Summer + Cobbler

Summer is my absolute favorite season for cooking. The fruit and vegetables that begin to appear are not only staples in my house but the flavors I grew up on as a kid. As a child and into adulthood, about 30 years, I spent my summers on my grandmother's farm in Kansas. It was a wonderful childhood that consisted of shoveling your breakfast down each morning just so you could get out the door. You then spent the whole day outside and then only coming in to eat again. She had a huge vegetable garden and fruit trees so we would eat whatever was in season and in the summer months it was plentiful. We made cobblers, canned vegetables and cooked the recipes of her past. It was a great time in my life.

Fast foward to the present. This summer I have been busy making cobblers and trying to come up with the best combination. I think I finally found it using Chez Panisse's Bluebery Cobbler recipe but tweaking it a bit. Simply, I added a few more fruits. The juiciness of the peach, blackberry and blueberry created just the right amount of extra syrupy and sweet sauce. Here's the recipe if you want to try and create this at home. Vanilla ice cream or some fresh cream is a must. -Callie

THE FRUIT

• 5 cups of sliced 1/4-inch thick peaches
• 2 cups of blueberries
• 2 cups of blackberries
• ⅓ cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

THE DOUGH

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 ½ tablespoons sugar
• 2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
• 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• ¾ cup heavy cream, plus additional for serving

PREPARATION:

Step 1

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. To prepare the fruit, place in a bowl and toss with the sugar and flour. Set aside.

Step 2
To make the dough, mix the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder in a bowl. Cut in the butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the cream and mix lightly, just until the dry ingredients are moistened.

Step 3
Put the fruit in a gratin or baking dish approximately 9-12 inches and 2-3 inches deep. Make patties out of the dough, 2 to 2 1/2 inches in diameter and 1/2-inch thick. Arrange them over the top of the fruit. Bake until the topping is brown and the juices bubble thickly around it, about 35 to 45 minutes.

Step 4
Let cool slightly. Serve warm, with cream to pour on top or vanilla ice cream.