Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2009

Chef's Corner: Everyday chef whips up a quick and easy cobbler

Brad Smith is not a professional chef. He learned to cook, watching his mother and “my Papa Jack.” His uncle, Smith said, was a fine cook and made “phenomenal bread and butter pickles.”

Because he’s a home cook, he doesn’t really measure out anything, but he did so we can have his favorite recipes that are quick and easy and made so you can taste the flavor of each ingredient.

Smith cooks for big family gatherings, saying he had 40 people to his house for Thanksgiving.

“I love, love, love to cook and feed my friends,” he said.

Today, he shows how to make Raspberry-Peach Cobbler. Watch the instructional video at videos.ledger-enquirer.com.

RASPBERRY-PEACH COBBLER

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1 stick of butter

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup of vanilla sugar (place whole vanilla beans in sugar to infuse the vanilla flavor in the sugar), or use 3/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup milk

1 large can of sliced peaches (or sliced fresh peaches cooked in a syrup made of 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar)

1 bag of frozen raspberries

Put the butter in the pan as the oven is heating. Place the pan on the center rack to let the butter melt.

In a large mixing bowl, sift or whisk all the dry ingredients together and make sure there are no lumps.

Add the milk and blend all the ingredients well.

When the oven reaches 350 degrees, pull out the pan and pour the mixture into the pan.

Add the peaches evenly in the batter, and sprinkle the raspberries over the top.

Pour half of the peach syrup over the entire batter and fruit.

Bake on the center rack for 45 minutes, checking occasionally.

When the cobbler is bubbling and the crust is golden brown, pull the pan out of the oven and let it cool on a rack for one hour.

Serve with vanilla ice cream.