How the Cobbler Crumbles.

Peach and Cherry Crumble

This time of year means one thing, peaches.  I've been stewing them (served over ice cream) and baking them every chance I get.  And while at the grocers the other day I saw a sign for "Fresh, Local Peaches."  So I went to work and picked out a few choice ones.  Unfortunately, "fresh and local" might not mean the same thing to a large scale grocery store as it does to me.  I think of peach orchards back home, or peach trees in neighbors backyards that we all took from.  That's my idea of how a peach should taste.

So I ended up with a few, not so great peaches.  And I was curious to see what could be done with them.  After I rummaged around in the pantry for a bit I found a can of cherry pie filling (do not judge me...) and thought I might be on to something.

Cherry pie filling can be very sweet (although I can eat the glaze with a spoon...) so I seldom use it.  But the "fresh and local" peaches worked perfectly with it to give it a tart flavor that I found surprisingly tasty! 

I cooked up a yummy Peach and Cherry Crumble that I will definitely make again.  I will even go so far as to say I recommend firmer peaches (aka "Fresh and Local") for this recipe.  They hold their shape well, and the cherry glaze sweetens them just enough.  Enjoy!

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Serves 6

Filling:

2 semi-ripe peaches, peeled and chopped into 1 inch chunks

1 can cherry pie filling

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Crumble:

1 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/4  to 1/3 cup light brown sugar

1/4 to 1/2  teaspoon Kosher salt*

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 stick unsalted butter, diced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Toss the ingredients for filling and scoop into small ramekins or medium sized casserole dish (8 x 8).  In bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment combine flour, sugars, salt, cinnamon, and butter.  Mix on low speed until butter is the size of small peas.  Spread evenly over fruit mixture.  Place ramekins (or casserole) on baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes until crumble is brown and crisp, and juices are bubbly.  Serve with scoop of favorite ice cream.

You can make the crumble(s) ahead and store unbaked in the refrigerator.

*Different Kosher salts have different weights.  Diamond brand Kosher is lighter than Morton.  I usually cut the salt measurement in half when cooking with Morton to avoid over-salting. 

Christmas in August Casserole

The basic... i.e. Kid Approved.  

While living in New Orleans my husband and I became addicted to bread pudding.  There are so many versions, (my favorite only has a handful of ingredients...) both savory and sweet.  And when you look at the traditional Breakfast Casserole, it's really just a savory bread pudding.  Which makes me very happy...

Like most folks we typically have our casserole on Christmas morning.  And I always serve it with a simple fruit salad.  But a couple of days ago I was seriously craving comfort food, and of all the great options, we settled on our Christmas casserole.  (I say we... but you know what I mean.)

There are so (!) many versions of this casserole.  And all I have personally tried have turned out great.  Bacon, sausage, spinach, mushrooms, umpteen cheeses.  Any and all combinations work amazingly well.  But, sadly, my sweet children are finicky.  If I jazz something up too much, or heaven forbid put some of that "stinky feet cheese" (i.e. Gruyère) in a casserole, they will turn their noses before it hits the table.  Little Lu is great as proclaiming, "but I did try it and I didn't like it!" about the time I am taking the dish out of the oven... 

They'll even let me sneak a few mushrooms in there...

So in honor of my two sweet, yet finicky angels, I kept this Christmas in August casserole simple, just for them.  And they approved.  

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Sausage & Cheddar Breakfast Casserole

serves 9-12

INGREDIENTS

• 1 small Vidalia (or yellow) onion, diced

• 1 8 oz. package baby portobello or button mushrooms, sliced

• 1 pound Maple breakfast sausage

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

• 1 small loaf French bread, or half of large loaf

• 6 eggs

• 2 cups half and half

• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg   

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease (or spray) 9X12 glass casserole dish.  Tear French bread into 2 inch pieces and spread across the bottom of casserole dish.  In large skillet, brown onion and sausage.  Ladle sausage mixture atop French bread and reserve drippings in skillet.  On medium-low heat, add olive oil and saute mushrooms in sausage drippings until tender.  Ladle mushrooms over sausage and bread.  Sprinkle shredded cheddar over mushrooms.

In a large glass bowl, whisk 6 eggs with half and half until well blended.  Add salt, pepper, and nutmeg.  Pour egg mixture over bread, sausage, mushrooms, and cheese.  With spatula, press down to soak all ingredients well in egg mixture.  Cover and refrigerate overnight, or let sit for 15 minutes.  (Either way works fine!)

Bake at 375 for 40-45 minutes until casserole is set and top is golden brown.  Remove to cooling rack and let casserole rest for 10 minutes before cutting into squares and serving.  Enjoy!    

Adobo Pulled Pork

Aunt Di's Adobo Pulled Pork

Being from the South (specifically within an hour of the Barbeque Capital Memphis), I am always on the lookout for a new pulled pork recipe.  There are few things that can light my family up like its glorious smell rising from the cooker... I mean, six hours worth of heaven wafting through the house and out the door.  My husband swears he can smell it in the driveway, and a smile spontaneously always manages to spread across his face.

We are Memphis barbeque purists.  I've tried the offerings from all the different regions and love them all.  Alabama's great "white sauce," Kansas City's super sweet, and of course North Carolina's yummy vinegar based sauce.  But for me it all comes back to Memphis.  Memphis style sauce is a combination of vinegar, tomatoes, and any number of spices.  A little sweet with a lot of tang, we prefer it "on the side" and not "mixed in," so we can control the amount ourselves.

Smoking pork requires a lot of time and a lot of attention for the home cook, and quite frankly, I don't have it.  Therefore, I thank God daily for my slow cooker.  (Well not daily, but often...) And just like all the regions of barbeque, there are countless numbers of recipes for the slow cooker as well (just Google slow cooker pulled pork).  So when people start talking pulled pork my ears perk up.  And I managed to score a couple of new recipes just this week while visiting family in Tulsa. 

This is the recipe my cousin Diane uses for her pulled pork.  I have no idea where it originated, but I thank her for it!  The flavor is deep and rich, as a matter of fact my kids couldn't keep their fingers out of it while I was pulling it!  (That's always a good sign...)

You can serve it Memphis style with slaw and beans, or use it to jazz up Pulled Pork Tacos.  There are countless ways to use this recipe:  enchiladas, barbeque pork pizza and nachos (two of my son's favorites), add to pasta or seasoned rice, or add a bit to Huevos Rancheros.  You name it. 

Enjoy!

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INGREDIENTS

• 1 Vidalia onion, sliced thin

• 1 4 pound pork shoulder roast (bone-in)

• 4 tablespoons brown sugar

• generous sprinkling of pepper, garlic salt, and seasoning salt

• 2 cans Dr. Pepper

• 1 7.5 oz can Chipotle peppers in Adobo sauce

Diane slow roasts hers in the oven in a large cast iron (Le Creuset) roaster for 6 hours on 300 degrees.  I opted for a slow cooker version.  The directions are the same.

DIRECTIONS

Turn slow cooker on HIGH.  Slice onion thinly and spread in bottom of slow cooker.  Place roast on top of onions and generously rub brown sugar, pepper, garlic salt, and seasoning salt all over roast.  Pour Dr. Pepper over and around roast, and pour peppers and sauce over roast.  Set slow cooker on HIGH for 6 hours, checking occasionally and basting in juices. Remove roast from cooker and let sit (covered) for 15 minutes before pulling apart with fork.  Serve with your favorite sauce (we prefer Curley's Hickory Smoked) and enjoy! 

Sass-Mouthin' Chocolate Chip Cookie

World's Best Chocolate Chip Cookie. Period.

To quote Minny Jackson:  "The only thing you need to know about cookin' is right here; Crisco."  And when it comes to baking (and the occasional frying) I have to agree.   It is indeed the greatest thing since they put mayonnaise in a jar.

I am a huge fan of butter, don't get me wrong.  I swear by butter when making scones.  But Crisco was just made for cookies and flaky pie crusts.  

With two kids (and a sweet-toothed hubby), I make a lot of cookies.  A lot.  And I have tried so many recipes, modifying them all.  But this cookie takes the cake.  The basic recipe needs no tweaking, which leaves only the potential toppings to occupy your mind (and of course the best options are usually a combo of whatever little bits are left in the pantry.)

I wish I could take credit for the recipe (I don't think there's a recipe out there today that anyone can actually take credit for anymore...), but I can't.  As a matter of fact I am straight up stealing it from the card that comes inside that pretty little 3-pack of Butter-flavored Crisco sticks.  So I look at this as sharing the love.  And it definitely produces a cookie you be a little cocky about.  Your Yeah-I-know-how-good-my-cookies-are-but-thanks-for-noticing Cookie.

When it comes to cookies I have found a couple of tricks that produce a great and consistent cookie every time.

1.  Bake at 375 degrees.  Not 350.  Seriously.  

2.  If you're not going to bake immediately (and I mean within the next 2 minutes), pop the container of cookie dough in the fridge until your ready to go.  It'll help the cookie keep a pretty shape, especially if you're reusing warm cookie sheets.

3.  Round or ball the cookie dough slightly after you put it on the cookie sheet.  It helps in avoiding the dreaded spread of your cookie.

A tablespoon of cookie dough then rounded into pretty little balls!

 Sassy Lu is a cookie dough fiend.  She is always waiting to steal the paddle attachment!

To make smaller cookies I just use a teaspoon instead of a tablespoon.  They make just the right size for a class of hungry fourth graders!  But for a larger cookie, and one I can claim without lying to myself, I only had one... I use a tablespoon.

These cookies are perfectly crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.  Even the next day.  

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adapted from Crisco's Ultimate Double Chocolate Chip Cookie

(makes 3 dozen smaller cookies and 2 dozen larger)

• 1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup Crisco Butter Flavor All-Vegetable Shortening
• or 3/4 stick Crisco Baking Sticks Butter Flavor All-Vegetable Shortening
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 3/4 cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup cup Heath Milk Chocolate English Toffee Bits

Heat oven to 375°F. Combine brown sugar, shortening, milk and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat egg into creamed mixture. Combine flour, salt and baking soda. Mix into creamed mixture until just blended. Stir in chocolate chips and toffee bits. Drop rounded tablespoonfuls of dough 3-inches apart onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake 9 to 11 minutes.  If baking 2 sheets at a time, remove top sheet at designated time and let bottom sheet cook an additional minute.  Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet on a cooling rack. Remove cookies to rack to cool completely.