Fragrant white-fleshed peaches with dark sweet cherries and fresh lemon juice

The fixin's for the cobbler

Drop peaches into boiling water for 4-8 minutes to release the skins

Immediately after boiling the peaches, plunge into cold water and peel

All of the ingredients for the Martini crust should be COLD

Once peeled, slice the peaches and mix with the other filling ingredients

Roll the dough to 1/4" in a rectangle, then slice with a pizza or pastry cutter

Bake until deeply golden brown and bubbly; service with vanilla ice cream and peach sorbet

This recipe is inspired by a Cook’s Illustrated recipe for Blueberry Pie; here’s my cobbler version:

Peach-and-Cherry Martini Cobbler

1 recipe Martini Pie Crust (see recipe below)

7-8 medium peaches, peeled and sliced
(apx. 5 cups)*

1 # dark sweet cherries, pitted (apx. 2 cups)

¾ c. sugar

1 t. cinnamon

¼ c. + 2 T tapioca

¾ c. peach jam

¼ c. peach schnapps

2 T. butter

1 egg + 1 t. water, beaten together
to make an egg wash

2 T. raw sugar
(demerara sugar; large crystal) for topping

*to peel the peaches, place them in boiling water for 4-5 minutes, then rinse with cold water.  The peel should release using just your hands; if not, put in boiling water again for 1-2 more minutes.

• Preheat the oven to 425-degrees.  Place a large sheet pan in the oven while it preheats.
• Mix the sugar, tapioca, sugar, cinnamon, jam and schnapps in a medium bowl.  Add the peaches and cherries, stir to mix.  Place fruit mixture in a buttered 9x13x2 baking dish.  Dot with butter.
• Roll the martini pie crust to ¼” and 9×13” (apx.).  Using a pastry wheel, cut the dough into twelve 9” long strips.   Reform scraps and re-roll to ¼” and 5×13” (apx.).  Cut the dough into seven 13” long strips.
• Lattice the dough strips, weaving them in an alternating pattern, across the top of the fruit mixture.
• Brush the dough with the egg wash.  Sprinkle with the demerara sugar to coat the dough strips.
• Bake on top of the pre-heated sheet pan for 25 minutes at 425-degrees.
• Reduce heat to 375-degrees; continue baking for 25 minutes.
• Reduce heat to 300-degrees; continue baking for 10-15 minutes, until the filling is bubbly throughout and the crust is deeply golden colored and crispy.
• Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes.  Service with the topping of your choice (shown in the photos with vanilla ice cream and peach sorbet).

Uncle Danny’s Martini Pie Crust

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
(separated; 1 cup needed after initial processing)

½ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar + 2 tablespoons sugar for garnish

16 tablespoons (2 sticks) cold butter, cut into 1/4-inch slices

1/3 cup cold vodka

1/8 cup cold water (2 ice cubes can substitute to chill the vodka)
(altogether, ½ c. liquid)

• Process 1 1/2 cups flour (not ALL of the flour, remember to reserve 1 c.), salt, and sugar in food processor until combined, about 2 one-second pulses.
• Add butter and process until homogeneous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 10 one-second pulses. Scrape bowl.
• Add remaining cup flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed, 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into medium bowl.

• Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. Fold the liquid into the dry ingredients to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together. Flatten dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.

They transformed the front yard into a dessert-style Japanese garden, while the back has a terrific view of several mountain ranges.  Charlie, the pup, makes a terrific watch dog – barking at ANYTHING that might be dangerous – including coyotes that jump the fence!

Since we last saw one another, both Peggy and Jan have changed careers.  Peggy’s now a stellar real estate agent and Jan works as a personal chef.  The tuna tartar , marinated in a wasabi-scented vinaigrette and topped with a spicy avocado relish, was DELICIOUS.  The entree was grilled chicken with fresh fruit salsa, cous cous, and an innovative carpaccio-style zucchini with pine nuts and extra virgin olive oil.  Yum!

It’s great to have good friends who can cook

We all slept well that night.  Tequila makes for a terrific time … especially really good tequila.  Thanks to Costco for the discount on the liquid love…

And somehow, I’ve had the chance to meet up with my dear friend Jules and her man, Steve.  We had a lovely dinner at the marina.  Calamari, scallops, shrimp.  Yum!

Life is good

While gyoza may have orignated in China, they’re a hit in the Japanese line of meat-filled dumplings. 

Yum!

And here we are, ready to dig in!

More evidence to come later!

(We had fun … and “yes” people did fall asleep during my slide show of the trip to Japan.  Oh well.  Dinner was yummy!)

I had one of these every morning with my Japanese breakfast in Tokyo, but the recipes I’ve seen have been a bit daunting.  Most seem to agree that the egg should be poached in the shell for 30-50 minutes at a consistent temperature of 140-145 degrees Farenheit.  Apparently, the yolk begins to solidfy before the white – so the white remains soft and silky, and the golden-yellow yolk becomes almost custardy.

Yet, I was unsure – especially since I know my guest list better than this technique – so I’ve opted for Japanese foods that I know I can successfully make.  Here are some of the ingredients I found at the Asian market the other day.

The ingredients range from mirin and shoyu to wasabi peas and sesame snack crackers.  I even found the type of nori (roasted seaweed) often included in rice at breakfast, as well as the little, itty-bitty mushrooms that hide in the bottom of miso soup.

Here’s the menu (inspired directly from my recent dining adventures):

Gohan (steamed rice) with nori and pickled plum
Yakitori-style chicken thigh skewers
Salted cabbage leaves
Cucumber and daikon salad
Spinach salad with sesame dressing
Gyoza (Potstickers) w/chicken, beef and cabbage
Miso soup with tiny mushrooms
Cantaloupe and Canary melons

Hajimemashou-ka?  Hai!

[kyou/oshi(eru)/osu(waru) - root meaning = teach, religion]

In my dream, we were all on an airplane together – all of my Japanese connections back in Tokyo.  The lights had been dimmed, the window blinds closed, small lights above each person’s head shining on their work.  Each was earnestly painting beautiful Kanji (the intricate Chinese characters used in modern Japanese writing along with hiragana, katakana, and Arabic numerals) on 3″x3″ white ceramic square tiles.  

Each tile represented something about the future, but I couldn’t read them – yet together, the tiles seemed to be giving me a message.

After a 13 year absence, I’ve decided that it is important for me to begin studying Japanese again.

What’s interesting to me is that when I have slept in the last 3 days, I’ve been dreaming in Japanese.  Not fluent Japanese, mind you, but the words I know (or knew … or could know again).  I’ve been teaching, explaining, laughing, understanding.  It’s strange though – I only see myself in the dreams … no one else.

I wonder what Carl Jung would say?  Perhaps I’ll dream about the answer

It’s 2:30 a.m. Central Daylight Time and I am back in Kansas City.  Back in my own bed.  Still on Tokyo time … 4:30 p.m. there right now.  There is a thrumming in my head – a cadence that won’t let me rest – something that won’t let go. 

Yearning for sleep… dreams…  remembering.

One of my favorite songs is written and performed by Lucy Kaplansky, a folk artist from New York, whose title song “The Red Thread” captures some of the feelings I am experiencing right now…

**********

I was only a girl – When I went out on my own – You wrapped me up warm – And just let me go
Now I live at the far end – Of this long distance line – And I’m just another one – Who’s gone and left you behind

Wish we could look at your pictures – All the places you’ve been – I don’t think you will – But you can see them again
‘Cause you can see them through me – The brown eyes I got from you – Now I wish I could give ‘em back to you

This much I can say – This much I can do – When your heart is empty – I’ll try to fill it for you
‘Cause I’m the girl who learned to love – From watching you
Wish that I could tell you – It’ll all be all right – But you never did believe it – Through the trials of your life

You and I both know – It just isn’t true – When so much you love – Has been taken from you
I remember when you told me – If we run out of time – How happy you were – Just to know she’ll be mine
When I wrap her up warm – You’ll be right next to me

‘Cause they say that the red thread that ties me to you – Ties her to me
This much I can say – This much I can do – When your heart is empty – I’ll try to fill it for you
This much I can say – This much I can do – When your heart is empty – I’ll try to fill it for you
‘Cause I’m the girl who learned to love – From watching you – Watching you – Watching you
**********

In my two nights at home, my dreams have been of Japan – teaching in Japanese – imagining fluency – remembering faces, kindness, small gestures of graciousness. The powerful emotions connected to a sincere “domo arigato gozaimashita” given from another.

The farewell dinner from my stay in Tokyo was as inescapably memorable – and had a touch of “home” within it. Our waitress, named Lucia, was born and raised in … hang on … wait for it … Raytown Missouri (a suburb of Kansas City)! What a fitting twist on this 7-day journey into the unknown – to have a touch stone unexpectedly appear. Lucia seemed almost embarrassed by her connection to the US, and was painfully shy about having her photo taken. But the group’s request prevailed in spite of her protests.

Upon reflection, Lucia’s reaction was much like my own. The kindness and generosity of my Japanese hosts was simultaneously simple and overwhelming. The meal itself was typical of an American restaurant (french fries, salad, pizza, spaghetti, roasted chicken, cheesecake). But the “process” of enjoying the meal was anything but typical. I was shy and embarrassed about being the focus of so much attention, yet I wanted to spend more time with all of these people.

The event was held at Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant in Roppongi (a 5 minute walk from FXLI’s corporate headquarters), about 10 minutes by taxi to the southwest of my hotel.

As the meal wound down, Kotaro-san rose to his feet. He addressed the group and shared what he had learned from me across the preceding 5 days of class. He held me up in honor. Around the table, this process continued … person by person … each describing what I had brought to them … reflecting back to me my worth.

By the time we reached Ryo-san (my host), my eyes were filled with tears – a lump in my throat – I was unable to speak. After a few minutes (which felt like an eternity), I was finally composed enough to rise … to rise to the occasion and return the gesture of honoring those with whom I had worked so closely.

Right now … right here … I am full.