Peach Prizewinner

It’s peach season! It’s peach season!

I went to the Foggy Bottom farmer’s market on Wednesday and loaded up a backpack full of them. Cut in half and roasted or grilled with a small pat of butter and a few tsp. of brown sugar in the hole where the pit used to be, they are perfect. Usually I eat one with a dollop of plain yogurt for a cool, tangy topping. If there’s any homemade granola around I’ll throw a spoonful of that on as well. It is the best summer dessert and I love that you can just make one serving.

Delicious little drupes.

Anyway with the Arlington County Fair going on this weekend, I thought making something with the most in-season fruit I could find was the best bet. But somehow I just got stuck. No recipes stood out to me and I finally just started pulling out ingredients in the kitchen and hoped that using some basic proportions would guide me along. We’re currently rich in bourbon that was either gifted to us or left over from the wedding. What could be better than bourbon and peaches? Bourbon, peaches and pecans, THAT’s what. If it will win anything at the fair, I can’t even guess. There are a lot of talented bakers in Arlington and only so many awards to go around. The greatest joy to me is seeing them disappear at work and having colleagues give them a thumbs-up.

Peach, Pecan and Bourbon Streusel Bars

Pastry:

• 2.75 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup pecans, toasted and chopped.
• 8 oz. (2 sticks) cold butter, cut into cubes.
• 1 egg
• 2-3 tbsp. bourbon
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. fresh grated nutmeg

Filling:

• 2 peaches, peeled and sliced ¼ in.
• 1 tbsp. flour
• 1 tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 tsp. bourbon

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and grease a 9×13 in. pan.

Toss the sliced peaches with the 1 tbsp. flour, 1 tbsp. brown sugar and 2 tsp. bourbon. Set aside.

In the bowl of a food processor, grind the pecans into a coarse meal. Add the flour, sugar, spices, and baking powder and combine. Add the butter a few tbsp. at a time and process until the texture is mealy.
Beat together the egg and bourbon and then process into the dry ingredients just until the dough is a crumbly texture. Add more bourbon if extra liquid is necessary; an extra egg will make it too doughy.

Press half of the dough into the prepared pan and then top with a layer of sliced peaches. Crumble the remaining dough on top.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the top and edges are lightly browned.

Cool completely (overnight is preferable) before cutting into 24 squares.
Store squares in a sealed container between layers of wax paper and refrigerate.
In between the time I wrote, edited and prepared this post, I got this:

What a weekend!

Ciao for now friends,

Neen