National Peach Cobbler Day

Dip into my crusty and moist fruit cobbler on this delicious National Peach Cobbler Day.  

Give my Easy Peach Cobbler video a go and it will move right up to the top of your favorite dessert list. This is probably the easiest baked dessert you will ever make!

Some canned fruit loses flavor and texture but peaches (and especially pineapple - come back here for my Pineapple Cobbler video) hold their flavor and a ripe peach is soft like canned versions.

 My recipe uses a buttery crumb topping perfect for scooping and mixing with bubbly hot peach filling -- and don't forget a scoop of vanilla ice cream? Hey, it delicious with or without ice cream. My Peach Cobbler is perfect for family gatherings since all you need is a big spoon for serving. No worry about cutting a perfect slice of pie, or your pie filling spilling out all over the plate -- nothing sadder than a flaccid slice of pie!

And I got all the ingredients from my local Dollar Tree and 99c only Stores. 

Canned peaches come in a few variations with light or heavy syrup or sometimes in fruit juice. Of course, I prefer peaches in fruit juice if I can find it. 

Other recipes call for adding sugar, but I find peaches are sweet enough in whatever kind of liquid they come with.

The other main ingredient is plain flour which I also get cheaply from Dollar Tree and 99c only Stores. You can use whole wheat or all-purpose flour, too. Adding a tablespoon of baking powder fluffs up the topping. Baking powder is easy to find and cheap from any grocery store. If you use all-purpose flour then leave out baking powder as it's added already, although extra baking powder doesn't mess up anything either.

Many recipes call for ground cinnamon, but I find a Peach Cobbler is fine without it - up to you really.

Once you open a can of peaches the Cobbler comes together in just a couple of minutes.

A Cobbler has the flavor of a regular pie with half the effort, but no flavor is sacrificed. You make a pie dough with half the work and there is no need to massage it and roll it out either. Just roughly mix flour, milk, and butter for a minute then assemble the Cobbler with canned fruit.

I like the deep dish type of Cobbler that way there is no danger of canned peach juice or syrup cooking out during the baking stage and leaving a dry filling. And you bake it uncovered for about 45 minutes -- really simple. 

Do make sure not to fill up the baking dish all the way as the topping expands and the liquid boils so your Cobbler can overflow. I keep an inch of clearance from the top and also place a baking pan underneath the baking dish just in case. 

My Easy Peach Cobbler is good at any time of day or night. Re-heat in the microwave and dig in! 

Easy Peach Cobbler - Video

Play it here. The video runs 2 minutes, 37 seconds.

Peach Ingredients

2 cans peaches - 15-ounce cans. I used peeled peaches in light syrup. 

1 can of peach syrup or juice. 2 cans may be too much for your baking dish. Reserve an extra can of syrup or peach juice just in case you need it during the end of baking.

*Okay to use fresh peaches, about 4 medium-sized - remove seeds and slice. I like them unpeeled but okay to peel peaches. Fresh peaches will make their own sauce as they bake. It's okay to add a little water during the baking stage if necessary. Some recipes call for adding sugar on peaches, but I find most peaches are sweet enough on their own.

Cobbler Topping

1 cup flour - any type including wheat. If you use "all-purpose" flour then okay to leave out Baking Powder, as that is already added.

1 tablespoon baking powder - If you use self-rising flour then leave out the baking powder. Although adding baking powder to all-purpose flour will not hurt anything either.

 1/2 cup of milk - or a favorite dairy substitute like soy, almond, cashew, etc.

1/4 stick of butter - about 6 slices (half a cup.) Okay to use favorite butter substitute or cooking oil. Okay to add more butter for a richer topping.

1 teaspoon cinnamon - optional. 

*For a sweet topping add a couple tablespoons of sugar to the flour. I find the peach syrup soaks into the flour topping as it bakes, so that's sweet enough for me. Also, half a teaspoon of vanilla is a tasty addition.

Directions

For the dough topping, add flour then slice in about 6 pats of butter (a 1/4 of a stick of butter) or a favorite substitute like margarine of cooking oil (1/4 cup oil.) I used room temperature butter. It's okay to add more butter (half a stick) for a richer topping.

Sprinkle on baking powder (okay to leave out if you use all-purpose flour, which has baking powder added.) Pour on 1/2 cup of milk or milk substitute.

Sprinkle on a teaspoon of ground cinnamon. This is optional as I've made Cobblers without it.

 *You can also add a couple teaspoons of sugar of favorite sweetener and half a teaspoon of vanilla. I find the peach syrup sweet enough, as it will soak into the dough during baking.

Roughly mix the flour ingredients with the butter and milk for a minute, until most of the flour is wet or damp.

Now time to bring it all together and bake the Peach Cobbler. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

I load the mixed Cobbler ingredients into a baking dish that holds about 4 cups of liquid. I like a pan with high sides, not a pie plate. If you use a very wide dish the liquid may cookout. A metal meatloaf pan with high sides works fine, too. 

Add 2 cans of peaches. My peaches came in 15-ounce cans. Use the juice or syrup of one can. You can add more syrup/juice as long as you leave an inch or so from the top of your baking dish. Reserve extra juice or syrup for later use when reheating as sauce will eventually be absorbed into the crust.

The liquid will rise when heated and may overflow, with the addition of an expanding dough topping -- so do leave some room at the top. I always have a pan or foil under the baking dish just in case of overflowing juice.

Finally, scoop on the flour dough mixture. Spread out dough across the top of the peaches. It's okay if there are holes in the crust, the dough will expand and spread across the top of the baking dish as it bakes.

Bake Peach Cobbler uncovered at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. The dough topping will be lightly brown when done. Watch to make sure peach syrup does not cook out, you want some sweet sauce, right? Add some syrup toward the end of baking if necessary.

Allow Peach Cobbler to cool down for a couple of minutes. I like to serve Peach Cobbler warm. Add ice cream too. Refrigerate any leftovers as they will deliciously heat up later. The sauce may absorb into the dough/topping so keep a little peach syrup in a separate container to add later if you like a more juicy Easy Peach Cobbler.

You can make my Easy Peach Cobbler any day of the year since it's so easy and convenient to use canned peaches On National Peach Cobbler Day.

Easy Peach Cobbler - Video Recipe

I don't make dessert videos very often so you know it has to be tasty and cheaply made when I do. I grew up with my Mom making fresh Dewberry Cobblers (a dewberry is the same as a blackberry.) 

My Easy Peach Cobbler is another favorite, and you don't have to wait for berry season or worry about being all scratched-up picking them. Give my Easy Peach Cobbler video a go and it will move right up to the top of your favorite dessert list. This is probably the easiest baked dessert you will ever make!

Some canned fruit loses flavor and texture but peaches (and especially pineapple - come back here for my Pineapple Cobbler video) hold their flavor and a ripe peach is soft like canned versions.

 My recipe uses a buttery crumb topping perfect for scooping and mixing with bubbly hot peach filling -- and don't forget a scoop of vanilla ice cream? Hey, it delicious with or without ice cream. My Peach Cobbler is perfect for family gatherings since all you need is a big spoon for serving. No worry about cutting a perfect slice of pie, or your pie filling spilling out all over the plate -- nothing sadder than a flaccid slice of pie!

And I got all the ingredients from my local Dollar Tree and 99c only Stores. 

Canned peaches come in a few variations with light or heavy syrup or sometimes in fruit juice. Of course, I prefer peaches in fruit juice if I can find it. 

Other recipes call for adding sugar, but I find peaches are sweet enough in whatever kind of liquid they come with.

The other main ingredient is plain flour which I also get cheaply from Dollar Tree and 99c only Stores. You can use whole wheat or all-purpose flour, too. Adding a tablespoon of baking powder fluffs up the topping. Baking powder is easy to find and cheap from any grocery store. If you use all-purpose flour then leave out baking powder as it's added already, although extra baking powder doesn't mess up anything either.

Many recipes call for ground cinnamon, but I find a Peach Cobbler is fine without it - up to you really.

Once you open a can of peaches the Cobbler comes together in just a couple of minutes.

A Cobbler has the flavor of a regular pie with half the effort, but no flavor is sacrificed. You make a pie dough with half the work and there is no need to massage it and roll it out either. Just roughly mix flour, milk, and butter for a minute then assemble the Cobbler with canned fruit.

I like the deep dish type of Cobbler that way there is no danger of canned peach juice or syrup cooking out during the baking stage and leaving a dry filling. And you bake it uncovered for about 45 minutes -- really simple. 

Do make sure not to fill up the baking dish all the way as the topping expands and the liquid boils so your Cobbler can overflow. I keep an inch of clearance from the top and also place a baking pan underneath the baking dish just in case. 

My Easy Peach Cobbler is good at any time of day or night. Re-heat in the microwave and dig in! 

Easy Peach Cobbler - Video

Play it here. The video runs 2 minutes, 37 seconds.

Peach Ingredients

2 cans peaches - 15-ounce cans. I used peeled peaches in light syrup. 

1 can of peach syrup or juice. 2 cans may be too much for your baking dish. Reserve an extra can of syrup or peach juice just in case you need it during the end of baking.

*Okay to use fresh peaches, about 4 medium-sized - remove seeds and slice. I like them unpeeled but okay to peel peaches. Fresh peaches will make their own sauce as they bake. It's okay to add a little water during the baking stage if necessary. Some recipes call for adding sugar on peaches, but I find most peaches are sweet enough on their own.

Cobbler Topping

1 cup flour - any type including wheat. If you use "all-purpose" flour then okay to leave out Baking Powder, as that is already added.

1 tablespoon baking powder - If you use self-rising flour then leave out the baking powder. Although adding baking powder to all-purpose flour will not hurt anything either.

 1/2 cup of milk - or a favorite dairy substitute like soy, almond, cashew, etc.

1/4 stick of butter - about 6 slices (half a cup.) Okay to use favorite butter substitute or cooking oil. Okay to add more butter for a richer topping.

1 teaspoon cinnamon - optional. 

*For a sweet topping add a couple tablespoons of sugar to the flour. I find the peach syrup soaks into the flour topping as it bakes, so that's sweet enough for me. Also, half a teaspoon of vanilla is a tasty addition.

Directions

For the dough topping, add flour then slice in about 6 pats of butter (a 1/4 of a stick of butter) or a favorite substitute like margarine of cooking oil (1/4 cup oil.) I used room temperature butter. It's okay to add more butter (half a stick) for a richer topping.

Sprinkle on baking powder (okay to leave out if you use all-purpose flour, which has baking powder added.) Pour on 1/2 cup of milk or milk substitute.

Sprinkle on a teaspoon of ground cinnamon. This is optional as I've made Cobblers without it.

 *You can also add a couple teaspoons of sugar of favorite sweetener and half a teaspoon of vanilla. I find the peach syrup sweet enough, as it will soak into the dough during baking.

Roughly mix the flour ingredients with the butter and milk for a minute, until most of the flour is wet or damp.

Now time to bring it all together and bake the Peach Cobbler. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

I load the mixed Cobbler ingredients into a baking dish that holds about 4 cups of liquid. I like a pan with high sides, not a pie plate. If you use a very wide dish the liquid may cookout. A metal meatloaf pan with high sides works fine, too. 

Add 2 cans of peaches. My peaches came in 15-ounce cans. Use the juice or syrup of one can. You can add more syrup/juice as long as you leave an inch or so from the top of your baking dish. Reserve extra juice or syrup for later use when reheating as sauce will eventually be absorbed into the crust.

The liquid will rise when heated and may overflow, with the addition of an expanding dough topping -- so do leave some room at the top. I always have a pan or foil under the baking dish just in case of overflowing juice.

Finally, scoop on the flour dough mixture. Spread out dough across the top of the peaches. It's okay if there are holes in the crust, the dough will expand and spread across the top of the baking dish as it bakes.

Bake Peach Cobbler uncovered at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. The dough topping will be lightly brown when done. Watch to make sure peach syrup does not cookout, you want some sweet sauce, right? Add some syrup toward the end of baking if necessary.

Allow Peach Cobbler to cool down for a couple of minutes. I like to serve Peach Cobbler warm. Add ice cream too. Refrigerate any leftovers as they will deliciously heat up later. The sauce may absorb into the dough/topping so keep a little peach syrup in a separate container to add later if you like a more juicy Easy Peach Cobbler.

Cheap$kate Clam Cakes

As the days get colder, I have a recipe you will surely want to try, my Cheap$kate Clam Cakes. While the clams I use are not from the Chesapeake Bay, this New England inspired recipe is the right price when you can get a cheap can of chopped clams from almost any grocery store.

My Clam Cake recipe makes fluffy doughnut-like orbs. They are tender on the inside, but crunchy on the outside. There's a reason for it's popularity on the East Coast - they're frigging delicious.

Clam Cakes aren't luscious like Crab Cakes, because this is real cheap working class food. But, I think you will like them fine.

Canned clams are surprisingly tender and the broth they are stored in is pungent and flavorful. Don't discard it either, you can use it instead of water, when making the Clam Cake batter.

The other batter ingredients are inexpensive, just flour, an egg and baking powder. You do need a couple cups of oil for deep frying, but it's reusable for other deep fried recipes, like Fish and Chips (Chips are French Fries) or Fried Chicken, and click on those names to see the recipes. You want the batter to be thick like pancake batter. The basic mixture is 2 to 1, that is, 1 cup of flour to 1/2 cup of clam broth/water.

I always find 99.99 cent cans of chopped clams at my local 99c only Store. Usually I make a pasta sauce with them, click here to see that recipe.

Clam Cakes should be eaten within a few minutes of coming out of the fryer, otherwise the cakes get soggy over time, especially if stored in the refrigerator. They will not taste better like cold pizza or fried chicken.

Clams from the can usually come chopped or minced. If too finely chopped cooked clams tend to dissolve into the batter. You may want to add twice as much clams if they are fine minced. And look for canned clam brands that chop their clams into larger pieces.

If you want to throw a Cheap$kate Clam Cake Party, just double or quadruple the recipe. And keep reading on for my Homemade Tartar Sauce recipe listed below. So fry up a plate of Chesapeake, I mean Cheap$kate Clam Cakes to try on a cold winter day.

Ingredients (makes about 8-12 Clam Cakes, depending on each size)

• 5 to 6.5 ounce can of chopped clams
• 1/2 cup water or clam juice  - the can of clams I used had a 1/2 cup of clam juice or brine, so I used that.
• 1 cup flour
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Pepper and favorite seasoning - to taste, about a teaspoon total. I find the clam broth is salty enough. I used Cajun seasoning.
• Enough cooking oil for frying. You can use a deep fryer, a deep frying pan, or pot.
• Extra batter ingredients: a 1/4 onion fine chopped, and some garlic (1 clove minced, or a 1/2 teaspoon in powder form.)

Homemade Tartar Sauce for Clam Cakes

• 1 cup mayonnaise  
• 1/4 cup pickle relish
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon horseradish

Directions
Start heating the oil to about 375 degrees. I heat oil over a medium/high heat. It's hot enough when a small pinch of batter immediately bubbles and browns when added.

If you want round doughnut ball-shaped Clam Cakes, then it is best to use a pot with about 4 inches of oil (or use a deep fryer.) For flatter crab cake-style then less oil is needed, just an inch deep in a frying pan.

Into a large bowl, add the flour and season with black pepper and any favorite seasoning like Cajun or Old Bay, or just use plain salt. Sprinkle in baking powder and mix well.

Crack in one egg. Add the clams with the liquid. Mix well. The batter will be similar to lumpy pancake batter or cooked oatmeal.

The oil should be hot by now. Test the temperature with a small drop of batter. It should immediately bubble and float, browning quickly. Remove the batter piece.

Spoon in one large tablespoon of batter at a time, allow each Clam Cake to cook a few seconds before adding the next one, so they don't stick together.

Cooking time is about 3 minutes total. Turn the Clam Cakes as each side browns. You can double-check by breaking open one of the fried Clam Cakes to make sure the batter is cooked all the way through. It will be like the inside of a doughnut. Drain on a metal rack or paper towels.

You can serve them with any favorite sauce you like: ketchup, mustard, seafood cocktail sauce, hot sauce, or my Homemade Tartar Sauce. They are also tasty on their own.

If you like a lot of clams in each cake then add another can of drained clams to the mix (one can of clams has enough liquid.) This recipe is easy to double or triple for a Cheap$kate Clam Cake Party!

Fried Chicken Sandwich - Video Recipe

For the best tasting Fried Chicken, it's about the crust. The bar is set high by fast food purveyors like KFC's pressure cooked chicken or Popeye's deep fried chicken. Well, I throw my whisk into the mix, with The 99 Cent Chef's Fried Chicken Sandwich recipe video.

If you don't season the flour coating enough, then you get bland tasting fried chicken, like I got from the Ludo Truck by Ludo Lefebvre of The Taste cooking competition network TV show. (And click here to see my Cheap$kate Dining Review video to see what I'm talking about.)

Well, you won't get bland from this Cajun and Texan Cheap$kate Cuisiner. While I now reside on the West Coast, I still go back to the South and indulge in it's spicy eats.

This recipe uses skinless and boneless chicken meat, and you can use my recipe to fry up whole pieces of chicken. It's delicious any way you cut it.

If you follow my food blog, then you know I get my chicken cheaply from local Latin markets. All cuts of poultry are always on sale there. It may only be legs one week, then the next it's bone-in chicken breast for 99 cents per pound. I've even run across boneless and skinless chicken leg quarter meat (that's thigh plus leg as one piece) for 88 cents per pound! And for this recipe I used the on sale leg quarters.

But don't worry, I know other areas of the country don't have the kind of sales we have out here, so I show you how to debone breast and leg quarters. It's a little messy, but you save a lot of dinero. Breast meat is the simplest to do, so you can start with that if you are new to the butchery game.

My Fried Chicken flour coating packs a lot of flavor from easy to get spices I purchase from my local 99c only Store. I use a packaged Cajun/Creole spice mix, paprika, black pepper and garlic powder (or granulated). If you have a local favorite salty spice blend then use that.

And just for the heck of it I have a Homemade Buttermilk recipe for you. (I went shopping for it and it's hard to find, plus it's dang expensive.) All you do is add cheap white vinegar to regular milk. It curdles and turns sour like buttermilk. Anyway, the buttermilk is used to dampen the chicken before rolling it in seasoned flour - it adds just a little extra flavor. (You could even leave it out, as the seasoned flour holds most of the flavor anyway.)

Believe it or not, but this is the first time I've made fried chicken, and it turned out delicious. I'm going it be making it again next time chicken comes on sale. This is a good, basic Fried Chicken recipe for bone-in whole pieces like leg, thigh, breast and wing.

 And be sure to keep checking back here, as I have a whole lot more poultry recipes on the block for you to try, including Chicken Caccaitore and a Roasted Chicken with Peaches & Herbs.

Fried Chicken Sandwich - Video

Play it here, video runs 4 minutes, 12 seconds.

My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.

Ingredients (2-3 sandwiches)
2 to 3 fillets of chicken - boneless. Thigh, leg or breast. For my video recipe I halved a skinless and boneless leg quarter. Okay to leave the skin on. A half breast makes 2-3 fillets.
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup buttermilk - For homemade buttermilk add a 2 tablespoons of white vinegar or lemon juice, to half cup of milk. Stir and let the mixture sit for a couple of minutes.
1 tablespoon seasoned salt - use favorite seasoning like Cajun or any spicy mix. This seems like a lot, but seasonings goes into the flour. Okay to substitute with a tablespoon of regular salt. 
1 teaspoon garlic powder - or granulated garlic 
1 teaspoon paprika - optional, okay to substitute with chili powder.
1 teaspoon pepper - add more or less to taste. 
Oil for frying chicken - at least half an inch deep in a pan or pot. I used regular cheap vegetable oil.
Buns, rolls or bread - for sandwich
Toppings for sandwich - lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, mayo, ketchup, mustard, etc.
*Extra ingredient is a teaspoon of favorite dried herbs like: sage, rosemary, basil or oregano.

Directions
Remove bone from chicken pieces. Depending how large the chicken piece is, slice it to fit the size of your hamburger bun or roll. The chicken piece doesn't have to be exactly the same size. You could even use a couple pieces per bun if that's the way the chicken is sliced.

I went the easy route and bought skinless and boneless leg quarters on sale for my video recipe. The pieces are quite large, so I sliced one leg quarter in half to get 2 pieces. White meat is easy to work with, as it slices cleanly from the bone.

In my video above I went ahead and show a leg quarter and a half breast being deboned. Doing it yourself is the cheapest way.

Thigh and leg meat takes a little more work to debone. Just slice to expose the bone. To remove the meat in one piece, hold the exposed bone and cut around the bone and cartilage ends. It takes a little practice, but one you've done it a few times, it gets easier. Of course, use a sharp knife and be careful with it. And if the meat comes apart in smaller pieces, you can still fry it up and add a few pieces at a time to fit the bun or bread roll.

Use a large skillet or pot. Put enough oil to reach 1/2 inch deep. Get the oil hot over a medium heat, to about 300 degrees. I don't use a thermometer, as my gas stove setting is close enough.

Lay out one plate for flour and a wide shallow bowl for buttermilk. (For Homemade Buttermilk mix half cup of milk with 2 tablespoons of vinegar.)

Add all the spices to flour and mix well. My spice amounts are just suggestions, you can adjust any of them to suit your own taste. Too much black pepper? Okay then add half the amount. Want more spice? Then add a sprinkle of cayenne pepper. If you are on a salt restricted diet, then just omit it.

And leave me a comment if you have a great seasoned flour recipe, I'm sure other visitors would be curious, too!

Take a chicken piece and dip it in the buttermilk, moisten all sides.

Return buttermilk coated chicken to seasoned flour. Coat the chicken pieces on all sides, pressing the flour into any crevices.

For a less messy method you could put the seasoned flour in a gallon ziploc bag, then add the buttermilk coated chicken, one piece at a time, and shake the bag to coat chicken.

Now time to fry it up.

When the oil is hot, carefully add coated chicken pieces. Fry each side about 3-5 minutes each until brown.

Allow chicken to fry a couple of minutes without moving it around. The coated chicken may stick to the pan, but don't move it. It will release itself.

While chicken cooks you can lay out the burger toppings with condiments.

Chicken is done when internal temp is  165 degrees Fahrenheit. I like to just slice into thickest piece and check that there is no pink or red juices.

When chicken is done let it drain for a minute or two on a rack or paper towel - I prefer a metal rack as paper towels get damp with juices and may make the crust slightly mushy. Although you can blot off excess grease from the fried chicken with a paper towel. (Letting the fried chicken set for a couple of minutes allows it to cool down just a little, so you can bite into it without burning yourself.)

If you're not sure the Fried Chicken is cooked all the way through, then make a small slice into the thickest part of the fried chicken to see that the juices run clear, not red or pink - return it for frying if chicken is not cooked through, and give it another minute or so to cook through.

Assemble the Fried Chicken Sandwich and chow down!

Hindsight
For a lighter crust, leave out the buttermilk wash step - just coat the chicken in flour only.

It's important that oil is hot when you add the chicken (be careful working with hot oil.) And remember to let fresh fried chicken cool down for a minute or two, or you will get burned.

It's can be messy frying chicken. First, flour can get all over your counter and there will be grease splatter. For my video I fried the chicken in a regular frying pan. If you have a deeper pot, then that will keep most of the hot grease splatter off your stove top. You can half-cover the pot when frying - but keep a lookout on the frying chicken to make sure it doesn't burn.

If you have a deep fryer, or use a pot with enough oil to submerge chicken pieces, then total cooking time is about 3 to 5 minutes, depending how thick the chicken pieces are. (Just slice into a cooked thick one to check for doneness.)

My Fried Chicken is well seasoned. Once you've done my recipe, fell free to adjust the seasoning amounts - more or less to your taste. Lately I've been adding dried herbs to the flour, try a teaspoon of your favorite.

White meat, while more expensive is easier to work with. I prefer dark meat for the flavor, but it does have more fat and some chewy tendons - hey, I like me some chewy bits and extra texture.

I removed the skin for this video recipe, but you can leave it on.

My chicken coating is perfect for whole bone-in pieces like breast, thigh, leg and wing. Cooking time is a little longer - closer to 5 minutes each side (or 5 minutes total if chicken is completely submerged in hot oil.)