Courgette and Peach Chutney

Here we go again with the same ingredients but this time something for the winter.  We've had strong winds this week and it has blown loads of the peaches to the ground, they were still in good condition and totally usable.  Courgettes, well they just keep coming.

Makes about 2.5 kg

Ingredients


1kg courgettes
1kg peaches
3 large onions
150g sultanas
500g sugar
1 litre white wine vinegar
1 stick of cinnamon
4 star anise
1 tablespoon coriander
3 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds
1 tablespoon Jamaican pepper
2-3 fresh chili peppers
1 tablespoon ginger powder
1 teaspoon cardamon pods


How to go about it


Peel and chop courgettes into cubes, chop peaches.  Put in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of the salt and let degorge for 30 minutes, rinse and pat dry.  Put all ingredients into large saucepan, bring slowly to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes.  Then turn up heat a little and cook for 1.5 hours until nearly all the liquid has evaporated.  Put into hot, sterilized jars and seal.  Leave for at least 6 months.

Peach, Swiss Chard and Cabrales Pie

I've been thinking about making this Provençal pie for a few years now but the whole idea of vegetables and fruit didn't quite do it for me.  I'm used to eating spinach with sultanas and pine nuts, a Catalan dish that I love but I needed to clinch the recipe.  I mused over different cheese and even bought two or three but in the end I decided on the cabrales.  A strong blue cheese from Asturias in northern Spain.  It can be made from unpasteurised cows milk or more traditionally made with a blend of goat's and sheep's milk.  Other blue cheeses can be used in its place, Stilton would be a good choice.

The pastry is made with a blend of plain flour and Gofio, a toasted wheatgerm from the Canary Islands.

Serves 4 - 6

Preheat oven to 180°c

Ingredients

For the pastry

150g plain flour

50g gofio

100g butter

1 egg yolk

1 - 2 tablespoons cold water

salt and freshly ground pepper

Filling

1 kg Swiss chard or spinach

80g pine nuts

80g sultanas

100g cabrales

2 - 3 peaches

pinch of cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg

1 teaspoon of sugar

salt and pepper

2 eggs

50ml single cream or milk

How to go about it

Firstly put the sultanas in half a cup of water and bring to boil and then leave to cool in liquid.  Rub the butter into the two flour, add salt and a good grinding of pepper.  Bind with egg yolk and water to form pastry.  knead for seconds and wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Take off the centres of chard an use in another recipe.  Cook green part in boiling water for 3 minutes, drain and cool and squeeze out all of liquid.  Lightly roast pine nuts, finely chop chard and mix with sultanas, pine nuts, spices, eggs, and cream, crumble the cheese and also add.  Season. 

Butter shallow pie dish and roll-out half the pastry and line pie dish.  Fill with chard mixture.  Cut peaches in half and stone and slice in medium slices, lay on top of chard and sprinkle the sugar on top.  Roll out the other half of pastry and cover the pie.  Brush with beaten egg mixed with tablespoon of water.  Bake for 45 - 55 minutes.

I wasn't disappointed, I think it was worth the two year musing before making it.  After all, you can't rush things in the Mediterranean.

Peach pavlova

I can't stop going to the fridge and eating small slices of this.  I know I shouldn't because it has a lot of calories and now the Tour de France has started, I'll watch it everyday and be so enthused to get on by bike and return to my youthful fitness. 

When it all goes 'peach shape', or I do,  I'll blame my husband for letting me eat it and not taking an active interest in my fitness but still I will return to the fridge for just one more slice.    So don't make this pavlova. 

or maybe just once

Ingredients


4 egg whites
200g sugar
1 teaspoon cornflour
1/2 teaspoon vinegar
3-4 ripe peaches
500ml whipping cream
2 tablespoons of icing sugar




How to go about it

Preheat oven to 120°c

Whip egg whites until stiff, then add sugar tablespoon at a time, whip between tablespoons, it should be nice and glossy and stiff.  Add cornflour then vinegar, mix.  Line a baking tray with silicone paper and mark a large circle of 25cm diameter.  Spoon half of the egg whites on to circle, spreading out.  Place the rest of the egg whites into a piping bag with a large star nozzle and pipe a boarder, building up the sides until all used up.  Bake in the middle of the oven for 45 minutes until firm.  Let cool in the oven.  When you are ready to fill meringue, whip cream and add icing sugar to taste.  Stone peaches and slice.  Fill with cream and arrange peaches on top.

Peach and frangipani tart

There's one thing I have an almost unlimited supply of in my garden and that is almonds.  We have about 5 large productive trees, that give us about 70 kilos plus of almonds, still in there shells, per year.  Minus the loads that my Labrador eats!

So being of tight nature I am determined to use them.  This week the peaches have finally started to  ripen.  I have been squeezing them everyday to check and in the last couple of days they have been falling off the tree in heavy ripeness.  So I decided to marry them together to make this unctuous tart.

I asked my husband what he thought of this tart and he said that he needed to eat more of it, until he felt he could comment.  What does that mean? 

Makes a 23cm flan dish


Ingredients


For the paté sucre


200g plain flour
100g unsalted butter
50g ground almonds
50g sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons cold water
grated zest of a lemon


Filling


6-8 peaches, depending on size
100g ground almonds
100g unsalted butter
100g sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon plain flour
2 tablespoons kirsch or eau de vie or rum
2 tablespoons of red currant jam or quince jelly


Preperation time 20 minutes


Cooking time 40minutes


How to go about it


Preheat oven to 200° c, put in baking tray in middle of oven.


Make the pastry by rubbing the butter into the flour.  Add sugar, almonds and lemon zest, mix.  Mix in egg yolk and cold water.  Knead for a few seconds.  Wrap in cling film and refrigerate.


To make the filling whizz all ingredients together except the jam.


Cut peaches in half, twist and cut out stone and slice into large wedges.  Reserve on a plate. 


Butter flan dish, roll out pastry and line dish.  Put in frangipani and arrange peach slices in decreasing circle, pushing them into mixture.  Place in oven on preheated oven tray and cook for 10 minutes on 200°c.  Turn oven down to 175°c and cook for a further 30 minutes.  Cool. 


Mix jam and water and heat up and then paint over flan.

Peach and lemon verbena drink

 Well the heat has arrived, as have the peaches.  To take advantage of this I quickly made this today to cool everyone down and use surplus peaches.

For 1 litre jug

Ingredients

4 peaches
2 pots of plain yoghurt
sugar to taste
ice cubes
water, fizzy or still
2-3 leaves of lemon verbena or lemon balm or juice of half a lemon

How to go about it

Peel peaches by scalding in boiling water for 30 seconds, or if you prefer leave skin on.  Crush ice by wrapping in a tea towel and bash it a with rolling pin.  Put all ingredients together in a liquidizer and whizz. 

Store in fridge and serve with extra ice or water