Texas-Style Blueberry Cobbler

Okay, first imagine your regular blueberry cobbler, which usually involves a thick, sweet biscuit dough dropped on top of blueberries.  Now rewind and imagine that instead of that biscuit dough you have a lighter batter - think almost pancake batter - that you drop the blueberries on top of instead of the other way around.  Now imagine that you sprinkle the whole thing with a lemon-infused sugar, and that this lighter dough rises up all around the blueberries as it bakes, and that the edges get a little bit crunchy but the center is still light and sweet and mingled with the blueberries, which have sort of melted into a warm lemony blueberry jam.

I think I have to go breathe into a brown paper bag for a minute.

Anyway, apparently this is how they do cobbler in Texas, or that's what the folks at Cooks Country are telling me.  And whether it is Texas or New Jersey or anywhere else on the planet, I'm here to tell you that this is my new Cobbler Of Choice...I can't imagine ever going back now.  Apparently if you are going to be COMPLETELY traditional, you need to make this with peaches instead of blueberries, and believe me when I say peaches are next on my cobbler list.  And then blueberries again.  And then blueberries AND peaches.  And then....well, you see where this is going.  One way or the other, you need to make this. 

Here's the recipe, Texas-style!

Texas-Style Blueberry Cobbler, from Cooks Country

• 4 tablespoons butter cut into 4 pieces
• 8 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 3 cups blueberries
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 cups milk

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Place 4 tablespoons cut up butter in 9x13 inch baking pan and put in oven until butter is melted, 8 to 10 minutes.  Remove but leave oven on.
2. Pulse 1/4 cup sugar and lemon zest in food processor until combined, about 5 pulses.
3. Using potato masher, mash blueberries with 1 tablespoon of the lemon sugar until berries are coarsely crushed.
4. Combine flour, remaining sugar, baking powder and salt in large bowl.  Whisk in 8 tablespoons melted cooled butter and milk until smooth.  Pour batter into the baking dish with the melted butter.
5. Drop spoonfuls of blueberry mixture evenly over batter, sprinkle with remaining lemon sugar and bake until golden brown and edges are crispy, about 45-50 minutes.
6. Cool about 30 minutes and serve warm.

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Chicken Vegetable Cobbler

There is something about the word "cobbler" that just makes me feel all warm and cozy and contented. Most of my cobbler recipes are for desserts - apple, peach, and so on. (And just so you know, I have a chocolate cobbler recipe waiting in my stack of "to be made one day soon" recipes. SOON. Very soon.)

Anyway, cobbler is something I usually associate with dessert, so when I came across this chicken recipe in Mark Bittman's fabulous video series, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Cobbler for dinner! NOW we're talking. First you cook up a heavenly, homey mixture of chicken, carrots and peas all in a creamy herby thick broth.

Then you top the whole thing with a buttery biscuit dough and pop it in the oven. By the time it is almost ready to come out, people and dogs will be drifting into your kitchen with happy and expectant looks on their faces. And really, isn't that one of the main reasons we make things like chicken cobbler in the first place? Yes it is. :-)

Chicken Vegetable Cobbler, adapted from The Minimalist

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 leek, washed and chopped
• Salt and pepper
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock (I like Imagine brand)
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 2 medium carrots, cut in chunks
• 2 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg

1. Heat over to 400. Put oil in large skillet over medium heat. When hot, add leek, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally until soft, about 5 minutes.

2. Add stock and rosemary and bring to a boil. Add carrots and chicken and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Add peas and stir for one more minute. Remove rosemary and discard.

3. Whisk cornstarch with a few tablespoons of cool water to make a slurry and add to skillet. Sir until liquid thickens, and then transfer the chicken mixture to an ovenproof casserole.

4. Put flour in food processor with baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add butter and process until combined, about 30 seconds. Transfer to bowl and mix in buttermil and egg until it comes together into a sticky dough.

5. Drop spoonfuls of batter onto chicken mixture and smooth with a knife, covering as much of the surface as you can. Leave a few holes for the steam to escape. Bake for 35-45 minutes until golden brown. Scoop onto plates or bowls and serve at once.

Click here for printable recipe