Tree ripened Bindweed peaches
Big transition days here at the farm from flowers to food. My poor kitchen has been so neglected and I have nearly forgotten how to cook--meals during farm season are very simple. VERY simple, so each September the kitchen and I get reacquainted, this year it was gorilla style. The day after our last delivery of the year we were expecting a cold spell that would freeze the basil so I jumped right into pesto production (post pending) and our little peach trees actually produced this year so I was up to my arm pits in peaches.
Ginger peach pie is one of my faves but wanting something really fast, down and dirty I decided on a peach crisp--but my darling husband cannot process oatmeal. How weird is that! While contemplating what I could substitute I had a good rummage through my nearly empty pantry and discovered some beautiful coconut flakes. Perfetto!
I set a pot to boil and toasted the flakes in the oven. When they were perfectly toasted I set them to cool. After chilling out a bit I spun them around in the food processor until they were tiny little crumbs.
As I was reaching for the butter I realized that I had coconut oil too and decided to double up on the coconut flavor with a one, two punch so I melted the butter and coconut oil together. Then I dumped flour, sugar, salt and baking powder into the food processor with the coconut crumbs and drizzled in the butter/coconut oil and pulsed until I had some awesome looking crumbles. Then I popped it into the fridge.
The pot I set on the stove top was bubbling away so I slipped in six perfect peaches and about 40 seconds later fished them out and plunged them into a cold water bath. The skins slipped off in my fingers and I quartered and chopped the peaches into bit-sized chunks. (I grease my baking pan and fill it as I go, this assures the perfect amount of fruit. When the pan is nice and full I tip the peaches into a big bowl so I can incorporate the rest of the ingredients. I do this with pies too so every pie is perfectly filled.)
A squeeze of lemon, sugar, corn starch, a pinch of salt and freshly grated ginger are popped in with the peaches and are stirred around. When everything is nicely mixed it all goes back into the baking pan.
I crumbled the topping over the top, duh, and slipped it into the oven at 375 for about 50 minutes. The peaches need to be bubbling and the crumbled topping toasty before the crisp is properly done. (Have you ever had a partially cooked pie--not good. The fruit really needs to bubble with the sugar and corn starch or it is an epic fail. When you see that bubbly business happening the fruit and sugars are caramelizing and that is what makes a pie or crisp or cobbler truly magnificent. Here is where the patient and watchful cook gets the big results, keep it in the oven until it's done.)
The photo below captures what you are looking for--the peaches in the corner have bubbled up and changed color, they have caramelized and the crumbled topping is toasty brown. Once you witness this cooking magic, remove the crisp from the oven.
Cool the crisp slightly but it is best served warm in a large shallow bowls with icy cold fresh cream. Holy cow--so good. RT said it was the best thing I have EVER baked and he might be right.
Ginger Peach Coconut Crisp
Topping:
1 c. large flake coconut, unsweetened
¾ c. flour
1/3 c. sugar
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ c. coconut oil
¼ c. butter
Filling:
5-6 med. peaches
1 TB lemon juice
1/3 c. sugar
1 ½ TB corn starch
pinch salt
1 TB fresh ginger, grated finely
Topping:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and set a large pot of water to
boil on stove top. Scatter coconut
flakes over a cookie sheet and toast in oven for 5-8 minutes. (Keep an eye on it as it will burn,
coconut should be toasty brown, not black.) Let the coconut cool and then pulse in food processor until
it resembled tiny crumbs.
Meanwhile, combine coconut oil and butter in a small microwave safe
container to melt, set aside and let cool a bit. Add all topping ingredients to the food processor and pulse
until the entire mixture is combined and resembles small crumbs. Refrigerate until ready for use.
Filling:
Wash the peaches.
As soon as the large pot of water comes to a boil you are ready to slip
the skins off the peaches. Gently
drop the peaches into the boiling water and let rest for 30-60 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and plunge
into cold water. As soon as the
peaches are cool enough to handle run a knife from the stem center around the
entire peach. The skins will
easily slip off in your fingers.
Separate the peach halves, remove pit, quarter and chop the peaches into
bite-sized chunks. Put the peaches
and the remaining filling ingredients into a large bowl and stir to incorporate
everything. Pour into an 8 x 8 in.
square greased baking pan. Spread the
peach mixture out evenly and crumble the topping over the entire surface.
Bake 40-50 minutes, until the peaches are bubbly and the
crumbled topping is toasty. Best when
served warm with fresh cream in a large bowl with a big spoon.
