How do you spell relief

It being ice cream month, along with a gentle nudge from my friend Louise at Months of Edible Celebrations, who says she can easily 'scoop up gallons of ice cream' passed on a link heading me to Modern Day Ozzie and Harriet,and, the best darn peaches and cream ice cream recipe I've ever made! Now that's how I spell r-e-l-i-e-f!

Is there no end in sight for these dreadful muggies we are seeing? Well let me assure you--if you are sweltering in your neck of the woods give this absolutely cooling and scrumptious recipe a try. I've been assured you'll sweat off the calories after ingesting --lickety split! I just knew it was in the stars when I went to farmers market Saturday to pick up my tray of fresh peaches to make more peach jam. I made mention to my friends Ann & Howard that I'd just love to make some peach ice cream one of these days so they insisted I take home some slightly bruised peaches to give it a try.

When I arrived home--I started my prep work for the jam, when I recalled reading a post over at Louise's blog mentioning National Ice Cream month--so back I went to re-read her post. It was there that I hit the jackpot! A link to Marjie's blog with easy instructions, and even better, I had all the ingredients in the house. The only changes I made to her recipe was to substitute almond extract, for the vanilla, added a titch of cardamon powder and used heavy whipping cream for the 'cream'. I also cut back just a bit on the sugar amount called for and as my ice cream maker was chugging along we just couldn't stop ourselves from sampling spoonful after spoonful of this luscious blend. My ice cream maker makes two quarts and as luck would have it--so doesn't this recipe.



Peaches N' Cream Ice Cream

Slightly modified. Recipe by Marjie at Modern Day Ozzie and Harriet


6 large peaches--washed, pitted and cut into chunks (skin & all)
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
2 cups heavy cream (whipping cream)
a pinch of cardamon powder *opt

Place the peach chunks into the food processor and whirl via the pulse button until moderately chopped. I didn't want it to end up a pureee of peaches. It's one of the things I really enjoy about peach ice cream--finding those delicious pieces of fruit with every lick. I also liked the idea of leaving the skins on the cut fruits for that added extra fiber, as Marjie suggested. Once the peaches have been chopped, sprinkle on the 1/4 cup of sugar--give it a couple of whirls and allow fruit mixture to rest, about an hour.
After the time has elapsed, whisk in the remaining sugar into the milk,along with just a pinch of powdered cardamon. combining well. Then whisk in the almond or vanilla extract and heavy cream. Gently stir in the peach mixture and pour into your ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer's instructions. I processed mine 25 minutes. I packed it into two 1-quart containers knowing it won't last the week. :) Enjoy & stay cool!

Stuffed Pattypans

My refrigerator drawers are overflowing with squash! Summer squash, zucchini, crooknecks, cousa and those sweet pattypans. Thank goodness the delicata, hubbard and butternuts are still weeks away. My freezer is overflowing with frozen squash for winter baking. We had a little break in the humid weather this week so after bringing in the evening pick from the garden with even more squash I decided to try a Jamie Oliver recipe that's been sitting on my desk for a few weeks for a farro salad.

Part of the recipe called for roasting garden veggies--and that I had more than enough of around here! I roasted so much that I ended up with enough for two meals, and after all that roasting decided I didn't even want a large meal, so I set some aside and with the other half, stuffed my fave squash of the summer--the pattypan.
I know, how much stuffed squash can one possibly eat? LOL But we just enjoy them so.. and there was a method to my madness after all. Right around the corner all the tomatoes, cukes and peppers will be ready to harvest and I have no drawer space left.

You may use any vegetable that's currently being harvested in your garden--it's all great in my book. I used a combination of crumbled feta and grated fontina cheese because that's what I had on hand. Feel free to experiment on your own.




Stuffed Pattypan Squash

2 medium eggplants cut into chunks
2 summer squash, halved lengthwise and cut
2 pattypan squash, halved and quartered
2 zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut
2 cousa squash, halved lengthwise and cut
2 sweet red peppers,halved, deseeded and chopped
1 bulb of fennel, trimmed and thinly sliced
1 medium red onion, peeled and cut into wedges
2 shallots finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb ground lamb *optional
1 cup cooked jasmine rice
2 TBLS lemon rosemary olive oil
2 TBLS minced fresh parsley
½ tsp summer savory, minced
1/4 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
sea salt & ground pepper to taste
2 oz crumbed feta cheese
3 oz shredded fontina cheese
6 additional pattypan squash-washed & scooped out

Wash, pat dry and cut all the vegetables. No need to be fussy, as you will cut them all again once they've been roasted. Toss them all into a large bowl and drizzle olive oil over and toss very well, so that they all been coated in the olive. Place them onto your parchment lined sheet pans, sprinkle fresh herbs, seasonings and one last drizzle of olive oil. Try not to overlap the vegetables on your cooking sheet though, so that they will roast better this way. Roast in a 400 degree oven for approximately 30 - 40 minutes, or until the vegetables are cooked through and just crisping around the edges. Sprinkle a little white vinegar over the vegetables as soon as they come out of the oven and set aside to cool. Once the vegetables have cooled, dice them up into smaller, bite sized pieces.

As your vegetables are roasting, trim tops and with a spoon, scoop out pattypan pulp. Chop and reserve.

In a skillet saute the shallots, and ground lamb in a bit of olive oil. Add the chopped pattypan pulp last and cook for just a few minutes.

Add cheese mixture to the roasted vegetables, the jasmine rice and blend this with the lamb mixture and toss gently. Spoon mixture into reserved pattypan shells. Sprinkle with paprika. Place in an ungreased baking dish and pour water or vegetable stock into bottom of pan about 1/4 way up the side of the squash.
Cover and bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until heated through. Uncover and bake 5 minutes longer or until cheese is lightly browned. I like to spritz fresh lemon juice over these pattypans before serving. Enjoy!