Thank you all for your generous and kind comments, I may just take you up on your lovely offers to be my assistant!
Last week we went out for dinner in our hood to Bloom, a really great restaurant serving what they call “Nuevo Latino Cuisine”. Every second Thursday they feature live jazz musicians and as luck would have it, we usually choose the off Thursday, as was the case last week. There is nothing I enjoy more than live music during dinner, particularly in a venue whose patrons appreciate the talent and don’t make noise over the performance, so to say I was disappointed would have been an understatement. But our evening ended up being even more exciting than I expected because as soon as we walked in I noticed a gentleman with an uncanny resemblance to Tiggy from the remarkably successful HBO series called Sons of Anarchy (I bin-watched all six seasons in a very short month)! As soon as we were seated we googled the show and it turns out that it WAS Kim Coates from the famous show! Imagine my excitement. I’m fairly conservative about approaching famous people so I was not about to intrude on his dinner. We had a lovely meal (which I will review next time we go when I don’t forget to take photos) as did Kim Coates and I persevered not to disturb him. Unfortunately the table next to our’s heard me ask the waiter if he was indeed Kim Coates and they approached him for photos. He was extremely generous and kind and took several photos and chatted with them. JT decided it was our turn (he doesn’t watch the show but knows how much I enjoy it) and Kim very kindly came over to our table for photos and a chat. He is Canadian (born in Saskatoon) and is an actual rider (coincidentally one of the few of the cast who didn’t need to be taught how to ride a hog!) It was very exciting and I was instantly taken back at his generosity with his precious personal time. I do, however regret not apologizing to his dinner partner for usurping his guest. So that’s my brush with fame in Bloor West Village.
Onto the recipe. Today I’m sharing not so much a recipe but more of a serving suggestion for Ontario Peaches (of course, you may use any old peaches, but we’re pretty pumped here in Ontario because Peaches are in season right now)! We’ve grilled them for a little contrast in hot and cold and of course, texture. Plus it looks and sounds cool! The Ricotta is delicately flavoured with some lemon zest, a little icing sugar and a pinch of pure vanilla extract (though, not enough to discolour it). I made it for my GF BFF and she said it reminded her of German Cheese Cake! I left the peach skin on and it softened up beautifully with the grilling. The dish was sweet enough, but I wanted a little pizzaz for plating so I made a simple caramel sauce and I toasted a few walnuts and coated them with some Chocolate Balsamic Vinegar that my dear friend Kristy (from Eat, Play, Love, Our Family Food Adventures) gave me last year when we met in Toronto. All in all, the dish is a winner and will be served again this summer before the peaches are out of season.
Grilled Ontario Peaches with Lightly Sweetened, Lemon-zest Scented Ricotta
An original Kitcheninspirations recipe
Serves 4-8
Ingredients:
- 4 ripe peaches
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 250 mL ricotta cheese
- 1 tbsp icing sugar
- 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
- zest of 1/2 a lemon
- Caramel Sauce
- 1/4 cup toasted walnuts
- 1 tbsp chocolate balsamic vinegar
- finely sliced mint
Directions:
- Heat grill to 450°F. Cut peaches in half and remove the stones. Lay face up on a baking sheet and sprinkle gently with cinnamon (you may also bake the peaches at 450°F for about 10-15 minutes or try broiling them, but I have not experimented with this). Grill cut side first for about 2-4 minutes and flip for another minute or so. Set aside.
- Combine ricotta cheese with the icing sugar, vanilla extract and lemon zest and mix well. Taste and adjust as required.
- Serve 1-2 peach halves per plate. Cut peaches into thin-ish slices and lay in a semi-circle on the plate. Add a quenelle or scoop of the ricotta in the centre of the plate. Drizzle with caramel sauce, finely sliced mint and walnuts. Serve immediately.
I remember seeing your shot of you and Tiggy on FB and wondering who he was. Glad to know…obviously I don’t watch Sons of Anarchy! 🙂 Lovely peach preparation.
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oh! you’re right! this combination of flavours must be delicious!
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Thank you very much, it was definitely a winning combo.
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simply delicious dessert, plate beautifully too!
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I’m so glad the chocolate balsamic vinegar worked well! I knew you would find delicious uses for it. I remember reading about Ontario peaches back when we cooked from Ontario. Your recipe looks delicious and your plating is simply divine!
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Looking at your photos, I can almost taste them. Summer can’t come fast enough!
What an exciting evening at Bloom!
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The peaches look gorgeous, Eva. I love the presentation… I never bother making such beautiful plates. Even for the dessert.
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How great! Love how your evening turned from disappointment to utter thrill. What a cool encounter and even better that you snapped a photo to remember it by (sometimes in those moments it doesn’t happen) — this dessert sounds insanely delicious Eva. You must be surrounded by succulent peaches right now; perfect choice and I’m enchanted by your caramel drizzle – what a great effect – it looks gorgeous! (by the way, not sure if you happened to catch the farmers’ almanac prediction for this winter… oh, dear…).
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Great photo with Tiggy.
Love your flavor combos. I need to take some food styling and plating lessons from you.
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grilled peaches are a real treat. I love what it does to the texture of the peach and adds a hint of smokiness but not too much at all. this is great
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Ooh girl!
I know exactly what you mean by not wanting to intrude but HOW COOL!!
I love that smile on your face too in the picture! It says “no live music but who cares, I’m taking a picture with f*cking Kim Coates!”
And well done on the caramel! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve burned my sugar trying to create caramel *frown frown*
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Hehehe! I suspected you would like the surprise! Kim was amazing, so cool! It worries me that I often think these celebrities would be AHs because of the few who are; it was great that he was very cool about it.
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I dooo, I love it!!
He’s so dope and you got to meet him!! Damn!
I’m a little jealous over here, not gonna lie. But that smile of yours was for the both of us 🙂
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Your plating is lovely! Gorgeous photos of a delicious dish 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
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Thanks CCU.
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Hi Eva, Cool pic of you and Tiggy. What a great way to enjoy peaches, love this idea.
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Thanks Cheri, I appreciate the lovely comment.
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SOA is one of my guilty pleasures. I don’t expect to run into any famous people here is my little corner of the world though! Love these peaches – they look so tasty!
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Thanks so much Donalyn, I love that show too. I wasn’t expecting to run into anyone famous either, but that made it even more special!
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Beautiful plating and those grilled peaches look so juicy and wonderful!
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Thanks Angie.
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I saw this recipe on social media and thought it looked amazing. I also love live music when I’m out at night so what a shame there wasn’t live jazz when you went to the restaurant. It seems the night improved for the better though with your brush with fame xx
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Thanks Charlie, it was very cool to spot Kim Costes but the best part was that he was so amazingly cool about it.
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I’m familiar with Kim Coates as I’ve seen his work as far back as the late 80s in the series Diamonds and War of the Worlds, and the movie “Harmony Cats” which I actually own. 🙂
I love your grilled peaches and especially how you plated them. Ontario peaches are everywhere and I’ve taken advantage by pairing them with raspberries in all my Peach Melba posts. My quenelles don’t come out right in spite of how many videos I watch.
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… DON’T come out right. (I really wish I could edit my posts to fix those sloppy errors)
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I’ll fix it, no worries!
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Thanks for your comment Maria. I don’t know much more of Kim Coates’ work but I will check it out. Yes, I did see your peach Melba, looks delicious!
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Eva, this sounds truly divine… I love the combination of peaches with ricotta. Yum.
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Thanks Lizzy.
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