Peach and Nectarine Tart

After a month in Indonesia visiting family, Tjing and I returned to summer here in Northern California.  It's the towards the tail-end of the season for stone fruits, and peaches and their clean shaven cousins, nectarines,  are at peak sweetness.  Going to the farmers market the morning after we got back, I picked up several pounds of perfectly ripe yellow peaches and white nectarines.  Although they were fine eaten fresh without any adornment, I decided to use some to make this tart which I came across while surfing the web in Java.  I liked the simple directness of the tart, its focus on the fruit, but I thought I'd give it an Indonesian tweak by using some lemongrass kaffir lime pepper jam instead of the red currant preserves it calls for.  I thought a touch of heat with the fruit would be a nice touch.

Other than using demerara sugar instead of white sugar to sprinkle on the fruit, and the substitution of the kaffir lime chili jam for the red currant preserves, I stuck to the Times recipe.  The crust is a straightforward pate sucree, a crust that is pretty much foolproof.  As the fruit is front and center, it's important that you use the best that you can find.  I wouldn't attempt to make this tart with any fruit that you wouldn't be as happy eating fresh. 

I served this with some crème fraìche, as suggested in the original recipe, but a good vanilla ice cream would also go well with it.  It is also fine just on its own.

Vietnamese Peach Salsa

I don't recall ever eating a peach in Vietnam.  Here, in northern California, peaches are abundant and deliciously sweet in summer.  Although I never cared from them much when growing up, I've become very fond of them in recent years.  I particularly enjoy white peaches, which have an ambrosial sweetness.  This recipe came about when I was chewing on some rau ram (daun laksa) and thought it would be an interesting match with peaches.  I was right.

This salsa would be great with grilled fish, chicken, or pork.  It also goes nicely with arugula for a quick summer salad.  Here it is simply served with Vietnamese sesame rice crackers--banh trang me--which I crisped in the microwave.

As with most salsas, this is quick and easy to prepare, and tastes best the day it is made.  You could certainly add more shallots, make it spicier with more chilies, or vary it to your taste.  The rau ram should be easily found in Vietnamese markets.  It is the herb that makes this a Vietnamese salsa for me.

Vietnamese Peach Salsa

3 to 4 peaches, peeled and diced (I used a mix of white and yellow freestone peaches)
3 TBS chopped rau ram
2 TBS lime juice
1 TBS shallots, peeled and finely chopped
1 TBS young ginger, grated or finely minced
2 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp fish sauce
2--4 thai chilies, seeded and minced
2 kaffir lime leaves, central vein removed, finely minced

Mix ingredients together in a bowl.  Wait 20 minutes for flavors to meld. Can be made several hours ahead of time, but best served the day it is made.

Pineapple, Banana, and Coconut Jam

Every year since I started this blog a few years ago, I have participated in Steph Chows Jam Exchange.  An annual event that takes place each summer, the exchange is a chance  excuse for me to make up some jam.  Although I like various jams and have enjoyed those I have received in the exchanges, Tjing and I rarely eat it.  We are not real big on breakfast, but if we do bother to have something more than a piece of fruit, we are more likely to have fried rice or a bowl of noodle soup than a piece of toast with jam. So, besides giving away most of the jam I make, I try to come up with other ways of using it.

One of the jams I made this summer was from Christine Ferber's Mes Confitures.  This book has a collection of a number of intriguing combinations for jams and preserves, most of which I'll probably never get around to unless I start making more than one or two batches of jam a year.  The translation of the recipes is sometimes suspect, and the conversion between grams and dry measurements seems a bit off, but the ideas for different jams are inspiring.

I wasn't sure that banana would work in a jam.  I thought it would probably turn to a brown and unappetizing mush.  I also don't like coconut in cakes, cookies, or candies.  For some reason, dried coconut triggers the gag response in me.  I do, however, like fresh coconut--which this recipe calls for--and the combination of pineapple, banana, and coconut seemed like it would make a nice tropical jam if it came together.  Thankfully, it did.

Since our toaster gave up the ghost some time ago, I wanted some way to use the jam to good effect.  I thought it would give a tropical flair to some cheesecake, but wanted something in a more manageable size.  Using a one-inch diameter biscuit cutter, I cut rounds from a ginger-snap crusted cheesecake and topped those with a spoonful of the jam.  The eight-inch square cheesecake produced 16 bite-sized rounds (and some delicious scraps to snack on).

Pineapple, Banana, and Coconut Jam

adapted from Mes Confitures 

400 grams of fresh, ripe pineapple, cored, cut into eighths lengthwise, then cut into 1/3-inch thick slices

500 grams of bananas (4 average bananas), sliced into rounds a little more than 1/2-inch thick

200 grams grated fresh coconut (I used frozen coconut I bought at an Asian market)

3 1/2 cups sugar (672 gr)

juice of one small lemon

In a large saucepan combine all the ingredients and bring to a simmer.  Stir well and make sure the sugar is completely dissolved.  Remove from heat and pour into a non-reactive container.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The following day, pour the liquid from the mixture back into the saucepan.  Bring to a boil and stir until the temperature reaches 221º F.  Add the fruit and coconut and continue cooking for five minutes or so.  Check the set of the mixture.  Put the jam into hot, sterilized 1/2 pint jars, seal and process in a water canner for ten minutes.

**  Ferber's recipe calls for 3 3/4 cups or 800 grams of sugar.  800 grams actually comes to more than 4 cups of sugar.  I found that 3 3/4 cups is a tad too sweet for me.  I would consider using less, but not sure if that might not affect the jam when canning.

Apel Hutan--Forest Apple

 The variety of fruit available in Java is astounding.  With a temperature that varies only slightly from month to month, and an even parsing of day and night throughout the year--sunrise and sunset forever between five and six--Java is not an island one would expect to find seasonal differences in what fruit is available.  Although certain fruit is available throughout the year, papaya, for example, others such as klengkeng (longan, a fruit similar to lychee) and rambutan (another fruit related to lychees) are only available for a month or two. 

It is my misfortune that my favorite variety of mango, and the one that is generally most prized in Indonesia, harum manis (sweet smelling), is not really in season in Java during the months Tjing and I are able to visit.  After tasting the mangoes that are available in Indonesia (and there are tens of different varieties), I am always disappointed by those I get in California. 

Yesterday my sister-in-law Lili brought home a new fruit for me to try.  Apel hutan (forest apple) are about the size of softballs.  The light green exterior is of a cork-like consistency, firm yet yielding, about a quarter inch thick.  The ivory flesh is the texture of honeydew melon that has just passed the peak of ripeness. The taste is reminiscent of honeydew as well, but without the aggressive sweetness. 

Sliced in half, each half serves as its own bowl.  The flesh is spooned from the shell like a creamy pudding.  I can find no mention of this fruit elsewhere and Tjing and others in her family had never had it before either.  Perhaps it is known by a different name elsewhere?  If you have any information on this, I’d love to hear it.

Rujak Cingur--An East Javanese Specialty

Rujak cingur is an East Javanese specialty. Rujak is a kind of fruit and vegetable salad popular in Indonesia and Malaysia that combines ripe and unripe fruit, along with raw and cooked vegetables for a crisp, tart and sweet explosion of tastes and textures on the tongue.  Different cultures favor different combinations of ingredients and sauces, so the rojak made by Indians in Malaysia is a totally different beast from that made by Chinese in Singapore or Madurese in East Java.

What makes rujak cingur unique, besides its liberal use of petis udang (a tar-like fermented shrimp paste popular in Java) in its sauce, is the inclusion of cingur--water buffalo snout.  Boiled and sliced into bite-sized pieces, it adds an extra dimension to the rujak. 

According to my sister-in-law, Lili, this Madurese woman makes the best rujak cingur in Kediri.  Not an aficionado myself, I’ll take her word for it.  Typical of many hawkers in Java, she has no set spot from which she sells her rujak, but carries her makings with her and prepares each salad to order, deftly assembling a salad as she slices pieces of fruit and grinds her sauce to each customer’s preference of spiciness. 

Walking home from school after picking up my niece, we got several orders to go.  Not a fan of spicy food, she watched to make sure no extra chilies were slipped into her order.  Wrapped in banana leaf with the sauce kept separate in a small plastic bag, it made a perfect after school snack, nutritious and tasty.

Rosemary Peach Jam

Rosemary and peaches exude the warmth of summer. The juices of a peach drip the long summer days sunlight down your chin. Bruise the leaves of rosemary between your thumb and forefinger and you draw in the hills of Tuscany wavering through heat and memory.

Grill peach halves brushed with a sprig of rosemary dipped in a bright, fruity olive oil and you have the perfect dessert, or a sweet and savory side to grilled pork or chicken. They pair with each other with the grace of Astaire and Rogers.

Having agreed to take part in Steph Chows Jam Exchange, I had to come up with a jam that I hoped the recipient would enjoy. White peaches are still in season here in northern California, so a peach jam seemed sensible. Tuscan blue rosemary is threatening to overtake much of the back yard, so I thought I might as well make use of that.

The recipe I adapted was from the insider trading queen herself, Martha Stewart. As much as her manner annoys me, she does have some good recipes. Here is her recipe.

I had to rush the process a little, so I didn't steep the rosemary as long as Martha calls for. I may have used less sugar per portion, too. The rosemary flavor was very pronounced when I tasted the syrup about halfway through the cooking process, so I removed the sprigs at that stage. As much as I like rosemary, I know others don't necessarily share that view. The finished jam does not have a very strong rosemary presence and I wish I had left the sprigs in longer.


Rosemary Peach Jam

8 cups chopped, peeled white peaches, about 5 pounds
4 six-inch sprigs rosemary
5 cups sugar
juice of two small lemons

Mix ingredients together in large pot. Let sit for several hours, stirring occasionally. Bring to a boil and simmer until setting point is reached. Skim foam from surface while mixture simmers. Remove rosemary.

I used an immersion blender to puree the chopped peaches after bringing them to a simmer.

Pour into warm, sterilized jars and follow procedure for canning in boiling water.

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