My wife, among her many talents, is known for her fresh jam. She picks pounds of whatever is freshest and in season, and then heads home to make small batches of amazing jam. From blackberry, to blueberry... fig with cardamom to spicy tomato, we always have a wonderful bounty of preserves.

So it comes as some surprise to my friends when I'm the one with a new jam. Pickles, onions, or bitters? Sure... but not too often on the jam. In this case, my fancy was tickled by the combination of fresh august peaches and earthy, spicy sriracha. There are dozens of delicious sounding recipes on the Internet, but for my first go I went with a variant of the "Peach Jam with Sriracha" from Marisa McClellan's Preserving by the Pint. She has a great knack for balanced tastes and doesn't overbalance the flavors with too much sugar.

Fresh Peach Sriracha Jam

• 2.5 lbs fresh yellow or white peaches (I had a mix)
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup srirach
• 1/2 lemon (juice)

1. Peel the peaches: Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and have a large bowl of ice water handy. Then cut the peaches in half and remove the pits. Put each half into the boiling water for 2 minutes. Remove and place directly into the ice bath. 5 minutes later they are simple to peel! (I thank my wife for the tip about cutting them in half since this makes it incredibly easy to find an edge to peel the skins.)

2. Roughly cube the peaches and add to a bowl with the sugar. Mash into a puree and let macerate for 10 minutes. Add and stir in lemon juice.

3. Add peach mixture to a heavy pot (we love using a wide Le Creuset) and cook on medium-high (stirring often). Cook until it starts to thicken. (~15 minutes)

4. Add the sriracha, stir, and cook a few more minutes until done.

5. Add to properly prepared jars and process for 12 minutes.

For our inaugural try we had some of the jam with a whole smoked duck, lightly seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic. It was gorgeous and complimented the somewhat unctuous duck perfectly!  We now have some competition for the hot pepper jelly we've been using.

Enjoy!

r.

Just as a quick note, there are some  pictures of iberico secreto (which is the most amazing pork ever!), spiralized potatoes , and a smoked chicken (Eraser Head anyone?) that rounded out the meal. More on those in other posts!