Nothing tastes more purely of summer than the perfect peach.
The signs are popping up around Durango, heralding the arrival of the Palisades – the large, sweet variety that grows so well in Colorado’s Grand Valley, 175 miles north.
Last Friday at the Peach Valley Produce stand in the Durango High School parking lot, people crowded around boxes of fresh peaches, plums, cherries and other produce, stocking up for the weekend. Some talked of grilling or baking their peaches, but the vote for best way to enjoy them was unanimous: fresh.
“They’re so sweet, there’s no point in ruining them with anything,” said Durango resident Jean Kirol. She and her husband, Mike, have frequented the produce stand for years, they said.
Same for Barbara and Paul Lacourciere, who live in Phoenix but work as caretakers north of Durango in the summer. They stopped at the produce stand to purchase a half box of peaches to bring to friends. “What am I going to do with them? I’m going to eat them,” Barb said.
Fort Lewis College English professor Candace Nadon’s favorite peach recipe was handed down from her grandmother Lorena, who will turn 90 in October and is known for her talents in the kitchen.
“She made peach icebox dessert only when the peaches were good, and it was one of my favorite treats,” Nadon said. “She is an extraordinary woman with true can-do Colorado spirit – raised eight children on a shoestring budget and accomplished it in part by keeping an enormous garden and canning everything you can think of. She is an incredible cook.”
An incredible cook who understands that sometimes, the sweet bounty of summer just begs to be dressed up in whipped cream and marshmallows. (See recipe for “Grandma Lorena’s Peach Icebox Dessert” below.)
For peaches grown closer to home, we still have several weeks to wait. South of Durango on six acres along the Animas River in Cedar Hill, Susan Palko-Schraa looks forward to when the hard, green peaches on her trees will be ready for plucking.
“Three years ago was our last really good crop,” Palko-Schraa said. “There was an orange carpet below the trees. Last year, we only got about a dozen. It gets warm in March, the trees blossom – and then it freezes, damaging the blossoms.”
This year, they expect a solid yield. Once the peaches are perfect, Palko-Schraa and her husband, Bill, dehydrate, bake and freeze them. And they also believe in sharing the bounty. “We have picking parties, and friends and neighbors come to fill buckets,” she said. “We’ve lived on the land for three years, and our goals are sustainability, community and reciprocity with nature.”
One of summer’s finest natural treats is only available for a short while, and there are myriad ways to be creative in the kitchen with peaches: a simple but stunning salad that showcases fresh tomatoes and herbs alongside the fruit; a fresh salsa to eat with chips or serve atop a grilled piece of fish or pork; or a homestyle dessert, like a cobbler cooked in the campfire or an old-fashioned ice box pie. Try out one of the following recipes to enjoy this season’s peaches to the fullest – no oven required.
Have an idea for a local food story? Reach Herald food writer Bobbi Maiers at bobbi@durangoherald.com.
Three keys to preserving peaches
For those who want to preserve that perfect taste of summer, there are a few points to keep in mind when canning peaches:
1. Adjust for altitude.
“The key thing is to remember, we’re not at sea level,” said Wendy Rice, family and consumer sciences extension agent for CSU-La Plata County. “The whole logic of canning is to make sure we kill any pathogens that could be a problem. It’s not just to put it in a water bath canner so it seals the lid.” When a recipe requires processing time greater than 20 minutes, you add two minutes per 1,000 feet of elevation.
2. A little sugar helps
Rice suggests canning in apple juice or simple syrup rather than water. Canning with juice enhances the flavor, she said, and a light sugar syrup helps keep the fruit firm and acts as a preservative. “It’s not just empty calories as people tend to think,” she said. “Even a light syrup serves a purpose. If you just can in water, it seems to suck the flavor out, and it doesn’t hold up as long.”
3. Hot pack is preferable
Rice advised hot pack canning over raw pack canning, as it preserves more of the nutrients. According to Mother Earth News, “Hot-packing is the practice of heating freshly prepared food to boiling, simmering it 2 to 5 minutes, and promptly filling jars loosely with the boiled food. Whether food has been hot-packed or raw-packed, the juice, syrup or water to be added to the foods should also be heated to boiling before adding it to the jars. This practice helps to remove air from food tissues, shrinks food, helps keep the food from floating in the jars, increases vacuum in sealed jars, and improves shelf life. Preshrinking food permits filling more food into each jar.”
For details on different canning methods, see the Colorado State University Extension Office’s “Canning Fruits” fact sheet available online at http://bit.ly/1G20hLi or Mother Earth News’ slideshow on how to home can at http://bit.ly/29sWDM3.
What’s coming soon from Peach Valley
Now in its 11th year serving Durango, Peach Valley Produce delivers fresh produce daily from the Palisade area. The stand is located in the parking lot of Durango High School.
Available now:
Peaches, apricots and plums from owner Jeremy Swiger’s orchard of 350 fruit trees; vegetables and cherries from neighbor farms around the Palisade area
Around July 21:
Olathe sweet corn
August to September:
chiles
September to mid-October:
apples and pears
Tomato Peach Salad
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
¼ cup red onion, thinly sliced
½ pound ripe peaches, pitted and cut into wedges
¼ pound tomatoes, cut into wedges
¼ pound cherry or pear tomatoes, halved
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
1½ teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoons honey
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup crumbled feta cheese
Fresh basil leaves, torn
Method:
Combine first 4 ingredients in large bowl; set aside.
In a small bowl, combine vinegar, olive oil, honey, salt and pepper, stirring with a whisk.
Drizzle vinegar mixture over peach mixture; toss well to coat.
Sprinkle with cheese and basil.
Adapted from Cooking Light, www.cookinglight.com.
River Bend Fresh Peach Salsa
Yield: About six cups
Note: Choose avocado and peaches that are ripe but still firm.
Ingredients:
4 cups diced Palisade peaches
½ cup minced fresh red radish
2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint
1 jalapeño chile, diced (optional)
1 medium avocado, diced
Juice from 2 limes
2 tablespoons sugar
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Method:
Combine peaches, radish, avocado and jalapeño, if desired, in a bowl; set aside.
Combine mint, lime juice, sugar and salt in a bowl; stir to combine, then toss with peach mixture.
Adapted from Pear Blossom Farms, Palisade, Co., www.pearblossomfarms.com.
Grilled Peaches with Cinnamon Honey Butter
Servings: 2-3
Ingredients:
2-3 sweet ripe peaches, sliced in half and pits removed
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons honey
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Lightly sweetened whipped cream
Mint leaves (optional)
Method:
Adapted from www.alaskafromscratch.com.
Dutch Oven Peach Blueberry Cobbler
Servings: 8-10
For fruit:
6-7 large peaches, peeled and sliced
1 pint fresh blueberries
2 tablespoons baking mix, such as Bisquick
2 tablespoons sugar
Dash cinnamon
For topping:
2¼ cup baking mix, such as Bisquick
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
½ cup milk
Cinnamon sugar, for sprinkling
Method:
Prepare charcoal (approximately 45 coals).
Grease a 12- or 14-inch dutch oven.
In a medium bowl, combine all topping ingredients (mixture will be thick). Set aside.
Toss fruit together with baking mix, sugar and cinnamon. Place in dutch oven or baking dish and spoon pieces of prepared dough on top. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
When coals are white, they’re ready. Cover dutch oven, place above 15 of the coals and place the rest of the coals on top. (The general rule is twice as many coals on top as on bottom.)
Rotate oven over the coals after 15 minutes to promote even cooking. Cobbler is finished when topping is golden brown and fruit is bubbling through, about 25 minutes.
Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
If not preparing over a campfire, preheat oven to 350 F and bake for 25-30 minutes.
Adapted from Moab-based food blog Completely Delicious, www.completelydelicious.com.
Grandma Lorena’s Peach Icebox Dessert
For topping:
½ cup milk
1½ bags marshmallows (about 15 ounces)
4 tablespoons butter
2 cups heavy whipping cream
¼ cup powdered sugar
Almond or vanilla flavor, optional
For crust:
2 cups of graham cracker crumbs
½ cup sugar
For middle layer:
About 16 medium-size peaches, peeled and sliced
Method:
Mix the graham cracker crumbs and sugar; press into the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch pan.
Place sliced peaches over graham crust.
Whip heavy cream until fluffy, then slowly add powdered sugar. Mix in almond or vanilla flavor, if desired.
Melt together marshmallows, butter and milk. Fold whipped cream into melted marshmallow mixture.
Spread marshmallow cream mixture over top of peaches.
Place in fridge until set.
Recipe courtesy of Lorena Nadon, Glenwood Springs.
