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Wednesday, Sep. 30, 2009

Amanda De Jager Friedman: Peach season will soon end

As a drastic weather change is moving through the Valley, it is clearly going to be the end of the peach season soon.

As mentioned here last week, I am eager to usher in the fall and all that it entails, be it the nice weather, lovely pumpkins, scarecrows made of straw, or an excuse to eat more now that beach season is over.

It is with reluctance, however, that I say goodbye to the luscious stone fruits of summer -- especially the lovely peach.

With their soft fuzzy skin, beautiful fragrance, and perfectly sweet-tart flavor, it's no wonder that peaches have become the subject of a favored slang phrase or two.

According to the "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins," the word "peach" has been used to describe a pretty young girl for centuries, going back to ancient China, when it was slang for a lovely young bride.

"A Peach," in early American history, was meant to describe someone or something wonderful. You've certainly heard the expressions "peachy keen" and "just peachy," and the etymology of such phrases is traced directly back to the famous fruit itself.

Not that using food metaphors is a new concept in English language development.

For example, we can all agree that when it comes to cooking, without a good recipe or idea, the meal won't amount to a hill of beans.

According to the top banana of chefs, if you want to be the greatest thing since sliced bread in your own kitchen, you've got to milk it for all its worth, or the apple of your eye might just have to reclaim control of the spatula to save you from getting egg on your face.

OK, so I realize this paragraph is hardly worth its salt, but you get the point -- so I'll cut the mustard and move on to this week's recipe.

I found this recipe on foodnetwork.com, and it comes from my new favorite food network personality, chef Anne Burrell.

It works perfectly for the end-of-season peaches, which have a tendency to be less sweet than the mid-summer varieties.

Because of the golden raisins and delicious crumbly almond topping, September's slightly sour peaches have found a perfect flavor collaboration.

If you have trouble finding decent fresh peaches, frozen would work as well.

Just don't neglect this recipe -- it's a peach of a dessert!

RECIPE: INDIVIDUAL PEACH CRISPS

Ingredients

For the filling:

5 large ripe peaches, pitted and cut into chunks

1 lemon, zested and juiced

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 cup tightly packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup golden raisins

Pinch kosher salt

For the topping:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/4 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into pea sized pieces

1/2 cup sliced almonds

Pinch kosher salt

1 to 2 tablespoons cold water

Special equipment: 6 (6-ounce) ramekins

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the filling:

Toss the peaches in a large bowl with the zest and lemon juice. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to combine. Divide the filling evenly between the ramekins.

For the topping:

Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor except the water. Pulse until combined, this will take about 30 seconds. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time until mixture is clumpy but crumbly.

Top each ramekin with the topping. Be sure to loosely sprinkle the topping and not pack it down. The idea is to look very crumbly and craggy.

Place the ramekins on a sheet tray and bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the filling is hot and bubbly and the topping, brown and crispy.

Note: This is great served hot with vanilla ice cream.