Thursday, July 23, 2009

Blueberry and Peach Crumble




Our family has been on vacation for the last 3 weeks. I am out of my normal routine and enjoying this extended vacation in Oregon and Washington. I was so excited that the this month's second Barefoot Bloggers recipe--picked by Aggie of Aggie's Kitchen--was the Contessa's Peach and Blueberry Crumbles. My in-laws just happen to have over 100 blueberry bushes on there property in Washington. My darling niece and daughter picked the berries for me for this recipe. I ended up taking this to our family reunion in Eastern Oregon last weekend. There was not any leftovers so I figured it turned out fine. I did make a few changes to the recipe. I tripled the amount of blueberries in the recipe and I baked in a 9X13 pan. I really liked the addition of lemon and lemon zest as well. I am excited to see what other people did with this recipe. I know it would have been amazing hot out of the oven with vanilla ice-cream on top.

Here is this tasty recipe:

Peach & Blueberry Crumbles (from Barefoot Contessa at Home)
For the fruit
2 lbs firm, ripe peaches (6-8 peaches)
2 tsp grated lemon zest
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup fresh blueberries (1/2 pint)
For the Crumble
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 lb (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Immerse the peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until their skins peel off easily. Place them immediately in cold water. Peel the peaches, slice them into thick wedges, and place them in a large bowl. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, granulated sugar, and flour. Toss well. Gently mix in the blueberries. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes. Spoon the mixture into ramekins or custard cups.
For the topping, combine the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the butter is the size of peas. Rub the mixture with your fingertips until it’s in big crumbles, then sprinkle evenly over the fruit.
Place the ramekins on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and back for 40 to 45 minutes, until the tops are browned and crisp and the juices are bubbly. Serve warm or at room temperature. If you want to make these early, store the unbaked crumbles int he refrigerator and bake before dinner. Serves 5 to 6.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Frozen Lemon Pie with Berries

We had guest over for dinner the other night. I wanted a light and refreshing dessert to complete our meal. I found this recipe in a cooking magazine and couldn't wait to make it. It was a hit!
Frozen Lemonade Pie
Graham Cracker Crust:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
7 tablespoons butter, melted
Lemonade filling:
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk, chilled
2 cups whipped cream
1 (6 fluid ounce) can frozen lemonade concentrate, keep frozen
1 teaspoon lemon zest
Berry topping
frozen raspberries
frozen blueberries
2 T sugar
1 T lemon juice
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In medium bowl, combine cracker crumbs, 1/4 cup of sugar, and the melted butter. Press firmly on bottom and up sides of pie plate. Bake for 7 minutes and let cool completely.
In a medium bowl, add chilled sweetened condensed milk and whipped cream and fold gently. Add frozen lemonade and continue to gently fold. Stir in lemon zest. Do not let the mixture become soupy. Pour mixture into the pie crust and freeze overnight. Mix berries, sugar and lemon juice together.


Trying New Things

This past year has been a year of change. We moved from a huge running community to an area that does not have the biking and running trails...