Posts Tagged ‘Peach Recipes’

Peach Salsa

Friday, August 28th, 2009

Peachsalsaweb

 
We all need a little zing in our lives–and this recipe delivers it. I served it at a party with chips, but it would also be a terrific accompaniment to poultry or fish.
 
It reminds me of summer itself. It’s a little hot and a little wet. And it bursts with color, flavor, and sweetness.
 
The best peaches to use for this recipe are just ripe, still quite firm ones. VERY ripe ones will render your salsa rather wet.
 
If you use ultra-ripe peaches, you may either strain out a little of their juice before adding them to the salsa or serve the salsa with a slotted spoon.
 
Ingredients:
 
2 tablespoons finely chopped red or other sweet onion
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped (leave in some seeds if you like your salsa hot!)
3 tablespoons (or more if you like) chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons honey
the juice of 1/2 lime
3/4 teaspoon salt
2-1/2 cups finely chopped peaches (prepare them a little later than the rest of the ingredients)
 
Instructions:
 
Combine the onion, pepper, cilantro, honey, lime juice, and salt. Let these ingredients marinate for at least an hour. Add the chopped peaches and serve. Makes about 2-1/2 cups.
 
peachesweb

Peachy Keen

Friday, August 21st, 2009
Jan likes to think about what she's going to do with orchard-fresh peaches.

Jan likes to think about what she's going to do with orchard-fresh peaches.

 
I can’t stop eating peaches!
 
These gorgeous fruits symbolize the color of this time of year. In August everything around us takes on a golden hue. The light seems deeper and more yellow. Black-eyed susans, sunflowers, and goldenrod fill the fields.
 
Lush yellow peaches give us a literal taste of that glow. It’s not just their color that puts summer’s gold into our mouths. Their juice and their texture–not soft but not hard, just yielding–help our teeth sink into the season.
 
A couple of years ago a frost hit just as peach blossoms came out. It ruined the peach crop in local orchards. I remember feeling as though summer hadn’t really taken place that year. (I’m sure our peach growers felt this lack even more strongly!) Since then I’ve never been able to take peaches for granted. They are a special summer gift.
 
We are lucky enough to have several peach orchards in Franklin County, Massachusetts. I bought the peaches for this recipe at Clarkdale Fruit Farms in South Deerfield, where Tom and Becky Clark were proudly displaying photos of their sojourn at Woodstock40 years ago. The Clarks are wonderful orchardists–caring about their community and full of information about their fruit.
 
Of course, mostly I just eat the peaches (messy but SO GOOD). Company always provides an excuse to bake, however, so here is a simple cake that gently and richly enrobes the peaches.
 
Summer Peach Pound Cake
 
I gave some of this cake to a friend, Helen-Marie Goff. She reported that her children were disappointed that the cake had no frosting … up until the moment they took a bite of the buttery mixture! It is a lovely cake–rich, sweet, and very fruity.
 
Ingredients:
 
1 cup (2 sticks) sweet butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups flour
2 cups chopped fresh peaches
 
Instructions:
 
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan.
 
In a mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar, and beat until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla. Beat in the baking powder and salt.
 
On a low speed blend in the flour until it is incorporated. With a rubber spatula, gently fold the fruit into the batter. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
 
Set the pan on a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes. Then turn the cake out onto the rack and let it cool completely. Serves 10 to 12.
 
peach pound cake web