Don’t you just love all those soft, luscious, rustic food photos you see in various publications and mediums like this? What the general public doesn’t know however is the crazy stories that are behind the photos… ohh delicious tales that if made into a reality TV show would be a runaway hit! Fanatical photographers, moody stylists, sleep deprived chefs, sets that fall apart, assistants stuck in traffic. Drama! Culinary theatre!

Now, observe the photo of the peaches above…This seems to be a serene photo of carefully chosen peaches resting nice and happy on a clean white towel, right? And then you see the transformation from peach to cooked fruit, the toasted baguette and the bench they both sit on… the promise of a nice relaxing morning in the countryside. Not a care in the world; imagery that is supposed to make the viewer feel at peace and hungry. It is all an illusion, I can assure you… This is a story of some unexpected peaches that stumbled into my life.

The day before taking the photo, I was leaving the bank near the produce market when I heard a lady yell, “Hey Baby, you want some peaches?” I turned in her direction to find a woman running down the street with a cart stacked with three double flats of local peaches. “How much?” I ask. “Three bucks for a case, but I’ll take more!” she responds. Pondering the deal, I look over the peaches and realized that they were about 2 minutes away from being rotten. After inquiring where she got them, she answered, “Baby, I grew ‘em in my back yard,” followed by a hoarse laugh. “Nah, the vegetable company down the road gave them to me ’cause they’ll just throw them away tomorrow.” Realizing I was purchasing some fruit on the verge that nearly hit the dumpster, I gave her the money with the notion to make cooked fruit.

With a cook’s road paved with good intentions, I stuck the peaches in the back of my car and headed off to an event. I have to admit that I forgot about the peaches until later that night. It was midnight by the time I got home but I was determined to at least prep them and at least get them in a pot ready for the preserves. I rinsed the peaches, placed them on the nice clean towel you see in the picture and waited until morning to make the preserves. The next morning I made the jelly, which by the way really did taste good… A Hollywood true-life happy ending story for the dumpster bound fruit!

Peaches with Whisky and Honey

10 medium ripe fresh peaches, pitted, and rough chopped *I keep the skins on
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
¼ cup Whisky and a shot for the cook!
1 ¾ ounce powdered fruit pectin
1 ¼ cups sugar
1 cup really good honey

In a large thick bottom sauté pot, combine ½ the peaches, lemon juice and Whisky.
In a small bowl, combine the pectin and 1/4 cup of the sugar and mix well. (you do this because if you add hot liquid straight to the pectin it will clump up). Over medium-high heat, bring the peach mixture to a full boil. In roughly 5 minutes it will turn to liquid, at this point whisk about a half-cup of the hot liquid into the pectin and sugar mixture. Stir well and add to the peaches. Turn down the heat a tad and add the rest of the sugar and honey (I like to use less sugar, as most recipes call for 3 cups. I supplement with some honey. Plus it adds a nice sting on the tongue!). Cook for another 5 minutes or so constantly stirring the pot. Careful! You can burn the preserves very easily. Once the mixture has gelled and starts to thicken, fold in the rest of the peaches. Turn down the heat to a simmer, stir the pot, and cook for another couple of minutes. Take off the heat and cool. You can preserve the peaches by boiling mason jars and canning or simply ladle into jars that you’ve saved up over the months and give to friends and loved ones!

I’ve waited ten long years to go to the Gilroy garlic festival! Ten years… the days leading up to it was the feeling I use to get waiting for Santa Claus; I was shaking with anticipation. So instead of a new red rider or double pump bb gun I was looking forward to big vats of pickled garlic, a garlic strong man, garlic shooting out of a cannon, a garlic fortune teller… and much like “Duff man” on the Simpsons, I wanted to see a bona fide “stinkin garlic man” equipped with a flaming red cape. But that wasn’t how it played out, not even close! Sure there was plenty of food with garlic in it, but to me that wasn’t enough to satisfy any food lovers imagination. Oh ya, don’t let me forget the garlic ice cream.. I guess that was unique enough..
ok ok.. I suppose it was a fun gathering. They did have beer gardens (3 total) and plenty of live entertainment. The vibe was happy even in the 100 degree plus heat and people seemed to be enjoying themselves. It was wonderful for the local economy and it appeared that a lot of locals took part and volunteered their time. We ate garlic artichoke fritters, barbecued pork, crayfish, grilled corn with garlic butter and some roast garlic with two small rounds of stale toast. In the end I have to say that I wouldn’t recommend the festival to any food lover. It was simply too commercial and lacked soul; plus the drive was long and hot.. next!

This is Chef Stephen with another story from the “flavor highway” chronicles . Until next time!

Aloha from me and all the gang at Hands On Gourmet