Rhubarb Peach Cobbler

Whenever I'm in the mood to consume an entire cobbler by myself, I make rhubarb peach cobbler.  I am the only one in the house who will eat rhubarb, but I usually share a couple servings with Michael, who also enjoys its tartness.  I have been making this recipe since it first aired on Good Eats in 2005. 

I have three versions of this recipe.  One from the Good Eats episode, "Cobbled Together" printed off foodnetwork.com, one from I'm Just Here for More Food, and one from Good Eats 2: The Middle Years.  I mainly use the printed recipe, but I really enjoy using the Good Eats books, so last time I made the cobbler I reached for Good Eats 2.

I noticed right away the recipe was different because it called for lemon zest instead of lime zest in the crust, yet the filling still called for lime juice.  I decided to still use lime zest since that what I was used to for this recipe.  Then, I entered bizarro world, the measurement for lard was labeled in tablespoons.  I have never seen an AB application measure lard in anything other than by weight.  I was so baffled by it, I didn't realize the recipe called for nine tablespoons!  That's a lot of lard, especially when the recipe calls for only nine tablespoons of butter.  It didn't hit me that it was way too much until I started to measure it out.  Once I saw how much nine tablespoons was going to be, I got another copy of the recipe and checked.  Indeed, the correct measurement for lard was 1.5 ounces, or three tablespoons.  I'm glad I know butter to lard ratios or I would have had one lardy cobbler.

The cobbler turned out absolutely delicious.  The rhubarb and peaches work so well together in this dish and the crust is out of this world.  The crumbled bits of crust on the bottom are soft, tender and filled with the juices from the peaches and rhubarb.  The top crust is very pie-like; tender, flaky, and delicious.  This could very well be my favorite cobbler.  I just wish I had more people to share it with.

Rhubarb Peach Cobbler
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
9 1/2 ounces all purpose flour, approximately 2 cups
1 ounce sugar, approximately 2 tablespoons, plus 1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon freshly grated lime zest
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus 1/4 teaspoon
4 1/2 ounces unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces, plus extra for dish
1 1/2 ounces lard, chilled and cut into small pieces
1 1/2 ounces ice water, approximately 3 tablespoons
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 pound rhubarb, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
1 pound sliced peaches, peel on and sliced into 1/2 to 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place a piece of aluminum foil on the bottom rack to catch any drippings. Butter a 9 by 9-inch glass baking dish and set aside.

Place the flour, 1-ounce sugar, lime zest, and 1 teaspoon salt into the bowl of a food processor and pulse 3 to 4 times. Add the butter and lard and pulse until the mixture just becomes crumbly. Sprinkle or spritz the mixture with the ice water a little at a time and process just until the dough holds together when squeezed in a fist. Place the dough into a 1 gallon zip top bag and form into a disk. Place the dough into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, while you prepare the filling.

In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the 1 cup of sugar, cornstarch, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Stir in the rhubarb, peaches, and lime juice.

Remove 1/3 of the dough from the bag, pinch into pieces and distribute evenly in the bottom of the prepared dish. With the remaining dough still in the bag, roll it out to a sheet large enough to cover the top of the dish. Pour the fruit mixture into the dish and top with the dough that has been removed from the bag, pressing the dough into the corners of the dish. Bake, uncovered, for 60 minutes or until the dough is cooked through and starting to turn golden.

Change the oven setting to broil and continue to cook until golden brown, approximately 3 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to stand for 15 to 30 minutes before serving.

Peach Cobbler

When I think of cobbler, peach cobbler is what instantly comes to mind.  When I think of peaches, I think of Georgia.  When I think of Georgia, I think of REM.  But, alas, REM has never published a peach cobbler recipe.  So, when I think of food and Georgia, I think of Alton Brown.  However, AB doesn't have peach cobbler recipe that uses just peaches (that's another post).  So, when I think of food and Georgia and eliminate the AB variable, I think of Paula Deen. 

Of course she has a peach cobbler recipe, in fact, it's the first thing that comes up in a 'peach cobbler' Google search.  I have been making this cobbler for a long time, mainly taking it to summer family pitch-ins.  It is always a hit, and I rarely take home any leftovers.  The dough is buttery, light and fluffy, and the peaches work in perfect harmony to bring the dish together.

I always use fresh peaches when making this cobbler, and I usually use about five or six cups instead of the recommended four.  Otherwise, I follow the instructions as they are written.  For me, it is nice to have another use for self-rising flour, which I tend to have on hand for biscuits.  I use a 9x13 baking dish for the cobbler and mine tend to bake for about 40-45 minutes.  I also prefer to eat my peach cobbler without any whipped cream or ice cream, though I am sure they would be a delicious addition. 

Peach Cobbler
Recipe courtesy Paula Deen
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
4 cups peeled, sliced peaches
2 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup water
8 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/2 cups milk

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the peaches, 1 cup sugar, and water in a saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Put the butter in a 3-quart baking dish and place in oven to melt.

Mix remaining 1 cup sugar, flour, and milk slowly to prevent clumping. Pour mixture over melted butter. Do not stir. Spoon fruit on top, gently pouring in syrup.  Batter will rise to top during baking. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes.

To serve, scoop onto a plate and serve with your choice of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Blueberry Cobbler

I have yet to meet a cobbler I didn't like, and this blueberry cobbler is no exception.  I found the original recipe when I was looking for a new dessert to make with fresh strawberries.  Somehow, I stumbled upon this dish and I'm glad I did. 

The first time I made it, I used frozen blueberries and added some fresh strawberries (just because I was determined to use strawberries, I guess).  The result was a very soupy cobbler, which wasn't what I was going for at all.  The flavor was wonderful, though, so I wanted to make it again.  I ditched the strawberries, switched to fresh blueberries, and with a few other tweaks, came up with a very pleasing summer dessert.

The cobbler comes together very much like a peach cobbler recipe that I have.  An interesting ingredient to this application is boiling water.  The boiling water, poured directly on top of the cobbler just before baking, adds a shine and a nice subtle crispiness to the crust.  It is like a combination of pie and cake, and the softness and juiciness of the blueberries are a perfect compliment.  I can see myself making this cobbler again and again.

Blueberry Cobbler
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
3 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 3/4 cups sugar (divided)
4 1/2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup whole milk
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch + 1 teaspoon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup boiling water

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease an 11x7 inch baking dish.

Add the blueberries to the baking dish. Squeeze the juice from the lemon over them, add 1 teaspoon of cornstarch and mix to combine. In a medium bowl, mix together the butter and cup of sugar until smooth. Combine the flour and baking powder and add to the sugar mixture alternately with the milk until smooth. Spoon over the berries, and spread evenly.

In another bowl, combine 3/4 cup of sugar, salt, cinnamon and 1 1/2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Sprinkle evenly over the top of the batter. Then, pour the boiling water over the entire dish.

Bake for 50 minutes or until golden brown.

Garden Update

It never fails.  For about two months, the garden looks nice, neat and organized in the small patch of land we fenced off for it.  Then, boom!  The plants start to breach their confinement and it gets hard to tell where one begins and the other ends.  Once once small plants transform into a lush, green garden jungle of sorts.  It still surprises me, but at least everything is happy and healthy.

The tomatoes will be ripe for the picking soon, and we have been eating lettuce for some time.  There are little jalapeno peppers taking shape, and the cantaloupe is starting to flower.  Our cucumber plant started to take over the garden, so I had to move it over the side of the fence.  Though huge, it still hasn't produced any cucumbers, which concerns me.  Unfortunately, our pea plants were a bust; they just shriveled up for some reason.   It is an otherwise exciting time in the garden and I can't wait to see what the coming month will bring!

Cherry Tomato

Tomato

Lettuce

Jalapeno

Introducing Printable Recipes!

I am excited to announce that you can finally print the recipes featured here on latent chestnut.  This is something I have been thinking about doing for a while and I am happy that it is now available.  A majority of the recipes I posted on my blog are from Food Network, so I just posted a link to the 'print recipe' page on their website.  However, for recipes were not initially found online, there is a link in the post that will direct you to a 'latent chestnut recipes' page designed specifically for printing.

My curiosity was peaked when I saw the feature available on the blog Closet Cooking.  I did a quick Google search for 'blogger printable recipes' and found that the creator of Closet Cooking, Kevin, posted instructions on how to make printable recipe pages.  You can find the detailed instructions here.  I was honestly surprised how simple it was.

With the instructions so readily available, I just had to find the time to go back through all my old posts with recipes and post links to the printable pages.  It was a little time consuming, but it is now complete!  As I was going through my old food posts, I noticed that I didn't include recipes for a number them.  So, I may do another post on these foods in the future complete with a recipe. 

For now, you can revisit these recipes with the new printable format.

Apple Crisp
Atom Bomb
B&K Spanish Sauce
Brown Soda Bread (the first recipe I posted on latent chestnut)
Carrot Cake
German Chocolate Brownies
New York-Style Crumb Cake
Nonna's Apple Pie
Pear-nana Bread
Pie Crust
Snickerdoodles
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

More coming soon!