Three weeks ago I performed an experiment. I visited every roadside stand on Route 206 in northern New Jersey (I hit about 5 of them). Those stands label themselves "Fresh Jersey Produce" "local produce" or something similar. In each of these stands, I examined every single piece of fruit and vegetable to see where it came from and the condition it was in. The only two locally-grown items each farm stand carried: tomatoes and corn. All the other produce was labeled "California" or "Florida" sometimes even "Mexico." To make matters worse, the non-local produce was labeled at twice, or even three times the price per weight as a supermarket. It is obvious that these stands prey on people who do not read label stickers but rightfully assume they are getting high quality produce because they stop at one of these quaint stands. I did take some Jersey corn home, and it was terrible, no flavor at all.
Dan has been complaining for years that those juicy summertime watermelons we remember as kids have gone extinct. Because nearly all regular watermelons have been replaced with the "seedless" kind (which are basically regular watermelons picked unripe), the experience of eating watermelon has been ruined. If those big black seeds mean tasty watermelons, bring them back, we'll take it!!
Poor quality fruit is a big deal, and not only for taste. The vitamins and nutrition that are taken from fresh produce are important from a dietary standpoint. So our mission in this post was to find fresh, delicious, local peaches... and buy as many as possible.
We went with our close friends to Soons Orchard in New Hampton, NY, about 8 miles north from the famous "Black Dirt" region. Dan had been watching the website for weeks, waiting for the very short window of peach picking season. Finally, the moment arrived, two days only, pick your own peaches, August 20-21. The reason the pick-your-own season is so short is because the farm has no problem selling all of their peaches at their farm store and elsewhere, for better prices than they could charge the regular peach-pickers.
We were in heaven. The peaches were firm, but not unripe, juicy and sweet, crunchy and melty, all at the same time. While picking, we pigged out on peaches, tasting from different trees, comparing sizes and colors, and basking in what "summer" would taste like if it had a flavor. 20 pounds of peaches later, we boarded our hay wagon with glee and took a visit to Soons farm store.
We made a few purchases at the farm store from their "Last Chance" display. We've all seen those displays at the supermarket, basically rows of group-packaged, rotting fruits and vegetables, right? Well, Soons "Last Chance" display were high quality, healthy vegetables that were still firm and good to use. They looked better than the good vegetables at the regular market. We bought 3 pounds of heirloom tomatoes for $2.00 total (try $ 4.99 a pound at the supermarket!) and a head of tender lettuce for $1.00.
Our friends took half the peaches home, and we ate about a third of our own peaches. That still left us with about 6 pounds of the BEST peaches.
What to do? We could make a delicious peach reduction sauce for meat or vegetables, a pie, cut the fruit up in yogurt, braise them as a dessert, but no, no, no. We want to access that delicious flavor any time of year. We decided to perform the traditional craft of food preservation by canning.
The art of canning dates back to the Napeleonic Wars, when the French government was willing to give anything in order to preserve food for troops on the front. French candy-maker and brewer, Nicolas Appert, demonstrated that food cooked in a glass jar stayed fresh as long as the jar was sealed airtight. Amazingly enough, this was 50 years before Louis Pasteur's discoveries about germs and food (think pasteurization). In any case, one of Dan's super-mutant powers includes being a fantastic canner, so this project was entirely his baby. For this recipe, we needed: peaches, sugar, pectin, mason jars, and butter (optional).
Peaches: the first thing is to get the skins off and the pits out. You could do this by peeling the raw peaches, slicing them open, and removing the pits. We chose instead to boil the peaches, thereby deskinning them once hot (You could make the preserves with the skin on...but, ew). Our way may not have been the most efficient way, but it did the job.
The next step is to dice the peaches up small and consistent, cook them over medium-high heat and add the sugar slowly. (6 cups of peaches to 3 cups sugar).
While the mix will be dry at first, eventually the peaches will begin to break down and you get a beautiful, golden, bubbling cauldron of sweet witchcraft. You can add a tablespoon of butter, if you want (we did). At a rolling boil, you quickly add the pectin, keep stirring for a full minute to dissolve it, then turn off the heat.
Jars: The standard for all canning is to use Ball mason jars. You can find them just about everywhere. It is imperative to clean and sterilize the mason jars, rings, and lids before putting any fruit in them. The best way to do this is to use boiling water to clean them.
When your jars are ready, pour the fruit in and leave about 1/4 inch of space from the top. Then you place the lid on top and screw the ring around the lid. Do not TIGHTEN. Allow the rings to loosely hold the top on. Then you must put the jars with the fruit and lid into the hot water bath again, and allow to boil in 1-2 inches of water for 25-30 minutes. Take out the jars, allow them to cool for 24 hours. You may hear popping noises throughout its cooling process, this is a good thing, it means they are sealing.
After 24 hours, check the seal by pressing down on the center of the lid. It should be concave and not give when pressed or make a "clicky" noise. Once you are sure they are sealed, screw on the lid bands tight and store.
The most important thing we have learned throughout this search for good summer fruit: If the things you want are not available to you, you must:
A. scour the planet (like we did) for a pick-your-own peach program
or
B. simply do without
We love peaches just as we love apples, but we only eat apples three weeks out of the year (when they are at the height of their season). We've been doing that for 5 years now and we eat enough good apples in September that we don't miss the crappy ones all year long. We have decided to do the same thing with peaches and other fruits and vegetables. Eating seasonally is hard, really hard. Some people think it's an elitist way to live, but I think if there is anything to be snobby about, it's wanting and demanding food that tastes good (and sometimes that means junk food, too).
Eating produce seasonally has brought us incredible amounts of joy and various calendar dates to look forward to in the year. Peach season this year was a major event. Apple season is next, and we are already making plans for pies, applesauce, stuffing, and juice. Until next time, happy eating!
Love, The Two Gavones
