Ingredient of the Month: Peaches

I've always loved growing up in Missouri in the summertime. While the heat and humidity make me go crazy, the produce more than makes up for it, especially the peaches. They're sweet and tart at the same time and when you eat one, you need a paper towel because juice gets everywhere. It makes them the perfect Ingredient of the Month for August.

Peaches shouldn't be stored in the refrigerator because it lessens their taste. Look for peaches that have a gold-orange hue to them. If the only peaches available have a greenish color around the stem, let them ripen at room temperature for a day or two.

Canned Peaches

This past weekend, Jim and I went out to his parents' house to can peaches. I helped last year, too, but this year the peaches we were canning were for us, making it even more fun and worth it! Canning isn't really that difficult of a process, and I hope to learn how to do it well enough so that I can do it on my own someday.

Jim peeling and slicing the peaches into quarters.

After you peel and slice them, you have to let them soak in a cold saltwater bath before placing them in the jars.

When you fill the jars with peaches and syrup, you have to run a knife down the side of the jar and its contents to get all of the air bubbles out of the jar.

When the jars are covered, that's when you place them in the pot of boiling water to allow the jars to seal.

If you want a recipe for canning peaches with instructions, let me know in the comments and I'll get the instructions posted on here later.

Peach Pie Filling

We had extra peaches left over when we finished canning peaches, so we decided to freeze them. I like peaches in the fall and winter too! A simple trick anyone can use for a quick and easy peach pie, though, is to go ahead and mix the peaches with the other ingredients for peach pie filling. That way, when you want a peach pie, all you need is a pie shell.

6 cups sliced, peeled peaches
1/3 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. Fruit Fresh or lemon juice

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Transfer to a gallon-sized freezer bag. Make sure to get as much of the air out of the bag when closing it as possible. Put bag in freezer, and whenever you want to bake the pie, pull it out and thaw it. Prepare the pie using any pie recipe you like. How easy is that?

Grilled Peaches with Balsamic Glaze and Cream

While peaches can scream "comfort food," they can also be a very refined and elegant ingredient, especially if left simple. Try grilling your peaches for a sweet and classy dessert.

1 peach per person, cut in half and pitted

2 t. brown sugar

1/2 c. balsamic vinegar

Oil for cooking surface

Whipped cream

Heat grill or grill pan to high and coat the surface with oil or cooking spray so the peaches don't stick. Place peaches cut side down and cook 3-4 minutes until thoroughly warmed and evenly marked.

Heat the balsamic and brown sugar in small pot over medium-high heat. Let sauce reduce until it becomes syrupy. This should take about a minute. When the mixture coats the back of a spoon and reduces by half, remove from heat and drizzle over grilled peaches. Top with whipped cream.