now that we have lots of not decoy peaches we, of course, have to find new enjoy the peachy goodness. this is a new problem for me since i’ve always avoided peaches before discovering the wonders of a perfectly ripened peach fresh off the tree.
“the sugar-plus-heat combination makes for a seductive caramelizing effect, balsamic vinegar cuts through the sweetness; factor in a touch of smoke flavor from the coals and you essentially have s’mores for grown-ups, with a texture almost exactly like peach pie filling. Best of all, you can cook them without having to leave the backyard for more than two minutes.”
first, preheat the grill to 500°F, or whatever. Peach Searing Hot is what we’re looking for.
get some peaches, not too soft, and halve and pit them.
“marinate” the peaches in balsamic vinegar and a bit of brown sugar for around an hour. i’m guessing you could get away with not marinating if you’re pressed for time.
brush on a little bit of oil onto the grill and place the peaches face-down for 3 or 5 minutes.
turn them over, sprinkle a generous amount of brown sugar on top and keep on the grill until they are soft through and through.
as soon as i saw this video for bacon wrapped eggs i knew i had to try it. i mean, how possibly could you go wrong with bacon, eggs and cheese? and it’s really simple, as it doesn’t really take much longer to make than regular ol’ bacon and eggs.
first, you brown some bacon ( pssst! organic prairie uncured bacon. ) – but don’t get it crispy! then you place a full strip around the wall of the cup of a muffin tin and a few more bits in the bottom. crack and egg in the cup, sprinkle with a titch of salt and pepper and add your favorite cheese ( today we used organic valley raw sharp cheddar ) on top.
of course, if you wanted to fancy it up you could add some sauteed garlic or chives or whatever strikes your whimsy.
then, place in it a preheated 400°F oven for about 10-15 minutes. how long depends on how thoroughly cooked you want the yolk. i like runnier yolks so i put it in for 10 minutes.
after a bit, they should come out like so. it might be hard to tell, but two of them don’t have cheese added because, weirdly, odin said he didn’t want any. i swear, sometimes, i wonder if he’s my kid at all.
part of a complete breakfast! or at least a breakfast complete with spelt bread in an attempt to sort-of abide by my gluten free lifestyle ( spelt gives me less “trouble” than wheat ).
bacon wrapped eggs with cheese makes a plate smile 🙂
and so it came to pass that there was to be an organic valley employee ice cream competition. since i have recently started making my own, and i’m the milk and cream product manager, and we just launched some new, tasty creamers it seemed to make some sense that i actually enter the competition.
truth be told, i thought i had very little chance of winning because, well, i work for a dairy cooperative that employs some very talented ice cream makers ( as it happens, some of those who could/should have won didn’t enter for a variety of time and energy reasons ). but i went for it anyway and made a simple variation on odin’s favorite triple chocolate ice cream. i used our excellent hazelnut half and half instead of the plain, reduced the added sugar to 1/3 cup and didn’t add the milk chocolate chunks at the end, resulting in a double chocolate hazelnut ice cream.
i contemplated going a little fancier and doing a double chocolate candied bacon recipe but decided to keep it simple since this was a “popular vote” competition and i thought most regular folks would cringe at the thought of bacon in their ice cream ( don’t get me wrong, i’m not one those people. ).
turns out, i was almost wrong. one of the entries was a “bacon whiskey” concoction, “smokey and the bandit” ( in the middle of this photo ) that was really excellent, even though it didn’t have enough time to freeze thoroughly and had the consistency of a bacon whiskey milkshake.
and, i must say, the double chocolate rides right up to the line of “over the top” rich chocolishishness ( made with eight egg yolks! ). i mean, right. up. to. the. line. for some folks it could possibly cross the line. in other words, if you’re not Really Into Chocolate you could always ease back on it be just fine.
in the end, my “you really can’t go wrong with a double chocolate” strategy seemed to work, since i somehow ended up with the most votes ( this shot was taken about half-way through voting, but really i did! honest! )!
i knew i wanted something that really played to the home field advantage of being able to use eggs laid fresh in the morning by The Girls and i didn’t have to look very far since the recipe booklet for the ice cream maker had a wonderful-sounding recipe for triple chocolate ice cream that called for eight egg yolks!
anything with 3 kinds of chocolate, heavy whipping cream, half and half and eight egg yolks has to be super tasty, right? it’s like that old joke about pizza, even when it’s bad, it’s still pretty good.
( note: don’t miss the 2 cooling steps! i did which extended the whole process to three days given my schedule. you can certainly make the ice cream in one day if you plan ahead. )
triple chocolate ice cream
ingredients
2 cups organic valley heavy whipping cream
2 squares ( 1 oz, 30 g each ) semisweet baking chocolate, cut into chunks
2 squares ( 1 oz, 30 g each ) unsweetened baking chocolate, cut into chunks
2 cups organic valley half & half
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
8 egg yolks
4 teaspoons vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 bars ( 1.55 oz, 46 g each ) milk chocolate, chopped ( about 1 1/2 cups )
in a small saucepan, place 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, semisweet chocolate and unsweetened chocolate. heat over medium-low heat until chocolate melts, stirring frequently. remove from heat; set aside. in medium saucepan over medium heat, heat half & half until very hot but not boiling, stirring often. remove from heat; set aside.
in small bowl, combine sugar and cocoa powder. set aside. place egg yolks in mixer bowl. attach bowl and wire whip to mixer. turn to speed 2 and gradually add sugar mixture; mix about 30 seconds, or until well blended and slightly thickened. continuing on speed 2, very gradually add chocolate mixture and half & half; mix until well blended.
return half & half mixture to medium saucepan; stirring constantly, cook over medium heat until small bubbles form around edge and mixture is steamy. do not boil. transfer half & half mixture into large bowl; stir in remaining 1 1/2 cups of heavy whipping cream, vanilla and salt. cover and chill thoroughly, at least 8 hours.
put ice cream “freeze bowl” and mixing attachments in place and turn on speed 1. pour chilled mixture into freeze bowl.
continue on speed 1 for 10-15 minutes or until desired consistency, adding milk chocolate during last 1 to 2 minutes of freeze time. immediately transfer ice cream into an airtight container and freeze for at least 4 hours.
yield: 16 1/2 cup servings.
so, how does it taste? if you’re into chocolate and creamy, rich goodness, then really, really, really good. it rides right up to the line of over-the-top richness and stops just short.
since The Girls are always producing eggs and odin loves to help in the kitchen, we’re always looking for fun and simple egg recipes that he can help make. recently, i ran across this recipe for egg nests and thought i’d give it a try.
first, of course, you want some fresh eggs. we have those aplenty.
oh, and preheat the oven to 450°F.
grate some cheese, about a 1/4 cup for every 2 eggs. the recipe calls for gruyere, which i used, but there’s no reason you couldn’t substitute something else to your liking.
separate the egg yolks from the whites. put the whites in a mixing bowl and the yolks in individual bowls to help you later on when you have to place them carefully in their nest.
whip the egg white with a quarter teaspoon of salt until stiff. i might have overwhipped these whites, but whatever.
gently fold the cheese into the egg whites, being careful to not collapse the whipped goodness.
create little mounds of the egg white mixture on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. you want the mounds shaped like nests so they can hold the yolk, so be sure to make indentations in the center.
put the egg white nests in the oven for about 3 minutes and then pull out the tray and carefully add an egg yolk to the center of each nest.
put the baking sheet back in the oven for about 3 more minutes and prepare yourself for eggy cheesy goodness! they are quite tasty but obviously only for going to be enjoyed by those who like “runny” yolks.
truth be told, i probably over browned these whites just a titch. be warned, they brown fast! but i don’t think it affected the flavor.
one of these years i’m actually going to make the violet syrup that i’ve been meaning to make before cultural norms and The Lawn Police require me to mow down the Viola odorata.
it might look unassuming but this right here is a slice of the best pizza pie i have ever made in my entire life. if i were a better food writer i might be able to describe how all the flavors work awesometasticly perfectliciously together to create a symphonic explosion of taste.
