We love peaches! Back in the day, Marc and I used to do lots of canning of fruit and vegetables. Our kids would only eat the baby gold peaches and would leave all the other canned fruit. After a while we decided no point going through all the trouble and canned only those. Baby Golds stay hard, even when ripe and have a rubbery texture with less juice than other varieties. And another thing….they are cling stone. Why would anyone want to buy them? Well, they are the best peaches for canning (the rich golden flesh maintains that amazing colour in the jars) and baking (because they stay firm with an outstanding sweet peachy flavour). How do you get them off the pit? I start by cutting the peach in half (top to bottom) and twist the peach which will come off the pit on one half. Cut the pit out of the second half of the peach. Peel it like an apple and slice it into wedges to eat, can or bake. We also love to drizzle with olive oil and grill it on the BBQ. Serve it with pork or chicken or add some ice cream for a quick dessert.
Here is what you can expect this week:
Beans Tender and freshly picked this week. They are a good source of vitamin C, potassium and fiber. Beans are also low in sodium which makes them good for baby food. For a quick side dish saute them with garlic and butter. If you are a bit more ambitious, beans are good for pickling and freezing so you can enjoy in the winter months. Check out our on-line store if you want extra.
Eggplant The ultimate versatile fruit (yep, its a fruit not a vegetable) because you can fry it, stuff it, bake it and grill it. There are endless different eggplant recipes you can try. We love to oven roast them and drizzle with lemon or our favorite vinaigrette. Makes a perfect healthy addition to just about any meal.
Cherry Tomatoes Bite-sized tomatoes that are super sweet, some say it’s natures candy. You can also get creative with them….. Penne with roasted cherry tomatoes anyone?
Nectarines Like a smooth skinned peach, they have a rich, sweet taste with a honey-like aroma. Keep them on the counter out of direct sunlight and store them in the fridge when they become soft.
Shashito Peppers Have you ever heard of Shashito peppers? They are thin-skinned little green peppers that you can cook up in a skillet in about 10 minutes. Once they have a little char on them they are irresistible. Nine out of ten Shashito’s are quite mild, but then you will come across one that will made your eyes water.
Carrots A root vegetable often claimed to be the perfect health food. Crunchy, tasty and highly nutritious. A good source of beta carotene, fiber, vitamin K-1, potassium and antioxidants. Need I say more?
Baby Gold Peaches A sample of this special variety that I was talking about. We wanted you to try grilling them, so we enclosed a couple in your basket this week. If you really like them go to our on-line store….we are harvesting them later this week.
Enjoy
