One Particular Kitchen » summer

Craisin peach crumble bars

Erin @ One Particular Kitchen — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:48:53 +0000

Ohhhhh my moly.

If I were the demanding type I’d demand that you make these immediately. I’m not, of course so I’ll just strongly suggest it.

The peaches are so good this year and I bought more than I’ll ever be able to eat, so I wanted to some up with something to do with them. This is based on the apple crisp recipe, but with more of the crumble part so that you end up with a crust. It is OH so good.

Gather:

2 medium-to-large peaches, chopped
1/3 cup Craisins
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/3 cup butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
Pinch of salt
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder

To make:

Preheat oven to 350F and chop the peaches, then put them in a saucepan with the Craisins, cornstarch and sugar. Bring it all up to a nice bubble and let it cook till it thickens, then set aside
Cream butter and sugar, then mix in remaining ingredients — it will look coarse like a crumble topping
Take two cups of crumble mix and press into a greased 8×8 dish and bake till it’s lightly browned, around 10-12 minutes, then spread fruit mixture over crust. Sprinkle the rest of the crumb mixture over the top and bake till that’s lightly browned, about another 15-18 minutes or so

Fast and good! How can you beat that?

Cornstarch: your friend in the garden

Erin @ One Particular Kitchen — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 13:35:48 +0000

Just like last year, I planted a bunch o’ tomatoes in the garden in the back yard. Unlike last year, my tomatoes this year came under attack (ATTACK I say!) by bugs. First it was worms (tomato worms? Hornworms? I don’t know. Icky worms). Then came the stinkbugs. All my tomatoes were being eaten and rotting before they even started to ripen and I hadn’t gotten a single tomato for me to eat.

I wanted to evict the bugs, for sure, but I didn’t want to do it with a bunch of chemicals — sort of defeats a large part of the purpose of growing them in the back yard, you know?

Enter: cornstarch. Seriously! Now my garden looks like this:

I use a powdered sugar shaker full of cornstarch to cover the leaves, the tomatoes, and the ground around them. The plants look ridiculous, sure, but guess what? The tomatoes are MINE again!

I’m not sure exactly why this works, honestly — I don’t know if it kills off the bugs or if it just keeps them away; as long as I’m the only one eating the tomatoes, I’m good. It even deters Vinny the squirrel a bit which is an unexpected bonus. A quick wash in the kitchen sink removes all the cornstarch and I’m good to go. Tomato sandwiches for everyone!

Mediterribbean punch

Erin @ One Particular Kitchen — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 13:29:19 +0000

Some people come from money; I, on the other hand, come from funny (which is even better). My Uncle Steve named this drink. Don’t you love it?

The folks over at Pom Wonderful contacted me a while back and asked if they could send me some of their juice to try (for free, okay, FTC?). I was honestly a little hesitant because, um, I was pretty sure I was the last person who hadn’t tried pomegranate anything yet and I wasn’t sure what to expect. A lot of people love the stuff, however, so I gave it a shot.

For my first attempt I thought I’d try pomegranate molasses.

Fail, party of one. Not having a clue what I was doing following a specific recipe, I cooked the mixture too long and ended up with a giant Le Creuset-shaped lollipop. Oops.

Not wanting to wash that pan again repeat my mistake, I thought I’d try something different. And, if y’all haven’t noticed, it’s a million degrees outside so a cool cocktail sounded like the thing for my next pomegranate attempt.

Success! It is yummy and tart and sweet and limey (is that a word?) and I’m loving it.

Please to mix:

2 Tbsp. simple syrup
2 Tbsp. pomegranate juice
1/4 cup rum
squeeze of lime

Pour over ice and enjoy!

This makes a sweet drink, so feel free to adjust the simple syrup as your little heart desires.

Lazy woman’s peach cobbler

Erin @ One Particular Kitchen — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 21:47:40 +0000

This recipe comes from my great aunt Eva who named it thusly. Or perhaps she got it from her mother, my great grandma, who named it thusly? Either way, who am I to argue? It is, indeed, one of the easiest desserts you’ll ever make.

It is also from an era when food wasn’t asked to look pretty for the camera.

Obviously.

Gather together:

1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick butter
1 cup milk
3 cups fruit (cut up; don’t drain)

And then:

Combine sugar, flour, baking powder and salt; cut in butter like you’re making biscuits, or pulse in a food processor, then stir in milk till well combined
Pour batter into a buttered cast iron skillet or baking dish and top with fruit and its juice
Bake at 350F for 45 minutes; sprinkle sugar on top for the last few minutes of baking

See? SEE? How crazy easy is that? And at the end you get this?

No brainer.

Homemade sour mix

Erin @ One Particular Kitchen — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 17:41:41 +0000

What it is:

Crazy easy to make with only two ingredients
Completely natural, chemical free

What it’s not:

Loaded with high fructose corn syrup
Neon (because, um, ew)

What’s not to like?

Combine these:

16 ounces simple syrup
12 ounces key lime, lime or lemon juice or some combination thereof

Stir or shake to combine. The end! See? Crazy easy. And you can customize it, of course, and make it a little more sweet or a little more sour — whatever floats your boat. Or your margarita shaker.

Key lime margarita

Erin @ One Particular Kitchen — Mon, 31 May 2010 13:56:12 +0000

It’s summer! The time when I reach for Lucy Buffett’s cookbook before anything else.

This one is based on Lucy’s Cadillac Margarita, adapted to, naturally, include key lime juice. Because I am obsessed love it.

Do me a favor and combine in a shaker:

1.5 ounces tequila
3/4 ounce Grand Marnier
1 ounce key lime juice
1 ounce simple syrup
juice of 1/2 lime

Add as much ice as will fit in the shaker and do the margarita dance (shake it up). If it’s your thing (it’s certainly mine) run a lime wedge around the edge of the glass and dip it in coarse salt. When the drink is fabulously cold and frothy, pour into said glass and enjoy.

Simple syrup

Erin @ One Particular Kitchen — Sat, 29 May 2010 14:14:58 +0000

Try not to be blown away by the beauty of that picture, okay?

I saw bottled simple syrup for sale the other day for a kind of ridiculous price and I was kind of horrified. Its name is no accident, folks; this stuff is crazy easy to make.

Ready for this one?

1 cup sugar
1 cup water

The end. See?

I fill my glass Pyrex to the one cup mark, then pour in one cup of sugar, and microwave. I leave a chopstick in it while microwaving because it helps the bubbles escape as it comes close to a boil, and because it’s handy dandy for stirring it every so often. Just microwave the syrup for a minute or so at a time, stirring after each minute, till the sugar is completely dissolved. Then set on the counter to cool. That’s it! I store mine in a Wilton squeeze bottle, but any bottle or jar will work just fine.

Now you’re all set to make key lime amaretto sours! Iced coffee! Key lime margaritas! The possibilities are endless.

Key lime pie

Erin @ One Particular Kitchen — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 02:29:46 +0000

This is the most popular AND the easiest dessert I make. Isn’t that a great combination? It’s the Yankee’s favorite and my daddy’s favorite, so this gets made a lot during the summer. And it’s crazy easy. This is the recipe my grandmother taught me:

You need:

24 graham crackers (or 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs)
6 tbsp butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup key lime juice
Key lime zest (optional)

Make the crust first:

Preheat oven to 350F
Pulse the graham crackers in a food processor or crush with a rolling pin in a zip top bag till finely crushed — you want 1 1/2 cups of crumbs when it’s done
Stir in melted butter and sugar, then press into pie plate
Bake at 350F for 8 minutes

While the crust is baking, whip up the filling:

Beat or whisk egg yolks and condensed milk together till completely combined
Gradually add in key lime juice, stirring constantly; whisk a while if you like the filling light and airy (I do, so I do this in my stand mixer). Add the zest at this point if you’re so inclined
Pour filling into baked crust, and bake for 10 minutes at 350

Two notes for you today:

One: you’re welcome to use the egg whites leftover to make a meringue for the top. I am a complete meringue failure, so I’m not going to even try to tell you how. You’re welcome.

Two: there is no shame in using a storebought graham cracker crust if you’re in a total pinch for time.

So go try it! It’s the perfect time of year for this. And did I mention it’s easy?

Lissa’s frozen margaritas

Erin @ One Particular Kitchen — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 19:35:14 +0000

Lissa and I have decided we’re going to be professional guacamole and margarita tasters. Anyone in the market for that? Anyone? Well let us know. We’re available.

Given our fondness for that combination, I thought it was time to share Lissa’s margarita recipe with you. I declare it Lissa week here at One Particular Kitchen! We’ll celebrate! (With margaritas!)

Pour this into a blender:

4 oz tequila
2 oz Triple Sec
Splash of liquid margarita mix
Splash of Grand Marnier
Splash of orange juice
1/3 large can frozen limeade concentrate (like this, but limeade)

Blend away with plenty of ice. (One of these doesn’t hurt; I’m just sayin’. Mine even works after a user error fail!)

I am a saltaholic so I go for the lime-and-salt rimmed glasses. The Yankee not so much — no salt for him. The Kiddo? All Cheerios all the time. That’s how we roll.

BBQ chicken pizza

Mama — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:53:44 +0000

This is a perfect meal to throw together during the middle of the week. Quick, easy, and so delicious!

You will need:

chicken — I used three boneless, skinless chicken breasts
dough — your refrigerator dough, homemade dough, or even store bought
barbecue sauce
cheese

And then:

Start with the chicken: three chicken breasts, seasoned with salt and pepper, thrown into the slow cooker set to low in the morning — no barbecue sauce yet because you don’t want the sugar in it to cook as long as the chicken
About two hours before supper time you’re ready to shred the chicken; since it’s in a crock pot this may be as easy as breaking it up with a wooden spoon, but you can take it out and shred it if need be. Return the meat to the slow cooker set to low and add in enough barbecue sauce to fully coat all the meat
About an hour before baking time pull out some refrigerated dough, form it into a ball and set it in a olive oil brushed cast iron skillet to rise for about 45 minutes
After 45 minutes, start your oven preheating to 400 degrees
Now assemble your pizza! Pat out the dough, then top with barbecue chicken, extra sauce, and whatever else your little heart desires: onions, garlic, pineapple, you name it. Then sprinkle on the cheese and bake at 400F till the cheese is melted and the crust is done — this probably won’t take more than ten minutes or so

Enjoy!