The perfect peach — from the peel to the pit
 Web Posted: 07/03/2007 07:00 PM CDT
Karen Haram
San Antonio Express-News Food Editor
FREDERICKSBURG — If peaches made noise, Jacqué Rudman could probably figure out how to use that part of the fruit, too.
Like the frugal cook who's said to be able to use all of the pig but the squeal, Rudman knows how to put all parts of luscious Hill Country peaches to good use.
At her "It's All About Peaches" class here, the first offering of the new Fredericksburg Cooking Academy, Rudman poached some of the peaches students picked at Marburger Orchards and put them in a fresh field green salad; the poaching liquid then became a base for peach tea.
"It would be good in lemonade, too," she said. "Or use it with Splenda and fresh mint for a drink — you don't have to have the caffeine (from tea) part."
Peach halves were pitted and used to hold fresh peach sorbet. "If they're overly ripe (and too soft) for the basket, freeze them," she advised.
Peels from the peaches were sprinkled with sugar, baked and turned into peach shards to decorate the peach tart made with peach jam. The same jam was used to flavor the sorbet as well as the Fuzzy Navel Shrimp Shooters.
Even the peach pits, cooked first with the jam to intensify its flavor, were put to good use. Using hammers, Rudman's students pounded the cooked pits, then watched as Rudman added them to the smoker with hickory chips to smoke salmon.
"I like to use every part of the peach, even the pits," she said. "I don't like to waste anything."
Rudman, who was formerly chef/owner of Cottage Café here, was the natural selection for the Fredericksburg Cooking Academy's inaugural class, said Connie Gikas, who runs the school with Mary Kaye Sawyer-Morse at Gikas' Town Creek Bed & Breakfast.
The women had long wanted to establish a cooking school — one that specialized in small classes, where students could cook together under the guidance of a chef or cooking teacher, using fresh ingredients and easily prepared recipes.
For both women, healthful recipes are a vital part of the school.
"Besides offering terrific recipes, we'll also include the latest information on ingredients, health and nutrition," said Sawyer-Morse, a registered dietitian with more than 25 years experience in the health, wellness and nutrition fields. Gikas is a wellness coach and respiratory therapist.
Besides getting a lesson in peaches from Rudman, students learned about peaches at the Marburger Orchard. Saleswoman Jesse Duke explained how you use color, not firmness, to determine if a peach is ripe. Surprisingly, you're not looking for redness, which peaches get from being exposed to the sun, but rather a golden yellow color.
"If you pick them really green, they won't ripen more. It's OK to have a little green at the top," she said.
The sweetness of a peach, she explained, depends on the weather. If they get lots of sun, the peaches are sweeter, she said.
Gary Marburger also helped educate the students, telling them he grows 13 varieties of peaches at his orchard "because they ripen at different times. Each variety lasts about two weeks, starting the third week of May through the first week of August."
"We start with cling, then go to freestone. As you go later in the season, the freestone is looser," he said.
When one student expressed interest in growing her own peaches, Marburger was enthusiastic.
"I really like people to grow peaches," he said. "Then they appreciate what we do more."
Fredericksburg Cooking Academy's next class on Culinary Secrets From Bed & Breakfasts is scheduled for 10 a.m.-2 p.m. July 25. For more information, go to www.fredericksburgcookingacademy.com or call (830) 997-6848.
kharam@express-news.net
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