Palisade Peach Festival: cooking with peaches

 

 

 

Before the Palisade Peach Festival kicks off, Chef Wayne Smith shows us how to make spiced poached peaches.

 

Cook your own at home with this recipe:

 

Spice-Poached Peaches

 

10 Palisade peaches, tender and perfectly ripe

 

1 ½ pounds sugar (about 3 – 3 ½ cups)

 

1 bottle Colorado Reisling

 

4 whole cloves

 

2 cinnamon sticks

 

2 strips of lemon peel, yellow portion only

 

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

 

1 cardamom pod

 

Blanch, shock, peel, halve, and pit the peaches. Place them in a heat-proof crock. While preparing the peaches make a syrup by combining the sugar, wine, and spices and bringing to a rapid boil. Pour the syrup over the peaches, allow the syrup to cool, then cover and refrigerate.

 

Keeps up to one week. The peaches can be served with ice cream, whipped cream, cake, waffles, on their own, or with a multitude of accompaniments. Once the peaches are gone do not discard the syrup. It can be boiled and used again to poach fruit or in other recipes and cocktails.

 

Note: to blanch and shock peaches are other items to remove skins use this method. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and set up a large bowl of ice water. Carefully place the peaches in the boiling water using a large spoon or tongs. Remove the peaches to the ice water when the skins crack or slip when rubbed. If the skins are still firm after one minute remove the peaches to the ice bath to stop the cooking then repeat the process until the skins slip. Once the peaches have cooled the skins can be easily removed.

 

The Palisade Peach Festival begins on August 16th and runs until August 19th. One day passes are $5 for adults and $3 for kids. For more information on the festival visit palisadepeachfest.com