Goat milk thyme ice cream and fresh peaches

Thyme ice cream over fresh peaches

Well you've enjoyed fresh peaches and cream.  How about fresh peaches with thyme ice cream?
I do love the combination of herbs and fruit.  Herbs seem savory but when you add one to the sweetness in ice cream the flavor is different.  My favorite herb in ice cream is lavender but how about some thyme?  The recipe is the basic for vanilla ice cream:
         
4 egg yolks
3/4 cups sugar
1 quart milk - if you have a goat with fresh milk like my Sunflower- even better
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
method:  Classic Creme Anglaise
whisk together the sugar and egg yolk until the color of lemons
Meanwhile warm 1 cup of milk stovetop until almost a boil
Add thyme sprigs and turn off heat.  Then let steep for up to 1/2 hour
Add the warm milk - a little at a time- to sugar and egg yolks until all milk is incorporated
Return to stove and heat until you can draw a line on the back of a spoon.  Very French- I'm sorry.  Translated that means until thick but not boiling.  Too hot--> scrambled eggs.  I think the temperature is no higher than 180 deg.
Add this through a strainer to the remaining 3 cups of milk.
Place in ice water bath to stop cooking - not required
Cool in fridge for 8 hours before freezing in ice cream freezer

Notice there is no vanilla.  The thyme flavor is subtle but pairs well with peaches
Bon Appetit!

peach blossoms

IMG_0175, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

The very first peach blossom appeared on the tree last week. These pink blossoms are a promise for delicious summer fruit

Pretty little peach & raspberry tarts

peach & raspberry tarts, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

OK another peach recipe. I used Julia's basic pate sucre pastry recipe for the crusts. Blind baked them. Then added the creme patissiere and finally topped the little tarts with fresh raspberries and sliced poached peaches. These tarts are so pretty and make a lovely presentation to guests. They just have to choose which one. Several years ago I used this recipe with a little tweeking and topped with strawberries. I entered them in the Orange County Fair and one 2nd place. I also won a first place for my key lime pie (a whipped cream version) and another 2nd place for my poached pears.

Pate brisee sucree (sweet pastry dough)

for 1 cup pastry flour

3/4 cup flour

1 Tbs sugar

1/8 tsp salt

5 1/2 Tbs fat, 4 Tbs. chilled butter + 1 1/2 Tbs chilled vegetable shortening

2 1/2 to 3 Tbs cold water

Place the flour in a food processing bowl, mix in the sugar and salt, add butter and shortening cut into small pieces until the mixture looks like cornmeal but with a little chunkiness to the butter. Through the feed tube add the cold water a little at a time until dough comes together. Punch down to a disk, wrap in parchment paper and chill in the refrigerator at least 30 minutes. Roll out. Mold in baking pans; add parchment paper cut to size and pie weights to keep bottom of pastry from bubbling up. Place in 400 deg oven for 8-9 minutes. Remove from oven; remove parchment paper and pie weights and return to oven until golden brown about 7-10 minutes. Cool.

Creme Patissiere (custard filling):

for 2 1/2 cups

1 cup granulated sugar

5 egg yolks

1/2 cup flour

2 cups boiling milk

1 Tbs butter

flavorings:

2 tsp vanilla extract

2-3 Tbs. St. Germaine liquor

With a wire wisk gradually beat the sugar into the egg yolks and continue beating for 2-3 minutes until the mixture is a pale lemon yellow. Beat in the flour. Beating the egg yolk mixture, gradually pour on the boiling milk in a thin stream. Pour back into the saucepan and cook over moderate heat wisking constantly, reaching all over bottom of pan. As the sauce comes to the boil it will get lumpy, but will smooth out as you beat it. When boil is reached, beat over moderately low heat for 2-3 minutes to cook the flour. Be careful custard does not scorch in the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat and beat in the 1 Tb butter and then the flavorings. If the custard is not used immediately, clean it off the sides of the pan, and dot toop of custard with softened butter to prevent a skin from forming over the surface. Creme patissiere will keep for a week in the fridge or may be frozen.

Bon Appetit!

Peches Cardinal

peches cardinal blue, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

Oh this is a pretty dessert! It is a way to use the poached peaches posted about 10 minutes ago.
1 quart fresh raspberries
1/2 cup sugar (Julia suggests 1 1/4 cup---too sweet for me)
Force the raspberries through a sieve and place the puree in a blender with the sugar. I used a food mill straining out the big stuff but not all the seeds)
Chill the puree and the peaches and serve peaches on the bottom, puree over the top
Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I page 630

poached peaches

poached peaches, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

Poached peaches is a great way to use fruit you have now to enjoy later. I like to poach in a bath of champagne sweetened and spiced with vanilla, lemon, cinnamon and ginger but this time I used Julia's recipe:
6 cups water
2 1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbs vanilla extract or a vanilla bean
10 firm, ripe, unblemished fresh peaches
Simmer the water, sugar, and vanilla extract or bean in a saucepan and stir until sugar has dissolved
Add the unpeeled peaches to the simmering syrup. Bring again to a simmer, then maintain at just below the simmer for 8 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let peaches cool in syrup for 20 minutes. (Syrup may be used again for poaching other fruits.) Drain peaches on a rack; peel while still warm, and allow to cool.

More peaches! Peach Cobbler

peach cobbler, piece, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

Try this with your fresh peaches. I still have plenty of them. I started with this recipe but made a change in the peach preparation. I had already prepared my peaches last night adding fresh lime juice and just a bit of brown sugar to keep them from turning brown. Then I added some fresh ground ginger. I love lime and ginger together and they are a nice complement to peaches. I used my vanilla bean to "soak" in cream and then whipped it when the cobbler came out of the oven. Here's my starter recipe (Thank you Marjorie for your entry to inspire me) Peach cobbler recipe (Victoria magazine) Bon Appetit!!!
6 large ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, and cut into thin wedges
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped, seeds reserved
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup buttermilk
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, 3 tablespoons melted and 3 tablespoons softened, divided
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 425 0. Lightly spray a 9x9-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine the peaches, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla bean seeds, and 2 Tablespoons flour, and toss until evenly coated.
3. Pour the peach mixture into the prepared pan, and bake for 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a separate large bowl, stir together remaining 3/4 cup flour, sugar, baking powder,baking soda, and salt. Whisk in buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla extract.
5. Remove peaches from oven, dot with the softened butter, and spoon the prepared batter over peaches. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm.

peach cobbler

peach cobbler, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

Peach ginger sorbet with raspberry sauce

peach sorbet with raspberry sauce, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

Today's expression of backyard peaches is sorbet. I also had on hand some beautiful raspberries so this is my version of peach melba:
Peach sorbet:
2 cups fresh peaches, pealed, pitted and diced, shortly rested with 1 tbs sugar and 1 tsp lemon juice
1 cup simple syrup (made from equal parts of sugar and water brought to a boil on the stove until sugar is dissolved and then left to cool)
1 Tbs fresh grated ginger
Puree the peaches and the ginger together, add simple syrup and process in an ice cream maker

Raspberry sauce:
1 pint fresh raspberries
sugar to taste (less is better)
In a small saucepan, heat the raspberries with the sugar until the raspberries start to break down. Let cool slightly or serve immediately over sorbet as shown above.
This was a delightful and simple dessert made from the bounty of fresh summer fruit.
I daily pick and prepare peaches from my tree. It is a chore that some days I am not in the mood for but I am so grateful for this "free" harvest and I enjoy trying new ways to share and enjoy them. I wish you all could stop by for your share of my bounty.

Peach Salsa!!!!!!!!

peach salsa 2, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

More peaches!
4 ripe peaches, pealed, pitted and sliced or chopped
1 Jalepeno pepper, charred, seeded and chopped fine
1 Anaheim chili, prepared like jalepeno
ginger, fresh grated fine
red onion, chopped and macerated in fresh squeezed lime juice
zest of 1 lime
cayenne pepper to taste
cilantro, chopped fine
Zest the lime, squeeze the lime juice over the chopped red onion and leave to macerate or "cook" the onion. Prepare the peaches, add the peppers, ginger, cayenne and cilantro. Let the flavors blend. I am going to serve this over a nice Halibut steak, grilled. Tomorrow I will reconfigure all of the elements to have fish tacos. Isn't life grand?

Peaches, peaches, peaches!

peaches, red baron, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

My peaches are ripe. Although they are not as large as previous years they are delicious! This photo is from a couple of years ago. Today's pick was blushed with a deeper red....thus the name "red baron". Remember the blossoms in February?

Red baron peaches in watercolor

Red baron peaches in watercolor, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

After picking peaches from my backyard tree I tumbled them out on my counter to wait until I could turn them into a peach crostada. I just had to pick up my pen and watercolors. 8 1/2" by 11"
I would love to decorate my entire house in these colors. (Oh yes, I already have)

and Voila! Peach Crostata

peach crostata, originally uploaded by cabanagirl.

After harvesting the peaches; stopping to capture them in watercolor and baking them in a variation of Ina Garten's "summer fruit crostata" here is the result. I am ready to take a bite.....

Spring is on its way

I looked outside my bedroom window this morning and saw this.  My Red Baron peach is very generous each summer with about 200 pounds of fruit.  Its name comes from this blossom.  It is hot pink and when the tree is full of blossoms it is breathtaking.  From the look of the buds swelling up it might be another bountiful year for my little peach tree.