Hanging out with good friends is truly enough for me to enjoy myself. But throw in an awesome wood-fire grill, fresh veggies from the garden, and a setting that is reminiscent of Jane Austen's England and I'm in heaven. Seriously. If I didn't have these pictures to prove it, I may have thought I dreamed the whole thing up.
Speaking of heaven, the Blueberry & Peach cobbler is one of those desserts that I will think about from time to time for the rest of my life. Another of these is the sour orange pie from Palo Santo. But this one may be better for the simple reason that I can make it any time I like. And even when I make the trek out to Brooklyn, there's no guarantee that the sour orange pie will be on the menu... in fact, it's only been on offer that one time and has subsequently become a holy-grail of sorts for me.
The true delight of the dessert is the dumpling topping. Crumbly, not too sweet, fall-apart and melt in your mouth, with just a bit of juices from the fruit soaked into the bottom of each one. Oh man, I might have to go make this again right now....
The roasted carrot and avocado really couldn't be easier, but you should be picky about your ingredients, since their flavors are left almost completely alone. The cobbler definitely benefits from ripe (delicious, juicy) peaches and blueberries. But you could use frozen just as easily.
Blueberry & Peach Cobbler Adapted (barely) from The Homesick Texan
For the topping:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons cold butter, cut into chunks
1/2 cup, plus 1 tbsp. heavy cream
For the filling:
1 1/2 pounds peaches
1 cup blueberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1. Preheat the oven to 375 and grease a 9-inch cake pan.
2. Peel the peaches by cutting an X at both ends of each peach. Add them to a pot of boiling water for 30 seconds, scoop out, rinse with cold water and then peel off the skin. Slice the peaches and remove the pits.
3. To make the topping, in a bowl mix together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar, salt and cinnamon. With knives, work the cold butter into the dry ingredients until it’s crumbly. There isn't any real liquid at this point, so the mixture will still be quite dry. Stir in the heavy cream until all ingredients are combined. The dough will be pretty sticky, if it's not add another tablespoon of heavy cream.
4. Place the peaches and blueberries into the greased cake pan. Toss the fruit with the lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon. Spoon the batter on top and bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until brown and bubbling.
Roasted Carrot & Avocado Salad from Smitten Kitchen
1 pound carrots, scrubbed or peeled and cut into two-inch, angled segments
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 an avocado, pitted and sliced
Juice of half a lemon
1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Toss the carrot chunks in a medium bowl with two tablespoons of the olive oil, cumin and a hearty helping of salt and pepper.
2. Spread the carrots on a roasting sheet and roast for about 20 minutes, or until tender and browned. Of course, roasting time will vary depending on the thickness of your carrots.
3. Once the carrots are roasted, place them on a serving platter with slices of avocado on top. Drizzle the salad with the last tablespoons of olive oil, lemon juice and extra salt and pepper, if it needs it. Eat immediately.
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