Let me preface this by saying that I drink (when I drink, see: rarely), I drink like and old man. If Don Draper would have mixed it up for a prospective client, I'm down for it. Give me a Manhattan, A Rusty Nail, The Godfather, a Gin Martini - up. Oh, and of course, and Old Fashioned.
Now, where did I leave my stogie?
Being as I am from Georgia, and Georgians loooooove peaches, I thought a Peach Old Fashioned sounded great! And since I'm on this canning kick....
The Peach Old Fashioned Butter was born.
Truth be told, fruit butters are more suited for someone who has an outright ABUNDANCE of fruit that they are trying to make use of, rather than someone buying them at the farmer's market. Lots of peaches, little yield. Since fruit butters do not require pectin, they thicken by reducing. And boy do they reduce!
I started with about 15 organic Georgia grown peaches (fancy, fancy) and peeled and diced them into little bitty pieces. Word has it the peeling part is more or less unnecessary, but it is a nice activity that calms the mind. Oh, and then there are these two...
They know the sound of the peeler. Serious.
I made my fruit butter in the crockpot because last time I ventured into cooking a vat of boiling hot, sugary fruit goo, I managed to give myself a second degree burn. I was not in the mood for any degree of burn this time, so minimal stirring = good thing. I also waited until the end to add the sugar. Older and wiser.
I did add bourbon (Jim Beam...I left the upper shelf stuff for sipping) and bitters (Angostura) from the beginning so they'd have plenty of time to reduce as well. After a couple of hours, I pureed the mix with an immersion blender and slid the lid to the side to allow steam to escape. At the very end I also added freshly grated orange zest and voila! Six hours later the butter was done.
I ended up with six half-pints that I canned in a water bath for ten minutes.
They're especially good on English muffins with goat cheese. Or Triscuits.
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