It’s a luscious year for peaches around Santa Fe and north to Palisade, Colorado, home of legendary stone fruit. If you haven’t yet discovered the Palisade Peach Guy, whose tent is right beside Piccolino restaurant on Agua Fria, get over there right away. His crew is there every day through the season, starting at 8 a.m.
I’m using peaches in everything. Well, sometimes, they’re the meal, simply eaten out of hand over the sink, juice running down my wrist. Other times I fancy them up in a sweet-savory appetizer with creamy burrata cheese, a drizzle of olive oil, and a shower of basil and toasted sliced almonds. I might turn that combo into a salad with some tangy greens such as arugula or frisee.
I love making cobblers and pies with peaches. The pastry with those dishes can get soggy, though, from the honeyed juices, if not eaten right away. Today, I needed to make something that would hold well for at least 24 hours. I had the time to bake, but the guest I want to cook for doesn’t arrive until tomorrow. What could I make that would hold well?
I decided to put together a crisp. The oats in the topping keep it extra crunchy. That benefit makes it good for the last-blast-of-summer holiday weekend coming up. No need to make this at the final moment. Get the preparation out of the way the evening before you have a celebratory meal coming up. Then you can concentrate on the barbecue, burgers, or whatever else you like to prepare to send off the season. Enjoy!
Peach Crisp 
Serves 6
Topping
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup “old-fashioned” oats
½ cup packed brown sugar
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter (preferably unsalted), melted
Filling
2 pounds peaches, peeled and sliced thickly (about 5 medium to large peaches)
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon bourbon (optional)
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract (increase to 1 teaspoon, though, if you omit the bourbon)
Squeeze of lemon juice
Directions 
- Preheat the oven to 375 F. Butter a small to medium baking dish. Mine was 8 X 10 inches.
- In a small bowl, prepare the topping. Mix the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Pour in the butter and mix just until combined.
- In the baking dish, prepare the filling. Gently stir together the peaches, brown sugar, bourbon (if using), vanilla, and lemon juice.
- Spoon the topping evenly over the fruit mixture.
- Bake the crisp for 25 to 30 minutes, until the topping is lightly browned and the peach juices bubbly around the edges. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Story and photos by Cheryl Alters Jamison
Four-time James Beard Foundation Book Award-winning author Cheryl Alters Jamison is the host of Heating It Up on KTRC and is now the “queen of culinary content” for SantaFe.com. Find new stories about the Santa Fe food scene each week on SantaFe.com.
