What You Should Be Doing with All Those Summer Peaches
Is there anything more indicative of early summer than fresh, juicy, impossibly sweet peaches? Peaches generally have either white or yellow flesh, but both varieties are generally interchangeable. If they are perfectly ripe, that is. Un-ripened peaches aren’t any good to anybody, so please make sure you are working with peaches in their peak before eating or cooking with them. You can tell that they are ripe when you can squeeze them (gently) and they give a bit.
Also, they should smell distinctly sweet and floral. Aside from eating them right out of your hand, there are about a million ways to use peaches creatively. They pair extremely well with other sweet flavors like raspberries (aka “Peach Melba”), vanilla, and other stone fruits. Peach pie, tarts, muffins, breads, and cakes are all a great way to go! I love grilling fresh, halved peaches until their juices begin to bubble and serving them with sweetened ricotta cheese and crumbled graham cracker crumbs.
Peaches are also incredible paired with savory and salty flavors. Try macerating peaches with a bit of sugar until they get jammy, and using them as a foil for goat cheese, Parma ham, and olives on a charcuterie board. Or throw peaches into your favorite barbecue sauce and let them cook down into smoky, syrupy goodness!
About the Chef
Stephanie Goldfarb is a Chicago-based chef and national food television personality specializing in seasonal, globally-inspired cuisine. Recognized as the winner of Food Network’s America’s Best Cook competition, and a celebrity chef on Kitchen Inferno and NBC’s Food Fighters, Goldfarb delivers unique and relatable culinary experiences to discriminating and casual diners alike. As the owner of the successful Seven Species Supper Club & Catering, she enjoys the challenge of building brand new menus each month that inspire both repeat clients and newcomers, and seeks opportunities to utilize new ingredients, techniques, and approaches in accessible ways.