Posted by johngl
Springtime in central Texas is just peachy. And it’s no wonder: millions of pounds of these drupes are grown here. I didn’t really pay attention to this until, a few years ago, we wandered off the beaten trail and noticed folks hawking bushels of Prunus persica at roadside stands. I tried one; went home with a half-bushel. Those I didn’t eat, I made into this incredibly peachy tasting champagney nectar-of-the-gods kind of thing (using méthode champenoise of course). But that is another post.
So anyway, grilled peaches and ice cream…
If that ice cream looks familiar, it is the frozen vanilla custard of an earlier post. If you want this dish to turn out properly, make that frozen custard first.
Anyway, stop by your local fruit stand…
(no, not talking gay bar here, but if you are so inclined, go nuts) or farmers’ market and pick up some nice, fresh, ripe, yet firm, peaches. I figured one peach per person would be fine.
Peaches have that fuzzy, felt-like skin that really isn’t, um-m, good eats. You will want to remove that. And here is a useful tip: don’t use a peeler. Or a knife. Use your fingers.
What? You are daft?
Probably. Regardless, there is a wonderful technique used for tomatoes that works perfectly for peaches as well. If you have never peeled your tomatoes, you probably just need to give up cooking as a hobby. Anyway, a couple of inches of boiling water in a saucepan is your friend.
Drop in a few peaches and roll them around in the boiling water until the skin starts to break loose. You can test this by grabbing the peach with tongs (unless you have heat resistant fingers) and pushing on the surface of the peach with the fingers of your other hand. If the skin starts to wrinkle, you are good to go. This skin-loosening process usually takes about a minute.
Have another container handy and load it up with ice water. You are not trying to cook the peaches, you are trying to peel them. Icy water will stop the cooking part. Move the warmed peaches into the ice water.
Now, if you have paid attention and done things properly, the skin will come off like the skin off a grape. Break the skin a bit by pulling it apart with your thumbs. The peach juice under the skin makes a great lubricant. Try it on your sex partner if you don’t believe me.
Before you know it, you’ll have some naked peaches (if not a naked partner).
Obviously, you will want to pit the peaches. I will leave that as an exercise for the student. Try it with your naked friend. That way, if things get juicy, nobody will notice and clean up might be unusual and fun.
Hello? Are you there? Did your mind wander off for a moment or two?
Grilled peaches. Lay them out on a hot grill:
What you are looking to do here is to caramelize the peaches just a bit. Don’t let the peaches get all soft and mooshy. You will actually be able to smell this caramelization thing happening. It smells like sugar is burning. Yes, you get a gold star for recognizing that smell.
Now, once the peaches are grilled, you’ll want to start laying out the plates. I used a vanilla cream cake that I got at my local grocer, but a pound cake works too. Or you can be really anal and make your own cake.
Lay out the cake and scoop on some ice cream:
Add peaches:
Garnish with blackberries and some peachy sauce…
The peach glaze is made with fresh peach juice (I squoze some peaches with my potato ricer) that is reduced by half. I added an equal part of sugar. For some extra peachy-ness, I threw in a couple of ounces of Absolut Peach vodka. Reduce all of that until it gets all syrupy.
We had this with a wonderful Moscato d’Asti
The wine was a gift from a good friend and totally made this dish. The full name is:
Moscato D’Asti Denominazione Di Origine Contollata E Garantita 1917 IL Conte D’Alba…a mouthful in itself.
Grilled Central Texas peaches and Italian wine: a great way to celebrate Springtime.
