chardonnay and smoked paprika peach preserves

With the remainder of the box of peaches, I made this chardonnay and smoked paprika peach preserve.  I was yet again inspired by inventive flavor combos mentioned on Local Kitchen.  Kaela didn't post a recipe so I made my best guess at ingredient ratios and I have to say that the final result turned out well!

And to make a good situation even better, Eric made crumpets!

Ingredients:
3 lbs. seconds peaches (4 c. peach puree)

1 1/2 c. brown sugar

1 c. chardonnay

1/2 t. smoked paprika

1/2 c. low sugar pectin

Yield: 3 pints

Lightly slice an X on the bottoms of the peaches.  Boil for 1-4 minutes or until the peaches bob to the top.  Remove the boiling peaches with a slotted spoon and dunk them in ice water.  Pull off the loosened skin.  Cut off any icky scrapes or bruises.  Don't be stingy! Spoiled bits could ruin the shelf life of the whole batch. Chop up the remaining good stuff and remove the pits.  Throw the processed peaches into a sauce pot with brown sugar, chardonnay, and smoked paprika.  Simmer over medium heat. Puree or mash to desired consistency.  Add pectin and follow the instructions on the pectin container.  Refrigerate or can.

chipotle peach bbq sauce

It's time for seconds peaches!!! You know... the peaches that are discounted because they are a slightly less pretty than all the other peaches? We were especially lucky this year to receive a whole box of seconds peaches for free from a friend with a connection in Palisade, Colorado. (thanks friend!)

So what did we do with a whole box of peaches? First we gorged ourselves.  Then I set a handful aside for peach crumble to be made later this week.  Then I weighed, sliced, and froze peaches putting 2.5 lbs of peaches per freezer bag because supposedly that should fill a pie.  Then I made chardonnay peach preserves (more on that soon) and this chipotle peach bbq sauce.

I based my recipe on local kitchen's peach cascabel bbq sauce.  There are many things I will do with this bbq sauce. First, I had to put it on a bbq tofu sandwich: tofu baked in olive oil, balsamic, tamari, and maple syrup, topped with micro greens and fresh garden tomatoes all on a seeded baguette smeared with chipotle peach bbq sauce.  Next up, pizza with pulled jackfruit!

Ingredients:
3 lbs. seconds peaches (4 c. peach puree)
1/2 c. apple cider vinegar
3 dried chipotle peppers
1 dried thai chile pepper
1/2 c. onion, chopped
1/2 c. honey
2 T. black strap molasses
1 t. garlic powder
1 1/2 t. vegan Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 t. salt

Yield: 3 pints

Lightly slice an X on the bottoms of the peaches.  Boil for 1-4 minutes or until the peaches bob to the top.  Remove the boiling peaches with a slotted spoon and dunk them in ice water.  Pull off the loosened skin.  Cut off any icky scrapes or bruises.  Don't be stingy! Spoiled bits could ruin the shelf life of the whole batch. Chop up the remaining good stuff and remove the pits.  Throw the processed peaches into a sauce pot over medium heat with the apple cider vinegar.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.  Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes.  Puree and refrigerate.  Or if you like, you can can it in a boiling water bath.

tofu misozuke

I encountered tofu misozuke (miso-cured tofu) at a farmers' market stand in California and was kind of blown away. It is tofu that has been transformed into a creamy cheesy spread simply by coating it with a mixture of miso, sugar, and sake. I knew I had to try making it. Here is the recipe from Rau Om (you can try/buy Rau Om's tofu-misozuke at several markets in the bay area and Oklahoma, or buy it from their online store).

Our first attempt at making tofu misozuke was semi-successful.We changed the moisture-absorbing paper towels every 1–2 weeks. After only 4 or 5 weeks (as opposed to the 2 months recommended by Rau Om), the tofu was cured all the way through. Maybe it went quickly because of the fridge temperature or altitude... Unfortunately, there were some mold spots growing on the outside of the cheesecloth/marinade, and one of our two blocks had to be composted because it was too moldy. The other one was delicious though. For our next attempt, we will check the paper towels more often and check the doneness after 3 or 4 weeks. And maybe we will try some variations that include red pepper flakes, nori, or tea.

purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean

Years ago a friend's mom brought some hyssop-infused wine to a gathering. I was intrigued, but forgot about it until we were gifted a perennial hyssop plant. What do you do with hyssop? The Internet warned of it's strong flavor and said that the French and Romans put it in wine–so that's what we did. It is pretty and adds a bit of refreshment to the wine, but mostly it is pretty. It also makes a nice tea.

inspirational pickles

A friend introduced me to some amazing gourmet pickles: Hop-Pickle by Brooklyn Brine and Smokra by Rick's Picks.  Both had a kick to them and a twist of sophistication.  Honestly, I was going to take a year off from canning, but these pickles were sooooo good that I had to attempt making them.  I will certainly share the recipes if my versions are even half as good as the professionals'.

The Hop-Pickle has cucumber chunks stewed in Dogfish Head's 60 Minute IPA, apple cider vinegar, water, habanero, caramelized onion (onion, maple syrup, bourbon, etc), garlic, dill, spices, and smoked paprika.  For my own version of these pickles, I substituted the Dogfish head with Upslope's IPA, a beer from Boulder.

The Smokra has okra stewed in apple cider vinegar, water, garlic, salt, smoked paprika, curry powder, mustard seed, chili flakes, dried chili peppers, cayenne pepper. 

And because I was already canning and I had a pile of green beans, I made dilly beans as well.  Never know when you'll need to make a bloody mary!

cold garlicky potato soup

We had a lot of great soups in Poland and Ukraine, from spinach soup (with poached egg) to cold borscht (with hard boiled egg) to hot borscht (with smoked prunes). I've been inspired to make more soup, starting with this nice cold summer soup.

Ingredients:
Potato, baked or boiled
Almond milk (or whatever milk)
Garlic cloves, to taste
Onion flower (or onion)
Lemon juice
Dill
Salt
Pepper

Blend everything and top with hot croutons made with thyme, salt, garlic powder, and olive oil.

Now is the time for: bean salad

Our green beans have started to come in, despite the fact that our bean plants are remarkably short (~1 ft tall). Sooo, it is time to make bean salad. Goes well with tacos.

Ingredients:
Green beans, blanched
Dry beans (ours were white and black mixed, from market)
Carrots, shredded
A dressing of your choice. Here's mine.

first tasting: sleepytime wit

We cracked open the first bottle of our Sleepytime Wit, a witbier featuring lots of chamomile and honey. Coincidentally, we had just harvested a bunch of chamomile that is now drying on the table. While it does not look or taste like a witbier to me, it is tasty. You can taste the honey and there's a subtle scent of chamomile.

what's the deal radicchio?

We planted radicchio in our garden, but these do not look like the radicchio on the seed packet–no purple core has formed. These do taste bitter like radicchio. Perhaps they are a variety of chicory or endive. What's the deal?

white pizza with sage

Our garden is busting with sage! What does one do with so much sage?? I do not know. It seems you either have to try to ignore it or try to give it away to everyone you know. Anybody want some sage?

To make a minor dent in our growing collection of sage, I made this white pizza with sage from Deborah Madison's "Local Flavors".  Basically make your favorite pizza dough.  Roll it out, top it with olive oil and slices of fresh mozzarella, and bake for 7 minutes at 500° F.  Then add sage and bake for 8 more minutes.  Remove the pizza from the oven and top it with parmigiano reggiano, red pepper flakes, and sea salt.

I've made this pizza in the past with dried sage leaves and the flavor was much more intense and tasty than with fresh sage.  To improve the flavor of a fresh sage pizza, I would toss in fresh garlic next time.