Walnut Nectarine Tart Recipe

I stopped by Costco this week and found that nectarines were still on sale. Our family has been enjoying juicy, sweet stone fruit all summer and I was hoping this case of them would live up to our recent experiences. Alas, these nectarines weren't nearly as flavorful as the ones from earlier in the summer. Instead of letting them rot in our fruit basket ignominiously, I decided to give them a new and much more delicious life by baking them in a frangipane fruit tart.

For this version, I pre-baked store-bought puff pastry that I layered with walnut buttercream and nectarines. Making the nut butter cream for the tart has become one of my specialties; I could make this dessert with my eyes closed. It's very simple, and if you do this as much as I have, it will become second nature for you as well. Finally, I gave the product a professional look by glazing the tart with nectarine jam. The result was absolutely delectable!

Peach Cinnamon Coffee Cake Recipe

We eat lots of different foods in my house. Savory, sweet, Indian, French, Asian, vegetarian or meat, at one time or another we’ve made it. If there’s one common bond among the vastly varied preferences, it’s that everyone in my home has a sweet tooth.

I’m happy to oblige my family’s confectionary cravings, so today I made a peach and cinnamon cake. I flavored it with ultra ripe, sweet peaches and fragrant cinnamon and a layer of almond streusel crumb mixture. This sweet snack is not only good for tea time but is a perfect ending to a school lunch. In fact, I packed a square of the cake along with a small pouch of milk for my little munchkin. Ready-packed 8.25-ounce fresh milk pouches are available at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, so it's very convenient to feed your children a balanced meal, even when they're on the go.

Fruit Caprese Salad Recipe

Caprese salad is a simple and easy recipe. It consists of stacked slices of buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes and basil, seasoned with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. To mix things up, I made an Asian variation of this salad, adding stone fruit and berries. I drizzled toasted sesame oil and plum vinegar to season the salad.

Unlike berries, this year has been a bummer for the tomatoes in our garden. My husband Lulu has been struggling with the vegetables he planted. Since last year, we've been fighting gophers and rabbits. So to avoid the proliferation of these animals, we decided to install several elevated tomato planters. Unfortunately, this method has attracted all the deer from the neighborhood. They don't eat the fruit, but they do devour all the young sprouts. I managed to gather a few ripe tomatoes and made salads, but there aren't enough to can any tomato sauce this year!

Peach Comte Cheese Appetizer Recipe

I've had in mind for some time now to pair ripe stone fruit with Comté cheese. It's one of the most popular gourmet French cheeses, originating from the Jura region of France. It's fruity with a hint of nutmeg, while still tasting mild. To balance the flavors, I added sun-dried tomatoes, marinated red onions and a drizzle of spicy mint chutney. The peaches were so ripe and juicy that there was no need to quickly blanch them as the skin peeled off very easily.

Over the weekend, we ordered take-out food from one of my favorite restaurants, Shalimar in Fremont. We had a lot of leftover naans, so I used them the next day to make the cheese appetizers. Nothing goes to waste in our home!

Grilled Nectarine and Goat Cheese Appetizer Recipe

I love grilling fruit. The natural sweetness creates a caramelized crust while slightly softening the texture of the fruit. Stone fruits in particular work very well. And since I just bought a bunch of white nectarines, I decided to have some fun with them and make sweet and savory appetizers.

I chose nectarines that were ripe but still a little firm, and threw them briefly on the grill. I wanted to make sure they didn't become watery and mushy. Fruity, sweet flavors pair incredibly well with goat cheese, so I nestled the grilled nectarine wedges on thin slices of chèvre and a slightly toasted brioche.

To finish the appetizers, I drizzled the nectarines with date syrup and added a sprinkle of finely chopped garlic chives and flat-leaf parsley. They're very easy to assemble and would make beautiful appetizers for your next summer party!