Jalapeno Peach Rice

I just wasn't feeling the peaches and herb ingredient choices for the July Improv Challenge. Usually I have two or three ideas going, but not this time, and I was going to pass. Despite planning on skipping this month, peaches and herbs sort of hung around the back of my mind, and it kind of bothered me that I just couldn't think of a good way to put them together.
I don't normally read Southern Living, but I happened to pick up an issue and found a recipe for sweet tea rice with peaches and chives. Since I grow chives in my herb garden and our peach tree is overflowing, I decided to give this a try.

The first time I made this I used the sweet tea, but it was too sweet for us. Sweet tea is just not a thing here in Southern California like it is in the South, and we are not at all used to the sweet flavor (we drink our tea over ice and unsweetened), but if you enjoy sweet tea, you would probably like the rice cooked with it as in the original recipe. I did try it with regular tea and it turns it a nice color, but didn't really add any special flavor. If you're not making it sweet, I don't think it matters what liquid you use to cook your rice.

This recipe is a big departure from my usual  posts, but it is a keeper enjoyed either hot or cold. The jalapenos add a nice bite, and a necessary contrast to the sweetness from the peaches and tea, but if spice isn't your thing, adjust the amount of jalapenos to suite your taste.

Jalapeno Peach Rice
adapted from Southern Living

2 cups liquid (sweet tea, tea, chicken stock, or water)

1 cup uncooked long-grain rice

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 large jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced *

1 large fresh peach, peeled and diced

1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

Preparation

1. Bring liquid to a boil in a 3-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat; stir in rice and 1/2 tsp. salt. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 20 minutes or until tea is absorbed and rice is tender.

2. Meanwhile, melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add pecans, and cook, stirring often, 3 to 4 minutes or until toasted and fragrant. Add jalapeño, and sauté 1 minute. Stir in hot cooked rice, diced fresh peach, chives, 1/4 tsp. salt, and white pepper.

* My jalapenos were not very hot so I used 2.

Link :Foodie Friday

Strawberry and Peach Blender Ice Creams

 In Southern California, it is really ice cream season year round, but it always tastes just a little bit better on a hot summer's day.  When we were children it was a special treat to make ice cream. We had to have plenty of ice, rock salt, friends willing to turn the crank, and of course my Dad, who would do the final turns when it was too difficult for our tired arms. After all that work, there was nothing better than that first bite of homemade ice cream. Although making ice cream the old fashioned way is fun, I love my new, no pre-freezing required ice cream machine. The only wait time is chilling the custard, but the great thing about both of these ice creams is that they are made in the blender and do not have a cooked base, so they can be ready to churn in minutes. These kind of desserts are perfect for those summer days when it is too hot to turn on the stove and you can't wait 24 hours for your ice cream.

Nothing is easier to make than this peach ice cream. It is light, delicate and silky smooth, and is really nothing more than peaches and cream. Since we have a large crop of peaches, we did make two versions- one with diced peaches marinated in amaretto and one without. We were split on which was better. Mr. Mimi and I liked the chunks of peaches, while Boy Mimi preferred the smooth one, so it is just a matter of personal ice cream taste.

Peach Ice Cream

This is really just a method and we make it with almost any type of fruit.

Peaches

Lemon

Sugar

Cream

Amaretto, or almond extract

Peel and pit peaches, add to blender with the juice of one lemon. Puree until smooth. To 2 1/2 cups of peach puree we added 1/2 cup sugar, but the amount of sugar depend on the sweetness of the peaches so adjust as necessary, remembering that when frozen it will taste less sweet. We added 1 cup cream and pureed until thick. Taste your ice cream and if the flavor is too mild add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon almond extract or a couple tablespoons amaretto.  Freeze in your ice cream maker according the manufacturer's directions. If you like, chop up some additional peaches to add at the ending of churning for a chunky peach ice cream. We let our peaches sit in a tablespoon of amaretto while the ice cream was turning.

printable recipe

The recipe for the Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream comes from my friend Kim at Stirring the Pot. It is also a blender ice cream, creamy and smooth with a fresh strawberry flavor balanced by the slight cream cheese flavor in the background. Next time we might bake a graham cracker crust, and add some crumbled pieces to make it even more like a cheesecake.

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
Adapted from Food.com and Stirring the Pot
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup fresh pureed strawberry
1 cup half and half or cream


Blend all ingredients until smooth. Chill ingredients for about 1 hour, or until cold, and freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions.

printable recipe

Links: Foodie Fridays at Designs by Gollum

Peach Pie

I picked our last peach today. It's always sad when the summer fruit season ends. We eat so much fresh fruit during the summer when we can just pick it off the tree, or go to our close farmer's market. We are lucky to have 2 peach trees that ripen at different times, so we have fresh peaches from mid June through mid August. As we do every year, we enjoyed all things peach- homemade ice cream, kuchen (tart), smoothies, sorbet, short cake, cobbler and of course peach pie.

Mimi Jr. made these cute mini pies on a day that we picked a few too many to eat right away. For most of us they are big enough for two to share, but Boy Mimi insists that they are the perfect size for one growing boy!

She started with our favorite pie crust from Julia Child and lined four mini pie pans with crust and placed them on a rimmed baking sheet.  This makes it easier to get them into and out of the oven and catches any filling that bubbles over.

Peach Pie

adapted from America's Test Kitchen

2 1/2 lb peaches, peeled pitted and sliced about 7 cups

1 to 1 1/4 cup sugar

3 to 4 tablespoons corn starch

1 Tablespoon instant tapioca

Juice and zest of one lemon

Pinch salt

Freshly grated nutmeg

Toss the sliced peaches with lemon juice and zest, 1 cup of sugar, 3 tablespoons cornstarch and 1 tablespoon tapoica, salt and nutmeg.  If your peaches are tart add up to 4 tablespoons more sugar. If they are very juicy add an aditional tablespoon cornstarch. Divide filling among 4 mini pie tins or 1 nine inch pie pan lined with unbaked pie crust.

Strussel Topping

Adapted from America's Test Kitchen

Although cormeal seems like a strange strussel ingredient, we liked that it added texture to the topping without making it overly sweet.

1 cup all  purpose flour

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon fine gorund cornmeal.

pinch salt

6 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

.

In a small bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients together. Drizzle with the melted butter and stir with a fork untiul roughly combined.

Cover pie(s) with streusel topping and bake in a preheated oven at 425 degrees for 25 minutes.  Reduce heat to 375 degrees and continue baking until the juices are bubbling and the crust is golden brown, about 25 minutes longer. Cool before serving.

printable recipe

Perfect with a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream.

We are taking this to the Foodie Friday Party at Designs by Gollum and to the Fresh Friday blog hop at La Bella Vita

Peach Kuchen

Peach Kuchen

• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 oz. cold butter
• 1 oz. cold shortening
• 2 tablespoons plus 1/3 cup sour cream
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 to 1 1/2 pound fresh ripe peaches, peeled, pitted and thickly sliced.

Preheat oven to 375F
1. In the food processor, using metal blade, process 1 1/4 cups of flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, butter and shortening until crumbly. Add two tablespoon sour cream and let machine run until the dough forms a ball.
2. Press dough into a tart pan. Bake 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool while making the filing.
Reduce oven temperature to 350F.
3. In food processor using metal blade, process the egg yolks, 1/3 cup sour cream, 1/4 cup flour, sugar and 1/4 tsp. salt for 5 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and process about 10 seconds.
4. Pour 2/3 of custard mixture into prepared crust. Arrange the peaches on top of the crust. Pour remaining custard over the peaches.
5.Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until custard is set and top is lightly browned.
printable recipe

Add flour, salt, butter and shortening to bowl of food processor

Pulse until crumbly

Add sour cream and pulse to form ball of dough.

Press into 9 inch tart pan . Bake @ 375F. for 20 minutes.

Mix remaining flour, sugar,sour cream and egg yolks in bowl of food processor, pulse.

Pour into baked and cooled crust

Top with sliced peaches.

Bake @ 375F. for 40-50 minutes. Cool and eat!