A Source--"Cook's Illustrated"

Entering the retail world of food has been a education for me. Even though I was a Homemaking teacher  when there were such animals and a wife and mother for even longer, so many new ideas, food and nutrition facts and new methods have appeared since then that I have had to really be alert to all things new. Among  the many magazines that pass through our doors, a stand-out is COOK'S ILLUSTRATED. In fact, it is our go-to for equipment recommendations, methods of cooking and their cookbook THE AMERICA' S TEST KITCHEN FAMILY COOKBOOK published by America's Test Kitchen is the book we recommend for new cooks who need a starter course in cooking and baking.

COOK'S ILLUSTRATED comes bi-monthly and has a plethora of information about food preparation, pots and pans, food products--too much to cover here. There are 32 items in the contents. One of them is for frying eggs. I know, I know! Who doesn't know how to fry 'em, and eggs are not that good for you. What about cholesterol? I eat them and I will continue to do so.

Pointers for the perfect fried egg, borrowed from August, 2013, COOK'S ILLUSTRATED, pp.12-13.

Preheat the pan for 5 minutes over low heat.
Use two fats--vegetable oil while the pan is heating and butter added just before the eggs.
Add eggs all at once. Cracking into small bowls and adding to skillet allows them cook at the same rate.
Turn heat to medium-high.
Cover as soon as the eggs are in place. Allow to cook 1 minute.
Remove from heat.
Wait 15 to 45 seconds.

Ready to serve.
(I have a glass saucepan lid that fits for 8 inch skillet; so, I don't have to let heat out to check.)
Now, for a strip of bacon, toasted English muffins and a little orange marmalade.

Perfect breakfast--or dinner.
BTW we have both AMERICA'S TEST KITCHEN FAMILY COOKBOOK and the current issue of COOK'S ILLUSTRATED available at Gourmet Gallery.

A Summertime Favorite, or Who Doesn't Love Peach Cobbler?

Peach cobbler always meant making a double pie crust, lining the pan with half and rolling a top crust. I still like it that way, but my niece sent me a recipe that is a hurry-up recipe that is so delicious that I usually make it that way.I have found several similar recipes, but they all require more steps than Lora's recipe. Here it is:

                               ( Luscious peaches. Watch at Farmers' Market. Probably will be the best)


LORA'S PEACH COBBLER

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

 Place 1/2 cup butter in 9X13X2 baking pan and put pan in oven to melt butter. When melted, remove from oven. Set aside.

Mix together:
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
Add 1 cup "sweet" milk

Pour into baking pan over the butter.

Add 1 quart of sweetened peaches evenly over the batter.

Place into oven and bake until golden brown--about 30 minutes.

Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

So quick. So easy. So-o-o-o-o-o-o good.

Any kind of peaches will work-- fresh, canned or frozen. I remembering reading that even the peaches that don't seem quite up to par will be wonderful in a cobbler.
Please enjoy this simple recipe.

Berries, Berries, Berries

In "the olden days" my school would dismiss mid-April so that the children could help with the crops--hoeing cotton, gathering tomatoes for the market. Not only was school out, but the berries were beginning to ripen. First, we had dewberries. There were bigger, sweeter than the mixed berries and blackberries that followed later in the spring. We picked and ate and took them home and washed them and ate them with milk, made cobblers, and jelly. (The blackberries made the best jam.) Sometimes Dad would come in from the farm with his hat full of berries--always enough for the cobbler. Mother had a special pan for that treat. I still have it--a little enamel off here and there, but it serves the that purpose.

BERRY COBBLER

Pastry for a 9-inch double-crust
l cup sugar + 2 tablespoons for topping
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 -5 cups fresh berries
4 tablespoons butter, chopped into small pieces

Heat oven to 350 F.

Roll out 1/2 the dough and line a 9" X 9" X 2" baking dish with it. Place a square of parchment paper cut to fit onto the dough. Blind bake the crust for about 8 minutes so that the bottom crust will not be soggy.
Turn oven up to 450 F.
Mix the flour and sugar thoroughly. Put berries on the blind baked crust. Add sugar/flour mixture and 3 tablespoons of the pieces of butter. Sprinkle about 4 tablespoons of water over the mixture.

Roll out other 1/2 of dough and place on top of berries folding the overlap under the bottom crust and pinch together so that the juice will remain inside the crust.* Make slits in the top crust to allow the steam to escape. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar and place remainder of butter on the top.
Bake for 10 minutes at the higher temperature; then, reduce heat to 350 F and bake for 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Cool a little if you possibly wait. Then, enjoy.

*To duplicate the cobbler below, roll out dough for top, cut into strips and weave over the top.
(Rachel can tell you how to do that.)