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Crazy Delicious Cobblers

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Summer is definitely beating down on me today and I am seriously craving for an old-fashioned dessert with ice cream. I guess no one really turns down a dessert with ice cream. Just one little spoonful is enough to break down those walls and it’s a done deal!

I was thinking of some fruit to go with ice cream and some pastry too! And what instantly came to mind was a cobbler! Gee, that just makes my mouth water right now and I can’t wait to hit the kitchen and get to it. A cobbler is … well now let’s see. It’s name is taken from which this baked dessert resembles a cobbled street in the pan. There are many variations of it, depending on where you’re from.

They are called the Betty, the Grunt, the Slump, the Buckle, the Sonker, and the Crisp. I don’t know if the finished baked dessert actually appears to be what they are named, but I trust there is something in there that earned them their titles. Okay, that’s certainly a lot to reckon with right now, but let’s stick to the essentials here.

In the deep south of the US, cobbler is made of any one fruit filling, topped with a pastry dough and baked. It is commonly served with vanilla ice cream. Now tell me, doesn’t that just sound heavenly?
I’ve scoured the virtual highway and my cookbooks in search of my one true cobbler. I don’t like anything too fancy, as I always enjoy an old-fashioned and timeless recipe.

You can try this recipe at home and you may just agree with me.

Old Style Blueberry Cobbler

Ingredients:

Dough
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut in bits
3/4 cup buttermilk
Filling
1 cup sugar
1 tsp grated lemon zest
2 Tbsp each lemon juice
2 cans blueberry pie filling (8 cups total)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

Place oven rack in lower third of oven. Heat to 450°F. Use a 13 x 9-in. baking dish or a shallow 3-qt baking dish.
Dough: Mix together flour, 1/4 cup sugar, the baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl until blended. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until coarse crumbs form. Refrigerate flour mixture and buttermilk separately until ready to top cobbler.
Filling: Stir in vanilla, lemon zest and lemon juice mixture with blueberry filling . Spread in baking dish.
Stir flour mixture and buttermilk with a fork until a biscuit-like dough forms. Drop eight 1/4-cupfuls, evenly spaced, over filling. Sprinkle biscuits with 2 Tbsp sugar.
Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until biscuits are golden and filling is bubbly. Cool in dish on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature with a scoops of vanilla ice cream or frozen yoghurt.

 

Photo Credit: jeffreyww

Photo Credit: perspicacious

Pasta Dough

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Love your Lasagne? Seduced by Spaghetti? Then you’ll be extremely happy you’ve found this recipe to make Pasta. It’s easy enough to produce in large quantities, then you can easily make the pasta thicker or thinner depending on what you’ll be cooking!

Pasta Dough

Makes enough Pasta for Lasagne for four, or Spaghetti for two or three – depending on how much you want!

500g ‘00’ Flour
4 Eggs
6 Egg Yolks
1tsp Salt
1tbsp Olive Oil
2tbsp Water, pinch of Saffron Strands

1. Sieve the Flour into a large mixing bowl, and make a well in the centre of it.
2. Crack the Eggs and the Yolks into the well, before working it into the Flour with your fingertips. Add the Salt and Olive Oil and carry on mixing.
3. Slowly add the Water, as you may not need it. It should make a soft dough – if you really want, use a Food Processor.
4. Turn the Dough out onto a surface, then need it as hard as you can until it has formed a smooth dough. There is no need to flour the surface, but if the Dough is too wet you can put a small amount down.
5. Wrap the Dough in cling-film and refrigerate for at least thirty minutes before you need to roll it out into the correct shape.

Photo Courtesy of: missy & the universe

The ‘Delicate’ Sandwich

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Okay, sarcasm isn’t my strongest point. But I’d still give this bit of advice: wear a bib whilst eating this, and being careful with it.

Sausage Sandwich

Ideal as a Brunch Sandwich, it’s great as a snack at anytime – especially after a late night!

To serve 4
1 Loaf Sour Dough Bread, cut into 8 thick slices
4tbsp Olive Oil
2 Large Red Onions, peeled and sliced
2tsp Sugar
2tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
8 Good Quality Sausages
8 Baby Plum Tomatoes, halved
1tbsp Water
3 Big Handfuls of Rocket
English Mustard

1. Drizzle a small amount of Olive over each slice of bread, before placing on a Griddle pan and toasting lightly on both sides
2. Heat a teaspoon of Oil in a pan, then add the Onions and allow them to sweat a little. When they start to wilt slightly, add half the Sugar, a small pinch of Salt, twist of Pepper and half of the Balsamic Vinegar, then cook for three to four more minutes.
3. In a fresh pan, start to cook the Sausages in a frying pan with a tablespoon of the Oil. When coloured on all sides, turn the heat down and cook for a further six to eight minutes
4. In the pan of the Onions, add the Tomato Halves, with a little Water, the rest of the Water, Sugar, Balsamic Vinegar and then season to taste. Leave to reduce a little over a medium heat.
5. To assemble, cut the Sausages in half lengthways. Spoon the Tomato and Onion mixture onto half the slices of Bread, place the Sausages on top, followed by a handful of Rocket, drizzle with a small amount of Oil, then the other slice of Bread, which has been covered in Mustard.

Photo Courtesy of: bird gc

Pizza Dough

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Sure, you could buy these, but then who wants to? Making your own Pizza bases is great fun of introducing children to cooking – make sure that they are properly supervised when using the Oven and mixing the Yeast. O, and that they don’t try to throw them up onto the ceiling!

You can make more bases by splitting the yeast onto separate trays and cooking over time – great for party pizzas.

Makes 2 thin Pizza bases
7g Yeast (1 level tea spoon)
1 tsp Sugar
50ml Warm Milk mixed with 300ml Warm Water
650g Strong Plain Flour
1 ½ tbsp olive oil
2 tsp salt

1. Dissolve the Yeast and Sugar in a third of the milk and water.
2. Sift the flour into a large bowl, with a space in the middle. Pour a little of the yeast, sugar, water and milk into the hole, and add in the olive oil. Start combining with your fingertips
3. Slowly add the rest of the Milk, Water and Salt – you may need slightly less or more of the liquid, but you’ll have to judge this – it should make a firm dough
4. Lightly flour a surface, and knead the dough for 5 minutes with the palms of your hand
5. Put the dough back in the bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave somewhere warm for 30 minutes, or until the dough is twice the size
6. Roll the dough out to the desired thickness

Photo courtesy of L. Marie