Apple Peach Cobbler

Apples and honey are the traditional treat for Rosh Hashana, and apple peach cobbler is a variation on this new year's dessert. It uses early-season sweet apples and late season (or frozen) peaches, with a smattering of dark brown sugar that adds a deep caramel flavor to an already indulgent fruit mixture.

A cobbler is basically pie filling topped with biscuits. The biscuits take the place of pie pastry, and help soak up the fruit juices when the cobbler is served.

I made this using my Pound Sweet heirloom apples. Pound Sweet is a variety whose name describes the fruit to a T. Each apple is large, weighing in at close to 16 ounces each. They are exceptionally sweet, with very little of the tartness that you associate with apples. They retain their firmness when they are cooked, so they make an excellent apple for pies and other desserts. Because they are more sweet than tart, however, they need something acidic added to keep the dish from being bland. Lemon juice serves this purpose as well as keeping the fruit from browning while you are preparing your biscuit mixture.

Apple Peach Cobbler

6 cups peeled, cored and sliced sweet apples

1 c. peeled and sliced peaches

2 tsp. lemon juice

1/2 c. dark brown sugar

1/4 c. granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsp. corn starch

1 tbsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmet

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place apple and peach slices into casserole dish sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Toss with lemon juice to prevent browning. In a small bowl, whisk together sugars, spices and corn starch. Sprinkle sugar mixture on top of fruit and toss to cover. Set aside while preparing the biscuit mixture.

Cobbler Biscuits

1 c. all purpose flour

1/4 c. cold butter, cut into small pieces

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. granulated sugar

1/2 c. evaporated milk

1 egg

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut in butter until mixture resembles crumbs. Blend milk and egg together and stir into flour mixture to create a stiff batter.

Using a tablespoon, top the fruit mixture with six biscuits of equal size. Bake for 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees. Biscuit topping should be golden brown.

Serve warm, scooping fruit over the biscuit, or serve cold. Top with ice cream or whipped cream if desired. Makes 6 generous portions.

 It's Tomato Time: Easy Marinara Sauce

Finished marinara sauce in freezer container. I cut the banana peppers in large chunks to add texture.

Labor Day weekend is the unofficial end of summer, and in the midwest it's the time to harvest and begin preserving tomatoes. As the night temperatures fall, heat-loving tomato plants slow down production, anticipating the arrival of frost. So now is the time to make and freeze some awesome and easy marinara sauce.

Although any good, ripe red tomato can be used, the best tomato sauces are made from roma-type tomatoes. This year, I grew one of the best plum tomatoes. It has the rather unglamorous name of Hybrid 46, but don't let the name fool you. The fruits were perfectly shaped and meaty. Each weighed between 6 to 8 ounces. And the plants were very prolific. It didn't take a lot of picking to get enough to produce a good sized batch of marinara sauce.

The most labor intensive part of making tomato sauce is peeling the tomatoes, but I learned a neat trick to make this process fast and almost mess-free. First, I cut the blossom end off each tomato. I then put the whole tomatoes into a pressure cooker, added just enough water to cover them and put the lid on the cooker. Adjusting the gage to high pressure, I put them on heat for 15 minutes or so. After removing from heat and allowing any pressure and steam to escape, I removed the lid and used a pair of grilling tongs to slip the skins off. The tomatoes were mushy but still intact, and the skins came off as easily as peeling a banana.

Once the tomatoes are peeled, place them into a 3 quart saucepan with just a little water and a pinch of salt. Begin to simmer on low heat with the lid on the pan, stirring occasionally to ensure that nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan. When the tomatoes are very mushy and begin to fall apart, use a stick blender to puree the mixture. Measure your puree and return to the saucepan.

For every 2 cups of tomato pulp, add the following:

1 whole onion, chopped
3-4 sweet banana peppers, chopped
2 tbsp. granulated sugar
2 tbps. dry oregano
2 tbps. dry basil
2 tbsp. dry parsley
2 tsp. garlic powder
dash pepper

Stir chopped pepper, onion, sugar and herbs into the tomato puree. Add 1/2 cup water, tomato juice or dry red wine. Return to low heat and simmer, stirring frequently, until sauce is no longer runny. Allow to cool and freeze in 1 quart containers.   

This sauce can be used as pizza sauce or over pasta. It retains its bright,  fresh-picked tomato flavor after it's frozen, so you can enjoy a taste of summer in January.

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Oven Barbecued Spare Ribs

Oven Barbecued Spare Ribs

Now that you've prepared a few quarts of barbecue sauce, it's time to put it to work! The sweet and tangy sauce brings out the tender and meaty taste of pork; using it on a slab of ribs is a must.

I don't have an outdoor grill, so rely on my trusty oven to barbecue my ribs. Cooking ribs indoors is a three step process, but the end results give you fall off the bone tender ribs that are packed with flavor.

Oven Barbecued Spare Ribs
1 3-to-6 lb. slab spare ribs
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
2 tsp. kosher or coarse salt
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1 cup barbecue sauce

Preheat oven to 225 degrees.  Place ribs, meat side up, on broiler tray. Fill bottom of tray with 2 cups of water.

Combine sugar, salt and spices. Rub the ribs with this mixture, completely covering all meaty surfaces.

Ribs covered in spice rub

Ribs covered with aluminum foil tent

Tent the ribs with aluminum foil, and heat at 225 for 2 hours.

After baking, remove ribs from oven and remove aluminum foil tent. Turn on broiler, and allow to preheat for 5 to 10 minutes.

Using a pastry brush, cover the ribs generously with barbecue sauce. Place under broiler for 10 to 20 minutes, or until sauce is bubbly and becoming caramelized. Remove ribs from oven; allow to rest for  minutes before slicing. Serves 4 to 6.

Sweet And Spicy Barbecue Sauce

Sweet and Spicy Barbecue Sauce

When you grow tomatoes, the end of the season always means harvesting, canning and preserving. A single tomato plant can produce 20 pounds of fruit, and this season mine did just that. Luckily, I grew plum (Roma-type) tomatoes, so making different sauces is a great way to use them up.

I came across a traditional barbecue sauce in a preserving cookbook. It was a Texas-style sauce that was heavy on the chili peppers. I prefer being able to taste the tomato in my barbecue, so after a few modifications I came up with a recipe that was, like Goldilocks' porridge, "just right." It has just enough heat to let you know it's barbecue, but not so much that hot pepper overshadows all of the other flavors.

There is one ingredient that causes much contention among a lot of people, and that is corn syrup. There are many people who believe that commercial barbecue sauce manufacturers add corn syrup to please Big Corn interests and to make us all fat. Not so - the corn syrup, molasses or honey that is added to barbecue sauce gives the sauce enough adhering ability that it sticks to the meat during cooking. It also allows the sugar in the sauce to caramelize, rather than burn. So please don't leave the syrup out!

You can freeze your sauce after it's made, or you can go the distance and can it. The recipe easily makes 3 full pints.

Sweet and Spicy Barbecue Sauce

24 Roma-type tomatoes, peeled and stemmed (4 quarts)
2 c. chopped onions, red or white
1 1/2 c. chopped red or green bell peppers, seeds removed
1 tsp. dried red pepper flakes
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. black pepper
1 1/4c. firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 c. apple cider vinegar
1/2 c. dark corn syrup
2 tsp. ground mustard
2 tsp. paprika
2 tsp. kosher salt

Place peeled tomatoes in a large bowl, and sprinkle with kosher salt. Allow to sit at room temperature for several hours or overnight.

Dump tomatoes and liquid into a 3 or 4 quart saucepan. Add onions, peppers and herbs. Cover the saucepan and bring to a simmer; simmer on low heat for 30 minutes.

Using a stick blender, pulverize all of the ingredients until they form a smooth liquid. Add the sugar, vinegar and corn syrup. Bring to a simmer again; allow to simmer with the lid slightly ajar for another 90 minutes. Stir infrequently during the first hour, but stir more frequently during the last 30 minutes to prevent sticking. The finished sauce should be the consistency of ketchup.

If you are canning the sauce, ladle your sauce into hot, prepared pint jars. Leave 1/2 inch of headspace. Remove any trapped air bubbles, wipe jar rims and threads with a clean, damp cloth and add lids and rings. Process in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes.

Too Many Cukes? Juice 'Em!

Cucumber Cooler

Too Many Cukes? Juice 'Em!

It's inevitable that this time of year, if you grow cucumbers you'll have a bushel of them. Two or three happy cucumber vines can produce 15 pounds or more of fruit, and it all seems to come at once.

After making cucumber sandwiches, salads, tabouleh and pickles, there was still several pounds to contend with. So, why not make cucumber juice drinks?

A cucumber is largely composed of water, so one cuke was able to produce about 12 ounces of liquid. Use a "burpless" variety to eliminate the possibility of bitterness. Mixed with lemon or lime juice and a dash of sweetener, you have two pints of tangy and refreshing juice. I put the cucumbers through the juicer with the skin on; this adds more flavor, but does make the juice a very bright green. For a lighter color, peel your cucumbers first.

Cucumbers, apples, muskmelon and watermelon flesh combined and juiced make a drink akin to fruit sangria. Add some sparkling water to thin it out for a fizzy summer punch. Experiment with proportions; the flavor and level of sweetness will vary depending on the varieties of fruit and vegetables used.

And of course, cucumber coolers can be punched up by adding gin, vodka or bourbon.

Cucumber Cooler
1 large ripe cucumber
1/4 c. lime juice
2 tbsp. sugar or artificial sweetener
sparkling water
maraschino cherry

Put cucumber through a juicer that is able to separate juice from pulp and has a very fine screen. Add 1/4 c. lime juice to the extracted cucumber juice. Add two tablespoons of sugar or stevia. Stir until sweetener is dissolved. Add sparkling water if desired. Serve over crushed ice, and garnish with maraschino cherry. Serves 1.

Peach Crisp

Peach Crisp

What is the difference between a crisp and a cobbler? While both are fruit-based desserts that have no bottom crust, the difference between the two is the topping.

In a cobbler, the fruit filling is covered with tiny, unsweetened biscuits. The cobbler is served upside-down, so that the biscuit is on the bottom. It is there to absorb the sweet and spicy fruit juices.

A crisp is covered with a granola-like topping that toasts during baking. Crisp topping is heavy with butter and sugar, and most often contains quick cooking oats as an ingredient. When served, the crisp topping tends to get mixed in with the fruit. It adds sweetness and crunch to the mix as well as serving as a gentle thickener.

The key to making both crisp and cobbler topping remarkable is to be sure not to overmix the ingredients. Both the dough for cobbler biscuits and the shortening for crisp should be incorporated using a pastry cutter. This device allows the flour to be coated with shortening without exciting the gluten. The end result is flaky biscuits or well browned crisp.

Both crisps and cobblers can be made using frozen fruit. I had an economy-sized bag of peaches in the freezer, so decided that peach crisp would make a nice addition to an otherwise gloomy (and eventually snowy) day.

Peach Crisp
Filling
6 cups sliced, peeled peaches
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1 tbsp. corn starch
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Topping
3/4 c. packed light brown sugar
1/2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. uncooked quick cooking oats
1/4 c. softened butter, divided into tablespoons

For filling, whisk together sugar, corn starch and spices. Place peaches in a large bowl, and cover with the dry ingredient mixture. Use a wooden spoon to coat the peaches thoroughly.

To make topping, whisk together sugar, flour and oats. Using a pastry cutter, cut butter into dry ingredients one tablespoonful at a time. Mixture should be look like coarse crumbs.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a deep casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray. Dump peaches into casserole. Sprinkle topping evenly over fruit.

Bake uncovered for 35 minutes or until topping is golden.

                         

Boston Brown Bread

Boston Brown Bread

Boston brown bread is an enigma. It's not really a bread, as it isn't baked and doesn't contain butter or eggs. It satisfies a sweet craving even though it has very little sugar. And it can be a breakfast bread, dessert, and a companion to butter, cream cheese or a slice of sharp white cheddar.

Boston brown bread could actually be described as a whole-grain pudding, in the British sense of the word. It is composed of whole grain flour and corn meal that is cooked together with buttermilk. The buttermilk adds just a hint of leavening to the bread so that it doesn't have the consistency of cooked oatmeal or cream of wheat. Raisins act as a sweetener, while molasses and a bit of brown sugar add depth and give Boston brown bread it's distinct and unique flavor.

The bread isn't baked, but is simmered on the stove in a pot of boiling water. Traditionally, the batter was poured into a metal coffee can which was then covered with aluminum foil and placed in the water bath. Today, most people don't buy coffee in a metal can, but any large metal can that has been cleaned will do (the large cans that contain pumpkin or tomatoes are good). Or a 9 x 5 loaf pan will suffice. The round cans are much easier to fit into a saucepan; you may need to use a Dutch oven or canning pot for the loaf pan.

Boston Brown Bread

1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. rye flour
1/2 c. yellow corn meal
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. molasses
2 tbsp. dark brown sugar
1/2 c dark raisins

Grease a 1 lb. coffee can or other large can and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Combine all ingredients except raisins in large mixing bowl; whisk together until thoroughly combined. Fold in the raisins last.

Pour batter into prepared can or loaf pan. Cover with aluminum foil, tied to the can with a string.

Place can into deep saucepan and surround with boiling water that reaches halfway up the side of the can. Cover the saucepan. Turn burner heat to medium-low, and keep the water in the saucepan just at a simmer. Allow batter to simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until toothpick inserted into center of batter comes out clean.

Remove can immediately, allow to cool on a wire rack. To remove bread from can, use a can opener to remove the bottom from the can and push the bread out. Makes one large loaf.