weekend prep — quick pickled peaches 🍑
morning after is a monthly hangover newsletter from Ashlie Stevens. It arrives the first Saturday of the month with recipes for a chef-inspired hangover cure, a hydrating drink and a playlist for a morning best spent on the couch.
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Quick Pickled Peaches
The term “food prepping” conjures images of tidy little Tupperware containers, filled with batches of grilled chicken and vegetables, all lined up on a refrigerator shelf — ready to be removed and reheated throughout the work week. It’s a perfectly fine way to eat. Healthy and predictable and whatnot.
But what about food prepping for the weekend? By this, I mean making an item or two ahead of time that can help make your weekend meals — hangover meals, or not — the best they can be. Think sauces, condiments, mixers and, in this case, pickles.
Well, pickled peaches.
We’re at the peak of peach season and right now I’ll take ‘em however I can get ‘em. Grilled, baked in bread, eaten over the sink. But one of the most versatile ways to prepare them is by quick pickling them. After a dunk in some vinegar and spices, the peaches slices are sweet, bright and just a little acidic.
5 large peaches, sliced
1 cup of apple cider vinegar
1 cup of peach nectar (or apple juice)
3 tablespoons of brown sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
2 cloves
In a medium pot, add apple cider vinegar, peach nectar, sugar, cinnamon sticks and cloves. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer. Add the peach slices and cook, stirring occasionally until they are just starting to soften — about three to five minutes.
Using a slotted spoon, add the peach slices to a quart jar. Allow the liquid in the pot to cool, then slowly pour it into the jar over the peaches. Seal the jar and place it in the refrigerator and allow them to soak for at least 24 hours. The pickled peaches will keep for up to two weeks.
Now what?
While my peaches were pickling, I literally dreamed about the sandwich I was going to make with them. Crusty roll with a thin scrape of grainy mustard, a pile of mortadella, burrata, a generous layer of said peaches and a few leaves of massaged kale for health.
My deli was out of burrata (#firstworldpandemicproblems), so I subbed in provolone and melted it under the broiler until it was just beginning to slouch off the side of the bun. Amazing.
But the pickled peaches are a versatile creature. Toss them in a salad or on a grain bowl, use them as an oatmeal topping, even spoon some onto vanilla ice cream (trust me). Or honestly, f🍑ck it and just eat them straight from the jar.