I’m kicking things off this morning with a couple of tasty recipes you will love. Both feature South Carolina peaches from Titan Farms in Ridge Spring, SC. Once you’ve finished this post, you’ll want to check out my second peachy post with even more peachy goodness. This sister post also includes the how-to video for both of the recipes here.
Cheers and here’s to celebrating the season! Hoping this post helps to make your week practically peach perfect!
They say that Georgia is “The Peach State”. But truth is, South Carolina is the second largest peach producing state next to California. The largest producer and packer in the Palmetto State, and for that matter this side of the Mississippi, is Titan Farms.
You may not realize it but you already know about Titan Farms. I made a quick mention about Titan Farms’ peaches in my Eat Local post last week. That’s right, Titan Farms’ peaches are THE peaches in Clemson’s Best Peaches and Cream ice cream!
Titan Farms’ Peaches
It was my pleasure to visit the farm and the processing plant early August of 2018. Its an unbelievable operation as, over the course of a season, the farm harvests a million and a half to two million peaches! Titan Farms ships as far as Texas, Colorado and Iowa, up to Canada, and of course across the Southeast.
In Charlotte and across North Carolina you can shop local and buy Titan Farms’ peaches in several area grocery stores including, Lowes, Harris Teeter, Aldi’s, Lidl, Walmart and some Costco stores – just look for the Titan Farms sticker.
Share Your Local Love of Peaches
If you want to share the local love, I can tell you from experience, you shouldn’t try to ship peaches on your own. Just ask my cousins Sarah and Marty Topol. I tried to ship them local ripe, ready to eat peaches about 10 years ago. It was a total peach debacle.
If I had only known then, what I know now. Titan Farms is the master of shipping peaches! The peaches arrive safe and unbruised as they are shipped in an awesome box. Your recipient will love this wonderful taste of summer. 40-count peach giftboxes are available directly from Titan Farms for $40 to ship up through August 15, 2019. You’ll find all of the details right here.
Or, if you are up for a one day road trip, you can do what I did late last week. Hop in the car and head south for a visit to Titan’s farm stand, called Sara’s Fresh Market. Sara’s is in Trenton SC and is about 2 hours away from Charlotte.
Eat Local Peaches at Sara’s Fresh Market
When you get to Sara’s treat yourself before you start shopping for produce, with real homemade soft serve ice cream. This peach ice cream is made from scratch with Titan’s very own peaches.
The peruse the stand for an array of just picked peaches to take home and lots of added value product like Peach Cider, peach jams and salsa’s and a delicious Peach Vinaigrette to pack up as well.
You can also purchase more of Titan’s local harvest at Sara’s including tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, cucumbers, and some of the best watermelon I have had this season.
Cooking with SC Peaches
For more on all the goodness you’ll find at Sara’s and the operation at Titan Farms check out my second peachy post in this two part series.. It includes video from a cooking segment I did on Charlotte Today – you can watch me prepare this delicious summer time appetizer and cocktail. And then, read on for all the details.
Feeling Peachy? Let’s get cooking!
Now, to get you started, here is a great way to preserve the flavor of this year’s harvest of ripe and delicious peaches. Even though the season in South Carolina runs through the middle of September, you’ll want to make jams, jellies and other peachy condiments like this terrific sweet and savory peach chutney now.
I truly believe that peaches and ginger have a symbiotic relationship. The flavor of one brings out the flavor of the other. And so, you’ll find both of those flavors in both of today’s featured peach recipes. Enjoy!
Heidi B’s South Carolina Titan Farms Peach Chutney
2 1/2 cups sugar
3 cups White distilled vinegar or use half local SC apple Cider Vinegar and half Sara’s Fresh Market Peach vinaigrette
1 cup local or organic ginger root, peeled and minced
About 8 large SC Titan Farms peaches, peeled and cut into chunks or thick slices
1/2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. mustard seed
1 clove local garlic, sliced
3/4 cup golden raisins
Combine 1 1/4 cups sugar with 1 1/2 cups of the vinegar and the fresh ginger. Bring to a boil and cook until the mixture is a thick syrup – about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and reserve.
At the same time in another saucepan, combine remaining the sugar and vinegar with the chopped Titan Farms peaches. Bring to a boil and cook for 20 minutes, until the liquid is a thick syrup. Remove from the heat.
Here’s A Tip:
Before you continue on with the chutney recipe, know that if you just make the two separate syrups, the ginger syrup is fabulous in all of your favorite summer cocktails. The Peach syrup with the peaches is fabulous over anything from pancakes to ice cream, pound cake to French toast.
Now, back to the chutney… Use a slotted spoon to gently transfer the cooked peaches to a separate bowl. Combine the two pots of syrup into one. Bring the liquid back to a boil for 5 minutes to combine and thicken.
I know it seems as if you could just put all the sugar and vinegar, peaches and ginger in one big pot and boil it all down together. And you could. But by doing two separate batches of syrup and then combining them, your peaches will hold their shape for a longer time; and you’ll get a much better finished flavor for your chutney.
It’s the chili powder, mustard seed, garlic and raisins that make this simply peach and ginger syrup a chutney. Add the mix and reserved peaches to the combined syrups. Boil for 30 minutes more until the mixture is very thick. Then I like to carefully pull out the sliced garlic, just so no one gets a bit of anything too hot or spicy.
Pour the thick sticky finished mixture into canning jars and refrigerate; or process for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath to seal the lids and make the chutney shelf stable.
Serve the chutney with cream cheese or local ricotta and fresh baked popovers. This combo makes a wonderful summer appetizer or hors d’oeuvre to enjoy with your peach bourbon fizz.
Heidi’s Peach Bourbon Fizz
1 Tbsp. of local honey. (With this recipe I am loving the new Lemon Ginger infused honey from my friends at Cloister Honey in Charlotte)
1-2 shots of local Bourbon
One ripe and juicy peeled Titan Farms SC peach. Puree the peach in a blender or food processor. OR, for a cocktail that is not so thick, use 1/2 cup Sara’s Fresh Market Peach Cider
Combine the honey and bourbon and blend well until the honey is melted into the alcohol.
Place the puree in a rocks glass and stir in the bourbon-honey mix. Top with ice and finish with your favorite local gingerale. As we are talking a lot about South Carolina products here, I’m using Blenheim’s Hot Gingerale – its one of my faves!
Stir gently and garnish with a peach slice or two before serving.
Then, raise a glass and say cheers! And be sure to become a HeidiBillottoFood.com subscriber, by typing in your email address where prompted in the upper right hand column of my home page here.
Now, for more on how to capture this summer’s peachy goodness, go here.
2 comments