Catersource Magazine – May/June 2010
Emphasis on Local
Simple prep, low cost—yet great flavor
The challenge was on for Butler’s Pantry Catering in St. Louis, when it was hired to do all of the corporate catering for the BMW Championship in 2008. That meant breakfast, lunch and dinner every day for about 30 different companies, plus the BMW hospitality tent, plus evening cocktail parties and receptions.
Many of the guests, from BMW North America and BMW Germany, were “very worldly people,” says Greg Ziegenfuss. “We needed to come up with a lot of different menu items for them.”
BMW had made it clear that it wanted to highlight local products as much as possible. Using prosciutto from a St. Louis company, Volpi, and locally grown peaches, Ziegenfuss’ team created a simple but delicious hors d’oeuvre. “It’s very inexpensive and obviously very easy,” he says. “So it’s all good.”
Grilled Balsamic Peaches
Yield: 50 skewers
Ingredients
5 whole, perfectly ripe, firm, medium sized fresh peaches (the trick is the peach must be
ripe to maximize its sweetness but not too ripe where it turns to mush on the grill)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
20 slices Volpi Prosciutto (Any prosciutto can be used, however we love the Volpi prosciutto—not only because it is made in St. Louis, but we feel it is as good as any prosciutto available either imported or domestic)
50 fresh basil leaves medium in size
50 bamboo, knot tied, 4-inch skewers
Method
Halve the peaches and remove the stone with a large Parisian scoop. Cut the peach halves in thirds, toss in the olive oil and balsamic vinegar allowing to macerate for 15 minutes while the char broiler pre-heats.
Meanwhile, cut the prosciutto length wise in 1/2-inch strips.
Drain the marinade from the peaches, reserving the liquid, and grill until obtaining a nice grill mark on both sides of the peach.
When cool, cut the grilled sections into 3/4-inch pieces, wrap with the prosciutto and basil leaf and then put on skewers.
Drizzle the skewered prosciutto-wrapped peaches with reserved marinade and quickly place on the grill just prior to serving.
The peaches also may be cooled at this point and served at room temperature for off-premise functions when a grill is not available or feasible.