Peach and blackberry galette.

I love blackberries. I love peaches. They should get married. I used to be able to get good peaches form a roadside orchard, but they closed... now what am I supposed to do?! Well, I came across some good ones at a local market, as well as some local blackberries, and decided I needed pie. Well, my fave crust is a cornmeal pate brisee, b/c its so freaking easy and tasty (and durable, but tender)!


Pate Brisee (makes 2 crusts, so you can save 1 in the freezer!)
2 c AP flour
1/2 c cornmeal
1 t salt
1-2 T sugar
1 c cold unsalted butter, cut into smallish pieces
1/4 cup sour cream
1 T cold vinegar
Ice water

1. Combine the flour, cornmeal, salt and sugar. Add the butter and work in until sandy with fingers.
2. Add sour cream and vinegar and work in. Slowly sprinkle in the ice water until a nice dough forms.
3. Divide dough in half and put one in the freezer for later! Take the other one and let rest in fridge for 20-30 mins before rolling out to form a disc. This will firm it up a bit so its a little more sturdy. Roll out until about 1/8'' thick and proceed to...

Peach and Blackberry Galette
1 rolled out Pate Brisee crust
2 c blackberries
3 peaches
1/4 c sugar
2 T cornstarch
dash of vanilla
1 egg, lightly beaten

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Toss together blackberries, peaches, sugar, vanilla and cornstarch. Arrange fruit mixture on top of the dough, leaving a ~2'' open space around the edge. Fold border over fruit mixture.
3. Brush pastry edges with egg. Bake until crust is golden, ~30-40 minutes.

I realize my border in more than 2'', but whatever, I made a

double so I used the whole pate brisee recipe.

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*******CONGRATS PRESIDENT OBAMA!!!********

Summer catch up.

Well, its been a fair bit snce Ive written a blog. I guess Ill do a summertime overhaul to share with you some good summery foods. Since its October now, Ive been eating a lot of Fall-like foods, so I was craving a salad today. One last summer hurrah, Here we go...

A morel mushroom pilaf. I think you all may have a clue that morel hunting season is months-past, but You know, Im doing the summer clean out to catch you all up! My stepmom collected morels and gave me some, and I was happy to geez... HAVE to think of something to use them in! :) I did a couscous with parm and morels, peas and onions, used chicken stock (homemade, der). Yum, I think I will demand manymany more morels next year!

Lavender blossoms and a watermelon cooler. I beleive this was after a mud volleyball tourney! Watermelon + water (more than you'd think) + sugar + lemon sorbet = yumminess! Just add everything into a blender and bleeend.

Strawberry pie. Sorry, camera skills suck! SO easy and SO good! I was eally suprised by this. The flavo is so intense (with those summertime berries), I got way more than I was expecting. I think I made this pie like 4 times, to rave reviews. Recipe from Gourmet via YumSugar: http://www.yumsugar.com/1734253

Stuffed grape leaves (Dolmades). There is a gapevine at the 'rents house, so I collected 75 and went to town! These are obviously a summer dish b/c I HATE using jarred grape leaves. What a watse! Get the tender leaves, and make sure they are pesticide free! Made with lamb, rice, onion, mint, dill (NO cinnamon or allspice), lemon and served with tzaziki. They were very delicious. Took some time to make, but worth it... especially with the fresh grape leaves.

Molten chocolate cakes. Okay, these arent summery per-se, but I made the for my Daddys bday in summer, so they were summery for me! He turned 52 (but looks 40... please let me get that gene!) and after dinner we did what classy people do. Attacked him with water balloons! Ha! Well, these are REAL molten cakes, not the kind with the truffle in the middle. Melt chocolate, add eggs and sugar and salt and a little flour, bake at 425F for 8 mins, until not done (hey, they are molten chocolate cakes, right?) , remove, turn out, add cream and eat! Yummy, and I dont like chocolate!

Water ballon fight. Daddy, Shelley (step parent), Sarah (little sister). Im behind the cam.

And Ill leave you with this:

AAAHHHHHHHH!!! Happy Halloween! GObama!

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