Baked peaches with boiling bacon

Babiche Martens

Roasting peaches with juicy boiling bacon will be a real hit. Order your boiling bacon in advance from a butcher or from the supermarket if you can't find it in the pork section. Boiling bacon is usually pieces from the 'hand' or the foreleg. Long, slow cooking makes meat incredibly tender. Reserve the cooking liquid to use in soups or casseroles. I like to glaze the top of the bacon for a bit of sweetness and crispiness. With the succulent peaches it is a wonderfully colourful dish.

Ingredients

1 kg	Bacon, use boiling bacon cut such as loin or ask your butcher (Main)
1	Onion
5	Peppercorns
1	Carrot
4 Tbsp	Brown sugar
1 Tbsp	Wholegrain mustard
2 Tbsp	Runny honey
6	Peaches, ripe, cut in half, stones removed (Main)
1	Lemon, juice of

Directions

1. Place bacon piece in a large pot. Cover with water and add onion, peppercorns, carrot and herbs. Slowly bring to boil, then return to a simmer. Cook for 2-2½ hours until very tender. Remove from liquid and place in a lined ovenproof dish.
2. Preheat oven to 180C. Remove skin of bacon and discard. Smother mustard and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and honey over top of meat. Place peach halves around base of bacon, and sprinkle with remaining sugar and drizzle with lemon juice.
3. Bake for 30 minutes or until bacon is golden and peaches roasted and juicy.