I grew up in the tropics, where almost every garden had a mango tree. To this day, mango is still my favourite fruit, speaking to me of summer and taking me back to my childhood when we were barefoot and carefree.
Stonefruits were quite exotic when I was a kid. We didn’t see many apricots and peaches in my small hometown in northern Australia all those decades ago. We had a peach tree in our garden as well, but not surprisingly it struggled in the tropical heat and rarely bore any fruit.
Perhaps that’s why peaches are still such a treat for me. Never mind that I am frequently disappointed. So often they are sold when they are beautiful on the outside and hard on the inside, ending up tired and wrinkly before they have truly ripened. (Is that a metaphor for life, perhaps?)
I’m happy to pay a premium for good-quality fruit but even at our wonderful Capital Region Farmers Market a lot of the peaches have been picked far too early. And therein lies a plea to farmers to pick their fruit when it is sweet and juicy. Please … pretty please??
My little gripe aside, we’ve been using peaches in a range of summer dishes, including this very easy salad (inspired by a recipe in the current issue of Women’s Weekly) and a lovely dessert (created by my sous chef, who’s a dab hand at making fruit desserts).
BARBECUED CHICKEN & PEACH SALAD
Serves 4
1½ tablespoons cider vinegar
½ cup (125ml) olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
4 ripe peaches, sliced
50g baby spinach leaves
50g rocket
1½ cups shredded barbecued chicken
1 Lebanese cucumber, chopped
Combine vinegar and olive oil in a bowl, add pepper to taste. Put peach slices in the dressing and toss gently.
Arrange the spinach, rocket, chicken and cucumber on a serving platter. Place peaches on top and drizzle the dressing all over.
POACHED PEACHES
Serves 6
6 medium ripe peaches, peeled, halved, stones removed
1 litre (4 cups) cold water
370ml dessert wine*
140g (2/3 cup) caster sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla paste
Cherry syrup, to serve*
Icecream, to serve
Fresh mint
Combine water, wine, sugar and vanilla paste in a saucepan and stir over low heat for a few minutes until the sugar dissolves.
Add peaches, bring mixture to boil then immediately reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes or until peaches are tender. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly in pan.
Place peaches in bowls. Spoon over some of the cooking liquid and drizzle with cherry syrup. Serve with icecream and garnish with fresh mint.
*We used Houghton 2011 Late Picked Sweet Verdelho which had just the right amount of sweetness for our liking (it’s not overly sweet). We also had to have a glass on the side, of course!
*We used a cherry cordial that we bought from Ballinaclash orchard.
Lovely recipes, Christine. Perfect peaches are still a treat for me. To be brutally honest, I haven’t tasted a good peach for decades, not even from CRFM! Amongst the grapevines and orchard fruits, my father had two peach trees in our back garden, which became my garden when R and I bought the home. Those were the BEST peaches ever. And yes, they were picked when sun kissed, plump, ripe and juicy. I’d give anything to taste something that good again.
I can almost taste how amazing they must have been, Liz!
And I’ve just rediscovered the yellow Clingstone peaches at our local market. Great for biting off chunks of delicious peachy flesh – but also extremely good for home preserves. Thanks for great looking recipe (will be on menu tonight!)
Gorgeous peaches that you had to eat over the sink are part of my childhood memories. I grew up in Florida, but ‘the Peach State’ of Georgia was just above us. In season we were spoiled with roadside stands of this delectable fruit. Living in the UK the past 25 years I can say I’ve rarely had a good or even acceptable peach. I love the sound of this recipe. Poaching in wine is surely the only way to eat the peaches we get! We had mango trees too, *sigh*
What great memories to have, Kellie. I’ve often wondered whether it’s just that the memory of eating fruit as a child makes it seem sweeter than it actually was, but no, I think the reality is that a lot of fruit today is sold when it is still unripe, and also that varieties are planted for their ability to be transported rather than their flavour.
I’m so looking forward to summer and sweet ripe peaches. I feel like you…I wish the growers would leave them on the trees to ripen longer.
Hi Karen,
So even in your beautiful part of the world, you have a similar problem. I’ve just been looking at your lovely blog and I think we are on the same page with our love of both food and travel. Thanks for getting in touch.