Thursday, August 23, 2012

Gone Fishin' -- In the Meanwhile Enjoy my Favorite Peach Post:

Peaches, cream, and more 

If its August.  If it's Colorado.  I'm eating peaches.  Any day. Every day.  For at least two weeks.  By themselves.  On Greek Yogurt with Colorado honey and slivered toasted almonds.  Or granola.   On top of vanilla frozen yogurt.  In a salsa on pork chops.  Etcetera.

Here are a few of the yummy things I've done.  Of course the best?  Above.  Fuzzy naked.



Grilled peaches:
Preheat clean grill to medium-high heat.  Cut peaches in half and remove pits.  Brush each half with a little bit of canola oil and place cut-side down on grill.  Let cook about 3 or 4 minutes and turn over when grill marks are well-established, but not blackened.  Cook another 2 or 3 minutes until tops of cut-side are somewhat visibly drying.  Remove and cool briefly.  Enjoy as is or try another good idea...



Grilled Peaches with Goat's Cheese, Honey and Thyme

God had to have been in on this creation.  Of course.  Here's how:

Grill peaches as above.  Top each with 1-2 T plain goat's cheese (softened a bit).  Drizzle with your favorite honey and sprinkle with a few leaves of fresh thyme.   (recipe copyright Alyce Morgan, 2010)

Grilled Peach Salsa

Lovely on BBQ Pork Chops (Really),
Salmon
Shrimp Tacos
Grilled Fish
Tortilla Chips?  Of course.  Here's how:


2-6 t very finely minced jalapeno (to your taste--start with 2t and more if you'd like)
1/3 c finely minced onion
2 large peaches (Colorado preferred), cut in half and grilled*, peeled after grilling, and chopped into 1/2"  pieces
1 ripe avocado, peeled and diced
1/2 ea medium red sweet pepper and green sweet pepper, diced
1/2 c chopped fresh cilantro
Juice of 1/2 a lime
Dash of kosher salt and a couple of grates of fresh ground pepper

In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients gently but thoroughly. Taste and correct seasoning if necessary. (Add more jalapeno, etc) Serve on with grilled pork chops, shrimp or salmon or on seafood or fish tacos. (recipe copyright Alyce Morgan 2010)


Wine? If you make the bbq pork chops or salmon, try a little inexpensive Beaujolais. Other reds or bigger wines will overwhelm this meal, though a nice Lodi (California) Zinfandel would drink!  It's summer and something lighter and refreshing will turn on these peaches. If you make the shrimp or fish tacos, a cold Spanish Albarino (lovely white) or even an Oregon Pinot Gris could do the trick.


(If you'd like to make the green bean salad, here's the blogpost for it, though I dressed it differently here.  Rather than a mustard vinaigrette, I mixed a bit of top-quality light Ranch with some roasted salsa for a dressing.)


Lovely frozen yogurt from David Levovitz' book THE PERFECT SCOOP. (Click for the recipe.)  Just slice those lovely lady peaches and slither them on top of this silky iced lushness.





Or try  PEACH AMARETTO BREAD PUDDING  if nothing else sounds good:


Peach-Amaretto Bread Pudding  serves 4-6
 
Ingredients:
  • 2 large hard rolls, cut into ½” slices and buttered
  • 2 large peaches, peeled, pitted and sliced into 1/3” pieces
  • 3 extra large eggs
  • 1 ½ -1 ¾ cups milk
  • 1/8 c Amaretto liqueur
  • 1 t cinnamon (Vietnamese is good)

Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter 2 qt round casserole and set aside.
  2. In medium bowl, beat eggs and add remaining ingredients. Beat well.
  3. Layer bread and peaches in casserole dish and pour egg mixture over all, stirring just a bit to make sure all ingredients are wet. If some bread/peaches are sticking out on top, it’s fine.
  4. Bake 60-70 min. until edges are crispy, but bread is still tender. Let sit at least 15 minutes before serving. Serve with vanilla ice cream. Can also be served at room temperature or cold.
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While you do all that, I'm on the road again with a fishing pole in the trunk....

We'll be back next week...all of us.
In the meantime, keep cooking...
and grinning.
Sing a new song, Alyce

4 comments:

  1. Love the salsa! Hope you're enjoying your summer!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Summah, summah! We're just about to make the big trek from our house in Colorado to our little bungalow in St. Paul. I think we had the best of both worlds this year. When we get back, there will still be incredible produce at the best farmer's market in the USA! (Not a lot of fresh produce in Colorado Springs except for the herbs in my pots!) Hope your summer is beautiful, too...especially as the heat has somewhat abated. Cook on!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love your blog, so cheery Alyce! You know I didn't get a good ripe peach this year. All the recipes look wonderful, especially the grilled peaches with goat cheese, honey and thyme...YUM Alyce! That would be a beautiful company dessert. The peach salsa too.
    Delish!
    Patty :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. @Patty: If you don't find good peaches, the not-so-good ones are made better by grilling. I dunno why. Try it sometime. Living in CO for a long time, I know folks are crazy about those Colorado peaches. The Georgia and Michigan peaches are also sooo good and the Georgia ones come so much earlier. Also---Washington state grows some great peaches. When we lived in Spokane, we went to church out at Mead Methodist and there were such juicy, lip-smacking peaches at those orchards out there that I was thrilled I worshiped out of town. (Did I say the people were incredible and that there was a pastor who was a Presbyterian?)

    ReplyDelete

I can't wait to hear from you!

When you click on "Comment as," you have a choice of google id, etc. If you don't have a google id or a blog, choose ANONYMOUS. When you type your comment, you can sign your name there. Thanks!