Unusual Uses for Peaches

We're living in the peach belt. Yay, ten miles up the road is a huge orchard with a dozens of types of peaches ripening in waves all summer long.

So besides biting into a ripe one and letting the juice run down your face, what can you do with peaches? Not content to make pies and cobbler, although they are luscious, I did a little research and experimentation.

First up: Peach Salsa. A lovely condiment to use as garnish, in Mexican food, with chips or with scrambled eggs.

My adaption of a recipe on line (a small batch):

2 peaches, peeled and diced

1 Georgia tomato, diced

1/2 Vidalia onion, diced

1/2 green pepper, diced

1 clove garlic, pressed

red pepper

black pepper

salt

juice from 1/2 lime

no cilantro, don't like it

Dan added (much better):

1/2 tbl. molasses

1/2 tbl. balsamic vinegar

Tabasco

Kosher salt

dash of basil

Stir and let ripen in the fridge. Yummy.

Next, the Italian way to eat peaches, from italianfood.about.com:

Slice peaches into glass

Fill with wine

Eat peaches with tip of a knife

If you want, you can let the peaches soak in the wine for a while, with a couple of teaspoons of sugar and dash of nutmeg or cloves.

Leave it to the Italians to figure out how to add wine into a peach recipe. (I am one, you know)

My great-grandparents came from Barga, Italy, a gorgeous Tuscan town on top of a mountain.

Next, I'll be trying another Italian recipe, Marmellata di Pesche, also made with wine. Natch.