Peaches and Apricots

New Zealand Listener, Volume 36, Issue 914, 15 February 1957, Page 22

Peaches and Apricots

EACHES are a lovely fruit to eat when ripe and juicy. Apricots and the harder peaches make delicious stewed fruit, all kinds of tempting desserts, and jams. and chutneys. And don’t forget spiced peaches, beloved of Americans, to eat with cold ham or tongue. Chutneys are more and more in demand, being most useful in savouries and sandwiches as well as with cheese dishes, cold meat or poultry and curry. Pickled Peaches (Spiced) One pint vinegar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 142 cups sugar, few cloves, Boil for 10 minutes. Add the halved and stoned peaches. Boil till tender. Lift into hot jars, boil the syrup again, and pour over, Add a few cloves to. each jar and seal airtight. White vinegar may be used, Peach Flan Slice peaches and stew them gently till tender with honey or sugar, and not too much water in a covered casserole, with a squeeze of lemon juice, All fruits are delightful done like this, excellent for eating with or without cream, as breakfast fruit, or as dessert, Do a big quantity and use some of it for this flan: Make up a packet of jelly (either peach or pineapple), using half water and half peach syrup. Let the sliced peaches soak in the jelly. Have ready cooked a deep pastry shell, cold. Fill this with peach slices, pour over as much jelly as it will hold, and leave to set. or nice with almond flavoured custard or cream. Peach Rice Custard Peel, halve and stone the peaches. Place in baking dish, with cavities uppermost. Fill cavities with chopped nuts, sprinkle with cinnamon or grated nutmeg. Make rice custard with cup of cooked rice, 4% cup of sugar, 2 eggs and a large cup of milk, and pour custard over peaches. Bake about half an hour, and serve with cream, Peach Shamrock Salad This is a typical American salad mixture of sweet and savoury. In each saladplate make a shamrock of three large, crisp, cup-shaped lettuce leaves. In one put a large spoonful of chopped crayfish seasoned with a slight grating of onion and mixed with your favourite | mavonnaise. and on this put a peach-

half, cut-side up, filled with a dab of mayonnaise. In the second lettuce cup put a big spoonful of cottage cheese, top

it with a peach-half, filled with a little raspberry jam. Stick salted almonds into the cottage cheese, In the third lettuce cup arrange grapefruit or orange sections in a ring around a peach-half, and fill the peach with grated cheese, Garnish the whole plate with olives. Peach and Tomato Chutney Four pounds peaches, 1 tablespoon salt, 2 lb. tomatoes, 2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 2 lb. apples, 2 large teaspoons peppercorns, 2 lb, onions, 1 teaspoon cloves, 2 lb. brown sugar, 1 large bottle vinegar. Tie peppercorns and cloves in small bag. Peel fruit and cut up small, Boil all together about 2 hours or till well pulped, This is not a hot chutney, so more cayenne may be added to taste. Peach and Plum Chutney Slice and stone 2 lb, peaches and 2 Ib, plums. Have ripe but firm fruit. Put in layers in a dish, sprinkle each layer with a little pepper and salt, leave 24 hours. Drain, put fruit in pan with 4 cups vinegar, 2 lb, brown sugar, 3 oz. preserved ginger, 2 oz. cloves and ¥2 lb. onions cut finely. Boil slowly till peaches are tender. Strain through sieve, fill small jars and make airtight. Celestial Peaches (Chinese) Skin large peaches, cut in halves and remove stones. Arrange them cut side uppermost on baking tin, Into each centre put a little thick ginger syrup (from Chinese jars of preserved ginger). Bake lightly in moderate oven and let get cold, Fill centres with ice cream and sprinkle finely chopped nuts and preserved ginger on top, Peach Junket Have sufficient ripe peaches for the family, peel and halve them, and arrange them in a glass or china bowl. Make an ordinary junket with good rich milk, sweetened a little, pour it immediately over the fruit and leave it to set, Serve with a good custard sauce, or cream. If the peaches are not luscious and ripe, they may be slowly cooked and drained dry before putting into bowl. Apricot Jam (Fresh) Wipe with a damp cloth. Cut in halves, remove stones, and weigh. Allow

pound for pound of sugar. Lay the fruit in the pan, with layers of sugar, and stand overnight. Next. day, bring slowly to the boil, stirring constantly, and boil quickly till it will set--30 to 40 minutes. Peach Jam Three pounds peaches, 3 pints water, 5 Ib. sugar, juice of a lemon, and 1 tablespoon butter. Cut up peaches and boil in water till soft. Add sugar and butter, and lemon juice. Boil very hard, stirring frequently till a lovely golden

colour and will set, About 45 minutes. Not too stiff. These proportions of fruit and water may be used for a apricots and nectarines. Another Peach Jam Three-quarters of a pound of sugar to 1 lb. fruit. Peel and slice the peaches, put in large enamel bowl, add* half the sugar, and leave all night. Next morning boil till peaches are tender, and add rest of the sugar. Boil rapidly till jam will set when tested. If very dry to start, add 4% cup of water or juice of a lemon.

NEXT WEEK: Jam-making Time