Savory Peach Recipes

Alice Waters likes eating savory peach relishes with fish. Make sure to use peaches that are firm enough to hold their shape once diced.

For almost four years, Fred Donnelly's red Mogridder's BBQ truck has animated a nondescript section of the Bronx, where it sits in front of his auto repair shop. (The Mogridder's special—an oil change and brake check plus a platter of slow-smoked ribs—does brisk business.) Last October, Donnelly finally opened a place to sit and eat. He makes these spectacularly sticky ribs at home. "Anyone you make them for falls in love with you," he says.

Portland, Oregon, chef Gabriel Rucker (an F&W Best New Chef 2007) swears by the heirloom tomatoes from Viridian Farms (viridianfarms.com). Here, Rucker arranges the tomatoes under a salad of sweet grilled peaches with radicchio and tangy feta cheese.

The secret to this salad is using big, juicy sweet onions like the Vidalias that Linton Hopkins favors, which get nicely charred on the grill.

Grace Parisi's gingery peach chutney is terrific on a grilled cheddar-cheese sandwich or brushed on pork chops during the last few minutes of cooking. To make removing the pits easier, look for freestone peaches, rather than clingstone.

For this easy recipe, chef David Burke marinates skirt steak for 20 minutes before grilling it alongside luscious fresh peach slices tossed in a mixture of honey, cinnamon and ginger. He sets aside some of the steak marinade, mixes it with mustard, and serves it as a delicious, speedy steak sauce.

Chef Andy Glover of Mission Estate Winery used smoked pork, but prosciutto is also tasty.

Paul Newman, the late co-owner of Dressing Room, Michel Nischan's restaurant in Westport, Connecticut, loved a good chopped salad. To add a tangy burst of flavor, Nischan pickles the carrots, celery and peppers before tossing them with the rest of the salad.