Tomorrow is National Peach Melba day – a great way to use any fresh or frozen peaches you have and it’s delicious!!

What is Peach Melba?

Peach Melba is a delicious dessert of vanilla ice cream topped with poached peaches and a flavorful raspberry sauce.

This dessert was created in the 1890s at the Savoy Hotel in London. Chef Auguste Escoffier created this dish in honor of an Australian opera singer, Nellie Melba. Originally called “Pecheau Cygne” (French for peach swan), it was served in an ice bowl shaped like a swan and topped with beautiful spun sugar lace. This wonderful sundae is new celebrated all over the world.

Sounds pretty good, huh? Bet you’re thinking it’s really going to be difficult to make. Surprise!! It is probably the simplest “fancy” dessert you’ll ever make!

This dish requires 7 ingredients and vanilla ice cream to put it all over. Peaches, sugar, vanilla bean and water for the poached peaches. Fresh raspberries, powdered sugar and some lemon juice make the sauce.

You can make the two components in advance and put them together at serving. And to make it beautiful at serving, a bright herb like mint or basil garnishes it.

Ready to get started?

Poaching the Peaches

Place the sugar, vanilla bean and water into a medium saucepan. Boil the mixture for about 5 minutes to start creating a syrup.

Reduce the heat to low. Carefully place the peaches into the water and poach for about 2 to 3 minutes.

Remove from the heat and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

 NOTE: Some recipes call for peach halves, some for slices. I used eighths here.

Also, fresh peaches are the best, but this time of year, frozen are more likely sweeter. I used peaches I froze this summer. DO NOT use canned peaches. They will turn to mush. 

Making the sauce

Fresh raspberries are really important. The freshness really comes through.

Place the berries, powdered sugar and lemon juice in a food processor and puree the mixture.

Make it as liquid as possible. Strain it to remove the seeds. A food sieve will work faster. I used a mesh basket and it took a very, very long time!! And I had to scrape the bottom to get all the fruit puree into the sauce.

Place the liquid in a jar or glass bowl and refrigerate at least 3 hours.

Putting the Peach Melba together

This is the easy part.

Put a large scoop of ice cream into a bowl. An ice swan would be nice.

Lay some poached peaches around the ice cream and top with a generous portion of raspberry sauce.

Garnish with torn up mint or basil and a couple fresh berries.

Serve immediately. And it’s amazing!

© Copyright 2024 The Lazy Gastronome

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I bought a lot of cranberries ^[14] at the bogs this year. I’ve made bread, cookies, relish – and these really tasty Brussels sprouts!!

And I bought four stalks of sprouts in September and froze them. I was looking for something different to do with them and – viola!

Making the Sprouts and Cranberries – 

This dish is so easy to make! I used pork belly in this one. Pork belly is the fatty belly of the pig. It’s the part we get bacon from! And who doesn’t like bacon? When you buy it whole, there is more meat on it than your standard bacon.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Lay the Brussels sprouts, cranberries and 2 Tablespoons of butter in a casserole dish.

Bake for 15 minutes.

While they are cooking, cut the pork belly into 1/2 inch cubes and cook them in 1 Tablespoon of butter until the are brown and crisp on the outside.

Add them to the casserole dish with the maple syrup. Give it a stir and bake for another 10 minutes.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve hot! And that’s all there is to it!

© Copyright 2024 The Lazy Gastronome

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Yesterday was National Cranberry day. We love cranberries at our house. My siblings and I have gone to the bogs together for the last two years. This year the harvest was longer than normal and we got cranberries that were harvested in the last week.

Fresh cranberries – apples on sale – and behold – A beautiful (and easy to make) Cranberry Apple Galette!

A little bit about cranberries –

Cranberries are one of only a few fruits that are native to North America. They are grown primarily in Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Oregon, and Washington. We go to the Washington coast to get ours.

Only about 5% are sold as fresh or frozen. The remainder goes into juice, sauce and other processed foods.

Cranberries ^[19] do not grow in water. They are a red vine that grows like any other vine. To dry harvest, the vine and fruit must be completely dry, then the berries are picked. It’s these berries that are sold as fresh.

After the dry harvest, the bog is flooded and the vines are gently beaten. The cranberries come off and float. They are then skimmed off the top and harvested.

And cranberries are full of health benefits. They are full of antioxidants and are known to support both cardiovascular and urinary tract health.

What is a galette?

Galettes are basically a free formed pie – the crust is filled, either sweet or savory, then folded around the sides to create a rustic pastry. There is no crimping, no top, no stress. They are so easy to make and imperfection is what makes them unique.

Making the galette –

This recipe does not use a homemade crust. A sheet of puff pastry makes it so easy to make. Start by cooking the filling. The puff pastry cooks quickly, so the filling gets precooked.

Place the apples, 2 tablespoons of the sugar, and spices into a sauce pan with about 1/4 cup water. Bring the water to a boil and gently simmer until the apples are starting to soften.

Add the cranberries and simmer about five minutes longer.

Remove from the heat and stir in the spices, butter, maple syrup and walnuts.

Lay one sheet of puff pastry out on a cook sheet or large dish.

Sprinkle the remaining sugar in the bottom and then full the center with the apple and cranberry mixture.

Pull the sides up around it and pinch the edges together to form sort of a “bowl”. Sprinkle with a little more sugar.

Bake at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crust edges become golden brown. Allow it to cool before cutting.

Serve it cold or hot – with or without ice cream.

© Copyright 2023 The Lazy Gastronome

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Do you still need some Thanksgiving sides? Here’s one that’s easy and delicious!! Small boiler onions (a little larger than pearl onions) and carrots roasted in balsamic vinegar and butter – so rich and flavorful!

We love onions – onion soup, onion bread, fried onions – any onions ^[24]!! If your family likes them, then this is the side dish for you!

Preparing the Boiler Onions – 

Bring a medium pot of water, very lightly salted to a boil.

Add the onions, skin and all to the pot. Cook for 2-4 minutes.

Drain and cool.

After they have cooled enough to handle, pull the skins off. They should come right off if you pinch the tip of the onion.

Set them aside.

Preparing the dish – 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a small casserole dish with olive oil.

Crush the croutons and pistachios together with a mortar and pestle.

Mix all the ingredients together in the casserole and gently stir to coat the carrots and onions.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the onions and carrots are tender and the butter and balsamic have caramelized.

Top with the crouton and pistachio mixture. Bake for about 10 more minutes.

Remove the rosemary stems and serve warm.

© Copyright 2023 The Lazy Gastronome

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It’s time to pull out the vegetable plants and prep the beds for next year,  but there are still some fruits on the plants. There was just a little bit of this, a little bit of that – I added it with some leftover bits of produce in the refrigerator and a perfect baked vegetable side dish comes together!

What kind of vegetables can be baked?

You can use any veggies in this dish. I used tomatoes ^[29] and squash with a few mushrooms and onions I had in the refrigerator. You could also use green beans or peas – peppers, greens (like chard, kale or spinach), and tomatillos would also be great choices.

It’s really up to you, what you have and what sounds tasty to you!

Making the dish – 

Cut the vegetables into bite sized pieces.

Lay them in single layer on a foil covered sheet pan. Sprinkle the olive oil evenly over the top of them all, add some salt and pepper.

Cover with the cheese –

then bake at 350 degrees for about 20 to 30 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.

Garnish the baked veggies with some fresh, flat leafed parsley and serve hot!

© Copyright 2023 The Lazy Gastronome

 

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