Fresh Peaches
At our house, May equals fresh peaches. Generally, and depending on the weather, the first two weeks of May is when our peach tree is abundant with warm, juicy fruit. The only downside is that the fruit tends to ripen all at once. If you don’t glean it from the tree, then it becomes bird food.
Peaches may be firm one day and ripe the next. And unlike store-bought peaches, we pick these fuzzy fellows when they are soft and juicy. We call them the “bend over and eat” peaches because if eaten upright, you will need a face wash and a shirt change from the abundant juices.
I cringe when I try to squeeze a peach at the grocery store and find it hard and an odd color. But, with fresh peaches, they need to be used quickly~~or canned for storage.
We use the peaches in many things~fresh pies, peach crumble and cobbler, and peach jam. But one of my favorite recipes is for Peach Salsa.
This recipe uses the freshest ingredients. I’m not one who likes really hot things-that are so spicy that you can’t feel your lips. Instead, this one is just plain flavorful.
Simple ingredients and the rest is just chopping. I like to leave the peaches in slightly bigger pieces for texture and flavor, while finely chopping the onions and serrano chiles. Also, I don’t peel the peaches, however, you can if you’d like.
For those of you who have rubbed your eyes or elsewhere after chopping chiles, you know how important it is to wear gloves. The seeds are the hottest and it’s easy to get the chiles’ juices in the wrong places. You can adjust the heat to your personal preference by adding more chiles or red pepper flakes.
Toss all ingredients into a bowl and mix. Serve with your favorite tortilla chip.
Doesn’t this look delicious? It is another winning recipe. I didn’t need to can any of it as it disappears quickly.
In addition to tortilla chips and tacos, this salsa is great with grilled pork loin, fish or chicken.
The inspiration for this recipe was found in Canning for a New Generation by Liana Krissoff. A few years ago, I spent the summer learning how to can the abundance of fruits and vegetables from our garden. This is an excellent addition to your pantry and the recipe can be easily doubled.
Peach and Cilantro Salsa
Ingredients
- 5 pounds ripe peaches peeled, pitted and diced (about 9 cups)
- 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
- 6 ounces sweet onion diced, about 1 cup
- 3 ounces bell pepper diced, about 1/2 cup
- 2 TBSP serrano chiles minced and seeded
- 4 to 6 TBSP sugar to taste
- 4 tsp pure kosher salt
- 1/4 cup cider vinegar 5% acidity
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (see notes)
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 TBSP chopped fresh mint
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients into a bowl. Let flavors combine. Serve with tortilla chips. If you do not can this salsa, refrigerate immediately.
Notes
Have a happy Tuesday. I am finally back in town and will share my story on my Saturday Meanderings. In the meantime, it feels good to be home. Enjoy!
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Yum! You’re getting fresh off the tree “bend over eating peaches” and there will not be a peach to be found in this area, even during what would be the peak peach season. Seems that most peach growers shut down operations when legislation regarding pest control hit the airwaves many years ago. Sadly, it just wasn’t cost effective to continue to grow peaches. I remember visiting my folks here when I lived in NYC and the first stop was alway Petzel’s Peaches right by my folks’ house! Better peaches could not be found! Sigh…sweet memories. These days I live and taste peach salsa vicariously through you!!! So thanks for that!
This sounds so good I am looking forward to peach season in NC/SC,
Thank you for sharing this. I enjoy your blog very much and thank you for the
print page for the recipes. This gets 5 stars just for the photos and description.
How I wish I had a big juicy peach now!
Fresh peaches are the best! I live about 30 miles from Fredericksburg, Texas, also known for wonderful fresh peaches (the season is late May – July, depending on the variety the various orchards are growing). Your peach salsa looks and sounds delicious, I will have to try it (and break from the peach jam and cobbler I tend to usually make, lol) I’ve had peach/mango salsa (store bought) on shrimp tacos, I bet this fresh version would be awesome !
Sounds delicious Mary, and I’ll be sharing this recipe with my followers this week! Hugs friend.
SOUNDS DELICIOUS!
I SHALL TRY AS THE STORE BOUGHT SALSA IS THE PITS!!!
We have a peach farm about 3 miles from our home. There are several varieties extending ripe times from end of may till mid July. We look forward to peach season and would love any recipes you could share. Thanks for blogging.
What a great and useful post. The photos are beautiful, as always, and the recipe is on my list of to-Dos! Peaches are my all time favorite fruit. I should plant a tree in my yard!
Oh, Mary, that sounds delicious!!!!!
This is absolutely delicious. A great summer peach salsa.