Grilled Chicken Peach Saltimbocca Skewers

Christmas in the Blackwood house. Six of us around the table: Mama, Joy, Robert, James, Carrie, and me. The antique dining table that has held every important meal of my married life held this one too — the feast I had been cooking for three days, the one that is not mine but Mama's, reproduced with the fidelity of a woman who understands that Christmas dinner is not a meal but a text, and every dish is a word, and the sentence they form is: we are here, we are together, we remember.

She-crab soup to start. Mama tasted it and said, "More sherry," and I added more sherry, and she tasted it again and said, "Now it's right," and the rightness was not about the sherry but about the authority — Mama at the head of the kitchen, even in my kitchen. The turkey, brined and roasted, surrounded by Mama's cornbread dressing and green bean casserole. Red rice. Collard greens with smoked ham hock. Sweet potato casserole with marshmallow topping, which Carrie considers "deeply problematic" but ate two helpings of anyway. And for dessert: Mama's peach cobbler, made with preserved peaches from her summer canning.

Joy sat between Mama and me. She wore a red sweater and a paper crown from a Christmas cracker and she ate everything on her plate and asked for more. When Robert carved the turkey, Joy clapped, and when Mama brought out the cobbler, Joy said, "Mama made it!" with such pure triumph that the table went silent for a moment, the way a room goes silent when something true has been spoken.

After dinner, James read "A Christmas Carol" aloud by the fire — his voice had the Simmons cadence, the preacher's rhythm, and I closed my eyes and heard my father and my son in the same voice and the past and the present were in the same room and the fire was warm and Mama was asleep in the armchair and Joy was humming "O Holy Night" and Robert was holding my hand.

I thought: this is what I have built. This kitchen, this table, this family. It is imperfect and it is damaged and it is real and it is mine and it is enough. It is more than enough. It is everything.

It was Joy’s voice — that small, triumphant “Mama made it!” — that I keep returning to when I think about why peaches feel like the language of love in this family. Mama’s cobbler was the crown of that Christmas table, and the preserved peaches she’d put up in summer were her way of carrying warmth forward into the cold. I can’t replicate that cobbler — not truly, not yet — but these Grilled Chicken Peach Saltimbocca Skewers let me keep peach at the center of the table in a way that feels festive and alive, a little salty from the prosciutto, a little sweet from the fruit, the way every good meal should balance itself. It’s not Christmas dinner, but it carries the same spirit: something made with intention, something that says we are here.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 12 minutes | Total Time: 32 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
2 ripe but firm peaches, pitted and cut into 1 1/2-inch wedges
4 oz thinly sliced prosciutto, cut into strips
16 fresh sage leaves
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Wooden or metal skewers (if wooden, soaked in water 30 minutes)

Instructions

Make the marinade. In a medium bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper. Add chicken cubes and toss to coat. Let marinate at room temperature for 15 minutes while you prepare the other components.
Wrap the chicken. Lay a sage leaf against each piece of marinated chicken and wrap a strip of prosciutto snugly around it, securing the sage in place. The prosciutto will crisp up on the grill and hold everything together.
Assemble the skewers. Thread the prosciutto-wrapped chicken and peach wedges onto skewers, alternating between chicken and peach — approximately 3 pieces of chicken and 2 peach wedges per skewer. Brush assembled skewers lightly with any remaining marinade.
Preheat the grill. Heat an outdoor grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. Lightly oil the grates to prevent sticking.
Grill the skewers. Place skewers on the hot grill and cook for 5 to 6 minutes per side, turning once, until the chicken is cooked through (internal temperature of 165°F) and the prosciutto is golden and lightly crisped. The peaches should show good grill marks and soften slightly without falling apart.
Rest and serve. Remove skewers from the grill and let rest for 3 to 4 minutes before serving. Arrange on a platter and finish with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and any additional fresh sage or thyme for garnish.

Nutrition (per serving)

Grilled Chicken Peach Saltimbocca Skewers — The Peach That Made the Table Go Quiet