More quantity than quality - but still!

Some of you will have seen this photo by now as David posted it on Facebook. Me looking somewhat ancient and haggard, but the prime thing is all those peaches.

Outside our kitchen door there is a peach tree. It's not very big and it doesn't usually have that many peaches on it, and what there are get eaten by the birds and possums. But this year we put a net over the whole veggie patch, which includes the peach tree and voilà. They are small, some are a bit hard, but they are many. Too many to just casually eat. And too good to throw away.

Yesterday I picked them and now of course I have to think what to do with them. I shouldn't complain of course. This is plenty in a world where many, even here in Australia are starving. And I often seem to be in this predicament - particularly a week or so after a trip to the market when we have been sucked in by the gorgeous produce on sale there, and have bought far too much. But my current crisis is peaches.

I did nothing yesterday and won't today either, because it's hot. Much better to deal with these things when it's cooler. But I did start trawling the net for ideas. The most out there idea was Peach bourbon jam by Joe Sevier from Epicurious - maybe I should try that even though I don't like whisky. Well it's supposed to be bourbon, which I'm sure is different but to me it's all the same sort of stuff. I'm tempted but I'll probably chicken out as I'm just not a brave person. It looks pretty nice though.

The other recipe I noticed was for Pickled peaches from Nigel Slater. Now that I might try - it sounded, easy and fun and different, But at the back of my mind I am thinking, what then? What do I do with them? Give them away? But that will probably mean that somebody else has them lurking in the back of their cupboard rather than mine.

But then I found a recipe for Preserved pickled peaches from Delia and she had a few suggestions for what to do with them - serve with hot baked ham, pork or duck, or with cheese. Maybe in a taglne or something similar? A sauté with pork? Perhaps I'll just do a couple of jars, keep one and give the other away. The two recipes have similar methods, but different spices, so I shall have to think about that. And my peaches are not nearly as delectable looking as these. Mind you Nigel Slater does suggest using slightly hard peaches, and lots of mine are - even though they were beginning to drop off the tree.

River Cottage is quite encouraging about less than perfect peaches though:

"It is perfectly possible to coax maximum loveliness out of peaches and nectarines by swapping the ripening sun for a little kitchen heat. Grilling, roasting or frying with a touch of sugar and (optionally) cinnamon, star anise and/or vanilla, will intensify the flavour and lend a little caramelised texture to their softened flesh." Mark Diacono - River Cottage A-Z

Ditto for tomatoes really.

And isn't ratafia a peach liqueur? But then we don't drink or use liqueurs these days either. Well actually I have just discovered, ratafia is a peach leaf alcoholic drink - an aperitif, not a liqueur, leaves not fruit, though served with a bit of peach pulp. Now Stephanie Alexander has a recipe for this. Interesting, but I don't really think I shall give this one a go. Later perhaps when I have nothing else to do. But then I forget to offer my limoncello to guests, and I'm pretty sure that that would be much nicer. I mean it's really, really nice. Besides summer seems to be almost over and it's a summery kind of thing isn't it?

I could stew them and freeze them. I could bake them and freeze them. I could make a tart or two. I could even make a fruit leather. Yes maybe I should try that. But mostly I think it will just be good old jam. Maybe a chutney. But I'm running out of jars. Must check the fridge and see if there is a jar of something lurking in there that should be thrown out.

All in all it's a bit confronting really.

I also worry about whether I should remove the skins before doing anything. Opinion seems to differ on this. They say it's easy - put them in boiling water like tomatoes and then rub the skin off. Or pull them and they will just come off - really? I've tried that before and it's not that easy. And there's so many. I will be doing it for hours. Mind you if you can just get the fuzz off it would probably be alright. And I think overall the opinion seemed to be to leave the skins on - better colour and all of that. So perhaps dunk them in boiling water and then just rub the fluff off.

I also dread getting them off the stones in the middle. I bet this is the kind of peach that clings to the stone, and it has to be said that some of them are still a tad on the hard side.

So a peach challenge. But I think it will be mostly jam, a jar or two of pickles and chutney and maybe a dessert or two. And whilst we are on sweet things, here are a couple that I came across - one a blast from the past - and one which I found from two sources, so I'm intrigued.

The blast from the past came from Jane Grigson although it was later reiterated by Stephanie Alexander. It's Peaches on Buttered Toast (Jane Grigson's version)

Now I really don't remember where I had them in my youth. Was it at home, at my grandmother's, even maybe my one of my aunts cooked it, or was it in France? The photograph above is not Jane Grigson's, but it's the nearest I could find to what I remember. It's one of those folksy, simple things that your mother might make as a treat for breakfast or an afternoon snack I think. Basically you just butter the bread on both sides, put it on a baking tray, slice the peeled peaches on to the top, sprinkle with sugar and melted butter and cook in the oven until yummy. "Altogether one of the nicest puddings there is", says Jane Grigson. And she's right. So perhaps we'll do that. Maybe tonight even. We have a bit of leftover stale French bread. Mind you both Jane Grigson and Stephanie use brioche, but obviously you can use whatever bread you have to hand. Stephanie also just honey on her brioche rather than butter, and sprinkles some liqueur on top. Just shows you what a few decades does to recipes doesn't it? I think the original sounds best.

The other dessert is an American thing. A slump, which is somewhere between a crumble and a clafoutis I think. But then again, maybe it's a scone topping. Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall has a recipe (but no picture) and I can't quite remember now where I saw the other one. I had another look and found this typical American one from a site called Neighbour Food. (They are so homey the Americans, aren't they?) Here is a picture of what it's supposed to look like - the one on the right is the Neighbour Food one. A peach base with dobs of dough on top I think.