Sasha's Kitchen: Tilapia Fish Tacos with Peach-Mango Salsa

Peaches are one of my favorite foods of the summer. I incorporate them into just about everything - grilled peaches with barbecued meat, salads, pies, cobblers, you name it. They are also a key component of my fruity salsas in the summer months. Recently I made some delicious tilapia tacos with a savory peach salsa that was delicious and healthy - full of vitamin C.

Sasha's Peach-Mango Salsa
1 mango diced
2 large peaches, diced
1/3 cup red onion, diced
2 T lime juice
1/2 diced jalapeno pepper

Sasha's Tilapia Fish Tacos (serves two)
2 filets of tilapia, skinned
1/2 cup mirin or sake
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1 T sesame oil
2 T fresh ginger
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Marinate the tilapia for about 12 hours (a whole day is usually good). Then grill or bake the fish. After the fish is cooked to your liking, break it up into small pieces with a fork. This should be very easy as it will just fall apart. Serve in corn tortillas with salsa and a bit of fat free sour cream and lowfat cheddar cheese.

Sasha's Kitchen: Tilapia Fish Tacos with Peach-Mango Salsa

Sasha's Kitchen: Stone Fruit Pie

Fruit pies are the best this time of year. I might have just tired of baking pies for the summer already, but before I did, I made this one a couple weeks ago, using the *best* fruits from my local Greenmarket farmer's market. I love stone fruits - from peaches to apricots to plums. This pie was made just before apricots sprang to the scene at the local market, so I used peaches, nectarines and yellow sugar plums. But, you could easily substitute another stone fruit. I know I say this every time, but this really was one of the best pies of the summer.

Sasha's Stone Fruit Pie

Crust
2 1/4 cup of flour
pinch of salt
pinch of sugar
two sticks of butter cut into pieces, cold
1/4 cup of ice water (will then need to add an additional tablespoon or two)


Filling
2 1/3 cups of peaches, sliced in wedges
2 1/2 cups of nectarines, sliced in wedges
1 cup of sliced sugar plums
3 T cornstarch
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 T lemon juice
1 tsp cinnamon

To prepare the crust, follow my detailed instructions and techniques on crust making here.  I recommend using your hands and doing this the old -fashioned, rustic way, rather than using a mixer. Combine the flour and butter, salt and sugar with your hands. Add the ice water slowly and combine into two balls of dough until they just form. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for thirty minutes.  During this time, prepare the filling. Then roll out the bottom, fill the pie, and roll out the top and cut into a lattice. Using a pastry brush, glaze the top of the pie with an egg yolk. Bake at 400 (covered with foil) for 30 minutes. Then uncover and bake at 350 for another 25 - 40 minutes. Allow to cool somewhat before serving warm.  I think this would go amazingly with some Blue Marble ice cream from around the corner.

Have you checked out my recent post on Philly Style Cheesesteak on the ShopRite food blog, Potluck? Yum!

Sasha's Kitchen: Stone Fruit Pie

Sasha's Kitchen: Blueberry Peach Cobbler

As a member of ShopRite's Potluck Blog Panel, I received a gift card earlier in the month to head down to my local ShopRite here in Brooklyn to purchase some fresh local New Jersey fruits. Now, I am a big fan of using fruit in baking during the summer months (read: pie, cobbler, crisp, more pie, repeat) so I couldn't resist picking up some fresh New Jersey blueberries and peaches for use in my next baking experiment. I came up with this terrific recipe for a blueberry-peach cobbler which is just loaded with fresh summer fruits. The recipe doesn't overload on sugar, so it really showcases how good the fruit you use is - in my case, the very best peaches I've had yet this summer!

Sasha's Blueberry Peach Cobbler
Fruit filling
6 ripe peaches
2 cups blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 T lemon juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 T cornstarch

Cobbler Top
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
5 T butter (chopped into small pieces)
1 egg
1/4 cup heavy cream

Combine the ingredients for the fruit topping in a bowl and toss. Place into a 9x6 inch or similar casserole dish and spread evenly. To prepare the top of the cobbler, combine the dry ingredients and mix in the butter (after chopping into small piece) using our hands to combine. Mix in the egg and heavy cream to make a nice moist dough.

unbaked cobbler!

Spoon the dough on top of the fruit in lumps, or cobblestones, as I like to think of it. Bake for about 50 minutes until golden brown and until the cobblestones come out clean when a toothpick is inserted.

Sasha's Kitchen: Blueberry Peach Cobbler

Sasha's Kitchen: Peach Salad

Here's a new post on a lovely peach salad, perfect for the summer. Can I just add that it is absolutely too hot outside - actually 104 here in New York, which is heat beyond where a nice juicy peach is really helpful. But peaches are great in the summer, so I couldn't resist this peach salad, with fried goat cheese.

Sasha's Summer Peach Salad (serves 2)
Mixed greens
4 oz goat cheese
2 eggs
panko bread crumbs
toasted almond slivers
prosciutto or braciole (optional)

Vinagrette:
1/2 cup canola oil
3 T balsamic vinegar
1 T dijon mustard
1 T diced mint

To prepare the goat cheese, form a 4oz package of goat cheese into four balls. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes. Heat canola oil in a pan, and then coat each ball of goat cheese in the egg and then with panko bread crumbs. Repeat coating in the egg and panko for a second layer. Fry immediately in the oil until nicely browned but not melted, about four minutes or so on medium high. The key here is for the balls to be nicely browned, soft and warm, but not either melted or frozen on the inside.

Slice the peaches and assemble the salad with toasted almond slivers, peaches and greens. You can add prosciutto and/or braciole as well if you prefer.  Top with the vinaigrette mixture above.

Sasha's Kitchen: Peach Salad

Sasha's Kitchen: Blueberry Peach Pie

Another pie. Is that all I do in the summer, make pies? Well maybe. There's nothing better than a delicious fruit pie in the summer, made with fresh farmers' market fruits from the Brooklyn Greenmarket.  I swear, I've been making other things too - its not like we have pie for dinner every night, you know. And I promise I will be posting some of those soon as well. Peaches and blueberries are in high season. I didn't have enough peaches to make a peach pie, but I had some pretty amazing blueberries from the farmers' market so I threw them together. The result was pretty spectacular, and one of my best pies to date. 
To make this pie, I used the exact same crust for apple pie, with my own peach and blueberry filling.

Sasha's Peach Blueberry Pie
2 1/4 cups flour
big pinch of Kosher salt
pinch of sugar
2 sticks of cold butter
1/4 cup of ice water, plus a but more if needed (this time I used about 2 T additional ice water)

21/2 cups of fresh peaches, peeled and sliced
2 1/2 cups of fresh blueberries, squished with your hands
1/2 cup of sugar

1 T lemon juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 T cornstarch
2 egg yolks

To make the pie crust, follow the detailed instructions that I gave in writing about apple pie.  Basically, combine the salt, sugar and flour in a bowl. Cut up the butter into small chunks and gently incorporate with your hands into the flour. Splash the ice water into the mixture, and mold until it *just* forms  a ball of dough, adding more water as needed so it just sticks together (be sure to add the water slowly so not to overdo it). The key to a good pie crust is not to overwork the dough, so it is best to do this by hand. There will still be clumps of butter in the dough - don't worry about that, as it will make the crust more rustic and also crisper. Divide the dough and bring into two balls. Plastic wrap and refrigerate for exactly twenty minutes to allow the dough to firm a bit.

Roll out one of the balls on a well floured surface, rotating after each roll or two so it does not stick to your surface. Roll to 1/4 of an inch thick and place in the pie dish, before trimming the edges with a pastry scissor. Using a pyrex pie dish is best.

Combine the ingredients for the fruit mixture. You should peel the peaches before slicing, and squish the blueberries a bit with your hands. Add most of this to the pie - about four and a half cups total. 

Roll out the second ball of dough the same way and cut to form a lattice. I glazed the top of the pie using two egg yolks and sprinkled some granulated sugar on top. Bake the pie at 425 covered with foil for 30 minutes. Then, reduce the heat to 350 and remove the foil baking for another 30-45 minutes (my oven required about 35). The pie is done when it is tender when poked with a knife.

Sasha's Kitchen: Blueberry Peach Pie

Sasha's Kitchen: Peach, Mozzarella & Bresaola Salad

As i discussed in my recipe for Peach Cobbler, peaches are my favorite summer fruit.  The peach is very versatile, and of course, my favorite summer salad recipe includes peaches.  This salad is a dinner salad - it includes my favorite cured meat, bresaola, which is a type of cured beef.  I think that the taste of the bresaola is lovely with fresh peaches and baby bocconcini, a type of mozzarella cheese.  The salad is very refreshing and perfect for summer.  You can make it without the meat as an appetizer if you prefer. I love the farmer's market peaches - this is the perfect dish for summer and I've been waiting for months to get nice fresh peaches to make this dish, which is one of my favorites!  This recipe is totally mine, but it feels very Jamie Oliver, doesn't it?

Sasha's Summer Peach Salad (makes two salads)

2 farmers' market peaches, sliced 

8-10 pieces of bresaola

fresh organic salad greens

1/3 cup canola oil (for dressing)

3 tablespoons lemon juice (for dressing)

1 T red wine vinegar (for dressing)

bocconcini mozzarella

Assemble the salad ingredients above and top with the lemon vinaigrette (which is just canola oil, lemon juice and red wine vinegar).  This is a very special way to showcase those fantastic June peaches!

Sasha's Kitchen: Peach, Mozzarella & Bresaola Salad

Sasha's Kitchen: Summer Peach Cobbler

Peaches are my absolute favorite summer fruit.  In fact, a fresh, sweet, succulent peach is just about one of the best part of summer.  As the peach comes into season in June, I thought it would be time to start cooking with some fresh peaches from the local farmer's market here in Brooklyn.

There's quite a few summer recipes that incorporate peaches, and I plan on sharing my quintessential summer peach salad soon. But there's nothing that says classic summer peach better than a peach cobbler or a peach crisp.  For this recipe, I started with Martha Stewart, but adapted and adjusted to get thing exactly to my liking.  This is the second peach cobbler I've made (the first was last summer) and this one was perfect. Then I baked it in my lovely Mackenzie Childs pie dish (one of my favorite items from our wedding registry).

Peach Cobbler (adapted from this recipe)
8 large ripe peaches, pitted and sliced (Martha calls for 10, but I used pretty large peaches)
1/4 cup cornstarch
3 T dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 T cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg
2/3 cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Slice the peaches and combine with the cornstarch, brown sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl.  Pour mixture into an 8 inch circular pie dish that has been sprayed with Pam.

In the basin of your mixer (or a large bowl, using a fork if you do not have a stand mixer) combine the 1/4 cup of granulated sugar with the flour, salt and butter.  Beat for several minutes to cut in the butter, until the mixture looks like a coarse meal.

Whisk together the heavy cream and egg and combine in the mixer until it comes together into a dough with the dry ingredients.  Cut dough into circular shaped portions (about 12 or so) and use to cover the top of the peach mixture.  Top with the remaining two tablespoons of granulated sugar. Bake for about 45 minutes until golden brown and until the inside bubbles.  Allow to cool a bit before serving warm.

Sasha's Kitchen: Summer Peach Cobbler