My friends know that I’m an avid cook, as well as an author, and quite a few of them have started asking me about the recipes I love, especially at holiday time.
I spent a lot of time at the keys, so recently I’ve been experimenting with recipes that taste like they involved a lot more work (and time) than they actually do. When I find a good one, I’ll try to share it here.
To kick things off, I’m starting with an apple-raspberry dessert I cobbled together (pun intended) for last-week’s Thanksgiving feast. (That’s a picture below, with ice cream–because cobbler and ice cream like to party together.)
As an added bonus, the leftovers make a fabulous oatmeal–so this week’s kickoff recipe is actually two-for-one.
APPLE-RASPBERRY COBBLER IN A FLASH:
For cobbler:
2 large apples (granny smith works best, but use what you like)
2 packages fresh raspberries (or one of the big double-packages, if you prefer)
1/4 cup sugar
1 lemon (use a pink lemon for a slightly different flavor, if you can find one)
1 teaspoon of cornstarch or flour (cornstarch is gluten-free; use what you prefer)
For topping:
3 TBS butter, melted
1 tbs coconut flour, wheat flour, or almond flour
3 tbs rolled oats
3 tbs sugar (white sugar is okay, but raw turbinado sugar gives the best texture)
Let’s do this:
1. Wash the fruit. (Ever driven past a fruit field or orchard? See the porta-potties? That’s where people picking fruit go to the bathroom. Know what’s missing? A good place to wash their hands. In other words: Don’t skip step 1.)
Also, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. (Skip this if you’re not cooking the cobbler immediately.)
2. Make the topping: Mix the sugar, butter, and flour in a bowl. It will look crumbly. Add the oats and mix well. Cover and put the topping in the refrigerator.
3. Peel and core the apples. Slice into cubes approximately the same size as the raspberries. (Practice the knife cuts, people…objects cut to similar sizes tend to cook more evenly.)
4. Roll the lemon on the counter, beneath your palm. Press down firmly, but not firmly enough to split it open. Do this for 30 seconds or so–it splits the little sacs within the lemon and helps release the juices more easily. Then slice the lemon and squeeze the juice over the apple pieces.
5. Pour the sugar and cornstarch or flour over the apple pieces. Use your hands (or a spoon, if you’re not into dirty fingers) to mix the apples, lemon juice, cornstarch/flour and sugar together.
No, we did NOT add the raspberries yet. Be patient. Also, stop eating the fruit. (Don’t deny it. I saw you.)
6. Find a baking dish. You can use any size that works for you, but the one I use has sides about 4″ deep, which allows for better layering.
7. Put a layer of apples in the bottom of the baking dish. Top with a layer of raspberries. (Stop eating them. I mean it.) Repeat with another layer of apples, and another layer of raspberries. You can do more layers if you want to, but I tend to split all the fruit so I have 2 layers of each.
If you’re not baking the cobbler immediately, stop here. You can put the cobbler in the refrigerator to bake it tomorrow, or leave it on the counter for an hour or two (covered–and for pete’s sake STOP EATING THE FRUIT). Do not add the topping until right before you bake it, however, and if you do refrigerate it overnight, take it out a couple of hours before you intend to bake it and leave it on the counter so the fruit can warm up to room temperature before baking.
8. Immediately before baking, take the topping out of the refrigerator and crumble it all over the top of the fruit in the baking dish.
The cobbler cooks better if the topping is cold and the fruit is room temperature at the time you put it into the 400-degree oven.
9. Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 35-45 minutes, until topping is golden-brown and cobbler is bubbling. Cooking time may vary if your pan is not at least 3″ deep, so check on it periodically.
The cobbler is finished when the top is golden-brown and the entire surface is bubbling-hot beneath the topping.
MORNING-AFTER OATMEAL
Ingredients:
1/2 cup rolled oats (regular or quick-cook)
1/2 cup apple-raspberry cobbler (try to scoop out the filling only, without the topping, but if you get topping that’s okay too).
1.25 cups water
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Bring water to a boil in a saucepan. Add the oats, cobbler, and cinnamon. Stir. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for 5-10 minutes (depending on whether you’re using quick-cook oats or regular ones).
Pour in a bowl.
If you like extra crunch in your oatmeal, top with slivered almonds or whatever else you like.
I like my oatmeal moderately sweet, so this is plenty of sugar for me, but if you like your oatmeal really sweet you might need to add a little sugar after the cooking finishes.
Yay for double-duty cobbler!