Blackberry Cobbler

Ingredients

• 4 cups blackberries
• 2 cups sugar, divided
• 1/4 cup water
• 8 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 1/2 cups milk
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Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the blackberries, 1 cup sugar, and water in a saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Put the butter in a 3-quart baking dish and place in oven to melt.

Mix remaining 1 cup sugar, flour, and milk slowly to prevent clumping. Pour mixture over melted butter. Do not stir. Spoon fruit on top, gently pouring in syrup. Batter will rise to top during baking. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes.

*This is adapted from a Paula Deen recipe for peach cobbler.  If you want peach cobbler, simply substitute the blackberries for peeled, sliced peaches and add 1/2 cup of water to the saucepan instead of 1/4 cup.

Lemon Basil Pasta

1 lb pasta of your choice: linguine, fettuccine, penne
1 tsp salt
1 lemon
1 pint heavy whipping cream (or half and half)
1 cup Parmesan cheese, fresh is better but the grated kind is fine too
Handful of fresh basil

 
Add salt to boiling water, then add the pasta and cook until al dente. Reserve about a 1/2 cup of the pasta water.  In a bowl, add the cheese and whipping cream.  Slice the lemon in half and squeeze the juice into the cream/cheese mixture.  For more lemon flavor, zest the lemon peel and add it to the mixture.  Chop most of the basil and add it to the bowl.  Taste the sauce to see if it needs salt (not too much as the pasta was cooked in some) or more lemon flavoring.  Place the cooked pasta into a large bowl and add the sauce, tossing to coat.  If the sauce isn't creamy but rather sticking to the pasta, add some of the reserved pasta water to the bowl and toss again.  Garnish with a couple of basil leaves.  This is also really good with a few slices of cooked bacon thrown in.

Blackberry Ice Cream

2 pints of fresh blackberries
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups half-and-half
1 cup sugar

5 large egg yolks

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Add blackberries to a medium saucepan with 1/4 cup sugar and lemon juice. Cook over low heat, covered, for 20 to 25 minutes. Drain using a fine mesh strainer, pressing berries to extract as much juice/puree as possible. Set aside.

Heat half-and-half and 1 cup sugar in a separate saucepan over low heat. Turn off heat when mixture is totally heated. 

Add heavy cream to a separate bowl.

Beat egg yolks by hand or with an electric mixer until yolks are pale yellow and slightly thick. 

Temper the egg yolks by slowly drizzling in 1 1/2 cups of hot half-and-half mixture, whisking constantly. After that, pour the egg yolk/half-and-half mixture into the pan containing the rest of the half-and-half mixture. Cook over low to medium-low heat (depending on how hot your stove gets) until thick, stirring constantly. Then pour into the bowl with the cream. Stir to combine.

Add blackberry juice/puree to the cream/custard mixture and stir. Chill mixture completely, then freeze in an ice cream maker until thick. Place container in freezer to harden for an additional two hours. 

Recipe from Pioneer Woman