Blogroll | Congregation Darchei Noam

Ontario Peaches are now in season

Freshly harvested fruits and vegetables grown on local farms are packed with deliciousness and more nutritional goodness.  When we select local produce, we help Ontario’s farmers, their communities, and our environment.

There are several peach varieties grown here in Ontario.  Learn about peaches and get some cool recipes at Ontario.ca.

The peach is probably native to China near its Pakistan border where it still grows wild.  The Latin name for peach, (Prunus persica) "Persian plum," reflects the fact that Romans imported it from Persia some 2,000 years ago.  Nectarines and plums are related to peaches. We have two native plum species, the orangy red, egg-shaped Canada plum, Prunus nigra, of eastern North America, and the America Plum, Prunus Americana, a small, round yellow wild plum native to a wider, more southerly range.  

Joel Troster’s Peach tip

Now that peach season is in full bloom wouldn’t it be great to be able to make peach pies, galettes, and crumbles in the winter? Here is a simple tip. Place ripe peaches (or plums) into a zip-lock bag and freeze them. That is right, no peeling necessary. Then in the winter when you crave a peach dessert just take the peaches out of the freezer and run them under hot water. The fuzzy skin easily slips off. Let them thaw a bit before slicing them. Then bake away.   

Run out of frozen peaches for later use?  Canned peaches can be used in most dessert recipes in their place.   

Here’s a recipe for a peach crumble. 

This website offers some info and a recipe. Georgia Goode writes to peel or not to peel, it’s up to you. Her crumble is flavoured with cinnamon or cardamom. Try both with 1/2 tsp. cinnamon with 1/4 tsp. cardamom.  

Baked peach crumble and other fruit desserts are yummy and served plain or with vanilla yogurt, ice cream, or whipped cream. 

Did you know? Fruit crisps differ from crumbles by the addition of large rolled oats.  Look for an apple crisp and other apple recipes on the blog next week.  

Vegan Apple Challah

Joel offers this apple-filled challah recipe for a vegan Sweet New Year. 

Mix together in large bowl:

• 500 g white bread flour
• 12 g salt
• 10 g instant yeast

Mix together:

• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 225 g warm water
• 1 peeled and sliced apple
• Brown sugar
• Cinnamon

Add a tsp of sugar to the warm water and sprinkle the yeast over it. When it is foamy, continue as follows.  Add all the liquids to the dry ingredients and mix by hand until combined. Cover and let the dough rest. After 20, 40, and 60 minutes each, fold the dough. Then let it rise until it is almost triple in volume. This should take around an additional 2-3 hours.

When the dough is ready, roll it out into a long rectangle and place the sliced apple along one edge. Sprinkle with brown sugar and a bit of cinnamon. Roll the apples into the dough and then coil into a round shape.

Transfer the challah onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper, cover loosely with plastic, and let rise for 1 hour and 15 minutes before the end of the rising time pre-heat oven to 375F. Remove the plastic and paint the loaf with the a little honey. Bake the challah for 35-40 minutes.

Joel Troster jtroster@icloud.com

For a demonstration of creating the simple round challah and a braided round one, go to this video on Youtube (Psst, Joel’s apple filling is simpler.)

Tip: Applesauce can replace eggs in yeast recipes by substituting 1/4 cup of applesauce for each egg. Or, in yeast and many other baked recipes, you can exchange half the oil with applesauce, measure for measure. For one cup oil, use 1/2 cup of applesauce in place of 1/2 cup of oil.  This author says that if you like the modification in texture, slowly experiment with replacing more and more of the oil.  

Remember to visit the blog next week with more apple recipes for a sweet Rosh Hashanah.

Looking for an outdoor activity this coming weekend?  The Niagara Peninsula has several pick-your own farms that include peaches.

Here is info about peach growing and picking with local farms and phone numbers. Suggests calling ahead to ask about updates before heading out.