[local eating] Peaches, deconstructed
Sep. 17th, 2009 11:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidWell, not exactly.
But Sunday, in addition to picking half a bushel of apples, I bought half a bushel of local peaches. Of course, once I got them home, I realized just how deficient my pantry is just now, which meant that I didn't make as many different permutations of things as I had originally intended.
First off, I filled three quart jars with sliced and diced fruit, then filled them with liquor. Two quarts have triple-filtered 100-proof vodka, while the third has gin (I'd run out of vodka). In a week, I'll drain them, then let the fruit sit with sugar for a week, then peach liqueur will happen. I hope the gin works out. [Reminder to self: get more vodka.]
I sliced and diced more peaches to make pickles. They're sweet pickles, with sticks of cinnamon and ground cloves (since I am currently lacking whole cloves). There was enough for eleven pints. That was as much as I could face on Sunday. [Reminder to self: get whole cloves.]
Monday night, I made a batch of peach chutney, adding a bag of cranberries and some apples when I realized I didn't have dried fruit to help the liquid thicken. I used most of the rest of the cider vinegar I'd just bought, and the end of the white vinegar (luckily, I got a couple more gallons of cider vinegar later this week). And I used garlic rather than onions, since I'd just used my last two onions with my fish share. I can fit about four pint jars for canning at once in my large pot + vegetable steamer set-up, so I took the opportunity to add walnuts to the last two pints of chutney (plus the not-enough-for-another-pint-jar chutney I ended up eating as a late-night snack, which helped my sore throat).
Tuesday morning I started a batch of peach jam, starting with just fruit and sugar, no other liquid. I knew I wouldn't have time to finish it, and I wanted something a bit more involved than straight peach jam, so I got some ginger and grated it in last night. I ended up with a pint, five half-pints, and two minis; I would have used more small jars, but all I seem to have around the house are pints. [Reminder to self: get more half-pints and minis, since a pint of jam is pretty much too large.]
Had I the time and focus, other thoughts for peaches included: spiced peach liqueur (vanilla / cinnamon / cloves / hot pepper / ginger / Chinese 5-spice), other flavors of peach jam, dried peaches, baked peach desserts (crumbles, crisps, pies), meat baked with peaches, green salad with tomatoes and peaches.
I think I'm done with peaches for the year.
But Sunday, in addition to picking half a bushel of apples, I bought half a bushel of local peaches. Of course, once I got them home, I realized just how deficient my pantry is just now, which meant that I didn't make as many different permutations of things as I had originally intended.
First off, I filled three quart jars with sliced and diced fruit, then filled them with liquor. Two quarts have triple-filtered 100-proof vodka, while the third has gin (I'd run out of vodka). In a week, I'll drain them, then let the fruit sit with sugar for a week, then peach liqueur will happen. I hope the gin works out. [Reminder to self: get more vodka.]
I sliced and diced more peaches to make pickles. They're sweet pickles, with sticks of cinnamon and ground cloves (since I am currently lacking whole cloves). There was enough for eleven pints. That was as much as I could face on Sunday. [Reminder to self: get whole cloves.]
Monday night, I made a batch of peach chutney, adding a bag of cranberries and some apples when I realized I didn't have dried fruit to help the liquid thicken. I used most of the rest of the cider vinegar I'd just bought, and the end of the white vinegar (luckily, I got a couple more gallons of cider vinegar later this week). And I used garlic rather than onions, since I'd just used my last two onions with my fish share. I can fit about four pint jars for canning at once in my large pot + vegetable steamer set-up, so I took the opportunity to add walnuts to the last two pints of chutney (plus the not-enough-for-another-pint-jar chutney I ended up eating as a late-night snack, which helped my sore throat).
Tuesday morning I started a batch of peach jam, starting with just fruit and sugar, no other liquid. I knew I wouldn't have time to finish it, and I wanted something a bit more involved than straight peach jam, so I got some ginger and grated it in last night. I ended up with a pint, five half-pints, and two minis; I would have used more small jars, but all I seem to have around the house are pints. [Reminder to self: get more half-pints and minis, since a pint of jam is pretty much too large.]
Had I the time and focus, other thoughts for peaches included: spiced peach liqueur (vanilla / cinnamon / cloves / hot pepper / ginger / Chinese 5-spice), other flavors of peach jam, dried peaches, baked peach desserts (crumbles, crisps, pies), meat baked with peaches, green salad with tomatoes and peaches.
I think I'm done with peaches for the year.