Author Archives: Sala @ Veggie Belly

Easy Peach Tart

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This is a ridiculously easy tart to make. Just chop up some peaches, toss in sugar and spices, arrange the peaches on puff pastry and bake off. That’s it!

Ree from the Pioneer Woman blog made a puff pastry apple tart. The minute I saw that recipe, I bookmarked it. But I used peaches instead of apples because I have a ton peaches from my recent (and very enjoyable) peach picking trip. Thanks Ree, for a quick, easy and delicious dessert idea!

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 If you don’t have peaches, substitute with any fresh fruits you have. Plums, figs, cherries, apples(of course!), mixed berries will all turn out delicious in this tart.

Before you get started on this recipe, head on over to my ‘how to pit a peach’ post for an easy way to pit fresh peaches. Once you’ve done that, you are ready to proceed with this recipe.

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 Toss the pitted, chopped peaches with sugar, cinnamon, allspice and a little salt. A pinch of salt always makes sweet stuff taste better.

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 I cut the peaches into thin wedges. I didn’t peel them. But I think I will next time. I didn’t like the texture of the peach skin after it baked. 

Lay out a puff pastry sheet cut into thirds on a baking sheet. Arrange the peaches on the puff pastry. Bake in the oven.

Don’t have puff pastry? Try making your own tart dough! Here is a recipe from David Lebovitz.

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 The tart will be done in about 20 minutes. The peaches will be sweet and juicy sitting on the crispy, flaky, warm puff pastry.

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Easy Peach Tart
about 6 servings
1 sheet puff pastry
4 fresh peaches
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400f

Thaw the puff pastry sheet for about 30 minutes. Pit the peaches and chop them into wedges. Peel the peaches if you like. Toss the chopped peaches with sugar, cinnamon, allspice and salt.

Cut the puff pastry sheet into thirds and lay it out on a baking sheet. If your the baking sheet is not non-stick, spray it with non-stick spray or oil. Arrange the peach slices on the puff pastry. Bake for 20 minutes or till the puff pastry is golden. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

Note: if your peaches are particularly sweet or juicy, the juices may burn in the oven. In this case, reduce oven temp to 350.

How to Pit a Peach

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 Here is an easy way to neatly pit a fresh peach.

 wash-peach

First things first, wash and dry the peach.

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 Using a paring knife, cut the peach vertically, going all the way around. Then, gently pull the peach apart so that you have two sections, one with the pit and one without.

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 To remove the pit, just slip the knife into the peach and cut around the pit. Discard the pit.

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Now you can cut up the peach however you like. Here, Ive cut the pitted peach into thin wedges. Once you’ve cut the peach into smaller pieces, you can peel it if you wish.

See my post on peach picking  for tips on how to pick a ripe peach and information on peach varieties.

Peach Picking

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I am so used to grocery store peaches, I didn’t even know what a peach tree looked like until we went peach picking at Hollin Farms, VA. It was a lovely experience picking fresh, ripe peaches. But the very first thing I did when we arrived at the farm was inhale a bug. I must have been gaping too much at the rolling hills and the gorgeous fields. I felt a little remorse at having ingesting a living thing; but felt much better when I found out that the pick-your-own peaches were super cheap compared to grocery store peaches.

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Mark, a manager at the farm, chatted with us while we picked peaches. He peeled a juicy, yellow fleshed red haven peach for us to sample.

Then Mark educated us on…

..Peach Terminology!

 Freestone – the pit is easy to remove from the flesh. Most the peaches we encounter are freestone.

Clingstone – the pit ‘clings’ to the flesh and is difficult to remove compared to a freestone peach

Peck – a unit of dry measurement. The peaches we picked were measured in pecks. 1 peck equals 2.3 gallons. Each peck we picked came to about 12 lbs.

Red haven – red skin, yellow flesh, good for canning

Sentry – semi-freestone, yellow flesh

White lady – firm, white flesh, brilliant color, great for desserts, my favorite

Sweet scarlet  -  yellow flesh, low acid  

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There were a ton of peaches fallen on the ground. I think these are White ladies.  

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Sentry peaches..

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A particularly productive tree..

How to pick a ripe peach

First determine that the peach is ripe; gently press on the peach with your fingers. If it gives slightly, the peach is ready to pick. Lightly tug on the peach and it should come away from the branch easily. Most the ripe peaches we found at the orchard had actually fallen to the ground. So we just picked them off the ground. As mark says, “fallen peaches are nature’s way of telling you they are ripe”.

 If your peaches aren’t ripe yet, just leave them on your counter top for 1 or 2 days and they will soften.

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A peck of peaches.

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Hollin farm also had sunflowers. Oh my, they were so gorgeous..

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I was obsessively taking sunflower pictures…even after we got in the car to leave!

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And I only stopped taking pictures because  my camera ran out of memory.

Coming up next…how to pit a peach and an easy peach tart recipe!

Fresh Cherry Crumble or Crisp

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Its a crisp in America and a crumble in England. But not matter what you call it, this fruity dessert with its addictive, cumb topping is delicious. I used fresh cherries. To pit them, I simply cut around the pit with a sharp paring knife. If you have a cherry pitter, it will speed things up for you. You can use pretty much any fruit you like; apples, strawberries, blueberries, plums or peaches will all be wonderful. My mom was visiting when I made this, so she’s the ‘hand model’ in these pictures :)

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Select fresh, good quality fruit. Wash the cherries and pit them. You dont need any fancy equipment for this, just cut around the pit with a sharp knife. I like to cook the cherries first with some sugar, water and corn starch. This reduces baking time in the oven.

Now top the cooked cherries with the streusel or crumb topping and bake till golden.

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I like to serve this cherry crumble/crisp slightly warm, and with some vanilla bean ice cream. But its just as delicious all by itself!

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Fresh Cherry Crumble/Crisp Recipe
makes 6 small servings

For cherry mixture
2 cups pitted, fresh cherries
2 tbsp sugar (this will produce a mildly sweet crumble. add more sugar if you like)
4 tbsp water
1 tsp corn starch

For streusel or crumb topping
3/4 cup flour
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp white sugar
a pinch of ground cinnamon
a pinch of salt
5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted plus more to butter baking dish

Preheat oven to 400f

Place the pitted cherries and sugar in a saucepan. Cook on medium-high heat for about 4 minutes or untill the cherries are lightly softened. Mix together the corn starch and water and add it to the cherries. Cook for about 1 minute or till the mixture thickens.

To make the streusel or crumb topping, combine the flour, brown and white sugars, cinnamon and salt together. Mix well. Then pour in the melted butter. Using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour until it forms a crumbly mixture.

Lightly butter a baking dish (I used 6 individual sized creme brulee dishes). Divide the cherry mixture among the dishes. Place the crumb topping on top and bake for 15 minutes or till the topping has lightly browned.

Iced, Spiced Apple Tea or Apple Chai

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I love both Indian chai tea and Turkish apple tea. Chai tea is strong and scented with cardamom and cloves. Turkish apple tea (elma cay) is golden, refreshing and tastes quite like apple juice. This recipe combines the best of both teas – the aromatic spices from chai tea and the bright apple flavor of apple tea. Serve this tea cold in a tall glass with ice on a hot summer afternoon. Or serve it warm in tea cups on a chilly autumn day. 

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Use a good quality loose leaf black tea. I used assam tea. If you dont have loose leaf tea, you could use tea bags instead. You’ll also need some apple juice and spices – cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. Star anise or saffron will also be nice..use whatever spices you like.  

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Iced, Spiced Apple Tea or Apple Chai Recipe
makes about 2 cups

1 cup water
2 cardamom pods
2 cloves
1 thin one inch piece of cinnamon
2 tsp loose leaf black tea or 2 tea bags
Sugar to taste
1 cup store bought apple juice
Apple slices for garnish

Lightly crush the cardamom pods with the back of a wooden spoon till it cracks open. Place the water, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the tea, turn off heat and let the tea steep for about 3 minutes. Then strain the tea and stir in sugar to taste.

Mix the prepared tea with apple juice. Serve cold (or hot). Garnish with apple slices.

Panko Crusted Pea Fritters with Tamarind Jelly

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Pea and potato fritters (aloo mutter tikki) are a popular snack or appetizer in India. This is an updated version of the traditional tikki. I coat the fritters in panko bread crumbs before shallow frying them to create a crispy, golden, delicate crust. Tikkis are usually served with a sweet, tart tamarind sauce. I serve the fritters with tamarind jelly instead. I added a little fruit pectin to the tamarind to achieve a nice jelly like texture. The pectin is totally optional and the end result will taste equally delicious with or without the pectin.

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 The main ingredient here are green peas and potatoes. I used 1 cup of peas and 1/2 cup of boiled potatoes because I wanted the peas to be the star of this dish. Add more potatoes and less peas if you like.

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 Start by sauteeing frozen peas, boiled potatoes, chili powder and cumin.

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 Then form the potato-pea mixture into discs. Dip the discs in flour and water. Then roll in panko. Shallow fry till crisp and golden on the outside.

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 The end result is a gorgeous, golden fritter waiting to be doused in sweet, tart, cumin scented tamarind jelly..

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For the tamarind jelly, I used seedless tamarind pulp that comes in a block. You can find this at the Asian store. You must boil the tamarind pulp first to extract the juice. Strain the tamarind water, and add sugar, cumin and fruit pectin to it. Boil the jelly for about 10 minutes. It will thicken up nicely and when cool, become jelly-like. The fruit pectin is totally optional. The pectin only adds to the texture and not to the flavor of this jelly.

Why did I call this a jelly and not a jam? For a great write up on the difference between jam and jelly, see this article from Tastes Like Home.

For a tamarind jam recipe using fresh tamarind, see this post from Coffee and Vanilla

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When the jelly cools, it will thicken up. Once cool, store it in an air tight container.

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Panko Crusted Pea Fritters
Makes 6 fritters

1 cup frozen peas
½ cup boiled potato cubes (or 1 small boiled potato)
½ tsp cumin powder
¼ tsp red chilli powder
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint
Salt
1 tbsp vegetable oil

3 tbsp flour
¾ cup water
salt
1 cup panko bread crumbs
½ cup vegetable oil for shallow frying
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a skillet and add the peas (no need to defrost) and boiled potato cubes. Then add the cumin and chili powders and salt. Saute this mixture on medium heat for about 5 minutes or till the peas have defrosted and the cumin is fragrant. Turn off heat, and add mint. Using a potato masher, lightly mash the mixture and set aside.
When the peas mixture is cool enough to handle, divide it into 6 parts. Using your palms roll each into a ball and then flatten it into a disc.
In a small bowl, mix the flour, water and salt together. Place the panko bread crumbs in a shallow plate. Heat the oil for frying.

Dip the pea and potato discs first into the flour and water mixture and then place in the plate with panko. Gently coat the discs with panko on all sides.
Shallow fry the discs a few at a time in hot oil. Serve with tamarind jelly.

Tamarind Jelly
Makes about ¼ cup

1 ½ cups water
1 tbsp seedless tamarind pulp
5 tbsp brown sugar
¼ tsp cumin
A pinch of salt
1 tsp fruit pectin, optional
Place the water and tamarind in a pan and boil for 2 minutes. Using a fork mash the tamarind in the water. Then strain the mixture, pushing the tamarind pulp through a strainer.
Place the strained tamarind water back in the pan and bring to a boil. Add all remaining ingredients and simmer for 10-15 minutes or till the mixture has thickened and reduced to less than half. The sauce will thicken further and ‘jell’ as it cools.

Lavender Bath Tea

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You don’t just eat it, you bathe in it! If you have dried lavender on hand, you can easily make your own lavender ‘bath tea’. Just mix a cup of dried lavender into a tub full of warm water and enjoy a luxurious, relaxing, spa like bath.  If you don’t want the lavender buds floating around in your bath, simply tie them into a bundle with cheese cloth and add the bundle to the  water.

Here’s what you do..(exclusive step-by-step instructions from my bathroom just for you ;))

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Fill your tub with warm water. Warmer the better, because the lavender will steep well. Lightly crush the dried lavender in your palms and put it in your bath water..

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Add a whole cup of dried lavender to your tub. I added the bunch you see at the edge of the tub - I tied it up and dried it after my lavender picking trip. I added the stems as well because they have a nice eucalyptus-like aroma. You can use only the lavender flowers and buds if you wish. If you want a stronger scented bath, make your water hotter and let the lavender steep in it for about 10 minutes..

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Then splash around…because its fun..

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…add more hot or cold water if you need to..

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..then invite a partner, disrobe, step in and enjoy your lavender scented bath!

Here’s my post on cooking with lavender and a recipe for lavender roasted onions.

If you havent had a chance to go lavender picking like I did, you can buy your lavender online.

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