I hope you have had the pleasure of eating fresh peaches lately. I believe there has been a  bumper crop available lately in the stores and in backyards and orchards of sumptious, rosy cheeked, flavorful, juicy peaches.  They are so good to just eat out of hand with the juice oozing out.  They are also so yummy in so many ways.  And...believe it or not peaches like the accent of a spark of chile--red or green, it does not matter. 

I have brightened many a peach crisp, cobbler, chutney and pie with chiles.  I usually like a real spark, so I use the Pequin chiles, very sparingly.  Any dish that calls for cinnamon or ginger will benefit with the substitution or adition of a bit of pequin.  Just reduce or omit the cinnamon or ginger and add pequin instead.  I know you will be very pleased.

The Pequin chiles are sometimes called the "Fairy God Mother" (due to being the first known chile) of  chiles and were first known to be grown in the meridian of the south Texas Border all the way to Key West, Florida.  In the past, some called them bird chiles as the birds loved to peck at them.

Just for fun, I am placing our latest, brand new suppply of Pequin Chiles on a half price sale so you can have some fun experimenting with them.

We will be starting our cooking classes up again in September .  I mentioned the dates and themes in last week's blog and  I hope to see you again this fall.  They are featured on the first page of our website, www.janebutelcooking.com with links for registration.

Here's a couple of favorite fresh peach reacipes--

GRILLED STUFFED PEACHES 

Hot peaches right from the grill are delectable. They can be cooked ahead of time and served hot or cold or they can cook while you are eating. Just leave the grill on and if you’re using charcoal, add enough charcoal to sustain a moderate heat for 30 minutes in small area

Yield: 4 large servings or 8 small servings

5 large, fresh freestone peaches

1 Tablespoon honey or brown sugar

¼ cup crisp cookies, such as oatmeal, sugar or any flavor compatible with peaches broken

2 Tablespoons plain or vanilla yogurt

1/2 to 1 teaspoon Pequin

2 teaspoons hazelnut, orange or even peach liqueur

1. Preheat grill to medium or 350F (175C) if not hot. Butter a 9 X 13-inch baking pan that will not get damaged on the grill or cover the bottom with foil. Peel and pit 1 peach; place in a blender or food processor. Halve remaining 4 peaches lengthwise and remove pits. Scoop out about ½ inch of flesh from each peach center and add to flesh in blender. Arrange peach halves in prepared pan. Add honey, cookies yogurt and liqueur to blender. Process until combined and spoon mixture into hollow of each peach half, mounding it up. Place pan or grill rack and cover grill. Bake until peaches are fork tender, about 15 minutes. 

PEACH BUTTERSCOTCH CRISP 

Crunchy, gooey, and wonderful! The spicy crystallized ginger really adds to the flavor. You can substitute other fruits for the peaches-try apricots, any kind of berry, plums, or rhubarb. If you don’t mind the calories, top the crisp with whipped cream or ice cream.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

About 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ cup finely diced crystallized ginger or add or  substitute 1/2 to 1 teaspoon Pequin

½ unsalted butter

2 cups fresh or frozen unsweetened sliced peaches or other fruit (thaw frozen fruit just until mushy, and then pull apart with a fork)

1.  Preheat oven to 375° F. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish. In a medium bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Spread fruit in buttered baking dish, and then sprinkle with crumb mixture. Bake, uncovered, for 35 to 40 minutes, or until fruit is soft and crumb topping is brown.