Just Peachy!

Ah the joys of summer! Warm weather, grillin’ like a champ and wonderful fresh fruit. How can ya beat that?

How about those delightfully aromatic, golden globes of furry orange flesh that arrived with the advent of summer? Get your mind out of the gutter! I am talking about peaches. Luscious, juicy, sweet peaches. The kind that are just hanging around the store waiting on you to take them home to turn them into to a dessert so tasty it makes you wanna slap your momma. No, not really. But darn close.

Creative Cooking

Just so ya know, I cook like I create. Using several things as my inspiration, I make changes to create my own end product. That is NOT to say that I “invented” this recipe; it is merely a melding of several recipes. A means to an end. And if you like, tweak my version and make it your own. Go crazy and have fun with it. Unless you are cooking for a living, I don’t think you should ever take the whole process too seriously. I mean, in the end (pun intended) it all ends up in the sewer. Good, bad or indifferent.

Gather your items

Here is what I used:

1/2 stick of butter–unsalted preferred but if you have salted it’s fine.

1/3 Cup brown sugar–more or less. I prefer less.

1 Tablespoon flour–I used Wondra since it is much finer milled.

1/2 teaspoon vanilla–if you have Mexican vanilla do a dance and use it! Yum!

1/2 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia–from King Arthur Flour. Don’t use more, this stuff is potent. If you don’t have, don’t buy. Just double up on the vanilla. BUT…the Fiori di Sicilia adds a wonderful citrus tone to the recipe and it keeps the peaches from browning. A definite plus in my book.

1/4-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon–to your liking.

4 medium/large peaches–each was about the size of my fist.

10 sheets phyllo dough

white sugar for sprinkling (about 2 Tablespoons, more or less)

(1/4 Cup of nuts is optional)

Prep:

Pull phyllo out of freezer and set on counter at least one hour prior to beginning. It needs time to thaw and come to room temperature.

Measure out brown sugar, flour,  cinnamon, vanilla and fiori di sicilia into large non-metallic mixing  bowl.

Cover work area on counter top with parchment paper. Line baking pan with parchment paper and heat oven to 450 degrees.

Pare, peel or defuzz (pick your term, I don’t care) the peaches and slice them into bowl. Mix well with sugar and spice mixture. Allow to rest while preparing the dough. It will be busy making “syrup” while you prep the dough.

Melt 2 Tablespoons of butter and then open package of phyllo. Handle the dough gently and make sure that the extra dough is covered at all times with a tea towel so that it can retain moisture. Dry phyllo=cooking hell. Don’t ask me how I know.

Remove ONE sheet from stack and place on parchment paper covering your work area. Give a light brushing of butter over sheet. Sprinkle sparingly with sugar if desired. Place another sheet on top of the first one and brush with butter then sprinkle with sugar. Repeat until you have a stack of 5 sheets.

Spoon about 1/2 of the peaches onto the sugary, buttery phyllo. Don’t get carried away with spooning all of that juice into there. It will just make everything mushy and the fruit will continue to make “syrup”. Now fold up both short ends about 2″ and butter those four corners. Then take one long side and roll until the seam side is now down. Just like you would roll a burrito. Or steal the covers from your husband. You know the drill.

Remove the finished strudel onto the baking sheet with seam side down. Give it a nice coat of butter (you might need to melt a bit more by now) and sprinkle with a bit of sugar. Using a sharp knife, make a few slits in the top to release the steam. Besides, it just looks pretty.

Repeat the whole process with the other half of the dough and peaches. Now you should have two handsome strudels ready to pop into the oven!

Cook for about 15 to 20 minutes. The filling should be bubbling and the dough should be browned and crispy. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes and then remove the parchment to a wire rack to cool another 15. Cut generous slices and plop a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. Wait for the silence of consumption and then the cacophony of praise for your deliciously delightful creation.

Not that there will be any leftovers, but if there are put them in the fridge. And don’t reheat in the microwave, it offends the phyllo.