| | Published July 26th, 2017
| Peach Grunt
| | | By Susie Iventosch |  | | Grunt if you like this delicious "grunt." Photo Susie Iventosch |
In a recent column we explored "grunt" in the cooking term of the week section, and I knew then that as soon as peaches were good and ripe, I'd be trying to make one of these for my family. I love fresh, ripe peaches in pies, cobblers or just plain, but I have to say, this turned out to be one of my favorite uses of peaches yet.
Since I'd never made a grunt before, it took a couple of attempts to get the recipe where I wanted it. Because the definition indicated the dish was somewhere between a cobbler and a pie, but with biscuit-like pastry, I decided to make sweet biscuits for the crust. The first attempt was a rather free-form drop biscuit topping, and it was not very pretty. So, then I actually rolled and cut out round biscuits and placed them on top of the fruit beneath. What resulted was a sort of peach shortcake, but with the fruit on the bottom and the crust built in right on top. I didn't serve this dish with ice cream or whipped cream, but I think that a dollop or scoop of either would be a great accompaniment to the grunt.
Grunts are often cooked on the stovetop, but I baked this one in the oven and actually took it out during the baking to see if it was "grunting" as indicated by its namesake. It didn't really sound all that much like a grunting noise, but rather like a bubbling noise. Perhaps, if cooked on the stovetop it would make more of a grunting sound. I'll keep you posted as I make more of these yummy desserts!
Cooking Term of the Week
Jalousie
A jalousie is a French pastry that resembles something between a turnover and a strudel, made with light, flaky puff pastry wrapped around fruit filling like a neat little rectangular package. The name comes for the design of the pastry, which has long slits in the upper crust that resemble the traditional French louvered or slatted "jalousie" window shades or blinds. I found a particularly intriguing and yummy-looking Apple Brown-Butter Jalousie on Fine Cooking's website that I plan to make in the fall. Here is the link: http://www.finecooking.com/recipe/apple-brown-butter-jalousie
INGREDIENTS
Biscuit Dough:
2 cups flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 stick butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup buttermilk
Peach Filling:
10 medium juicy, ripe peaches, peeled, pitted and sliced
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cardamom
Dash salt
3-4 tablespoons flour
Dusting of extra-fine baker's sugar
DIRECTIONS
Grease or spray a 2-quart casserole dish. Set aside. Peel peaches and remove the pit. Slice into 1/2-inch slices. Place in a bowl and toss with brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, cardamom and salt. Pour all into the bottom of the prepared casserole dish.
In a medium-large bowl, place flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix well. Add butter and with a pastry cutter or fingers integrate butter into the dries until very small crumbles. Mix in enough buttermilk to form a ball of dough. Roll dough into a 3/4-inch thick disc and cut eight or so 2-3 inch rounds with a biscuit cutter. Place rounds on top of fruit and sprinkle with extra-fine sugar.
Bake at 400 F for approximately 25 minutes, or until biscuits are golden-brown and fruit is bubbly. Cool and serve one biscuit and fruit per serving. Garnish with whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream if desired.
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 | | Photo Susie Iventosch | | | | | | | | | | | |
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA