
thaw the peaches and smush them a little bit, then sprinkle one packet (1 tsp) of stevia on them. pour the bourbon over the peaches and let soak for 20 minutes to an hour.

 

Mix the second tsp of stevia and the tsp of vanilla into the yogurt.

Drain off the excess bourbon (I didn’t do this and ended up with popsicles that would put you over the legal limit). Then, pour both the yogurt and the peach mixture into a blender or food processor, and mix together. Once combined (and the peaches have been chopped into smaller pieces) pour into your popsicle molds and freeze for 2+ hours or until completely hardened. Enjoy! 🙂