The Ultimate "Peachy Summer" dessert

When peaches can be found at Farmers Market, and a cool breeze can be felt at night; I know fall is just around the corner. And with that, the urge and need to enjoy as much as we can of those sticky summer days begin.

I leave you with this lovely and light dessert perfect to enjoy on these last sunny summer afternoons. Each bite will taste as the summer warmth we are about to leave behind....

Peach Tart with Orange Syrup

Ingredients:
3 peaches halved, stones removed
1/4 cup of sugar
90g butter, softened
1/2 cup extra sugar
1 cup ground almonds
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp lemon rind
1/4 tsp baking powder

Orange Syrup

1 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup orange liqueur
1/2 cup of sugar

Directions:
For the orange Syrup place all ingredients in a saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer 12 mins. or until thick. Set aside to cool.

Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Combine the peach halves with sugar and cook cut side down until the sugar is melted and golden. Set aside. Preheat oven to 320F. Place butter and extra sugar in food processor and combine, add eggs, almond meal, flour, lemon rind and baking powder and process until just combined. Place almond mixture in a 12x35 cm rectangular dish or loose bottom tart tin. Press nectarines into the mixture and bake for 30 mins. or until cooked through. Allow to cool and serve with orange syrup.

Green Goodness

I believe peas are totally underrated because we hardly used them on their own, as a main ingredient... If you give them a chance to shine they will not hesitate to amaze you!.. I tried a recipe that is going to change your entire perspective on peas. Seriously! Don't get weirded out by the fact that they are raw, because if you haven't tried peas like these before, you are missing out!!..

Fresh Peas Tapenade

Ingredients:

2 lbs of peas in their pods
a bunch of fresh peppermint
sea salt
3 tbsp olive oil
60g grated fresh parmesan cheese plus extra for serving
juice of 1 lemon
4 slices of italian bread
1 clove of garlic cut in half
a handful of arugula

Directions:

Shell the peas and keep the smaller ones aside to use them later on in the salad. Pulse the peas, peppermint, and salt in a food processor to a thick green paste. Slowly integrate the oil while still pulsing, add the cheese and 3/4 of the lemon juice. Taste and season with a bit more salt and pepper if needed. Toast the bread on both sides and rub with the cut side of the garlic. Top with the pea tapenade and arugula. Finish it with a bit of olive oil, parmesan cheese and the loosen peas you saved in the beginning.

ENJOY!

This is the reason why I love berries...

Have a lovely week...

Raspberry Sorbet

Last weekend, even though strawberry season was over, I visited Andrew's Scenic Acres hoping there would be some left. I was really disappointed to see that there were barely any strawberries left, until I saw a girl leaving with a big basket of RASPBERRIES. I could get some berries after all!. It was the perfect day for raspberry picking, cloudy but nicely warm and humid, just the perfect day of summer!...

Raspberry Sorbet came to mind as I kept picking all the fresh berries! 

Raspberry Sorbet

200 g of sugar
180 ml water
750 ml red wine
400 g raspberries

Bring to a boil the sugar, water and wine in order to burn the alcohol from the wine. Let boil for over a min, then remove from the heat, add the raspberries and cover. Let it sit for 1 hour, strain the mixture to get rid of all the little seeds and refrigerate until completely chilled.

Freeze in an ice cream maker as instructed by the manufacturer and ENJOY!

A different Rhubarb recipe!

As we are heading into spring time, I couldn't help but notice all the beautiful rhubarbs at my produce shop. I've never tried rhubarb before, so I didn't really know what the flavour would be or what to expect, but I knew I wanted to cook it in a unique way, so... I started thinking of ways to use it. I wanted to make some sweet tamales and thought that a nice rhubarb filling would be a great idea, and I was right, the taste was amazing! So I was really glad that my new creation actually went really well. I guess I was in a creative mood and really just went with it!.. I'll do this more often!

Rhubarb Sweet tamales

Ingredients:

For the Rhubarb filling:

3 rhubarbs cut into 1 inch chunks
1/3 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean

Tamales:

2 cups of natural corn flour "Minsa Tamales" brand
1 cup of water
1 cup of sweet and condensed milk
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter

12 cornhusks previously boiled

Directions:

For the filling, place the rhubarb chunks with the sugar and vanilla bean seeds over medium heat, put the lid on and stir the rhubarb once every 5 mins for approx 15 mins until you get a thick marmalade consistency. Meanwhile prepare the tamales dough. First beat the butter until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl combine the corn flour, baking powder and salt. Add the water and sweet & condensed milk until thick. Add the thick batter to the butter and beat until everything is well combined.

To asemble, put a spoonful of the batter into the previously boiled corn husks (this make them soft and manageable). Spread the batter with your spoon in the middle of the corn husk, then add a teaspoon of the filling and wrap it to avoid the filling or the tamale batter to spread out. Steam the tamales in a deep pot for almost 1 hour or until the batter is set. You can eat them at this point or if you want for them to be more set you can let them cool in the fridge and reheat them later. ENJOY!

And if you want to kick it up a nodge, you can serve your tamales with a delicious, hot, silky and sweet atole.. believe me, on a weather like today where I am seeing just outside my window a weird mix of icy rain.... it is a great treat!

GB Breads & Cookies ...

I have not been posting a lot of recipes lately, it has been a crazy winter. Taking 2 baking courses plus doing my regular work hasn't been easy. So, I will just be posting today a couple of pictures to show you what I have been up to!..

I have been absolutely enjoying these courses and in May I'll come back for more!! I still have 3 weeks to go but meanwhile here is a peek of what I have baked so far..

I promise to post more recipes soon! And just letting you know I also started uploading videos on How To... some of the recipes: White Bread Video & Lemon Blossom Cookies!

Stay tuned!

White Bread

Lemon Blossoms (Butter Cookies)

Mexico Wonders (part I)

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Every time I remember and look back to my beautiful Mexico a bunch of things come to mind, but the 4 things that really stand out are it's culture, people, colours and food. A few months ago I had the opportunity to go back home and see Mexico with a different point of view, the one from someone that has been far away from it's beauty for a long time. 2 years to be exact. And in this time, even though I've come to love my new country too, you always get nostalgic when thinking about the place that saw you grow and the place who made you the person you are now. Being far away has made me fall in love all over again with my roots, my people and my beautiful Mexico. This last visit I had the goal to take as many pictures as I could, and show you how wonderful warm and full of life this amazing place is. I am originally from Mexico City which is an electric and chaotic place, and even though it has approx. the same population as all Canada, it seems to work out just fine.

(Fair in Mexico City, Vintage bus)

Mexico is a very colourful place, you can find colour everywhere.. the markets, houses, festivals, even the food! This amazing quality is not only due to the fantastic weather they have, but it is also a reflection of the warmth and joy you can find down there.

(Piñatas, Fair Game, Beads stand)

I truly believe Mexico has one of the best street foods in the world, of course... if you can handle it. You can go from creamy vegetables, to tacos, fried snacks (chicharrones & chips), fresh fruits, tamales... etc.. And best of all is that everything is full of spices and flavour.

(Chicharrones/Fried snacks, Fresh fried Chips, Creamy Corn stand)

You can also find people selling fresh products from other regions of Mexico, we found these amazing guys selling Oaxaca Cheese which is just unbeatable in flavour and texture, as well as grasshoppers which are extremely popular specially in the state Oaxaca where they eat it as a snack. I know for some of you might sound crazy but it is really tasty, crunchy and healthy, so.. actually way better than chips!..

(Oaxacan Products, Requeson Cheese, Grasshoppers, Oaxacan Cheese)

To be continued...