What To Do With All Those Peaches

When we came back from the Jersey shore last week we stopped at a farmer’s market and picked up a basket of ripe yellow Jersey  peaches. With perfect texture and that distinctive aroma, Jersey peaches in season are one of my all time favorite fruits.

We had a bunch and I knew they wouldn’t last so we had to figure out what to do with them fast. My wife thought some fresh halibut topped with a peach salsa would be nice and it was terrific. My youngest daughter doesn’t care for halibut so I grilled up a chicken breast for her and the salsa was perfect on that too.

In fact, the next night I grilled up the rest of the chicken breasts for the whole family and we served it with the salsa. Delicious!!

Quick & Easy Peach Salsa

There are hundreds of ways to make peach salsa and I recommend you experiment with various ingredients to come up with one that you can call your own.

4 or 5 ripe peaches, cut up into 1 inch cubes
2 or 3 ripe tomatoes, cut up into 1-inch cubes
1 bunch of cilantro, finely chopped
1/4 to 1/2 of a red onion, to taste
Juice from 1 lime
2 - 3 tablespoons vegetable oil or olive oil for a slightly different taste
Salt & Pepper, to taste

How to Make Peach Salsa at Home

Once you have all your ingredients prepped and ready to go, all you have to do is combine the peaches, tomatoes, cilantro, onion and lime juice. Add the oil and give a stir. Season with salt & pepper, taste and let the salsa sit for 10 minutes before adjusting seasonings.

If you are in a hurry like we usually are, you can serve the salsa but it will taste much better if you let it sit in the fridge for a couple hours.

What Would You Like To Know About Cheese?

If you love cheese and want to learn more about how to buy it, store it, cook with it, or just enjoy it with a glass of wine, I’m working on an interview with a professional cheesemonger who I think will have some interesting responses.

There is already a lot of information at my All About Cheese page including a link to my Cheese Guide but I want to know what questions you would like to ask a professional cheesemonger.

What Is A Cheesemonger?

A simple definition is anyone who sells cheese but I think it should include someone with a vast knowledge on the subject. I know someone with this kind of knowledge plus an incredible enthusiasm for all things cheese. My friend Jack has a stand at our local Farmer’s Market in Ardmore, PA as well as the famous Philadelphia Reading Terminal Market.

I Need Your Help

What would you like to learn more about cheese?

Questions about buying, storing, pairing, cooking or just eating are welcome. I will compile your questions and include as many as I can in my Novice2Pro Interview with Jack.

This is a great opportunity for all of you who enjoy cheeses from around the world to learn more about them.

Look forward to reading your questions.

Sesame Seed Dressing

One of the most requested recipes I’m asked for is a good Sesame Dressing for salad, chicken or seafood. If you do a quick search on the Internet for “sesame dressing”, you will find hundreds of variations for this simple asian staple. Which one you decide on using may depend on your own personal tastes.

You can increase the amounts of individual ingredients to give this dressing more sweetness or some extra tanginess. This is basic recipe for sesame dressing that can be adapted to your own personal tastes.

Create Your Own Favorite Sesame Dressing Recipe

Start with this and then play around with it by making it a little hotter or try adding some other ingredients to see how what they do to improve or take away from the overall flavor.

As I say in many of the recipes on my web site at www.reluctantgourmet.com, use these recipes as starting points and develop your own recipes by adjusting the flavors. This is what is meant by “to taste”.

Basic Sesame Dressing Recipe

Ingredients

3 tablespoons of good quality soy sauce
3 teaspoons sesame paste (available in Asian markets and most supermarkets these days)
1/2 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1/2 tablespoon sugar
a dash or two of hot chili sauce, to taste
1 teaspoon rice wine (I like mirin, a Japanese sweet rice wine)
1/2 tablespoon of boiling water (good chance you’ll be cooking noodles with this dressing, so here’s your source)
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds (optional)

How to Make A Basic Sesame Dressing

In a small bowl, whisk the soy sauce, sesame paste, hoisin sauce, sugar, chili hot sauce and rice wine together. Add the hot water and continue whisking until the sugar is completely dissolved. If you are opting for toasted sesame seeds, stir them in now.

Taste and adjust seasonings to your personal likings.

This dressing tastes better when chilled. Cover the bowl or transfer the dressing into a glass jar and refrigerate until you are ready to use it

Alternative Ingredient Suggestions

As I mentioned above, there are lots of variations you can make to this recipe or create your own from scratch. Here are some of the ingredients I found on the Internet that can be added to or substituted with that will change the final flavor of your sesame dressing:

honey soy sauce
dark soy sauce
fresh ginger
scallions
wasabi paste
hot or sweet mustard
Asian sesame oil
honey
Mayonnaise to make it creamy

Post Your Favorite Recipe for Sesame Dressing

I’m sure you have your own list of ingredients you like to use when preparing sesame dressing and I invite you to share your favorites in the REPLY section below.