Peach, Cinnamon and Ginger Dressing

I don’t usually make oil free salad dressings but this one is wonderful sweet and fragrant, and goes particularly well with peppery rocket leaves.
You could use other fruits instead of peaches. The choices are endless and limited to your imagination. Apples, pears and cherries would work well. Try different varieties of spices, vinegars or sugars to complement your chosen fruit.
Store this dressing in a sterilized glass jar in the fridge. It should keep indefinitely.

Ingredients
2 yellow peaches, unpeeled and coarsely chopped
1 cinnamon stick
1 clove
15g ginger, sliced into thin coins
100g brown sugar
125ml herb infused red wine vinegar (or just use plain red wine vinegar)

Method
Place all the ingredients including the peach stones into a small saucepan.
Bring very slowly to a simmer and cook for 15-20minutes.
Strain and store in a sterilized jar. Makes about 100ml.

Peaches with Bubble Syrup

My original idea for this dessert was to make Bellini sorbet i.e. white peach and sparkling wine sorbet. But my very persuasive partner, suggested peaches poached in sparkling wine instead. So I sent him off to purchase some lovely peaches and Australian sparkling wine (I cant use the word “champagne” here, I may be sued like YSL!). He returned with some lovely yellow peaches and the bubbles. I must say, food writers and chefs get very excited by the white peach, but the yellow variety is just as lovely and I don’t think it deserves such snobbish treatment just because it isn’t white. Both are suitable and ultimately the choice is yours.
The only drama I encountered with this recipe was removing the skins after poaching. Peeling anything is usually enough to induce a tantrum on the kitchen floor. Luckily my beloved partner was by my side to take over with this hideous task. I love happy endings…

Ingredients
Peaches
Sparkling wine
Cinnamon stick
A few cloves
A vanilla pod, split in half
Sugar

Method
This is very simple. Select peaches that are ripe, but still firm.
Place the peaches into a saucepan with the aromatics. Pour in the wine. The peaches should be completely submerged. If this is not the case, add water.
Add sugar. The amount of sugar you add will depend on the sweetness of the peaches and the wine, and of course your personal taste.
Bring to the boil, and switch of the heat immediately. The residual heat will be enough to gently poach the peaches.
Leave them to cool in the syrup.
Remove the skins from the peaches. This will require patience- a virtue that I lack.
Reduce the syrup until it is thick and nectar like. Add more sugar, if you think it needs it.
When the syrup has cooled, discard the aromatics and pour the syrup over the peaches. Leave to macerate in the fridge.
Serve the peaches unadorned in shallow bowls, with the sweet pink nectar drizzled over. They are lovelier if you remove them from the fridge about 15 minutes before serving.

Peach and Basil Risotto

The weather here in Melbourne this past week has been unbelievably disgusting. Hot, humid and so over bearing that I have delegated all kitchen responsibilities to my husband . It has been an interesting time between my temper tantrums and my partners “womens weekly” style dinners… But we have survived and here I am!

The following recipe was an idea I wanted to try, after reading of it on a River Café menu. It is a very lovely risotto, but you do need to pay attention to the ingredients, otherwise you will end up with a peachy rice sludge. It took a couple of attempts before I got it right. Here are some suggestions that I discovered by trial and error:

• Make sure to use carnaroli rice.It doesn’t work so well with vialone nano (I haven’t tried it with Arborio).


• Use a good homemade meat stock. The first time I made this, I used vegetable stock and the final dish lacked body The second time I used pigeon stock (that’s what I had) and the result was much, much better


• You need beautiful just ripe peaches to stir through the final dish


• And choose a nice dry sparkling wine to use in your risotto (sweet sparkling is overkill)

The success of this dish lies in the delicate and subtle blending of sweet and savoury. So be prepared to taste as you go along. Parmesan and butter will offset the sweetness of the peaches. The sparkling wine and basil will bring forth the fragrance of the peach
I know this sounds like a strange dish, but it is lovely and I think many people will be surprised at how good, it actually is. I enjoyed it immensely.

Ingredients
1 small brown onion, finely chopped
A splash olive oil
200g carnaroli rice
100ml dry sparkling wine
Meat stock., heated
Ground cinnamon
Fresh white pepper
Sea salt
Parmesan cheeses
Unsalted butter
200g white peach, peeled and chopped (1cm)
Basil leaves (I like to use the tiny leaves from the bunch)

Method
Over a low heat, heat the olive oil and sauté the onion for 10minutes. Do not allow the onion to colour. Add the rice and toss it about for a few minutes. Add the wine, turn the heat to medium and allow the wine to absorb and reduce. Now begin to add the hot stock, ladle by ladle. Allow each ladleful of stock to be absorbed before adding the next ladleful. Give the rice a stir with every ladleful of stock. Season with cinnamon, salt and white pepper. Once the rice is aldente , turn off the heat. This risotto works better on the more compact side, rather than overly fluid and moist. Add a generous knob of butter, parmesan and the peaches. Stir everything through and serve immediately, topped with the tiny basil leaves. See my previous post for more information on risotto technique. Serves two, on a romantic summer evening.