Rosie’s Recipes: Summertime And The Eatin’ Is Peachy

By Rosie Hawthorne on August 12, 2022

By Rosie Hawthorne | Outer Banks Voice

Summer meals should be fresh and light and that’s just what I’m offering.  My fish is as fresh as it comes, straight from ocean to table, my green bean salad, because we all need a little green on the plate, is a summery delight, and I’m using peaches – the queen of summertime fruits – from start to finish.  I have a peach purée to serve alongside my fish entrée – either seared sea bass or fried tilefish.   Dessert is an all-time summer favorites – peach pie.  And don’t forget the homemade peach ice cream!

 

Peach Purée

• 1 peach, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 small cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp rice vinegar
• 1 TB lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a processor and pulse to purée.

Stir in a teaspoon of finely chopped fresh mint.

Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes so the flavors can mingle.

 

 

Pan-Seared Sea Bass with Peach Purée

My first entrée is seared sea bass.  Sea bass has a firm, white flesh, a mild, delicate flavor with a hint of sweetness, and a moist, flaky texture.  The sweetness, tang, and slight heat of the peach purée perfectly complements the fish.

Season the fillets with a sprinkling of Old Bay and freshly ground pepper.

Film a heavy skillet with peanut oil and heat to 350°-375°, then add a tablespoon or two of butter to the pan.  The peanut oil has a relatively high smoke point, so you can get your pan hot, allowing you to achieve that nice sear.  The butter adds flavor.  Place your fillets in the hot oil/butter and sear 2-3 minutes the first side, then turn over and cook another 2 minutes.  Cooking time depends on the thickness of your fillets.  Whenever you sear or fry, never crowd the pan.  This lowers the temperature of the oil and when the meat hits the hot surface, it releases moisture, creating steam and preventing browning.  You’ll end up with greasy results, not a crisp sear.  If you have several fillets, cook them in batches, allowing the temperature to come back up each time before adding the next fillet.

Remove seared fillets from pan and let rest a couple minutes before plating.

For presentation, spoon a generous amount of peach purée onto the plate and place fillet on top.

Serve with green bean salad on the side.

 

Green Bean Salad

2 cups green beans, trimmed and broken into thirds

Bring a quart of water to a boil and throw in a tablespoon of kosher salt.  I know it sounds like a lot, but it works.  The beans cook quicker and taste beanier.   Drop in the green beans and cook 5 minutes.  Drain beans, then immediately plunge into an ice water bath to stop the cooking and set the bright green color.  When the beans are cool, drain and add salad fixings:

• 2 TB roasted peanuts
• 1 TB chopped red onion
• 1 TB chopped cucumber
• 2 TB diced fresh mozzarella
• 1 TB chopped fresh mint
• 1 TB chopped fresh basil

Combine all ingredients.

 

Make the dressing:

• 2 TB lemon juice
• 1 tsp Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp Gray Poupon Dijon mustard (Do not substitute a generic brand.)
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp cider vinegar
• 1 tsp Asian sweet chili sauce
• ¼ cup neutral flavored olive oil (I use Bertolli extra light olive oil.)

Combine first 6 ingredients, then slowly drizzle in the oil, whisking constantly until you have a nice emulsion.

Pour dressing over bean salad and toss to coat.

 

 

Tilefish is another fish which works well with this peach sauce.  It’s a tender fish with a firm texture and a delicate, sweet flavor.

First, I soaked the fillets in buttermilk.  This gives the coating mixture something to cling to.  The coating mixture is:  1 part flour, 1 part cornstarch, and 2 parts panko bread crumbs, along with a sprinkling of Old Bay seasoning.  Dredge the fillets through the breading mixture.  In a heavy skillet, heat ⅛- ¼ inch peanut oil to 350° – 375°.  Place fillets in hot oil.  Do not crowd the pan.  Fry the first side 2-3 minutes, the second side about 2 minutes.  Drain on paper towels.

For my dessert, I’m still going with the peach theme here since I found myself with a plethora of peaches.  I have peach pie and homemade peach ice cream.  I don’t think you can have too much peachiness.

 

Peach Pie

This recipe makes enough for 2 9-inch pies.  You can make your own pie dough or you can save yourself the trouble and use the refrigerated dough that’s rolled up and comes two to the box.

I used 3 of the rolls – 2 for the pies and 1 for the lattice strips.

Let refrigerated dough come to room temperature, then unroll two of the rolls and place into 9-inch pie pans.  Crimp edges.  Refrigerate pans with dough.

Unroll third pie crust and slice into thin lattice strips.

Prepare the filling:

• 6 cups peeled and sliced peaches
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg  (You can use ground; I just happened to have the nuts on hand. Well, actually, it’s not a nut.  Nutmeg is a seed.  They just look like little nuts.)
• ¼ tsp kosher salt
• juice of ½ lemon
• 1 TB vanilla

 

• 1 beaten egg
• turbinado sugar (sugar in the raw) for sprinkling

 Heat oven to 375°.

Peel and slice peaches.   Place in colander for 30 minutes to drain excess juices.

In a medium bowl, whisk together sugars, flour, spices, and salt.  Pour drained peaches into a large bowl, add dry ingredients, and toss together.  Add lemon juice and vanilla and mix well.   Pour filling into prepared pie pans.

Weave lattice strips atop each pie.  Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle turbinado sugar over top.

Place pies on sheet pan in case there’s any run-off and bake about 45 minutes – until filling is bubbly and lattice is golden brown.  I always check my pies during baking to see if the tops are getting too dark.  You may need to tent with foil to prevent further browning.

Let cool for 20 minutes or so to allow the filling time to set up. Serve with my peach ice cream.

 

Rosie’s Peach Ice Cream

• Makes 1 quart
• 6 peaches, peeled and sliced
• ½ cup sugar
• juice of one lemon
• 1 cup skim milk ( I use skim because that’s what’s in my fridge.  You can use whatever percentage milk you have.)
• 3 cups cream
• ¼ cup sugar
• ¼ tsp salt
• 4 egg yolks
• ¼ cup sugar
• 2 vanilla beans
• 1 TB vanilla extract

Peel and slice peaches.  Place in a large bowl and toss with ½ cup sugar and juice of one lemon.  Cover and let sit for at least an hour (or overnight) so they release their juices and you have a nice syrupy liquid.

 

Make the custard:

• In a medium sauce pan, pour in the milk, cream, ¼ cup sugar, and salt.  Heat over medium-low until very hot but not bubbling. Remove from heat.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks with ¼ cup sugar until light-colored.

 

Slowly, and whisking constantly, pour in ½ cup of the hot cream mixture into the yolk and sugar mixture to temper the eggs.  Slowly whisk in another ½ cup of the hot cream mixture.  Pour the tempered yolk mixture back into the saucepan and add the vanilla extract.   If you don’t have vanilla beans, don’t worry, but I like the extra flavor the beans afford.  To prepare the vanilla beans, slice down the side of the bean and scrape out the seeds into the custard mixture.  I add the scraped beans to the mixture too for the flavor. Just remember to remove the beans when you pour the custard mixture into the ice cream maker. Heat over medium low, stirring, for about 5 minutes, until temperature reaches 170°-175° and mixture thickens.  Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least four hours or overnight.

When thoroughly chilled, combine custard mixture and peach juices and pour into ice cream maker.  Churn away, occasionally scraping down sides.  When mixture looks like soft-serve ice cream (25-30 minutes), add in the peaches and continue churning for another 10 minutes.  Scoop into pint containers and freeze.

Serve alongside a warm slice of peach pie.

Or, for something a little different, serve with a sprinkling of grapenuts and a drizzling of orange blossom honey.

Enjoy!

 

For more recipes, please visit with Rosie at

www.KitchensAreMonkeyBusiness.com. 

For any culinary questions, feel free to e-mail me at RosieHawthorne@gmail.com. Bon appétit! For more Rosie’s Recipes on the Outer Banks Voice click here

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