Save time and money – Part 10

Or you could choose a cobbler …

… what's the difference? A dumpling usually contains suet (veggie or not) although it's true you can make them using self raising flour, whereas a cobbler is a scone based mix. Cobblers can be both sweet or savoury - I thought we'd have a change and make a cheese and onion version.

Before I begin with the recipe for the cobbler I think it's worthwhile repeating a tip I gave in April relating then to dumplings but which will be equally useful for the cobbler.

Traditionally dumplings are placed on top of a casserole with a tightly fitting lid. Casseroles have a thicker consistency than soup and obviously, usually, slow cooked in the oven. Soup simmers on top of the hob and saucepan lids “sit” on top of the pan and are not what I'd describe as “tightly fitting”.

Here's my tip - tear off a sheet of foil large enough to overlap the pan, push down slightly and then secure with the lid. Make sure your soup is simmering gently before you add the dumplings and seal with foil. 20 minutes later you'll have dumplings the size of which you wouldn't believe!”

Clarification for certain culinary words are required - the word, “dollop” - means “large” the word to describe the size of each portion of cobbler is “blob” which is smaller than a dollop! Reading this paragraph it sounds like I've really lost it. Recipes should be as precise and descriptive as you can make them and size definitely matters when you're giving guidance to readers.

Once again, to back up my mouth – here's my tip :

Dust off that ice cream scoop that you use once every blue moon! Brush the scoop with the tiniest drop of vegetable oil to prevent sticking and use it to scoop uniform blobs of cobbler – it's meant to be rustic so don't stress! It's an idea so that you'll achieve even weighted cobbler cooking.

By the way – my ice cream scoop measures 5cms in diameter – 2” in old money, here it is :

Cheese & Onion Cobbler

2 medium onions, finely diced

15g of unsalted butter

1

dessertspoon of rapeseed oil

a pinch of salt

The cobbler topping

375g self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp sea salt

75g unsalted butter – diced and chilled

250ml milk – I used semi-skimmed

125g Gruyere, coarsely grated

Method

For the onions

Using a medium sized frying pan, melt the butter and rapeseed oil, add the onions and salt and cook on a medium to low heat for 15 minutes, stirring until soft and golden. Set aside to cool.

For the cobbler

Using a large mixing bowl add the flour, baking powder, salt and butter and rub in with your fingertips until you've got a breadcrumb texture. Add the milk, cheese and onions and stir with round bladed knife until just combined. Using your ice cream scoop, spoon blobs on to the top of your gently simmering goulash. You're cooking 8 – reserving 6 - the recipe will give you 14.

Bake, uncovered, in the oven for 25 minutes until golden brown.

I decided to cook eight blobs and then wrap the remaining six, bag and freeze so that I can see how they behave on another day when I need a cobbler – watch this space!

Here are the final photos :

the remaining six, ready for wrapping

the remaining six, bagged ready for the freezer

here's the soup and cobbler – I shouldn't

have done but I ate them both – yum!

This ticks more than one box. If you're tired and in need of comfort, a casserole or a soup with a cobbler is the answer, it absolutely hits the spot. It's economical too – perfect for a mid week Autumn meal.

P.s. I had leftover soup and cobbler which, portioned, went into the freezer. I defrosted a portion of soup which had two blobs of cobbler – in the fridge, overnight. I lifted the cobbler blobs away from the soup and placed on a microwaveable plate or a lid from a box would do. The cobbler blobs hold their shape well and so it's easy to remove any soup in its cold state. I wanted to see how the cobbler element performed and so microwaved them on high for one minute – you may want another 20 seconds. I then re-heated the soup and hey presto lunch! The cobbler blobs were delicious and I have another boxed stashed in the freezer for that chilly Autumn day I know is on its way.

I promised an update too on the six frozen uncooked blobs of cobbler. Here's the light bulb bit – all that is required is an egg, beaten, ready to brush the blobs and then place in a pre-heated the oven 200fan/220/Gas 7 for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

Here's what happened :

the tray lined with baking parchment, with

the cobbler blobs added and then egg washed, twice

straight from the oven and delicious

warm – a “cobbler” ploughman's

anyone?

Spoilt for choice!

Next up, a few ideas for your pudding or dessert if you don't like Christmas Pudding.

The cobbler ps … and another light bulb moment!

Originally I had leftover soup and cobbler which, portioned, went into the freezer. I defrosted a portion of soup which had two blobs of cobbler – in the fridge, overnight. I lifted the cobbler blobs away from the soup and placed on a microwaveable plate or a lid from a box would do. The cobbler blobs hold their shape well and so it's easy to remove any soup in its cold state. I wanted to see how the cobbler element performed and so microwaved them on high for one minute – you may want another 20 seconds. I then re-heated the soup and hey presto lunch! The cobbler blobs were delicious and I have another boxed stashed in the freezer for that chilly Autumn day I know is on its way.

I promised an update too on the six frozen uncooked blobs of cobbler. Here's the light bulb bit – all that is required is an egg, beaten, ready to brush the blobs and then place in a pre-heated the oven 200fan/220/Gas 7 for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

Here's what happened :

the tray lined with baking parchment, with

the cobbler blobs added and then egg washed, twice

straight from the oven and delicious

warm – a “cobbler” ploughman's

anyone?

I just love messing around in the kitchen, especially when it turns out well – in fairness there wasn't much to fail but nevertheless it's a different idea from the soup and a cobbler.

I'd definitely chalk this one up as a success.

Autumn comfort food ideas …

A soup and a cobbler – hints, tips and a gamble!

The original recipe says “about 14” blobs of cobbler and that's exactly what you'll get following the ice cream scoop measurements as a guide. Then another light bulb idea – I decided to cook eight blobs and then wrap the remaining six, bag and freeze so that I can see how they behave on another day when I need a cobbler – watch this space!

Here are the final photos :

the remaining six, ready for wrapping

the remaining six, bagged ready for the freezer

here's the soup and cobbler – I shouldn't

have done but I ate them both – yum!

This ticks more than one box. If you're tired and in need of comfort, the soup and cobbler is the answer, it absolutely hits the spot. The gamble paid off!

It's economical too – perfect for a mid week Autumn meal. Further news on the frozen cobbler soon.

P.s. Interestingly there are only 12 pieces of cobbler shown in the Waitrose Food Magazine – pages 60 and 61 – where are the other 2 – or is is that “about 14” actually means 12. Thank you to my ice cream scoop!

Coming up, more Autumn comfort food ideas ...

The cobbler and a light bulb moment

Instead of using “the pan on the hob and foil method” why not use a deep, non-stick frying pan to bring together the soup and the cobbler. I have to confess I'm slightly anxious about the cobbler on top of a pan of soup – a scone mix is more dense than a dumpling and 25 minutes of simmering soup I have a slight concern that it'll catch the bottom of the pan and potentially spoil.

Here's the plan. Tip your thickened soup into your deep frying pan – by the way, mine measured 29cms in diameter x 6.5cms deep (11½x2½”) . Pre-heat your oven 160fan/180c/Gas 4. Gently warm the soup.

Bring together your cobbler mix :

Using a large mixing bowl add the flour, baking powder, salt and butter and rub in with your fingertips until you've got a breadcrumb texture. Add the milk, cheese and onions and stir with round bladed knife until just combined. Using your ice cream scoop, spoon blobs on to the top of your gently simmering soup.

Bake, uncovered, in the oven for 25 minutes until golden brown.

Now it's time to back up the light bulb moment!

Step 1

the cobbler mix in the bowl

brought together, don't overwork, it's

meant to be rustic

Step 2

the soup in the pan and the blobs of

cobbler

Step 3

out of the oven

There's more!

The cobbler – the recipe and a grumble

First up a big tick to the Waitrose test kitchen. I've only one small grumble – they don't give you any help with the size of, using their word, “dollop” - to me the word implies “large” and indeed the dictionary definition confirms so. Consequently my word to describe the size of each portion of cobbler is “blob” which is smaller than a dollop! Reading this paragraph it sounds like I've really lost it. Recipes should be as precise and descriptive as you can make them and size definitely matters when you're giving guidance to readers.

Once again, to back up my mouth – here's my tip :

Dust off that ice cream scoop that you use once every blue moon! Brush the scoop with the tiniest drop of vegetable oil to prevent sticking and use it to scoop uniform blobs of cobbler – it's meant to be rustic so don't stress! It's an idea so that you'll achieve even weighted cobbler cooking.

By the way – my ice cream scoop measures 5cms in diameter – 2” in old money, here it is :

Chapter and verse up next with more photos.

The Cobbler – photos from the beginning …

... and tips along the way.

For the cobbler it's important to cook your onions well ahead, so that they've time to cool properly. Once they are cooled and boxed you might want to wrap said box, tightly, in cling film. There is nothing worse than thinking the box has done its job, only to discover that the onions have tainted everything in the fridge, too late!

Here's a couple of snaps :

this is what the onions should look like

it might look like I've overdone it – I promise

you I haven't!

By chilling the onions they'll be easier to amalgamate into the rest of the cobbler recipe, ready to immerse in your soup. If I can cook elements of a dish ahead and fridge it suits me very well. It's never a chore to bring together a dish if you've everything ready to rock and roll. It may not be possible with every recipe but for comfort food i.e. soup, casseroles or slow cooker based dishes they generally benefit from being cooked ahead and thus allowing flavours to develop.

In this instance, I made my soup the day before, cooled and fridged (still in the saucepan) and then blitzed it to thicken the following morning. I also got myself organised for the cobbler and set my stall out. I weighed the dry ingredients and popped into a mixing bowl. I weighed and diced the butter, cling filmed and fridged – I grated the cheese and ditto.

All that remains is for me to measure the milk and mix.

Wish me luck!

Autumn leaves – soup and a cobbler

My soup comes from the back catalogue and I make no apology for repeating it – if you'd like the recipe check out the Soup label Sunday 3 February 2019 Veggie or not – take 2! - Carrot, Coriander and Chickpea Soup is the perfect vehicle to “hold” a cobbler or a dumpling for that matter – it's thick, rustic and substantial and called a “rib sticker” from my neck of the woods.

I found the cobbler recipe – tweaked – in the September issue of Waitrose Food :

Cheese & Onion Cobbler

2 medium onions, finely diced

15g of unsalted butter

1

dessertspoon of rapeseed oil

a pinch of salt

The cobbler topping

375g self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp sea salt

75g unsalted butter – diced and chilled

250ml milk – I used semi-skimmed

125g Gruyere, coarsely grated

Method

For the onions

Using a medium sized frying pan, melt the butter and rapeseed oil, add the onions and salt and cook on a medium to low heat for 15 minutes, stirring until soft and golden. Set aside to cool.

For the cobbler

Using a large mixing bowl add the flour, baking powder, salt and butter and rub in with your fingertips until you've got a breadcrumb texture. Add the milk, cheese and onions and stir with round bladed knife until just combined. Spoon large blobs on to the top of your gently simmering soup. It will help if your blobs are of a similar size so that they cook consistently. The recipe says 14 – cook for 25-30 minutes until the cobbler is golden brown.

Sounds like a great theory, now it's time to put it into practice!

The Autumn leaves …

… are beginning to fall – chillier earlier in the evening as the nights draw in.

More comfort food is required and I think warrants another search for favourites in the back catalogue. I don't need to look in the back catalogue for what comes next – I immediately think of soup. You may think boring but as with lots of dishes it's what you serve with that elevates. In my opinion soup on its own just isn't right – it needs zhuzh and by that I mean either good rustic bread, garlic or otherwise for dunking purposes or a step up, either a dumpling or a cobbler.

What's the difference? A dumpling usually contains suet (veggie or not) although it's true you can make them using self raising flour, whereas a cobbler is a scone based mix. Cobblers can be both sweet or savoury. I thought we'd have a change and make a cheese and onion cobbler to adorn the top of the soup.

Before I begin with the recipe for the cobbler I think it's worthwhile repeating a tip I gave in April relating then to dumplings but which will be equally useful for the cobbler.

“Traditionally dumplings are placed on top of a casserole with a tightly fitting lid. Casseroles have a thicker consistency than soup and obviously, usually, slow cooked in the oven. Soup simmers on top of the hob and saucepan lids “sit” on top of the pan and are not what I'd describe as “tightly fitting”.

Here's my tip - tear off a sheet of foil large enough to overlap the pan, push down slightly and then secure with the lid. Make sure your soup is simmering gently before you add the dumplings and seal with foil. 20 minutes later you'll have dumplings the size of which you wouldn't believe!”

A bowl of soup with cheese and onion cobbler – bring it on!

Here goes …