One important fact is the type of peach. Freestone or Cling. The Freestone can be easily halved and the seed is removed without much difficulty. If its a cling, it would need a lot more care to get the peach pit out, as its firmly attached to the meat. When I have made peach things, I usually buy a couple first, cut them open and see which type it is. If its a cling, nope, or a freestone, yes, I will buy a big bunch. Also, they need to be dipped in boiling water for about a minute to release the skins. It seems that even if you like leaving skins on, they tend to be much more noticable compared to the fruit part.

If you follow this link you'll find a peach salsa recipe from KatieC listed. It's really good.

Another recipe, if you're interested, is Peach Preserves for Winter Mornings, which is a hot peach jam. It should be somewhere on this forum. If you're interested and can't find it I'll post the recipe later.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Peach Salsa

I'll second the Peach Salsa.
I cut the Cilantro in half as I only want a hint of it.
Yum.......

Deanna

Balsamic Pickled Peaches
1 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup sweet vermouth
1 cup pineapple juice
8 small peaches, d cut into 6-8 wedges each

In a saucepan, combine vinegar, vermouth and pineapple juice and bring to the boil over high heat. Add peaches and immediately remove pan from heat. Cool to room temperature, uncovered. Then cover and refrigerate. These pickles will develop a nice flavor within an hour or two of cooling but are far better if left for 48 hours. They will keep, covered and refrigerated, for up to 6 weeks. Serve alongside any meat, particularly roast pork or lamb.

Peach Butter
18 medium peaches
1/2 cup water
4 cups sugar

Wash and blanch peaches. Peel, pit and slice. Combine peaches with 1/2-cup water in a pan. Simmer until peaches are soft. Puree using a food mill but do not liquefy. Measure 2 litres peach pulp. Combine peach pulp and sugar in a large pot. Cook until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. As it thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking. Ladle hot butter in pint jars leaving 3mm headspace. Process in a water bath for 10 minutes. If desired, add 1/2 teaspoon of ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon in any combination to the peach pulp.

Peach Chutney
1kg yellow peaches, peeled and quartered
500ml white wine vinegar
500g raw sugar
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons grated ginger root
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1 stick cinnamon
6 cloves
1 teaspoon cardamom seeds

Place peaches in a saucepan with remaining ingredients. Bring to the boil and cook for about 50 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat, pour into sterilised jars and seal. Delicious with ham, roast pork or grilled chicken.

Peach Curd
4 egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup fresh peach puree
lemon juice to taste, about 1 tablespoon
1/2 teaspoon rosewater
6 tablespoons butter

Beat the egg yolks with the sugar, peach puree, lemon juice, and rosewater. Place over simmering water and stir constantly until thickened. Remove from heat and beat in butter, bit by bit. Strain well and chill.

Peach Jam
1kg sliced peaches
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup water
3 cups sugar

Pour boiling water over peaches and let stand a few minutes.drain. peel and slice, discarding stones. add lemon juice and water and cook until tender. Add sugar and cook until thick. Seal in clean hot jars.

Peach Jam with Brown Sugar and Rum
6 cups coarsely chopped peeled peaches
2 cups brown sugar, packed
6 tablespoosn strained fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup dark rum
2 cups sugar

Combine peaches with the brown sugar, lemon juice and about half of the rum, stirring to mix. Cover and let stand at room temperature 6 hours or overnight. Pour the fruit mixture into a large saucepan. Bring to the boil over medium heat. Cover, reduce heat and cook until the peach chunks begin to look translucent, 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. If the jam becomes too thick and threatens to scorch before the fruit is done, add 2-3 tablespoons of water. Add sugar, increase heat to medium and cook rapidly, stirring almost constantly, until a spoonful placed on a chilled saucer and refrigerated for a few minutes wrinkles when the saucer is tilted. Add remaining rum and stir the jam (it will boil up when you add the rum) for 2 minutes over the heat. Ladle boiling jam into hot, prepared jars, leaving 3mm headspace. Top with lids and process for 15 minutes in a

Peach Salsa
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
5 peeled and chopped peaches
1/4 cup minced green onions
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper

Process the ginger with one peeled peach in a processor until smooth. Combine the mixture with the 4 remaining chopped peaches, the green onions, sugar, dry mustard, lime juice, salt and pepper. Chill, covered, for 4 hours or longer.

I'll second the vote for KatieC's peach salsa, I made some and it was yummy, and didn't last long.

I've also made the Peach Jam for Cold Mornings, a recipe I got from Ruddmd at Cooking:

Peach Preserves For Cold Mornings
3 pounds ripe peaches -- peeled and quartered
l/2 medium-size orange -- quartered and seeded
2 Red savina habaneros -- (seeds and all)
4 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
3/4 cup honey -- (the lightest, mildest you can find)
Combine peaches, sugar, and honey in a Dutch oven; stir well. Cover and let stand 45 minutes. Position knife blade in food processor bowl; add orange quarters and chiles. Process until finely chopped, stopping once to scrape down sides. Place orange, chiles, and an equal amount of water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until orange rind is tender. Bring peach mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium-high, and cook, uncovered, 15 minutes, stirring often. Add orange mixture. Bring to a boil; cook, uncovered, 20 to 25 minutes or until candy thermometer registers 221 degrees, stirring often. Remove from heat; stir in almond extract. Skim off foam with a metal spoon. Quickly pour hot mixture into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace; wipe jar rims. Cover at once with metal lids, and screw on bands. Process jars in boiling-water bath 105 minutes. . By all means - Leave the peel on for the marmalade effect.

This was yummy with some cream cheese on a bagel, and nearly as good on bran muffins!

Annie

I wasn't going to post since our peach salsa recipes are mainly unwritten, but seeing the above Peach Salsa recipe I have to speak up. It sounds dreadful to me, and since the original poster specifically said they don't like the spices to be so heavy, I would advise NOT to put ginger or mustard in and ruin a nice peach salsa. :-) And with peaches being so sweet, I wouldn't add sugar either.

What we do is basically use a tomato like salsa recipe but substitute peaches for some or all of the tomatoes. It is good to have some peppers in it as well, both hot and mild. Roasting the garlic, onions, and peaches (hubby does that in a HOT cast iron frying pan) as well as the peppers over a gas flame, adds an excellent flavor to the salsa without adding other spices. I do put in cumin. Just my $.02.

For making the best middle of winter peach cobblers, I would recommend freezing the cut up peaches instead of canning them, for a better texture.

Marcia

Marcia, I agree on the frozen peaches, they make much better pie and cobbler than canned peaches do, in my opinion they are far closer to fresh in consistency.

Annie

Lori,

Something I have done with peaches for years is a recipe I made up myself. Well, you really can't call it a recipe, it is just an "idea".

Brandied Peaches
I peel the peaches, they shouldnt be too ripe need to still be firm but not green or sour.

I then cut them into quarters, I think they look and work best like this. Pack into jars firmly but dont squish too much. I then make a simple syrup, which I make as 2 parts sugar to 1 part water. I usually start with 10 c water to 5 cups sugar. Heat to a boil and sugar is melted, taste syrup if you want it sweeter add more sugar by the cup full, heating and melting then taste again.

Then I add 2 cups amber color brandy. Bring syrup back to boil and boil for a couple minutes to illiminate alcohol.

Pour syrup over peaches in jar and seal. Process for 10 minutes in BWB.

I serve these over ice cream. I have never had a problem with shelf life, usually having them a good 9-12 months.

I have also added cinnamon stick to the syrup while cooking and it adds a nice flavor.

Susan in NC

A little ginger goes well with peaches.

Since Peaches are hitting in large #'s here locally.

Think freezing up some slices for pie later would be a a good plan here for me.

ML

This is a favorite for me. I have friends that ask for a jar every year after I'm done canning.

Peach Amaretto Butter

6 cups peeled, pitted and chopped peaches (about 10-12)
2 cups sugar
1 cup Amaretto

Puree peaches in a food processor or blender until smooth.
In a large stainless steel or enamel saucepan combine peach puree and sugar. Bring to a hard boil, stirring constantly, reduce to a simmer, cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring often.
Add Amaretto and simmer for at least 5 minutes and until the desired thickness is reached. This will not thicken up past where you take it to. Ladle into half pint jars leaving 1/4 inch head space.
Process in a boiling water bath 15 minutes.

Cant strees the importance of using ASCORBIC ACID to retain color. A strong solution of water and ascorbic acid, dip the slices into it a minute or two, drain, and then bag. Or, make a syrup with some of the acid, sugar, and bag/freeze. If no ascorbic is used, they oxidize quickly and and turn an unappealing brown. If for pies, make the thickend filling (using clear gel) and freeze.

Hello!
I'm so happy to find this site and all you helpful and knowledgeable canners. I've been canning for a number of years, mostly BWB. I've always just used recipes from the Ball Book, a rodale book, "Stocking Up," and the jam recipes on the Ball pectin inserts. IN the rest of my cooking, I'm more of an experimenter. I've always felt limited by the number of recipes at my fingertips for canning, and this website is changing that -- Thank You!!

My question - some time ago there was a thread on recipes using Peaches. Carol included a link to a Peach Salsa website on her comment. After making the batch and BWB it, I am nervous - it doesn't seem like a lot of acid in the recipe. Also, the only jalapenos I could find were a bit large, so I'm wondering if the amoun of peppers is off. I eliminated the cilantro (I prefer to add that later, fresh, before I serve it)... Does this recipe seem safe? Thanks! (Below is the link to the recipe I'm talking about)

Here is a link that might be useful: Peach Salsa

Just answered this on the other thread.

Carol

I've been making this Peach Tea Bread out of my peaches. It's especially yummy with fresh peach jam.

Here is a link that might be useful: Peach Tea Bread

That looks like a delicious way to use up some of the less attractive peachse - I'll give it a try!