The Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern_ Knockout Dishes With Down-Home Flavor - Matt Lee [64]
5 Cover the skillet and bring to a simmer. Then turn the heat to low, partially uncover the skillet, and maintain a low simmer for 30 minutes, stirring very occasionally, until the gravy has thickened noticeably. If it appears too thin for your taste, remove the cover and continue simmering, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes more. Season with salt, if necessary, and serve scattered with the sliced scallions.
CORNMEAL DROP-BISCUIT PEACH COBBLER
A sweet finish to a meal has the potential to do much more than just satisfy a craving. We’re prepared to state that any type of dessert, well crafted, is better than none at all, but a well-chosen dessert—one that truly complements what came before—just might seal your reputation as an accomplished chef and entertainer. It’s the final say, a way to complete the story that began with the first thing your guests put in their mouths. And if a dessert satisfies that craving in the lightest way possible, so much the better.
Making desserts is the one culinary pursuit in which otherwise staid people allow themselves to have some fun (of course to us, every part of the meal presents that opportunity). There’s plenty of room in the canon of basic ingredients for you to get creative without turning unnecessarily complex (e.g., “Basil Profiteroles Injected with Peanut Liqueur and Garnished with Pop Rocks” is the type of dish better left to restaurants).
Buttermilk Pudding Cakes, muffin-size cakes with a soft middle and the lovely cheesecake tang of real buttermilk, are proof of this: none of the ingredients is unusual, they have all been combined in various ways before, and yet this formulation produces a cake that seems altogether original. And it’s a wonderful secret weapon to add to your cooking arsenal, since the cakes serve as a springboard to so many other desserts when you add fruit or ice cream—you could even garnish them with Pop Rocks, if you insist. Use your imagination, with these basic recipes as a starting point.
RECIPES
Cornmeal Drop-Biscuit Peach Cobbler
Fig and Bourbon Compote
Strawberries with Sour Cream and Port Syrup
Cantaloupe with Black Pepper and Mint
Banana Pudding Parfaits
Buttermilk Pudding Cakes with Sugared Raspberries
Brandied Plums
Peaches with Bourbon
New Fruit Salad with Vanilla Fresh Cheese
Rice Pudding Pops
Black Walnut Ice Cream
Bourbon Vanilla Ice Cream
Jasmine Tea Ice Cream
Mint Julep Panna Cotta
CORNMEAL DROP-BISCUIT PEACH COBBLER
serves 4 to 6 • TIME: 10 minutes preparation, 25 minutes cooking
A summer cobbler is magic: peaches softening in their own sweet juice as a layer of biscuit dough bakes up to a tender, crisp crust. Don’t let the ingredients list below fool you; it may appear long, but this cobbler is the simplest of impressive desserts—it packs all the comfort and wow-factor of pie with none of the crust-hustle, nor the hour-long cooking time. And in fact, this recipe rewards the messy hand because the cobbler truly looks most sensuous when you top the fruit with the dough patchily, so that the syrup bubbles through the crust in spots. For those with a bumper crop of summer berries—or for those who simply might not have a fresh bag of cornmeal in the pantry—a variation follows.
PEACH FILLING
2 pounds ripe freestone peaches (6 or 7 peaches), unpeeled, pitted, and cut into crescents (about 6 cups)
¾ cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons water (if the fruit is very ripe or overripe, omit the water)
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon kosher salt
CORNMEAL DROP-BISCUIT DOUGH
¾ cup sifted all-purpose flour (3 ounces)
¼ cup yellow or white fine stone-ground cornmeal
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon iodized salt or fine sea salt
3 tablespoons cold unsalted