Cast Iron Cobbler

I come from a family of food lovers.  Foodies.  I guess we're kinda like "Carnies" from the Carnival, moving from fair to fair as they pass through this life looking for that next big adventure, or "Roadies" from a Rock 'n Roll band moving from city to city looking for the next outrageous gig.  Us Foodies move from meal to meal, looking for that next perfect bite.  It has often wreaked havoc on our Super Model status, especially since you don't even have to be pretty anymore to be a Super Model - you just have to be skinny.  (Seriously, have you looked in some of the magazines lately?  I'm talking some serious canine faces gracing those slick pages!! Bow Wow!)  And although Kate Moss claims "Nothing tastes as good as skinny,"  I'm guessing Kate Moss has never actually eaten anything tastier than tofu in her entire life.  'Cause that's just a ridiculous statement!!

Anyway.......

Naturally, when family comes to visit, it's generally expected that they bring a favorite recipe for us to try.  So when my aunt Teresa came to visit the week of my birthday, I fully expected to eat well.

Mmmmmmm....and I did.

She started by asking if we had a cast iron skillet.  But, of course.  Then one evening she whipped up a perfectly scrumptious berry cobbler in that heavy black cauldron, and it was good with and without ice cream.  She used a combination of blackberries, raspberries, and mulberries, so it had a slight tang underneath the sweet layer.  And the crust.....oh, mercy, the crust.  It was beyond words.  And we didn't even make the crust from scratch!! (I can hear the gasps already - don't judge me.  My sister makes really great pie crusts - mine are merely mediocre.)

I guess everyone has their favorite "flavor" of cobbler. And I reckon you can just about make cobbler from any fruit, so feel free to choose and use your favorite.  Part of the key here is to use FRESH or FROZEN fruit. You don't want to use canned pie filling.

 I've made this several times for church dinners, and the pan is scraped every time.  Those who weren't fast enough to get a portion of it are already requesting it for the next dinner.  I've had people request it with different fruit next time.  I've had the husband of a pregnant woman approach me and say "You know how when people in the church have a baby and y'all sign up to bring meals.  Well, we're about to have a baby, and when you sign up - you can forget the whole meal.  Just bring a pan of that stuff over and we'll call it good."

The thing is, the recipe is so easy, if  you an peel and slice peaches and apples; if you can rinse berries without drowning them, you can make this cobbler.  But you gotta get a cast iron skillet.  :-)


Cast Iron Cobbler    -     Preheat oven to 350

1 Stick Butter
1 Cup Brown sugar
Pie Crust (you'll need a top and bottom, so if you're making it from scratch, make sure you recipe gives you enough dough for two crusts)
Your choice of fruit:  Peaches - 8 large peaches
                                  Apples -  6 large apples (I like a combo of Granny Smith and Fuji)
                                  Berries - about 5 cups of berries (you can mix them up if you want)
3 TBSP lemon juice - optional if you're using peaches or apples, this will help keep them from turning brown
3/4 Cup white sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg (I like to grind it fresh right onto the fruit)
1 egg white
2 TBSP white sugar

Prepare your fruit.  Peel and slice peaches or apples.  I like to have pretty good chunks, so I slice them into about 10 pieces per fruit.  (You'll be able to see in the picture below.)  Toss with lemon juice. If you're using berries, just rinse your berries.  Gently stir in your white sugar and let rest for a few minutes while you start the crust.

Ummmm, that should say cast IRON, not iton.  LOL!

Melt your butter over medium heat in the cast iron skillet.





















Turn the heat off, and stir in the brown sugar.

Place first pie crust on top of butter/brown sugar mix.

Gently pour the fruit on top of crust.  Sprinkle the cinnamon and nutmeg on top of the fruit (didn't take a picture of the sprinkle.  Sorry  :-@)

You can sort of get an idea of the size of my peach slices.

Place second pie crust on top and seal the edges.  

Some of your butter and brown sugar may ooze over the 

top of the crust.  It's Okay.  Don't sweat it

Lightly beat the egg white and brush it over the crust.

Cut a couple of vent holes in the crust, then sprinkle the last two TBSP of white sugar over the top.
 

Bake at 350 for 1 hour.  Voila!!  Cast Iron Cobbler.

My New Favorite

See all the chewey, gooey, goodness in these Winks??

Well friends, it's been a while....and I have lots of new recipes that I have grown to love over the past 11 months (WOW!!  How time flies!), but I must say, this is my new FAVORITE recipe that I've found in a long time.  It's a sweet little dessert bar - I think I'm going to name it "Mildred Winks".

See, I went to a family reunion back over Memorial Day.  You know how family reunions are - everybody brings what they think is their specialty, what they are going to get the most oooooh's and ahhhhhh's over, or what they think will be popular enough for folks to ask for the recipe.  Oh, and I HATE it when people are recipe snobs.  If you bring something for  people to eat, and everyone loves it and asks for the recipe, how you gonna say, "Hmmmmmmm.  It's a secret recipe."  Well then, I say, keep the dish a secret too!!

But anyway, I digress.  See, my cousin P.D. (everyone pronounces it Petey - and he's actually my mom's first cousin, which I believe makes him my first cousin, once removed) hosts a large gathering each year at his house way out in the boonies of Arkansas.   He and his son B-B-Q some of the best pig on the planet!!. And P.D.'s wife, Mildred is kind of in charge of the setting up and what-knot.  And you know, being the "hostess", (even if you're not crazy about having your husband's very large, and very loud family tromp all over your back yard) you feel like you have to really put on a good dessert show.  So upon arrival, Mildred has the dessert table in full swing, with several meringue pies, cobblers, a fancy fruit tray, and stuck down on the end - all by themselves - like, like maybe she thought people wouldn't be impressed - were these little dessert bar looking thingies.  They weren't anything fancy, and let me tell ya, Mildred must eat like a bird, cause they were cut into teeny-tiny little bites.  So since they were so small, geez, hardly nothing at all, really, I went ahead and popped one into my pie-hole.

Have mercy.  They were sooooo delicious.  And like nothing I had ever had before.  There was something in it that I could not identify, but it was tickling my tastebuds and they were begging for more.  So naturally, I went to track down the recipe.

Me: "Mildred!!  What are those bars?  They are so good!!  I can tell they have walnuts in them, but what else is in there?  It's not raisins, is it?"

Mildred:  (WINKS at me and shoots me a mysterious smile)  "They are good.  Aren't they?"  (Turns around and walks off!!)

Me:  Mouth opened, jaw dropped, just standing there looking like an idiot.......No Way!!  She is not going to tell me what is in them.  Is she gonna be a recipe snob???  (My head is spinning with indignation!!  After all, we are FAMILY!!)

So I proceed to find my mama - so I can tell on her.

As it turns out, Mildred was not a recipe snob, although, it took took a little bit of work to get the recipe out of her.  She just kept winking and smiling that smile.  'Bout drove me crazy!!  I guess she was thinking that turn about was fair play, because she said it took her 3 months to get the recipe from a co-worker.  Now 3 months of holding out on a recipe.........you're in very snobbish territory!!

But I won't keep you waiting any longer, here is the recipe for "Mildred Winks" - maybe you could just call them "Winks" for short!!

1 Box Yellow Cake Mix
1 1/2 sticks butter - MELTED
2 eggs
3/4 Cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Duncan Hines cake mixes are my favorite, but Aldi has a really good inexpensive yellow cake mix, also.

Mix all together until combined.  Then add:

See, it's a really thick dough.

2 cups chopped dates (Ahh-ha!!  The ingredient I couldn't identify)
2 cups English walnuts

Stir until evenly distributed.  It will be very, very thick - more like cookie dough than cake batter.  Spread (or pat with your fingers) in a 9 X 13 pan and bake for 35 - 40 minutes.  Check it at 35, don't over cook it.


 

Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake baker's man.......

Obviously, these are great for a family reunion, or a work place luncheon, or a church dinner.  They also make great bake sale items individually wrapped.  Or, you can make them for yourself and your family.

I would tell ya that they will keep for a couple of days in an airtight container at room temperature - but they never last that long around my house.  ENJOY!!!

I cut mine a little bigger than cousin Mildred!!