Continental Peaches

This recipe for fresh peaches is a wonderful accompaniment to meats and brunch dishes. I was a little leery about the idea of baked peaches the first time I made the recipe, but my fears vanished with the first bite, and my husband's rave reviews. The original recipe called for rum extract, which was nasty tasting since it's a strong artificial flavoring, so I substituted the real thing with much better results. Since the alcohol cooks away the flavor of the peaches and brown sugar shines through. Blessings...

Recipe:

3 large ripe peaches, peeled and halved
1 tbsp. rum
1/2 cup sour cream (see note)
3 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. sliced almonds (honey roasted or toffee are wonderful)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Arrange peaches, cut side up, in a 9-inch pie plate or baking dish.
3. Sprinkle with rum. Spoon sour cream onto peaches. Sprinkle with sugar and almonds.
4. Bake for about 20 minutes or until sugar caramelizes and almonds turn golden brown. Serve hot.

Yield: 6 servings
Note: The original recipe from the cookbook, San Francisco A La Carte, calls for 1 cup of sour cream, which I thought was way too much. You might like much more sour cream than we did.