Peach and Blueberry Crumble

Mon. July 30, 2012 Written in: Baking

Zach is coming for dinner, all year long I make his favourite desert, a crumble. He loves it made with any fruit, with any topping, in any season.  At the fruit store today I found fresh Ontario peaches and wild blueberries so that’s what I will be baking tonight. I know he will be happy and as always take home the leftovers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

For the fruit:

  • 6 to 8 peaches
  • 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2  cups fresh blueberries

For the crumble:

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup granulated white sugar
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 pound (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

  1. Immerse the peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until their skins peel off easily. Place them immediately in cold water.
  2.  Peel the peaches, slice them into thick wedges, and place them in a large bowl.
  3. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, granulated sugar, and flour. Mix well.
  4. Mix in the blueberries.
  5. Spoon the mixture into a well greased 9 x 13 pyrex or a deep dish pie pan.
  6. For the topping, combine the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and the butter in the bowl of a food processor.
  7.  Mix using the on/off  pulse switch until the mixutre looks crumbly.
  8. Sprinkle evenly over the fruit.
  9. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the top is browned and the juices are bubbly.

   Serve warm or at room temperature.

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vicky - Oh I am SO making this.
thanks for posting this awesome sounding recipe.

Fern Glicksman - Hi Marla. I hope you and your family are well. The peach crumble caught my eye on Facebook, and I made it, as well as your quinoa recipe for some friends Friday night. Everyone loved both recipes. Great website. Funny how cousins get to keep in touch in the 21st century!

Italy in Manhattan – Pansotti with Lemon Butter Sauce

Thu. July 26, 2012 Written in: Mains

I have recently returned from New York City.  Our trip was to celebrate my mothers’ 80th birthday and celebrate we did, with gallery tours, Broadway, lots of walking, shopping and eating!

One of the highlights of our trip was lunch at Mario Batali’s incredible Italian mega-marketplace called Eataly. Eataly is for the food obsessed. Here you will find everything Italian, there are many small restaurants, fresh meats and cheeses, pastas, oils, sauces, kitchen staples and kitchen gadgets, the list goes on. And did I mention that it is the size of a Home Depot!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had lunch at La Pizza & Pasta, a restaurant inside Eataly.

I had the Inslate Bianca to start.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I decided on the Pansotti with Lemon Butter Sauce.  The pasta was stuffed with ricotta and spinach then sautéed with lemon and butter and topped with pistachios. So simple and so delicious. This was heaven on my plate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me very happy!   

I have been dreaming of this pasta since I have been home and how I could make it in my own kitchen.  Well tonight is the night to try and I hope to make Gordy very happy.  

My recipe for Pansotti with Lemon Butter Sauce
Pansotti is a triangular shaped ravioli.  I could not find it the day I went shopping so I used agnolotti, a half moon shapped pasta that I bought  from Bologna Pastificio.

This recipe will serve 4.

Ingredients:

  • 4 tsp olive oil
  • 2 – 3 clove garlic crushed
  • 10 Tbs unsalted butter (you must buy the best butter you can find)
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • juice of two lemon
  • 1/2 cup toasted & chopped pistachios
  • 2 lb spinach & ricotta pansotti or ravioli

Fresh parmesan chesse for grating on top and freshly ground pepper to finish. 

Directions:

  1. Boil water for ravioli and while it is cooking prepare the sauce, salt the water.
  2. In a large saucepan  over medium heat add olive oil and crushed garlic. Cook until you can smell the garlic.
  3. Add butter and turn down heat constantly stirring to melt.(do not brown the butter).
  4. Add lemon juice and zest and cook for a few minutes then turn off the heat.
  5. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  6. Drain ravioli and toss in the lemon butter. (You can add the drained raviloi directly into the pan with the lemon butter).
  7. Divide among 4 plates.
  8. Top with the toasted pistachios and a little grated Parmesan and a grind of pepper.

Here is my interpretation. Gordy, Zach and Yale loved it, and so did I.

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Veggie Bowl with Ginger-Tahini Dressing

Mon. July 23, 2012 Written in: Mains / Raw

Yale is back in Toronto and living at home. I now have another veggie-lover in the house, Gordy you are outnumbered! Yale loves her veggies as much as I do so last night we made this bowl of veggie goodness with a raw tahini dressing.

Tahini dressing is popular at many vegetarian and raw restaurants.  I wanted to try and recreate it at home so I have been playing around in my kitchen and I think that this recipe works well over raw or lightly steamed veggies.  I  love tossing this with rice or quinoa and veggies for lunch or drizzling it over tofu for dinner.

This is what Yale and I made  and guess what …Gordy happily ate it too! (Thought I must add that he did eat a a steak sandwich for lunch)!

This beautiful veggie bowl is simple, colorful, and healthy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ginger-Tahini Dressing

  • 2 T raw tahini (you can buy raw tahini at the health food store).
  • 1  1/2 t fresh ginger
  • 1/2 cup oil
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1-2 cloves garlic
  • 1 T lemon juice (about 1/2 small lemon)
  • 1 to 2 t Nama Shoyu or tamari
  • 1 to 2 t agave
  • dash of cumin

Combine all the ingredients in a small food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Taste and then play around with it until you get your desired thickness and taste.
Store any leftovers in a sealed glass jar in the fridge for up to 1 week.

For these bowls I used cooked quinoa (follow package directions), then topped it with steamed broccoli, roasted sweet potato, raw shredded beets, carrots, sprouts and a handful of beans. Make this recipe your own and use whatever vegetables you like.

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The best tomato sauce Ever

Thu. July 5, 2012 Written in: Mains

A trip to Montreal always includes a stop at the famous Fairmount Bagel. I cannot buy a dozen bagels without Gordy eating a least two from the paper bag, the bagels are freshly baked in a wood-fired oven and yes impossible to resist! So while walking and eating bagels we noticed this tiny little shop, Drogheria Fine, filled with jars and jars of tomato sauce, olive oils and other delights in mason jars.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just as you would be welcomed into your grandmother’s kitchen, owner Franco Gattuso welcomed us into his tiny shop. Bottles of olive oil were on the counter and pots of tomato sauce were boiling on the stove in the open kitchen and Franco offered us a spoonful right from the pot!  He calls the sauce La Salsa della Nonna which means Grandma’s’s Sauce.  We went home to Toronto with four jars, but soon realized that was not enough.  Now when visiting Montreal we get our dozen bagels and a dozen jars of Nonna’s sauce. 

Yale and owner Franco Gattuso.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The jars of sauce. all home-made with great care and great ingredients.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For our Canada Day dinner at the cottage we grilled shrimp marinated in olive oil, garlic, lemon, parsley and sea salt , served with pasta and La Salsa della Nonna . 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A grind of pepper and some freshly grated parm , all I can say is this is as simple as it gets. Buon Appetito!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Canada Day!

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Balsamic-Marinated Flank Steak with Arugula, Tomato and Shaved Parmesan Salad

Tue. July 3, 2012 Written in: Mains

A girl can’t eat raw all the time!

It is Sunday night and my family is coming for dinner and Gordy said no raw tonight, so off to Cumbrae’s  I go. 

This easy and excellent recipe is from  Bobby Flay’s Boy Meet Grill, page 214 .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp coarsely chopped rosemary leaves
1 (1-1/2 to 1-3/4) beef flank steak
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups arugula
1 pound cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 (4-ounce) piece Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Whisk together 1/2 cup of the vinegar, 3/4 cup of the oil, the garlic and rosemary in a large dish (or use a thick, ziplock plastic bag). Add the steak and turn to coat. Cover and let marinate the refrigerator for at least 4 hrs and up to 8 hours, turning every 2 hours.
2. Heat the grill to high.
3. Remove the steak from the marinade and season with salt and pepper. Grill until lightly charred and crusty, 4-5 mins. Turn the steak over, reduce the heat to medium or move to a cooler part of the grill, and grill until medium-rare, 3-4 mins more.
4. Remove the steak to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes. Cut into 1/2-inch thick slices agains the grain of the mat.
5. Whisk together the remaining 2 tablespoons vinegar and 3 tablespoons oil in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add the arugula, tomatoes, and onion, and toss to coat. Divide the sliced steak among 4 plates and top with some of the arugula salad. Using a vegetable peeler, shave thin slices of Parmesan over each dish. Serve immediately.

Serves 4; can be doubled for 6-8 (no need to double the marinade).

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