Lattice Peach Pie with Homemade Vanilla Bean Ice cream

What is better on a hot summer day then a huge slice of homemade peach pie with a BIG scoop of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream?


In my opinion, there is nothing more comforting. My girls must agree. They both took turns running into my kitchen pointing to the ice cream maker and making annoying noises until I feed them a heaping spoonful of the homemade vanilla bean ice cream. haha...They both kept running back and forth begging for the vanilla sweetness.



I usually make my own crust recipe, but I received the Food Network Magazine this week. I wanted to try a few things from the magazine. One section of the magazine is all about pie with many different fillings. I figured I would give it a try. I love the Food Network Mag. and it always has some really phenomenal recipes.


Food Networks Recipe of Peach Pie:



Crust:
3 1/2 cps. flour
1/4 cp. sugar (I used my vanilla sugar)
1 tsp. salt
3 sticks of butter, cold, cut in 1 in. pads
1 TB of white vinegar
1/2 cp. ice water

Add the flour, sugar and salt into a food processor. Add 1 stick of butter at a time. Pulse. It should be crumbly and the size of peas.

This is what it should look like. Then add the vinegar and water. Pulse three times. Remove from the food processor and put on a floured counter. Knead a few times. Cover and put it in the refridge for 1 hour.

FILLING:

2 1/2 pounds of peaches, skinned removed and cut into slices.

1 cp. brown sugar

Juice of one lemon

2 heaping TB of quick cooking Tapioca

1/2 tsp. vanilla (I used the BVBC Vanilla Paste)

1/4 tsp. cinnamon (I added a little more. I love cinnamon)

Dot with 4 TB of butter

Mix all of the ingredients. Add to a pie shell and dot with the butter.

Bake on 400 for an hour.

I used a Emile Henry pie pan and it worked wonderful. But whatever you have will work beautifully. This pie is outstanding. I give Food Network Mag. five stars.

My Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

2 cps. heavy cream

3 cps. whole milk

1 cp vanilla sugar

1 vanilla bean

1. Add them to a sauce pan. Split the vanilla bean and add the pulp and the vanilla bean. Cook the milk and cream just until the sugar dissolves. (Should still be pretty cool) Add to the ice cream maker...Remove the vanilla bean and add to the ice cream maker. If it is warm let it cool. Refridge. Let it work its magic for about 30 minutes and the add to a container and refridge until firm.

Blueberry Orange Granola Bars

My husband loves snacks for the mornings to eat during his drive to work. I know everyone is probably sick of the things I do for him, but he does a lot for me too. Geoff works his butt off so I can stay home and raise our beautiful girls. I will never be able to show him how much I appreciate that. This is not just for him. My girls love them too and they are very good for you....
ENJOY
Granola Bars
(adapted from Allrecipes.com as Playgroup Granola Bars)

4 cps. oats
2 cps. brown sugar
1 cp. wheat germ
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 cps. flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 cp. honey (I subbed some blueberry syrup. I wanted a more of a blueberry taste)
2 eggs
1 cp. Blood Orange O Olive Oil, (Veg. Oil if you do not have the flavored Oil.)
2 tsp. Vanilla Paste
1/2 cp. sunflower sees
1/2 cp. almonds, slivered
1/2 cp. pecans
1 cp. dried blueberries
1 cp. dried cranberries

I added all the dry ingredients, nuts, dried blueberries and cranberries.


I then added the eggs, oil, honey (If you want sub Blueberry syrup), and O Blood Orange Olive Oil. (Or reg. oil)

All you need to do is mix the ingredients just to combine.

Look at how wonderful that looks. When it is finished being mixed push it into a greased 13x11 pan. Bake on 350 for 35 minutes. Let it cool and cut into bars.

A New Favorite: Feijoada

I must admit I do not know to much about this meal except it is from Brazil. I will do some research. I will let you know.....But I do have to come clean all together. I found this recipe in Everyday with Rachael Ray Mag. I know. I know. I KNOW. There is a lot of people that do not care for her. Truthfully, there is a lot of recipes that I do not care for, but recipes like this makes up for it. As soon as I saw the recipe I KNEW I had to make this for my husband.....
My husband informed me after one bit that he wants this meal every other week. Which is fine with me. This meal was pretty easy and I cook by itself most of the day.
It was a success.


FEIJOADA
6 TB O Jalapeno Olive Oil (Or Reg. Oil)
2 lbs of pork shoulder, cubed
1 ham hock
1 lb of smokes sausage, cut in small bit sized pieces.
1 lb dried black beans, RINSED
1 LG. red onion, chopped
2 dried bay leaves
4 cloves, minced
2 cps. of long grain rice
salt and pepper.
1 jar of pickled jalapenos (I used the jalapenos and the juice)


I have no idea if anyone has heard of O Olive Oil from California. But they make flavored Olive Oil that is quit amazing. I used the Jalapeno and Lime to make this dish.
Brown the pork on medium heat with 2 TB of Olive Oil. (You will use the rest of the Olive Oil to make Black Refried Beans
Cut the sausage. I used Surry Sausage (Which I do know about. It is a sausage only created in Surry, VA. IT ROCKS.) and diced 1 onion. Half for now and half for later.
Add it to the pot. Add with 3 bay leaves, pepper,sausage, 8 cups water, bag of black beans 1/2 the onions and ham hock.
I then minced garlic (4 cloves) into the pot. Cover it. Let it cook on medium heat(a simmer) for a few hours. Then you get.........
I added rice, jalapenos, and the other half of the onions. (You need to brown the other half of onions and add a little of the ground beans and mash...Almost like black beans refried beans and you add it back to the pot.) I used the half the juice of pickled jalapenos and almost all of the jalapenos.
This was really good and spicy...I think this would be a GREAT Burrito filling too.....
Enjoy

BBQ Steak Salad for the Husband

BBQ Marinade for the Flank Steak

1 2-3 lbs flank steak
1 TB Liquid Smoke
1/4 cp. BBQ sauce
1/2 cp. oil
1/2 cp. soy sauce
3 TB steak sauce
3 TB red wine vinegar
1. Whisk this together and pour over a 2-3 lb. flank steak. Let sit over night.
2. Grill 4-5 minutes on each side. Let rest for 10 minutes

Bag of good Onion Rings

3. Bake on 415 for 25 minutes. Turn half way through......Make sure they are really crispy.

THE SALAD
Lettuce (Red Leaf, Green Mix)
1 Carrot, Shredded
2 cp. Cheddar Cheese
12 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1/2 cucumber diced
1/2 red onion
3 ears of corn cut from the cob

4. Mix all together in a large bowl., except the cheese. Top with the grilled steak and Onion rings. Add the cheese to the top. For the dressing: I usually add a little BBQ sauce into a little ranch. My husband does not like Ranch and uses Italian dressing. It depends on what you favor.

I must admit this is one of my favorites. I love huge salads with fries or onion rings. I am from close to the PA area where they put french fries on everything. This is so good and refreshing......

Enjoy

Review: Capresso Coffee TEAM Therm-455 Digital Coffee Grinder/ Maker

Let me start by saying, this makes my mornings incredible. I look forward to that perfect cup of coffee that taste exactly the same each morning. My husband wanted to write his own review on this product. He is the self-made coffee connoisseur. He is also the one who wakes up at 4 or 5 am and makes the coffee for me. (I know I am lucky, but he is too)

I want to add a few pointers about Capresso TEAM Therm-455. Their grinder is not your average grinder. It grinds slowly with minimal heat to preserve the coffee beans and taste. Also, the carafe is made with a stainless steel vacuum to keep it fresh for hours. (It does work.) I have gone to the farmers market and have come back at 10 am. for a fresh cup of coffee that my husband brewed at 5 am.

This by far brews the best cup of coffee and I thank Capresso for their uniqueness and evolutionary ideas.

Here is my husbands review:

Impressive Capresso 455 Digital Coffee Grinder/Maker by guest reviewer Geoff

You all know the commercial - An extraordinarily handsome dark haired man of athletic build wakes up in his charming suburban master bedroom, beautiful wife still peacefully asleep at his side. Wow is this room clean. Sun peaking through the window treatments, pop on the slippers and la la la… The orchestral arrangement carries him softly down the stairs. Grab the brand new can of coffee grounds from the solid oak cabinet… pop, hiss, shhhh. The manual can opener releases the heavily aroma, the fix is near. Everything will be alright soon.

Short story long, the guy makes the coffee, the wife gets to wake up to a freshly made pot, everybody is super frickin’ happy. He pulls it off flawlessly. Wink, wink, from the wifey!

So true to my body type and daily life experience, sans the sun being up when I am or the slippers and the orchestra, oh and the gold metal technique which kills the winky winky, I am not flawless. Read that twice.

Just to break the ice and get the snicking out of the way - on occasion I forget to sometimes add water, coffee, filter, or plug it in and/or turn it on. The most disappointing of all these is using a palatable proportion of grounds to water. Oh, I don’t use any measuring implements either which means I “eye it“. My eyes do not focus so well like Mr Suburban Super Husband Guy. At least I grind my own beans DUDE.

Should I even be allowed to do this? Do the coffee grounds floating in my cup really add a manly protein chew? Fact - I have a co-worker that claims this to be true and that I should just be a man and drink it. So I drink. I am man.

The folks at Capresso Inc. say “stop it, that’s enough Geoff“. The New Jersey manufacturer rolls out some serious top tier coffee and espresso makers. Developed over the last 15 years, the Capresso line-up can even figure out how to engineer around my blunders, except for the plugging it in issue (pssst, work on it guys).

The Capresso model #455 CoffeeTEAM Therm™ 10-cup Digital Coffee Maker / Burr Grinder Combo was the answer for my style. The system allows you to program not only auto start, but auto grind to brew. No hands!
Fill the Bean container to the top. Fill the reservoir with water. No filter needed. Plug it in. Program for cups, strength, and grind size. Once the grinder knows it has processed the correct consistency and amount, the filter assembly automatically swings over the stainless steel carafe, and blub blub. Coffee. The fastest at that.

The coffee will still be hot 10-12 hours later in the insulated carafe. I know, I just cleaned it, it was hot.
No heating element = No more turning the family truckster around because she forgot to turn it off.
We decided to give the device at least a one week tryout and I am glad we did. This process was difficult at first. I am used to the cheap ol’ Dr. Coffee, the coffee mangler maker. I never spent more than $50 on one. My Mom spends $150 + and they still don’t cut it, they look pretty though. The process has not evolved in that world.
It is so simple that you over think it. You scuttled the automation! Get your hand out of the way stupid!
Two mornings later and I was a Pro. Being a Pro will set you back $300 for this exotic, however you have to spend $2 for 16 oz. this good at JohnnyAllStarBucks (trademark pending). That’s a three month payback in my world. Put that in your cup and chew it. http://www.capresso.com/

Review: Marin French Cheeses

This was a very interesting and unique product to review. Marin French Cheese Company also known as Rouge et Noir was created in 1865 and are still creating amazing Artisan Crafted Cheeses. You can find this company in Northern California near Sonoma Wine Country. Not only do they create distinguished and incredible cheeses, but they also offer tours, cheese tasting and a deli at their facility and 700 acre grounds.



The Marin French Company has created many award winning cheeses. In 2005 Rouge de Noir won three gold award in the World Championship Brie at the World Cheese Awards. One of them is the Triple Creme Brie. It is one of the best soft ripened cheeses in America. It is incredible with strawberries and fruit. Marins French Gold also won a gold award. Marin Gold French is known for its a little sharp, buttery and creamy texture. Then the Marin French Company created the Marin French Blue. It is also a gold award winner at the London World Cheese Championships. It is made with Jersey Sow milk and it makes it peppery, yet sweet. The Melange Brie won a award at the World Cheeses in 2008. It is made with goats milk.

Lastly there is the Yellow Buck Chevre. It won the Americas Notional Trophy in 2005 for Best American Cheese. This is the Marin Cheese Company's original. I must admit this was one of my favorites. It is also made with goat cheese and it has an incredible nutty and delectable taste. There has been many other awards granted to this amazing craftsmanship and I am sure there is more to come.

For me, this was my first time trying Brie. I must admit, I am a huge fan. My favorite was the pesto and jalapeno flavored brie that Marin Cheese Company made. I am a fan of mild blue cheese, but Marin Blue Cheese was a little to strong for my taste. I served this to some of my husbands co-workers who greatly enjoyed it. By far my favorite is the Yellow Buck Chevre. I will pitilessly admit that I ate the entire thing myself with good sausage and peperoni.
If you are interested in Marin Cheeses you can locate them on Foodbuzz.com and also their site at:
http://www.marinfrenchcheese.com/

Here are some of the AMAZING Brie Recipes that I have found:

Cookin Canuck: http://cookincanuck.blogspot.com/2009/07/baked-brie-strawberries.html
This would be perfect with the Triple Creme Brie.

Foododelmondo: http://www.foodbuzz.com/recipes/1221180-cedar-plank-brie-with-peach-chutney
Yummy...This would also be great with many of Marins wonderful Brie Cheeses.

Buttermilk Vanilla Bean Pancakes for the Husband

My husband and kids adore pancakes. That is what they ask for almost every Saturday and Sunday. I try to switch it up and make the pancakes different. I posted my oven pancake burrito (It was one of my first post). It is the family favorite. I have not been able to replace that as a fav. But this is now a close second. Enjoy.





Buttermilk Vanilla Bean Pancakes
2 egg
6 tbs vanilla sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 cup buttermilk
3 cup all purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
2 tbs veg oil
2 tsp vanilla paste

1. Cream the eggs, sugar, vanilla cream and oil together. Add the buttermilk.
2. Add 1 cp. at a time of flour and add the baking powder.
3. Cook....I added about 1/2 cp. of batter per time.