dinner with Julie

Some Pig. (And Peach Cobblah with Sour Cream Ice Cream.)

So we’re part of this dinner club. Which sounds, I know, very grown up and Thirtysomething, but I assure you it’s not at all like that. There is plenty of sufficiently unsophisticated conversation/slapstick, and we try to push the themes a bit beyond Mexican and Italian (the internet has killed the sport of tracking down authentic regional recipes) to things like vintage Kraft (complete with cheese-slice tablecloth and Jaws projected on the ceiling) and most recently, Deliverance. (For the sake of clarity and to avoid too much pig on the menu, it was expanded to Southern barbecue. Overalls and pigtails optional.)

This one was at Wade’s, who conveniently lives next door. He picked up a pig. I took pictures, but. The early-in-the-process ones are a little too anatomical. You can see the further-along ones.

He rubbed it with a blend of something or other and threw it on the barbecue, wrapped in foil, to cook all afternoon. Toward the end, he mopped it, rendering it a little lobsteresque. By dinnertime Mike called it pig butter. As it was carved, we stood around and watched drinking mint juleps out of jars and eating devilled eggs with tomato aspic. (OK, not so much the tomato aspic.)

There were hush puppies (sorry, I don’t have a recipe, but D said she’d show me how to make them and I’d be happy to relay that tutorial) and fried green tomatoes, and cheddar, bacon and fresh chive biscuits made from this recipe, that were stellar. I may have eaten three.

I was in charge of dessert. What else does one make for a southern barbecue than peach cobblah? Which, I figured, would make a fine vehicle for sour cream ice cream. I poked around for some recipes and came across one in an old Gourmet that called for boiling water to be added to the flour-sugar-butter mixture, which intrigued me enough to try it. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner! It didn’t have the doughy heaviness I usually associate with cobblers – even the photo above makes me think of one that’s overly bready. This wasn’t. The dough was soft and easy to drop, and baked up crispy and light; it didn’t weigh down the fruit, nor sog out from its juices. I can’t wait to make this with fresh apricots, and blueberries, and plums.

Do you see that colour? It looks as if it was made with plums – the blush is from the skins, which were left on. Because really, who wants to peel peaches (have you tried it? it’s like undressing little round slippery pigs) and why would you, when the peel is something you’d eat under normal peach-eating circumstances? Many of the nutrients and much of the fiber is contained in the skins. Once cooked, you hardly know they’re there.

Confession: I made it again tonight. My aunt and uncle are visiting from Vancouver island, and I asked them over to help get rid of the second batch of sour cream ice cream that taunted me from the freezer. This time I tried to stretch six peaches out to feed nine people – I added two cups of blueberries and a handful of cherries to the fruit, and doubled the topping. It was still perfect.

Peach Cobblah

Feel free to swap some of the peaches for plums or fresh apricots. Adapted from the September 1999 issue of Gourmet

6 large peaches, cut into wedges
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. cornstarch

Biscuit topping:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3-1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup butter, cut into bits
1/4 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 425°F. Toss peaches with lemon juice, then stir together the sugar and cornstarch (to get rid of any lumps), sprinkle over the fruit and toss, then spread in a glass or porcelain baking dish and bake in middle of the oven for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt; blend in butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse meal. (This is easy to do in the food processor – just transfer to a bowl before stirring in the water.) Add water and stir until just combined. Remove peaches from oven and drop spoonfuls of topping over them – it will spread as it bakes – and return to the oven for 25 minutes, until bubbly and golden.

Sour Cream Ice Cream

Make this with a full cup of whipping cream and half a cup of half & half, or a cup and a half of 18% (coffee) cream – whatever you have. It’s worth a try with low fat sour cream, or full-fat plain yogurt (which has around the same fat as low fat sour cream).

2 cups full-fat sour cream, chilled
1 cup half & half
1/2 cup heavy (whipping) cream
1/2 cup sugar or 1/3 cup honey
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla
pinch salt

Whisk everything together and freeze in ice cream maker. Transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to firm up, if you like.

July 05 2010 | dessert | 18 Comments »