The Ever-So Scrumptious Peach Pie

Scrumptious is a big word. With an exciting definition. Its a word that I use rarely, mainly because it leaves my mouth with an extremely awkward feeling that I don't necessarily crave. I don't why I get that feeling, but I do. But when I say something is scrumptious, then its gotta be delicious. No doubt.

Oh no.  I'm rambling about words and my feelings about them....... again. But honestly, I can't help it. The peach pie was so good, that I wasn't finished with just one slice. Or...... just 3 slices. I'm sorry, Not Really Peach Pie is one of my weaknesses. Oh, don't give me that look..... its gonna be one of  your weaknesses too. :)

Also, this recipe was adapted from many different sites: Taste of Home, Food,Nita's Peach Pie (PD)

                First, chop up the peaches and toss them all into a bowl. I usually get my peaches  from                 the local grocery store, but you could definitely try the farmers market. And about the chopping, you may cut to your own desire.  :)

           In the meantime, in a separate bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients. The cinnamon, flour, and the sugar...

Just pour all the dry ingredients into the very patient bowl of chopped peaches. Give it a few tosses, and be very careful to make sure the dry ingredients aren't all stuck on the bottom. 

Ta-da! ; )

This is  my semi-thawed  pie crust. Its store bought. Why? I think I was feeling lazy that day or something. 

But don't worry, my top crust is homemade.

So I take out my pre made pie dough, that was lying in the refrigerator ( psst! Look for my Pie Crust Recipe on my previous post). I take out a rolling pin and a cutting board, and roll out my dough in order  to prep for the lattice pattern that going to go on the top.

Unfortunately, my latticing skills just weren't  on spot, so it was a bit funny. Hehe. Please don't judge me. 

After crimping the edges, and forgetting to cover the edges with foil (a mistake I deeply regretted later), the pie went into the oven. Trust me, it was a glorious moment. :)

Tadah! This is the finished product, and it was delish! And also, sorry about the terrible mistake...it was solely on my bad memory. Enjoy!

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Ingredients:

- 1/2 -1 cup sugar (Depends on whether you have a sweet tooth or not; also keep aside 2 tbsp of sugar for later)

 - 5 cups of  fresh peaches, approximately 4 large  peaches.

- enough pastry dough for a double crust 9-inch pie

- 1/2-1/3 cup of all-purpose flour

-1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

-2 tablespoon of butter

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Instructions:

- Preheat the Oven to 425 degrees F.

-Into  a bowl, stir the cinnamon, flour, and sugar together, and set  it aside.

- Wash and slice  up the fresh peaches ( peeling is optional)

- Mix the peaches with the dry mixture that was  set aside.

- Put the mixture into the pastry-lined pie tin and dot it with butter.

-If you want to do the lattice pattern, roll out the top crust, cut into strips accordingly (roughly 3/4 wide),  and  place them in a "one over, one under" pattern.

-After placing/latticing the top crust, sprinkle the top with sugar

- Cover the edges with aluminum foil to prevent browning (oops!); remove foil for last 15 minutes of baking.

-Bake for around 30-45 minute, or until the crust browns and juice begins  to bubble through the slits in the crust.

Simple and Delicious Pie Crust

Aaaaahhh.....September was so darn busy, I hardly got any blogging done at all! And I sincerely apologize for that. School work can honestly drag you down hill. :(

But I'm back and totes ready to enjoy some pie with you. :) Normally, I don't make pies, I just somehow don't feel like making pies. But peaches and apples are in its peak season right now, so I decided to just throw on an apron and whip up a peach pie.  And surprisingly, its quite simple.....:)

Gather up all the ingredients: Water, Salt, Sugar, Flour and Butter. I know the bowls look empty, but I assure you they contain something. 

  

                                      

              You're gonna want to pulse it about 7 times, and work in rest of the steps until it looks perfecta-mento ( you can probably guess my amazing Spanish skills)  

          

                         

       

Once its firm, meaning that it  doesn't crumble when you shmoosh two pieces together, take it out of your food processor and place in on a flat clean surface. The  key is to knead, but not over knead.






                                                                   

                                                           What You'll Need:

                                                         

-2 1/2 Cups  all-purpose flour,  keep some extra for when you're  going to roll it out

- 1 Cup ( 2 sticks pr 8 ounces) of unsalted butter, cold, and cut  into 1/2 inch cubes

-  1 teaspoon salt

-  1 teaspoon sugar

-  6-8 tablespoon ice water

               

Steps:

-Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse meal, with small pieces of butter. Add ice water 1 Tablespoon at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together and become doughy. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready. If the dough doesn't hold together, add a little more water and pulse again. Note that too much water will make the crust tough.

 -Remove dough from machine and place in a mound on a clean surface ( I had it lay down on wax paper, and it worked just fine). Gently shape the dough mixture into two round circles (disks). Work the dough just enough to form the disks, do not over-knead. Sprinkle a little flour around the disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days.

 - Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften just enough to make rolling out a bit easier. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. If you find it sticking to the surface below, sprinkle a little bit of flour on the surface to keep the dough from sticking. Carefully place onto a 9" pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish.

*This recipe was adapted from Simply Recipes

Fresh Peach Smoothie

When you hear the word "fresh", you'd probably think of the word "farm" or "cows". At least, I do. But when it comes to peaches, "fresh" means it came from my refrigerator. Not a farm. Well, not for the last 3 weeks . And somehow we're going to have to deal with that. And an amazing smoothie. <3




                                                             Hopefully.

                               

         Cut them peaches after washing them for 30 seconds. Also throw in the blueberries, milk, ice, and everything else.

                                                                                                                               

                     
                      This is what the...... mixture (?) looks like after 10 seconds into blending.
                     

                        

                                                      The view after 30 seconds.

I decided to rebel and add in some extra h-honey

And mix the honey in.

                                                         And you're all done! :)

You will need:

1 large peach - cut into slices

2/3 cup of milk

1 banana

A handful of washed blueberries 

1 1/2 tablespoon of honey ( adjust to your needs)

1-3 cups of ice ( again, adjust to your needs)

How to do it:

1. Mix all the ingredients to together- (after peeling the banana, slicing the peaches,etc)

2.Mix the ingredients together, on high, for 1-2 minutes depending of your blender or until it is smooth and creamy.

 (By the way, I use Vitamix)

3. Enjoy!

xoxo,

~ Raida Khan

Raita Recipe

Raita is a Indian-Pakistani-Bangladeshi sauce that literally goes with anything. You can make it in countless variations and can eat it with almost everything! 

Today, we had BBQ for dinner and instead of using steak sauce, I decided to use Raita. And it was delicious. It gave the crispy and juicy lamb a unique sweetness that will make your mouth water for more and more. :)

You can change the recipe if it doesn't suit you because Raita is one of those things that everyone has a different taste to.

   

You'll need: 

A pinch of Cumin 

A pinch of Ground Ginger 

A tablespoon of ground pepper

A 1/2 tablespoon- 1 tablespoon salt

A pinch og Ground Garlic

A pinch of Black Salt

1-3 Cups of Plain Yogurt

1/2  Cup of Milk or Water (If you want it to be thinner)

How to do it:

Ah, the beautiful simplicity of plain yogurt. <3

                                         
                           Mix the Cumin, Garlic, Ginger, Pepper, and the other ingredients. :)

Wait...... except Black Salt.

                          Now add in the Black Salt, so the flavor of the salt intensifies the taste of the                                                                        other ingredients.

All done, just add in some milk or water as desired. 

Enjoy!

xoxo,

Raida Khan

Orange Heaven Milkshake

This is a match-made in heaven for the folks who love oranges. Or milkshakes. I know that I'm not particularly a fan of orange milkshakes, but trust me, this is really good and strong!

 1 1/8 Cup  Milk

1/4  Cup Ice Water

1 12 oz can of frozen orange juice concentrate (thawed) or 3 cups of orange juice

8-10 pieces of ice

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup of honey

1 banana (ripe works just fine)

How you do it:

*Makes three servings.*

Simply put all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into three-four 12 oz. glasses

Tip: If you want it to be milkier and a bit thinner, add more milk. If you want it to be frothy and frosty, add slightly less milk

The ingredients:)

Mix em' all together. Here I'm using my Vitamix Blender to do the magic.

After mixing for about a  minute and a  half, it turned bubbly and frothy.  Just perfect.

Yummy  <3

Strawberry Buttercream

 Yes, Buttercream doesn't always turn out perfect.. Sometimes it could be the slightest bit curdled or maybe it turned out a bit light. It doesnt have to be pretty, it just has to be yummy! :)  Anyways I got this recipe from Addapinch.com, but I added a slight variation to it. And it turned really good!

Ingredients:

1 cup of butter (unsalted)

4 cups of powdered sugar (sifted)

4-8 tablespoons of strawberry preserves

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons whole milk 

Instructions:

1. Cream the butter with the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time.  After each cup, add 1 tablespoon of the preserves.After that add the vanilla extract and beat on high for 45 seconds.
2 After that, slowly add in the whole milk and beat until consistency is to its peak. Add a pinch of salt and beat for 10 seconds. Cover with plastic wrap and store for up to 3 days Enjoy!

Traditional Sweets of Bangladesh

As many know, Bangladesh is a small country with a enormous heart filled to the brim with culture. And their desserts  prove it in every way :) Anyways, I was recently at a Bangladeshi " festival" and there was a table filled with all kinds of desserts from Bangladesh. 

This a dessert very common in Bangladesh,  but honestly, the name of this slipped from my mind. This is made from bread and is coated in powdered sugar. Inside it is soft and doughy. Its sugary flavor is definitely on the tongue's list of favorite. You must try this- you will be happy you did. :)

This is Shemai (Shei-my). It is made from sweet vermicelli noodles and is soaked in milk, sugar, and a handful of other ingredients. This is super simple and takes only a couple of minutes to make.

Now this, is the best thing I've ever tasted.  It is simply fabulous. Its called Boondheeya (Boond- eeya). It made of tiny balls of colorful dough soaked in a special syrup. It is juicy, flavorful, and a must-have.

This you guys, is classic. Just classic. This is called Fini. Its made of mainly milk (again) with some butter, sugar, etc. Its super duper simple and will be ready in no time!

Oh! I almost forgot. This here is by FAR, the most common dessert in all of South Asia. I'm probably gonna spell it wrong, but her it is: Roshagolla (Raw-sha-gowl-la). It is fantastic and everybody adores it. <3

Sweets<3

The Substitute teacher for... Baking Powder!!!

       This is what will come in handy when you live in the middle of Siberia ( I don't). ;)

Recipes:

Ok, so there are two out of four that I tried and that worked. I'm going to put those two up on this post. :)

#1

Add 3/4 teaspoon of Baking Soda with one tablespoon of white vinegar. ( You can use any type, but White works the best)

#2

Mix 3/4 teaspoon of Baking Soda with 3/4 cup of completely sour milk