Did I ever tell you I love peaches? They are hands down, my favorite fruit of all time. Raspberries do come in second, but when peaches are in season, there is nothing quite like their succulent perfection. Come August I often find myself eating peaches morning noon and night. I feast on peaches.
peaches
peaches
peaches
Just peachy.
Up until this summer I didn't realize Minnesota had good peaches at all. I grew up in New Jersey (which is dubbed The Garden State, btw, and for good reason) where peaches abound and you can pick them up with the rest of your local produce at farmer's markets and farm stands. Or right off a tree. I didn't realize when I moved to Minnesota (aka the frozen tundra, for the majority of the year) that I'd be giving up my favorite summertime treat. Last summer I remember biting into a plain ol' peach I bought at the store and was disgusted by the pulpy, dry, and downright tasteless experience. So much so that I threw it away and swore off peaches in Minnesota.
Enter: Colorado Peaches.
This summer I discovered that if you shop a little more carefully, you can select the special Colorado Peaches, which miraculously taste everything like a Jersey Peach. Sweet and succulent, yet firm and meaty. (did I just say meaty to describe fruit?). When you peel a Colorado Peach (or any other "good" peach for that matter), there is a little pull, some weight behind the knife. The skin comes off in nice sheets and you are left holding a golden ball of perfection.
Since I made this discovery a couple of weeks ago, I think we've gone through about 10 peaches so far. I've been eating them in my yogurt, my cream of wheat, and we even made a pie, just like I used to do back in Jersey. But one item was still missing from my childhood: Terhune Orchards Peach Salsa. I swear, we sometimes ate this for dinner.
Terhune Orchards is right up the road from my parent's house and was conveniently on the way to school, so we'd often stop on our way home for an Apple Cider doughnut, apple cider slush, and of course, fresh fruit.
Me and E, plus my three sisters (Kirsten, Karrin, and Sarah) and Karrin's bf Mike, summer of 2009.
This is the first summer *ever* where I haven't gone home to Jersey, so I'm missing my Terhune salsa (and the ocean too, of course). So I called up my mom who of course had a trusty Terhune's salsa on hand, and had her read me the ingredients ... and then I went and made up the rest!
And it was good.
Here's what I did:
Note: I kind of just added ingredients to taste, so the measurements are estimates. And I was working with just one peach, so I didn't make a huge batch. Have fun playing around with different proportions to fit your taste. Evan isn't huge into the spice, so I kept it pretty mild)
Peal one big peach (I've heard you can plop it in boiling water for 10 seconds and then the skin will just fall off). Slice in half, remove pit. Chop up peach into itty bitty bits. Save any and all juice.
Note: I kind of just added ingredients to taste, so the measurements are estimates. And I was working with just one peach, so I didn't make a huge batch. Have fun playing around with different proportions to fit your taste. Evan isn't huge into the spice, so I kept it pretty mild)
Peal one big peach (I've heard you can plop it in boiling water for 10 seconds and then the skin will just fall off). Slice in half, remove pit. Chop up peach into itty bitty bits. Save any and all juice.
Chop up some jalapeno (about 1-2 teaspoon), sweet red pepper (about 1/4 cup), and half an onion (1/4 cup), and add to peaches.
Chop up some lime (w/o rind) and add (about 1 tbsp), then squeeze in more lime juice. Squeeze some lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste. I happen to have a cilantro-hater in the house (I've heard you either love cilantro or hate it) so I left that out, but the original Terhune Orchards version includes cilantro. The only other ingredient on their container I couldn't include was ascorbic acid, which my mom and I guess just brings out the juice?
Eat some right away with chips (or on fish!) but it will taste better if it sits in the fridge for a while and gets a little soupy.
RECIPE
Jersey Peach Salsa
Mix together:
1 Peach, chopped into tiny bits, with as much juice as possible
1T lime (and then squeeze some juice)
lemon juice
1/4 cup onion
1-2 tea. jal. pepper
1/4 cup sweet red pepper
salt and pepper to taste
optional: cilantro
Let sit for a little so juices combine. Enjoy with chips or fish/meat.
Note: On Day 2 my salsa started tasting a bit bitter (from the lime?). Any suggestions on how I could tweak this recipe? I added a little sugar today to try and sweeten things up again, but I know the original recipe from Terhune's didn't have any sugar and theirs stays fresh and sweet for days ... although it never lasts that long so I guess I don't really know!
Note: On Day 2 my salsa started tasting a bit bitter (from the lime?). Any suggestions on how I could tweak this recipe? I added a little sugar today to try and sweeten things up again, but I know the original recipe from Terhune's didn't have any sugar and theirs stays fresh and sweet for days ... although it never lasts that long so I guess I don't really know!
Do any of you have a go-to salsa recipe? What's your favorite way to eat a peach? Are you secretly (or not so secretly) a fan of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and think about "Do I dare disturb the universe ... do I dare to eat a peach" (line 122) every time you eat a peach? Am I the only English nerd out there? Come on now ... ; )