Summer Cooking

After a long respite in which I savored the cooking of others, I'm now enjoying cooking in my own (and temporarily clean) kitchen. The growing season is in full-force here and we are loving corn, peaches, plums, apricots, tomatoes, and green beans to name a few!

Yesterday for lunch we had the Pioneer Woman's egg sandwiches. They were very rich, but delicious.

















The Pioneer Woman's Make Ahead Muffin Melts

Ingredients

* 12 whole Hard-boiled Eggs, Peeled And Chopped
* 2 cups Grated Cheddar Cheese
* 1 cup (real) Mayonnaise
* 12 slices Bacon, Fried And Crumbled
* 1 Tablespoon (heaping) Dijon Mustard
* ½ teaspoons Garlic Powder
* 3 dashes Worcestershire Sauce
* 6 whole English Muffins Split

Preparation Instructions

Combine eggs with all other ingredients. Fold together gently. Cover and store in the fridge overnight.

Spread on English muffin halves, then broil for 3 to 5 minutes or until hot and bubbly. (Don’t set them too close to the heating element.)






For dinner I made the Barefoot Contessa's scalloped tomatoes, recently featured on Smitten Kitchen. It was pretty darn tasty! I expect that from the glorious Ina Garten, don't you?





Ina Garten's Scalloped Tomatoes
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups bread from a French bread
2 1/2 pounds plum whatever good tomatoes you’ve got, cut into 1/2-inch dice
3 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup thinly slivered basil leaves, lightly packed
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high. Add the bread cubes and stir so that they are evenly coated with oil. Cook cubes, tossing frequently, until toasty on all sides, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine tomatoes, garlic, sugar, salt and pepper in a large bowl. When the bread cubes are toasted, add the tomato mixture and cook them together, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in the basil. Pour into a shallow (6 to 8 cup) baking dish and top with Parmesan cheese. Bake 35 to 40 minutes until the top is browned and the tomatoes are bubbly.









For dessert I made a peach custard pie. The recipe was altered from an "allrecipes" version and it was to-die-for!



Peach Custard Pie, Inspired by allrecipes
1 9-inch pie crust
1 cup whole milk
2 egg yolks
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
freshly ground nutmeg
sliced and peeled fresh peaches

1. Slice peaches into prepared pie crust.
2. Put remaining ingredients into blender and mix until smooth.
3. Pour custard over peaches.
4. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 for an additional 40 minutes, or until custard is set and crust is browned.