Christmas Spiced Peaches

I've been getting my Christmas bake on and have been channeling Nigella Lawson.  I have her cookbook Nigella Express and there is a small section on Christmas treats which I am loving as I am NOT a cook.  The recipes are super quick and easy.  If a recipe is too long or complicated I run for the hills.

Above are the photos of the Christmas Spiced Peaches I made.  I loved making these, they made the kitchen smell so Christmassy and were very easy to do. The Spiced Peaches are a beautiful condiment to eat with roast ham, hot or cold.

I had a few that did not fit into the jars so Mr H and I had them one evening with some cheeses and they tasted so good!

After making these I found out they are not a preserve (?!) - there is a note below regarding this from Nigella's website.  The peaches I used need to be eaten within 5 days - so I will making these again just before Christmas and giving out the two above to be consumed by the lucky recipents ASAP!

Is this correct?  Does anyone else think otherwise.  Reading Nigella's book I assumed it would keep alot longer than a few days.  Can any Preserving Queens out there shed any light on this?  Thank you!

Here's what you need:

800 grams Peach halves (2 cans - in syrup)

1 tablespoon Rice vinegar (or white wine vinegar)

2 cinnamon sticks

4 centimetres Fresh ginger (peeled and sliced thinly into rounds)

½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes

½ teaspoon Maldon salt (or ¼ teaspoon table salt)

3 cloves

Method:

Empty the cans of peaches with their syrup into a saucepan.

Add the vinegar, cinnamon, sliced ginger, chilli flakes, salt, peppercorns and cloves.

Bring the pan to the boil, and let the contents bubble for a minute or so, then turn off the heat and leave in the pan to keep warm.

Serve the peaches with a hot ham, letting people take a peach half each and some of the spiced juice.(Any leftover spiced peaches can, and should, be stored in a jar and then eaten cold with cold ham.)



NOTE

The Spiced Peaches are intended to be an accompaniment to a hot or cold ham. Unfortunately they are not a preserve and so will not last for a long time. The keeping time is dependent on the life of the canned peaches once they have been opened. We would suggest that the peaches should be consumed within 4 days of making. However we have noticed that the "use by after opening" information for canned peaches in light syrup varies according to brand and you should follow the specific guidance on the particular cans you use.

The Spiced Peaches should be allowed to cool slightly then transferred to clean containers, covered tightly and refrigerated. They should be kept refrigerated until eaten, though you could warm them gently before serving (but discard any leftovers if you do this). If you are giving the peaches as gifts then make sure that you label them with instructions to keep in the fridge and also a "use by" date.

Don't forget to enter my Christmas Giveaway here.

Competition closes Thursday 13 December at 11.59pm (NZ time)