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 Ready to Pick: Peaches!By Carolyn KellyAssociate Editor, Great Lakes Bulletin News Service My Southern-born parents used to complain that you couldn't find a decent peach in the Midwest. They obviously hadn't tasted a freshly picked Michigan peach! Did you know?
Peaches make everything (cereal, yogurt, ice cream...) better! Sultry Summer Salad A generous amount of fresh spinach or Romaine lettuce 4-5 peaches, sliced (it's okay to leave the peel on) 2 cups strawberries (sliced), raspberries or blackberries (whatever's in season) 2 cups blueberries 2 grapefruits, sectioned, with white membrane cut off (see method below) 2 oranges, sectioned, with white membrane cut off (see method below) 4-5 kiwis, peeled and sliced 2 avocadoes, sliced 3 bananas, sliced 1-2 shoots of green onions, thinly sliced Seeds from one pomegranate (if you can't find one, or don't have the patience to pick all those luscious, ruby-red seeds out, you can skip this ingredient.) Pineapple slices are also nice, especially in the dead of winter when local fruit is hard to come by. Rinse the spinach or lettuce leaves. Cut up all the fruit (cut the bananas last, so they won't have time to turn brown). Stick the damp spinach/lettuce to the sides of a medium size bowl so that the top of the leaves peek over the edge, then spoon the fruit into the bowl. Voilá! You now have a gorgeous fruit salad surrounded by fresh green leaves. A note on cutting the grapefruit and oranges: For best results, peel the fruit with a knife (pretend you're peeling an apple), removing all of the white membrane. Slice the fruit by cutting right next to the little white lines between sections to remove the last bits of membrane. It's tedious, but the results are delicious. A note on pomegranates: Pomegranate juice stains badly, so wear an apron! It also helps to cut all the way around the pomegranate and then break it in two with your hands, rather than slicing all the way through. Once you've broken the pomegranate open, use your fingers to remove the seeds from the white membrane.  Shallot and Peach ChutneyAdapted from the "Frieda of California" shallot package. 3 cups chopped peaches 1/3 cups shallots or green onions, thinly sliced 1-1/2 cups cider vinegar 1/4 cup lemon juice 1 cup packed brown sugar 1/2 cup raisins ñ a combination of gold and black raisins is pretty 1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. cinnamon In a large saucepan, combine the peaches, shallots or onions, vinegar and lemon juice. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients to pan; simmer, stirring frequently, for 15 minutes. Cool, cover, and chill. Serve chilled or at room temperature with roasts, barbecued meats, on burgers, or with fish. Vegetarians, try spooning the chutney over rice and/or chickpeas sautÈed with onions and curry. Blueberry-Peach Crisp Topping: 1 cup quick-cooking oats 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 cup butter, melted Filling: 5 cups peaches, sliced 2 cups blueberries Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine all topping ingredients and stir thoroughly. Put the peach slices and blueberries into a buttered 9 x 13 baking dish and sprinkle the topping over the fruit. Bake for 45 minutes or so, or until the topping is golden brown. Taste the Local Difference is part of the Michigan Land Use Institute's Entrepreneurial Agriculture Project, which aims to grow jobs, save farmland, and build healthier communities with food that's thousands of miles fresher. Find more than 160 farms and fishers who sell fresh foods on their farms, in farmers markets, and to restaurants and stores at www.LocalDifference.org. TLD lead sponsors are Traverse City State Bank and the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. The Great Lakes Bulletin News Service features news and commentary about transportation, land use, agriculture, and efforts to contain sprawl, reported and written by the Michigan Land Use Instituteís corps of accomplished journalists and other top writers from around the state and nation. Photo Credits: Bill Shane, Michigan State University Extension courtesy Michigan Peach Sponsors  Related AreasArticlesCommunity > Community & Nonprofit Organizations Food & Dining Food & Dining > Michigan Grown Food & Dining > Recipes & Cookbooks
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