herbiehancock

Summer doesn't get any better than when the fresh peaches arrive! After you've eaten them whole and had sweet peach juice dribble down your chin and hand; after you've made jam, peach pie, and peach cobbler, try grilling them for a really special treat! This is quick and simple. Cut the peaches in half and remove the seeds. Fire up your grill and put the peaches, cut side down, on the grill. Let them cook for 5 minutes, then turn them over for another 5 minutes. Now, pour about a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar on the cut side and sprinkle a little brown sugar over them. Turn the peaches over so they're cut side down on the grill and cook for 2-3 minutes until the brown sugar and balsamic vinegar has caramelized. Serve with additional brown sugar and garnish with basil... or drizzle with honey, or top them with your favorite ice cream! 

Each August, residents of the beautiful state of Montana welcome Flathead Cherries. "Flathead" isn't a variety of cherries,but refers to the region around Montana's Flathead Lake, which is located in the western part of the state. Many varieties of cherries are grown there, including Lapin, Sweetheart, Rainier, Van, Stella, Lambert, and Skeena. This is the second year I've made these brandied cherries. This year I bought 13 pounds of cherries and put up 14 jars! They are delicious over vanilla ice cream and would be wonderful over a nice custard pudding or pound cake. Anybody who comes up to Montana to visit me and my gardener goes home with a jar of these beauties! Brandied Cherries - recipe from here 6# dark, sweet cherries 1 cup sugar 1 cup water ¼ cup lemon juice 1 ¼ cups brandy Wash and pit cherries. Combine sugar, water, and lemon juice in a large saucepan. Bring to boil; reduce heat to a simmer. Add cherries and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir...

I just can't pass up a mango, and they sure have been plentiful in the supermarkets these days.  This recipe calls for brushing the dough with egg white and sugar, which after baking, gives a nice crunch and sweetness to the top of the scones. Hot out of the oven, these scones are perfect with a pat of butter. For the leftovers, I split the scones, buttered and grilled them and topped them with Tropical Trio Jam - a combination of mango, passionfruit, and pineapple. Scrumptious! Mango Scones 2 c flour 3 T brown sugar 1 T baking powder ¼ tsp salt 1/8 tsp nutmeg 4 T melted butter 2 eggs 1/3 c heavy cream 1 T vanilla 1 mango, peeled and cut into cubes 1 beaten egg white 2 T granulated sugar Whisk dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, beat 2 eggs; add heavy cream and vanilla and mix until well blended. Add mango to egg mixture. Mix in cooled melted butter. Add dry ingredients into egg mixture and blend gently with a rubber spatula. Do not over-mix. Pat dough onto a parchment li...

Indigenous to India, nearly half of the world's mangoes are still grown there.  Although there are only a handful of varieties of mangoes that are available in the U.S., there are hundreds of varieties of this fragrant tropical fruit.  The variety of mango in this picture is Ataulfo, also known as  The Champagne Mango® . The pit of this mango is quite thin and the fruit is smooth and mellow. I hadn't seen this variety before, so when I spotted them at the market, I bought three of them intending to eat them as I normally eat mangoes -- fresh out of their tender skins without other flavors vying for attention. Then I decided that for once I should make something with these little pretties.  Enter Mango Bread Pudding  from Epicurious. Because I wanted all the mango flavor, I didn't use any of the recipe's spices (cardamom and ginger). The recipe calls for cutting the mango into 1/2-inch cubes, but after peeling the mangoes, I put them in the processor and pureed t...

This is my first post in three weeks! My gardener and I have been touring Montana (more on that in another post). We bought a pound of wild huckleberries from a roadside stand. My gardener thought they were a little pricey ($10/lb) but what the heck... we were on vacation and I wanted to try them! If you go out to pick huckelberries in Montana, you'll have some fierce competition: BEARS! Wild huckleberries are a real treat to the bears... that's another reason I think these were worth $10/lb! Here they are... beautiful dark purple huckleberries. A bit smaller than blueberries and more tart. These will be a perfect substitution for Mom's Blueberry Muffins . Sift and add flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into some melted butter. Add an egg and milk and beat until smooth. Fold in huckleberries. Fill paper-lined muffin tins and bake at 375F for 20 minutes. Mmm, so good with a glass of milk! This recipe can easily be doubled and blueberries (or your berry of choice) c...

This is such a refreshing combination of flavors.  Ice cold cubed watermelon, slices of Vidalia onions, and fresh mint dressed in a vinaigrette and topped with feta cheese. Mmm! Paula Deen knew what she was doing when she cooked this up, y'all .  Take this dish to a potluck and surprise everyone who thought watermelon was just for dessert!

Susan from Food Blogga had this recipe on her blog. She raved about it being so good and it sure sounded good to me, so I wanted to try it! How can you go wrong with mangoes, raisins and cashews all in one delicious slice of bread! I had a hard time not eating the entire mango before I got it into the bread. Sooo good! This bread, with hints of brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, fresh ginger and zesty lime has just become my new breakfast bread! If you haven't had the pleasure of reading Susan's blog, take a look! In fact, today she's having a giveaway and one lucky winner will receive a $25 gift certificate for See's Candies !

I found some delicious Ruby Red grapefruit the other day and wanted to do something with them other than cut them in half and eat them for breakfast. Ina to the rescue! I just love Ina Garten. Everything she prepares is simple but elegant. Ina's recipe serves 4-6 people. I used one avocado and one grapefruit for one serving. Peel and section a grapefruit. Peel and cut up an avocado. It's that easy, but of course it's the vinaigrette that makes this so lovely. Put some Dijon mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a small bowl and whisk in olive oil until it's emulsified. Arrange the salad and drizzle with the vinaigrette. This was very good. The grapefruit sections gave it some texture that was balanced by the smoothness of the avocado and the vinaigrette had just the right tang to bring it all together.

In 1926, Julius Freed opened a little orange juice stand in Los Angeles. In 1928 he jazzed up the OJ with a few ingredients and put it all in a blender. By 1929 he'd opened 100 stores. The Orange Julius was named the official drink of the 1964 New York World's Fair. In 1987, Orange Julius became a wholly owned subsidiary of Dairy Queen. The menu changed over the years and Orange Julius stores began selling smoothies and other flavors of the famous drink. You can now get this cold, frothy drink made with raspberry, peach, mango, pomegrante, lemon, banana, blackberry and strawberry. Here's a good copycat recipe for those of you who, like me, haven't had an Orange Julius in a while! 1 c orange juice 1 c water 1/4 c egg beaters 3/4 tsp vanilla 1/4 c sugar 1 c ice cubes Put all ingredients into a blender and mix until frothy. Pour into a tall glass and enjoy!

I was out blog-walking one morning and stopped by Alexandra's Kitchen where I tasted this recipe with my eyes and just knew I had to try it! It was a bit chilly here in HAVRE, MONTANA today, so I thought it'd be a good idea to bake something in my new oven. My gardener bought it for me, and he is gonna get double smooches tonight for that, let me tell you! The stove has five burners... one for simmer , one for big time pans and three for regular cookin', doncha know. (Have you ever watched the movie, Fargo ... it's hilarious!) Alexandra also has an Orange and Olive Oil Cake that I'm freakin' dyin' to make, but first I have to place an order with Temecula Olive Oil Company for a bottle of their Citrus Reserve Olive Oil-Late Harvest (and a few other items... you'll know what I mean when you visit their site). But for now... back to the Bolzano Apple Cake . From what I gather, this recipe was published in the New York Times and when The Chefs of America...