Just one last peach dish—Buttermilk Peach Pudding a good sayonara to summer

Pretty sneaky of Kroger to run a great grocery store ad on peaches. Pretty sneaky of Southern Living’s fall issue to feature a last-blast of a peach recipe. Here we are in apple season with all of our peach harvest finished long ago and turning out apple desserts, salads, entrees right and left. What pops back up to tempt us? Peaches, that summer delicacy that is so tough to leave behind.

So we hadn’t bidden sayonara to peaches after all. Buttermilk Peach Pudding was not to be resisted, even though it seemed slightly out of order in the midst of all the fall finery. I was very happy to have an excuse to prepare a dish with peaches on just one more occasion.

Buttermilk Peach Pudding cooks up with a texture like bread pudding. As the photo above shows, I also stirred in a few fresh blueberries along with the peaches to give it a little more color. The addition of buttermilk may sound off-putting calorie-wise, but I used my age-old substitute of 3 teaspoons vinegar poured into a one-cup measure plus whatever amount of skim milk is necessary to fill the cup up to the 1-cup line. Stir and let this sit on the counter for about five minutes; you’ll have your buttermilk substitute. Three tablespoons of vinegar into the 1-cup measure filled with milk has the same effect.

Sitting down the baking dish into a roasting pan filled with 1-inch of water while the pudding cooks helps keep the pudding moist for serving. We served it with sugar-free whipped topping, although sugar-free vanilla ice cream would work great as well.

Just one more peach recipe, my heart had pled as summer seeped out the door. My wish was realized; it was a lovely period to put at the end of summer’s sentence.

Peach Buttermilk Pudding

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

3 1/2 peaches, peeled and coarsely chopped (about 1 1/2 pounds)

1 cup buttermilk (can also be made by filling a 1-cup measure with 3 teaspoons white vinegar and then adding skim milk to reach the 1-cup line)

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar(or sugar substitute)

3 large eggs (or 3/4 cup egg substitute)

2 ripe peaches, peeled and sliced (about 1 pound)

vanilla ice cream or whipped topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together first 7 ingredients; sift again. Process chopped peaches in a food processor or blender until they are smooth. (should make about 2 cups puree). Stir in buttermilk. Beat butter and sugar at high speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Add peach mixture; beat until well-blened. Layer sliced peaches in a greased 13-inch-by-9-inch pan. Fold flour mixture into butter mixture. Pour batter over sliced peaches in pan. Place pan in a large roasting pan and add boiling water to roasting pan to a depth of 1 inch. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until set. Pudding still will be moist. Serve warm or cold with ice cream. Makes 8-10 servings.

Summery Green Tomato Salsa adds tangy-sweet burst of flavor to grilled items

Here’s a great one to try as you look for ways to dress up grilled chicken and other items you cook outdoors: Green Tomato and Peach Salsa. The tangy-sweet taste of this quick, colorful salsa pairs perfectly with grilled chicken or pork or even fish.

I adored finding this recipe in the “ways with green tomatoes” section of the recent Southern Living magazine I’ve been mentioning. Not only did it give me some more green tomatoes ideas, it also went into my peach-iana file because one large peach is part of the mix.

Other fresh additions are sliced green onions and fresh cilantro, along with a dressing of olive oil, white wine vinegar, honey, salt, and ground red pepper.

You’ll love this summery, sensational topping as much as we did!

Green Tomato and Peach Salsa

2 large green tomatoes, diced

1 large fresh peach, diced

3 green onions, sliced

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

Stir all ingredients together. Cover and chill 1 hour before you serve. Makes about 4 cups.

Whip this one up quickly! Chilly Peach Soup cools from head to toe

What a shocker to the old system! All our days last week were involved with a family trip to beautiful, colorful Colorado, in which the temps, though warm for this time of the year, weren’t 105 degrees as we are experiencing in Texas. One evening as we left for dinner, the thermometer registered 72. Talk about pleasant! When we exited the car at the Denver restaurant, the most exquisite cooling breeze blew about around us. People seemed generally happier; drivers were more courteous. No one had that, “It’s-been-triple-digits-for-days-with-no-end-in-sight-what-are-we- gonna-do?” look on his or her face.

Quick re-entry help was needed when we returned to the Texas furnace. I whipped up some Chilly Peach Soup, which had been on my must-make list to broaden my peach-recipe repertoire. You can’t imagine how soothing this dinner-starter dish was—the most delicious blend of peaches and nectarines with honey, nonfat plain yogurt, lemon juice, and cinnamon stirred in. The only difficult part was the peeling of all the ripe peaches and nectarines; I persuaded Hubby to do this tedious step. Then I stuffed the peeled fruit in the blender to puree until everything was mashed and liquid-y. After all the ingredients were folded in, I let the mixture chill in the fridge for about an hour. Not a long chill-time is needed, since the yogurt and lemon juice already are cold. I garnished with a few peach slices and a few sprinkles of cinnamon.

I could have been dining while seated in a meat locker and not have been more chilled. Chilly Peach Soup cooled from head to toe. Oh, and did I mention that the taste was absolutely divine? In this inferno, no one should be surprised that identifying cooling properties precedes the flavor attributes when one writes about a recipe. But the blend of pureed peaches and nectarines was memorable indeed.

Chilly Peach Soup

3 cups ripe peaches, peeled and sliced

2 cups ripe nectarines, peeled and sliced

2 cups vanilla nonfat yogurt

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Puree the peaches and nectarines one batch at a time. Add yogurt, honey, lemon juice, and cinnamon; stir well. Pour into bowls; garnish with peach slices and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Chill well before you serve. Makes 4 servings.

Collecting July 4th inspirations? We give thumbs-up to Fresh Peach Sherbet.

Peach homemade ice cream is a staple among my “peach-iana” recipes—could make it in my sleep—but I’d never tried peach sherbet. In my file of summer “must-prepares” was a peach sherbet recipe (Better Homes & Gardens) that had 2011 marked on it, so I clearly had set it aside as a goal for this year. No problem there; the peaches in our orchard are still pouring in. I grabbed my latest installment and set out to stir up this temptingly cool dish.

In fact if you don’t want to make the effort to hand-churn or electric-churn homemade ice cream for July 4th and your conscience will allow you to sub this sherbet for that all-American freezer treat, I’d highly suggest you consider this frozen peach dessert—Fresh Peach Sherbet. It will make you forget the soaring temps outside and will chill you to your tippy-toes. Very non-guilt-inducing as well, since it can be made with sugar substitute and low-fat evaporated milk.

Just another way to wallow in those garden-fresh peaches. Here’s the how-to:

Peach Sherbet

1 envelope unflavored gelatin

1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)

dash salt (or salt substitute)

1/2 cup water

2 cups fresh peach puree (mash or blend 3 to 4 cups of fresh peeled and sliced peaches to obtain 2 cups puree)

1 (13-ounce) can low-fat evaporated milk (1 2/3 cups)

2 egg whites

1/4 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)

In large saucepan combine gelatin, 1/2 to 3/4 sugar, and salt. Over medium heat stir in water and heat and stir until gelatin dissolves. Stir in desired fruit puree and evaporated milk. Turn mixture into a 9-inch-by-9-inch-by-2-inch square pan; cover and freeze until firm. In small mixer bowl beat egg whites until soft peaks form (tips curl over); gradually add 1/4 cup sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight). Break frozen mixture into chunks; turn into chilled mixer bowl. Beat until fluffy. Fold in egg whites. Return to pan; cover and freeze until firm. If necessary let sherbet pan stand on counter for a few minutes before you serve to allow sherbet to become soft enough to dip up. Makes about 1/2 quarts.