Peach Melba

Photo Taken by Nicole Ramos

If you love food as much as I do, then you follow several food blogs and you check sites such as Food Gawker and Tastespotting as often you do with Facebook.  The first time I heard about this dish, was on Foodimentary blog.  If you haven’t heard of it, I definitely recommend checking it out.  The author, John-Bryan Hopkins, writes daily about food holidays, food facts, cultural facts and fun quotes.  I’ve learned more about the foods I eat and new foods, than watching the Food Network.  Although, they both have the same effect, I get hungry and I want to try the recipe instantly!

Peach Melba was created by a chef that named it after the famous opera singer, Nellie Melba in the late 1800’s.  I tried to find the simplest recipe and I came across Nigella Lawson‘s recipe on foodnetwork.com.  I changed it slightly by adding liquors to the mix.  I love cooking with alcohol and I believe it adds depth to the original flavors.  Before you think I’m a huge alcoholic and have this large store of a variety of liquors in my house, I actually love to buy the mini shot bottles at my local Total Wine store.  I highly recommend it for anyone who doesn’t drink or cook on a regular basis with alcohol.

Prep Time:	Cook Time:	Level:	Serves:
20 min.	10-15 min.	Easy-Inter.	8

INGREDIENTS:

Peaches:

• 3 C Water
• 3 ½ C Sugar
• 1 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
• 2 TBS lemon juice
• 2 TBS Jack Daniels Honey©
• 8 peaches

Raspberry Sauce:

• 3 C raspberries
• ¼ C confectioner’s syrup
• 1 TBS lemon juice
• 2 TBS Chambord© Raspberry Liquor

Ice Cream Recommendation:  Blue Bell© Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cut the peaches in half; remove the stone seeds if you can.  If you can’t, don’t worry, it’ll be easy remove later.
2. Combine water, sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice into a wide saucepan and heat gently until sugar is dissolved.  Once sugar is dissolved, bring to a boil and let it bubble for approximately 5 minutes.  Then turn the heat down to a fast simmer and add the whiskey.
3. Poach the peach halves on each side for about 2-3 minutes (longer if peaches aren’t as ripe).  You can test the softness with a knife on the side of the seed.  Once ready, remove with a slotted spoon to a plate to cool.
4. Once all peaches are done being poached, gently remove the skins and any stone seeds that weren’t removed before.
5. While the peaches are cooling, combine all the ingredients for the raspberry sauce into a blender or food processor and liquefy.  I personally like the fruity pieces, but if you don’t like pulp, pour sauce through a fine mesh sieve.
6. To serve, place peach halves into a bowl or a fun dish, scoop ice cream on top and drizzle the raspberry sauce over it.