Peach Perfection

"Moving to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches. Moving to the country, gonna eat me a lot of peaches. Peaches..." you know the song. And I have to agree, with maybe the exception that peaches come from a can. Peaches should never come from a can. They are the absolute best, when they are fresh and in season. In Ontario that happens to be in mid to late summer.
  Peach is one of my favourite flavors. It's juicy, kind of sour, yet sweet. I have many fond memories of my mom and my step mom making peach pie in the summertime. And although I have never personally been to the Winona peach festival, I hear people rave about their peach sundaes. Guess I'm not the only one who is crazy about peaches!


Peach Sundaes at the Winona Peach festival

  This year when peach season rolled around, I found myself coming up with all sorts of different ideas, or creations if you will for peach recipes. The first was a new spin on an old favourite. Peach pie. In the past I have made traditional peach pie many times, but this year I had a brilliant idea to make something more original. I was flipping through my "Taste of Home" cookbook and found an
 
 

 intriguing recipe for custard pie. I decided to try it out. When I was finished, I cut up fresh peaches and placed them on top of the pie. Then I glazed the peaches with a peach jelly. The result was delicious!
  My next venture, was to add peaches to a salad I was making for dinner one night. Then I thought, why stop there. I broke out the peach jelly,  and made a peach vinaigrette to go with it. Once again, a delightful success.
  There was one Sunday morning I woke up craving french toast. A little peach schnapps in the egg mixture, some fresh peaches on top and some peach jelly mixed with cream cheese and viola. The perfect peach brunch was created.
  One hot afternoon I was craving iced tea. I found some ginger peach tea in my cupboard. Five minutes later, I had whipped up a pitcher of refreshing ginger peach iced tea. Which was not only amazingly tasty and thirst quenching, but it also hydrated me for the next three days!
  Finally, as summer began to fade and peach season along with it, I saved my best peach creation for last. Peach sangria. Peach schnapps, white wine, peaches. It was nothing short of perfection. Although, I may have had a little too much sangria for my own good that night. It was still a genius cocktail to say the least.
  I look forward to next summer, and the opportunity to work with peaches in my kitchen once again. "If I had my little way, I'd eat peaches everyday.." It's too bad peach season is so short.



                                                                                                 Peach Custard Pie

 
                Never Fail Pie Crust:

              1c all purpose flour
              1/4 tsp salt
              1/3c shortening
              1 1/2 tsp white vinegar
              2-3 tsp milk

            Roll out pie crust after chilling dough for 30mins. Line a 9 inch pastry plate with rolled out dough. Bake at 400 F for 10mins
 
                           Custard Filling:

                                    4 eggs
                                    2 1/2c milk
                                    1/2c sugar
                                                                                                                        1 tsp ground nutmeg
                                                                                                                        1 tsp vanilla extract
                                                                                                                        1 tsp almond extract
                                                                                                                        1/2 tsp salt

                                                                                      Beat eggs and remaining ingredients. Pour into
                                                                                    crust. Cover edges with foil. Bake for 20-25
                                                                                    minutes. Or until a knife inserted comes out
                                                                                    clean. Cool for 1 hour. Chill for 3 hours.

                                                                                     
                                                                                          Summer Salad with Peach Vinaigrette

 
                       3c fresh spinach
                       3c romaine lettuce
                       1/4 fresh raspberries
                       1 peach pitted, peeled and sliced
                       1/4c chopped cucumber
                       1/8c chopped green onion
                       2 grilled chicken breasts
                      1/8c sliced almonds

                                  Peach Vinaigrette:           
                                   1 tbsp peach jelly
                                   2 tsp Dijon mustard
                                   1 tbsp honey
                                   6 tbsp sunflower seed oil
                                   6 tbsp white wine vinegar
                                      salt and pepper to taste



                                                                                                   Ginger Peach Iced Tea

 
      5 tea bags of ginger peach tea
      3c boiling water
      1/2c simple syrup
      2 peaches pitted, peeled and sliced


  Place tea bags in a glass pitcher. Pour boiling water over tea bags, placing a stainless steel spoon in first to ensure glass does not crack. Bring concentrated tea to room temperature. Add peaches, simple syrup and ice to pitcher. Wait 5mins and serve.

 
 
 


 

 

    

         Peach French Toast

4 beaten eggs
1c milk
2 tbs sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp peach schnapps
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
8 slices of french bread
2 peaches pitted, peeled and sliced
sunflower seed oil and butter (to coat the frying pan while cooking)
1/4c of cream cheese mixed with 2 tbs of peach jelly
maple syrup and icing sugar for garnish






    Peach Sangria

1 shot of peach schnapps
1/4c tropical passion juice
2/3c sauvignon blanc
1/3c sprite
1 peach pitted and sliced