PEACH COBBLER

     PEACHES! They are really my favorite fruit. A really good fresh peach encapsulates the flavor of summer like nothing else can. Since I became a local food nazi, I began to mourn peaches because they certainly aren't local. Georgia isn't that far but most of the peaches I see in the stores are from the Military Industrial Food Complex out in California. Or are they? At the LIC Farmer's Market, I found some fresh Jersey peaches, and they were really amazing. So Jersey is good for something then! I bought so many like a crazy peach hoarder so I could make a peach cobbler plus more to savor fresh. And the day after I made this peach cobbler, I picked up fruit from the CSA and what do you know, a gigantic bag of peaches! I was in peach heaven this week. I literally have eaten through the entire bag of peaches already, with the help of a few friends. Afterall, I have become a peach pusher after meeting Kumar, the amazing fruit stand man. 

    For a peach cobbler I had to go Southern. So I found this recipe for Southern Peach Cobbler on All Recipes. I really sifted through a lot of recipes, looking for the simplest one, with not too many ingredients. This one was great, peaches sugar and cinnamon, plus very little steps. No fuss.

    This was such an easy recipe, and it came out really fantastic. The peaches were not so sweet that you couldn't enjoy their flavor and the cinnamon didn't take over, although I did add about 1 tsp of cinnamon instead of the 1/4 tsp the recipe calls for. I over-love cinnamon, too. The peach sauce was a good consistency, neither too watery, nor to gooey, but enough that everything held together nicely. The instructions say to slice the peaches thin, but in the comments someone mentioned they tried thicker slices so I went this route and I am happy I did because I like a nice thick peach bite. The crust was really good, crisp on top, and nice and chewy beneath, with a nice cinnamon flavor and just buttery enough. Again, no ice cream or whipped cream, but this cobbler came out so good I didn't miss them at all.  

   I saw that the Neeley's add a little almond extract to their cobbler, that might be a nice touch next time. Some call for lemon juice, which might have nicely balanced out the sweetness a bit. If anyone has any stellar peach recipes or good tips, please send them over to me.