By Sue Lau, A Palatable Pastime
Serves 6
5 large or 6 medium fresh ripe peaches
1/3 cup sugar-stevia blend
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
dash vanilla extract
1 prepared single pie crust (may use refrigerated crust)
1. Make sure peaches are ripe: after you buy them, if they are very firm, such as grocery store peaches, place them in a brown paper bag and leave them on your counter top for a day or so or until when you open the bag the scent is heavenly.
2. To prepare them for use, bring a large pot of water to a boil, deep enough to be able to submerge the peaches in water. On each peach, slit an “x” with a paring knife across the end of the peach opposite from the stem. Carefully lower each peach into the water and par-cook for 1-3 minutes or until the skin around the x begins to loosen. Lift each peach out with a slotted spoon or spider and submerge it into a bowl of ice water to shock it and stop the cooking. You should be able to slip the skins off easily when they cool enough to handle. If not, return them to the boiling water for another 30 seconds to 1 minute and repeat the ice water bath.
3. Once they are peeled, take your paring knife and cut into the peach to the pit, and with a little flick of your wrist, turn out the peach slice. Repeat with all the peaches until they are totally sliced and discard the pits. Place the slices in a mixing bowl.
4. Butter or grease an oval or moderately sized baking dish or casserole and preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
5. Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter and stir into the peaches. Toss the peach slices with the sugar-stevia blend to coat and add a dash of vanilla extract.
6. Pour the peaches into the buttered casserole. Dot the top of the peach mixture with the remaining 2 tbsp butter (cut into small pieces.)
7. Use a pastry wheel or knife to cut the pie crust into strips and place on top of the cobbler, interweaving the strips and crimping ends together if they are too short. Cut off excess.
8. Place cobbler in the oven and bake at 350 degrees F. for 50-60 minutes or until crust is golden and filling is bubbly.
9. Serve warm with ice cream (if desired.)
