Skin (Peach blackberry ginger crisp)
Peeling back what holds us in
I remembered that I loved skinny-dipping. For years when I was growing up, my family had a summer house in Chilmark, Massachusetts. I would walk down the dirt road a mile and a half, past the gate we didn’t have a key to, to the beach that I assumed was clothing-optional. I was nearly always alone, and free.
Now I dove into Oak Creek, its waters wending fast and cold around a massive rock behind the dome house where I was cooking for 17 women, and myself, in Sedona, Arizona. The water ran silty red. I submerged my head and climbed up on a rock, gazing down river, red cliffs high above me. From my heart, I threw things in the river I didn’t want inside me anymore. Fear: Am I doing this (life, cooking, being) right? A sense of unworthiness: Am I (and my food) enough? The feelings would leave no trace and the river assured me she could carry them, disperse them, tumble them in the rocks below.
I spent the morning peeling peaches. Washing them, cutting a careful X in the bottom of each one. Boiling water. Preparing an ice bath in the massive bowl I bought at Standard Restaurant Supply in Phoenix. The peaches I found at a farm stand attached to a gas station at exit 242 on Highway 17 where I stopped to pee between Phoenix and Sedona.
Now they plunged into the boiling water for just a minute or two, until I could see the X in their skins just begin to spread. I scooped them into the ice bath, and when they were cool to the touch, I peeled back their skins, revealing fiery flesh underneath.
Over two tinfoil baking dishes I bought knowing I wouldn’t want to scrub ceramic ones the last night of the retreat, I tore each peach by hand, the pits un-clinging from the fruit, juices falling into the pans along with the torn flesh. Audrey my cooking partner had already washed the blackberries; in they went along with the ginger she had minced. Lemon. Cornstarch mixed with sugar. Tossing everything together with my hands, I let it rest while I made the topping.
Hands clean and dry now, I dragged them through the gluten-free oats and flour, baking powder, salt, a bit more sugar. I sprinkled lumps of cold butter across the dusty mix, and pinched and rubbed the two textures until it all felt like cold wet sand. The topping became a blanket for the now-macerated fruit, and into the oven they went, baking until their thick purple juices bubbled not just at the edges but through the center of the topping too.
We ate the crisps inside after a sunset dinner of Friendship soup outside. Ladies lingered in the kitchen with bowls and spoons and conversation. There were no leftovers.
Recipe as feeling: Skin (Peach blackberry ginger crisp)
Let your fruit come to a boil, and plunge headfirst into icy waters.
Peel back what holds you in.
Run your fingers through the sand.
Bake. Eat. Rest.
Actual recipe
For the trick of blending the sugar and cornstarch before adding to the fruit, I credit Ruth Reichl’s breakfast peach cobbler recipe. For the topping, I thank my cousin Lisa Zornberg for her gluten-free version of a Martha Stewart blueberry crisp recipe. Lisa also substitutes dairy-free butter so her version is vegan and gluten-free.
Peach blackberry ginger crisp (gluten-free)
Serves 18
INGREDIENTS:
~For the filling~
12 peaches, washed
2-3 pints blackberries, washed and air-dried
2- to 3-inch knob of ginger, peeled and minced or grated
1 lemon
½ cup sugar
2 tbs. cornstarch
~For the topping~
1 ½ cups gluten-free flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 baking flour), or substitute regular all-purpose flour if you’re not cooking for a gluten-free community
1 cup gluten-free oats
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
⅔ cup sugar
12 tbs butter, or substitute dairy-free, cold, cut into small pieces
Preheat the oven to 375℉. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Prepare an ice bath (bowl of water with ice in it), and lay out two square tinfoil baking pans (or ceramic, or pie pans, or whatever you have).
With a paring knife, cut a small “X” into the bottom (not the stem-side) of each peach.
Boil peaches in batches for just a minute or two, until the X spreads a bit (if peaches are less ripe, it may take 4 minutes or so). Scoop out the peaches from the boiling water into the ice water. When they are cool to the touch, use your hands to peel the skins off the peaches.
Over the baking pans so the juices fall in, tear each peach into large chunks (or slice into 8 pieces if you prefer more regular shapes), with half the peaches in each pan.
Add the blackberries and the ginger to the peaches, dividing evenly between pans. Squeeze the juice of 1 lemon over the fruit. Mix the sugar and cornstarch together (a fork and a small bowl work well for this) and sprinkle over the fruit. Mix with your hands and let sit while you prepare the topping.
For the topping, in a clean dry bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and mix well. Sprinkle the butter on top.
With your hands, pinch the butter into the dry ingredients until the entire mixture is the texture of coarse wet sand (you can use a food processor if you prefer and have one on hand).
Sprinkle the topping over the fruit. Place tins on a baking sheet, and bake until the topping is crispy and you can see juices bubbling in the center as well as around the edges, about 45min-1 hour. Let cool slightly (if making earlier in the day, you can re-warm before you serve). Serve on its own or with ice cream (vegan or dairy).