In A Nutshell

I realize that cobbler recipes are a dime a dozen; I have made many different recipes and find there is some little issue each time: watery filling, stodgy biscuits, dull flavor etc. This time I wed two recipes- the filling from Joanne Chang's book Pastry Love and a really good cobbler biscuit recipe from the NYT Cooking section.  I thought I should note it here for my own sake so that I'm not fishing out two different recipes (and trying to remember which two were the best combo) each time I make cobbler. For the filling: 1000 g (8 cups) blueberries 1 1/2 lbs (680 g) peaches, sliced unpeeled 3/4 cup sugar 4 T cornstarch zest from 1 lemon In a medium saucepan, combine half the blueberries, all the peaches, sugar, zest and cornstarch. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes until the juice released is nice and purple and looks like a thickened pie filling. Add the remaining blueberries and put it into a 13 x 9 ceramic baking dish. Preheat oven to 350º. For the b...

I tore this recipe out of the Chicago Tribune (10 years ago, as my husband pointed out!); I'm sad that I went for 10 years without these tasty treats but happy that I hung on to the recipe all these years. I made a few changes from the original. I would add that if the corn is not super super fresh and sweet, blanch it for about a minute before using. 1 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels, divided 1 cup buttermilk 4 eggs, separated 2 T melted butter or bacon drippings 1 t salt 2 t baking powder 1/4 cup yellow cornmeal 1 3/4 cups flour 2 T sugar 8 slices bacon, chopped small and cooked to a crisp Puree 1/2  cup of corn along with the milk, melted butter and egg yolks in a blender until very smooth. In a large bowl, whisk flour, corn meal, baking powder and salt. Add the liquid ingredients from the blender to the dry ingredients and stir just to moisten. Fold in half  the bacon bits and remaining  1cup  of corn. Meanwhile, whip the egg whites and sugar until ...

I love desserts like this for many reasons; they are comforting, beautiful and everything can be assembled well in advance for ease of serving. You can make the streusel whenever you want and freeze it until you are ready to use it. The lemon custard should be made the day before you are planning to serve the desserts and the blueberry mixture right before assembling them-- it spreads out better if it slightly warm. This is a marriage of two different Fine Cooking recipes. For the Streusel : 2/3 cup flour 1/2 cup oats 6 T unsalted butter, cut into cubes 1/2 cup slivered almonds or walnuts 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup sugar 1/4 t kosher salt Pulse all the ingredients in a food processor until crumbly. Spread the streusel on a rimmed baking sheet and bake at 325º for about 20 minutes, stirring it every 5 minutes (until golden- don't overbake). Set aside to cool For the Lemon Custard : 3 egg yolks 3 T sugar 1 cup heavy cream (although I'm going to try this with w...

I made two back-to-back pies- one with a lattice crust and one with these cutesie little stars cut out of the pastry. I think I preferred the lattice crust. This recipe is a marriage of  Julia Child's Nectarine and Blueberry Pie recipe with Fine Cooking's Classic Blueberry Pie. I borrowed Julia's technique of cooking half the blueberries on the stove top and then adding the remaining fresh in order to reduce the baking time from 1 hr. 30 minutes to 50 minutes. Also, there was much less filling overflowing with Julia's method. It seems that I am missing the crucial lattice making gene- I am incapable of doing it right no matter how detailed the instructions. Here are some instructions for making a lattice pie crust -- maybe you'll have better luck! The pie is delicious served with Sweet Corn Ice Cream Double Pie Crust Recipe from Smitten Kitchen For the Filling : 6 cups blueberries (30 oz.) 2/3 cup sugar 1/3 cup flour zest of one lemon plus 1 T juice...

 I'm always enthused about upside down cakes but inevitably wind up disappointed... too dry, not fruity enough, bland etc. This summer I was attracted to a recipe from the Good Housekeeping 2002 Annual Cookbook mainly because one of the ingredients was cornmeal. This cake turned out dreamy... moist, fruity, a bit crunchy from the cornmeal- a delightful change of pace from the usual upside down cake. For the topping : 1/2 cup toasted pecans 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar 4 T unsalted butter 3 ripe peaches, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch wedges For the cake : 1 1/3 cup flour 1/4 cup cornmeal 2 t baking powder 1/2 t salt 3/4 cup sugar 1 stick unsalted butter (1/2 cup), softened 2 eggs 1 t vanilla 1/2 cup milk 1 cup blueberries For the topping: In a 10" cast iron skilled, melt brown sugar with 4 T butter over low heat until sugar melts, about 2 or 3 minutes. Throw the pecans over this (breaking them up a little with your hand) and then arrange the peach sli...