Paper Chef The Local Edition Roundup

Here it is at last!

Wow! I think we had a record 19 entries this time (I say I think because I have a sneaking feeling I missed someone out in the following roundup). I absolutely do NOT envy Jennifer her task of picking a winner/winners. I DO very much appreciate how she has already gone around commenting on all the entries she could find. Thank you and I hope EVERYONE had fun!

Without further ado, here are 19 amazing peach, chile, edible flower and very very local entries for the Paper Chef.

Ellen Ferlazzo at Chronicles of a Curious Cook, finally getting out from under the rigors of a long swim season (I know EXACTLY what she means) made Barbecued pork chops with fresh herb rub, Peach-tomato salsa with chipotle peppers and minted peas. Ellen grows a lot of her own produce and I’ve tasted it, so I know it’s excellent!

Stephen at Stephencooks.com aka What’s For Dinner? made a stupendous-sounding Pumpkin Blossoms Stuffed with Lobster and Corn, with Chile-Peach Glaze and in the process giving us a wonderful new twist on his local ingredient – lobster. The photos are amazing, too.

Sylvie of ‘Food, Got To Love It’ made a lovely mixed greens salad with sliced sweet saturn peaches accompanied by a series of photos and a discussion about edible flowers and dianthus in particular.

Alice of Epicurean Debauchery made a wonderful old-school-new-school Korean Kalbi-Gone-Local that makes you wish that you could get your local Korean restaurant to try making the recipe.

Perennial entrant, Kevin of Seriously Good, gave us a Stuffed Pork Loin subtitled ‘Pigging Out On Peaches’ that absolutely matches his blog name and introduced me to the name and technique for a gastrique.

Honore Mendoza submitted an entry for a Fruit & Flower Salad directly to me and it is posted here. We are going to all have to encourage Honore to get his own blog since he has now entered Paper CHef twice even though he doesn’t have a blog of his own!

Brenda at Culinary Fool presented us with scrumptious-looking Mini-Lamb Burgers with Peach Salsa. Her large scale photographs really highlight how good these must be.

Carolyn of 18th Century Cuisine made an absolutely amazing Lavender, Chili and Peach Iced Milk. Since she remains true to the title of her blog and uses 18th Century techniques as much as possible, this is an amazing achievement.

Lady X of Experiment In Writing brought us Peppered Zucchini Scones with Peach Butter, Crème Fraîche and Chrysanthemum & Jasmine Tea and wondered if it was cheating to have the flowers be part of the tea. Not at all! The tea actually sounds divine.

Meanwhile, Sam at Becks and Posh, who hasn’t entered in a while, managed to whip an wonderful entry into shape in what sounds like moments! Stone Fruit Salsa, Herbed Yoghurt & Chilli Chips are thoroughly illustrated a wonderful example of making do with what is at hand.

Becky at Two Foot Kitchen (or MMMmm Food…) made us an innovative Peach-Pluot Strudel With Chile Gelato and managed local ingredients despite being in the desert state of Nevada and having to rely on her answering machine and husband for preparation!

Debby of I’m Mad and I Eat made a wild pluot salad from all local ingredients and included the distances every ingredient had travelled!

Jeanne of World on a Plate made Sweet Summer Heat from local Indian Red Peaches , raspberries and local Pt. Reyes Blue Cheese – yummy!

Martin of Serial Griller made us another twist on Pork and Peaches with his Lavender and Chilli Pork with Peach Salsa. He also gave us great photos and a nice discourse on locally sourced ingredients including wonderful pork. Many people outside the US don’t realise that there has been a renaissance in locally grown heritage varieties of pork (and other meats) in Britain.

Stef of stefoodie.net went all out with a Peachy Barbecue Party. Get a load of this menu! (and how come we all didn’t get invited?)

Peach Chutney with Calendula and marigold flowers with cream cheese on crackers
Pulled Pork sandwiches with Peach Barbecue Sauce
Green Bean, Scarlet Runner Bean Flowers and Walnut Saute, with Peach Dressing
Peach-Strawberry-Ancho Marble Ice Cream with crystallized rose petals and pansies.

Mrs Deedop and (or maybe not?) Chopper Dave of Belly Timber made us the Summer of Prawns, in their own inimitable style with gorgeous flowers from their garden and even the prawns sourced locally. Another splendid dish and presentation.

Rachael of Fresh Approach Cooking (with the help of Charlie) made us drinks – all at once and severally – Peach Nectar (with rum) Hibiscus Tea (with vodka) and Chile-Tequila Shooters.

The 2-minute noodle cook of an Electric Restaurant made us a very, very Australian (and red-themed) dessert plate of sparkling Australian native hibiscus shooter, honey poached pear in a quandong inspired reduction, chilli chocolate, and glazed wattleseed figs.

And finally (and hopefully not missing anyone – give us a shout if we missed you) Sara at A Delicious Life brought us some insanity and inspiration with Fig, Peach and Ricotta Eggrolls with Honey Ancho Dipping Sauce!

A mention must go to Janis at The Farmette Report who clearly *would* have made grilled peaches and ricotta with a spicy chipotle-cinnamon honey glaze if she hadn’t had real issues in her life to deal with. We hope all went well and will look forward to highlighting her culinary talents and skills another time…