Slice and Dice: Peaches

I grew up in Illinois peach country. So for me, summer isn’t summer until I feel the juice of a freshly picked peach trickling down my chin. I’ll sit through any meal that promises the possibility of peach cobbler. When the fruit is in season, I spread it on salad, blend it into smoothies, and plop it into pie.

How to Select

A member of the rose family, fresh peaches should have a fragrant, sweet smell. Their flesh should be full-bodied and firm, but willingly give way to a gentle squeeze. Beware of fruit with bruised flesh and wrinkled or loose skin.

Peaches are labeled as freestone or clingstone based on the clinginess of their stone and the firmness of their flesh. Freestone stone peaches have stones that can be easily removed. The flesh of clingstone peaches grasps onto the seed, making it difficult to pull the two apart. Clingstone peaches are sought out by commercial canners for their firmer flesh. Therefore, they are rarely available.
Like strawberries, peaches are on The Environmental Working Group’s dirty dozen list of foods with the most pesticide residue. To reduce your exposure to contamination, be sure they're organic.

How to Pit

To pit a freestone peach or other stone fruit (nectarines, apricots, plums), follow these simple steps:

Thoroughly wash and dry the peach.Place it on a cutting board with the stem side facing up. With a chef’s knife, cut into the stem side until you reach the stone. 

Rotate the peach and continue to cut into the flesh until you’ve circles the entire peach.

Place your hands other either side of the cut flesh and gently pull the fruit apart.

Using your fingertips, wiggle out the stone.

To  pit a clingstone peach:

Place the peach on a cutting board with the side of the peach resting on the board. Hold the peach in place with one hand. With a chef’s knife, cut a wedge from the peach and pull it away from the seed. Rotate the peach and continue until all the flesh has been sliced into wedges and pulled off of the seed.

How to Slice

Pit the peach using the steps outlined above.

Place one half of the peach on a cutting board with the cut side down.

With a chef’s knife, slice the peach lengthwise the desired width.

How to Chop

Pit the peach using the steps outlined above.

Place one half of the peach on a cutting board with the cut side down.


With a chef’s knife, slice the peach lengthwise.

Cut the slices widthwise to form chunks.

This article was originally published on WholeFoodsMarketCooking.com

Under a Peach Tree

 

PEACH COBBLER



Serves 4

INGREDIENTS 

Filling

6 large peaches
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon cornstarch 

Crust

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 stick butter, chilled
1/4 cup hot water 

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat the oven to 400. 

Skin and roughly chop the peaches. 

In a medium sized bowl, mix together the brown sugar, honey, cinnamon, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Coat the peaches with the brown sugar mixture.

Spoon into a 9 x 9 inch glass dish. Cook for 10 minutes. 

While the filling is cooking, place the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a food processor and pulse three times. 

Cut the butter into 1/2 inch cubes. Layer it over the flour mixture and pulse it until the mixture looks like sand. Add the water. Pulse until the dough is just combined. 

Remove the filling from the oven. 

Increase the oven temperature to 425. 

Spoon batter over cooked peaches. Return to oven and bake for 25 minutes or until crust is golden. 

Serve with vanilla ice cream.