Tag Archives: peaches

Seasonal Fruit Crisp

Blackberry - nectarine crisp with corn crisp

Blackberry – Nectarine Crisp with Sweet Corn Ice Cream

At EVOO we almost always have a fruit crisp on our menu.  Starting in the spring with raspberries usually paired with rhubarb, moving into strawberries, blackberries, cultivated blueberries and then my favorite wild blueberries.  Peaches and nectarines are often in the summer mix of crisps sometimes mixed with berries and at times mixed with basil from our rooftop garden.  Going into autumn we like to make pear filled crisps, some years it’s just pears flavored with a little brandy, as is on our current menu; recipe is below.  Other years we pair the pears with dry fruit such as raisins, currants and / or dry cranberries.  Later into the fall and through the winter we are able to get apples cellared at local farms for use in our apple crisp.

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The recipes for all of the crisps are quite similar; fruit mixed with some sugar and flavors topped with an oatmeal – nut topping, baked and served with our in-house made ice cream.  The ice cream flavors depend on which fruit is filling the crisp.  The berry and stone fruit crisps often get creamy, yet mild flavored ice creams such as vanilla, sour cream, buttermilk or even sweet corn.  The pear crisp that is on our current menu is topped with ginger – brown sugar ice cream and our apple crisp is almost always paired with salted caramel ice cream.

 

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Pear Crisp with Ginger – Brown Sugar Ice Cream

EVOO’s Pear Crisp

Ingredients:

Topping:

¾ cup         Granulated Sugar

¾ cup         Light Brown Sugar

¾ lb           ½” cubed Butter

1½ ts           Vanilla Extract

1½ ts           ground Cinnamon

½ ts            Kosher Salt

3 cups        All Purpose flour

¾ cups       Rolled Oats

1½ cups     toasted slivered Almonds

Filling:

5 cups        peeled, cored, large diced Pears

1 TB           Brandy

2 TB           Lemon Juice

1 ts             Vanilla Extract

1 ts             Ground Cinnamon

1 ts             fresh ground Nutmeg

1/3 cup      Granulated Sugar

1/2 ts                   Kosher Salt

3 TB           Corn Starch

1/8th lb       1/4″ diced Butter

 

Method:

Topping:

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment combine the sugar, brown sugar, butter, vanilla extract, cinnamon and salt until smooth and creamy. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until just combined.

Filling:

In a large bowl combine all of the ingredients.

Baking:

Pre-heat oven to 310 degrees. Fill individual portion sized ceramic ramekins with the filling. Place filled ramekins on a sheet pan. Top each ramekin with 1/3 cup of topping. Bake for 25 minutes. Top each crisp with an additional 3TB of topping and bake for an additional 25 minutes. The filling should be bubbling over the sides and the topping nicely browned. Let cool a bit and serve with ice cream.

Peaches, peaches and more peaches

peaches 2

I love peaches.  They are another one of the many locally grown crops, such as tomatoes, apples, berries and corn that we look forward to cooking and eating every year.  This peach season is extra special because due to a winter thaw that tricked the peach trees into budding early, followed by a deep freeze that eliminated the buds and ultimately peaches in New England last season.  Fortunately, peaches are plentiful this year and we are celebrating by incorporating them all over our menu.

You can click on the following URL to read an article from the Boston Globe to get a more detailed account of last years peach pounding.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/05/14/after-sad-summer-peaches-new-england-could-see-bumper-crop-this-year/nKxSdZ7cap4kEgXNPGilJN/story.html

 

Peach-Bacon Panini
Za’s Peach Pizza

Some of this season peach menu items are; a smoky, slightly spicy and cool Chipotle laced Peach Gazpacho (recipe follows) is on both our lunch and dinner menus.  Peach, Bacon and Cheddar Panini is on our lunch menu.  We are making a Peach-Basil Relish that we serve with smoked bluefish.  Peach-Blueberry Crisp (recipe follows) with our homemade sour cream ice cream is on our dessert menu; as are White Wine Poached Peaches that we are serving with an almond financier.  We are also in the process of making Peach Butter and habanero laced Peach Hot Sauce, which we will preserve in Mason jars for use during the winter months.  I don’t want to leave out that we serving a Peach-Goat Cheese Pizza at our sister restaurant Za.  And, I can’t forget about our bar where our bartenders are are creating mixed drinks and Sangria with summer’s golden fruit.

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Chipotle laced peach gazpacho

EVOO’s Chipotle Laced Peach Gazpacho

Soup Base Ingredients:

1½  qts         large diced Peaches

¾ cup           Orange Juice

1 TB             Lime Juice

1 TB             Rice Vinegar

1/3 cup         Water

1½  TB         Honey

2 TB             EVOO

1 ts               minced Chipotle Chilies

1 ts               Kosher Salt

½ ts              fresh ground Black Pepper

Garnish Ingredients:

½ cup           medium diced Peaches

½ cup           medium diced seeded Cucumbers

¼ cup           toasted slivered Almonds

2 TB             small diced Red Onion

1 TB             fresh chopped Cilantro

3 TB             EVOO

Method:

In a tall thin non-reactive container combine the soup base ingredients. Using an immersion blender puree until smooth. strain through a fine mesh strainer. Chill.

Just before serving, in a separate bowl, combine all garnish ingredients. Ladle soup base into chilled bowls, spoon generous amounts of garnish into the center of each dish. Serve.

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Peach – Blueberry Crisp

Peach-Blueberry Crisp

Ingredients:

Topping:

¾ cup      Sugar

¾ cup      Light Brown Sugar

¾ lb         1/2″ cubed Butter

1½ ts       Vanilla Extract

1 ts          ground Cinnamon

½ ts         Kosher Salt

3 cups      All Purpose flour

1 cup       Rolled Oats

1½ cups   toasted slivered Almonds

Filling:

5 cups      large diced Peaches

3 cups      Blueberries

3 TB        Lemon Juice

2 TB        Brandy

1/2 ts       Kosher Salt

1 cups      Sugar

¼ cup      Corn Starch

¼ lb         1/4″ diced Butter

1 ea         Zest from Lemon

Method:

Topping:

In a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment combine the sugar, brown sugar, butter, vanilla extract, cinnamon and salt until smooth and creamy. Add the remaining ingredient and mix until just combined.

Filling:

In a large bowl combine all of the ingredients.

Baking:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Place the filling into a 9 inch X 13 inch baking pan. Evenly spread two-thirds of the topping on top of the filling and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the crisp from the oven and evenly spread the remaining third of the topping over the top and then bake for an additional 20 – 30 minutes, until the filling is bubbling around the edges and the topping is nicely browned. Remove the crisp from the oven and let it rest for 20 minutes before enjoying.