Lola and I have been enjoying them for breakfast with a little greek yogurt, honey, and sometimes, granola. Nothing reminds me of summers spent in South Carolina as a child like the first bite of a perfectly ripened peach. When we first moved to South Carolina I was only 5. The week we moved in, the little old lady across the street brought us a welcome gift of a peach pie. It was a double crust and in a 9 x 13 rectangular tin. The filling must have been 3 inches high. I wish I had been old enough to get her recipe, but the memory of that pie is indelibly marked on my brain. I also remember asking her when we could have another one and being scolded and taught the impropriety of asking for gifts.
Later, when my grandparents moved to South Carolina as well, my grandfather, always one to buy in bulk, would get crates and crates of fresh peaches from roadside stands. Then my grandmother would start a frenzy of peach cobblers, peach pies, and canning peaches. Still there were always whole ones around to eat on the porch steps in the shade.
As I have recently found a source for quality lard (I used it for my spinach bread) from a local meat csa I thought it'd be a perfect opportunity to make a peach pie and test out a lard/butter crust combination. Unfortunately, half way through the crust process I realized after it chilled I'd have to roll it out again and that would be a total drag. So I left it in the freezer for next time. I think I'll save it for a strawberry rhubarb pie- if it works I'll make sure to post the recipe.
Crust, I've decided, is worth making at home, but for me it's only worth making when you don't expect to eat the pie that day. It requires so many dishes used and measuring cups needed, and attention to temperature and time to control temperature- all to just complete the shell of the dish. It stresses me out. So, henceforth, I will make crust every so often and freeze it for when I get a hankering for pie.
Why not just buy the stuff at the store you ask? Well, if I'm spending so much time caring about the ingredients I put into the pie, why would I want to feed my family a crust filled with hydrogenated vegetable oil and who knows what other kinds of stabilizers and chemicals? It just seemed completely counter to the entire idea of eating whole foods (though maybe the 2 cups of sugar in the pie is also counter to that. Ahem.) I see nothing wrong with people who want to take this shortcut, I was a store bought crust pie maker until recently. However, with a fairly recent bariatric surgery behind me, I can eat very little. I want every bite to be full of flavor and nutrition - or in the case of dessert - as little processing as possible.
Anyhow, though the plan for pie was shelved, the peaches were still calling my name. My crust was safely wrapped in the freezer and the food processor was cleaned. So I decided on a cobbler.
I haven't had a peach cobbler in years, but I remember my grandmother's very well. One summer, I was visiting and grandma had made the most lovely cobbler. It was in a high sided casserole dish with a glass top. She set it on the stove to cool for supper and I walked past it probably 20 times on my way in and out of the kitchen- eyeing the syrup oozing out from between cracks in the fluffy crust just barely exposing slices of peaches here and there, my mouth watering. Then, about an hour before dinner, while in the living room, I heard an explosion and glass breaking. The cobbler had exploded. Grandma had left the burner on and set the casserole dish right on top of it. Thankfully, no one had been in the kitchen, it was highly trafficked with the side door as our main entrance in and out of the house (in the south almost everyone uses their side entrance- the front door is for special occasions) but Oh! that beautiful cobbler was in pieces everywhere. I wanted to save hunks of it, but apparently shards of glass were enough of a deterrent that the idea was vetoed. So all these years later, I decided it was high time I had that damn cobbler that I'd been so excited for all those years ago.
After a little bit of research I found this recipe for Easy Peach Cobbler from Southern Living. I wanted something simple that reminded me of grandma. I realized I didn't have quite enough peaches or a lemon as the original recipe requires, so I improvised. I had some frozen pineapple to bulk it up and give it citrus flavor and some ginger root to add a little something sharp and unexpected. The result was a huge pan of that magical combination of fluffy cakey, oozing, syrupy heaven unique to cobbler. So sweet, you have to cut it with a bit of whipped or ice cream. The next morning the entire pan was gone.Peach Cobbler - adapted from Southern Living June 1997
-feeds a crowd, or 4 adults and 2 children who have no qualms eating it for dessert and then breakfast the next morning.
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar, divided
1 tbsp baking powder
pinch of sea salt
1 cup milk
3 cups fresh sliced peaches
1 cup chopped pineapple, frozen or fresh
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger root
optional whipped cream
optional ice cream
Preheat the oven to 375. Melt the butter in a 13 x 9 inch baking dish- mine fits in the microwave- one less dish to wash! In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder and salt with a fork. Add the milk stirring just until the flour mixture is moistened. Pour the batter over the butter in the baking dish.
Do not stir.
In a small pot, bring 1 cup sugar, peach and pineapple slices, and ginger root to a boil while stirring constantly. Pour the mixture evenly over the batter, but do not mix.
Bake for 45 minutes or until the top begins to brown. Let cool for at least 15 minutes before serving. Top with whipped cream or ice cream if desired.
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