Fiery Grilled Peach and Habanero Salsa

We've been grilling a lot this summer, but one thing we haven't tackled is fruit. Bobby Flay grills fruit all the time, and although I trust him, grilled fruit just sounds kind of...weird.

I came across this recipe in the August 2009 issue of Cooking Light magazine and knew it was for us. Because it's, you know, spicy. Well, at least Cooking Light says it's spicy; most of the time when a magazine says something is spicy, it's really a barely-there, castrated kind of heat. Which is not the heat we like in the T house.

Fiery Grilled Peach and Habanero Salsa
from the August 2009 issue of Cooking Light Magazine

4 large peeled peaches, halved and pitted*
2 (1/4-inch-thick) slices red onion
Cooking spray
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon grated orange rid
1 teaspoon finely chopped seeded habanero pepper** (I doubled the amount for us)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Prepare grill to medium-high heat.

Lightly coat peaches and onion with cooking spray. Place peaches and onion on grill rack coated with cooking spray. Grill peaches 2 minutes on each side. Cool and chop. Grill onion 3 minutes on each side. Cool and chop. Combine peaches, onion, cilantro and remaining ingredients in a medium bowl; toss well. Let stand 15 minutes.

* The easiest way to peel a peach, I've found, is to plop them in a pot of boiling water for about 15 seconds. Remove them and cool for a few minutes. The skin should peel off easily with a paring knife.

**Habanero peppers, or Scotch Bonnets, are very, very potent. Use caution when chopping them and make sure you wash your hands before touching ANY part of your body. I know this from firsthand experience; my nose has never forgiven me for itching it once with "Habanero Hands."

I thought that this salsa screamed to be served over fish, so I grilled some gorgeous sea bass fillets.

The verdict (and a small RANT):

Those folks at Cooking Light lie like rugs! Even with the amount of habanero doubled, the salsa was tame. Now it could be that I got a puny habanero, but I smelled the sucker when I was chopping it, and it smelled spicy. I know CL is a mainstream magazine, but in my opinion, if you're gonna call a recipe "fiery"--it had better have some fire there! If a magazine uses "fiery" in the title, it's user beware, right? So people who make it shouldn't be crying like babies if the recipe is hot, because they were warned. Quit castrating my food, people!! Pony up or don't do it at all.

Bastards.

Sigh, rant over.

Once I added another pinch of chiles, we enjoyed the dish. The combination of flavors was delicious! The sea bass was rich and buttery, and the clean peach and chile flavors blanced that. It's a keeper.