Cooking
I have no children, not even a dog or a cat. But I'm considering adopting. Adopting a peach tree that is. Near Fresno, farmer Mas Masumoto and his family grow lovely heirloom varieties of peaches including Sun Crest and Elberta. Their peaches are organic, fragile, absolutely delicious and only available by adoption.
Now I have to admit, I am totally and completely biased towards peaches. They are high in dietary fiber, Vitamin A, Niacin and Potassium, and a very good source of Vitamin C but that's not why I love them so much. Soft, juicy, fuzzy, fragrant and ever so pretty to look at, peaches are the sexiest fruit around.
Because the Elberta variety is so delicate, Mas Masumoto sells his peaches in a most unusual way, he allows people to adopt a tree and harvest all the peaches for personal use. That means a commitment to go to the farm and pick peaches the moment they are ready. A single tree produces 400 to 500 pounds of peaches and the cost to adopt a tree? $500. Each year there are more applications than there are peach trees and so only the most deserving get the dribble-down-your-chin experience.
This year I lucked out, a new friend and colleague gave me eight precious peaches from her adopted tree. What will I do with them? Probably just eat them out of hand. But here are some of my favorite things to do with peaches:
* Fill peach halves with goat cheese and sprinkle with some chopped candied pecans
* Grill or roast peach halves, drizzle with balsamic vinegar and serve with pork chops
* Make a salad of peaches and arugula
* Combine peaches with raspberries in a cobbler or crisp
* Slide a few slices into sparkling wine
* Cool off with peach melba
* Combine peaches with green onions, cilantro and jalapenos to make a salsa
* Wrap peaches, grilled or raw in prosciutto
If you don't have access to these peaches, you may want to check out a book written by the farmer, Epitaph for a Peach Four Seasons on My Family Farm.
- Peach Barbecue Sauce Recipe
As a Canbassador, I receive a couple shipments of fresh stone fruit from Washington State to preserve. Over the past few years I have made a lot of things with peaches including Peach Ketchup and Ginger Peach Preserves. While there are some good...
- Ginger Peach Preserves Recipe
I am happy to be a "canbassador" for SweetPreservation.com, a community site of the Northwest cherry growers and soft fruit growers of Washington state. They sent me a big box of juicy, sweet, ripe Country Sweet peaches which I agreed to preserve,...
- Peach Blackberry Cobbler Recipe
Is there a more old-fashioned word than cobbler or cobbled? It brings to mind a shoemaker in a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale or those stone streets in Europe (the ones that are so treacherous if you're wearing high heels). Just the word alone...
- Ginger Peach Cake
As much as I anticipate blueberry season each summer, there is actually something I look forward to even more - the brief time when I have both blueberries from my backyard and early local peaches. And when the birds have gotten the better of my blueberry...
- Peachy Keen On Sfist
Originally uploaded by melissa nicole. My latest piece for SFist puts a temporary halt to the "Stone Fruit Saga" with an entry on peaches. Melissa took lots of great shots (including the one you see here), and we made a few things with this fruit....
Cooking
All about Peaches
I have no children, not even a dog or a cat. But I'm considering adopting. Adopting a peach tree that is. Near Fresno, farmer Mas Masumoto and his family grow lovely heirloom varieties of peaches including Sun Crest and Elberta. Their peaches are organic, fragile, absolutely delicious and only available by adoption.
Now I have to admit, I am totally and completely biased towards peaches. They are high in dietary fiber, Vitamin A, Niacin and Potassium, and a very good source of Vitamin C but that's not why I love them so much. Soft, juicy, fuzzy, fragrant and ever so pretty to look at, peaches are the sexiest fruit around.
Because the Elberta variety is so delicate, Mas Masumoto sells his peaches in a most unusual way, he allows people to adopt a tree and harvest all the peaches for personal use. That means a commitment to go to the farm and pick peaches the moment they are ready. A single tree produces 400 to 500 pounds of peaches and the cost to adopt a tree? $500. Each year there are more applications than there are peach trees and so only the most deserving get the dribble-down-your-chin experience.
This year I lucked out, a new friend and colleague gave me eight precious peaches from her adopted tree. What will I do with them? Probably just eat them out of hand. But here are some of my favorite things to do with peaches:
* Fill peach halves with goat cheese and sprinkle with some chopped candied pecans
* Grill or roast peach halves, drizzle with balsamic vinegar and serve with pork chops
* Make a salad of peaches and arugula
* Combine peaches with raspberries in a cobbler or crisp
* Slide a few slices into sparkling wine
* Cool off with peach melba
* Combine peaches with green onions, cilantro and jalapenos to make a salsa
* Wrap peaches, grilled or raw in prosciutto
If you don't have access to these peaches, you may want to check out a book written by the farmer, Epitaph for a Peach Four Seasons on My Family Farm.
- Peach Barbecue Sauce Recipe
As a Canbassador, I receive a couple shipments of fresh stone fruit from Washington State to preserve. Over the past few years I have made a lot of things with peaches including Peach Ketchup and Ginger Peach Preserves. While there are some good...
- Ginger Peach Preserves Recipe
I am happy to be a "canbassador" for SweetPreservation.com, a community site of the Northwest cherry growers and soft fruit growers of Washington state. They sent me a big box of juicy, sweet, ripe Country Sweet peaches which I agreed to preserve,...
- Peach Blackberry Cobbler Recipe
Is there a more old-fashioned word than cobbler or cobbled? It brings to mind a shoemaker in a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale or those stone streets in Europe (the ones that are so treacherous if you're wearing high heels). Just the word alone...
- Ginger Peach Cake
As much as I anticipate blueberry season each summer, there is actually something I look forward to even more - the brief time when I have both blueberries from my backyard and early local peaches. And when the birds have gotten the better of my blueberry...
- Peachy Keen On Sfist
Originally uploaded by melissa nicole. My latest piece for SFist puts a temporary halt to the "Stone Fruit Saga" with an entry on peaches. Melissa took lots of great shots (including the one you see here), and we made a few things with this fruit....