September 16, 2011: Peach Butter Recipe

Recently my friend Kathy scored several boxes of peaches straight from Colorado. These were freshly picked, perfectly ripe, huge, beautiful and juicy peaches that you could never find at the grocery store. Of course I had to get some but I’m not a big fresh fruit eater. I made a peach cake, then decided to can the rest of them using a new recipe for peach butter.

I’ve shared with you the exact measurements I used but if you have more or less peaches, you can adjust the recipe accordingly.

Peach Butter

7 extra large peaches

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar

Pinch of salt

1 ½ t. pumpkin pie spice

Peel, pit and slice the peaches. Place them in a large saucepan and heat over medium low. Cook until the peaches are softened (this could take more than half an hour, depending on how ripe the peaches are). Let cool slightly and press through a sieve.

Place the peach juice (you should have 4 cups of it) back in the saucepan. Add remaining ingredients. Cook over low heat until reduced to a very thick paste. To determine if the butter is ready, spoon a small amount on a plate. If no liquid separates from the butter, it is ready to put into jars. Note: cooking down the peach juice could take longer than two hours.

When peach butter is ready, ladle into sterilized jars to within ¼ inch of top. Wipe off rims. Top jars with sterilized seals and rings. Store in refrigerator. The peach butter will keep for several months as long as it stays cold.

OR if you have a lot of peach butter, you might want to process it in a hot water bath. If so, use new seals when closing the jars. Place them in a large pot of gently boiling water; make sure the lids are covered by an inch of water. Boil jars for 10 minutes (below 1,000 feet above sea level) to 25 minutes (above 6,000 feet over sea level).

Makes 4 half pint jars.

July 22, 2011: Chipotle Peach BBQ Sauce Recipe

I was watching Paula Deen on TV not too long ago and just happened to catch a couple episodes of her show, back to back, that focused on barbecue sauces. I pretty much had the basic recipe down after watching it over and over. I had a couple peaches that needed to be used up (or get thrown to the chickens) so I decided to start with Paula Deen’s barbecue sauce base and add my own twist to it. It came out quite tasty, although a bit too hot for my husband’s taste (cut the chile in half if you want it less spicy). I used it on pork spareribs but it would also be great on pork chops or chicken or fish.

Although the ingredients list is long, don’t be intimidated; this is easy to make.

Chipotle Peach BBQ Sauce

¼ cup vegetable oil
½ cup finely chopped onions
3 T. prepared mustard
½ cup ketchup
3 T. Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
Juice of one lime
½ cup water
3 T. brown sugar
1 T. honey
1 t. garlic salt
2 t. paprika
1 t. black pepper
2 peaches, peeled and sliced
1 canned chile in adobo sauce + 1 T. adobo sauce

Heat the oil over medium-low heat in a saucepan. Add the onions and cook for a few minutes, until translucent. Add remaining ingredients (up to peaches) and cook over low heat.

Meanwhile, add the peach slices, chile and adobo sauce to a blender and puree. Add to the mixture in the saucepan. Continue cooking over low heat for 20 minutes, until the sauce is cooked down. Cool and store in a clean jar in the refrigerator.

July 12, 2011: Peach Cake Recipe

In honor of my son and his family coming to visit this past weekend I made a special dessert with their choice of fruit (I’d just been shopping at the farmer’s market and loaded up on oranges and limes and mangos and such). They picked white peaches so I made this cake. It looked so good we didn’t wait to serve it as dessert but had it, instead, as a mid-afternoon snack topped with ice cream and a dollop of whipped cream.

Peach Cake

3 eggs, well beaten
1 ¾ cups sugar
1 cup cooking oil
1 t. almond extract
2 cups flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
2 cups sliced peaches
½ cup chopped nuts, optional

Mix all ingredients thoroughly by hand. Pour into 13 x 9 inch pan sprayed with nonstick baking spray (flour added). Bake at 375 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Note: I used white peaches for this recipe and they were drier than regular peaches. Watch the cake carefully as it baking since it will take less time for the drier batter to cook than a wetter batter. You could also substitute canned peaches, well drained, for the fresh fruit.

June 9, 2011: Fruit Salad Recipe

During the increasingly hot summer days, nothing is better for a cool and delicious side dish than fruit salad. And with the abundance of fresh fruit available at the grocery store and farmer’s market right now, why not incorporate it into a light lunch or dinner?

This fruit salad consists of watermelon, pineapples and red grapes

There really isn’t much to making a fruit salad other than selecting your favorite varieties of fruit, cutting it up, and combining it in a bowl. Here’s some of my fave fruits:

• Watermelon, scooped into balls
• Blueberries
• Raspberries
• Blackberries
• Peaches, peeled and sliced
• Grapes (red, white, or green), halved
• Cherries
• Apples, peeled and cut into chunks
• Pineapple, cut into chunks
• Plums, peeled and sliced

If you like a dressing on your fruit salad, try using a container of vanilla yogurt or a bit of honey thinned with the juice of a fresh lime. Amaretto and cream is another good option – particularly delish on peaches and raspberries.

It’s summer so enjoy the fresh fruit while you can!