Honeyed Peach Pie Filling (for freezing)

I missed the "Peach Jam" at McConnell's Family Farm on Sunday, July 29, 2012 hosted by Slow Food Pittsburgh--but I've done a little stocking up on peaches for the winter on my own.  I made the filling for a peach pie, which I'll freeze and pull out one of those gloomy days in mid-November or beginning of February when we could use a little sweet peach sunshine.  I call it "Pop-in-the-Pan" Peach Filling because the idea is that you freeze the filling in a pie plate so that you can pop it right in pastry-lined pie pan, pop on a top crust and bake it without much fuss at all.  Great for unexpected company!  The recipe is fairly basic; you can try this with any pie filling you'd like--I've made blueberry and strawberry pies this way.  This recipe make filling for two pies.  You can double that if you have a lot of peaches (or cut it in half if you want to make only one pie).  Oh, and you could just go ahead and make a peach pie with this recipe, too. If that's the case, then I'd skip the ascorbic acid step.

Pop-in-the-Pan Honeyed Peach Pie Filling for Freezing

2 quarts peeled fresh peaches, sliced about 1/4 inch thick

1/2 teaspoon powdered ascorbic acid*

1/2 gallon water

1/2-3/4 cup honey, depending on how sweet the peaches are

1/4 cup quick-cooking tapioca, finely ground in a spice mill

1/8 cup lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

Place the peaches in a large container.  Dissolve the ascorbic acid in the water and pour over the peaches.  Drain.  Combine the peaches, honey, tapioca, lemon juice and salt.  

Line two pie plates with heavy-duty aluminum foil, extending the foil about 5 inches over the rims.  Divide the filling evenly between the pans.  Fold the foil loosely over the filling and place in freezer until filling is frozen (about 4 hours) Remove from freezer, take the filling from the pie plates and wrap the foil snugly around filling.  Label with directions for baking (see below) and place in freezer bags.  

*NOTE:  I didn't have any powdered ascorbic acid (vitamin C on hand), which prevents the peaches from browning,  so I ground up some vitamin C tablets (ascorbic acid is vitamin C, after all).  That's not ideal because the tablets include some filler used to keep the tablet intact.  If, like me, you don't have any powdered ascorbic acid around and don't want to use vitamin C tablets, you can use lemon juice or vinegar instead. The peaches will likely turn a bit browner with the lemon juice (and vinegar may add some acidic notes to the final filling flavor).  Use 1/4 cup lemon juice or vinegar for 1/2 gallon of water.

To bake:  Remove the foil from the filling and place it, unthawed, in a pastry-lined pie plate (the same size that you used to form the filling).  Dot with 1-2 tablespoons of butter and sprinkle with cinnamon (or nutmeg) if you'd like.  Add top crust, flute edges and add vent holes. (Or! check out my handy all-butter pie crust recipe and "rustic" fold-the-top-over method of forming the top crust.)  Bake in preheated 425 degree oven for about 1 hour and 10 minutes or until bubbly. (You might need to tent the crust with foil to keep from over-browning.)

Spicy Black Bean, Corn and Peach Salad (and Whole Wheat Flatbread!)

Ah, the peaches are in at McConnell's Family Farm! They truly (truly!) need no embellishment and never disappoint. These are the peaches that convinced me once and for all that it's worth waiting for local fruit to ripen:  I'll never buy another mealy grocery store peach as long as I live!  

While the best way to enjoy these peaches is simply on their own, they will ripen quickly.  We bought a box  about four days ago and a few are showing signs of heading south.  McConnell's corn on the cob is also in, so I decided to put together a kind of southwestern bean salad adding a few peaches to the melange. It's a bit spicy, which Robert likes, but you can play around with the ingredients and turn the heat up or down as you like. (Skip the ground chipotle pepper, for example, or only add half of the jalapeno).

I needed something to go with the salad and tried out Alice Waters's flat bread recipe posted on Carol Stabile's blog, Can't Handle the Heat?  Carol's a friend, colleague and mentor (in the academy and the kitchen).  I used the flatbreads to make a kind of black bean salad fajita (and tinkered with them only minimally--adding a tablespoon of honey; what can I say?).  Read on!

Spicy Black Bean, Corn & Peach Salad

2 cups cooked black beans (or 1 15 oz can, drained)

3 ears of corn, cooked and cut from the cob (or about 1 1/2 cups)

1 stalk celery, minced

1 jalapeno pepper,seeded and minced

1/4 cup red onion, minced

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1/8-1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 cup orange juice

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 tablespoon honey

2 peaches, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch chunks

salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl, add the beans, corn, celery, jalapeno pepper and onion and gently toss to mix. Sprinkle the oil, ground chipotle pepper, salt and cayenne pepper over the mixture and gently toss again.

In a small to medium bowl, combine the juices and honey, stirring well to be sure the honey dissolves.  Add the cut, peeled peaches to the juice and honey mixture (the hope is that this will keep the peaches from turning brown too quickly).

Add the peaches/juices/honey mixture to the beans n'at (as we say Pittsburgh) in the large bowl and gently toss.  Taste and add salt and pepper if needed.  You can serve this salad right away or cover and refrigerate for up to four hours.  Serves 8 (easily).  Try them with flatbread!




Alice Waters's Whole Wheat Flatbread
(via Carol Stabile's Can't Stand the Heat? blog)

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup warm water
1 tablespoon honey (optional!)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

In a bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together.  Stir in the water, olive oil and honey and knead to form a moist dough.  Cover with a towel and let sit for 30 minutes.

Heat a cast iron skillet.  Divide dough into 16 balls. (They will seem quite small, but this is a lovely, pliable dough that will roll out to a thin bread.) Roll each ball into a 6 by 3 inch oval. (Mine were more like raggedy circles.)   I lightly oiled the skillet and cooked one flatbread at a time, about two minutes on each side.  Carol notes they're "great with hummus or other bean dips.  Good with peanut butter and jam.  Better still with Nutella."  They're lovely with a bit of honey and cinnamon, too!

Honey-as-Seasoning for Fall Harvest Bounty!

Back-to-school means were slacking on our blog posts, folks.  My apologies to those who have a hankering for honey recipes and need more ideas!

In these two recipes, the honey acts almost like a seasoning, rather than a main ingredient.

Peaches, Figs, Maytag Blue Cheese & Honey
Our dear friends, Jeff and Laurie, made time in the midst of canning tomatoes to feed me dinner last week. They asked me to bring a seasonal fruit side dish or dessert, and this is what I made.  I would work as a nice "first course," side dish, or--as we used it--dessert. It received rave reviews from Jeff, Laurie and bonus guests, Beth and Steve, who stopped by on their way home from a trip to Chicago.

Two, large-ish fresh peaches, peeled. (McConnell's Farm peaches are amazing!)
Four fresh figs, washed
4 oz Maytag blue cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup almonds, toasted and chopped
2-4 tablespoons summer honey
Just before serving, slice the peaches into 1/2 inch wedges and place in a bowl.  Cut off the stem of the figs, and quarter or "sixth," and add to bowl, and gently toss.  Crumble blue cheese over the fruit.  Add almonds and drizzle honey over top.  Gently toss and serve.  Serves 5-6 (but you might want to add another peach if you're serving six).

Baked Tomato & Cheddar Cheese Pasta
Jeff and Laurie roast their tomatoes before canning them, and gave me the idea for this casserole.  I'll confess that it doesn't look very pretty--it's definitely for a week-night family meal.  Yet it has a pleasing, comfort-food flavor and is a great use of end-of-the-season plum tomatoes.
6-8 medium fresh plum tomatoes, peeled and diced (you could use a 14-oz can of whole tomatoes)
1/2 cup diced sweet onion (like Vidalia)
4 oz sharp yellow cheddar cheese, diced in 1/2 inch dice
2 oz sharp yellow cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 pound dry pasta  (I used medium shells, you could use any smaller size cut pasta)
2 tablespoons summer honey
2 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped (you could substitute fresh oregano or basil)
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly oil a casserole or 8x8 square baking pan.  Boil pasta in salted water for about 4 or 5 minutes less than the package directs.  The pasta should be pliable, but not quite al dente, so it will soak up the tomato juices.  Place the tomatoes, onions, diced cheese & pasta in casserole and toss to combine.  Stir in honey, thyme, salt & pepper. Taste and add more seasoning if needed.  Sprinkle grated cheese on top and bake for about 30 minutes. The cheese should be thoroughly melted in to the dish and it should be bubbling. Let sit for 10 minutes so that the pasta absorbs the cheesy-tomato-y juices.  Serves 4.

Local Goodness: Local Gem! (with link to Peaches & Honey Pizza)

Local Goodness founder, Rhonda Schuldt, is a delightful guide to area farmers' markets, CSAs, specialty foods and restaurants.  She's a passionate supporter of the goodness we grow around us and an inventive chef and her site offers many links to local food sources in the area.  She also hosts a regular segment on KDKA TV where she shows us what we can do with the great local bounty. .

In August, Rhonda's KDKA segment demonstrated making pizza on a grill, including....a great peaches and honey pizza!  Click on the link for that recipe (and many more!).

At the Local Goodness site, also check out Morgan's Moments, which offers a look at local eating from a child's perspective!

Thanks for all the support for local goodness, Rhonda!