Pickled Peaches
Recipe by Summer House Santa Monica
A sugar and spice-forward brine turns sweet summer peaches into pickles perfect for the winter months. Chef Ben Goodnick from Summer House Santa Monica recommends serving these instead of (or alongside) cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving, as he’s never been a fan of the jiggly red stuff. They still hit all the tart and sweet buttons, but with more complex flavors. He also recommends topping vanilla ice cream with the pickled peaches and some of their syrup for an easy, yet impressive, dessert.
This recipe also works well with watermelon rind. Simply remove (read: eat) the red flesh of the watermelon, peel off the green skin with a potato peeler, and cut the white inner rind into small chunks to fit the jars. Add the brine and refrigerate. The end result is similar to a classic bread and butter pickle – and you are reducing food waste in the process!
Pickled Peaches
A great way to preserve your summer peaches
Yield: 4 pints
Ingredients:
2 cups water
3 pounds peaches
2 cups cider vinegar
3 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons whole cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons pickling spice
1 cinnamon stick
Method:
1. Cut around the pit to half each of the peaches. Remove the pit with a spoon and cut into quarters.
2. Mix the water, cider vinegar, sugar, cloves and pickling spice in a large pot over high heat. Bring brine to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer for 5 minutes. While simmering, periodically stir to make sure all the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and completely chill the brine in the refrigerator.
3. Place the cut peaches in 8 half-pint Mason jars and pour brine over to fill.
4. Put on lids and refrigerate. They will be ready to enjoy in 5 days and will keep up to 3 months in the fridge.
