I love peaches and I have fond memories of them from when I was a kid. Hot summers in my southern hometown provided the ideal climate for peaches to ripen to honey-sweet perfection in late July or August.
We had the world’s most prolific peach tree in the backyard of the house where I grew up. The tree grew very near the house and after we’d pulled all the fruit off the lower branches, we would climb up to the eaves of the house and collect the fruit that hid in the high canopy of the tree. There was a little step that I presume the previous owner of the house had built to get up onto the roof, but my sister and I found it and used to perch on it early on summer mornings before it got too hot outside, and fill our bellies with the yummy, juicy, sweetness of the peaches before anyone else in the house rose. My brother was allergic to peaches–so allergic that he couldn’t even get near the tree–so my sister and I always felt justified in eating so many peaches that we thought we’d burst.
Mom would make cobblers, pies, crumbles and jars and jars of peach preserves that we’d enjoy on pb and j sandwiches all year long. After many years of dedicated service, the tree started to show signs of distress and mom took one of the peaches to a local nursery to try to determine what kind of peaches they were. The horticulturist identified the peach as an “Indian Freestone.” I have since seen “Indian Free” peaches at my local farmer’s market, but they were not as sweet and juicy as those I remember from my youth…but then again, what ever is?
Today, I am excited to start peach week. The first recipe I’m sharing here, for peach chutney, will be the base for a couple of recipes I’ll share in future posts. This chutney is piquant, sweet and spicy–it plays well with meats such as pork, turkey and duck, or on a charcuterie plate, alongside cheese–I particularly it like with Manchego. It’s also great on a piece of toasted, fresh sourdough bread, with or without a swipe of cream cheese. And I won’t tell if you just want to eat it with a spoon while standing at your kitchen counter 😉
Be sure to visit me again tomorrow when I’ll be sharing my recipe for grilled pork loin with bourbon peach sauce.
Until then,
Peace, love and good food,
Keri
