Nigel's Peach and Blueberry Soured Cream Cobbler

My first ever experience of a Cobbler was a recipe by Momma Cherri that I had watched her make on Saturday Kitchen .... or maybe it was even as long ago as Saturday Cooks!  Her version was a peach cobbler using tinned peaches and lots (and lots!) of sugar and butter.  At the time it sounded wonderful to me so I stored the recipe away for a 'rainy' day.  Not long after that I started going out with Hubby and Momma Cherri's Peach Cobbler recipe was pulled out of the file for the auspicious honour of being the first dessert I ever made for him.    It wasn't terrible but it was very rich thanks to all that butter and overly sweet thanks to all that sugar.  Sadly I can't seem to locate the recipe on the net any longer and I probably threw my handwritten copy out after the enamel on my teeth pulled away but I would have loved to share it here for nostalgic reasons alone!

I was a bit disappointed not to have fallen head over heels for cobbler after this first recipe though.  I had grown up reading American novels and back in my more formative years all I wanted to do was up sticks and live in America.  I drove my family demented in my unquentiable thirst for American culture.  A cobbler seemed like such an exotic treat, an all American experience that was right up there with Apple Pie.  I adore Apple Pie ... so why not cobbler?

At this point I would like to highlight that some of my dearest friends in the world are American so I understand that the classics ought not to be messed with.  This next sentence is in no way intended to cause offence to anybody who lives Across The Big Pond!  Honestly!  But if you are likely to take offense at an Australian paying homage to an Englishman then it is best you stop reading now .... OK?

Sir Nigel has done it again!  He has tweaked the original and has developed a recipe that isn't sickly sweet, doesn't harden your arteries and uses the freshest produce available.  No sirree, you'll find no tinned peaches here!  There is a little butter though ... and a little sugar!  This is the kind of cobbler I imagined the taste of when I was a pimply teenager back in Tassie.  The all American exotic treat I had dreamed of!

Peach and Blueberry Soured Cream Cobbler
3 ripe peaches
350g blueberries
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp caster sugar (I used vanilla sugar)
1 tbsp plain flour
For the Cobbler Crust
150g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 heaped tbsp caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
80g cold unsalted butter, cubed
140-150ml soured cream

Preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C.  To make the crust, blitz the flour, a pinch of salt, baking powder, sugar and butter in Betsy a food processor for a few seconds until the mixture resembles soft, fresh breadcrumbs.  Tip into a bowl.

Slice the peaches, removing the stones as you go and dropping the slices into an ovenproof dish.  Toss the peach slices with the blueberries, lemon juice, sugar and flour.  At this point it will look less than inviting, but don't worry.

Add the soured cream to the crumb mixture to create a soft dough.  Break up into walnut size pieces (about 12) and flatten them slightly.  Lay them evenly on top of the fruit.  Dust the rounds of dough with sugar, then bake in the oven for 25 mins until the cobbler is golden and the fruit is bubbling.

Serves 4
Delicious Mag. Aug 2010

I'll stop gushing now but please give this recipe a try!  You won't be dissappointed ;0)

Things to do with Butternut Squash

I'm still alive! So much has been happening in our world lately though, most recently Hubby's Mum has been taken into hospital so we have a little visitor staying with us for the next couple of weeks.

This is Mack. Don't be fooled by his cute little face - he can be a proper wee beastie when he puts his mind to it! Thankfully he has been on his best behaviour since he came to visit. My favourite Mack story was when Hubby and I took him for a walk not long after he had been bathed by Hubby's Dad. Mack caught sight of a bog that he had been warned away from several times before but the devil got the better of him this occasion and he paused at the edge just long enough to give us a mischievous glance over his shoulder before diving in, splayed leg and happy as a pig in mud (or a dog in a bog in this case)! We love him really ;0)

Its been a while since I've posted anything not sugar or chocolate related so tonight I thought I'd bring the world up to speed with my latest addiction ... Butternut Squash. Can't believe its taken me until now to truly appreciate this vegetable. And the best news of all is that its one of those items I can eat as much of as I like on WW cause it has no points in it - course the butter its drowned in is another story!

I'm thanking Saint Nigel (Slater) for introducing this wondrous veg into my life. I was watching one of his recent shows when I saw him making the Stuffed Squash below and thought I would give it a try myself. Yum!

Nigel's Stuffed Squash

For the Squash

2 butternut squash

A few thick slices of butter (If I'm being particularly virtuous I just roast it without the butter)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Stuffing

2 slices butter (Angelic me would use frylite in place of butter)

2-3 large onions, peeled and sliced

Finger length piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated (or cut into matchsticks if you prefer)

2-3 pinches ground cinnamon

2-3 pinches cumin seeds

Pinch or so paprika

Handful sultanas

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Cut the squash in half, spoon out the seeds and discard. using a sharp knife, score the flesh of the squash in a criss cross pattern, so that the heat can get to the interior. Place the squash halves, cut side facing upwards into an ovenproof dish, dot with the butter and season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Roast in the oven for one hour.

In the meantime, make the stuffing. Heat the butter in a large shallow pan until foaming, add the onions. Cover and cook gently until softened, about 15 mins. Add the ginger, cinnamon, cumin seeds, paprika and sultanas and continue to cook until the onions are starting to caramelise.

Place equal amounts of the stuffing mixture on top of the roasted squash, then return tot he oven for 10-15 mins to allow the juices to trickle through the squash. Serve immediately with some of the pan juices spooned over.

Serves 4

BBC Food Website

I've not ventured off the beaten track with the recipe yet but I'm thinking its quite versatile and that the herbs and spices can be interchanged with what is to hand. Adding Pine Nuts to the mix also works well.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup Piri Piri Style

1 butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into smallish cubes

2 onions, cut into quarters

2 pints veg or chicken stock (made from a cube is fine)

1 tsp piri piri spice (think I may need to reduce this just a touch!)

Preheat oven to 200C.

Place the butternut squash and onions in a roasting tin along with some seasoning and cook for 1 hour or until the squash is soft. Don't worry about any parts that start to go brown, this adds to the flavour of the finished soup.

When soft add the veg to a large saucepan, add the stock and piri piri spice. Bring to the boil then simmer for 15 mins. Puree into a smooth soup.

Serves 4

Adapted from a WW recipe

I added a dollop of low fat fromage frais to my soup to help cut through the spiciness of the piri piri mix. Hubby is a true heat freak though and preferred his without. This is a great soup for a cold and bleak winter's night.

A Mincemeat and Apple Tart for First Footing

Let me start this first second post for 2011 by saying that I've never been a fan of New Year, I guess I could be called the "Christmas-Bah-Humbug" equivalent for Hogmanay .  I don't know why but its just never really floated my boat at all (note to self:  this is the Eeyore coming out in me, really must try harder to be more like Tigger).  You'll find no posts wrapping up 2010 and none containing my New Year resolutions either ... although I dare say that the resolutions I do manage to adhere to will trickle through at some point! 

And as if any of this weren't bad enough then there are the traditions!  Over here there are many traditions that can be followed at this time of the year, one of them is called the First Footing.  First Footing is when somebody calls on the household ~ preferably a tall and dark male, women allegedly bring bad luck (!!!!) and the male needed to be tall and dark as this is the polar opposite of vikings who were invading the country at the time this tradition dates back to.  Traditionally the tall, dark male would call unexpectedly carrying a bottle, a lump of coal, some shortbread and a silver coin. 

According to this tradition, my Father In Law lucked out when we went to visit yesterday!  I am tall and dark but very definitely a female, I did bring food but it was in the shape of this Mincemeat and Apple Tart and not shortbread, there was no booze except for that in the mincemeat, no lump of coal either (the man has brand spanking new gas central heating system after all!) but the tart was still warm from the oven and no silver coin either, although the tart was carried in on a silver tray.  Do you think the tradition will be fooled?

This recipe comes from Nigel Slater's latest book Tender Volume II which Santa very kindly left behind for me on Christmas Day.  He left me quite a few cook books actually (must have been that Rum and Raisin Pudding lol), but this was the only book I managed to smuggle in my overnight bag as we hurried off to Sis In Laws for Christmas.  As soon as I saw this recipe I immediately thought of the two large bottles of Rhubarb and Vanilla Mincemeat sitting in the fridge, rhubarb and apple is a match made in heaven so I knew I had to give it a try!

A Tart Of Mincemeat and Apples
400g cooking apples
2 heaped tbsp caster sugar
500g puff pastry
400g mincemeat
Beaten egg

Peel the apples, core them and cut them into small, thin slices.  Put into a wet saucepan with the sugar and leave to simmer gently till the sugar has melted and the apples are tender but not quite collapsed.  Set the oven at 200C.

Cut the pastry in half and roll out each piece to measure 36 x 16cm.  Place one half on a non stick baking sheet, or one lined with baking paper, then place the mincemeat in a wide line down the centre of the pastry, leaving a margin around the rim.  Place the apples on top (any juice should be left in the pan), then brush the edges of the pastry with some of the beaten egg.  Lay the second piece of pastry on top, pressing the edges firmly to seal.  Trim any ragged edges, crimp them with a fork, then decorate with any trimmings of pastry.  Brush with more of the beaten egg, cut 4 or 5 small slits in the top of the pastry and bake for 20-25 mins, until golden and crisp.  Serve warm with cream.

Serves 6
Taken from Tender, Volume II

Nigel never fails, this was delicious!  We had it without cream (cause I forgot to pack any!) and it was still lovely, the Rhubarb and Vanilla mincemeat worked a treat.  This one is being filed away for future use ... and in some perverse way I've managed to stick to one of my resolutions before the first firework is even lit ... the cook books will once again be getting more of a work out this year (as will my backside)!

And now my Grinch like ranting is done all that is left is to wish you all a very happy New Year!  I hope 2011 sends all your hopes and dreams your way ;0)