The essence of summer: homemade Peach Cobbler

When I want to find the best of the best in terms of recipes, I have an inviolable source: the cookbook produced by my former compadre, Ann Criswell, the revered longtime food editor of the Houston Chronicle.

For several years I was privileged to work in an adjacent office cubby with Ann, so she was always available to answer my food questions and more than willing to share recipes. 

I have about three of hers that are absolute favorites; when peach cobblers are concerned, I head straight to her cookbook, The Food Chronicles, which features her most stellar recipes of 30 years in the business. She ran this one in her weekly food section in 1986.

This cobbler meets all the requirements: flaky, tender crust and sweet filling stuffed with chunky, delicious peaches—in this case, the produce of our trees, which just keep churnin’ ’em out.

Hill Country Peach Cobbler

2 - 2 1/2 cups sugar (or sugar substitute)

1/3 cup cornstarch

8 cups sliced fresh or frozen peaches

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/4 cup melted butter

purchased crust or your favorite recipe for a 2-crust pie

In a large bowl combine sugar and cornstarch. Add peaches; toss to coat. Stir in extract and butter. Pour filling into a buttered 13-by-9-by-2-inch baking dish. (I divided mine into two square baking dishes.) Cut dough for crust into strips. Crisscross dough strips over filling. Brush pastry with melted butter; sprinkle with sugar. Bake in 400-dgree oven 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Makes 10 to 12 servings.
(Source: Candy Wagner, author of Cooking Texas Style, with recipe appearing in the Houston Chronicle 8/13/1986).

Birthday cobbler even better gift since berries, peaches all from garden

"You fixed that last year,” Hubby instructed as I informed him that his birthday dessert for this year would be a Peach-Blackberry Cobbler.

He wasn't complaining; he just wanted to be sure I didn’t repeat a blog post in the process. He knew that would irk me.

I was happy to (cheerfully) prove him mistaken. He had been thinking of last year ’s Peach-BLUEberry Cobbler, which I didn’t even bake until well after his birthday. While a wonderful dish, it wouldn’t begin to compare with what I had planned for today—the anniversary of his birth. After all, every morsel of fresh peach and every plump fresh BLACKberry would spring from our trees and our vines in our own garden. What a gift!

Peaches are an annual thing for us (some years more than others), but this year's vines absolutely covered in blackberries are wonders of the world! The berries are almost two-inches long and so chubby, you can hardly get one in your mouth. I’ve never seen any growing thing so beautiful. Their juicy taste is beyond delicious. The green of the vines is almost obliterated by the purple of the berries, they are so profuse.

Stirring two cups of them up with chunks of peaches fresh from our trees (in our first peach dish of the season) was nothing short of heaven. An online recipe from foodnetwork.com helped me out with this mixture. A rolled topping that included brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg spread out on top of everything, and I was in business. The Birthday Boy would be lucky indeed!

Peach-Blackberry Cobbler

8 to 12 peaches, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1-inch chunks

2 tablespoons cornstarch or flour

5 tablespoons light brown sugar

1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

pinch salt (or salt substitute)

2 cups blackberries

topping (recipe follows)

Topping:

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon dried ginger

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2 pinches mace or nutmeg

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces

3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk

1 tablespoon sugar (or sugar substitute)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl combine the peaches, cornstarch or flour, brown sugar, lemon juice, and salt. Toss gently. Carefully fold in the blackberries; transfer the mixture to a greased 8-cup baking dish. Set aside. For topping, mix the flour, salt, brown sugar, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, and mace or nutmeg. Add the butter; mix until coarse and crumbly. Add 3/4 cup milk; mix just until combined. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface; knead a few times to smooth it out. Form into a ball; roll out into the shape and size of the baking dish—about 1/2-inch thick. Place the dough on top of the prepared fruit. Brush the top of the dough with the remaining tablespoon of milk; sprinkle with the granulated sugar. Place the cobbler on a sheet-pan to catch any juices that might boil over. Bake until the top is golden brown and juices are bubbling, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving. Makes 8 to 10 servings. (Source: www.footnetwork.com) 

If the pinwheel topping doesn't draw you in, the bubbly fruit underpinning will

Talk about a breakfast dish that can launch your weekend right. This will get your heart singin’ on a Saturday morning--or any time.

Apple-Cherry Cobbler with Pinwheel Biscuits was outasight good—and not nearly as complex as it looks, either. Biscuit dough (which was very easy to manage) was rolled with almonds and brown sugar to form the pinwheels. Apples and cherries (in our case, I subbed frozen blackberries—dreaming of the day when our garden’s vines will produce our own fruit) make up the filling that bakes under the biscuits.

This makes a pretty, company-special breakfast or brunch dish, but the two of us (sans company) had a terrific time with it as well.

Apple-Cherry Cobbler with Pinwheel Biscuits

Apple-Cherry Filling:

8 large Braeburn apples, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges (about 4 1/2 pounds)

2 cups sugar (I used sugar substitute)

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter

1 (12-ounce) package frozen cherries, thawed and well-drained (I used frozen blackberries)

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinwheel Biscuits:

2 1/4 cups all-purpoe flour

1/4 cup sugar (I used sugar substitute)

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

3/4 cup cold butter, cut into pieces

2/3 cup milk (I used skim)

2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/4 cup finely chopped roasted unsalted almonds

Prepare filling: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss together first 3 ingredients. Melt 1/4 cup butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add apple mixture. Cook; stir often, for 20 to 25 minutes or until apples are tender and syrup thickens. Remove from heat; stir in cherries and next three ingredients. Spoon apple mixture into a lightly greased 3-quart baking dish. Bake apple mixture for 12 minutes. To catch any drips place a baking sheet on oven rack directly below baking dish.

Prepare biscuits: In a large bowl stir together 2 1/4 cups flour and next 3 ingredients. Use pastry blender or fork to cut cold butter pieces into flour mixture until crumbly; stir in milk. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead 4 to 5 times. Roll dough into a 12-inch square. Combine brown sugar and 2 tablespoons melted butter; sprinkle over dough; pat gently. Sprinkle with almonds. Roll up, jelly-roll fashion; pinch seams and ends to seal. Cut roll into 12 (1-inch) slices. Place slices in a single layer on top of apple mixture. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 to 17 minutes or until biscuits are golden. Serve with whipped cream if desired. Makes 8 to 10 servings. (Recipe source: Southern Living February 2012).