BOISE, Idaho — Stone fruits are called so because they have a thin skin and a hard seed or pit in the center - as hard as a stone.
Peaches are a popular Idaho stone fruit, and they are currently in season. So, today on You Can Grow It, Garden Master Jim Duthie meets up with Chef Lou Aaron from Westside Drive-In to cook up a peachy dessert using an ancient recipe that includes another stone fruit that you can't grow in Idaho.
Lou's making a Persian date and nut cake called ranginak, from a recipe that's nearly 4000 years old. It uses three main ingredients: Dates, walnuts and pistachios. Chef Lou begins by greasing a pie plate with coconut oil.
"Coconut oil is very healthy for you. Just grease the pan. No butter in this recipe. And here we have our dates. So, the dates, you've got to pit them, you don't want to leave the pit in the date," explained Lou. "I pitted those, and I'll just show you…it just opens up really easy and you can pit it just like that."
"We're going to get a little bit of walnuts and then you just stuff each one. And you stuff it just like that. And you put it right in the pan. And you repeat the whole thing."
It takes about four ounces (roughly 33) pitted dates and a cup of coarsely chopped walnuts. Since dates grow on palm trees, you won't find them growing naturally in Idaho. However, most local supermarkets do carry them. Lou used medjool dates because they're plump, juicy, meaty and flavorful.
"Now we need to make our roux." While most roux is made with butter and flour, Chef Lou's roux uses coconut oil and ground almonds. "It's a little over a cup of ground almonds. And basically, it's just whole almonds that I put in a food processor and ground up."
Chef Lou said that once your coconut oil is melted and hot, stir in the ground almonds. "Once it starts to boil, if you keep it on high heat, it's just going to boil over, so you turn it down to low and it's going to take about ten minutes to cook."
As the roux cools, it solidifies and produces a wonderful nutty flavor. Lou instructed, "now you just pour the roux over the date mixture with the walnuts." Next, sprinkle on a layer of allspice, followed by a layer of cinnamon and then pat it down.
"So, we've flattened that out good. Now, just a little over a cup of raw pistachios, not salted, not roasted," Lou instructed. And I just did those in a food processor, and then you just sprinkle them right over the top and cover the whole cake with this. And just spread it out real nice."
Next, you let the date-nut mix refrigerate for two hours until it's firm. Then serve it cold!
Chef Lou said that for a "peachy" twist, slice a ripe peach and toss it with some sugar - he uses coconut sugar.
In September, peaches are in the peak of their season. Take advantage of the surplus and whip up this uniquely peachy treat. "Stir that up really good and about 20 minutes later it develops its own syrup, real pretty."
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