Well, here's a trick for peeling them quickly and easily!
(Yes, I know these are nectarines, not peaches...
but I had both and these looked so much prettier!)
This is something I learned years ago from my Grandma, while I helped her can peaches, and it works great on peaches, tomatoes, nectarines & plums!
Here's my kitchen set-up when I am going to peel a bunch of peaches. This time I am going to dice them and freeze them to use later. I found some gorgeous organic peaches and nectarines at Costco this week, so I grabbed 3 boxes, and just may go back for more!
You need a pot (big enough to hold a few peaches submerged in boiling water), a big bowl full of ice water, a slotted spoon or tongs, knives and a cutting board!
(Did you notice that I have a towel under my cutting board? Well, it's there for 2 reasons... 1st to keep the board from sliding around as I chop and 2nd, to catch all the overflow juices!)
Wash your peaches and score a small X into the bottom of each one with a paring knife.
Place 2 or 3 peaches at a time into the boiling water, and let them boil for 30-60 seconds, until the skin at the "X" starts to curl up.
Quickly take them out of the boiling water and place them into your ice-water bath to cool them down so you can peel them (and to stop the cooking process!).
Take them out of the cold water once they are cool enough to handle and with your fingers, pull back the skin. It will come of very easily, sometimes even in one piece!
Chop your fruit however you would like... I like to dice mine, just because that's how I usually use it!
Next time you need to peel a bunch of peaches or nectarines for peach pie, blueberry nectarine crumb bars, cinnamon nectarine freezer jam... or for canning or freezing, try this trick!
Check back next week for some great recipes, like the ones mentioned above, using all this beautiful fruit!!
