Thousands of pounds of Colorado peaches are finding their way into Front Range kitchens from the Western Slope, rolling in by the bag and the box from farmers’ markets, grocery stores and charity sales. Some are gifted by generous friends driving hours from farm stands and orchards, patiently resisting the tempting once-a-year fragrance perfuming their cars during the long trip home.
No spring freezes stung tender blossoms in 2,600 acres of orchard land planted with peaches near Palisade, and so this year’s crop is especially abundant — growers told Colorado Department of Agriculture marketing specialist Wendy White last week that it may be the best in 40 years. The peaches are large and juicy, their brilliant-orange flesh consistently silky.
Colorado is at peak peach.
Though the season technically lasts until early September, the window of perfect ripeness is short, White says, which means home cooks must move quickly in their hunt for creative ways to serve what is, perhaps, the summer’s most treasured bounty in Colorado.
“You have to do something with them,” said White, noting that six peaches from the case she brought back from Palisade went into a simple free-form baked dessert, topped with a crumbly topping made from flour, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon. “Jam, desserts, put them up. But you gotta do something fast.”
Peaches have a unique favor profile, with both sweetness and a vibrant acidity, which makes them an excellent base to build on – beyond the traditional pies, crisps and preserves, explained chef Jeff Miller, Colorado State University’s hospitality management program coordinator and associate professor of food science and human nutrition.
“Some naturally occurring flavors in peaches are the same as those of dairy products. They are very subtle, but they are what make peaches such a natural complement to ice cream,” he said. “In Europe, peaches and blue cheese are a popular late-summer dessert.”
Similarly, the sweet acidity partners well with oily foods, like almonds, Italian prosciutto and Spanish jamon Ibérico, Miller said. “Peaches have a better sugar/acid balance for ham than some things it is paired with, like honeydew or cantaloupe melons.”
Anne Keller, co-owner of The Hot Tomato restaurant in Fruita, proves Miller’s thesis sometimes 100 times a night with The Palisade Peach, a late-summer-only pizza created five years ago after an orchardwoman dropped off four flats of peaches. Keller ate the fruit for breakfast, lunch and dinner until she could eat no more.
With the clock ticking toward having to toss the gifted peaches, she started thinking about the savory flavors that would complement their sweet acid flavor on a pizza. She started with mozzarella and added Canadian bacon, rosemary and a little gorgonzola cheese. “I think the reason it works is that it’s so simple,” Keller said. “The nutty tang of gorgonzola balances the sweet, then you have the salt of the bacon and the flavor of rosemary, which I think goes great with everything.”
But really it is the peach that goes great with everything. It can take the heat in fresh salsa, and stands up to fragrant baking spices, like clove and cinnamon, and to the tang of fresh berries and soft cheeses. The peach is a side to grilled meats, or a little acid kick in a salad. And if you feel overwhelmed by all that potential, it might be time to crack open a bottle of wine and sip a glass while contemplating the options.
Miller observed that some varieties have “distinct vinous notes,” leading them to be sometimes poached in Sauterne wines, or consumed fresh with sweeter whites, like Riesling, and, of course, with sparklers.
“Eating peaches and drinking prosecco,” he said, “probably led to the creation of the famous Bellini cocktail.”
Peach and Prosciutto Bruschetta
Photo editor Patrick Traylor developed this simple appetizer after a trip through the Midwest, where he purchased prosciutto from Volpi Foods in St. Louis and tangy quark cheese from Milton Creamery in Milton, Iowa. If you can’t find quark, brie or a soft cheese from Haystack Mountain, Goat Dairy will work well. Traylor also thinks bacon from Tender Belly would be a tasty substitute for prosciutto. He’s also tried this recipe using grilled peaches.
Ingredients
1 loaf of rustic bread, such as ciabatta
2 peaches, sliced
¼ to ½ cup of soft cheese
3 to 4 thin slices of prosciutto
Directions
Slice bread and spread each slice with creamy cheese. Top each bruschetta with a slice of fresh peach. Tear the prosciutto into pieces and lay a few strips on each bruschetta. The appetizer can be served cold, or can be toasted in the oven for a few minutes at 400 degrees.
The Palisade Peach
Anne Keller, co-owner of The Hot Tomato in Fruita, developed this sweet-savory pizza when she was gifted with more peaches than she could eat. Five years later, it’s a restaurant favorite. You can buy fresh pizza dough at some grocery stores, including Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, or make your own. Keller suggests a New York-New Jersey style recipe from dough expert Tom Lehman, available at pizzamaking.com/lehmann-nystyle.php. This recipe has no sauce, and it requires a pizza stone for your oven.
Ingredients
Dough for a 12- to 14-inch pizza
8 ounces good-quality, whole-milk, low-moisture mozzarella cheese
5 to 6 ounces sliced Canadian bacon or other good-quality, deli-style ham, quartered
1½ ripe peaches cut into thin slices
4 ounces of gorgonzola cheese (Stella brand works great)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
Directions
Place pizza stone on an oven rack at the second shelf from the top. Preheat the oven to 550 degrees (if it goes that high, but no less than 500 degrees). Stretch your pizza crust to 12- to 14-inches across. Spread mozzarella on the dough. Evenly distribute the sliced ham over the pizza, with the slices overlapping slightly. Place peach slices evenly across the pie. Sprinkle with gorgonzola and chopped fresh rosemary. Bake pizza on stone until it is nicely browned, 8 to 13 minutes, depending on how hot your oven gets.
Peaches & Creamy Ricotta, Lemon Verbena, Creamed Honey Drizzle,
Pistachio Cracker
Tables restaurant on Kearney Street in North Park Hill is known for highlighting seasonal fruits and vegetables from Colorado, and recently dished up this delectable appetizer, which was light and fresh and the perfect complement to our sangria. The subtlety of the lemon and ricotta let the peaches — from Ela Family Farms in Hotchkiss — be the star. Recipe courtesy chef Amy Barrett, who owns Tables with her chef husband, Dustin.
Pistachio Cracker:
Ingredients
¼ cup warm water
¼ tablespoon yeast
¾ cup flour
¼ cup toasted pistachios
1½ tablespoons butter
¼ tablespoon salt
Extra toasted pistachios, crushed
Directions
Mix first four ingredients in a blender or food processor, then add salt and butter. Mix again until blended. Using a pasta machine, roll the dough down from the No. 1 setting to the No. 3 setting. Prick the flattened dough with fork, then brush with water. Sprinkle with salt and cut into 2-by-2-inch squares. Sprinkle more crushed pistachios on top. Bake on parchment paper at 350 degrees for 5 minutes each side.
Lemon Verbena Vinaigrette
(Makes 1 quart)
Ingredients
1 cup lemon juice
1¼ cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 medium shallot, chopped
The leaves of 1 sprig thyme
½ cup olive oil
2½ cups sunflower oil
1½ tablespoons finely chopped lemon verbena
Salt and pepper to taste
Mix lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, brown sugar, shallot and thyme in a blender or food processor. With the blender running, slowly add the olive oil and sunflower oil to emulsify. Remove from blender, add the lemon verbena and gently blend, adding salt and pepper to taste.
Ricotta (Makes about 1 quart)
Ingredients
1 gallon milk
2 tablespoons salt
½ cup lemon juice
Directions
In a large saucepan, scald the milk, then add ½ cup lemon juice. Turn heat to low, and let the mixture separate for 15 minutes. Strain liquid through cheese cloth.
To assemble the appetizer, spread 2 tablespoons of the ricotta on the bottom of a plate. Mix a few watercress leaves, ¾ of a large peach cut into chunks, and 1½ tablespoons of lemon verbena vinaigrette in bowl. Place the dressed greens and peaches on a plate. Drizzle creamed honey (such as the one made locally by Honeyville in Durango) over top, then sprinkle with crushed roasted pistachio bits and fresh black pepper. Serve on plate with pistachio crackers.
Peach Pie Supreme
As a co-worker noted, we’ve yet to make a recipe from the Junior League cookbook Creme de Colorado that isn’t delicious, as well as appropriate for Denver’s altitude. However, the pastry recipe suggested with this pie called for whole milk, which we didn’t have on hand. So we used an old standby recipe handed down from mom, taken from from a 1960s edition of the Betty Crocker Cookbook. Note: Don’t underbake this pie or the center will be runny.
Makes 8 servings
Ingredients
1 10-inch deep dish pastry shell (see below)
10-12 medium peaches, peeled, pitted and sliced
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons butter
sweetened whipped cream
Directions
Prepare pastry shell. Mound peaches in unbaked shell. In small bowl, mix sugar, eggs and flour until smooth. Pour over peaches. Dot with butter. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, then at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes. Let sit before serving. Serve with sweetened whipped cream.
Betty Crocker Pie Crust
Ingredients
For a single-crust 10 inch pie
1⅓ cup flour
½ tsp salt
½ cup Crisco shortening
4 to 5 tablespoons ice water (we add a bit more in Denver’s arid climate)
Directions
Measure flour and salt into a bowl. Cut in shortening. Sprinkle in water, mixing until flour moistened and dough almost cleans side of the bowl. Gather dough into a ball; shape into flattened round on lightly floured surface. Roll dough 2 inches larger than inverted pie plate. Fold into quarters and ease into plate. Flute edges. For baked shell, prick bottom and sides of dough with fork and bake at 475 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.
Grilled Peaches with Ice Cream, Crème Fraîche and Balsamic Reduction
Video producer Amy Brothers dreamed up this August treat that combines sweet, warm Colorado peaches caramelized on the grill with cold ice cream and the tang of crème fraîche, tied up with a drizzle of balsamic reduction. Don’t be afraid if the peaches look burned; that crispness is the texture you want. You can make this using only ice cream, or with crème fraîche and ricotta.
Ingredients
3 to 4 large peaches
Canola oil for brushing peaches
½ cup balsamic vinegar
⅔ cup crème fraîche
⅓ cup ricotta
Vanilla ice cream
Directions
Heat grill to a medium heat, around 375 degrees. Cut peaches in half and brush with canola oil. Once grill is hot, place peaches flesh side down on grill and close the grill. The peaches should caramelize on one side and cook through from the heat of the grill. Combine crème fraîche and ricotta; stir until smooth. Remove peaches from the grill when they are soft to the touch.
To make the reduction, bring balsamic vinegar to a boil in a small saucepan and simmer until it is thick and sweet to the taste. Remove from heat as soon as your spoon starts to make marks on the bottom of the pan. It thickens as it cools, so be careful not to reduce it too much.
Place peaches in serving bowls, top with ice cream, crème fraîche mixture and drizzle with balsamic reduction.
Fragrant Orange and Lemon Cake
This Tuscan-style cake from Patricia Wells’ “Trattoria” cookbook is dense enough in texture to soak up saucy peaches without disintegrating, and the citrus flavor is a lovely foil to the sweetness of Colorado’s favorite summer fruit. She bakes it in a Bundt pan, but we made it in a tube pan.
Ingredients
Unsalted butter and all-purpose flour for preparing the cake pan
3 cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
¾ cup whole milk
8 ounces unsalted butter, softened
1½ cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
5 large eggs
Confectioners sugar for dusting (optional)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Evenly coat the interior of a 10-inch bundt pan with butter. Dust lightly with flour, shaking out the excess flour. Set aside.
Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. Stir in the orange and lemon zests.
Combine the orange and lemon juices and the milk and set aside to “sour” the milk.
In a large bowl, using a hand-held electric mixer at high speed, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. One at a time, beat in the eggs, mixing well after each addition. The mixture will look curdled, but don’t worry. Alternating in thirds, add the milk and flour mixtures, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and place in the center of the oven. Bake until the cake is an even, golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 to 55 minutes. (Don’t worry if the cracks in the top of the cake don’t look dry — use the toothpick test to check for doneness.) Transfer to a wire rack to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Turn out onto a serving plate. If desired, sift confectioners sugar over the top of the cake. Slice into wedges and serve for breakfast, as a snack, or for dessert.
Summer Peaches and Raspberries
This is another Italian treat suggested by Patricia Wells in “Trattoria.” The tangy raspberries pair well in flavor — and color — with Palisade peaches. She suggests this as a stand-alone dessert, but we used it as a topping for the Fragrant Orange and Lemon Cake.
Ingredients
5 ripe peaches (about 2 pounds)
¼ cup sugar
¾ teaspoon vanilla
2 cups raspberries (about 8 ounces)
Directions
Peel the peaches: Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Drop the peaches in one by one and scald until the skins are softened, about 1 to 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the peaches and plunge directly into cold water. Once cool enough to handle, peel the peaches using the tip of a small, sharp knife. Discard the skin.
Coarsely chop 3 of the peeled peaches and place in the bowl of a food processor. Add 2 tablespoons of the sugar and puree. Spoon the puree into a porcelain baking dish and spread evenly over the bottom.
Cut the remaining peeled peaches into 16 even slices. Place in a bowl and toss with 1 tablespoon of sugar and vanilla. Evenly arrange the peach slices, slightly overlapping, on top of the puree, forming a ring of peaches around the edge of the dish. Cover and refrigerate for up to four hours.
At serving time, toss the raspberries with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Carefully spoon the berries on top of the puree, filling in the center of the dish. Serve immediately.
Peach Salsa
This recipe from NatashasKitchen.com provides a sweet heat that’s delicious as a dip with tortilla chips, but also would be a great cold sauce for grilled meats or fish. The original recipe calls for tomatoes and peaches diced with the skins on. We blanched our tomatoes and peaches because the skins were tough — the peaches for about 3 minutes and the tomatoes for less than a minute. We plunged both into cold water and then peeled with a sharp knife. Serves 6 to 8.
Ingredients
1 pound tomatoes, diced
1 bell pepper, seeded and finely diced
1 or 2 jalapeños, seeded and finely diced
1 medium onion, finely diced
1½ pounds peaches, diced
½ bunch cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoons lime juice
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
Chop tomatoes and transfer them to a large bowl. Finely chop seeded bell pepper and jalapeños. Finely chop onion and transfer all your veggies to the bowl with the tomatoes. Add diced peaches, cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper. Mix gently until ingredients are well combined.
Spiced Peach Jam
Assistant city editor Alison Borden adds a little spice to a traditional peach jam recipe to create a savory, sweet concoction — perfect for English muffins or on a slice of Brie and crackers. Use the plate-in-the-freezer test to ensure the jam will set: Put a small plate in the freezer while the jam is boiling. When you think the jam has gelled, grab the plate and put a spoonful of the hot jam on it. Let it sit for a minute or two, then test the jam with your finger. If the puddle has formed a surface skin and developed some solidity, it is done. If it is runny and saucy, give it a few more minutes. It always takes more time than you think it should for the jam to reduce and properly gel. Patience might as well be on the ingredient list. But, not to worry if you run out of it — the syrupy jam you’ll end up with will still be delicious and can be used on pancakes or waffles. Or mixed into ice cream. Or just eaten out of the jar by the spoonful. But that goes for the jam that sets, too.
Makes 8 half pints
Ingredients
4 cups sugar
8 cups finely chopped, peeled ripe peaches (about 6 pounds)
½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon unsalted butter (this helps reduce foam while cooking; it can be omitted, but foam should be skimmed off with a metal spoon before the spices are added)
6 ounces of liquid fruit pectin
1½ teaspoons of cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon of freshly ground allspice
pinch of freshly ground cloves
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Instructions
Prepare peaches. You can run batches of peeled, halved peaches through a food processor before adding them to the pot, or use an immersion blender once the peaches are in the pot. Combine sugar, peaches, lemon juice and butter in a heavy, 6- to 8-quart pot. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. Stir in the pectin and bring to a full roiling boil, stirring constantly. Lower heat to medium high and let jam reduce and properly gel.
Mix the cinnamon, allspice, cloves and nutmeg in a small bowl.
Remove the pot from the heat. Add the spices to the jam and stir well just before filling the jars.
Ladle the hot jam into hot, sterilized half-pint canning jars, leaving a ¼-inch head space. Wipe jar rims and adjust lids.
Process the filled jars in a boiling-water canner for 15 minutes (5 minutes if you’re at sea level). Start timing when the water returns to a boil. Remove jars from canner and cool on wire racks.
If you want to give this jam more of a kick, stir in ½ cup to 1 cup of bourbon with the sugar, peaches, butter and lemon juice.
Canning peaches
Features editor Barbara Ellis cans peaches every year, and uses them all winter long over ice cream or in pies (just reduce the amount of sugar called for in any recipe). You can use a peeler to get the skins off, or dip peaches in boiling water to scald, then drop into ice water, and they will come off easily.
Ingredients
Peaches, peeled and sliced
Fruit Fresh
Canning jars, sanitized in dishwasher
Canning lids (sanitized) and bands
Syrup (canning liquid), method below
Large pot to boil filled jars
Directions
Mix a bath of Fruit Fresh and water (to prevent browning) in a bowl and dip peach slices. Place peaches in sanitized jars, pressing down gently to pack. Add hot syrup to cover, leaving ½ inch of headroom. (We use a 20 percent (light) syrup solution, which is 9 cups of water to 2¼ cups of sugar for a 7-quart load. Put sugar and water in a pan, bring to a boil and heat until the sugar dissolves.) Wipe rim of jar with clean paper towel to ensure seal, then cover with canning lids and tighten bands. Boil in hot water bath 25 to 30 minutes.
