The Dish: Miss Patty Jackson's Warm Peach Cobbler
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Every year, there's one Thanksgiving tradition that leaves our 6abc newsroom squealing with joy: warm containers of Miss Patty Jackson's homemade peach cobbler.
After years of asking the iconic, effervescent, WDAS DJ for the recipe, she's finally teaching us, in a stunning kitchen on the 18th Floor of Arthaus, a brand new luxury building on Broad Street.
Here's the good news: it's an easy-peasy recipe with only one rule.
"You have to do it with love," she says. "Wait a minute! Love and butter. Those are the secret ingredients."
The recipe came from Patty's friend, Lillian Calhoun.
It starts with peaches which, we know, aren't in season.
"But if you go to the Ardmore Farmer's Market, the Amish have this and it's good," she says, showing me a jar of fresh peaches. "And it's not loaded with sugars."
You just drain them and cut them up, loosely.
"When you're busy and you're running and busy, I do everything easy, but it's good and it's quick," she says, reminding us that you must also being doing it "with love."
Now, we get a dry mixture going - two cups of white sugar, one cup of brown sugar and a half cup of corn starch. The rest? You just have to watch Miss Patty.
You sprinkle nutmeg, but "not with a heavy hand." She says it's probably about a teaspoon.
"I'm a sight person, okay?" she laughs. "I'm a DJ!"
Next, about two tablespoons of cinnamon. Then, mix that all up.
Now, to the crust. That's right out of the box, just add water.
For our segment, she used Betty Crocker pie crust.
"My mom did it the old fashioned way," she says. "But I said, 'Mama I'm busy. I have to do it quicker.' She didn't think it would come out good, but it did!"
Miss Patty makes her cobbler on Thanksgiving morning.
"I'm watching you guys on the parade on TV and I'm waving," she says.
Now, we roll out that dough and start assembling the cobbler in an oven-safe dish.
"You want to lay the dough down on the bottom," she says, and be generous. "People love the crust. Child, they fight over the crust."
Next, pour in the peaches. Then, cut up small pats of butter.
"You dot it all around across the top," she says, so everyone gets butter in their bite.
The dry mix goes in and add you add more crust on top, because that's everyone's favorite part.
The final touch is a hearty sprinkling of cinnamon sugar, to give it a good razzle dazzle on top.
Pop it into the oven for one hour at 350 degrees.
Once it's out, you scoop and serve a warm little holiday hug from Miss Patty.
Miss Patty dishes on her legendary career in radio and what's next
While we were there, and enjoying her cobbler, we chatted about her journey.
"I'm a South Philly girl who is making it happen," she says.
And she has been making it happen for four decades and counting. It all started when she was 18.
"Somebody didn't show up for work," Patty explains. "I said, 'I'll do it.' I sounded like a kid from South Philly, but they liked me. You have to have a good attitude."
From where we were sitting, 18 floors up on Broad Street, you could see her plaque on the Philadelphia Walk of Fame directly down below.
"I tell people, my home is at Broad and Pine," she says, marveling at the fact that she was the first woman in radio to be inducted.
She was born Patricia Nolan.
"When I went to a radio station, they were like, 'You have an Irish name,'" she says. "They wanted me to have a more urban name. Michael Jackson was hot, so they said, 'You're going to be Patty Jackson, and it stuck."
Eight years ago, Miss Patty suffered a health scare: a stroke.
"Do you know how good God is?" she asks. "I may have lost my vision. I may have lost my ability to walk. But I could still talk, and he brought me back on the other side."
And on this side, she's more energized and connected than ever.
"I have a YouTube channel and I'm doing videos," she says. "I got a billboard courtesy of Moss Rehab. It was like life 'before' and life 'after.' Life after has been an abundance of blessings."
Miss Patty just turned 60 and she embraced it with a huge celebration.
"I look forward to the future and telling my story," she says.
She plans to write a book.
"I want to help people," she says." Make you laugh, make you think, and encourage people with crazy stories in between. I'm grateful."
