It’s been awhile since I’ve posted, yet again. Sorry, but between work and the hot, humid weather we haven’t been doing a whole lot of cooking recently. I promise to change that here really soon!

Local peaches have been showing up for the last 2 weeks or so. I made my first trip to the Little Farmer, one of my favorite places here in Wisconsin, and they start their season the beginning of August with early season apples and peaches that they get from a farmer over in Michigan. The peaches were superb and I had to pick up a bunch, both for eating and for cooking. I really like this year’s crop, sweet and super juicy, yet they seem to have a nice tart kick to them, even when fully ripe.

Normally, if I am going to pair peaches with any fruit it is usually raspberries, but since we are between raspberry crops, here in Wisconsin, I went with the next best thing and paired them with blackberries this time.

Cobblers come in various different forms. Some use a cake like batter poured over the top for a smooth topping, some people make a more biscuit like batter, and others use biscuit like dough and some even pour the batter in first, place the fruit on top and allow the batter to rise through the fruit as it cooks. It all depends on what part of the country you are from. I like them all and have recipes for numerous types of cobblers. This time I went with the more traditional biscuit like dough that I cut out and placed on top of the fruit.

Some people are intimidated by having to peel peaches. It really is quite easy if you know the trick. It is just like peeling tomatoes. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cut a shallow “X” in the bottom of the peach and place in the boiling water for about 15 seconds. Remove and quickly dunk in an ice bath. The peels will then easily slip off.

Blackberry Peach Cobbler

4-5 pounds peaches, peeled, pitted and sliced
1 cup blackberries
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
4 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch

1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar + more for sprinkling on top
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 cup butter, diced and chilled
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 375°F. Toss together peaches and blackberries in a large bowl.

In another bowl combine the sugars and the cornstarch. Sprinkle over the peach mixture and toss to combine. Transfer to a 9×9 baking pan or deep dish pie pan and set aside. To make the top, combine the salt, flour, sugar and baking powder. Add the butter.

Using a pastry cutter or a couple of knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add the milk and stir just to bring the dough together. Do not over stir. Pour out onto a lightly floured surface and knead once or twice to bring it all together. Pat out, into a circle about 1/2″ thick. Cut out into 2″ rounds. You might have gather up the dough and pat it out again. You should end up with 9-10 rounds. Place evenly on top of fruit mixture.

Sprinkle with a little sugar and bake for approximately 30-40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling. Allow to cool and set up for about 10 minutes before serving.

I’ve recently be playing around with dehydrating as a form of preserving food, and making tasty treats thanks to my new dehydrator from Chef Talk. In the past, dehydrating hasn’t held a lot of allure for me, but I am the curious sort (for both better and for worse) and am always looking to try new things and experiment with new, at least to me, techniques.

Of course, one of the first things I’ve tried is fruit leather (beef jerky will be this weekend) as I have always loved those fruit roll ups. I wanted something a little more sophisticated, flavor wise and remembered the numerous bags of cranberries that were sitting in our freezer. Cranberries alone weren’t going to make a good fruit leather so I decided to pair them with apple, a classic paring and to spike it with just a hint of cinnamon. The resulting leather reminded me of those classic fruit roll ups but with a more complex, less overly sweetened flavor that adults would enjoy.

Apple Cranberry Leather

1 pound cranberries, fresh or frozen
4 pounds apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped (choose apples that are both good baking and eating apples, I chose Braeburn this time)
Apple juice, or cider
corn syrup
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Puree the cranberries, in a blender, until smooth, adding just enough apple juice to get the cranberries blending. Repeat this process with the apples, again using just enough juice to get the puree started. You want it to be thick enough still that you will need to stop the blender occasionally and push the contents down. Combine the cranberry and apple purees, stirring to combine. Add the cinnamon and just enough corn syrup to sweeten the puree to your liking. Use corn syrup as opposed to sugar as sugar tends to recrystallize making the fruit leather brittle. Flow the manufactures suggestions for making fruit leather in your dehydrator, making sure that the puree is no more than 1/4-3/8″ thick. Do yourself a favor and lightly oil the tray you make the leather on. It will help in removal when done. Dry at 130F for approximately 6-9 hours. The length will depend on a lot of variables including humidity, ambient room temperature, how much juice you added, etc. The leather is done when it is still pliable, but no longer tacky to the touch. Remove trays from dehydrator and allow to cool slightly. Remove fruit leather from trays and roll in plastic wrap.

I have no idea why I decided to make Lime Marmalade today. The idea popped into my mind yesterday though I don’t know why. I think the idea first took seed last Friday (New Year’s Day) as we were sitting at our regular breakfast place, waiting for our food to arrive. On the table were those little packets of jelly, one of the flavors being Orange Marmalade. I’ve seen it there many, many times but that day for some reason it caught my eye and stuck with me. The funny thing is, I don’t even really care for marmalade all that much. I don’t dislike it, it’s just not my first, second, or even third choice when choosing a preserve to slather on toast or bread. Raspberry jam is always my first choice (well actually Spicy Raspberry Jam is even better), along with strawberry, and apricot, though my wife makes a killer spiced grape jelly. Again, though, I am not overly particular, and can’t remember coming across a preserve that I couldn’t stand.

For whatever reason I latched on to marmalade this week, I knew I didn’t want to make orange. It was either grapefruit or lime. I love the flavor of both, but ultimately decided I was in the mood for something lime flavored. I have made numerous jellies and jams before, but can’t remember ever making marmalade so I headed to my bookshelves and the internet to study up on making marmalade and to develop a recipe.

I have found 2 schools of thought when it comes to making marmalade. Some recipes call for a 3 day process where you boil the citrus in water for 10 15 minutes then let it sit overnight, repeat, and then on the third day you finish the marmalade. The other school of thought is to do it all at once, but with a long cooking time to ensure that the peel is tender and that all the pectin is extracted. I chose to do the one day method, though in the near future I want to try the other method and compare the two.

I was very happy with the way my first batch of marmalade turned out. Sweet, tart, with just a bit of a bitter edge this marmalade makes a great spread for toast, english muffins, scones (especially berry studded ones) and a whole host of other “breads.” And I expect it will make a great ingredient in a whole host of other dishes and applications.

One thing about this marmalade; it has a slightly soft set to it. It definitely is not as thick or as tight as many jellies and jams you might be used to eating. That’s the risk of not using store bought pectin. If you want a firmer set you can try adding some liquid pectin, towards the end of cooking, but I rather like the slightly looser set of this preserve.

Lime Marmalade

2 pounds limes, washed under warm water to remove any wax if not using organic limes
4 cups water
3 pounds sugar

Zest all the limes. The easiest way to do this is to invest $7-$10 in a citrus zester. They come in handy quite often so are well worth the few dollars. If you don’t have a zester the thinly peel the limes with a peeler trying to avoid as much of the white pith as possible. After peeling the limes cut them into very fine strips. If you had a zester, you would have been done 15 minutes ago!

Cut the limes in half and squeeze all the juice into a nonreacative pot along with the lime zest. Finely chop the remains of the limes, including all the membranes and pith. You can also roughly chop them and put them in a food processor to finish the job, just don’t turn it into a puree. Place the finely chopped lime into a cheesecloth or muslin jelly bag.

Tie it closed and toss into the pot along with the juice, zest and the water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1 1/2-2 hours. During the last half hour remove the lid. Remove the pulp filled cloth and carefully squeeze out all the liquid that remains the in pulp. Add the sugar to the liquid in the pot, increase heat, bring to a boil and cook until a thermometer reaches 220. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Remove all scum that has floated to the top and pour into jars. Cover, and if not processing, place into the refrigerator once they have slightly cooled. If you want to process the marmalade then place in a bath of boiling water that comes at least 1 inch above the tops of the jars and process for 10 minutes. Remove from bath and allow to cool. Check seals on jars and if one didn’t seal properly, move to the refrigerator.

I don’t often eat breakfast. On days that I work I leave the house too early to even think about eating. It’s not that I dislike breakfast fare, it’s just that I’d much rather spend the extra few minutes in bed than take the time to eat breakfast, besides, if I eat too early I just feel sick to my stomach. That’s not the case on weekends though, when I can get up at a decent hour and slowly adjust to being awake. Then I’m ready for breakfast….well brunch, considering the time, but let’s not split hairs here!

To me, peaches and bourbon are a great combination. They just seem to go together. Besides, what better way to start the day than with a little bourbon to get you going.

French Toast with Bourbon Peach Sauce
serves 2

3 medium Peaches*, peeled, pitted and sliced
1 Tbsp. Butter
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
1/3 cup Bourbon
2 Tbsp. Butter

4 slices Texas Toast or Brioche, cut thickly
2 each Eggs, beaten
1 1/4 cups 1/2 & 1/2
1/2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
2 Tbsp. Granulated Sugar

3 Tbsp. Pecans, chopped and lightly toasted

To make the sauce, melt 1 Tbsp. butter in a saute pan, over medium high heat. Add the peaches and cook for 2 minutes. Add the sugars then carefully add the bourbon, away from the stove. Return to the stove and cook until the peaches are tender but not falling about. Remove from heat.

To make the french toast combine the eggs, 1/2 & 1/2, cinnamon and sugar. Mix well. Dunk each slice of bread in the mixture, soaking both sides. You should have just enough of the custard for the 4 slices of bread. Place the soaked slices of bread on a tray and allow to sit for 5 minutes to allow the custard to penetrate all the way through. Meanwhile heat a griddle to medium heat. Add the french toast and cook until golden brown and set all the way through. When just about finished return peaches to the heat. When they come to a simmer add the last 2 Tbsp. butter, stirring constantly to make the butter doesn’t separate out. Cut 2 pieces of french toast in half, diagonally, place on a plate, and top with 1/2 the bourbon peach sauce. Garnish with 1/2 the pecans. Do same with the second plate.

A quick perusal of our raspberry bushes tells me that raspberry season is not far away here in Wisconsin.  The thought alone makes my toes tingle as raspberries are my favorite of all the berries.  I can remember as a kid, growing up in Vermont, our little village was bespeckled with wild black raspberries.  Each day a bunch of us kids would ride our bikes all over town seeking out patches of these seedy, but luscious, little gems, picking only the ripest berries and popping them into our mouths; each of us racing the others for the biggest haul.  I believe that on more than one occasion a few fists were thrown also as we each jockeyed for our share.  A few days later, as more berries ripened, the ritual would start all over again. To this day, the mere sight of a black raspberry takes me back to those carefree days of childhood when my only worry was getting beaten for eating more than my share of the haul.

Fast forward back to the present; you’d think I have it made now; my very own raspberry patch, protected from raspberry thieves by our 4 foot high cedar fence. Okay, it’s not actually a patch, more like 2 or 3 bushes.  Unfortunately, that isn’t quite the case.  Of course, there are the birds who nab their fair share, though that is to be expected.  Then there is the 2 ½ year old daughter, who, last year tried to help pick a few but ended up smashing most of them.  I expect the same will be true this year also.  The biggest culprit though, is Dodger.  Dodger is our 7 year old English springer spaniel, and he loves raspberries.  Well, he loves most anything, but that is a whole different story.  Dodger loves raspberries, and in the course of his 7 years he has perfected his moves for plucking ripe raspberries off the vine without disturbing the unripe ones, or pricking himself on the raspberries’ thorns.  If I’m not fast enough, or diligent enough, every berry from ground level to about 3 ½ feet up will be his.  Luckily, this year looks to be a bumper crop so there will be enough to go around.

Every year as I see the raspberry bushes bloom and the fruit start to develop, I start making plans for all the ways I will use the raspberries I’ve grown.  But, I admit it, I am weak willed and often go for instant gratification as opposed to more long term rewards.  Translated, that means I end up eating more than I put in the bowl.  If I’m lucky, I might have saved enough for some raspberry muffins or scones.  The serious jam making will usually have to wait until we can get to a “U-Pick” farm where I try desperately to control all those reflexes I developed as a kid.  While some might view me as lacking will power, I prefer to think of it as honoring nature, because really, how can you improve on a falling-off-the-vine ripe raspberry that has been sun warmed until almost bursting.

Today was Father’s Day so I should have left the breakfast cooking to my wife, Wanda, and just sat back and enjoyed. She was more than ready and willing to cook this morning, but I had something very specific in mind and I figured it was best to do it myself rather than explain it to her and then watch over her shoulder the entire time. Don’t get me wrong, she is an excellent cook, but when I know exactly what I want its often best just to let me do it. Wanda was happy to oblige. I don’t offer to cook breakfast often so when I do get the urge Wanda is more than happy to let it run its course. Today I was hungry for rhubarb, once again, so the thought of pancakes topped with a Strawberry Rhubarb Syrup sounded like just the thing to satiate my appetite. The topping is vibrant and refreshing, just the thing for a warm summer’s morning, especially when served atop thin, light pancakes, though it works well on any type of pancake or waffle. It also makes a great topping for ice cream.

Strawberry Rhubarb Syrup
2 cups Rhubarb, sliced
1 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Water
1 pound Strawberries
2 Tbsp. Lemon Balm or mint, finely julienned (optional)

Combine the rhubarb, sugar and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 8-10 minutes, stirring often to prevent the rhubarb from sticking and burning. As I have stated in previous posts regarding rhubarb, if all you have is the green rhubarb as opposed to the red variety, you can add a splash or 2 of grenadine or a drop or 2 of red food coloring if you want a prettier looking syrup. Strain the rhubarb syrup and chill for 5-8 minutes in the fridge. Meanwhile, hull and slice the strawberries and toss with the lemon balm or mint, if using. Pour rhubarb syrup over the strawberries (the syrup should still be warm but not boiling hot) and toss to coat. Mound the strawberries in the middle of a stack of pancakes and drizzle the syrup over top. This makes enough for 6-8 servings.

Rhubarb is one of those foods that you either love or hate. I absolutely love it and would venture to guess that a good number of the people who claim to hate it have never actually tried it. it wasn’t always that way with me though. As a younger child I wouldn’t touch the stuff, but then, when I was around 8 or 9 years old, I braved my first bite of rhubarb pie and it has been love ever since. To this day, my favorite way to eat rhubarb is in a pie although I don’t think I have every turned my nose up to anything made with it. Technically a vegetable, rhubarb is most often treated as a fruit, making its way into pies, cakes, muffins and various other desserts. For the more adventurous, rhubarb makes a great sauce or chutney for rich or fatty meats, its tartness cutting through the richness of a country style pate or terrine, or complimenting any number of pork preparations.

Although in pies is my favorite way to eat rhubarb, the Internet is full of rhubarb pie recipes, so today’s recipe offering is for a Rhubarb Curd. Use this curd in the same way you would normally use lemon curd; slathered on scones or biscuits, as a filling for pastries, make a Rhubarb Meringue Pie, or use it as a base for any number of fruit tarts, the list is endless. I also like it just topped with freshly whipped cream.

Rhubarb Curd

1 pound Rhubarb, chopped (about 3 1/2 to 4 cups)
3/4 cup Sugar
1/3 cup Water
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
6 Tbsp. Unsalted butter, cut into chunks
3 each Eggs, large
2 each Egg yolks
1 pinch Salt

Combine the rhubarb, sugar and water in a nonreactive saucepan. Cook over medium heat until most of the water has evaporated and the pulp is just starting to stick to the bottom (about 15 minutes). Transfer the rhubarb to a food processor and process until completely smooth. Meanwhile beat the eggs, yolks and vanilla extract until combined. Return 1 1/2 cups of the rhubarb to the saucepan along with the butter and place over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the butter is melted. Add the salt and stir to incorporate. Temper the eggs by whisking in about 1/4 rhubarb puree then pour the egg mixture into the pan with the remaining rhubarb. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, making sure to continually scrape the bottom and sides. Cook until the mixture thickens to the consistency of mayonnaise and reaches a temperature of approximately 165-170 degrees. Don’t allow the mixture to get too hot or the eggs will curdle. When done remove from heat and quickly whip the mixture to smooth out any lumps. Pour into a clean bowl and press plastic wrap directly onto the mixture to avoid a skin forming as it cools. Place in the refrigerator and allow to cool completely before using.

Note: If, like me, you aren’t blessed with the red stemmed rhubarb, you can add a little red food coloring to the mixture to give a more desirable color, but be careful and don’t add too much. It should be more a delicate pink than bright red.