A Perfect Storm of Peaches - SOS!

The elements have conspired (no late frost, plentiful rains, warm summer) so that all of my peach trees are overloaded with big, juicy, sweet fruit. It looks like three of the largest trees will all be ready for picking this week.

I've got no problem with all kinds of ways of eating fresh peaches, especially my favorite standing-over-sink method. But I am looking for different ways of preserving the excess. I'll do my standard jam, pie filling, and halves in syrup.

So if any of you fine folks have ideas for other ways to preserve these beauties, I would be most grateful.

Bill/SFNM

Fresh, sweet peaches make the best dried peach halves.

If you don't have a dehydrator, I like Alton Brown's drying method of sandwiching the food in fresh AC filters and strapping them to a fan with bungee cords.

Best,
Michael

Bill,

I don't have a recipe handy, but peach salsa comes to mind. I also enjoyed some peach cider this summer. It was quite refreshing. We went though quite a bit of it at a party at Gary's house one Saturday. Got a press handy?

eatchicago wrote:Fresh, sweet peaches make the best dried peach halves.l

Thanks, Michael,

Dried peaches sound like a great idea. I've always wanted a dehydrator. I recall there is one brand which is considered quite a bit better than others. Any suggestions?

Bill/SFNM

Bill/SFNM wrote:

eatchicago wrote:Fresh, sweet peaches make the best dried peach halves.l

Dried peaches sound like a great idea. I've always wanted a dehydrator. I recall there is one brand which is considered quite a bit better than others. Any suggestions?

I don't currently own one, but we had a couple in my house growing up (a lot of dried apples).

We actually had a Ronco for years, it worked well enough but it was pretty flimsy construction. We replaced it with a Nesco brand which worked great and seemed to have much better construction, but I can't vouch for anything recently.

Here's a page that should help you shop a little if you're interested:
http://www.epinions.com/Other_Small_App ... ehydrators

Best,
Michael

stevez wrote:Got a press handy?

I have a cheese press, but I don't think that is going to cut it. I guess I could use canning jars and my boiling-water canner so that I could preserve the cider. OTOH, maybe fermented peach cider would be good in the dead in winter?

Thanks for the ideas, Steve.

Bill/SFNM

Bill:

When peaches are in season, I -- following long-standing family tradition -- have always enjoyed cutting some up and putting them in a carafe which I then fill with red wine and chill in the fridge. The combination has two virtues: peaches that are not quite ripe or not all that sweet are improved by the wine, and if the peaches are nice and sweet, they can improve a so-so or even coarse wine. Needless to say, great peaches and good wine produce a better result.

This combination was always part of the Sunday afternoon family feast in peach season when I was growing up: maccheroni, pollo al forno con le patate or roast lamb or the meats that had gone into the making of a ragù, and along with that the slightly sweetened and chilled red wine. The peaches wouldn't be eaten until the secondo course was pretty much done or even as 'dessert'.

An old rustic tradition and, not surprisingly, very frugal with very tasty results.

Antonius

If your peaches are anything like the great peaches from CO's western slope, you are one lucky person.

My mom made chutney every year that she called clean out the fridge chutney--lots of onions and peaches, mustard seed, ginger, garlic, the garam masala spices, and then loads of good peaches and all the odds and ends of those little jars of fancy jams and relishes that people bring as house gifts and never seem to get eaten all the way. With an eye to color (like, no blackberry).

Every year it was different and every year it was delicious. That and her damson plum preserves are two of the things I'll never get to recreate because she did them by feel and I was never there when she did it. I'd kill for one of her hot biscuits with damson plum preserves right now.

HI

last year I made a killer brandied, spiced, peach butter

I washed and pitted the peaches, pureed in the food processor with brandy, sugar, and some spices (to taste - but include nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon) NOTE! don't make it too sweet in the pan, it will concentrate and get sweeter as it cooks down. Cook it until it gets to be syrupy and thick (not as thick as you want it to be, as it will thicken up as it cools) and can (ie water bath, boiling in jars, etc)

Lee

Antonius wrote:Bill:

When peaches are in season, I -- following long-standing family tradition -- have always enjoyed cutting some up and putting them in a carafe which I then fill with red wine and chill in the fridge.

Antonius brought another idea to mind. When I was visiting Monte Carlo, the owner of a little restaurant brought out a caraffe of some homemade grappa for us all to share. The grappa was quite potent and the caraffe was filled with fresh cut peaches, which we ate when the liquid was gone.

HI,

Information on dehydrators as well as how to dry fruits and vegetables. When drying fruits, you need to be careful on the pretreatment which will help retard or eliminate darkening of the fruit. Once you have your dehydrator, then you can expand from drying peaches to making fruit leathers.

I made peach cake following roughly a recipe in the Joy of Cooking which I noted here.

A chilled peach soup on a hot day sounds divine.

Regards,

eatchicago wrote:Fresh, sweet peaches make the best dried peach halves.l

Michael,

My sincerest thanks. I had no idea that drying a sweet peach could result in something so full of flavor and so delicious. I have been drying peaches around the clock for a few days. They make great snacks and I can't wait to make some fried peach pies in the winter. (And I'm ready for y10K )

Bill/SFNM

Bill,

I have an Excaliber and consider it to be at the top of the line when I was researching them.

Dried peaches are an excellent addition to a picadillo for chiles rellenos.

If one wanted to use the Alton Brown method, do you strap the filters to the input or output side?

Bruce wrote:I have an Excaliber and consider it to be at the top of the line when I was researching them.

Bruce,

I got the Excaliber with 9 shelves. The reviews were right - it is very noisy. But so far it is working flawlessy.

Bill/SFNM

If there are any peaches left, what about peach juice?

Peach juice, nectar, or puree is required for Bellinis (3 or 4 parts prosecco and one part peach juice) and commercially bottled juices and nectars just don't cut it. In Venice they use the juice from local white peaches, but I suspect that the critical factor is freshness/ripeness rather than peach type.

Just a thought,
Deb

debo wrote:If there are any peaches left, what about peach juice?
Peach juice, nectar, or puree is required for Bellinis

Deb, that is a great idea. I'm having a pizza party this weekend, and Bellinis might be a great welcoming drink. And yes, there are plenty of peaches left. Help! I do have a white peach tree that is still a few weeks from having ripe fruit, but I'll try the yellow ones for the Bellinis. Thanks.

Bill/SFNM