Beer Girl Cooks

Cooking & Craft Beer

Fruit

Blood Orange Gose Glazed Mixed Berry Pavlova

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Blood Orange Gose Glazed Mixed Berry Pavlova is a perfect mixture of tart and sweet beer glazed fruit on top of a whipped cream covered meringue cloud.

Blood Orange Gose Glazed Mixed Berry Pavlova is a perfect mixture of tart and sweet beer glazed fruit on top of a whipped cream covered meringue cloud!

Obviously I’ve had a thing for all things blood orange lately.  From cakes to margaritas I think I’ve been a little obsessed.

Blood Orange Gose Glazed Mixed Berry Pavlova is a perfect mixture of tart and sweet beer glazed fruit on top of a whipped cream covered meringue cloud!

I clearly have a thing for meringue too.

Blood Orange Gose Glazed Mixed Berry Pavlova is a perfect mixture of tart and sweet beer glazed fruit on top of a whipped cream covered meringue cloud!

But can you blame me?  There’s nothing quite like some fruit covered in blood orange gose glaze on a fluffy cloud of whipped cream and sweet meringue.

Blood Orange Gose Glazed Mixed Berry Pavlova is a perfect mixture of tart and sweet beer glazed fruit on top of a whipped cream covered meringue cloud!

This Blood Orange Gose from Anderson Valley Brewing Company has been one of my favorite beers to start off the summer.  I’m loving it in my glass and in my food!

Blood Orange Gose Glazed Mixed Berry Pavlova is a perfect mixture of tart and sweet beer glazed fruit on top of a whipped cream covered meringue cloud!

It was the perfect beer to use in this recipe because it’s not super salty like some gose style ales, but it’s deliciously tart with a hint of salt that went really well with the fruit.  All that business made the perfect topping to cut through the sweetness of whipped cream and meringue.  This Blood Orange Gose Glazed Mixed Fruit Pavlova would make any Dad happy on Father’s Day.  It’s also a great dessert for any 4th of July cookout or party!  Cheers, friends!

Blood Orange Gose Glazed Mixed Berry Pavlova
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Blood Orange Gose Glazed Mixed Berry Pavlova

Ingredients

  • 4 egg whites room temp
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons corn starch
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 cups mixed berries and fruit
  • 1/2 cup blood orange gose
  • 1/4 cup strawberry preserves or jam
  • 8 - 10 ounces Whipped cream

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 215
  2. Add egg whites to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment
  3. Start out on low speed and whip the egg whites
  4. Add vanilla and corn starch and when the eggs start to get foamy, increase the speed to medium
  5. Add sugar slowly, one tablespoon at time
  6. After about half the sugar is incorporated, increase the speed to medium high
  7. Continue adding sugar one tablespoon at a time and beat until stiff peaks form and can stand up on their own without falling over - this process takes about 15 minutes
  8. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
  9. Spoon meringue onto parchment paper in a 9 inch round circle with a concave center
  10. Bake 90 minutes or until dry to touch
  11. Turn off oven and let cool in oven completely
  12. In a sauce pan heat beer and preserves/jam until thick and syrupy
  13. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and let cool
  14. Toss berries and fruit in beer/jam mixture to coat
  15. Top meringue with whipped cream and spread all the way to the edges
  16. Spoon glazed fruit on top and pour any remaining glaze over top
Blood Orange Gose Glazed Mixed Berry Pavlova

Peach Beer Blueberry Shortcakes

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Peach Beer Blueberry Shortcakes are made with peach lambic beer and served on Raspberry Chocolate Stout Biscuits for a tart and sweet treat.

Peach Beer Blueberry Shortcakes are made with peach lambic beer and served on Raspberry Chocolate Stout Biscuits for a tart and sweet treatI did it.  Two times.  All by myself.

Peach Beer Blueberry Shortcakes are made with peach lambic beer and served on Raspberry Chocolate Stout Biscuits for a tart and sweet treat

I successfully road (rowed?) my kayak alone.  Two times!  It’s crazy, right?Last weekend Chris went camping and four wheeling in the Georgia woods with some friends.  If you have spent any time visiting this here website, you know that I absolutely did not go with them.  Everyone had a better time.

Peach Beer Blueberry Shortcakes are made with peach lambic beer and served on Raspberry Chocolate Stout Biscuits for a tart and sweet treat

I went to the lake.  My first couple of times out kayaking was touch and go, but I was bound and determined that I could do it myself.  I grabbed my shades, life jacket, and my trusty whistle and headed down to the pier.

I took a few deep breaths and set my kayak in the water and climbed in. Well, truth be told, it wasn’t as graceful as that sounds.  Also, Chris knows me well enough to think ahead and bought this contraption that connects my paddle to my boat.  Let’s just give a collective sigh of relief there because otherwise I’d still be floating around out there.

Peach Beer Blueberry Shortcakes are made with peach lambic beer and served on Raspberry Chocolate Stout Biscuits for a tart and sweet treat

About 30 seconds after I pushed away from the dock, I realized that my kayak had been sitting on the pier and I didn’t think to look all the way inside where my feet were and it occurred to me that a snake could come slithering out of there and then I’d have a heart attack and drown.  I told myself that if there had been any creatures in my kayak, all the commotion of boarding it would have scared them to kingdom come.

I was concerned about how I was going to extract myself from the kayak and get back up on the dock, but all was well and I was able to use the ladder.  Oddly, the first time went better than the second time.  I managed to get out without falling in, but there was quite a bit of water that needed to be drained from my vessel.

I rowed (road?) around the lake and all was well, but for one incident.  All the safety information tells you to stay close to the shore line.  That way you can get to land if you need to and you stay out of the way of the boats with motors that may run you over.  I was sailing along nicely until I passed a neighboring dock and right about the time I was behind his boat the neighbor fired it up.  I nearly had a heart attack and started rowing as fast as I could.  Fortunately, the guy was safety-minded and looked behind him before backing out.

I thought I was going to have to use my whistle!

Peach Lambic and Blueberry Shortcakes on Raspberry Chocolate Stout Biscuits
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Peach Lambic and Blueberry Chocolate Stout Biscuit Shortcakes

Ingredients

For the Biscuits

  • 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoons salt
  • 12 tablespoons cold butter cut into 1/4 inch pieces
  • 1/4 ounces goat cheese softened
  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup raspberry chocolate stout

For the Blueberries

  • 1 pint fresh blueberries
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup peach lambic or peach beer
  • Whipped cream for topping

Instructions

For the Biscuits

  1. Preheat oven to 450
  2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl
  3. Using a pastry cutter, cut in the butter until the mixture is coarse and somewhat lumpy
  4. Add milk, goat cheese, and beer and gently mix until dough comes together
  5. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, roughly form into a 3/4 inch thick rectangle
  6. Use a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter to cut out biscuits
  7. Repeat shaping and cutting dough until it's all used up
  8. Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet
  9. Brush tops with the heavy cream
  10. Bake 13-15 minutes or until golden brown
  11. Cool on a wire rack

For the Blueberries

  1. Combine blueberries, sugar, and beer in a pot, bring to a boil, reduce and cook until soft and syrupy - about 10 minutes

Assembly

  1. Cut biscuit in half, top half with blueberries, then whipped cream, finish withe second half of biscuit

Author: Rachelle

Peach Lambic and Blueberry Shortcakes on Raspberry Chocolate Stout Biscuits

Mixed Summer Fruit Pavlova

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Mixed Summer Fruit Pavlova

Mixed Summer Fruit Pavlova

You’ve all been there.  Admit it.  You know, when you get a little too excited about all the summer fruit and berries and the farmer’s market and buy waaaaayyyyyy more that you and a family of 45.762 can possibly eat before it turns to a slimy mess in your fridge?  Yep.  I wouldn’t know anything about that.

Mixed Summer Fruit Pavlova

I jest.  Seriously, we went a little crazy between the Costco and the farmer’s market with our ambitions of smoothie making as part of our dreams of weight loss and my pants fitting again.  As a side note to that, I can’t quite recall if I updated you on that front and told you I wore a suit to work last week I hadn’t been able to wear since last year.  That, my friends, is what we call hopeful progress around these parts. Woot!

Mixed Summer Fruit Pavlova

Mixed Summer Fruit Pavlova

Mixed Summer Fruit Pavlova

Any-hoo, I had an abundance of fruit and some leftover egg whites from a different recipe, so I decided a Mixed Summer Fruit Pavlova was on the agenda.  And it has to be healthy and good for me because it has fruit, right?  Thanks for humoring me.  At least it’s high in fiber.

Mixed Summer Fruit Pavlova

I’ve seen some summer fruit dessert pictures floating around the interwebs that look all pretty and fancy pants with fruit I imagine was painstakingly and perfectly arranged in organized patterns of beauty. Well, y’all know that just isn’t the way I roll.  I do not have the time or the patience for such shenanigans.  Don’t judge me.  I just made the meringue, whipped up some heavy cream to slap on top, and piled it high with the surplus of fruit hanging out in my fridge.  I put it in a deep dish pie plate in a rare moment of clarity, knowing that some of the fruit would roll off and would be better captured in the crevice around the edge than landing in an explosion on my hard tile floor.

Mixed Summer Fruit Pavlova

I called that one right.  It happens every now and again.

 

Mixed Summer Fruit Pavlova
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Mixed Summer Fruit Pavlova

Ingredients

For the Meringue

  • 4 egg whites
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon white vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste

For the Topping

  • 2 peaches sliced
  • 2 kiwi peeled and sliced
  • 1 1/2 or so cups mixed berries
  • 1/2 cup fresh cherries pitted

For the Whipped Cream

  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
  • 1 tablespoon sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 180
  2. Add egg whites to bowl of stand mixer with whisk attachment and whip on high for about 1 minute or until firm
  3. While mixer is still running on high, slowly add sugar and continue whipping for another 2 minutes or until you see shiny peaks
  4. Turn off mixer, sift in cornstarch, and fold in vanilla bean paste and vinegar
  5. Line baking sheet with parchment paper
  6. Turn out mixture onto parchment and spread into an even circular layer 9 - 10 inches wide
  7. Bake for 1 hour 45 minutes, then turn off oven and leave in there for another 1.5 hours, turn over to cool completely on a wire rack
  8. Chill bowl and whisk attachment in freezer for 20 - 30 minutes
  9. Transfer heavy whipping cream, whisk on high, add sugar and vanilla bean paste
  10. Whip until stiff peaks form, 3 minutes or so - careful not to over whip or you will have butter!
  11. Transfer meringue to a platter
  12. Spread whipped cream over the top
  13. Arrange fruit and berries on top

Mixed Summer Fruit Pavlova

Pears Poached in Cranberries with Salted Sour Cream

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Pears Poached in Cranberries with Salted Sour Cream

Cranberry Poached Pears with Salted Sour Cream

 

Hi, friends! Happy Leap Year Day!  It’s always so weird to me when there’s a February 29th.  It’s kind of a bummer too because March is the lead into spring for me with all kinds of things to look forward to. Having an extra day of February is just dragging out the winter blues!

 

Cranberry Poached Pears with Salted Sour Cream

 

At least today it looks like spring here in Charlotte, so that’s a positive thing for a Monday!  The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and it’s supposed to get up to the high 60’s.  Thank goodness!

 

Cranberry Poached Pears with Salted Sour Cream

 

Even though it looks like spring and sunshine here, the produce department is still stocked with winter items, so I thought I’d share these pears poached in cranberries with salted sour cream while it’s still technically winter.  I made these several weeks ago and there were still fresh cranberries available at the Publix.  If you can’t find them anymore, just use frozen ones and give thanks that it means spring is almost here.

 

Cranberry Poached Pears with Salted Sour Cream

 

And enjoy the pretty pink and red colors because I have a feeling that starting tomorrow we are going to be seeing a lot of green!

Have a fantastic week!

 

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:148]


Adapted (slightly) from Martha

Pears Poached in Cranberries with Salted Sour Cream

Grilled Swordfish with Summer Fruit Salsa

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What’s up butter cup?  How is your week going?

 

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You know that we’re trying to lighten things up over here.  It’s a necessity.  Trust me.  This is a dish I made a couple of weeks ago before I took the plunge into the weekday vegan I’m so fat plan and hope to lose weight commitment.

Don’t get me wrong – I was hoping to lose some pounds then.   But seriously, I had to resort to more drastic measures when I ran out of clothes that fit.

 

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Phew.  Thanks for letting me get that out.  The weekday vegan plan is going well and I’m happy to report that I lost almost 4 LUBS last week.  Woot!  My pants still don’t fit, but we are well on our way and I’m so dang relieved to have lost a few!  I think all the fruit and veggies are generally making me feel better too!

 

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Swordfish was on sale at the Teeter, so we picked up a couple of filets.  I hadn’t planned beyond making Chris cook his own dinner politely asking Chris to throw them on the grill. Then I remembered all the fruit I had on hand and decided we needed to use it up before it turned to slime and my fridge went into the land of disgusting.  So I threw it all together and made this summery tropical fruity salsa business.

 

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I’m still having a bit of trouble with my pants, but things are improving and I’m glad we had this little talk.

 

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Grilled Swordfish with Summer Fruit Salsa

Ingredients

  • 2 swordfish filets
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 peaches peeled, pitted, and roughly cut into chunks
  • 1 avocado pitted and roughly cut into chunks
  • 1/2 cup blueberries
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 1 serrano or jalapeno pepper sliced, optional

Instructions

  1. Preheat grill or oven to 350
  2. Salt and pepper swordfish according to taste
  3. Put swordfish filets on a wood grill board that has been soaked in water for 2 hours or into a baking dish lightly coated with cooking spray
  4. Cook on grill or bake in oven for about 10 minutes
  5. Add peaches, avocado, blueberries, lime juice, and pepper if using, to a bowl and toss to combine
  6. Transfer cooked swordfish to plates and top with salsa

Champagne Peach Berry Cherry Cobbler Cake Thing

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Is it a cake or is it a cobbler?  Beats me, but it sure is delicious!

 

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I can tell you that my cherry obsession is on fire.  And we’re back to cooking with booze.

 

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I just can’t help myself.  I’m totally and ridiculously out of control over here.

 

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They’re just so dang gorgeous and delicious!  I’ve been stocking up on all this summer fruit and putting it in everything.  I’m still doing the crazy lady thing with the cherries at the grocery and I’m a lunatic at the farmer’s market.  Maybe I need an intervention.

 

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Or I just need more booze.  You just can’t go wrong with champagne and strawberries, right?  And cake?

 

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I totally didn’t plan this red, white, and blue theme because umm….I’m not that organized.  There you have it.  The ugly truth.

 

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So here we are with a red, white, and blue dessert of undetermined origin and name just before Independence Day. That’s interesting.  I wanted to make a cobbler, but with a vanilla cake topping rather than biscuit or oatmeal crisp.

 

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What happened is kind of a boozy fruity upside down vanilla cake business.

 

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Just in time for the holiday. I love it when a no plan comes together.

 

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Do you have big plans for the holiday weekend?  I’m not sure yet what we’re going to do.  Every year our neighbors spend a college fund on fireworks and we can see a fantastic show without ever leaving our yard.  How fun and convenient is that?

 

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Champagne Peach Berry Cherry Cobbler Cake Thing

Ingredients

For the Fruit

  • 1 pound of cherries I used Ranier, rinsed, pitted, and stems removed
  • 3 peaches pitted, pealed, and cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 1 pint blueberries rinsed
  • 2 pints strawberries stems removed, larger ones cut in half
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1 1/2 cup champagne prosecco, or sparkling wine

For the Cake

  • 2 sticks butter room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs room temperature
  • 3 large egg yolks room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons vanilla bean paste
  • 1 cup buttermilk

Instructions

  1. Reserve a combination of a few berries and/or cherries for garnish if desired
  2. Combine cherries, peaches, blueberries, strawberries, sugar, cornstarch, and champagne (or other sparkling wine) in a Dutch oven, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until thick and syrupy - about 25 minutes.
  3. Preheat oven to 350
  4. Combine butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until smooth
  5. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  6. Add vanilla to butter/sugar mixture, beat until combined
  7. Add eggs to butter/sugar mixture one at a time, incorporating each before adding the next
  8. Alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk, starting and finishing with flour
  9. Transfer fruit mixture to a large baking dish coated with cooking spray
  10. Using a spoon, drop large blobs of cake batter on top of the fruit
  11. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, or until cake is golden brown and a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean.
  12. Cool on a wire rack
  13. Top with whipped cream and garnish with some reserved berries if desired
  14. Serve warm or at room temperature

Cake part of recipe adapted from Martha

 

P.S. If you plan to make this unnamed dessert and take some pics – make sure you take your pics quickly or this will happen.  Happy Independence Day, y’all!

 

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Grilled Radicchio and Romaine Salad with Grilled Shrimp and Mango Dressing

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Grab your tongs and get your grill on!

 

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I’ve been grilling and putting beer in everything I can get my hands on lately.  There is no beer in this post, but stay tuned – there are some beer dishes and brewing posts coming very soon.  For now, how ’bout we just grill up a salad.

 

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I’ve been totally obsessed with mangoes lately too.  Which is weird – I have never been a big fan of the mango.  I didn’t grill them, but I did add one to the salad and tossed another one in the blender to make not one, but two salad dressings.

 

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Yeah – a hers and his because that’s the way we roll around here – some of us like it spicy and some of us are weenies.

 

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I’ll leave it to you to figure out who is who.

 

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Happy weekend, Y’all!

 

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Grilled Radicchio and Romaine Salad with Grilled Shrimp and Mango Dressing

Ingredients

For the Shrimp and Marinade

  • 1 lemon both juice and zest
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 3 cloves garlic minced, grated, or pressed
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon DIjon mustard
  • 1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp

For the Dressing

  • 1 mango peeled, pitted, and roughly chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic minced, grated, or pressed
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 lemon juiced
  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 red chili pepper
  • Salt and pepper to taste

For the Salad

  • 1 head radicchio cut into quarters or eighths - depending how big
  • 8-10 asparagus stalks
  • 1 head romaine halved or a package of romaine pre-washed and separated
  • 2-4 tablespoons olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 mango peeled, pitted, and cubed
  • 1 avocado peeled, pitted, and sliced

Instructions

For the Shrimp and Marinade

  1. Combine all marinade ingredients in a zip top bag
  2. Add shrimp, seal, and refrigerate for 1 hour

For the Dressing

  1. Combine all ingredients except the water in a blender and blend until smooth
  2. Use water to thin 1 tablespoon at a time until it reaches your desired consistency
  3. I removed about half the dressing into a Mason jar then threw the chili pepper into the blender with the remaining dressing and blended until somewhat smooth

For the Salad

  1. Heat grill or grill pan on high, lightly coat with cooking spray
  2. Toss radicchio, asparagus, and romaine in olive oil and salt to taste
  3. Add radicchio and asparagus to hot grill or grill pan and grill for 3-4 minutes, depending on size, turning radicchio 1-2 times and asparagus every minute or so
  4. Remove from grill to a platter and tent with foil
  5. Remove shrimp from marinade into a bowl, discard marinade
  6. Add shrimp to grill or grill pan, cook in 2 -3 batches if you don't have enough room to do all at once (I did 2 batches) about 2 minutes on one side and flip, cook another minute or so, depending on size - remove slightly before they are done and put on plate and lightly cover with foil tent, repeat with the rest of the shrimp
  7. Grill romaine - a couple of minutes if using a whole head split in half, about 1 minute for single leaves
  8. Add romaine and asparagus to the platter with the radicchio, arrange avocado and mango on same platter and toss shrimp and any juices from the plate over the top
  9. Serve with dressing

Notes:

  • Here is the deal on the divided dressing – I do not like spicy food, but for Chris – the hotter the better!.   I usually end up dividing things up and adding a bunch of spice to one and leaving the other without.  That’s what I did here.  I split up the dressing and added a chili pepper for Chris.  I seeded it and he said he would have like more heat, so use your own judgment.
  • You can also add more dried cayenne pepper to the shrimp marinade.  I could taste it and Chris could not, so it really depends on your tolerance.  For a scale – I have none and Chris is off the charts spicy man.

Update:  For some reason I must have lost my mind and in the recipe had only 2 tablespoons of olive oil. It now reads 1/4 cup and depending on your taste could be 1/3.  Also, salt and pepper to your preferences.

Grilled Plum and Peach Stacks with Goat Cheese and Balsamic Fig Reduction

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After last weekend I’m ready for my staycation!  Woot!

 

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No alarm clocks, emails, or phone calls.

 

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No commute downtown.

 

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It’s nice to just stay home sometimes, don’t you think?

 

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And enjoy the simplicity.

 

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Traveling is certainly fun too, but sometimes I need a vacation to recover from my vacation.

 

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So we’re staycationing and keeping things simple.  Simple like some grilled plums and peaches with a balsamic fig reduction.

 

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It doesn’t get much simpler than that.

 

 

 

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Grilled Plum and Peach Stack with Goat Cheese and Balsamic Fig Reduction

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds peaches and plums combined halved and pitted
  • 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons fig preserves
  • 1/4 cup goat cheese
  • handful of basil leaves optional

Instructions

  1. Put plums and peaches in a large bowl and toss with 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  2. Combine 1 cup balsamic vinegar and fig preserves in a saucepan over high heat, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer until sauce is reduced by about half and thick, stir frequently (15 - 20 minutes)
  3. Grill peaches and plums over high heat 2 minutes each side, cut side first, pour remaining balsamic over top after turning
  4. Stack e peach and 3 plum slices alternately, top with goat cheese and drizzle with balsamic fig reduction
  5. Garnish with basil leaves if desired
  6. For an easy alternative you can just toss it all in a big bowl and call it a salad.