Plum-Almond Cake

I have to admit that I've never really cared for plums.  Unless you get a perfect one, they're often tart and mealy.  Although the plums we get in our CSA share are better than most, some of them are less than perfect and my threshold for less-than-perfection in plums is pretty low.

Which is why I put them into a cake.

Grilled Peaches with Summer Greens

Here's yet another salad inspired by my CSA share.  Over the past year, I've gotten so much better about using each week's share more efficiently rather than attempting to make one dish with each ingredient and then buying a ton of stuff from the farmers' market or supermarket to supplement and support each ingredient.  A few weeks ago, I got all of these items (well, not the cheese or the dressing) in my share and I figured that since they're all growing at the same time, wouldn't they probably taste good together?  There was only one way to find out.

Peach Blueberry Tarts with Brown Butter Almond Crust, Bourbon Mascarpone, and Basil

A few weeks ago, a wonderful French-inspired patisserie/boulangerie opened just a few blocks from me.  Their croissants are perfect - in fact better than those at Bouchon Bakery - their breads are excellent, and they have a wide array of little pastries.  Among them are seasonal fruit tarts with combinations such as blueberry, lemon, and lemongrass and cherries with rosewater.  I've been there a few times and have loved their breads and croissants, but have not yet been bowled over by the tarts, which, at $6.50 a pop, are not cheap.  So I decided to make my own.

Chioggia Beet and Yellow Plum Salad

Well look who it is.  I'm back from my accidental hiatus, and I've got a ton of recipes to post courtesy of the cupcakes I made for Matt's brother's wedding and some excellent meals I've made courtesy of my CSA share.  I have no real reason for disappearing other than neglect and preoccupation with other things, but I've refocused and am hoping to get back into my regular blogging groove once again.

First up: this simple yet stunning salad.  It came together on a whim while I was searching my fridge for items to make into a pretty plated salad.

Vegan Coconut-Oat Pancakes with Blackberry-Peach Compote

It’s January, which means many of us are attempting to eat healthier to negate the many calories packed on over the holidays.  I'm trying to eat better this year, but not because I overate this past month (or did I, hm), but because my detox diet last year made me more attuned to the types of grains I eat, so my sort-of resolution for this year is to eat less gluten and, if I do eat gluten, it should be of the whole grain variety.

Although there is no way I am giving up pizza at Roberta’s. So when I made pancakes for brunch last weekend, I started to scheme about how I could make them healthier. Add to that the fact that, for the past few months, I’ve been getting a number of requests for egg-free recipes, and I came up with this.

Grilled Peaches with Ginger-Caramel Sauce

OK, so I made these almost a month ago while I was down in Florida for Labor Day weekend and am only now getting around to posting this (hey, I have a wedding to plan! Cut me some slack!). Yes, it’s officially Fall now, but I think we might have one warm weekend left in store (at least I’m hoping we do) so this summer dessert might not be totally useless just yet.

I have to admit that I totally cribbed the idea for this from my friend John, who introduced me to the deliciousness that is grilled peaches the night of the Great Blackout in NYC in August 2003. I think he used amaretto on his, but I didn't have any available, so I turned to ginger and caramel.  Ginger and peach always go great together, and the rich caramel flavor provides a nice foil to the bright sweetness of the peaches.

Baltimore Peach Cake

Apparently peach cake is a bit of a Baltimore institution. I thought our only institutions were Natty Boh and crab cakes. Who knew? There was an article in Urbanite magazine a few months ago about peach cake, and I intended to make the cake using the recipe they provided. I finally got around to it last night, and the results were, well, rather good.

Peach Melba Pie

Earlier in the week, my friend Meg and I made plans for Saturday: watching a few episodes of “The Wire” so that I can get caught up before season 5 stars up in January, and baking. I had completely forgotten about the latter half of the plan until she reminded me on Saturday morning while we were running errands. She suggested an apple pie, which I couldn’t bring myself to bake given that it was sunny and 95 degrees outside – definitely not autumn weather. Apple pie turned into peach pie at my suggestion, but Meg wanted Peach Melba, and so the Peach Melba Pie was born.

Pluot Galette with Vanilla “Crème Fraiche”

A galette is a simple, rustic, single-crust fruit pie. Because it is so simple, its success lies entirely in the details, namely, the freshness of the fruit and the quality of the crust. Homemade pie crust is not only deliciously tender and flaky, but it’s quite easy to make – it requires minimal skill and takes about 15 minutes at most. Sure, your first few attempts might not come out great, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll never go back to store-bought.