Kim Severson's Peach Cobbler
- 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour (345 grams)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and frozen for 10 minutes
- 2 tablespoons lard or vegetable shortening, frozen for 10 minutes and cut into small pieces
- 1 to 2 teaspoons granulated sugar, for sprinkling on top crust, optional
- 8 cups firm but ripe peeled, sliced peaches
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, thinly sliced
- Make the pastry: Set aside a small bowl of ice water.
- On a work surface, mound flour, salt and sugar, and mix to blend.
- Top with frozen butter and lard or shortening, and use a pastry cutter or your fingers to mix until it resembles coarse meal; some large pieces of the fats should still be visible.
- Quickly form a mound and, with your finger, draw a trench down the center.
- Sprinkle trench with 1 tablespoon ice water and fluff flour so it absorbs the water.
- Repeat three times, drawing trenches and sprinkling each with 1 tablespoon ice water, so 4 tablespoons of water have been incorporated.
- The dough should be starting to clump in large pieces.
- If necessary, add water by droplets until dough begins to form a mass.
- Gather dough with a pastry scraper.
- Working quickly, use the heel of your hand to smear an egg-size piece of dough by pushing it away from you.
- Continue with remaining dough (about 6 smears total), then gather dough again and repeat the process.
- Shape into 2 flat disks, and cover each in a double-thickness of plastic wrap, pressing wrapped disks to further shape and bind them.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Roll out one chilled disk to 1/8-inch thickness, large enough to line and slightly overhang an 8-inch-square 2-inch-deep baking dish, or other shallow 2-quart pan.
- Trim to leave 1/2 inch of pastry above rim, refrigerating both pan and trimmings.
- Roll out remaining dough to about 1/8-inch thickness, to cover top of cobbler, again trimming and refrigerating excess dough.
- Slide top crust onto a plate, and refrigerate.
- Make the filling: Heat oven to 425 degrees.
- In a mixing bowl, toss together peaches, sugar, flour, salt and nutmeg.
- Place mixture in the crust-lined baking dish, and tuck chilled trimmings into the center and sides of the filling, scattering them throughout.
- Top with butter slices.
- Moisten rim of dough with water and slide flat pastry crust on top.
- Press edges of dough to seal, and cut a few 1-inch slits in top crust.
- If desired, sprinkle with sugar.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- Reduce heat to 375 degrees, and continue to bake until crust is deep golden brown and filling begins to bubble through slits, 30 to 40 more minutes.
- Cool cobbler on a rack until warm.
- If desired, serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream or ice cream.
flour, kosher salt, sugar, unsalted butter, lard, sugar, peaches, sugar, flour, salt, nutmeg, butter
Taken from cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1014848 (may not work)