Grilled Peaches with Mascarpone and Honey

This isn't much of a recipe, more of a reminder to people that you can grill peaches. I'd kind of forgotten about grilled peaches until they were making free samples at the Wegmans recently and serving them with macarpone and honey. My daughter had a taste and declared we must make these! So I did. Of course when I made them, she wasn't as jazzed as she was at the grocery store. I probably shouldn't have had that plate of brownies sitting right next to them. 

  GRILLED PEACHES WITH MASCARPONE AND HONEY

peaches (ripe, but still firm), sliced in half and pitted

canola oil (or other no-taste oil)

mascarpone

honey

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1.      Heat the grill to medium.

2.      Brush the peaches with oil.

3.      Cook peaches on the grill until just cooked through (tender, but not falling apart),
      about 4 minutes per side (depending on the size of your peaches). Rotate 90º halfway
      through if you want crosshatch grill marks. 

4.      Serve peaches cut side up with a dollop of mascarpone and drizzling of honey.

peaches, halved and grilled

oiled peaches on the grill

grill marks

grilled peach with mascarpone

drizzling on the honey

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Nectarine Almond Frangipane Tart

I'm just going to state the obvious...I burned the crust. I should have covered the edges with foil during the second half of baking, but I wasn't paying attention and it got away from me. Oh well. I hesitated for just a moment to share this with you, but then I realized how selfish it would be for me to rob you of that comforting feeling you get when you know you're not the only one who does stuff like this. And I already felt bad, so why shouldn't you feel good? You're welcome. Anyway, I guess it's a testimonial to this being a good tart, because in spite of the burnt crust, it was still delightful. And I can tell that the crust is delicious, because the unburnt part on the bottom was awesome (the lemon zest in there is a really nice touch).

NECTARINE ALMOND FRANGIPANE TART

Makes 8 servings

pastry dough:

1 cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1/2 teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest

2 large egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons water

frangipane filling:

7 to 8 oz almond paste (not marzipan or almond filling)

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened

3 tablespoons sugar

1/8 teaspoon almond extract

2 large eggs

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 lb firm-ripe nectarines

glaze:

1/3 cup peach preserves

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon Disaronno Amaretto (optional)

Special equipment: 11" x 8" rectangular (or 11" round) fluted tart pan with removable bottom

Make dough:

1.      Put oven rack in middle position and preheat to 375° F.

2.      Pulse flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor until combined. Add butter and zest and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Add yolks, vanilla, and water and pulse just until incorporated and dough begins to form large clumps.

3.      Turn dough out onto a work surface and divide into 4 portions. Smear each portion once with heel of your hand in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather dough together using scraper and form into a ball, then flatten into a rectangle.

4.      Put dough in tart pan and pat out with well-floured fingers into an even layer over bottom and up sides so it extends about 1/4 inch above rim. Chill 30 minutes.

5.      Lightly prick tart shell all over with a fork, then line with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake shell until golden around edge, about 15 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights and bake until shell is golden all over, about 15 minutes more. Cool shell completely in pan on a rack. Leave oven on.

Make filling:

6.      Beat together almond paste, butter, sugar, and almond extract in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until creamy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then mix in flour and salt.

7.      Halve nectarines, discarding pits, then cut into 1/4-inch-wide wedges.

8.      Spread frangipane filling evenly in tart shell. Stand nectarine wedges, skin sides down, decoratively in filling, being careful not to push too far into filling.

9.      Bake tart until frangipane is puffed and golden and edges of nectarines are golden brown, about 1 1/4 hours.

Make glaze:

10.  Heat preserves and water in a 1-quart saucepan over moderately high heat, stirring, until preserves are melted. Remove from heat and force through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl, discarding solids. Stir in Amaretto (if using).

11.  Brush top of hot tart generously with glaze and cool in pan on rack 15 minutes. Remove side of pan and cool tart completely, about 2 hours.

Gourmet, September 2006

flour, sugar, salt, butter and zest

adding yolks, vanilla and water

dough pulsed

dough in four parts and smeared

dough in pan

I used red lentils as pie weights.

blind baked crust (still looking good)

sugar, butter and almond paste

mixed; adding first egg

eggs already mixed in; adding flour and salt

almond cream

filling the tart crust with almond cream

nectarines

nectarines arranged stupidly

I recommend leaning all your nectarines in one direction,
instead of trying to face them all up. As you can see in the next
photo, they all fell over in different directions and ended up
looking pretty stupid. I guess it just wasn't my day in the kitchen.

baked tart

No, I'm not dyslexic (but if I was smart, I'd go with that).

glaze ingredients (before melting)

glazing tart

nectarine almond frangipane tart

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Amaretti Stuffed Peaches

Let's just discuss the elephant in the room and get it over with...this photo is totally unappetizing. I know it, you know it...it's indisputable. I waffled about whether or not to even post the recipe, but ultimately I decided to swallow my pride and do it because it's pretty tasty. I have no good excuse, except my husband's family was visiting from Virginia (nine of them!) and I was rushing around a little (a lot). Actually, that's a decent excuse. And what you don't know yet is that on top of the sub par photo, I also forgot to serve the peaches lovingly drizzled with crème fraîche (now that would have made for a nice photo). I hope this is making some of you feel better about your own absent-mindedness and/or photography skills (I like to think I'm performing a public service).

AMARETTI-STUFFED PEACHES

Makes 8 servings

1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup coarsely crumbled amaretti (Italian almond cookies, preferably Lazzaroni brand)

2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

8 firm-ripe small peaches (about 2 lb), halved lengthwise and pitted

mascarpone cheese or crème fraîche for serving

1.    Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350° F.

2.    Melt 2 tablespoons butter and pour into a 13- by 9-inch glass or ceramic baking dish.

3.    Pulse 3/4 cup crumbled amaretti in a food processor until finely chopped. Add flour, sugar, salt, and remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Blend until butter is incorporated, then add egg and blend until smooth.

4.    Scoop out just enough peach pulp from center of each peach half with a melon-ball cutter or a small spoon to create a 1-inch-deep cavity. Arrange peaches, cut sides up, in baking dish, then brush skins with melted butter from dish. Divide amaretti mixture among cavities, then sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup crumbled amaretti over filling. Bake until filling is puffed and crisp, 40 to 50 minutes.

5.    Serve warm or at room temperature with mascarpone cheese or crème fraîche.

Gourmet, August 2005

big bag of Lazzaroni amaretti cookies

amaretti cookies

crushed amaretti cookies

Use whatever way works best for you. Putting them
in a ziploc and hammering them worked for me.

crushed amaretti (already crushed finer in the
food processor) with all the other filling ingredients

amaretti filling

fresh peaches from Virginia...thanks Judie!

peaches halved & pitted

peach halves scooped out

peach halves stuffed with amaretti filling

sprinkled with more amaretti crumbs

baked

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Brown Butter Nectarine Cobbler/Cake

You'll have to excuse me for a minute if I'm not making sense because my head is spinning. I just looked up cobbler online to help clear up a few questions. But between the cobblers, grunts, slumps, buckles, sonkers, crisps, crumbles, and pandowdys...I'm more confused than ever. It seems they're all made with fruit, but some are topped with oatmeal and others with biscuits, dumplings and/or batter.

And if that wasn't enough, then there's the brown betty made with breadcrumbs or bread pieces (like a bread pudding). I could break it all down for you, but I'm dizzy and don't really feel like it. I'm getting the impression that they all blur into one another anyway, so what's the point? Does that sound pessimistic? I guess that's just the mood I'm in (not very Betty Crocker of me, I know). Then again, she wasn't very Betty Crocker either. I looked it up and it turns out she wasn't real, some guy made her up (if you're devastated, you can cheer up....Sara Lee is a real person and still alive.) See what I did there? I droned on and on for so long, you didn't even realize I never described this recipe. It's kind of like a cross between cobbler and cake. There.

BROWN BUTTER NECTARINE COBBLER/CAKE

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

3 cups fresh nectarines or peaches, in 1/2-inch slices (about 1 lb.)

5 oz. sugar (about 3/4 cup)

1 teaspoon lemon juice

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 oz. flour (about 3/4 cup)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup sliced almonds

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

2 tablespoons demerara sugar

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1.       Heat the oven to 350º F. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the fruit slices, 1/4 cup sugar and lemon juice. Stirring constantly, bring the mixture to a simmer, then take the pan off the heat.

2.       In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and cook, swirling the pan occasionally, until it smells very nutty, turns golden, and flecks of dark brown appear, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour the brown butter into an 8-inch-by-8-inch baking dish.

3.       In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, remaining 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder and salt. Pour the buttermilk into the dry ingredients and mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Scrape the batter on top of the brown butter, use a spatula to even out the batter but be careful not to mix it into the butter. Scatter the nectarine slices and juice on top of the batter without stirring. Sprinkle with the almonds, nutmeg and demerara sugar. Bake until golden brown, 50 to 55 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool. Serve warm.

from New York Times (July 27, 2011)

I used peaches...fresh, local beauties.
You know they're basically fuzzy nectarines, right?

peach slices

peach slices, sugar and lemon juice

butter browning

butter in baking dish

adding buttermilk to dry ingredients

dough mixed (it should be thick, like biscuit dough)

dough gently added, trying not the displace the butter

spread as delicately as possible

peaches added

almonds, nutmeg and demerara sugar sprinkled on top

Demerara sugar is an unrefined, light brown sugar. It
tastes slightly like molasses. The grains are larger than
refined granulated sugar, so it adds a nice crunch when
sprinkled on top of baked goods.

The bag I found said "raw cane sugar", not "demerara sugar" on
the front, so I read the ingredient list just to make sure it was demerara.

demerara sugar up close

baked

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