Ingredients
- Peaches
- Maple Syrup
This recipe was originally supposed to be published last weekend when some of the Farmer’s Markets had peaches, but our editor got distracted with the birth of his first born, so this post is a bit late. That said, you might be lucky to find some peaches at a market near you, you’ll just have to hunt for them – peach season has pretty much come to an end. Now, over to Will:
When people ask me about recipes and ideas for the BBQ, they are always surprised when I tell them about appetizers and desserts that can be done over the open flame. Far too often people focus narrowly on simply meat and fire. Not that I have a problem with a choice cut of beef grilled to perfection, but the BBQ need not be shut off after the main is cooked.
Typically, people are a little more apprehensive moving outside the comfort zone of typical BBQ dishes. This is a simple little dessert that is sure to impress, and perhaps even shock your guests and help you move outside of the grilled meat paradigm.
Late summer and early fall provides us with a great opportunity to consume copious amounts of fresh produce from just an hour down the road in the Niagara Peninsula. Of course, the sweetest of all the tender fruits from our local farms are fresh Niagara peaches.
Preparation
- Turn your grill onto a medium to medium high heat and let the grill get nice and hot before cooking. You will only be cooking for a few minutes, so you need a hot BBQ to get the nice grill marks on the fruit.
- As the grill warms up, carefully remove the skin from your peaches. A paring knife works best, a mother who grew up on the farm in Niagara works better! Cut the peaches in half and remove the pit.
- Brush each of the peach halves with real Canadian maple syrup. Don’t insult the peaches, your grill, or your guests with some generic table syrup. Place the peaches on the hot grill for a few minutes. Almost instantly you will smell the sugar of the maple syrup as it caramelizes on the BBQ which will usually draw a crowd over to see what you are up to.
- Brush the top side of the peaches again, flip, and brush the other side again as they finish for another few minutes.
- Remove the peaches from the grill and place immediately into individual bowels of vanilla ice cream. Serve to your guests while the steam is still rising form the hot peaches melting the ice cream.
Photo credit: Lauren Kennedy Photography.
