Garden Recipes: Green Peach Salad

Sometimes there are so many peaches on your tree, you’re eating and drinking the beautiful fruit, but you’ve got to have something for lunch that is not quite so sweet.  Have this:

Green Peach Salad (for 4 to 6)
2 ½ lb. unripe peaches, peeled and sliced like you’re going to make a pie
Scant ¼ c sugar *
½ t salt
½ t freshly ground black pepper
2 T excellent, flavorful olive oil
2 T fresh mint chiffonade
A handful of arugula for each plate

Toss the peaches with the sugar and salt and let them sit for ten minutes. Add olive oil, mint and pepper and refrigerate for 30+ minutes.  Put a handful of arugula on each plate and then the peach salad. You can also add small or medium shrimp, some garlic mayonnaise and sliced scallions. That’s good too.

*Scant means “just barely.”

Photo Credit: Peach Salad, Creative Commons, Peach salad by viamarisol, is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. 

Garden Cocktails: Peach Bellini

It isn’t surprising news—peaches are in season until September. In the last throes of the summer, we’ll be looking back on these lush days and lush stone fruits a little wistfully. Peaches for every meal would be perfect…breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and cocktails. The trees grow best in full sun in a location where cold air or frost will not settle. Sounds like they grow well in California…Get yourself a tree!  But first, have a drink.

How many Bellinis have you had? Ever make it with fresh peaches?  Invite a friend and celebrate the summer with this easy garden cocktail.

Fresh Peach Bellini (for the two of you)

2 ripe but not squishy white peaches, seed removed, diced (they smell so good)
1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ t honey
1 bottle Prosecco

Put the first three ingredients in a food processor or blender and puree. Press the mixture through a sieve.  Put 2 tablespoons of the puree into each champagne coupe and fill with cold Prosecco. Drink. Repeat.

Be full of praise for peaches, Prosecco and summer.

Photo Credit:

White Peaches, Creative Commons, White Peaches by Dave Parker, is licensed under CC by 2.0

Edible Garden: All About Tomatoes

Emily Moore of Sproutabl, a lawn and garden blog, shares her best tips and practices for growing tomatoes. Check out her helpful infographic below:

And if you’re thinking of using containers, here are some great container garden pot options from our Italian terracotta Classic line and Contemporary terracotta collection.

Photo Credit: Emily Moore, Sproutabl

Garden Recipes | Bye Bye Seasonal Citrus Salad

Here’s a recipe for a last hurrah of the citrus season.  But, no tears now…spring fruit is on the horizon!

Citrus Salad with Some Spice

¼ cup sugar
½ tsp red pepper flakes
¼ cup (packed) cilantro, plus more for serving
4 blood oranges
4 clementines
2 navel oranges
2 tangerines

Combine sugar, cilantro, red pepper flakes and ¼ cup water in a small saucepan.  Heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved.  Strain cilantro syrup through a sieve into a clean jar and set aside.

Using a sharp knife, remove peel and white pith from all of the fruit and slice crosswise into ¼” thick rounds.  Arrange on a platter, drizzle with the cilantro syrup and top with additional cilantro leaves.

Photo Credit: Image in Public Domain, CC0 Public Domain

Garden Cocktails: Blood Orange – The Midwick Sally

Blood Oranges are nearing the end of their season, but don’t forsake our favorite citrus yet, use them with gusto!  They are called Blood Oranges for their deep red flesh and rosy blush on the skin, and are the perfect blend of juicy, sweet and tart. Traditionally grown in Italy, Blood Oranges are popular with chefs for use in creating amazing sauces, sorbets and desserts and cocktails.

These sunny citrus gems should be firm and heavy for their size and might have red/orange skin or just look like a plain old orange.  They should have a sweet, clean scent and may temporarily stain your fingers when you squeeze enough juice to make…

THE MIDWICK SALLY

1 oz. Blood Orange juice
1 oz. Rye Whiskey
½ oz. lime juice
½ oz. Aperol

Shake with ice in a cocktail shaker and serve it over ice in a rocks glass.  Garnish it with a Blood Orange slice frosted with sea salt perched on the rim.  Make one for your friend, too. Or your sister.

Garden Cocktails: Winter Collins

Persimmons always remind me of little, even more colorful pumpkins. Sometimes, after all of the leaves have dropped from the persimmon trees in Autumn, they look like ornaments hung on a tree. If they didn’t get mushy, I might want to make Jack-o’-Lanterns out of them, or candle holders. This is the season, and whether you like the flat, solid Fuyu or the pointy Hachiya, they each have their perfect use. The Fuyu doesn’t need to soften, its crunch and sweetness is a fine complement to fall salads, but I think the softer, more astringent Hachiya really works in this cocktail.

Ingredients:

3 oz vodka; the finer, the better the cocktail
3 oz persimmon syrup (see below)
1 oz fresh Meyer lemon juice
Fizzy water
Persimmon slice and lemon slice for garnish

Fill a cocktail shaker and two Old-Fashioned glasses with ice.  Combine vodka, persimmon syrup and lemon juice in the shaker.  Seal and shake, shake, shake for half a minute.  Strain into the glasses and top off with fizzy water.  Garnish with a lemon slice and a persimmon slice.

Persimmon Syrup

2 small semi-firm persimmons, chopped
¾ c sugar
¾ c water
3 2” strips lemon zest, NO PITH
¼ c lemon juice 2 star anise

Combine persimmons, sugar, water, lemon zest, lemon juice and star anise in a saucepan set over medium heat. Bring it to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer for 20 minutes. Remove zest and anise, puree and pour into a container with a lid. Chill before using.

Photo Credit:

Persimmons, Creative Commons, hachiya by Robert Couse-Baker, is licensed under CC by 2.0