The Farmer's Kitchen Handbook and Cherry Cobbler

I found another really great cookbook.   The Farmer's Kitchen Handbook by Marie W. Lawrence is a wonderful cookbook packed with seasonal recipes to make the most from your garden's bounty.   I grew up on a farm, where my Grandparents farmed, and we always ate fresh seasonal food so this cookbook really appealed to me.  The cookbook is organized by month using fresh food in season to coordinate with the farmer's calendar.  It includes making cheese, preserving, curing meat, fermenting and more.  A sample of the recipes for August included: Wild Blueberry Muffins, Crab Apple Jelly, Fresh Tomato Sauce, Farmer's Market Pizza, Fresh Dilled Cucumbers, Peach or Mango Chutney, Fresh Peach Cake, Blueberry Pie, and Marie's Chocolate Zucchini Cake.  The list goes on and on, each month has just that many mouth-watering recipes.  

I picked the cherry cobbler to make because cherries are in season now.  I always think of baking cobbler in the summer.  Try the recipe for yourself. The recipe uses canned cherries but you could easily use a pound of fresh cherries to make this cobbler.

Cherry Cobbler

Ingredients:

1 can (14-16 oz.) sour pitted cherries

3/4 cup sugar, divided

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup slivered almonds, optional

Combine 1/2 cup sugar, cinnamon, and the cornstarch in a medium saucepan.  Add the cherries and their juice, stirring gently to combine.  Cherries are fragile, so try not to jostle them around too much.  Bring just to a boil, stirring gently to prevent sticking.  Pour them into a buttered 8"x8" pan or a small casserole dish and place in the oven while it preheats to 375 degrees F.  Combine the 1/4 cup sugar, the flour, and the baking powder in a small bowl.  Melt the butter and combine with the milk and almond extract.  Stir quickly into the dry ingredients.  Spoon the batter evenly over the hot cherries in the pan.  Sprinkle with almonds.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the cobbler is lightly browned and cooked through. Serve warm or cool to 4 or more.  Add some vanilla yogurt for a tasty and nutritious accompaniment.  
*Note- I omitted the almonds.

I served the cherry cobbler with homemade vanilla ice cream.  The family loved it!

Cooking with fresh food in season is always a good idea.  I really enjoyed reading The Farmer's Kitchen Handbook there were lots of great recipes to turn to again and again.  

Recipe reprinted with permission from Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.

A copy of this cookbook was provided to me for this review.

The Farmer's Kitchen Handbook  is available now from Skyhorse Publishing. 

 Sherry

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