Madison Peach

Grilled pork tenderloin served with charred peach halves glazed with honey and vinegar. Two peach halves per plate.

Role of the fruit. Co-star: 4 peaches for 4 servings

Prep 15 min. Cook 17 to 24 min. Total About 40 min.

Ingredients

1¼ to 1½ lb pork tenderloin
4 freestone peaches, halved and pitted
2 tbsp oil
Salt and pepper
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp cider or balsamic vinegar

Method

1. Rub the pork with 1 tbsp oil, salt, pepper and thyme. Grill over medium-high heat, turning, until it reaches 145°F, 12 to 18 min. Rest 3 min.
2. Brush the peach halves with the remaining oil and grill cut-side down until marked, 3 to 4 min; turn and grill 2 min more.
3. Warm the honey and vinegar together and brush over the peaches.
4. Slice the pork and serve with two peach halves per plate.

Why this cultivar. Freestone halves come off the pit cleanly and hold together on the grill: Redhaven, Intrepid, Madison, Wisconsin Balmer and Black Peach are all freestone. Use peaches ripe but still firm. Black Peach gives dark red halves and a sharper glaze.

Safety. USDA recommends cooking pork to 145°F with a 3-minute rest.

Evidence: D. Culinary application.

Open the full recipe page · Learn the technique: Grilling

A deep dish of sliced peaches under an oat and brown-sugar topping.

Role of the fruit. The filling: 3 lb of peaches

Prep 30 min. Cook 40 to 45 min at 375°F. Total About 1 hr 15 min, plus 20 min cooling.

Ingredients

3 lb peaches (8 or 9), peeled and sliced
¼ cup sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp lemon juice
Topping: 1 cup flour, ¾ cup rolled oats, ¾ cup brown sugar, ½ tsp cinnamon, ¼ tsp salt, ½ cup cold butter in pieces

Method

1. Heat the oven to 375°F.
2. Toss the peaches with the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice and spread in a 2-quart baking dish.
3. Rub the topping ingredients together until clumpy and scatter over the fruit.
4. Bake 40 to 45 min, until the fruit bubbles at the edges and the topping is golden. Cool 20 min before serving.

Why this cultivar. Freestone peaches such as Redhaven, Intrepid and Madison twist cleanly off the pit, which makes slicing three pounds quick. White-fleshed Carman is sweet and mild. To peel, blanch 30 to 60 seconds in boiling water, then plunge into ice water and slip the skins off.

Evidence: C. Classic style.

Open the full recipe page · Learn the technique: Baking pies, crisps, tarts and breads

For shelf-stable jars of peach pie filling, use the tested USDA method only. Madison is recorded as holding its texture when processed.

Method

Follow the National Center for Home Food Preservation's peach pie filling, which uses Clear Jel®. Iowa State University Extension notes that Clear Jel is the only starch recommended for canned apple, blueberry, cherry and peach pie fillings. Do not change the amount of lemon juice.

Safety. Use the tested recipe exactly. Other starches break down and are not recommended for canning.

Evidence: Tested method. Source 1: nchfp.uga.edu (opens in a new tab), Source 2: blogs.extension.iastate.edu (opens in a new tab)

Open the full recipe page · Learn the technique: Jams, jellies and fruit preserves

A dated recipe from Abby Fisher's What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking (1881), printed in its original words and adapted step by step for a modern kitchen.

Prep 45 min, plus 30 min chilling. Cook 50 min. Total 2 hr 35 min (includes chilling and 30 min cooling).

Ingredients

Pastry (Fisher's recipe no. 48):
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted (454 g)
1 tsp fine salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter (113 g)
1/2 cup cold lard (113 g)
About 2/3 cup ice water
Filling:
4 lb ripe freestone peaches, about 12 medium (1.8 kg)
3/4 cup superfine sugar (150 g)
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Method

1. Whisk the flour and salt. Rub in the butter and lard with your hands until evenly mixed. Add ice water a little at a time, mixing with your hands, until the dough just holds together; it should not be wet. Divide in two, one piece slightly larger, flatten and chill 30 min.
2. Heat the oven to 400°F with a rack in the lower third.
3. Roll the larger piece very thin (Fisher says 'thin as paper') and line the bottom and sides of a 9 x 13-in baking dish.
4. Peel the peaches, pit them and cut into plum-size pieces, about 1 1/2 in. Fill the dish, sprinkling the layers with the sugar and cinnamon.
5. Roll the second piece to about 1/8 in ('the thickness of an egg-shell'), lay it over the fruit, trim and press the edges, and cut 2 or 3 slits in the top.
6. Bake 45 to 55 min, until the top is well browned and juice bubbles at the slits. Set a sheet pan underneath for drips.
7. Cool 30 min before serving. It is juicy; serve in bowls.

Why this cultivar. Fisher names no variety, only ripe freestone peaches. Redhaven and Madison are modern freestones from our catalog, not the peaches she used.

History. Abby Fisher dictated her book in San Francisco; its preface says she could not read or write, and its title page records medals for her pickles, sauces, jellies and preserves at the 1880 San Francisco Mechanics' Institute Fair and a diploma at the 1879 Sacramento State Fair. Her peach cobbler (no. 143) is a double-crust dish of freestone peaches, sugar and cinnamon. Read from the University of California copy digitized by the Internet Archive.

Evidence: A. Dated published recipe. Adapted from Abby Fisher, What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking, San Francisco, 1881.. Source 1: archive.org (opens in a new tab)

Open the full recipe page · Learn the technique: Baking pies, crisps, tarts and breads · Read the 1881 original