Silver Lake chef offers tasty ideas for the end of stone fruit season

As peach season draws to a close, chef Scheherazade Daftary has teamed up with an urban farm to let clients pick, cook, then eat their stone fruit bounty.

Daftary typically holds cooking classes in Silver Lake, but also loves teaching at Cottonwood Urban Farm in Panorama City.

The farm is currently offering stone fruit, which includes peaches, plums, nectarines, and pluouts.

"They have all kinds of vegetables. It is a farm to table class where we actually get to pick fruit from the farm, and then make a delicious meal," said Daftary.

Along with fruit-filled recipes, the farm offers classes on how to make savory dishes.

"We have a very simple pizza crust that we like to make here, which we top with olive oil, garlic, vegan cheese, and peaches. Sprinkling it with a little bit of arugula also adds something nice and fresh on top," she said.

Daftary also likes to create a tangy barbeque sauce with a kick.

"I like to add some chopped onion and some jalapeños - this is going to be our base flavor," Daftary said.

Then she adds peaches, onions and peppers until they turn translucent.

Along with sugar, spices, vinegar, mustard, bourbon and maple syrup, the ingredients eventually cooks down to create the sauce, which she drizzles on a big grilled zucchini, but says it's perfect on any protein.

She then describes how to make the perfect mock mojito.

"You add a little bit of sugar, a little bit of peach, and then muddle it in the bottom of a jar before topping off with ice and soda water," said Daftary.

If you're working with nectarines or peaches, she said to make sure you know the difference between cling and freestone, because it will make quite a difference when you're working with your recipe.

With cling stone, just like the name the fruit, it tends to stick to the pit, so ask for free stone fruit.

"With the free stone fruit, when you cut them and turn them, the fruit comes right off very easily," she said.

Daftary says buy ripe and use as quick as possible.

Click here for more information on how to join the cooking class August 26.