Herby Peach Fig Feta Salad

Ripe summer peaches and sweet figs are the stars of this herby peach fig feta salad with the salty cheese and fresh herbs as fabulous counterpoints.

I’ve no doubt mentioned this before but when I was growing up, both of my grandmothers had immense fig trees in their backyards. I’d climb up high, get comfortable and snack till my heart’s content. So much warm, ripe fruit within my reach! Summertime’s best treat.

Now that we spend most summers in the Channel Islands, figs are much harder to come by. Occasionally my local grocery store will have a few imported packs at an exorbitant price and I will succumb to the temptation and buy them. 

Last week, I got lucky! The figs were marked down but still looked in perfect condition. I knew I had to add them to this delicious peach salad I had planned.

Herby Peach Fig Feta Salad

All of the above brings me to my point: If you don’t have fresh figs, you can make this salad with just peaches. Or nectarines. Or even sweet plums. I encourage you to buy feta in a block and crumble your own. Already crumbled feta is drier and, in my opinion, less flavorful. 

Ingredients

2 sprigs basil

2 green onions

4-5 sprigs cilantro

2 sprigs mint

1 small baby cos or little gem lettuce

2 ripe peaches

4-5 ripe figs

4 oz or 113g feta cheese, crumbled

1/4 cup or 60ml olive oil

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

1 teaspoon honey

Freshly ground black pepper

Method

Remove and discard the hard stems from the basil, cilantro and mint. Roughly chop the leaves and tender stems.

Cut the lettuce into skinny wedges and arrange them on a serving plate.

Remove the pits and cut the peaches into wedges. 

Cut the hard stems off of the figs and quarter them.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, honey and a few good grinds of black pepper. 

Add in half of the crumbled feta and stir to combine. Put half of the chopped herbs into the dressing and stir again. 

Arrange the peaches and figs on the lettuce. 

Spoon over the dressing. 

Top with the rest of the herbs and feta, with another couple of generous grinds of black pepper. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and in honor of National Peaches Month, we are sharing recipes with that fuzzy fruit. Many thanks to our hosts, Sue of Palatable Pastime and Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. Check out the links below.

• Sneha's Recipe: Flan Entremets & Peach Jelly Dessert - Vegetarian 
• Food Lust People Love: Herby Peach Fig Feta Salad 
• Culinary Cam: Mejillones con Vinagreta de Melocotón 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Pasta Salad with Chicken and Peaches 
• Mayuri's Jikoni: Peach & Mozzarella Flatbread 
• Palatable Pastime: Peach Poppy Seed Fruit Salad

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Fresh Peach Cream Pie

This old-fashioned fresh peach cream pie is lighter than a custard pie but still rich and sweet enough to be a delightful dessert. Make it with fresh peaches, if you have them and canned or frozen peaches if you don’t.

Not long after my maternal grandmother died back in 2001, my great aunt Joy asked my grandfather for her sister’s recipe file. It was a small metal file box with a bunch of index cards, many handwritten or typed out by my grandmother or other family members. The sisters had always had a small rivalry going over their cooking and baking prowess so the rest of us were pretty upset that he’d handed it over. 

I knew I couldn’t flat out ask Aunt Joy for it back but I finally got up the nerve and asked if I could borrow it for a while, just to look through. Well, wouldn’t you know it, but the file box was nowhere to be found! 

Until finally, a few years ago, Aunt Joy’s daughter sent me a message to say she had something for me. I assumed it was her mom's pepper sauce but was even more pleasantly surprised that it was the long-lost recipe box. I just about burst into tears!

This fresh peach cream pie recipe was on one of those cards. It’s a treasure. 

Fresh Peach Cream Pie

Many older recipe call for scalded milk, as this one does. All that means is milk that has been heated to just below the boiling point. For more information on that, I highly recommend this informative post from my friend, pastry chef Jenni Field wherein she gives you the how and why of scalded milk.

Ingredients

For the filling:

1 1/2 cups or 355ml milk

2 eggs

1/4 cup or 50g sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3 fresh peaches (approx. weight 1 lb 3.5 oz or 550g)

1 pie crust from this recipe or your own favorite (ingredients needed for mine below)

For the pie crust:

1 1/4 cups or 156g all-purpose flour  

1⁄4 cup plus 2 tablespoons or a little shy of 70g shortening (I prefer Crisco, when I can get it.)

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 

2 to 3 tablespoons cold water

Method

Scald the milk and set it aside to cool. Instructions here: https://pastrychefonline.com/how-to-scald-milk/

Preheat oven to 375°F or 190°C. Make the pie crust by following these instructions or your own favorite.

Roll out the pie crust and fit it into a pie plate. Crimp the edges and dock the bottom and sides with a fork. 

Bake the pie crust in the preheated oven for five minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside. 

In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, vanilla and nutmeg together. 

The scalded milk should be just slightly warm by now. Pour it into the egg mixture slowly, whisking continuously as you do. 

Peel, pit and slice the peaches. 

Arrange them to cover the sides and bottom of the pie crust. 

At this point, I put the pie in a large pan to make transfer to the oven less fraught with the possibility of spillage. Pour the milk mixture over the peaches. 

Carefully transfer the pie to the oven. 

Bake for 55-60 minutes or until the custard is just set (a knife will come out clean) and the pie crust is golden. My oven heats unevenly so I turn the pie around midway through. 

Leave to cool completely on a wire rack. 

Cut in slices to serve. Enjoy!

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes for Mother’s Day! Check out all the links below. Many thanks to our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm.

• Amy’s Cooking Adventures: Brownie Bottomed Raspberry Cheesecake
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Molettes de Jamon y Frijole
• Food Lust People Love: Fresh Peach Cream Pie
• Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Oil-Cured Fromage Blanc-Stuffed Nasturtium Leaves
• Sneha’s Recipe: Churros French Toast
• Palatable Pastime: Spinach and Feta Salad with Summer Fruits
• Making Miracles: Apple Cinnamon Rolls

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Citrus Peach Sangria

This citrus peach sangria is made with canned peaches, lemons and limes, summer sunshine in a glass so you can enjoy it year round. Make this refreshing favorite for your next family party!

Over the years I’ve lived in a lot of places where summer peaches aren’t available. Or they are imported and the shops do sell them but the peaches were clearly picked too early, shipped chilled, and aren’t the fragrant ripe peaches I remember growing up. Honestly, is there any smell more wonderful (with the exception of frying bacon) than the aroma of warm peaches piled in woven bushel baskets at a farm stand? 

I’ve come up with a few ways to get my peach fix from canned peaches, like my creamy bourbon peach frozen yogurt but this refreshing citrus peach sangria is one of my favorites. The apple brandy adds a bit of oomph to the wine but the citrus and peaches and peach syrup are the stars. 

If you are lucky enough to have fragrant ripe peaches, you might want to make my sweet peach cornbread or my sweet peach cream cheese muffins. If your fresh peaches aren't so sweet, they are perfect for making fresh peach cucumber salad! 

I was away from home when I took these photos and I had to mix it up in two pitchers so don’t let the smaller pitcher in my photos fool you. This recipe makes plenty enough to serve 10-12. 

Citrus Peach Sangria

If you do want to use fresh peaches for this sangria, replace the peach syrup with simple syrup. 

Ingredients

1 (750ml) bottle dry white wine, chilled (I use a Sauvignon blanc.)

1/2 cup or 120ml apple brandy 

14 oz or 400g can sliced peaches in light syrup, chilled

1 lemon 

1 lime 

Ice

12 oz or 355ml lemon lime soda (Sprite, 7­Up or the like) or to

taste

Method

Slice your lemon and lime thinly. 

Add them to a big pitcher along with the wine, apple brandy and the can of peaches. Put in a couple of handfuls of ice and then top up with lemon lime soda. Give the whole thing a gentle stir.

To serve, use a spoon to scoop a couple of peach and citrus slices into each glass. Add a few cubes of ice and fill with sangria. 

Enjoy!

It's Sunday FunDay and this week our recipes are Just Peachy! Check them out below. Many thanks to our host, Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla

• Citrus Peach Sangria by Food Lust People Love
• Fresh Peach Iced Tea by Our Good Life
• Fuzzy Melba by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Georgia Peach Cocktail by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Grilled Peach Cocktail of Heavenly Wisdom by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Homemade Fresh Peach Nectar by Sneha’s Recipe
• Maple Roasted Peaches by Mayuri’s Jikoni
• Peach Glazed Chicken Breasts by Making Miracles
• Peach Scones by Palatable Pastime

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Shortbread Peach Jam Squares

Make Shortbread Peach Jam Squares by surrounding bright sweet peach jam with crumbly buttery shortbread and baking it all to golden perfection!

When sweet peaches are in season, I can’t help myself; I have to make peach jam. While we also eat plenty and I freeze some, jam seems like the best way to make sure we can enjoy the flavorful juicy peaches for months to come.

Is it just me or does anyone else get an inordinate amount of satisfaction from seeing rows of homemade jams, chutneys and preserves in the pantry?

I get a little giddy as my stock grows although I also like to give some away. I have one rule though, if possible, wash my jars and give them back once they are empty! You’ll be much more likely to be a future recipient if you do.

Shortbread Peach Jam Squares

This recipe is adapted from one on Tasty for blackberry jam squares. As long as it’s nice and thick, you can use your favorite jam. I popped one cup of my homemade peach jam on the scale and it weighed 290g. I’ve added the correct measure below, for those of you who weigh ingredients.

Ingredients
2/3 cup or 158g butter, plus extra for greasing pan
1/8 cup or 25g sugar
1/8 cup or 25g dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups or 312g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups or 363g peach jam

Method
Preheat the oven to 350˚F or 180˚C and prepare an 9x9 in or 23x23cm pan by greasing it lightly and lining it with baking parchment.

Note: If you don’t mind cutting the squares in your pan, you can skip the baking parchment step but I find that I end up damaging my pan if I can’t remove the baked goods before cutting. The parchment makes lifting out easy.

Melt two tablespoons of the butter and set aside to cool.

In a bowl, beat together the rest of the butter and the two sugars until fluffy.

Add in the egg, melted butter, and vanilla extract and beat again.

Sift 2 cups or 250g of the flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl. Mix with a wooden spoon until combined.

 

Bring the mixture together using your clean hands to make a dough and divide it into two equal pieces.

Use your clean hands to spread out half of the dough in the baking pan. Prick the dough with a fork to prevent bubbles from forming while baking.

Spread the peach jam on top.

Mix in the remaining flour into the dough and use a fork to make a knobbly crumble.

Sprinkle the crumble on top of the jam.

Bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown on top.

Leave to cool completely then lift it out with the parchment paper. Cut into squares.

Enjoy!

This month my fellow Baking Bloggers are featuring peaches in all of our recipes, some savory, some sweet! Many thanks to our host, Sue of Palatable Pastime for all her behind-the-scenes work. Check out all the peachy deliciousness below:

• Uruguayan Peach Chaja Cake from Pandemonium Noshery
• Peach BBQ Chicken Legs from Making Miracles
• Mini Peach Cobblers from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Roasted Flank Steak with Fresh Peach Pico de Gallo from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Single Serving Baked Peach Crisp from Sneha's Recipe
• Shortbread Peach Jam Squares from Food Lust People Love
• Peach Clafoutis from Cookaholic Wife
• Fresh Peach Shortcake from Palatable Pastime
• Gluten Free Peach Crisp from Cook with Renu
• Peach Glazed Chicken Wings from A Day in the Life on the Farm

Baking Bloggers is a friendly group of food bloggers who vote on a shared theme and then post recipes to fit that theme one the second Monday of each month. If you are a food blogger interested in joining in, inquire at our Baking Bloggers Facebook group. We'd be honored if you would join us in our baking adventures.

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Sweet Peach Cornbread #BreadBakers

The juicy fresh Georgia peaches inside and on top of this sweet peach cornbread make it super moist and absolutely delicious.

I was scrolling through my Facebook feed a couple of weeks and I saw post about something called The Peach Truck. Apparently it’s a thing! Order ahead and they bring fresh Georgia peaches right to your city. This is NOT a sponsored post but here's the link, if anyone is interested. https://thepeachtruck.com/pages/preorder. We need to support our farmers now more than ever.

Braving the queue, I wore my mask and stayed well apart from my fellow peach buyers, of course. Then I picked up 25 pounds of sweet Georgia peaches!

For the last couple of days we’ve been eating peaches straight over the kitchen sink because they are so juicy and sweet. I swear, it’s the only neat way to eat them. I’ve frozen them sliced with some sugar. I’ve made sweet jam and spicy jam and we still have about 25 peaches left!

Sweet Peach Cornbread

You should use fresh sweet peaches when they are in season but you can certainly substitute canned peaches out of season. The sweet in the recipe title refers to the peaches. With only a half cup of sugar, the cornbread is not overly sweet.

Ingredients
2 large yellow peaches (average weight 5 1/2 oz or 156g)
1 cup or 125g all-purpose flour
1 cup or 180g fine yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup or 100g sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup or 120ml buttermilk, at room temperature
1/2 cup or 113g butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs, at room temperature

Method
Slice one of the peaches and roughly chop the other one. (The sliced will bake on top of the cornbread, the chopped will go in the batter.) Sprinkle one tablespoon of the sugar each over both peaches and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C and grease a 9x9 inch or 23x23cm baking pan or line it with baking parchment.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, the balance of the sugar and salt.

In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, cooled butter, eggs and vanilla.

Pour any juice that has formed in the chopped peach bowl into the wet ingredients and stir those peaches into the dry ingredients bowl to coat them with flour. This will help keep them in the batter instead of sinking to the bottom of the cornbread.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just mixed.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and spread evenly.

Arrange the sliced peach on the top of the batter. Drizzle on any juice that formed in the sliced peach bowl.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cornbread comes out clean.

Allow to cool slightly before slicing and serving.

Enjoy!

This month my Bread Baker friends are baking with corn in some form or another. Check out all the lovely recipes they are sharing today.

• Bacon Country Bread with Corn from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Corn Bread from Sneha's Recipe
• Grits Sandwich Bread from Pastry Chef Online
• Honey Skillet Cornbread from Making Miracles
• Hot Water Cornbread from Palatable Pastime
• Iowa "Corn" Pancakes from A Messy Kitchen
• Polenta Rosemary Garlic Sourdough Bread from Spiceroots
• Polenta-Crusted, Kernel-Dotted Sourdough from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Sourdough Cornmeal Dinner Rolls from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Southwestern Chicken Skillet with Cornbread Topping from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Studded Golden Cornbread from What Smells So Good?
• Sweet Peach Cornbread from Food Lust People Love
• Yeast Corn Breakfast Bread from Ambrosia

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the Bread Bakers home page.

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