My brother and I threw this family dinner together because we have been wanting to try grilled peaches. There was one ominous fireball when he turned on the BBQ but at least we did not heat up the house with the oven. By the end of the summer I may overcome my fear of singeing off all my hair and start it myself, but for now I am lucky to have him as my sous chef… If you have not tried grilled peaches yet, I highly recommend them! We used some that were not even perfectly ripe but they turned out to be absolutely delicious! I made the balsamic glaze inside on the stove but everything else was prepared on the grill. The glaze does have more syrup than would be traditional but my audience contained some balsamic snubbers so I wanted to make sure it would not be overwhelming. It turned out to be subtle and sweet and they really enjoyed it. If you are more of a die hard balsamic aficionado then you can reduce the maple syrup amount by half.
- Balsamic glaze
- 1 cup balsamic vinegar
- ¼ cup maple syrup, grade no. 2
- Foiled vegetables
- 3 medium white potatoes grated
- 2 small yams grated
- 6 small carrots grated
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- ½ yellow onion sliced thinly
- ¼ cup cold-pressed olive oil
- 8 sprigs of fresh thyme
- Sea salt and fresh ground pepper
- Pork
- 5 pork chops
- Sea salt and fresh ground pepper
- Peaches
- 5 peaches
- 1-2 tablespoons cold-pressed oil with a high smoke point (coconut or camelina oil are ideal)
- Balsamic Glaze
- Stir together the balsamic vinegar and maple syrup in a pot on the stove and bring to a boil on high heat. Once in a raging boil, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. It should reduce down by about half and thicken up nicely. Make sure you serve it warm, because of the maple syrup it will harden once it cools down. While cooking it smokes a bit and smells incredibly strong, but it tastes sweet in the end.
- Foiled vegetables
- Grate the potatoes, yams and carrots. If your grater has different options use the wide slotted one for the potatoes and yams and then the regular holes one for the carrots. Next, thinly slice the mushrooms and onion. Mix all the vegetables together and place on one or two sheets of thick aluminum foil, I used two because that fits better on the top rack in my BBQ. Drizzle the oil and sprinkle the salt and pepper over top, then place the sprigs of thyme on (don’t mix in) and twist the foil together. I like to take the two long ends, bring them together then fold them down tightly, twisting as I go. After that I roll in the two sides. They take 30 minutes to grill on the top rack (this is ideal rather than directly over the flames), or 15 minutes per side. Once cooked, carefully open the foil. Lots of steam will escape so watch your fingers! Remove the thyme, pour into a bowl and serve.
- Peaches
- Using a marinade brush, coat the peaches on each side lightly with olive oil and set aside for the grill.
- Pork
- Lay out on a tray and sprinkle the salt and pepper on each side.
- Grilling
- It will take around 30 minutes in total, with the grill set on high and the lid down.
- minutes- place the vegetables in aluminum foil on the top rack
- minutes- flip the vegetables carefully and place the pork on the grill
- minutes- flip the pork and place the peaches on the grill
- minutes- flip the peaches
- Once the time is up remove everything and serve hot
