Recuperation Cobbler

Leslie went to see our great friend Renee the other day and came back with a couple bags of fresh organic apples and peaches. 

Renee is a master gardener and grows everything organically.

My wife suggested that it was indeed time for me to make another peach cobbler.

I had my immunotherapy treatment yesterday in Hillcrest. 

Rather than stopping on the way home and risking another disaster, I drove straight home, after gassing up in Escondido anyway.

Just made it.

This was my fourth of fifth treatments. They are generally difficult for me, the effects cumulative. But it is nothing I can't deal with unless I get an infection, which happens about 65% of the time and then I am truly miserable.

So far so good. They used extra care keeping things sterile and clean and the nurse practitioner found the smallest tube possible so that I would not get irritated. But it is no picnic, at least for me.

What to do? Well, I could always make a cobbler. I needed one thing at the store and also had to meet with a dead buddy's daughter and buy back a print I always loved and sold him about thirty years ago. She was going back to Idaho this morning and it caused me to get out of bed and face the world. I hated spending the money, things are tight, but I made a commitment and will have to make it work. It is indeed beautiful.

I got back home and started my cobbler. The peaches were so sweet that we were advised to touch them as little and carefully as possible as they bruise so easily. I placed them in boiling water, five at a time and then plunged them in a cold water bath, blanching the skin.

The skin now peeled right off. I removed all the slightly funky parts (you get that with organic) and mixed the diced peaches in a bowl with corn starch, brown sugar, vanilla, ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon. 

Added lemon juice and a touch of salt. I put them in a oiled baking dish and cooked the filling for about ten minutes at 350 degrees. 

If you are wondering why I don't use a degree symbol, this is being written on a chromebook and they don't do degree symbols.

I started on my biscuit topping.

Two cups all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, a stick of frozen butter and a half cup of granulated sugar. A little milk.

Pulsed everything up in our ancient Cuisinart.

I pressed the dough into pancake shapes and laid it on the filling. 

Then I prepared a buttermilk and egg wash. Except that I had no buttermilk or any milk for that matter.

Neighbor Stephanie came through with some nonfat.

You can make "buttermilk" with white vinegar or lemon juice. Not having the former, I went with the latter.

Topped it all off with a little too much cinnamon and more sugar over the dough portion. 

Next time I use a caster like I sprinkle my flour with, this was not very artful.

I put the cobbler in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until a toothpick came out clean.

I do believe that this was by far my best cobbler dough ever and the peach filling was also the best I have ever done.

Warm out of the oven it didn't even need ice cream. The moist dough was beyond my expectations. There is way more cobbler than we will eat. I made up a container for my neighbor that loaned me the milk. I am anxious to see what she and her family thinks.

I made a total mess with this one but once I attacked the dishes, things got cleaned up in no time. Onward and forward!