Just Peachy
This summer, my wife, daughter, dog Zoe, and I got in the car and took a trip up to Utah’s Famous Fruitway that is located along a 10-mile stretch of Northern Utah's Highway 89 between Ogden and Brigham City. There we found approximately a dozen fruit stands that were filled with local produce grown at local farms including 30 varieties of peaches. Who knew there were so many types of peaches? I was told by one local that many of these stands have been around for decades.
We purchased tomatoes, summer squash, onions, garlic, corn, and of course peaches. In fact we bought more peaches than we could possible eat so we gave a bunch to a couple of neighbors, one of whom returned the favor by bringing over some delicious homemade peach jam the next day. Now that’s industrious. Of course we’ve been eating peaches all week starting with our cereal in the morning and finishing up the day with sliced peaches and ice cream. So here are a couple of family recipes I pulled off the above Internet site that feature Utah local peaches.
Peach Cobbler
Cobbler Filling
2 cups peeled and sleced fresh peaches
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Cobbler Crust
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cups of milk
How to Make at Home
Preheat the over to 400 degrees F.
In an shallow baking dish, add the peaches and cover with sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. Mix together and bake for 10 minutes.
Mix together in a separate bowl, all the dry ingredients for the cobbler crust. Cut in the butter with your fingers. You should end up with a coarse texture. Now add the milk and combine until you form a soft dough.
Remove the peaches from the over and carefully spoon the batter over the top of the fruit. Do not stir. The batter is going to form a delicious crust topping over the peaches.
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until the fruit is bubbly and the crust is a nice golden brown.
Serve with homemade whip cream or vanilla ice cream. If you are counting calories, skip the topping and just go with the cobbler.
Peach Pecan Bread
Make 12 servings
1 1/2 cups, peeled and chopped Utah peaches
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup natural bran
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup butter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. each, ginger and freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup ground pecans
Combine peaches, eggs, milk, bran and vanilla; let stand 15 minutes. Beat together sugar and butter until creamy. Stir in peach mixture. Combine all-purpose and whole-wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices. Beat into peach mixture with a few light, rapid strokes, just until moistened. Stir in nuts. Spoon into well-greased 8-1/2-inch x 4-1/2-inch loaf pan. Bake in 350°F oven 45 to 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack before cutting.
DeeRae's Method for Freezing Fresh Peaches
This is not only a unique treat, but it makes a great juice to drink on the side...
1 can frozen orange juice concentrate
Utah fresh peaches
Thaw orange juice concentrate. Peel and slice peaches into juice, mix until peaches are coated, pour off extra juice, put peaches into freezer bags and freeze. If doing lots of peaches add more orange juice concentrate when there is more peach juice than orange juice. Chill leftover juice and drink. Peaches will retain their bright orange color and delicious fresh-picked flavor.
