Fresh & Simple Peach Crisp

I love having people over for dinner at the last minute. I can run to the store pick up a few things (and a few bottles of wine) and put a great meal on the table. Unfortunately the dessert can always be a little tricky - Anything homemade usually needs to be done in advance and I hate finishing off a nice meal with a box of supermarket cookies.

That's when I turn to the classic fruit bakes, and this one is no exception. It's easy to make and you probably have most of the ingredients on hand. Getting the peaches off the pit was a bit of a pain, and if anyone knows a trick please let me know. 

Sorry I don't have a completed dish to show you - We were just having too much fun. This is what was left of my Fresh & Simple Peach Crisp. Wine and shot glasses are not included. 

Recipe is adapted from Texas Cowboy Cooking by Tom Perini

Ingredients:

5 fresh peaches, peeled and sliced

Juice from 1 lemon

1 tbs cinnamon, divided in half

6 tbs of butter (about 3/4 of a stick), cut into pieces

3/4 cup of flour

3/4 cup of light brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place peaches in the bottom of an 8x8 square baking dish. Sprinkle with 1/2 tbs of cinnamon and lemon juice. In a bowl, combine the butter, flour, sugar and rest of cinnamon. I found it easiest to just mix and crumble with my hands. If the mix seems too dry and some more butter. Crumble on top of the fruit dish and bake for 30 minutes, turning the oven to broil for the last five minutes to crisp the top. 

Serve with ice cream if you're feeling really crazy. 

Sweet And Spicy Red Pepper Gazpacho

I haven't blogged about food in weeks because frankly it's just too hot. Sweating over a hot stove or a flaming grill is not the summer look I'm going for.

When I hit the summer doldrums I always turn to my favorite cool-off recipe, Sweet and Spicy Red Pepper Gazpacho. I could eat the stuff by the bucket (and I do). The one thing I love about this soup is it's easy to make. I don't want to break a sweat chopping stuff all afternoon. Everything gets thrown in the food processor and you're done.

A quick note about gazpacho. If you've never tried it, stop thinking of it like cold tomato soup. Cold tomato soup sucks. Gazpacho is sweet and refreshing and can have a spicy kick.

This recipe came from a friend who got it from the Food Network. I have no idea if this is the original version. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2 red bell peppers, coarsely chopped
2 slices of white bread, crust removed, coarsely chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, without the seeds, coarsely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tsp sugar
8oz can of tomato sauce
28 oz can of stewed diced tomatoes
1/4 cup of olive oil
2 tbs of red wine vinegar
Salt
Cucumber, chopped (optional)
Red onion, chopped (optional)

Place bell peppers in a food processor and puree. Add next six ingredients, bread through stewed tomatoes, and puree until smooth. Add olive oil and vinegar and pulse until mixed well. Add salt to taste.

I like to top my soup with a little chopped cucumber and red onion to give it some crunch, but it's optional.  You can also add some chopped shrimp if you want to make it a meal.

Ranch House Has Good Food Without Vegas Attitude

There's no doubt we have some fantastic restaurants in Las Vegas. Places where the food melts in your mouth, and the service makes you feel like royalty. Places where you order food you've never heard of. Places where you don't blink an eye when the check is over $200.

But sometimes you just want a steak.

That's when I go to the Ranch House. You've got to be a stuck-up son of a bitch not to like this place. It's been around since the 50's and back then it was in the middle of nowhere. Nowadays it's tucked between a neighborhood in North Las Vegas and the 215 beltway.

I love this place because, well, it's not Vegas. I went there with a girlfriend the other night and felt overdressed in my jeans and high heels. The waitress even asked if we were celebrating because we were so dressed up.

Nope, this is a place where you can wear jeans and a t-shirt and let your gut hang out.

The dinning room has old wood paneling and pictures of John Wayne. If you go there during the holidays, Christmas lights will hang from the wooden beams of the ceiling. There are candles and white tablecloths, but you still feel like you can put your elbows on the table.

My friend had the special, a bacon wrapped filet topped with Bechamel sauce. I had the prime rib, seared on the grill at the suggestion of our waitress. Throw in some clam chowder, a twice stuffed potato, ranch potatos and chocolate cake for desert and we were stuffed. All the food was great - Not fancy restaurant on the strip great, but how you would make it at home great.

Add on a bottle of cab and our bill came to about $84. Not bad, considering it's Vegas.

The Ranch House has personality in a city that feels a little too trendy at times. It's old, it's classic, and it's comfortable. I've never had a bad time or a bad steak. And I'm sure if I didn't like my steak, they would just make me a new one. If you've haven't been, I recommend you check it out. I promise you'll like it, unless you're a stuck-up son of a bitch.

Bob Taylor's Original Ranch House
6250 Rio Vista St.
North Las Vegas, NV 89130

Reservations: (702) 645-1399

Canned My Own Salsa, But Don't Think I'm Getting All Domestic On You

I know what you're thinking - Canning sounds so old fashioned. So grandma. So stay at home mom. So boring.

Well, I'm none of those things, but today I became a home canner. I made a small batch of salsa and now have three jars sitting in my pantry. I have to admit, there's something amazing about canning. I didn't have to buy a lot of expensive equipment. I didn't have to take classes or practice. I just took some fresh produce, a few glass jars and a pot of hot water and made something that can sit in my pantry for a year.

Anyone who is still holding on to the lamp they made in wood shop knows what I mean.

I enjoyed my first canning experience, but I'm certainly not going to turn my kitchen into a canning factory. It was a lot of work and I have a big mess to clean up. Even so, I definitely have the canning bug, and I'm already thinking about what I want to make next. Jam? Zucchini relish? Kimchi?

Does that make me domestic? No.
A food lover? Most definitely.

Home Canning For Dummies

Okay, maybe not for dummies, but certainly for the person who has never canned before. My new Ball Home Canning Discovery Kit arrived yesterday, and I hate to admit it, but I'm really excited.

The kit comes with a basket you use to heat the jars in hot water, three cute little jars that I'll use for lemonade if this canning thing doesn't work out, and a recipe book. 

If you've never canned, here's the basics: You follow a recipe and cook some fruit, vegetables or meat. Then you put the food in jars, seal them up and heat them at high temperature in hot water. Once the jars are sealed you can keep them in your pantry for about a year. So if you love strawberry jam, you can make 10 jars of strawberry jam when berries are in season and enjoy it all winter long. 

Yes, you can also go to the store and buy strawberry jam, but what's the fun in that? 

The instructions that come with the kit are easy to understand, although phrases like "headspace" and "fingertip tight" are foreign to me. Whose fingertips are we talking about? Mine? My husbands? My 80-year-old grandmother? Thank goodness for 1-800 hotlines. 

The recipe book is also pretty decent. It has 12 recipes and covers everything from Bread and Butter Pickles, to Tomato and Apple Chutney and Zesty Zucchini Relish. I'm actually surprised that it doesn't have recipes for simple stuff, like strawberry jam. 

I think I'm going to start off with salsa. The recipe is not too intimidating and we can never get enough salsa in our household. 

The kit cost $18.45 with shipping and handling. I think it's perfect for people like me, who want to try out canning without investing a lot of money. If it works out, my friends and neighbors will find some canned salsa under their tree this Christmas.