When most of us think of peaches, the US state of Georgia comes to mind. Wikipedia lists Northwest China as the site of origin of this delicious fruit. Apparently, it made its way to the US by way of Europe from Persia. That was news to me!
My connection with peaches is the US South (and the Allman Brothers as you'll see below the fold). I recently visited my sister who lives in Western NC. While my wife and I were there, peaches were selling in roadside stands for $1 per pound. In Minnesota, where we live, peaches sell for $3 per pound on sale. And, unlike the juicy ones sold in NC, Minnesota, grocery-store peaches are picked too early and have the texture of tennis balls.
We returned to Minnesota with a half a bushel of peaches that weighed 23 pounds. Given we had so many, we had to come up with ways to prepare them. Peaches are great cut up and placed on cereal or eaten with ice cream, but when you have 23 pounds to consume in a short time, you need to get creative. I dug into my cookbook collection, consulted with friends, and found some interesting menus. I'll share them all with you, with attribution.
While you are reading this diary, or preparing a peach dish, you might want to listen to the Allman Brothers album, Eat a Peach. My sister and I both share a love this album and have listened to it since its debut in 1972. The album's name and artwork have a unique history.
The album's artwork was created by W. David Powell at Wonder Graphics. He had seen old postcards at a drugstore in Athens, Georgia, one depicting a peach on a truck and a watermelon on a rail car. [17] Believing them perfect for an Allman Brothers album, he purchased them and "bought cans of pink and baby-blue Krylon spray paint and created a matted area to make the cards on a twelve-by-twenty-four LP cover."
At the time the artwork was finalized, Duane Allman was still alive and the title had not been finalized.[17] As a result, the album lacks a title on the cover, which was an unusual approach for bands at the time. "When we showed it to someone at the label, he said, 'They are so hot right now, we could sell it in a brown paper bag,'" said Powell.âª[21]⬠Atlantic initially intended to the title the album The Kind We Grow in Dixie, but the band refused. The title was the label of the postcard series Powell had seen in Athens.[17] Trucks suggested they name the album Eat a Peach for Peace, after a quote from Duane Allman. When the writer Ellen Mandel asked Allman what he was doing to help the revolution, he replied:
I'm hitting a lick for peace, and every time I'm in Georgia, I eat a peach for peace. But you can't help the revolution, because there's just evolution. I understand the need for a lot of changes in the country, but I believe that as soon as everybody can just see a little bit better, and get a little hipper to what's going on, they're going to change it. Everybody will, not just the young people. Everybody is going to say, 'Man, this stinks. I cannot tolerate the smell of this thing anymore. Let's eliminate it and get straight with ourselves.' I believe if everybody does it for themselves, it'll take care of itself."[22][21]
Click here to listen to The Allman Brothers Band -
Blue Sky (from Eat a Peach)
With this background in mind, below are some suggestions for ways to consume 23 lbs of peaches for peace, revolution or, if you will, just for dinner.
Peach Salsa
This recipe is adapted from The Best Recipe Grilling and Barbecue by the editors of Cooks Illustrated Magazine. It's easy and quick.
2 ripe peaches, coarsely chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 small red onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 jalapeno pepper minced
1/4 cup pineapple juice
6 tablespoons of lime juice
Combine all of the ingredients and refrigerate to blend flavors. I served it with some chips, but it would also be good with pork chops
My wife said I didn't cut the peaches into small enough pieces, but she said she liked it anyway.
Peach Chutney
Shortly after we returned from NC, we gave a few peaches to our neighbor who is originally from Northern India. She told me on the phone that she turned them into a delicious chutney dish, and she shared the recipe with me, which I adapted based on my on-hand ingredients and tastes.
3 peaches
1 red onion (not in her recipe)
1 habanero pepper (she used red peppers, but not a habanero)
1-1/2 inch in diameter circle of cumin seeds spread out on a flat surface
dash of turmeric
1/4 cup of light brown sugar
1 lemon
I heated the cumin seeds in a small cast iron skillet with no oil until they were fragrant and browned. Next, I ground them in my mortar with the pestle.
Sauté the onion in some peanut oil. Slice the peaches into bite-size pieces and add them to the softened onion. While the peaches are still intact (after about 4 minutes), add the sliced habanero pepper and the ground spices (turmeric and cumin). Next stir in the brown sugar and the juice from one lemon (squeeze it over your hand to catch the seeds). Simmer the liquid until thick.
When I tasted it the "heat" was a little strong from the habanero so I added some more brown sugar to balance the flavors. I'm happy with the result, but if you are not fond of spicy hot dishes, try half of the habanero chile instead of the whole thing. I thought that might happen, but I didn't know what to do with the other half of the pepper!
Peach Pickles
This recipe is a combination of two recipes from books by Bobby Flay (Barbecue Addiction) and Sean Brock (Heritage). Peach pickles have a much different taste than classic dill pickles - they are borderline sweet and savory.
You'll need a jar to store them in. I cleaned out the jar I normally use to store my homemade kimchi in for this recipe.
Here are the ingredients
4 or 5 peaches
1 Vidalia onion, sliced
1 cinnamon stick
peppercorns
allspice
dash of mace
rice wine vinegar
1.5 cups of sugar
The first step is to drop the peaches into boiling water for one minute. Remove them and place them in an ice bath to stop them from cooking. The skin peeled off easily after this treatment.
After the peaches cool, place them in a jar with the Vidalia onion.
Next, in a stainless steel or enameled cast-iron Dutch oven, boil 2 cup of water and the rice wine vinegar, sugar, peppercorns, allspice, cinnamon stick and dash of mace until the sugar is dissolved (about 4 minutes).
Pour the hot spicy liquid over the peaches.
After it cooled, I put the top on the jar and left it in the fridge for 2 days prior to trying it.
I have eaten it several ways:
1) with goat cheese on a sandwich
2) with cheese on a plate as an appetizer
3) with as part of Shrimp and spicy pickled peach ceviche (recipe follows)
Bobby Flay's Pickled Peach Shrimp Civiche
This was easy to prepare and made a great summer luncheon dish. I'm not a big fan of radishes, but the flavors in this dish melded in a way such that the whole was greater than the sum of the ingredients.
1 pound of shrimp
5 large radishes cut into matchsticks
1/2 English cucumber
1/4 cup of pickled Vidalia onion
1 whole pickled peach (sliced)
grated zest and juice of a lime
Boil 4 cups of salted water and cook the shrimp for one minute. Cool the shrimp under cold water. Rinse and drain.
Place the shrimp in a glass bowl and combine them with the radishes, pickled peaches, some pickled peach juice, the pickled onions, cucumber, lime juice and zest.
Refrigerate and serve it!
Peach Cobbler
This is an easy recipe that uses a box of yellow cake batter.
Ingredients
Box of yellow cake batter
a bunch of peaches
ground cinnamon
white sugar
corn starch
melted butter
This recipe is from my wife's memory. She's the baker in the family.
Peel the peaches (my wife uses a paring knife)
Cut up about 10 or 12 peaches (about 4 cups or enough to fill the bottom of your baking dish so you can't see the glass)
Mix ground cinnamon, 1/4 cup of corn starch, and sugar (to taste; my wife doesn't add enough and it also may depend on how sweet your peaches are) with the peaches.
Sprinkle a whole box of yellow cake flour on top of peaches. Melt butter and drizzle it on the cake mix.
Bake at 350 deg. Probe with a toothpick. It's done when the toothpick comes out clean.
For additional ideas about what to do with peaches see Ninkasi23's excellent previous diary devoted to peaches and peach recipes.