Peach Cobbler

I am not the only one who cooks in our family.  My beautiful wife, Clare, is also a great cook and a great baker.  Every once in a while, I ask my Angel to provide a guest blog post so that I can share some of the amazing and delicious things that she makes for family, friends and, of course, me.  She has already provided guest blog posts about Tuscan Vegetable Soup, Cuban Bread, Loyalist Bread and Salmon Burgers.  So, without further ado,

A Guest Blog Post by Clare ...

Peaches are a great summertime fruit and are very versatile.  I bought some peaches during a recent trip with Keith to Eastern Market.  I have previously used peaches to make ice cream, which Keith devours at every chance he can get.  But, I decided to do something different.  After doing a little searching on the Internet, I came across a recipe for a peach cobbler.  Keith devoured that as well.  Fortunately for me and this guest post, Keith took pictures of the cobbler before he began eating it.   

Usually, at this point, Keith would probably say something about the history of the dish or the ingredients used to make the dish. According to the Food Timeline, food historians have determined that the cobbler dates back to the second half of the 19th century, when settlers where making their way across North America.  These pioneers created the dish using a crust, filling it with whatever fresh or canned fruit they may have, and cooking it in a dutch oven.  The first reference to a "cobbler" appeared as early as 1839 in a book called The Kentucky Housewife, which provided a recipe for a "peach pot-pie" or "cobler."  The term also began to appear in American dictionaries in 1859.

Over the past 160 years, the cobbler has evolved over time, as people settled down and, once again, were able to cook with ovens rather than over a fire.  This recipe comes from the Food Network.

PEACH COBBLER

Adapted from Food Network

Serves many

Ingredients (for the filling):
4 cups of peeled and sliced peaches
3/4 cup of brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon flour

1 cup flour

Ingredients (for the crust):
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
3 tablespoons of brown sugar
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter, cut in to small pieces
2/3 cup of buttermilk
1 tablespoon brown sugar for topping
Whipped cream

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Generously butter a 1 1/2-quart shallow baking dish. Place the sliced peaches in the dish and sprinkle with brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and flour. Mix gently and spread evenly again. Bake for 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile combine all dry ingredients for cobbler crust in a bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or your fingers, to make the texture like coarse crumbs. Add buttermilk and stir to form a soft dough.

4.  Remove fruit from oven and drop rounded spoonfuls of dough on top. Sprinkle with last tablespoon of brown sugar and return to oven. Bake until fruit is bubbly and crust topping is golden brown, about 20 minutes. Serve warm with whipped cream. 

A great accompaniment for this dessert is either some whipped cream (which I made from scratch) or some ice cream.  Maybe some peach ice cream.  Well, until next time, as Chef Bolek would say ...

ENJOY!