What To Do With What You Grew

These are the detailed recipes from the video tutorials.  Scroll through the recipes (an ever-growing library!) or search by ingredient in the box on the right to find yummy solutions to your dinnertime dilemma.

Each recipe is tagged with key words like principal ingredients, meal, and main descriptors for easy searching.

 

Grilled Pork Paillards with Savory Peach Compote

• Pork tenderloin, boneless, sliced fairly thick
• 2 c. peaches, chopped
• 1/4 c. water
• 1/2 c. parsley, chopped
• 6 basil leaves
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 tbsp. ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• Juice of one lemon
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. sugar

Place peaches, water, lemon juice, spices, salt, and sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring frequently.  When most of the water has evaporated and mixture has thickened, remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.  

Place each pork chop between two sheets of plastic wrap, pound out until about about 1/2 inch thick; this is called a paillard (pie-yard) and is deliciously tender and quick to cook.  Grill each paillard thoroughly, then allow to rest under a foil tent about ten minutes.  While the meat is resting, stir the parsley, basil, and scallions into the warm compote.  Spoon over the top of each pork paillard and WOW!
 

• Flex Fact:  The savory peach compote can be served over any meat you desire, including your favorite fish fillet.  The favorite in my house happens to be grilled pork.
   

#pork #porkchops #peaches #parsley #grilled #entree

 

Old-Fashioned Spiced Peaches

5 lbs. peaches, peeled, sliced or chopped
3 1/2 c. sugar
2 c. water
1/2 c. white vinegar
6 whole cloves
6 inches total of cinnamon stick
2 star anise

If canning the spiced peaches, pack the prepared peaches tightly in a sterilized canning jar and set aside.  If freezing, or simply refrigerating for fresh consumption, then set prepared peaches aside in either airtight freezer containers or covered refrigerator-safe bowl.

Bundle the cloves, star anise, and cinnamon sticks in cheesecloth and tie off with cooking string.  Place in saucepan with vinegar, water, and sugar.  Bring to boil, then turn off heat, cover, and allow syrup to cool completely (total steeping time should be about thirty minutes).  Remove spice bundle and pour syrup over peaches, leaving 1/2 inch of head space in canning jars and freezer containers (Note: This is important!  The mixture will expand during either process!  Filling containers up completely will cause an explosion which will, to put it nicely, redecorate the inside of your kitchen very efficiently). 

If refrigerating, stir peaches and syrup together, cover with airtight lid, refrigerate at least overnight before enjoying (the longer the peaches steep, the better they taste). 

If freezing, seal the freezer containers with airtight lids, label, and freeze until ready to enjoy.

If water bath canning, wipe rims of canning jars clean with a dry paper towel, tighten lid and ring down (lid must be brand new and completely unused, to ensure a proper seal).  Once canning water is at a rolling boil, set jars down in water bath, process for ten minutes, and remove to cool.  Once the lid has popped with a perfect seal, it is ready for labeling and storage.  Pro-tip: remove rings before storing.  The jars will remained sealed, and the rings will not rust onto the lids.  The rust-free rings can be reused!

 

• Memory Minute: my grandmother used to make these every single year.  Grandma's peaceful house was the place I felt most like myself, and there were almost always spiced peaches to enjoy with my grandma.  The conversation was sweeter than the peaches, and that's really saying something.  This one's for you, Grandma Kelley.  Love and miss you.

 

#spiced #peaches #oldfashioned #antique #vintage #prairie #dessert

 

Peach Crisp

5 lbs. peaches, cleaned and sliced
Juice of one lemon
1 c. sugar
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. mace
Pinch of salt

Stir all ingredients together and spread into a baking dish that has been heavily coated with butter; set aside and prepare topping.

1 c. flour
1 c. quick oats
1 c. light brown sugar
1^1/2 sticks butter, melted
Pinch of salt

Mix dry ingredients together, stir in melted butter until mixture is crumbly.  Layer evenly over peaches, bake at 375°F until golden brown and bubbly.​
 

• Á la mode: Although delicious by itself, you can up the scrumptiousness by a factor of ten by serving warm with a scoop of fresh peach ice cream on top.  Do I have a recipe for that, too?  Why yes.  Yes I do.
   

#peaches #peachcrisp #cobbler #dessert #quickoats #baking

 

Peach Ice Cream

6 egg yolks
1/2 tsp. salt
6 c. heavy cream
3 c. pureed peaches
1 c. peaches, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp. vanilla extract

Cook ingredients together in a sauce pan over low-medium heat until thickened and has reached 160°F (Do not skip this step: eggs must be cooked to safe temperature).  Once thickened and heated, quickly cool the mixture by setting the pan in an ice bath.  Place half the cooled mixture in an ice cream churn and churn/freeze according to manufacturer instructions, probably about 25 minutes.  Transfer churned ice cream to a freezer container and place immediately into the freezer; repeat with remaining mixture.  Add second batch of churned ice cream to first batch, cover, freeze for about 3 hours or until set.

This peach ice cream is a wonderful addition to a serving of my peach crisp.  Find the recipe for that on this page and prepare for an onslaught of deliciousness.

• Pro-tip: Don't rush the process of heating the ice cream mixture on the stove.  Keep the heat low to avoid curdling the milk.  Patience now will pay off with a silky finished product.

#peaches #icecream #peachicecream #dessert #homemadeicecream #homemade

 

Cleaning and Preparation of Fresh Peaches

First things first: wash your peaches in tepid water to rinse away pesticides, pests, and debris.  Fresh peaches may appear slightly black, and you might be tempted to think they've been mauled by pests or disease; but if your tree is healthy and free of pests, the black appearance is due to nitrogen from rainwater.  Don't panic.

After washing your peach harvest, cut out any black spots, leaving as much of the healthy flesh intact as possible.  Cut the peaches in half around the pit, remove the pit, and look for a rich red ring around the center in both white and yellow peaches.  Also keep an eye out for bug tunnels and deeper rot spots.  If a large portion of the peach is rotten or bug-eaten, you may want to consider not using that peach.  If the flesh inside looks bright, juicy, and healthy, then you can choose now whether to slice them or chop them.  

Peaches, like many fruits, will oxidize and turn brown.  It's not harmful, but it doesn't look appetizing.  If it will be more than five or so minutes before you use them, keep them in a bowl of acidulated water (fancy term for water with a little bit of acid in it).  You can splash in some white distilled vinegar or the juice of a lemon to keep your peaches bright and scrumptious-looking.

Now you're ready to use your fresh peaches in whatever recipe you like.  Search this page using #peaches for my delicious recipes starring this versatile fruit.

#peaches #cleaningpeaches #peachprep #howdoicleanpeaches #howto