So.
I have yet to go and gather fallen apples around the corner.
BUT! I have make an experimental jar (just one cup) of maple raspberry-balsamic pickled peaches.
They’re sitting on the cooling rack, waiting to seal and, in theory, will go famously with a slow-cooked pork shoulder roast come winter. (Me and my slow-cooked shoulder roasts… honestly, they’re inexpensive as meat goes, and I can just toss one into the crock pot on a frosty morning and fill the house with delicious smells (and a tiny bit of extra heat) all day long without having to worry about burning anything…).
Anyway. Here’s the recipe:
~*~
Balsamic Pickled Peaches
INGREDIENTS
4 firm peaches (peeled, pitted, and diced = 1 C, diced – maybe a little more[1])
Extras (per 1C jar):
1 ring of yellow cooking onion (sliced so that it fits – I minced mine)
5 whole cloves
5 black pepper corns
3-5 slivers of candied ginger
1 cinnamon stick (short)
Pickling Solution (per 1C jar):
1/2 C balsamic vinegar
1/4 C raspberry-balsamic vinegar
1/3 C maple syrup
1 tbsp vanilla extract (or bourbon/amaretto, if preferred)
pinch salt
DIRECTIONS
Sterilize your jar(s) in a steam bath
Into each sterilized jar place all of your extras PLUS enough diced, peeled peachs to fill the jar (with about 1cm of head-space)
Boil your pickling solution until the salt is disolved and everything smells sweet-and-sour and tasty and is bubbling very nicely
Pour your pickling solution into your jar(s), pausing to get rid of the air bubbles (drag a sterilized butter knife around the side of each jar to let the bubbles escape) and then topping it up the rest of the way with pickling solution.
Cap with sterilized lids and rings
Process, upside down, in a boiling-water/steam bath for 5-10 minutes
Allow to cool (and seal – you’ll hear the “plunk” as they do it)
Give it at least two weeks before opening, so that the flavours can mingle
Makes 1 cup of balsamic-pickled peaches
~*~
I’ve got some left over pickling solution (go figure), so I’ve used a little bit of it to sour some milk and am now making peach-blueberry pancakes. 😀
TTFN,
Meliad the Birch Maiden
Urban Meliad 