Peach crisp with vanilla goat milk ice cream

The weatherman says it will be 93° F tomorrow in Pittsburgh. Yesterday was Independence Day, and Sam and I feasted on shellfish, swam in a friend's pool, and narrowly avoided a riot at Point State Park when we went downtown to see the fireworks.

Extreme heat, ritual consumption of unhealthy food, water sports, and civil unrest - sounds like a classic American summer.

I have a great nostalgia surrounding summer on the east coast. When I think "July" I think hot nights, fields of fireflies, days at the local pool, the scent of honeysuckle drifting across the backyard, lying on our backs at the fairgrounds trying to catch the fireworks falling from the sky. I think of the tinkling song of the ice cream truck wending through the cul-de-sacs of our neighborhood, heat rising from the asphalt, sweat in my eyes, Wednesdays at the air-conditioned library.

Now that I'm sort-of-grownup, its interesting trying to place my current experience of summer within the framework of my childhood ideal. I am working on a research project this summer, so I spend days holed up in my apartment or in the library (again valued for its air-conditioning) with stacks of scholarly papers and government reports, losing myself in exciting ideas.

Sam has been visiting me for the last two weeks or so, and we have been filling our days with hikes in the surrounding countryside, trips to the Strip District, good times with friends, and delicious food both created and purchased. We had a wonderful sushi dinner at Chaya, complete with soy-free "soy sauce" (then we read this article and felt bad about enjoying our tuna rolls) we grilled lamb and zucchini and corn, I tried again to make injera.

With my fridge filled with farmer's market purchases, I made this delicious crisp, and the ice cream that we ate with it. Crisps are so easy to make, as I noted in the magnificent strawberry-rhubarb crisp I made earlier in the summer. I will never make a lidded pie again!

This ice cream was awesome and easy to make without an ice-cream maker. It was sweet and creamy and full of vanilla flavor. Instead of making a custard base with egg yolks, this recipe makes a pudding base using cornstarch. It works well!

Peach Crisp (crumble topping adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

6-10 ripe peaches, depending on size of peaches and depth of pie dish

Juice of half a lemon

2 tablespoons white sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup sorghum flour

1/3 cup tapioca or potato starch

1/3 cup almond meal

1/3 cup uncooked oats (not instant)

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoons white sugar

2 tablespoons demerara/turbinado/raw sugar

6 tablespoons margarine or butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350.

Peel peaches if you want (you can leave the skin on, but some people don't like it) and chop into eighths. Dump the sliced peaches into a deep 9-inch pie dish. In a separate bowl, mix together the 2 tbsp sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch, and vanilla, making sure to fully mix in the cornstarch. Pour this mixture over the peaches in the dish, and stir to combine.

In a separate bowl, stir together the flours, oats, baking soda, and sugars. Pour in the melted butter, and mix together with a fork until you get "pebbles" of various sizes. Spread this mixture over the peaches, and pop the dish in the oven. Cook until the crumble topping starts to brown and you can hear the fruit bubbling, about 20 minutes.

Vanilla goat milk ice cream (adapted from Mark Bittman)

2 1/2 cups whole goat milk

1/3 cup sugar

pinch salt

1 vanilla bean

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon agar-agar powder

1 teaspoon vodka (optional, helps ice cream stay soft)

In a saucepan, combine 2 cups of the milk with the sugar and salt. Split the vanilla bean down its length, scrape the seeds into the mixture, then add the bean itself. Heat over medium-low heat until just steaming, and in the meantime...

In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/2 cup of the milk with the cornstarch and agar-agar, and stir until combined. Make sure the cornstarch doesn't just stick to the bottom of the bowl!

When the milk-sugar mixture is steaming, add the cornstarch mixture and stir constantly as the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. As soon as it starts to boil, turn the heat way down, to the lowest possible point. Cook for another 5 minutes or so, until the mixture is quite thick. Remove from heat, pour into the bowl you will use for mixing later (such as the bowl for your stand mixer), cover, and pop in the freezer.

When the mixture if fully chilled but has not yet begun to freeze, remove from the freezer and take out the vanilla bean. Add the vodka if using. Mix throughly with a handheld mixer or stand mixer at medium-high speed, then replace in the freezer. You will need to keep an eye on the mixture, removing it periodically from the freezer throughout the freezing process and mixing it throughly so ice crystals don't form and the ice cream stays light and soft.

Take a slice of the crisp, top with a big scoop of the ice cream, and sprinkle a handful of fresh local blueberries on top. Sit on the couch and eat, closing your eyes with pleasure with each bite.