At the Table
HOT HONEY PEACH CRACKERS
Sweet, salty and just a little spicy. Our go-to appetizer all summer long.
There are certain things I make so often in the summer that they hardly feel like recipes. This is one of them.
When peaches are at their best these little crackers are on repeat at our house… for friends before dinner, alongside a cold drink on the porch or simply because five o’clock feels deserving of something good.
The combination is wonderfully simple: cool crème fraîche, ripe summer peaches, a generous drizzle of hot honey and fresh basil, all piled onto a crisp cracker. Sweet, creamy, salty, a little spicy and exactly the sort of thing August calls for.
I prefer Excelsior Jamaican Water Crackers here. They’re thick and wonderfully crisp, which means they can hold the crème fraîche, juicy peaches and importantly, plenty of hot honey without immediately going soggy. And for the honey, Mike’s Hot Honey is our favorite.
HOT HONEY PEACH CRACKERS
You’ll need
Jamaican water crackers
Crème fraîche
Ripe peaches, thinly sliced
Mike’s Hot Honey
Fresh basil leaves
Flaky sea salt, optional
To make
Spread each cracker with a generous spoonful of crème fraîche and top with a slice or two of peach.
Drizzle liberally with hot honey — this is not the place to be shy with it — and finish with torn fresh basil and a tiny pinch of flaky salt, if you like.
Arrange on a platter and serve right away.
No measurements necessary. Just make more than you think you’ll need.
MAKE IT A GOLDEN HOUR
There’s something about those last few hours of a summer afternoon that deserves its own little ritual. Nothing elaborate … something good to nibble on, something cold to drink and nowhere you need to be quite yet.
Alongside the peach crackers, I’ll often put out prosciutto-wrapped melon. Another barely-a-recipe favorite: wrap wedges of ripe cantaloupe or honeydew in thinly sliced prosciutto and finish with a generous squeeze of fresh lime just before serving.
Add a pitcher of my favorite Daisy del Mar and you have my idea of a very good summer evening.
DAISY DEL MAR
Tart, tropical, a little spicy and wonderfully cold — our summer house cocktail.
¾ oz jalapeño tequila
¾ oz fresh lime juice
1½ oz passionfruit nectar
¼ oz mango nectar
Splash of Topo Chico
Lime, for serving
Add the tequila, fresh lime juice, passionfruit nectar and mango nectar to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake until icy cold, then strain over fresh ice. Finish with a splash of Topo Chico and a squeeze or wheel of lime.
Bright, tropical and just spicy enough, it’s particularly good with the sweetness of the peaches and melon and the saltiness of the prosciutto.
Peaches and hot honey. Melon and prosciutto. Something cold in your glass.
Nothing particularly complicated , just a few good things, served at that lovely hour when the light turns golden and dinner can wait a little longer.
— Michelle