Peach & Blueberry Galette

One of my favorite parts of the the hot, humid and miserable summer is glorious fresh berries! We had the most perfect day (only in the upper 70's while we were out in the fields and the bushes were full of big, fat, sweet, delicious (Okay, I'll stop) blueberries.

With a bucket full of fresh blueberries on my counter, I began to plan what I was going to make over the next couple of days. First thing that came to mind was homemade cottage cheese (Oh, how I love homemade cottage cheese and fresh blueberries...it may be the most perfect summer meal). Next was this peach and blueberry galette! I happened to see peaches on the counter beside the blueberries and I thought they would make a perfect pair.

This galette is so pleasing because you're indulging in excellent pie crust and lots of it (my favorite part!) but you also get to truly enjoy the sweet and delicate flavors of the fresh fruit without being overpowered with sugar or cornstarch that you find in the filling of traditional pies.

I used my favorite pie dough from Cook's Illustrated. I rolled it out thin and then placed it on a buttered cookie sheet.

I cut 2 peaches in half, removed the pit and then made very thin slices, I would say thinner than an 1/8 of an inch. I fanned the peaches in a single layer then piled on the blueberries, leaving an inch or two of crust to fold up. I worked the crust up and over the edge of the fruit and brushed the crust and fruit with melted butter. I then sprinkled 1/4 cup of vanilla sugar (I keep a container of sugar with a used vanilla bean ---I removed the inner bits for making ice cream and then dried the outer bean and stored it with the white sugar) over the fruit and pie crust.

Baked at 400 degrees for 35 minutes and then cooled for 15-20.

The only thing I would change...I would sprinkle 2 tblsp of the sugar directly onto the peaches before piling on the blueberries then finish with the rest of the sugar on the crust and blueberries.

I take that back...I would change one more thing. I would sprinkle the tiniest bit of salt over the top of the peaches to contrast the sugar and maybe even add a touch more salt to the crust since there is sugar on top of the crust. I don't care for sugary sweets, but when nicely balance with a bit of salt then I'm a happy camper :)

Grilled Portabello Mushroom Burger

I use these in place of hamburger meat when our family grills burgers and dogs. My husband prefers the beef, but I'm happier not having it.

Remove the stem and lightly drizzle or brush olive oil on both sides of the mushroom. To the underside of the mushroom, I sprinkle salt, onion powder and garlic powder then grill top side down to start. You're looking for the mushroom to start releasing it's liquid, which will take some time....but wait for it! If you take it off before it's had a chance to get soft and juicy it won't taste good and the center, where it's thickest, may not be cooked through. I give it a good 6-7 minutes per side and maybe more if it's thick. Add a slice of cheese before you take it off the grill and stack it on a bun with lettuce, tomato and mayo (or your favorite burger toppings).

It's meaty, without all the fat and the heavy feeling in your gut after a burger.

Grilled Mahi Mahi

I've been working to incorporate more seafood into my diet...I hear it helps to trim the waist :) This recipe has won a spot on our regular menu. And what Mormon family doesn't love a main dish that can be served with rice!


3 tbsp honey
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp ground ginger

2 cloves minced garlic
2 teaspoons olive oil
mahi mahi filets (I use this recipe for 6 filets)
Pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients except the fish in a gallon size zip lock bag or a 13X9 baking dish. Add the fish, coat with marinade and let sit for at least 20 minutes and even up to 1 hour. I use the frozen filets from Sam's Club and often forget to thaw my fish ahead of time. I rinse them in cool water to break off the outer layer of ice, add the fish to the marinade and then let them thaw on the counter while they're soaking up the marinade goodness. If your filets are thawed ahead of time, let your fish marinade in the refrigerator.

I choose to pepper after the fish has marinated as I have non-pepper eaters in the house. This way the pepper doesn't contaminate the marinade. I also think this would be awesome with fresh ginger, but I'd use less than the ground ginger as fresh can have quite a bite.

These can be pan fried, but I prefer the grill. If you pan fry, use a little oil or spray in a non-stick pan. Cook until fish flakes (about 5 minutes per side depending on thickness of filet).

You may also reserve some of the marinade before adding the fish then reduce the extra marinade in the same pan you fry your fish in to make a sauce to top your fish. We've found the extra sauce isn't necessary but can be a nice addition.

Last night, I only had 4 mahi mahi filets and I knew that would not feed my family so I threw in a couple handfuls of jumbo shrimp to marinade for 10 minutes or so. Grilled these up and they were a hit! Although, I have to admit...I think the only shrimp my family wouldn't eat is shrimp that's still frozen, but that's even questionable.

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream

Picture compliments of Joythebaker


I finally bought an ice cream maker and we're having so much fun! I'm having to exercise more as my restraint is weakening. I've never been a person to eat much ice cream because I just don't care much for it. But when you make it yourself and you can customize the taste and texture, boy oh boy, I'm a sucker for ice cream now!

Here is the first recipe we made and so far, our favorite. I found it on this website and fell in love the description the author penned for it. I was hooked from the words. Unfortunately, I had used all our cornstarch for diaper rashes and had none for ice cream at 10:00p.m. and wasn't willing to go to the store. I substituted unflavored gelatin (I used 1.5 tsp, but should have used at least 3 tsp or maybe even more). It did not set up while in the ice cream maker, but froze beautifully and was nice and soft when it came out. We made it again with corn starch and the texture was better in the ice cream maker and a nice scoopable yet firm texture once frozen.



Double Chocolate peanut Butter Ice Cream

2 1/2 cups whole milk

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

double pinch of salt (I like a bit more salt with my chocolate so I doubled from the original recipe)

3 Tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup smooth salted peanut butter

In a sauce pan over medium heat, stir together 2 cups whole milk, sugar, cocoa powder and salt. Heat until the milk start to steam, but before it starts to boil.

In a small bowl, stir together the remaining 1/2 cup of whole milk and the cornstarch. Stir until no lumps remain.

Add the cornstarch mixture to the heated milk and chocolate mixture and bring to a low boil. Boil until thickened. The mixture will look the consistency of chocolate pudding. Remove from flame.

In a small sauce pan, heat 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Once boiling, remove from heat and pour over the chocolate chips. Let sit for 1 minute, then stir the cream and chocolate mixture until incorporated.

Stir the cream and chocolate mixture into the cooling chocolate ice cream base. Place in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap or a lid, and put in the fridge until cool.

Once cool, follow the manufacturers instructions on the ice cream maker to churn ice cream. Once the mixture has chilled and thickened in the ice cream maker, slowly drizzle in 1/4 cup of peanut butter (we nuked the peanut butter for 15-20 seconds to make it nice and thin for a lovely pouring consistency). Don’t over mix. You want a nice ribbon of peanut butter running through the ice cream.

Transfer the ice cream into a freezer safe container and fold in the remaining 1/4 cup of peanut butter (we drizzled in 3/4 cup while the ice cream maker was running and did not stir in any at the end). Cover and freeze until solid.

Birthday Shrimp

Today is my husband's birthday and I made him a surf and turf lunch. Here is a fast and tasty way to prepare shrimp:

1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
pinch of cayenne pepper (we don't do spicy so use as much as you would like for a spicy kick)
2 tbls butter
2 tbls oilve oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup ginger ale
2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 lbs shrimp - peeled and deveined
salt, to taste


In a small bowl, stir together your dry ingredients - garlic, onion, thyme, sugar, basil, rosemary, paprika and cayenne.

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat, add olive oil. When the oil is hot add minced garlic; cook about 1 minute. Add the shrimp and cook for 1-2 minutes. Sprinkle shrimp with the spice mixture-use as much or as little as you like-and continue to cook and stir until shrimp is pink all over. Pour on the ginger ale and balsamic vinegar; simmer until shrimp is cooked through, about 1-2 minutes more. Taste and season with salt before serving.

Turkey Cutlets

I've recently discovered the key to tasty poultry is brining. It works well on pork too, but I've mostly been using it for turkey and chicken which tend to dry out once it is thoroughly cook. Basically, a brine is a salt (and sometimes sugar) solution with the liquid usually being water. The meat is then placed in the solution where it then absorbs the water as the salt relaxes the muscle structure allowing it to retain more moisture during the cooking process thereby resulting in moister end product.

WOW, I sort of felt like Alton brown for a minute---but not completely. I did not go into how there are two positively charged ions in table salt and how they interact with the positive and negative protein molecules in meat (hence the relaxing of the meat structure).

So brining is awesome and you should try it! If you only have 20 minutes, brine! It will help.

On to the turkey cutlets....

1 package turkey breast cutlets (about 1 1/2lbs 1/4-1/2 inch thick)
1/4 cup table salt
4 cups cold water
gallon size ziplock bag

1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs (approx 1 cup dried bread crumbs)
3/4 cup flour
2 eggs
1 tbsp olive oil, plus olive oil for frying

Add cold water to ziplock bag and dissolve 1/4 cup salt into the water. Add turkey cutlets and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Or if you're like me and wait to the last minute to thaw your meat, you can leave your bag on the counter top for the 30 minute period to finish thawing while brining.

While waiting for my turkey, I make my bread crumbs. I take 4-5 slices of white bread, cut into 1/2 inch cubes then put in the food processor and pulse a few times. You may certainly use dried bread crumbs (I've used both), I prefer the taste of fresh.

Prepare 3 dredging bowls-
1 with flour
1 with 2 eggs and 1 tbsp olive oil
1 with bread crumbs

Remove the turkey from the bag and place onto an absorbant cloth or paper towels. Press firmly to remove as much water as you can then allow to air dry for 10 minutes. Once they are dry, season with pepper if you would like (we don't) and prepare to dredge.

Add oil to your pan, you're looking to have enough oil to fully cover a cutlet halfway up the side. So if your cutlets are 1/4 thick then you need a smaller amount of oil than you would need for a 1/2 thick cutlet (this would be more like a flattened chicken breast). I usually start with 1/2 cup. Heat the oil over medium-high heat until rippling begins.

Now dredge lightly. The order is flour, egg, bread crumbs. Shake off any excess flour, you want a very thin coating. Use tongs to remove cutlets from egg and bread crumbs or you will quickly find that your fingertips are unusable.

Once oil is hot, add 3-4 pieces to the pan...don't overcrowd! leave plenty of room for each edge to brown. Once you see a deep golden brown color inching up the side of the cutlet, turn it over. This should only take a minute or two for very thin cutlets.

Continue to use the oil if you do not see dark brown bits adhering to your cutlets. I usually find I can get two batches out of 1/2 cup of oil. Beyond that, the bits in the pan are burning and don't taste so good on your turkey. If you need to do more than two batches or you're working with thicker cuts of meat, pour off the oil, wipe pan clean with paper towels and start again.

Beef Stew (aka Carnivore Euphoria)

This is one of my most favorite dishes, ever! Do I say that a lot? :) But really I mean it this time. This is so good. I gave some to a friend and her husband and she sent me a thank you note telling me that is was so delicious, it was like carnivore euphoria. I thought that was the perfect explanation for this rich, meaty beef stew.

You will need a Dutch oven or a large overproof pot at least 6 quarts in size, but 8 quarts is preferable.

3lbs beef chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
salt and pepper
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 medium onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth
2 cups (approx 1 can) beef broth
2 bay leaves
1 tsp dried thyme
4 medium red potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
4 large carrots, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 cup frozen peas, thawed

Adjust your oven rack to accomodate your Dutch oven on the lower middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Thoroughly dry the beef with paper towels (this is crucial) then season generously with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tbsp oil in the oven-proof Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add half the meat so that the individual pieces are close but not touching, this allows you to perfectly brown each piece without stewing your meat.

Cook the meat until side touching the pan is well browned, 2-3 minutes. Using tongs, turn each piece and continue cooking until most sides are well browned, about 5 minutes longer. Transfer the beef to a medium bowl, add another 1 tbsp of oil to the pan and brown the remaining beef in the same manner, transfer to the bowl once brown.

Reduce heat to medium, add the remaining 1 tbsp oil to the Dutch oven. Add the onions and 1/4 tsp salt. Cook stirring frequently and vigorously, scraping the pot bottom with a wooden spoon to release the brown bits. Cook until onions are softened, 4 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in flour and cook until lightly colored, 1 to 2 minutes. Add 1 cup beef broth scraping up the remaining brown bits and stir until liquid is thick. Gradually add the remaining beef and chicken broth, stirring constantly and scraping the pan edges to dissolve all the flour. Add bay leaves and thyme, bring to a simmer. Add the meat and juices from the bowl, return to a simmer. Cover and place the pot in the oven. Cook for 1 hour.

Remove the pot, add potatoes and carrots, cover and return to oven. Cook until meat is just tender, about 1 hour. Remove the pot from the oven. Add peas, cover and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Serve immediately. If you're not serving immediately, omit the peas and refreigerate for up to three days. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, then add peas as instructed above.