Epicurean Peach Cobbler

OK. Georgia may call itself "the Peach State." They may even have a picture of a peach on their license plate. But epicurean news flash: the best peaches come from Alabama. I scored a basket of about twenty large mouthwatering tangy sweet Chilton County peaches at a farmer's market yesterday ($10), and needed something to do with them. Having recently overindulged in peach daiquiris, I decided to try my hand at a peach cobbler. I will admit--I wasn't disappointed.

10 large peaches or so, enough to yield 4.5-5 cups of fruit with the pits, stems, and peels removed (be sure to squeeze all the juice you can out of the peels before you discard them).

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1.25 cup all-purpose flour

1 heaping tsp. baking powder

1 heaping tsp. salt

1 cup Splenda/sugar blend (available wherever synthetic groceries are sold--I only used it because I ran out of real sugar, but it worked well)

1 egg, beaten

1 stick unsalted butter, refrigerated


Preheat oven to 375.

Wash, peel, and slice the peaches, and pour into a 19x11x2 baking dish.

Add sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir.

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, Splenda/sugar blend.

Add the egg, mixing (I used my fingers) thoroughly until the the egg is evenly distributed and the mixture has a uniform texture.

Cover the peach layer evenly with the flour mixture.

Using a vegetable peeler or something, shave the butter lengthwise into thin strips. Place these evenly on top of the flour mixture layer.

Sprinkle a little sugar and a little cinnamon on top.

Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes. Turn off heat, and allow the cobbler to cool a bit in the oven. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Epicurean Peach Daiquiris

I spent vacation at the beach last year working on this recipe. It only really turns out well if you have fresh, ripe peaches--and I scored some at a quaint farmer's market in Georgia this past weekend. Let summer begin!

3 ripe peaches (medium), washed, pits and stems removed
juice of 1 lime
1 oz. simple syrup
4-6 oz. light rum (I used Cruzan)
1 oz. peach schnapps
1.5 cups ice

Leave the skins on the peaches; they add lovely tiny dark red dapples to the finished product.

Combine all ingredients in a blender.

Blend on a high setting until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed and the ice is finely and uniformly crushed.

Serve in girly glasses; garnish with a blood orange slice, or a thin (and relatively firm and dry) peach wedge.

Special LOST Series Finale Guacamole

Enough for a crowd. I flatter myself that it's good enough to serve to company.

3 large ripe avocados, quartered and peeled
1 medium ripe tomato, finely chopped
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
juice of 1 lime
juice of 1/2 valencia orange
2-3 tbsp. fresh cilantro, finely chopped
3 dashes tabasco sauce

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mash with a potato masher or fork or something for a while, then switch to a sturdy plastic cup--use the bottom of the cup to mash the mixture into as smooth a consistency as possible. Stir, add salt and pepper to taste (I use about 1/4 tsp. salt, and a few grindings of fresh black pepper). Serve with tortilla chips (duh).

OK... now only a couple hours to wait to find out how it all ends. After that? Who knows.

Nothing Original

But then originality is by no means the most important quality in a meal. Helped some friends make Cumin Turkey Burgers tonight, and they were delish. We topped with slices of colby-jack cheese, ripe avocado, and grilled onions.* I usually find turkey burgers dry and bland, but these were mouth-watering and just as flavorful as most good beef burgers. The worcestershire and soy sauces really do their thing, and the distinctive cumin flavor stands out cheekily, lending the dish its name. Definitely a 'must' for summer cook-outs. (Believe me, gentle reader, there will be more on that subject coming soon!)

*I prepared the onions. Slice one large yellow onion as though for a burger topping. Then cut the round pieces in half. Sauté on medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until soft and just beginning to caramelize. Add salt and pepper to taste, and 1/2 tsp. each paprika and cumin.

The Epicure is now officially ready for summer. If you have any must-grill recipes to share, please send them my way. I will try them out and post my favorites on the blog, with proper attribution, of course.

Roast Cornish Hen with Fingerling Potatoes

The cornish hen is a divine little bird, easy to cook and full of flavor. It tastes and acts just like chicken. Cooking it in the same pan as the potatoes imparts to the latter a pleasant taste and keeps them from drying out.

1 22 oz. cornish hen
3/4 to 1 lb. fingerling potatoes
coarse kosher salt
1 tbsp. dried whole rosemary leaves
olive oil

Preheat oven to 350. Rinse the bird and salt liberally inside and out. Place breast side up in a small roasting pan or medium loaf pan, and surround with the potatoes. For the most visually appealing result, use a mixture of colors (cut the larger potatoes in half so that the pieces are of a fairly uniform size). Drizzle olive oil over both bird and potatoes. Crush the rosemary in your hands, and sprinkle over the top. Be generous; since you're using a single herb, you might as well emphasize its flavor. Cook for about 1:15, basting two or three times, and stirring the potatoes to keep the ones on top from drying out. The chicken is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 170 and the juices run clear. Serves two.

Simple Refried Beans

Mexican food is hard to do well. But whether you're a Mexi-can or a Mexi-can't, this recipe couldn't be easier.

1 tbsp. shortening
1 16 oz. can pinto beans
2 cloves garlic
salt and ground cayenne pepper to taste

In a medium skillet, heat 1 tbsp. bacon fat or toasted sesame oil or your favorite cooking oil on medium heat.

Add garlic, and sauté for 2-3 minutes.

Add 1 can pinto beans (liquid included).

As you're cooking at medium heat, mash the garlic and beans thoroughly with a potato masher or fork.

When thoroughly mashed and heated, your refried beans are ready. Season to taste. Enjoy them by themselves (with Monterey cheese on top), or as an accompaniment to a Mexican meal. Yum yum.

Barbecue-style Beef Brisket

So they say that beef brisket used to be regarded as a low quality cut. You know what? It is. It's a tough piece of beef suitable only for Germans and Irishmen. But desperate times call for desperate measures, so I decided to try my hand at cooking one. It's not quite barbecue weather in Chicago, so this oven recipe was the best I could come up with, but it didn't disappoint. The key is low and slow so the meat doesn't end up dry and impossible to chew. I wound up with a very lean brisket from the store, but nevertheless, the final product was more than tolerable. Even this lean piece of meat produced a substantial amount of pan juices. You can add barbecue sauce if you want, but I found that the meat was moist enough, and the dry rub plus a little extra salt provided plenty flavor.

I began with a 4.6 lb. beef brisket. (You might have to adjust the amount of seasoning and/or cooking time if you have a significantly larger or smaller brisket.) Rub all over with olive oil.

Dry rub:
1 tbsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
6-8 whole cloves
1 tsp. smoked paprika
2 tsp. sweet Hungarian paprika
1 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. ground mustard seed

Pre-heat oven to 200.

Mix the above together in a bowl. Rub all over both sides of the beef. Place the brisket in an appropriately-sized roasting pan, and cover tightly with aluminum foil.

Place in the oven and, if you oven will allow it, reduce heat to 185.

Cook for about 9 or 10 hours without removing the foil. (I started cooking just before bedtime so it would be ready for an early lunch.)

With any luck, you too should end up with a relatively tender piece of meat sitting in a pool of reddish brown juices. Remove the brisket and slice thinly and--this is important--across the grain. As you slice, the meat will probably begin to fall apart into small pieces. Return to the juices in the roasting pan. Like I said, at this point you can add some barbecue sauce or a couple tbps. cider vinegar or lemon juice, but if you ask me, it's great as is. Serve as a meat with vegetables, or on a toasted bun as a sandwich.

Affordable, nutritious, and delicious. What Epicurean could ask for more?