Something sweet for Farmer Bob: Peach and Blackberry Crisp

Blackberries in our yard. Photos by Sue Frause.

I'm heading out later this afternoon to pick blackberries, conveniently growing along two sides of our property. Although the morning skies are greying and rain is in the air, the time is ripe for pickin'. 

With Farmer Bob on a backpacking trip in Olympic National Park's High Divide Loop (7 Lakes Basin) with our son Max and friends, the kitchen is all mine. And knowing the quartet of hikers will be dining on freeze-dried packable foods for three days, I thought it would be sweet to have a fresh dessert awaiting my hubby when he returns home Monday night.

I usually head straight to my food stained edition of The Fannie Farmer Cookbook for fruit cobblers, crisps and crumbles. But this time Google got the nod, and there was no shortage of recipes for what I wanted to create using our fresh peaches and blackberries. 

What I wasn't prepared for were all the bad photos included with the online recipes. This Blackberry Peach Cobbler from the P. Allen Smith Garden Home website was so unappealing that I didn't even bother reading the recipe. Really, it's not all that difficult taking a decent photo, just get in there and shoot! The recipe that I selected below came sans photograph -- a much better invitation than scaring people away.

Peach and Blackberry Crisp

Gourmet - July 1991

Ingredients

1-1/2 lbs peaches (about 3), pitted and cut into 1/2" thick wedges

2 cups blackberries, picked over and rinsed

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into bits

3/4 cup coarsely chopped lightly toasted pecans

Peach and brown sugar ice cream or vanilla cream as an accompaniment

Preparation

In a large bowl, toss the peaches and the blackberries gently with the cornstarch, the lemon juice, and the granulate sugar until the mixture is combined well. In a small bowl stir together the flour, the brown sugar, the oats, the salt, the cinnamon, and the nutmeg, add the butter, blending the mixture until it resembles coarse meal, and stir in the pecans. Spread the peach mixture in a 13x9" (3 quart) baking dish, sprinkle the pecan mixture evenly over it, and bake the crisp in the middle of a preheated 350F oven for 45-50 minutes, or until the top is golden. Serve the crisp with the ice cream.