Monday, February 14, 2011

White Peaches In Rose-Water Syrup

Poached Peach 8
Poached Peach 1
Poached Pear 5
Poached Pear 3
Food blogging started out as a curious little hobby but it is morphing into a very timing consuming affair. The essential 3 components : cooking,photographing and writing can take up a inordinate amount of my time. I have to be honest and admit that I am truly struggling to sustain the momentum while continuing to complete my work datelines. (the one that pays the bills!!) I continue to marvel at prolific bloggers who demonstrate clock-work regularity in their posting - some of whom have chocked up an enviable stash of back log which allows them to do auto-scheduled posting.... One and half years into blogging and I am still at below 150 posts to date! Such snail pace!

Hence, it helps tremendously when once in a while a simple but pretty recipe like this pops up to offer a very welcome concession.
Poached Peach 2
Poached pear 4
Easy to prepare and awfully practical. I don't know about the rest of you but I normally don't buy peaches in Singapore because very often the peaches I get here are not juicy or sweet. The only time I had a good peach was when I bought an air flown Japanese peach at $16/piece. Hence, poaching this in Rose Syrup helps to tenderise and sweeten the otherwise bland fruit- awfully practical! The dash of Rose Water and the sprinkle of chopped pistachios instantly transform this otherwise simple and uninteresting recipe into an exotic treat with a delicate middle eastern touch.
If you are looking for a break from stirring and mixing in the kitchen, this would be a sweet change.

Poached Peach 8(100)
Recipe
500g    castor sugar
1 tbsp rose-water
4 White peaches

To serve
plain yoghurt
90g chopped pistachios

Method
1. In a heavy saucepan, mix the sugar and rose water with 2000ml of water. Bring the water to boil.
2. Using a sharp knife, lightly draw a cross at the top of the peaches. Place the peaches in the boil water and simmer for 5-10mins or until softened.
3. Remove the peaches from the water and peel off the skin. Place the peeled skin back into the boiling water and continue to reduce the syrup until volume is reduced by half.
4. Toast some pistachios in the oven at 150C for about 5-10mins. Chop the pistachios into small pieces.
5. Serve the peaches by ladeling a little Rose Water Syrup over the peaches and sprinkle with pistachios.
6. Alternatively, the peaches can also be served with a scoop of yogurt.

42 comments:

  1. I am so with you on food blogging! it can be really tiring yes? :)

    I love poached fruits BTW. While pears are always a fav, I have poached lots of stoned fruits as well, since this summer's crops are not so good here.

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  2. Keep a snail pace or slower..it builds up.. then you find you must..keep it a pleasure.. Love the peaches:)

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  3. Yes blogging consume a lof of time and with you busy work schedule it will be difficult for you. I will usually do a few posting and just schedule it. I am very selective of where I buy my peaches too but sometime I still get tastless and juiceless peaches. I never poach them before. This sounds great and I have to try it out sometime.

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  4. your peach looks absolutely gorgeous! i can't bear to tear them apart to eat them :)

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  5. Happy Valentine's Day and thanks for sharing this lovely recipe :)

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  6. Shirley, I love this kind of dessert too! Minimal! A lot of times, life's simplest turns out to be the most inspired. Don't you think?

    On another note, don't worry about blogging lar ... Just do it at your own pace, OK? Don't turn what was initially a pleasure into hatred! That's the most dangerous part. Don't worry about blog-hopping, too. I myself haven't been blog-hopping much lately due to things outside of this blogging world. I'm sure you're feeling the same, too. (Worst off, I'm a SLOOOOOOOWWW blogger. Hahaha!)

    Take care, yea? Hope to see you again, someday.

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  7. Food blogging is hard work. I find it hard to balance between that and my school work but nevertheless I couldn't live without it. And I try to back log whenever I have the chance.

    Wonderful recipe! I've never used rose water before but it sounds lovely.

    Jane
    www.atasteofkoko.com

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  8. Thanks, Peilin. I don't think the pleasure will turn into hatred- dread maybe. Same here, I don't have time to visit other blogs as often as I would like to. Everyone has been really kind and supportive. You too take care. Will definitely catch up with you again!

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  9. i totally agree! me too bought those air flown peaches from japan and taiwan which is super exp. this is definitely bookmarked and i'll try it! (:

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  10. Loving peaches at the moment! And that slight blush on them is just gorgeous!

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  11. The infusion of rose water makes me think of Persian dessert.

    Slow and steady makes a perfect blog :)

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  12. You just reminded me how much I love summer fruits.
    This a simple but elegant way to serve peaches. Classy and delicious I'm sure.

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  13. Don't worry about the blog post frequency bit Shirley, quality versus quantity yes?

    I think the trick is to commit to a consistent frequency which you can manage and keep to that. For us who has a day job (which requires travelling at that), it's extra difficult. For me who like to talk a little bit about what's going on in my life in every recipe, it's hard to backpost more than two backlogs.

    The most important thing is to find that balance between providing the best content for your readers and maintaining the blog in a way which makes you fulfilled and happy.

    I almost bought some peaches from a local market the other day, they smelled so good!

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  14. Thanks,Pickyin! You sounded exactly like my boyfriend! LOL. He kept reminding me that I am blogging for myself and myself only :)

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  15. Shirley,
    $16/piece... phew...

    I never buy peaches in KL too... not sweet, no taste :(

    You are doing alright Shirley ~ blog at your own pace... No fun turning a hobby into a 'Chore'..

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  16. LOL, were the backlogs about me?
    Now, since I haven't been doing much in the kitchen for about 5 months, they are clearing up. LOL.
    Well, you cook for yourself, some of us cook for the brood, so, it does make a difference. If I were to cook only for myself, I'll have much much less things to blog about too. Could be even lesser than you.
    Don't worry too much about it, the numbers are not the most important thing.

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  17. It looks so impossibly gorgeous. This is the fruit that led to man's fall,and the reason we don't regret it. I am in absolute awe. This is finishing off my next dinner party.

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  18. I'm in love with this simple and elegant dessert. Wow!

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  19. Shirley, these peaches looks nice! Take your own pace on blogging, we definitely dun mind the wait of great posting :)

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  20. Lovely looking peach dessert. I don't think I will ever pay $16 for a peach though. this is better.

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  21. Jess,Wendy, Lisa- thanks ladies! You've all been so supportive!

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  22. I have never had poached peaches before. But I love poached pear in a red wine and served with a dollop of vanilla ice cream! :)

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  23. Shirley, I totally agree on the time consuming part about blogging! Nowadays I hardly had time to blog since I no longer have a helper at home. In stead of 14 posts a month a year back....it has reduce to some times only 4 posts a month. I guess you don't have to worry about posting as often... I guess readers are also looking for quality not quantity. ;) btw, your poached peaches are so elegant! I would love to have this after dinner....yum!

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  24. What a lovely blog! I have to +fav it! :)

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  25. Blogging is for sure time-consuming. I am too in awe of fellow bloggers who post daily...sometimes two entries a day.....anyway, we do what we could. ;-))
    Those poached peaches look phenomenal.

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  26. I definitely feel you! I feel rundown frequently...but what usually happens is that I just sleep a bit less. NOT GOOD!

    I love this dessert....so simple and decadent.

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  27. The poached peach looks so elegant and you captured it perfectly. Yes food blogging sure is demanding!

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  28. Hi Shirley! I was just poaching peaches over the last two days as well! What a coincidence. I think we are both using white peaches from Australia which seems to be in season currently. I totally agree with you on the lack of oomph of the peaches we get in Singapore. But paying such a high premium for Japanese air-flown peaches is something which I'd probably be very squirmish about. Anyway, poaching them really transform them into totally something else isn't it? :)

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  29. Same like you, I found the fresh peach is tasteless. This is really a special dessert and make whoever see it want to bite it :)

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  30. Very true! It takes a lot to bring a post to the table! :) And this is elegant simplicity and perfection :D

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  31. Wow, white peach and rose water? So pretty and elegant...great pictures :-)

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  32. That looks so amazing, absolutely stunning. Cannot wait to try.
    THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR WONDERFUL RECIPE.

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  33. I know what you mean about food blogging. I struggle to keep up with 3 posts a week and work full time. I wonder how some people do it.

    Your poached peach is fabulous though. I love the pink tinge it has. So pretty. It's definitely quality over quantity.

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  34. oh these peaches are absolutely gorgeous! I can only imagine how fabulous they taste with the rosewater as well. I'm definitely going to give this a try!

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  35. Many years ago, I bought a huge bag of peaches while holidaying in Australia and it was so juicy and sweet. Some how, this quality can't be found anymore in recent years.

    For that price a piece. I will slowly savour it.

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  36. These peaches look beautiful! Luckily we have nice peaches here, so I've never thought about cooking them :)

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  37. Just beautiful, Shirley. I recall the first time I saw the color of peach flesh underneath the skin after poaching. It stole my breath and I grabbed my camera right away. The rose and pistachio flavors sound like the perfect complement to the pretty peach, too.

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  38. So pretty in a Zen-like way. I love desserts like this that let the ingredient be the real star.

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  39. I'm making this tomorrow as a simple and fuss-free dessert. I cannot wait to share this elegant piece with my guests!

    Thanks for sharing it!

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  40. The peach desert looks so good, I'm getting hungry now.

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