Month: August 2011

Peach and Mango Clafoutis (Cla…foo…ti)

They tell me that clafoutis was one of Julia Child’s favorite dessert recipes! This being the month in which she was born, how appropriate to post this recipe, modified from her original which used cherries complete with pits! I had already made this once before, but good ole Larry decided to modify it using mangoes and peaches. Hate to say but it turned out great…LOL. This being the season for peaches, why not give it a try?

Baked Peach Clafoutis – a la Julia Child

Photo Courtesy of Celeste Ward

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups milk

1/3 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup flour
3 ripe peaches with skins on and sliced or 2 peaches and 1 mango…
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cardamom
powdered sugar

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a blender blend the milk, sugar, eggs, vanilla, cardamom, salt and flour. Pour a 1/4 inch layer of the batter in a buttered 7 or 8 cup lightly buttered fireproof baking dish. Place in the oven until a film of batter sets in the pan (about 2-3 minutes).

Remove from the heat and spread the peaches over the batter. Sprinkle on the 1/3 cup of sugar. Pour on the rest of the batter.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes to an hour. The clafoutis is done when puffed and brown and a knife plunged in the center comes out clean. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, serve warm.

Of course, don’t forget the French vanilla ice cream!!!!

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Magic Pan Orange Almond Salad

Not sure how many of you remember this restaurant, which I remember had locations in Detroit and Toronto? It was always the favorite salad to have with their wonderful crepes. You may have had their famous Chantilly Crepe with whipped cream and bananas! Yummy…

Here is the salad recipe…

Almost Magic Pan Orange Almond Salad

Ingredients

    • 1/4 cup slivered almonds
    • 2 green onions, chopped
    • 1 head romaine lettuce
    • 1 cup mandarin oranges, drained

DRESSING

    • 1 tablespoon sugar
    • 1/2 teaspoon tarragon, dried
    • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
    • 1/8 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
    • 1/4 cup white vinegar
    • 1 egg yolks

Directions

  1. Shaking constantly, toast almonds in skillet over low heat until golden brown (about 5 minutes).
  2. Wash and dry lettuce.
  3. Tear into bite size pieces.
  4. Place with green onions and mandarin oranges in large salad bowl.
  5. Dressing: Combine all ingredients but egg and vinegar.
  6. Add in thin stream and process till well blended.
  7. Serves 6.
  8. MAKES: 1 cup dressing.
  9. Just before serving, toss well.
  10. Leftover dressing keeps up to 1 week in fridge.

Peach, Prosciutto and Fresh Basil Pizza with Goat Cheese

This one is for all of our Southern Ontario friends who are  now seeing some peaches fresh from the trees. Yeah, it is a day early, but why not go buy those peaches and have it for dinner tonight? LOL

Peach, Prosciutto and Fresh Basil Pizza with Goat Cheese

Ingredients

1 Pizza Crust [see note below]

½ ‘roll’ (part of a log) of goat cheese crumbled as much as possible

(The original recipe called for fresh, sliceable Mozzarella, but we LOVED the goat cheese)

3-4 Slightly Under Ripe Peaches

Fresh Basil (and a bit of rosemary if you like it)

6-8 Slices of Prosciutto shredded

3/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar (if you are making the reduction) OR store bought Balsamic glaze for drizzling

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees (or as high as your oven will go).
  2. If making your own dough, follow that recipe first.
  3. Pour your balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan and heat over medium high heat. Once it starts to boil reduce to medium and let simmer until it has reduced to about 1/4 cup. (We can buy Balsamic Glaze here so you can skip the step of reducing the balsamic)
  4. While the balsamic is reducing, roll out your pizza dough onto your pizza pan or stone.
  5. Crumble the goat cheese OR slice up your mozzarella, peaches and basil. Your mozzarella should be about 1/4 inch thick and your peaches should be thinly sliced. You can leave the peel on if you like for color.
  6. Top pizza with goat cheese or the fresh sliced mozzarella, being careful not to overlap.
  7. Layer peaches on top of the cheese in an circle – starting from the outside crust and moving inward.
  8. Put your pizza in the oven for 6 minutes.
  9. Remove pizza from oven and drop roughly shredded prosciutto over the pizza. Drizzle the balsamic reduction over the pizza along with the basil and rosemary and return to the oven.
  10. Cook pizza for another 6-10 minutes depending on your crust.  Check on it frequently!!!

NOTE: Here at Costco we are able to buy packages of a really nice flatbread instead of using the pizza dough. We tried Burger Ones from SuperStore/Zehrs/Longos but they were not as good nor were tortillas).

Spicy BBQ Spareribs

I came across this recipe while visiting friends, Ruth and Mike in KW. Sorry, but I am not sure in which of Ruth’s many books I found it. Every time I make it, it gets rave reviews!!!

Spicy Spareribs

4 to 5 pounds of baby back ribs separated into ‘chunks’ of four ribs

1/2 tsp. fresh thyme

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 small bay leaf

1/4 stalk of celery chopped

1/2 small onion chopped.

In a large pan, cover the ribs with water. Add all of the above and gently boil for 45 minutes to one hour. Remove the ribs to a shallow Pyrex dish….preparing the marinade below…

Marinade:

1/2 cup strong coffee (leftover from breakfast…LOL)

1/2 cup catsup

1/4 cup brown sugar

3 Tablespoons cider vinegar ( do not use white!)

2 Tablespoons butter

1 and 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon lemon rind

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Gently boil the marinade and then let simmer for 15 minutes. Let cool. Pour sauce over the ribs in the Pyrex dish. Cover with Saran Wrap and place in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 hours or more.

Remove the ribs from the refrigerator just before you are ready to BBQ them. Take them out of the sauce and place on a medium grill, brushing them with the reserved sauce. Since they are already cooked this should not take very long. You are just looking for browning and time for the sauce to heat them through again…

These are great served with the recipe for Baked Beans which was posted here a few weeks ago…

Let me know how they turn out for you or if you have any questions about the prepping.