Archive for June, 2026

Peach Cobbler

Tuesday, June 30th, 2026

This year’s Western PA peach season is a bust, thanks to a late freeze, but the vendor at my farmer’s market has been sourcing his from the other side of the state and they’ve been good.  This is an easy way to bake up some sunshine in a pan.

Ingredients–Peaches

  • 12 peaches, peeled and sliced (should be about 10-12 cups)
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • ~1.5 tsp cinnamon
  • ~3/4 tsp ginger
  • ~1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • dash of cardamom
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon
Ingredients–Biscuit Crust
  • 13.5 oz (by weight) flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ginger
  • 1 1/2 sticks cold butter, cut into pieces
  • 1 1/4 cup buttermilk
Directions–peach filling
  1. Peel and slice peaches into a large bowl.
  2. Combine sugar, flour, and spices in a separate bowl. Add to peaches and stir well to combine.
  3. Add lemon juice and stir again.
  4. Let sit while you make the biscuit topping
Directions–biscuit topping
  1. Preheat oven to 400F
  2. Add sugar, leavening, salt, and spices to the flour and stir well to combine.
  3. Cut cold butter into small chunks and add to flour. Press into flour with bare hands until it is all cut in and coated with flour, in thin flakes that are well distributed.
  4. Add buttermilk and stir gently to combine.
  5. Dust work surface with some additional flour, press dough out and then fold into layers.
  6. Wrap up and refrigerate while peaches start baking.
Final Assembly
  1. Add peaches to a 9 x 13 pyrex dish. Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes.
  2. Remove from oven and let cool slightly while you prepare the dough.
  3. Roll out biscuit dough on a gently floured surface. Cut with knife into about 12 generally equally sized pieces
  4. Spread biscuit crust on top of peach mix and return to oven for 15 minutes or until biscuits are done.
  5. Remove from oven and let cool.

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Strawberry Souffle

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2026

This is a placeholder recipe. I’ve attempted the souffle twice. The first time was disastrous (too much batter in one dish/ too high of a temperature/ the top blackened to carbon though the ’soup’ in the middle was delicious).  I made some adjustments (including splitting it into 2 souffle dishes) but I haven’t done the measuring to even know for certain what size dishes I have (1 quart?)… so just making sure anyone who happens to stumble upon this recipe in this ghost town of a food blog knows it’s a work in progress.

  • 1 pound fresh strawberries (like farmers’ market, seasonal strawberries/ not those hollow ones from the grocer)– 1 pound after trimming and cutting, so closer to 18 ounces pre-trimmed weight.
  • sugar, split accordingly:
  • 1/3 cup for the berries
  • 1/3 cup for the berry juice
  • 2 T for the meringue (use superfine if possible)
  • additional for the souffle dishes
  • 1 Tbl balsamic vinegar
  • butter for the ramekins
  • 4 eggs, room temperature, separated; both halves used.
  • 1 Tbl all purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • 2 x 1/4 tsp diamond crystal kosher salt
  • 10 stems fresh oregano (optional but delicious) (Fresh. Not dried. That is not a reasonable substitution)
  • Zest of a whole lime
  • Juice of half a lime
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract or substitute a liqueur that matches the berry flavor.
  • 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
  1. Core the strawberries and cut them into small pieces.  Tip on coring them: put the very tip of a sharp paring knife into them at an angle under the leaves and spin the berry (not the knife). Or do whatever you want, but try to avoid just slicing the whole top off of the strawberry. That’s too much waste.
  2. Stir the first 1/3 cup sugar and the balsamic vinegar into the strawberries and let them marinate for 30-45 minutes.
  3. While they’re marinating, heat up the 2, 1-quart ramekins just slightly and then grease them with butter; then coat them with sugar. Probably takes about 1/4-1/3 cup sugar per ramekin. Put the sugared ramekins in the refrigerator and leave them there until you’re ready to fill them.
  4. Strain the berries into a saucepan.
  5. Add the second, 1/3-cup of sugar to the juices. Heat over medium-high heat, swirling occasionally; then as it comes to a boil, put a lid on it and let it boil until it reaches 235 F. I’ve got a saucepan with a glass lid with a hole in it that I stick a thermometer stem down through to monitor the temperature. Not sure how I’d make sure it’s 235F without that set-up; if you’ve got a better way, drop it in the comments.
  6. Fold the berries into the hot syrup and return to a boil. Boil a minute or 2, stirring gently with a silicone spatula.  I’ve got a cute little spoonula from Thermoworks that does a great job of this. That’s also where I got my long-stemmed thermometer for going through the lid. Not a folding one. One of the ones with a case and a long, slim stem.
  7. Strain the berries out of the syrup.
  8. Whisk the flour and heavy cream together in a small bowl.
  9. Return the syrup to the saucepan and continue cooking it to thicken it. Add additional juices as they drip out of the berries in the sieve.  I don’t have a temp on the syrup when I decided it was thick enough.  It was still filling in as I dragged my spoonula through it, but it was noticeably more viscous than it was at the start of the process.
  10. Stir the flour and heavy cream mixture into the hot syrup and keep stirring to cook out the flour and thicken it up a bit more. Probably 3-5 minutes?
  11. Add the berries back in to this and then cook about 3-5 minutes more, continuing to stir.
  12. Take off the heat and eat dinner while this cools.
  13. Preheat oven to 350F
  14. Separate the eggs.  Stir the yolks into the cooled berry mixture, along with minced fresh oregano (if using), lime juice, 1/4 tsp salt, and vanilla extract.
  15. Beat the whites until they are frothy. Add the second 1/4 tsp salt and the cream of tartar.
  16. Slowly increase the beater to full speed.
  17. Mix the 2 Tbl sugar and lime zest.
  18. When the eggs are holding soft peaks, start adding the sugar-lime zest mixture a little bit at a time.
  19. Stop beating when the egg whites hold stiff, glossy peaks.
  20. Pull the ramekins from the fridge and place them on a half sheet tray.
  21. Fold the strawberry mixture into the egg whites and then divide between the two ramekins.
  22. Bake on the bottom shelf of the oven for 30-35 minutes.
  23. Serve to probably about 6-8 people unless you’re really interested in eating a lot of souffle.

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