Quinessential dessert to serve at a Texas bbq

[hazardnc]

I ordered brisket, smoked sausage and ribs from Black's barbecue. We will be hosting a party to introduce out North Carolina friends to Texas cue.

I have made baked beans, potato salad (ala Neilsen's deli in Houston), jalapeno cornbread and slaw.

What should I make for dessert? Suggestions (and recipes, too) are appreciated!

[planojim]

some form of cobbler. Peach, cherry, apple, etc.

I'd also say banana pudding, but that doesn't keep well.

I'll try to get a recipe for cobbler to you.

[Mabelline]

"Nanner puddin'", unless there's fresh fruits for a cobbler.Canned peaches will do in this season, or even fried pies.

[browniebaker]

I like a cobbler or pie after barbecue.

Peach cobbler after barbecue would mean I had died and gone to heaven, but it's got to have lots of flaky tender pastry crust on top and maybe even laced through the filling (cooking up soft like dumplings), not a biscuit-like or cake-like topping. I particularly dislike a biscuit topping that is not piping hot -- nothing sadder than that.

To my taste, the best pie following barbecue would be a custardy, spicy sweet-potato pie.

Oh, my, just thinking about peach cobbler and sweet-potato pie, I need to go lie down now!

[jgm]

Strawberry shortcake.

[Lone Star]

I second the strawberry shortcake and would also like to suggest homemade peach ice cream.

edited to ask: How did you make your potato salad?

Edited February 25, 2005 by Lone Star (log)

[jsolomon]

Shiner Bock....mmmm

[fifi]

I gotta go with cobbler, peach since you can't get dewberry this time of year or where you live.

Pecan pie is a reasonable alternative.

Banana pudding with plenty of soggy vanilla wafers sounds good, too.

Decisions . . . Decisions . . .

[Richard Kilgore]

I usually do a peach cobbler for such ocassions. A perfect fruity, sweet contrast to the barbeque. Peach and plum is a great variation at about a 3:1 ratio.

[hazardnc]

Shiner Bock....mmmm

That's already on the menu, jsolomon - just forgot to mention it.

As for the potato salad: I cut up and boiled about 7 medium white potatos (not russets) as well as 4 eggs. I took about 1/2 cup chopped white onion and 4 stalks of cut up celery and put them in the food processor and chopped very fine. To that I added 1 1/2 c mayo (Hellmans) and 1/2 c sour cream, as well as the mashed yolks from the hard boiled eggs and mixed well. Then I chopped up the whites and mixed it all together - adding liberal amounts of salt. I always have to play around with the flavor to get it as close to Neilsen's as possible. I know that the onion and celery in their salad is barely noticeable, but you can taste them in there.

but it's got to have lots of flaky tender pastry crust on top and maybe even laced through the filling (cooking up soft like dumplings), not a biscuit-like or cake-like topping.

That's the way my mom makes hers. Finding those dumpling like pieces of dough in the middle of the cobbler is sooooo good!

Cobbler it will be, then - especially since we can now get Bluebell ice cream to go with.

So - who has the award winning cobbler recipe? And should I use canned or frozen peaches?

[fifi]

I would go for frozen peaches if you can't get fresh. I am seeing fresh in the stores now but I have no idea where they come from and whether or not they have any flavor. I am thinking that out of season, you are safer going for frozen.

I have been searching for Mayhaw Man's cobbler recipe but haven't come up with it yet. I have made it and the crust is something even I can do. (I am a pie crust incompetent.)

[Richard Kilgore]

When peaches are out of season, I have found a mix of about 2/3 frozen and 1/3 canned peaches to be worthwhile eating.

[therese]

My Texan husband would vote for pecan pie, every time.

[mrbigjas]

frito pie!

hey, it's pie, after all...

[ludja]

Looks like you have both 'seasonal' and classic choices w/pecan pie or banana pudding, but another nice option could be home made butter pecan ice cream...

Maybe too *fancy* for a bbq but German Chocolate Cake is also a Texax invention, no? Could make it in a sheet pan for a less formal gathering or bigger crowd.

edited to add: oops, I just saw that you had already made a decision! Good luck with the cobbler, look for recipes with "cream biscuit' topping... yum.

Edited February 25, 2005 by ludja (log)

[joiei]

And to go with that delicious Peach Cobbler that your serving, some hand cranked vanilla ice cream. Now that is heaven

[fifi]

Cream biscuit topping for cobbler . . . Brilliant! Actually, cream biscuits are the only biscuits I have actually perfected. (I use the Cook's Illustrated recipe.) Now that you mention it, the texture is perfect for cobbler.

[ludja]

Cream biscuit topping for cobbler . . . Brilliant! Actually, cream biscuits are the only biscuits I have actually perfected. (I use the Cook's Illustrated recipe.) Now that you mention it, the texture is perfect for cobbler.

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I was looking for some good cobbler recipes last summer to make.... a peach cobbler and settled on one by Bill Neal in "Biscuits, Spoonbread and Sweet Potato Pie". He calls it "Peach Cobbler with Clabber Biscuits". The biscuits have both yogurt and heavy cream in them (to simulate 'clabber'). It is very good. I looked thru many recipes and they ranged from pie crust style toppings to crumbles. But any good cream biscuit recipe should work well!

[Jaymes]

I love Sweet Potato Pie and Pecan Pie and they're easy to make. If I were hosting the BBQ in the winter when you can't get good fresh peaches, I'd offer both pies. But, you said it's a 'teaching affair' and you're already in the south, so I'm sure those folks are very familiar with each of those pies.

I'd go for the Peach Cobbler, made with frozen peaches. It's more traditional "Hill Country."

[fifi]

I am still grooving on the cream biscuits for cobbler. I just remembered reading in some food history book that the reason the dish is called cobbler is because the dough was traditionally placed on top of the fruit in rounds. It would look like cobblestone paving, therefore was called cobbler. I have no idea if that is true but it sounds good. The next cobbler I make will have rounds cut from the dough and assembled cobblestone-like. Oooo . . . that way I can get more dough in there and maybe get some of the edges dipped down into the juice.

[tupac17616]

Pecan Pie. Definitely pecan pie.

[jscarbor]

Even though i am not a huge fan of pecans I would have to say pecan pie.

Edited February 27, 2005 by jscarbor (log)

[hazardnc]

The party was a big success and I have to say the barbecue from Black's was the big winner. After we brought in the meat from the grill, my house smelled liked a Texas smokehouse (a good thing!)

The baked beans were also a big hit - used a recipe from epicurious (hot and smoky baked beans) as was the potato salad.

I ended up making a peach cobbler, though sadly everyone was so full of brisket and Shiner beer, I only had one person even try it! I have enough cobbler to satisfy my sweet tooth for the week.