Ultimate Peach Crumb Cake (en regalia)

This summer's peaches are extraordinary. I combined yellow, white and donut peaches to make this perfect and simple peach crumb cake that can be adapted to other fruits as they appear in the market.

Ingredients that are available at the market are asterisked. Support our farmers! If you're raising your eyebrows a little because the prices are slightly higher than at Waldbaums, just don't. The produce at the farmer's market is brought by individual farmers and is grown in small quantities. The quality is extraordinary. Much of it isn't sprayed. And the taste is incomparable. Truly. It's the way fruit and vegetables should taste. When you bite into a donut peach at Red Jacket Orchards, and the juices run down the side of your mouth or when you bite into a sweet and crisp ear of just picked corn from Carucci Farms or an organic mushroom from Dan Madura, you'll become a farmer's market member for life. Eat pickles, live longer! A whoopie pie never hurt anyone.

Check out the recipe below for BLUE FISH, just published in today's Times. I heart blue fish. But get to Casey's early - he runs out of blue fish quickly. It has all the good for you oils and it's a real recession buster too. Don't think it's too stinky .. it's not. When it's fresh and cooked well, blue fish tastes fabulous. Try this recipe and leave a comment.

Don't forget to stop by the Market Manager's table and tell Bernadette what an angel she is and how she has single-handedly changed the lives of so many people around here because of the market.

peace and love,

jane

Ultimate Peach Crumb Cake

Adapted by Blue Heron Kitchen from Gourmet Magazine

The fragrance and perfume of peaches will permeate your home when you bake this perfect peach crumb cake. Use fresh peaches from the market. As they come into season, be creative and substitute other fruits such as berries or apricots or a mixture of several fruits. When apples come into season, this will be fabulous! And you can play with the crumbs! Add some chopped candied ginger (or powdered ginger) – which pairs well with peaches. Throw in some sliced, toasted almonds (also a fantastic marriage with peaches). This will be great with pears in the fall. Just add a little Poire William instead of vanilla extract to the batter.

This rivals any ‘ultimate crumb’ you’ve ever tasted, and you can pronounce every ingredient!

Serve this warm, at room temperature, ‘as is’ (if it makes it out of the cake pan), with some vanilla ice cream or some whipped cream.

Ingredients for crumb topping:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

6 oz. unsalted butter, 83 % European style preferred, softened

1 ½ tsp. cinnamon

Ingredients for cake:

8 oz. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, 83% European style preferred, softened

1 1/3 cup granulated sugar

4 large eggs*, room temperature

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. kosher salt

6 large ripe peaches* (about 2 1/2 pounds), peeled, sliced about ¼ - ½” thickness and then

cut in half

Procedure:

Make the topping: In a food processor combine the flour, the brown sugar, the butter, and the cinnamon and pulse the motor until the topping is combined well and crumbly. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350º F.

Butter and flour a 9 x 13- inch baking pan.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer cream together the butter and the granulated sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy, add the vanilla extract and the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add flour/baking powder/salt mixture to the batter and mix until just combined, taking care to not over mix.

Spread it evenly in the pan. (An offset spatula works perfectly.) Arrange the peaches evenly over the batter, sprinkle the topping over them, and bake the cake in the middle of the oven for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean.

Bluefish With Lemon-Almond Butter and Swiss Chard

Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

2 Bluefish fillets*, 6 to 8 ounces each, preferably center cut and about 3/4-inch thick

Kosher salt and black pepper

1/4 tsp. grated lemon* zest

1 tsp. fresh thyme* leaves

1 Tbsp. butter, cut into bits

2 Tbsp. slivered almonds

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 garlic cloves*, minced

1 large bunch Swiss chard*, ribs removed, leaves torn into pieces

Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Lemon wedges, for serving.

1. Preheat oven to 400º F. Place fish skin-side down on a rimmed baking sheet and season with salt and pepper. Smear lemon zest all over fillets and sprinkle with thyme. Dot top of fish with butter and sprinkle with almonds. Roast until fish is just opaque and almonds are starting to brown at edges, 6 to 9 minutes.

2. While fish cooks, sauté chard. Heat oil in a skillet and add garlic and a pinch of salt and pepper. Let cook for 30 seconds, then add chard. Sauté until chard is very tender, about 5 minutes. If pan starts to dry out before chard is cooked, mix in a tablespoon of water. Season with more salt, pepper and nutmeg. And serve with fish and lemon wedges.

Yield: 2 servings.