A lighter fruit cobbler and a neat corn trick
Photo by Lindsey Nair l The Roanoke Times
My sister lives in South Carolina, so every summer (if I’m lucky) I get the absolute best peaches I’ve ever tasted. Yes, we have great peaches around here but the ones my sister gave me this weekend were the size of softballs, so sweet and so juicy.
Unfortunately, I have a stone fruit allergy so I cannot eat peaches raw. I had to cook them, but I didn’t want to adulterate them with a bunch of sugar and fat. My regular fruit cobbler recipe is delicious, but it calls for a stick of butter and more than a cup of sugar – it is by NO means “light.”
I found a recipe for a lighter cobbler on Food.com and decided to try it. It was plenty sweet enough because the fruit was naturally sweet. I rather liked the bit of tang that remained, too. The topping is kind of like light biscuits and only includes one tablespoon of sugar, which you could increase if you wanted a sweeter topping. But with a little light whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, it was just about perfect. If using really tart fruit, you’ll probably need to add more sugar to the fruit. I’ll share the recipe and its nutritional information below.
Another great discovery for me this weekend is one that a lot of people probably have already found. In case you have not, you might want to try this method that removes the need to shuck the corn the standard way:
1. Remove any brown or bedraggled bits of husk or silk from the corn with a pair of kitchen shears.
2. Place the corn, unshucked and uncovered, in the microwave. Microwave on high power for 4 minutes per ear.
3. Wearing oven mitts (it’ll be hot!) and using a sharp knife, slice off the butt end of each ear of corn about one row of kernels up from the stem. Squeeze the corn from the tip end out and the cob will slide right out of the husk without a single strand of silk. It’s quite amazing. Here is a link to the YouTube video my mom first saw (she’s the one who showed me this trick). Try it and see what you think.
Light Peach Cobbler
Serves 8
6 medium peaches, sliced
6 1/3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
3 tablespoons reduced-calorie margarine (I used Fleischmann’s Olive Oil Spread)
1/2 cup nonfat milk
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. In a large saucepan, combine peaches, 1/3 cup of the sugar (5 1/3 tablespoons), cornstarch, lemon juice, and cinnamon; toss to coat peaches.
3. Set pan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Cook until mixture thickens, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and transfer mixture to an 8-inch square baking pan.
4. To make the topping, in a large bowl, combine flour, remaining tablespoon of sugar, baking powder and salt.
5. Work in margarine with a fork until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
6. Add milk and stir until flour mixture is evenly moistened.
7. Drop 8 tablespoons of topping mixture onto peach mixture.
8. Bake until topping is golden brown and filling is bubbly, about 20 to 25 minutes.
9. Cut into 8 pieces and serve.
Calories 172.9
Calories from Fat 27
Total Fat 3.0 g
Saturated Fat 0.9 g
Cholesterol 4.0 mg
Sodium 252.2 mg
Total Carbohydrate 34.7 g
Dietary Fiber 2.2 g
Sugars 20.2 g
Protein 3.2 g
Recipe from Food.com.
July 30, 2012 - 10:13 AM
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The best cobbler I ever had was a strawberry-rhubarb cobbler from the Mast Farm Inn in Valle Crucis, NC. Sweet, sour, crunchy, chewy, it was pretty much all you could desire.
There are easy recipes if you want to make a summer fruit cobbler, which I think is far superior to pies & cakes.
Cobbler, crumble, crunch, all are similar, but have various differentials.
The cobbler looks great, sounds great too.
I had never heard of that method of shucking corn before. I’ll have to try it out.
Looks nice & light, we’ll try it. Peaches and plums halved and grilled are quite nice with vanilla ice cream too. Not sure if grilling would be enough to combat a stone fruit allergy though.
The idea of microwaving fresh corn makes me sad.
I really see no difference in the outcome between microwaving corn and steaming or boiling it, so long as you don’t overcook it. If someone does it right and serves it to me, I wouldn’t know the difference.
What bothers you about it, Tass? Is it just the use of the microwave?
FYI, guys, my colleague Rebecca says if you wrap it in foil and grill it with the husk on, it will slide right out, too.
I grill my corn still in the husk and it turns out fantastic. Soak the corn in water for at least 2 hours (husk, silk, and all) put it on the grill over medium heat for 30 minutes turning 1/4 turn every 5 minutes and you are done. When you peel the husk away all of the silk comes with it. This is the only way I cook corn any more but I will definitely give the microwave a try for a quick fix!
There’s a YouTube video of the corn shucking trick if you search for it. The litle old man who does it is so cute, how can you not give it a try?!
Fresh sweet summer corn tastes wonderful no matter how it’s cooked.
Weirdly, all this talk of corn husks is giving me a craving for tamales.
Lindsey, we wrap in foil and grill. It steams nicely inside the husk.
We dried cherry tomatoes in the oven yesterday and they turned out great. Has anyone else dried out tomatoes, and what were your experiences? I’m trying to come up with ways to preserve tomatoes other than canning them.
For a single or couple, the microwave trick would be optimal, I’d think. two to four ears of corn, and you’d be good to go. I guess once you get above that many, then it gets a little time consuming. Of course, when you factor in the time spent to husk and silk the corn, it all works out the same. Maybe if you did about four before your dinner, then kept them flowing through the dinner, it would work best.
I am a grill-only corn kind of guy too. Only I peel back the husks first. I then apply a little bit of butter to the kernels, and then add hot sauce (White Zombie is my favorite), or other types of flavored spice rubs. I put the husk back on, throw it on the grill, and let it cook. I rarely have trouble with the silks when they’re done.
This method is stricken when I am lucky enough to get Silver Queen Corn. That stuff should only be eaten with a little butter and salt to taste, because its delicious in its own right.
Funny, it was my mom, too, who first sent the corn trick video to me, about two weeks ago. My wife tried that last year and it worked just fine. I still cook mine out of the husk. I have a plastic microwave steamer w/ a cover. Shuck, remove silk, and wash the fresh corn. Place in steamer, 1/8 inch water in the bottom, corn in and cover. Cook on high for 4 minutes/ear and it’s awesome! If you need a source for good corn, try Layman Farms’ “Argent,” it’s a delicious white corn. They set up at the Salem Farmer’s Market, at least Fri. and Sat. I think.
I am just addicted to fresh corn in the summertime. I think I’m going to buy a bunch and cut it off the cob and freeze it. Has anybody done that before? Seems like it’d be pretty easy, and great to toss in soups and stews this winter.
Lindsey, I freeze corn all the time. Well, what I mean is that I do that every year. I store it in quart size Ziploc bags. I use it in gumbo, Brunswick stew, soups, or just cook it on its own. It’s a great way to bring back ‘fresh’ vegetables in the winter.
I like to flatten the bags as evenly as possible, laying them on their side, so they store more easily.
Once the corn is frozen, I take the bag and ‘crumble’ the kernels so they separate. It’s not necessary, it’s just what I do.
Anyway, yes! You can certainly freeze corn for use later. Almost all hardware stores have the corn slicer, which makes the job much quicker, too.
Lindsey, AOL today had a slideshow of great recipes for fresh corn…here’s the link to it.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/food-52/corn-recipes_b_1684543.html?utm_hp_ref=kitchendaily#s1243947&title=Summer_Corn_Chowder
The stew with clams looked particularly tasty.
You might have to blanch the corn before freezing.
Thanks, CR and Kristen
Kristen is right, you should blanch it before freezing, for best results.
Lindsey, hope you see this. I just came across it on YouTube, thought you might find it interesting. I know OXO is pretty popular at Target, I’ll have to check this out for myself, and see if I can find one of these utensils.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q50JhRiw26Q&feature=g-vrec
I tried the microwave corn thing, it worked great! Here’s some interesting info on freezing corn.
http://www.ochef.com/1194.htm
I was perusing this blog, and found this recipe that sounds wonderful.
http://smittenkitchen.com/2012/06/25/triple-berry-summer-buttermilk-bundt/
Yum! That does look tasty!