Peaches, ginger, and chardonnay

Yesterday I went on a trip with the Boston Area Gleaners, harvesting as many unwanted peaches as we could from a farm in Lunenburg, MA. While all the firm, perfect peaches we found got carefully packed and sent off to food banks around Boston, there were many imperfect peaches left on the ground or on the tree. Still violently opposed to seeing food go to waste, I endeavored to save as many of these, the gleanings-of-the-gleanings, to make into something perfectly edible. They were a sorry lot by the time I got them home: bruises, soft spots, peeling skin, leaking juice and all. But never fear, dear peaches, I have a plan for you!

I try not to make this my life philosophy, but sometimes when life leaves you bruised and overlooked, a little wine is in order. I washed and cut up the peaches, setting aside the firmer bits for neat cubes, and throwing the rest in a pot with an entire bottle of Chardonnay. After they'd cooked down and softened, I blended the peaches with the burr stick until nice and smooth, then continued cooking them until they started to lose a little of their color. At that point I grated in a good 2-3 Tbsp of fresh ginger, threw in a healthy splash of lemon juice, and added roughly 1 cup of sugar (which was all I had left in the kitchen). Then, since I didn't want the beautiful peach color to go any more brown while cooking it down, I instead added 3 Tbsp of low-sugar pectin to stiffen up the mixture into a nice jam consistency. I don't normally like using pectin, but rather letting the fruit cook down until it gels up naturally, but I so wanted this to taste like fresh peaches and ginger! Compromises had to be made. At the very last minute, I added the firm peaches, finely diced, and a little more fresh ginger. And voila! A peach jam, smooth and sweet with a bright kick of fresh ginger, and just a hint of white wine. The ginger and wine worked together to enhance the fresh peach flavor, I think, making it even more peachy than those poor bruised peaches were in the first place. So, let this be a lesson to you- don't pass up that bruised peach, for it may have even more potential than it's flawless companions.