Peach Challenge

[tony b]

Tonight I decided to do a side-by-side of 2 different peach sauces on a pork chop - Australian Quandong and Georgia Peach. The Quandong is a jam, so I converted it into like a gastrique by heating it up with a splash of white Balsamic vinegar and some water, with a pinch of salt tossed in. The chops were dusted with the Peach Brandy rub. Then at the end they got sauced with the 2 sauces. Here's the setup with the initial rub.

Sorry, no KK pics (it's about 15F windchill outside tonight). Onto the KK direct at 325F on peach wood. Then sauced with 5 minutes left.

Done. On the left is the Quandong, the right is the Peach-a-licous. 

To go with, some crazy good roasted smashed red potatoes, salad, crusty bread and a nice Rose wine.

Plated.

Confession time - I did eat all the pork chops, seconds on both the rest of the chops and more spuds! 

Need to work on the Quandong sauce a tad more - needs more seasonings.  The Peach-a-licous won tonight's battle, but it was a close one. U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A!! (Sorry, it just seemed obvious, but hat's off to my Aussie brothers/sisters for some tasty tucker!)

Simple recipe for the potatoes, but they are awesome! Red Bliss or Yukon Gold potatoes - make sure they are small and about equal size. Heat oven to 500F. Potatoes into a roasting (or other) pan with just enough water to cover the bottom about 1/4" deep. Cover tightly with Aluminum foil. Into the oven for 25 - 30 minutes. Take out of oven, remove foil and let cool for 10 minutes. Remove any remaining water in the pan and pat potatoes dry. Drizzle good olive oil over the potatoes, then using another pan/plate, SMASH the potatoes down to about 1/2" thickness. (Hint - I used 2, 9" cake pans.) Drizzle with more olive oil and season generously with S&P (and any other seasonings you might like). Back into the oven, uncovered, for another 25-30 minutes until they start to brown. Season again with some good salt (I used Himalayan Pink). In my book, this one's a "keeper."

[ckreef]

I could have guessed the winner. Quandong is a wild desert peach that doesn't have the traditional American peach flavor. It's a great flavor all its own but doesn't taste like something you would expect with peach. 

Will try that spud recipe sometime in the very near future. 

 

[MacKenzie]

Tony, that dinner looks awesome.   Certainly had to be a very enjoyable meal.  

[Pequod]

Is the potato recipe from Cooks Illustrated? Sounds like a recipe we do. It's excellent. 

[Aussie Ora]

Yeah totally different flavour and the fact that you were trying to turn the jam into a sauce .if you had the quandong sauce that tastes differently from the jam simply because the way jam is made up

Outback Kamado Bar and Grill

[tinyfish]

Excellent taste test comparison. Now you have some tasty leftovers.

[Steve M]

Looks good, thanks for the detailed recipe on the spuds

[tony b]

19 hours ago, HalfSmoke said:

Is the potato recipe from Cooks Illustrated? Sounds like a recipe we do. It's excellent. 

Yes, it is. Good eye! 

[tony b]

11 hours ago, tinyfish said:

Excellent taste test comparison. Now you have some tasty leftovers.

What leftovers? 

[tony b]

13 hours ago, Aussie Ora said:

Yeah totally different flavour and the fact that you were trying to turn the jam into a sauce .if you had the quandong sauce that tastes differently from the jam simply because the way jam is made up

Outback Kamado Bar and Grill
 

When I was buying it, it was a toss up as to whether to buy the jam or the sauce. Went jam, as I thought that it would be more versatile. Next time, I'll make the gastrique and add some Native Pepper Seasoning or Bush Tomato to it.