Peach Brandy

Fruit wine or brandy? It's mostly up for debate about what to call this. I've been referring to it as peach wine and I typically think of brandy as an alcohol that's distilled from a fruit wine. This batch of wine was made using the tree-ripened yellow peaches I got from the volunteer harvest with the Portland Fruit Tree Project. 25# of peaches is a lot to process, btw, when the freezer is full of other things (like strawberries and rhubarb when those were in season).

Hot, humid days and bruised peaches are not a good combination. Many of these peaches were rotting fast even though they were sitting in the coolest (by temperature) room in the house and they weren't touching each other. But it seems that proximity was enough to hasten spoilage.

This recipe process comes from the Delishably food blog. The best part about it is that you can leave the skins on. Just wash the peaches and make sure that there aren't any bugs or rot. I also left out the peach pits because I needed space in the jar for more peaches.

TheFoodening Blog - Peach Wine, Peach Brandy

Ferment start: 8/19/2016
Ferment stop: 8/28/2016

Ingredients

1 qt peaches, washed and diced
1 lb organic granulated sugar
2 tsp dry yeast
2 c cold, filtered water

Directions

In a 1.5 qt or 2 qt jar, layer peaches and sugar until the jar is full. You can squish it all down with a wooden spoon, if you want. Add yeast and fill jar with water.

Place a dish below the jar, in case the peaches try to escape.

If you have cheesecloth, use that. Otherwise, you can use clean paper towels to cover the top of the jar. Secure the towel or cloth in place with rubber bands.

You'll want to give this a stir every day until the yeast is done eating. This summer it's been between 80-90 degrees F indoors. My batch stopped bubbling at around 1.5 weeks. And, if you let the mixture sit undisturbed, a clear, dark peach-colored layer of alcohol will separate from the rest of the pulp pixture.

To decant:

Place a mesh strainer (one that has a handle, so it can balance on top of a much larger bowl) on top of a bowl large enough to accommodate one quart of liquid. Let the fermented peaches strain using gravity (e.g., don't try to hurry the peaches along by using a spoon to push the peaches through; you don't want any of the pulp in your alcohol).

What I made:

1 pint + 2 oz in glass jars in the refrigerator
3 cups in a quart container in the freezer (to separate the solids from the liquid)

Kitchen Notes: Bourbon, ABV and Used in Cooking

Since having converted most of my sweet wines into jams or jellies, I haven't really had the need to stock anything other than rice wine for cooking savory dishes. But, the previous weekend I came into having 25 pounds of free, tree-ripened yellow peaches; most of which I managed to convert into edible jam.

In my research on pairing peach jam with an alcohol, there were plenty of suggestions for bourbon.. not whiskey, mind you, but good old fashioned Kentucky bourbon. And there's been quite a lot of drunken chatter on the Net about famous brands watering down their bourbon (looking at you Maker's Mark) while raising prices. Both versions of the peach jam came out tasting really good; except I can't taste the bourbon in either. Jim Beam is simply not a good choice for cooking with.

Among my foodie friends who also drink whiskey, I had many suggestions for bourbon brands to use in cooking:

Buffalo Trace
Eagle Rare
Four Roses
Jim Beam
Knob Creek

The last time I used a bourbon in cooking was for a Mardi Gras themed potluck where I made New Orleans Bread Pudding with a whiskey sauce using Makers Mark. It came out so tasty, that not only did people scoop into it before I could snap a photo, it was devoured long before the evening ended.

Personally, I have no tasting memory of whiskey, bourbon, or any of the variants in its class (cask strength, straight, blends, whatever). I wouldn't be able to discern between a 40% ABV or an overproof 51.5% ABV bourbon. Some people recommended a higher ABV because you need a strong flavor to survive the cooking process (in retrospect, they are correct) and others who suggested more mild, smoother tasting bourbons probably have not cooked with the lower ABV bourbons.

That said, the 40% ABV Jim Beam that I ended up using (cheapest of all the brands at Costco), I think I should have dished out more money and started my bourbon cooking quest with Knob Creek or Costco's private label of small batch bourbon (103% overproof), the latter of which is made by Clear Spring Distilling Company who also makes Buffalo Trace.

Here are the numbers from my Costco bourbon browsing:

Knob Creek small batch bourbon, 1 liter
100 proof (50% ABV)
$29.89 + wa tax $6.13 + ltr tax $2.83 = $37.85

Costco small batch bourbon, 1 liter
103 proof (51.5% ABV)
$28.99 + wa tax $5.94 + ltr tax $3.77 = $38.70

Makers Mark 46, 1 liter
94 proof (47% ABV)
$32.89 + wa tax $6.74 + ltr tax $2.83 = $42.46

.

Jim Beam, 1.75 liter
40% ABV
$22.39 + wa tax $4.59 + ltr tax $6.60 = $33.58

Maker's Mark, 1.75 liter
45% ABV
$44.99 + wa tax $6.74 + ltr tax $6.60 = $60.81

Hatch Chile Salsa, Batch #1

This is the second time making it and first time actually committing the ratio to paper.. err digital cookbook journal. The first time was last year and it was delicious. This batch is really the second batch of tomato salsa for this summer.

A note about roasting fresh peppers. I started with 2 lbs fresh hatch chile peppers; but after processing them by roasting, peeling, removing the stem and discarding the seeds, I had 14.25 oz left. And, this is fine.

A common substitution for Hatch chiles is Anaheim,
and after roasting these Hatch chiles I really can't tell the difference.

This summer I've made 3 batches of salsa so far with different ingredient ratios. Batches #1 and #3 are essentially the same; the red chile pepper got swapped with Anaheim chiles in #3.

Batch #1, main heat ingredients - jalapenos (8), red chile pepper (1)
Batch #2, main heat ingredients - hatch chiles (2 lbs)
Batch #3, main heat ingredients - jalapenos (8), Anaheim chiles (5)

TheFoodening Blog - Hatch Chile Salsa

Batch #2 Ingredients

5 lb red tomatoes, roasted and peeled
1 head garlic cloves, roasted, peeled, chopped
4 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 lb (14.25 oz) prepared hatch chile peppers, roasted, peeled, seeded
1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro, stems removed and chopped
1 tbsp kosher salt

Directions

1. In a large stockpot, bring tomatoes, garlic, chile peppers, lime juice, and salt to a boil; then simmer over medium heat to reduce the water content. You want salsa that can stay on a chip, not fall off like a soupy mess.

I let the water boil off for roughly 1.5 hrs; then got bored and used a mesh strainer to get more of the solids out into the jar.

2. Turn off heat and stir in cilantro. 

3. Fill sterilized glass jars and process in a hot water bath for 20 minutes.

Makes 5 pints.

Kimchi and Bacon Fried Rice

I will have to make this again, as I just ate it for dinner and didn't snap a photo. There are many ways to make fried rice and it starts with a pot of leftover steamed rice from the previous day, or whenever. It's up to you whether or not you want to make this with white or brown rice, short or long grain. The preferred is long grain rice because it's not as sticky.

Ingredients

1 c steamed or baked rice (per serving)
1/2 c homemade kimchi, chopped
1 green onion stalk, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 strips of cooked bacon, diced
1 tbsp olive oil

Directions

If you don't have cooked bacon on hand, fry fresh bacon in the large skillet. Once cooked, remove bacon to a cutting board and dice. There should be 1-2 tbsp of bacon lard in the skillet Proceed with the rest of the recipe, omitting the olive oil.

In a large skillet, warm oil over medium-high heat. Add scallions and garlic. Fry until fragrant. Add rice before garlic starts to brown. Add kimchi. Mix it all up until thoroughly combined.

Fry the rice for about 5-10 minutes, until the rice warms up and everything is about the same temperature.

Serve hot.

Kimchi Pork Buns

I have made these twice now with two different dough recipes, both of which can be left to rise overnight, if needed. Typically, dough for steamed bao is ready in about 2 hours, from mix to proof to prepare and steam. At some point I'll write a kitchen note about the many different ways you can make the dough for steamed buns and what the differences, if any, there are.

TheFoodeningBlog - Kimchi Pork Buns

Dough (from Maangchi)

1 c warm water + 2 tsp active dry yeast + 1/2 tsp salt + 1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
3 c unbleached all purpose flour

For this dough, dissolve the dry yeast in warm water with or without the sugar and let it bubble into action for 10 mins before stirring in the rest of the ingredients. You should sift the flour and salt together before adding the yeast because direct contact with salt will kill the newly awakened yeast, or so I've read.

Let the dough rise in a warm spot in the kitchen, covered, until double in volume. Then gently knead and roll into a log and divide into 16 equal portions; or 8 portions to make really large buns.

Makes: 16 buns

Filling Ingredients

1/2 c homemade kimchi, finely chopped
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp homemade vegan oyster sauce (optional)

Mix filling ingredients together. Use 1 heaping tablespoon of filling per bun.

Roll dough portions out into a 4" diameter circle. Put the filling in the center, and bring the edges of the dough circle to the center and pinch at the top. You can pleat the folds at the top if you want to; but it all tastes the same.