by Tracie Zahavich, Fox & Monocle Cafe | photo by Janis Jean Photography –
Peaches are our favourite stone fruit to work with. The sweetness, the juiciness, their intoxicating flavour … the peach is such a versatile ingredient; it’s delicious fresh and holds up well when cooked. Peaches also hold on to smokey flavour well, making them ideal for roasting and grilling. The variety in B.C. peaches adds another layer to their attractiveness. Yellow fleshed, white fleshed and a personal favourite of ours: the doughnut peach.
With how naturally delicious a peach is, has there ever been a better ingredient to hide bad cooking? With these recipes, however, your food shouldn’t turn out bad; it will turn out, well … just peachy!
Peach Frangipane Tart
makes two 4-inch tarts or one 8-inch tart
Peach
1 large peach
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups water
1 vanilla bean, scraped
Cut peach into 8 wedges. Combine sugar water and vanilla and bring to a simmer. Poach peaches in simmering liquid. Remove peaches from poaching syrup and allow to cool.
Frangipane
1 1/4 cups almond flour
1 cup icing sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup soft butter
1 tbsp brandy
1 tsp vanilla extract
Paddle all ingredients together until homogenous
Tart Dough
1 cup cold diced butter
1/4 cup icing sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups flour
Slowly mix butter flour and icing sugar together until it looks crumbly or a bit like sand. Add the egg and continue mixing just until dough comes together.
To assemble Tart
Thinly roll out dough and line a 9” Tart Shell. Place filling into the shell and smooth out the top. Lay poached fruit across the top of the frangipane and place in the oven at 350F for about 40 minutes or until the pastry is golden and the frangipane is firm to the touch.
Lavender and Honey Roasted Peaches
Cut peaches (1/2 to one peach per person, depending how big a dessert you’d like to serve) in half and de-stone. Place peaches cut side down in an oven-safe container. Drizzle with melted butter and honey. Place sprigs of lavender liberally in container and roast at 400°F for 10 to 15 minutes; remove from oven and de-skin if desired. Serve with ice cream.
Sautéed Peaches
Peel and slice peach into 8 wedges. Place peaches into a hot pan with a neutral oil (like canola), enough to coat the peaches. Cook a minute or so on each side until peaches are nicely browned. Add a large knob of butter and continue to cook until butter turns brown. Remove from heat and spoon the browned butter over top of the peaches. Serve any way you like. We enjoy them with roast pork and potatoes.
Congratulations to Fox & Monocle, named one of the Top New Restaurants in Canada by Air Canada enRoute!
