Peachy Keen

Peach and Blackberry Crostata, originally uploaded by mud pie gourmet.

Everything is just Peachy Keen, here! We are having a busy summer and doing lots of local things. Hence, flog is the first thing to go. At night I am sleeping hard and having crazy dreams because of it. I sometimes have dreams (well, nightmares, really) about 20 page papers that I have to turn in, but haven't started, terrorist attacks (hey, I live in D.C., what can I say?), and dreams where I have to sing and dance to a song that I don't know the words or the dance moves to. Can you relate to any of those?

Okay, how about this one: peach picking in July in Virginia. Seriously, I do have dreams about this. But, I also have done it. When I was a teenager my mom would drag us out of bed on a HOT July morning to go peach picking. Let me tell you something about Virginia in July: Hot. Humid. Now, add PEACH FUZZ to that equation and you get = MISERABLE. Gnats, other bugs and peach fuzz sticking to you. It was not my idea of a great time. My mom has since learned: You go to the farm and pick UP the peaches. Ahhh, you still get that farm fresh taste without the torture. I'm sure someday I will wake my kids up at the crack of dawn to go to some farm over an hour away just to pick peaches, but until then, I'm going to let my mom pick my bushel up for me. And then I am going to enjoy those peaches every meal. I froze about half of the peaches, ate a lot fresh, and then I came up with a crostata with them and some blackberries. I hope you have dreams about this crostata instead of showing up to school neck-ed (yes, I meant to write neck-ed).

Peach and Blackberry Crostata

Dough:
(Barefoot Contessa's recipe from her Apple Crostata--why mess with a good thing?)
Makes 2 tarts

2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 lb cold, unsalted butter, diced
1/4 cup ice water

For the pastry, place the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse a few times sto combine. Add the butter and toss quickly with your fingers to coat each cube of butter with the flour. Pulse 12-15 times, or until the butter is the size of peas. With the motor running, add 1/4 cup ice water all at once through the fee tube. Keep hitting the pulse button to combine, but stop the machine just before the dough comes together. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured board and form into 2 disks. Wrap with plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

For the filling:
3 cups sliced fresh peaches
1 cup blackberries (fresh, or frozen ones that have been thawed work)
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp orange zest
1 T fresh lemon juice

Combine above ingredients and let sit while preparing topping.

Topping:
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
6 T cold butter, diced

Combine above ingredients in a bowl.

Roll the pastry into two circles on a floured board. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (you will need 2 pans). Divide peach mixture in half and place on the two pastries (leave excess liquid in bowl), leaving a 1 1/2 inch border. Top each pastry with half of the flour mixture and toss. Add remaining flour mixture to the top. Gently fold the border over the peach mixture, pleating to make a circle.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Nantucket Weekend GIVEAWAY!!!!

This is totally off from cooking, but talk about SWEET.  This amazing woman makes D-Aaaaaa-R-L-I-N-G clothing and gives it away.  Yes, please.  

Nantucket Weekend GIVEAWAY!!!!