One of my kind Facebook friends called me a talented lady after I uploaded a photo of Southern Baked "Fried" fish I made from scratch for the 1st time ever. Yes, it turned out crispy and delicious, but as I replied, I'm only a home cook who isn't afraid to experiment or try new dishes. What's the worst that can happen? You fail at making a meal, so what? Usually, you can still eat it, and the next time you try, it'll be perfect. I have been craving a fruit cobbler for ages, but today there is nobody here to help me eat it, so I experimented with making just a serving for myself. (BTW: To know the differences between cobblers, crumbles, and grunts, etc, check my recipe for Blueberry Crumble.)
Today I wanted a cobbler with no leftovers. Moreover, I decided to use what I already had in my cupboard: a can of mixed fruit in extra light syrup, a handful of blueberries, along with my plan to make a low-fat biscuit dough to keep it healthy. Since it was a success, I'll post my recipe for you and me to remember how to make it again. If you also toss in a handful of uncooked oatmeal flakes to make the dough (which I forgot) you turn a cobbler into a crumble.
Single Serving of Fruit Cobbler
Ingredients for the fruit filling:
1 cup of fruit (most any fresh fruit like peaches, apples, pears, or berries; or 1/2 can of mixed fruit with fresh berries) -- whatever you have.
a handful of blueberries (if you use mixed fruit like I did and like blueberries)
a sprinkle of cinnamon a sprinkle of lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of sugar (which I omitted because my fruit was in extra light syrup. If you use fresh fruit or canned fruit in its own juice add a teaspoon of sugar).
Directions for the fruit filling:
1) Toss the fruit into a small (6 inch) cast-iron skillet. I poured in half of the can's juice. If using fresh fruit add about half a cup of water. Eyeball it.
2) Add the flavorings: cinnamon, lemon juice, vanilla, and a teaspoon of sugar if needed.
3) Let the filling mixture simmer on low-medium heat for 10 minutes while you make the dough. After the raw fruit softens and the liquid simmers some, turn off the heat.
Ingredients for the dough:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
a pinch of salt
1 - 3 tablespoons of very cold butter - the more butter used, the more moist and caloric the finished dough will be ... but a dier dough will have the fruit, so it's up to you how fattening to make it. A smaller amount of butter makes drier, yet edible dough. And, more butter tastes richer.
1/4 cup buttermilk
Directions for the dough:
1) Stir together the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt.
2) Cut the butter into tiny cubes and work into the dough uniformly with your fingers.
3) Next pour in the buttermilk, start with 1/4 cup and add by drops as much as needed. The right consistency is when the dough is no longer dry, but elastic and not sticking to the bowl or your fingers.
4) Pinch off pieces of the dough and lay them over your filling in the hot cast-iron skillet.
5) Bake in a pre-heat 375 F degree oven for 20 minutes, or until the dough rises and starts to get a tad brown.
My blueberry-mixed fruit cobbler was plenty sweet for me. If not for you, all you need to do is top with a scoop of ice cream, a little powdered sugar, syrup, or honey.
So I didn't have to wait for more mouths to feed to eat a fruit cobbler. The single serving of cobbler (which was meant to be a crumble) was delicious. Yet a single serving is enough to hit the spot ... and I don't have to eat it again tomorrow!
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