Grilled Honey Peaches with Honey Mascarpone

Oh boy, I really had one of those days yesterday.  And I could have told you that at 7am that morning, too, that's the really sad part.  Lack of sleep, failures of technology, one thing after another, blah blah blah.  I won't bore you with the details. Let's just say it wasn't the best day I ever had. 

The one redeeming thing is that I have a few moments right now to write about these honey peaches with honey-ed up mascarpone.  Which is also writing about the very first time I stood in front of a grill and cooked something.  It's true!  First time ever. 

As my friend Anna says, I am into "cooked fruit" these days.

And I've been into, say, "alternative" uses of fruit for a while, now.  Fruit in otherwise savory salads, for the most part.  I also made a blueberry balsamic reduction a few weeks ago, and that opened up a whole new world which I hope to revisit soon.  Some other things, too, but I don't want to spill it all before I actually post anything about these things.     

Hey, so, while I'm still recovering a bit from yesterday, let me tell you about these grilled peaches I made not long ago when I was with friends in Maine over the 4th of July weekend.

First thing, I had 8 peaches, sliced them in half, and took out the pits. The grill was nice and hot when I put the peach slices on top of a piece of foil over the coals, then drizzled the honey over the peaches.  And also added those little pats of butter you see. 

(By the way, in the absence of a grill - perhaps if you live in a tiny urban dwelling, as I do - I think you could do all of this with your oven's broiler.  Although the grill is pretty fun). 

You can see here how I flipped the peaches over after they'd gotten a little charred on the bottom (a good thing!).


If I did this again I would probably start the peaches face-down with about a Tbsp of butter melted on top of the foil (as you would if you were cooking them in a pan), let them char a bit, and then flip them over and add the butter to the pitted area.  The way I did it this time was fine, but it would have been a little prettier if the tops were browner when I served them.

Check out how those juices are bubbling!  That's going to be great stuff drizzled over the fruit when you serve it.  

Now, this photo is what happens when you're eating outside, it gets very dark, and you're determined not to use the flash that always seems to wash out the photos and makes the food look like the dehydrated astronaut food they showed us in elementary school when we studied the solar system.  So then you increase the exposure on your camera a lot to soak up some lamp light from the nearby window, and end up with this kind of out-of-focus thing.

Anyway, enough about that.  I let the peaches cool for about 20 minutes before spooning the honey mascarpone into the center and serving them up.  In time to catch this beautiful light at the end of the day.

Pretty simple, huh?  I feel better already.

(See below for the full recipe).       

Grilled Honey Peaches with Honey Mascarpone
Serves 8
(Inspired by two recipes on the blogs Tartelette and Joy the Baker).  


Ingredients: 
8 ripe peaches, sliced in half with pits removed
1/3 c. honey (for peaches), plus 2 Tbsp. for mascarpone filling)
3 Tbsp. butter
1 c. mascarpone cheese (or an 8 oz. container)

Directions: 

Peaches:
1. Slice the peaches in half and remove the pits.  If they're ripe enough, the pits should release from the fruit without too much trouble. 
2. Place a large piece of foil on a hot grill.
3. Place peaches on top of the foil and drizzle the 1/3 c. honey over the peaches.
4. If you start cooking the peaches facing down first, cook for about 3-5 minutes until the fruit is slightly browned, then flip them over so you can add butter to the pitted part of the fruit.  If you start the peaches facing up, you can add the butter right away.
5. Add the butter in small chunks to the center of each peach half when the peaches are facing up.
6.  Let the peaches brown before turning them over.  They should get juicier and bubbly, but still keep their shape.
7. Remove from the grill, and make sure to drizzle the juices on the foil over the cooked peaches.
8.  Let the peaches cool for at least 15 minutes before filling with mascarpone filling.

Mascarpone Filling:
1. Mix the honey and the mascarpone together until fully blended.
2. Spoon into the centers of each peach half.
3.  Serve while they're still slightly warm.