Susquehanna Valley Growers' Market
August 5th, 2011
In this week's email:
- News From The Market
- Seasonal Recipe
- On The Website
News From The Market
August is here at the Growers' Market! In addition to all of the fresh vegetables that have been appearing at the market for the past several weeks, you can now find fresh edamame. Tender, young soybeans, they're excellent lightly boiled and salted. The cooked beans pop out of their pods easily, so much so that even picky kids can get a kick out of eating "squeezy beans."
Don't overlook the fresh fruit at the market! Ripe peaches and plums are wonderful eaten out of hand - though perhaps with a napkin to catch the drips. They also make for fine summer desserts, like a Peach Cobbler or a Plum Crisp. Or perhaps plum cobbler and peach crisp. Or, while they're fresh, try substituting sour plums, which are to a sweet plum as a sour cherry is to a sweet cherry. You'll need to adjust the sweetness to offset the tartness of the fruit, but their more complex flavor is well worth the experience of trying something new.
Pass the newsletter along! If you've received a copy from a friend, and would like to get one each week during the market season, send an email to: svgmarket@gmail.com
Susquehanna Valley Growers' Market
August 5th, 2011
2pm - 6pm
Ard's Farm Market
4803 Old Turnpike Rd, Lewisburg
(Between Lewisburg and Mifflinburg, on PA 45)
Visit our website at http://growersmarket.blogspot.com/
Check us out on Facebook
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Seasonal Recipe
Peach Cobbler
Adapted from Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone by Deborah Madison (Broadway, 1997)
Serves 6
Cobblers are one of the classic, beloved American desserts, and one better suited to soft, juicy fruits than a pie. With a sweet biscuit topping, there's no soggy bottom crust; there's no need to thicken the fruit filling excessively, either, which means a more flavorful dessert all around. Serve room temperature or still warm from the oven, with or without ice cream.
Skinning the peaches is preferable, but optional if you're not so inclined. If you don't want to bother peeling - by scoring the skin and blanching briefly in boiling water - just be sure to slice the peaches thinly enough that the skins remain unnoticeable. Other fine fruits for cobblers, in season, include plums, blueberries, apricots, cherries, apples, pears, or any combination that sounds good.
Ingredients:
- 1-¾ cups all-purpose or whole-wheat flour
- 1/3 cup sugar
- ½ cup honey
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. salt
- 6 tbsp. cold butter, cut into pieces
- ½ cup buttermilk
- ½ tsp. vanilla
- 6 - 8 cups ripe peaches, peeled and sliced
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- Zest and juice of a lemon
- 1 egg, beaten, or 1 tbsp. milk (optional)
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. While the oven heats, combine the peaches, ¼ cup flour, honey, cinnamon, lemon juice and zest in a bowl, stirring to combine. Set aside while you prepare the cobbler topping.
- Mix together the remaining flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, and salt. Cut in the butter until it resembles coarse crumbs, and mix in the buttermilk and vanilla, gently, just until it all presses together easily. Take care not to overwork the dough.
- Pour the peach mixture into an 8x8 pan or other baking dish. Using your hands or a spoon, drop the cobbler topping over the surface covering most (but not all) of the fruit. Alternately, you can roll out the dough and cut it into shapes, like biscuits. Brush the top with beaten egg or milk, and slide into the oven over a baking sheet to catch any drips. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, until the fruit is cooked and bubbling, and the topping is nicely browned. Set aside to cool for a few minutes, and serve warm or at room temperature.
On The Website
Even easier than a cobbler: a Plum Crisp. Crisps are just as flexible in their fillings, but have the added bonus of being able to prepare - and freeze - the topping well in advance, for a quick and easy summer dessert that you can put together in the time it takes to preheat the oven.
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