Peach recipes

[japple]

It's peach season 2006 here in Georgia, and the ones I've had have been super sweet, juicy, maybe a bit on the small side, but amazingly flavorful. I always feel compelled to eat as many peaches as possible before they go out of season, and need to come up with some more recipes, otherwise I'll be adding them to meatloaf.

I use peaches in fruit salad, peach crisp, peach tart, peach pie, and peach salsa, peach ice cream. This month's Penzey's catalogue has a new recipe for Peach Cheesecake Bars that I want to try. I would love to have a recipe for a cold peach dessert that does not involve cool whip or jello.

[Stinky The Clown]

1. Peach sorbet

Make a simple syrup that has as much sugar as it can absorb.

Cut the fruit and run it through a food processor. I like mine to be chunky, but you can get it as smooth as you like by deciding when to hit the 'off' switch.

Mix equal parts by volume of the fruit puree and the syrup.

Run it through an ice cream freezer and then freeze it.

It extends the peach season by months if you make enough.

Peaches are my second favorite fruit, just behind mangoes and just ahead of raspberries.

[japple]

2. Mmmmmhhhh...mouth watering....

Can you skip the ice cream freezer step? I don't have one. Is this so the mixture doesn't separate?

Reminds me, I left out peach daquiries. How many times have I drunk one too many?

[Stinky The Clown]

3. I've never tried it without an ice cream freezer, but .....

.... you could make it like an Italian 'granita'. In that case, you do exactly as described, but pour the mix into a shallow dish and put that in the freezer. Every half hour or so, you take it out and scrape the sides, where it has frozen. Then put it back in and let it go another half hour or so and repeat. Keep doing this until it is all frozen. When done, it will be a grainy mix of ice crystals. Similar to sorbet, but not nearly as smooth. I'd also puree the fruit more cuz the chunks don't work as well.

As I said, this is similar to sorbet, but not the same due to the grain.

[Warpy]

4. Granita

Buzz the peaches and sugar syrup in a blender, partially freeze, keep scraping the frozen stuff with a fork until it's all granular, sort of like the shaved ice you'd get in a Sno-cone.

Serve in desssert glasses you've put in the freezer to chill as much as possible.

It's labor intensive, but it's amazing stuff and it's a way to avoid using an ice cream freezer.

[Stinky The Clown]

5. Warpy .....

.... GMTA :)

[Dora]

6. Agua Fresca

I love aguas frescas, and I'm partial to the cantaloupe, but peach sounds delicious... this recipe came up on a google search:

http://www.wildoats.com/u/recipedetail11647/

Peach Agua Fresca (Agua de Melocotón)

Cool and refreshing, agua frescas are popular south of the border and offer delicious thirst-quenching fruity flavor. See below for more flavors to try. Adjust sweetener to your taste and ripeness of the fruit.

Total Time: 5 minutes
Serves: 4
1 (10 oz.) bag Wild Oats Organic Peaches, thawed
4 c. very cold filtered water
1 tbsp. agave nectar or 2 tbsp. raw cane sugar
juice of one lime

Place ingredients in a blender. Pulse until smooth. Pour through a fine mesh sieve, reserving the liquid and discarding the pulp. Serve over crushed ice garnished with fresh mint.

Agua de Fresa: Three cups strawberries, hulled.
Agua de Papaya: Three cups papaya, peeled, seeded and diced.
Agua de Melón: One cantaloupe, peeled and seeded.
Agua de Sandía: One six pound watermelon, peeled and seeded
Agua Fresca de Pepino: Three peeled and seeded cucumbers, the juice of two limes and less sweetener.