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06/02/2000 Archived Entry: "Introducing Allie D'Augustine--Peach Toast"

Let me introduce you to Allie D’Augustine, my summer intern. Allie is going to be a junior at the University of Pennsylvania (that means smart), and we met because her mother, Marcia, is a listener. I love go-getters and Allie went and got me by coming to meet me when I was in Philadelphia for the Book and the Cook this past winter. Her mother swore she knew how to cook, which is essential around here, and Allie assured me she wouldn’t be put off by having to do grunt work, which is also essential. I do it. You do it. Allie wants to be a writer. I hope to dissuade her from becoming a food writer. She can do better. But I find that I am not that influential with my interns. Alexis Brock, who was with me for a whole year and just graduated (with honors) from NYU wants to be a cook or a chef or something in a kitchen. Both her mother, Andrea, and I have tried to convince her that it’s not for her, but as soon as she comes back from her Grand Tour in Europe, she’ll be interning in a Manhattan restaurant kitchen. I can’t reveal which one yet.

Anyway, as you will tell from the following riff, Allie has a good start as a food writer. As I was leaving this morning, I told her to help herself to the white peaches and white nectarines I found at the grocer yesterday. I was tipped of to them by my friend and neighbor Ed Shoenfeld. Usually, as we all know, these early fruits turn out to be wooden, as hard and as tasty as raw potatoes. Somehow, however, these early California fruits are vastly better this year than usual. Allie agreed, although she … well, I’ll let her tell it.

Peach Toast
byAllie D’Augustine

Summer fruits seem to be coming in earlier than usual this year. I’ve had some good luck with peaches and cantaloupe, but what to do with the specimens that are less fragrant, sweet, and flavorful than we would hope? The other day, we had some mediocre peaches in the house. I happened to be looking through Marion Cunningham’s Good Eating, which combines The Supper Book and the Breakfast Book into one volume, and I came across a recipe for “Peach on Sugared Toast.”

I wasn’t sure how well it would work with only one peach instead of the several the recipe called for, but I tried it and it came out beautifully—like a peach cobbler, but quicker and easier. The baking did wonders for the flavor of the fruit. This recipe would also be good with any kind of berry. It can easily be multiplied. I could’ve eaten two servings by myself.

Peach Toast
Serves 2

I know, this has a lot of butter. That’s why it’s good.

1 peach
2 slices white bread, crusts removed
3 or 4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons sugar
1 ripe peach, halved and pitted

Preheat the oven to 350.

For each peach, you need two individual, oven-proof ramekins or custard cups. You can also use a single, larger baking dish. Cunningham recommends a 9 x 13 baking dish for 3 peaches. Butter the bottom and sides of the dishes.

Spread one side of each slice of bread with about a tablespoon of softened butter. (Microwaving the butter for 15 seconds or so works nicely to soften it.) Put each slice of bread, butter side up, into a ramekin, but don’t worry about being too neat with it—the corners of the bread will poke up a little along the sides. Sprinkle each slice of bread with 2 teaspoons of sugar.

Put 1 peach half, cut side down, on each slice of bread. Sprinkle another teaspoon of sugar on top, and put a little cold butter on top of the sugar. (This will help the sugar on top melt in the oven.)

Bake for about 15 minutes, until the bread gets toasty and the juices are bubbling.

Serve these peaches warm, but be careful about tasting them when they come right out of the oven. (Yes, I managed to burn myself a little; they smelled so good, I couldn’t wait.) If you have leftovers, they can be reheated in the oven or in the microwave—they stay crispy.