Peach and Apple Cobbler

We were going through the stand freezer and found two bags of peaches that had been frozen a few years ago. Michelle had a recipe on her phone from the old Bell telephone Bell’s Best cookbook for a fruit cobbler.

She did make a few changes from the recipe in the cookbook, so check out them below. Because some of the peaches were freezer burned, we made up for the loss with applesauce. At my suggestion, she also added some Peach Schnapps to up the peach flavor.

Michelle also pre-thickened the fruit sauce as the cobbler cooks too quickly to do it all in the pan. I advise you to place the pan over a baking sheet in case it overflows.

Peach Cobbler

1 pint frozen or 2 cans peaches, sliced
1 ½ cups unsweetened apple sauce
3/4 cup sugar
8 ounces apple juice plus all the peach juice
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 ½ sticks unsalted butter
2 tablespoons Peachtree Peach Schnapps (I use DeKuyper), optional
2 cups self rising flour
1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup buttermilk
½ cup milk

Butter a 9 x 13 pan. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Put fruit, sugar, apple sauce, apple juice plus liquid from peaches and cinnamon into a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until sugar is dissolved. Place in the butter and melt completely. Cook until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and pour in Peach Schnapps, if using. Pour mixture into prepared pan.

Whisk together flour and sugar in a mixing bowl. Shake the buttermilk well and stir it and the milk in until smooth. Pour batter evenly over fruit mixture. Batter will sink to begin with but then rises after cooking.

Bake for 25-35 minutes or until top is golden brown. Serve hot or cold with lots of vanilla ice cream.

Simple and Delicious Mushroom Soup

I was craving mushrooms and there was a sale on baby portobellos at the grocery store. These past few days have been cold and blustery so I made soup with my haul. This is a pretty easy recipe to make as is or make it vegetarian or substitute chicken or vegetable broth for the beef broth. You can use any mushrooms here, although I don’t recommend the white button, as their delicate flavor wouldn’t make a very mushroomy soup.

This version uses milk instead of cream so just make sure you turn the heat down to simmer and then temper the milk (add a few spoonfuls of the soup liquid to the milk to bring up its temperature) a bit before adding it so that it doesn’t break in the heat.

The final result tastes rich with a deep flavor of mushrooms. Most everyone had seconds at lunch!

Mushroom Soup

2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
¼ cup onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
16 ounces of baby portobello mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups beef stock
1 cup water
½ teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup milk

Melt the butter in large stock pot or Dutch oven. Sauté the onions until soft and golden, about ten minutes. Add in the garlic and sauté a minute or two until fragrant. Add in the mushrooms and cook for about five minutes or until they begin to release their juices. Sprinkle the flour over and stir regularly for about five minutes to cook away the flour taste.

Slowly pour in the beef stock and water, stirring well. Add the thyme and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Turn down the heat to a simmer and slowly add the milk that you’ve tempered with a couple of spoonfuls of soup. Simmer for 30 minutes or until well thickened, stirring frequently.

Serve with cornbread, crusty bread, dinner rolls or garlic bread. Heck, serve with a grilled cheese sandwich – just serve this soup today!

Cranberry Sauce Bran Muffins

Michelle has been a huge help lately, so I wanted to make her something nice. She is a fan of bran muffins so I decided to use some of the cranberry relish leftover from the holidays and some Kellogg’s All Bran Cereal.

The result is moist, flavorful and delicious enough for Dad to eat one and reach for a second. High praise indeed!

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 ½ cups Kellogg’s All-Bran Original cereal
1 cup milk
1 egg
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 cup cranberry relish

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In medium bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together cereal and milk. Let stand for 5 minutes or until cereal is softened. Mix in egg and oil; beat well. Stir in cranberry relish. Add flour mixture, stirring only until combined.

Spoon batter into muffin tins, that have either been well buttered or lined with muffin papers. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until browned and firm to the touch. Serve warm.

These may be frozen and thawed in the fridge.