PEACHAPALOOZA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ladies and Gentleman (if there are any Gentleman reading this) I have just completed a long arduous 5 day journey of peaches.  I started researching and compiling a list of peach inspired recipes, we went to an orchard and bought an entire bushel of peaches (that is like 120! Most recipes call for 2 lbs which is only like 5!) I have been cooking my peaches, er my brains out to bring you Peachapalooza 2011.  I don't know why.  I thought it would be fun. I thought it would be cool to do a flavor inspired series on the blog.  And yes, as my snarky brother in law pointed out I do realize that they sell peaches at the store.  Mostly it was a lot of fun.  I learned a lot of new things.  It was just a lot of work and as much as I planned and was organized it was hard to be truly organized when I hadn't really done this before.  I imagine Peachapalooza 2012 is going to be off the hook. 

Ok so tonight will be part one of the series. I have to give them to you in steps because I never want to give you a recipe until I have tried something and a lot of these went into my freezer.  I think I will do my best also to clump them cohesively too.  Tonight you will get 3 recipes but one of them is a recipe within a recipe within a recipe.  Sounds complicated but it's not, it's really just three for the price of one.   Ok so all week I have had this song in my head, and my husband gives me a look of complete and utter shock when I start humming or singing it, then he gets a little...um....handsy.  (He claims the song has underlying innuendos, I know nothing of these things, I am much too innocent for that) Men.  Don't they know how annoying that is when you are trying to cook.  All I know is you can't go through what I have been through the last few days and not sing "Millions of peaches, peaches for me, millions of peaches, peaches for free" So sorry but I gotta share the song!

Wow, that takes me ALL the way back to high school! Weird song but today weirdly appropriate!

So this past spring I went with my mom and sisters to one of East Grand Rapids trendy little restaurants Ramona's Table.  I don't know who in the world Ramona is, but I would eat at her table every chance I get.  The restaurant which is really a deli style also does catering and they have the most interesting sandwiches and salads.  I may have to go down the menu and recreate each one. So when I was there I had this FABULOUS peach salad so I wanted to try to make it at home.  This is your recipe within a recipe within a recipe. 

Grilled Peach Salad

OK first Grill peach halves, drizzle with balsamic vinegar while grilling.  Toss with lettuce of choice, feta, pistachios (Ramona used pecans but I have always had a suspicion of an allergy to pecans so I went with pistachios, Ramona also used onions, no thanks Ramona), when I had it at the restaurant I had grilled chicken on it (wa-la, entree) but tonight it was a side so therefore sans chicken.  Now for dressing it was a homemade Peach Viniagrette (here come the layers to this recipe!)  
Peach Viniagrette
1/2 cup peach puree (see third layer)
dash salt/pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3 sprigs rosemary chopped fine

Third layer: Peach Puree
2 lbs peeled peaches
2 cups sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Puree in blender.

Such a good salad, seriously my kids even ate the lettuce which usually they eat everything out of the salad but leave the lettuce behind. Yummy. 

Next item of today's peach feast was:

Peach Prosciutto Pizza

(okay okay I am way too cheap to buy prosciutto but it sounds so much more sophisticated, I went with ham! You have a big grocery budget, go for the fancy stuff!)

I saw the peach prosciutto combo idea and I made up this:
Take whole wheat pizza crust, brush with olive oil, sprinkle with chopped rosemary, use thin layer of herbed tomato sauce, cover with layer of ham (or fancy ham), take two peeled peaches sliced thin and spread peach slices all over.  Now the idea I saw called for Gruyere cheese, I am not 100% positive I know what Gruyere tastes like so I went with.....Gouda.  I grated it fine all over the pizza and then also sprinkled with parmesan cheese.  Bake at 375 for 30 min.  SOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOD!!!!!! Oh my word each unique flavor made this so so yummy.  I limited myself to one piece A) so we could have leftovers and B) because this was coming....

Oatmeal Cookie Peach Cobbler

I am quite literally eating this while I type and it is HEAVEN in a bowl! It is melting all my Its-only-the-second-day-of-school-and-the-kids-are-falling-to-pieces blues away.  Lessened only slightly by the fact that those kids are still awake and singing loudly upstairs. Oh well the singing is better than the whining and the crying.  Back to this cobbler...

Ingredients

• Topping:
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup light butter, softened
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 4 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Filling:
• 11 cups sliced peeled peaches (about 5 pounds - I used about 15 peaches, I don't know how close that was but it more than filled my 9 x 13)
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp almond extracts and 1 tsp cinnamon
• Cooking spray

Preparation

• 1. Preheat oven to 350°.
• 2. To prepare topping, place first 3 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg; beat well. Weigh or lightly spoon 1 cup flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine 1 cup flour, oats, baking powder, and salt; stir with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture; beat at low speed until blended. Cover and chill 30 minutes.
• 3. To prepare filling, combine sliced peeled peaches, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, and fresh lemon juice and 2 extracts and cinnamon to bowl; toss to coat. Spoon mixture into a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Dollop 12 mounds of chilled dough over peach mixture at even intervals. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly

Seriously, all cobbler should be made by making oatmeal cookie dough and blobbing it on top! I haven't been calculating points on all these recipes (I am sort of on overload) but it came from Cooking Light magazine, so I would like to tell myself that it is super healthy for you! (OK maybe not but it is certainly delicious!!)

So that was today's peach line up! For those of you who are picking peaches or have picked some peaches and are wondering what to do with them, stay tuned there is more of this action when Peachapalooza 2011 continues....