Friday, September 3, 2010

peach-blueberry cobbler

No Southern feast is complete without a bowl of cobbler. Sure, you could make other things like pecan pie, or banana pudding, or any other number of sweet things, but warm fruit topped with a flaky biscuit is my preference. It doesn't seem as heavy after a meal of cheesy and fried things. (I said seem, okay?)
Peaches and blueberries are a natural late-summer combo but if you prefer all berries, or another type of stone fruit such as plums or nectarines, any combination will do. And if you can't find any good fresh fruit at your market, frozen will work just as well. That's the thing about cobblers, they are infinitely flexible, non-judgmental.  

When planning my fried chicken dinner, I found a Lee Brothers recipe on Smitten Kitchen for peach-blueberry cobbler with cornmeal biscuits that sounded perfect. Unfortunately the cornmeal I had on hand was coarse-ground and the recipe called for fine-ground. I didn't think crunchy grit bits would make for a nice topping, so I ended up omitting the cornmeal. The end result, jammy and bubbling, was just fine without, but I'm sure the cornmeal adds a nice rusticity. If you have tried making this with cornmeal, do tell in the comments.
Peach-blueberry cobbler
Via Smitten Kitchen

(Serves 6 to 8 people)

For the fruit:
1 1/2 (about 4 cups) pounds peaches, pitted and cut into slices
1 pint (about 2 cups) blueberries, rinsed and dried
2/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt

For the biscuit topping:
3/4 cup  all-purpose flour
1/4 cup fine stone-ground cornmeal (yellow or white, if using)
3 Tbsp. dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss peaches with blueberries, sugar, flour, lemon juice, cinnamon and salt in the bottom of a 2-quart ovenproof dish.

Make the biscuit dough: Stir together the flour, cornmeal (if using), brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter into the dry mixture with your fingertips, a fork or a pastry blender. Stir in buttermilk with a rubber spatula until a wet, tacky dough comes together.

Plop spoonfuls of the biscuit dough over the filling; don’t worry about covering entire surface. Bake until the cobbler’s syrup is bubbly and the biscuit tops are browned, about 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool slightly and scoop it into bowls. Top with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Peach and blueberries together make this one of the best recipes ever. Now to actually try it.

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