Cobbler #2

Boy, it's been so long that I've now made biscuits. I should really do this.

There is an old recipe that I have always used for cobbler by Mad Coyote Joe (a local guy who had a cooking show when I was young). It's amazing enough that I've been wondering why I'm trying to improve it. I guess it's just so different than what most TV shows do for cobbler. Basically, for the filling, you use blackberries. You put 3/4 of them in whole (mixed with cornstarch, lemon juice, and sugar), and the other 1/4 you blend, add water to, and boil into a sauce. You put all this into a baking dish, and top it with a slightly crumbly topping (sugar, eggs, flour, salt, & baking powder), and then pour a melted stick of butter on top of this, and bake it.

If nothing else, a summer of trying to improve on Mad Coyote Joe's recipe might just end in me admitting that it is indeed the best dessert on Earth (something I've always kind of suspected).

So, my first new cobbler recipe was by Alton Brown (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/rhubarb-peach-cobbler-recipe/index.html). I used this, except instead of peaches and rhubarb, I used strawberries. Taking after Mad Coyote Joe, I blended some of the berries in a bit of water. I used frozen strawberries, because that's what I have. Also, because I didn't have lemon, I used a little bit of red wine vinegar. Overall, this was a little disappointing. The filling tasted just fine, but it was really runny. In the future I think I should avoid adding water. I also might need to start adding more cornstarch. As for the crust, it tasted too separate from the filling. It tasted okay, but wasn't, like, incredible. Also, the bits of topping that were cooked inside the strawberry mixture turned out gummy.

Next, #2. Before attempting #2, I read though "The Best Recipe." It said that cobblers could be classified into 3 types of crust (shortbread/biscuit, pie, and cookie), and also had recipes for probably a dozen possible fruits that could be used. One such fruit was mangos. So, because they were 2/$1 at Fry's, I decided I'd try that. For the crust, I used a half recipe Paula Deen's recipe (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/peach-cobbler-recipe/index.html), except using 2 sliced mangos, and cooking it all in a bread pan. Instead of self-rising flour, I added 1 t of baking powder. It actually turned out really amazingly, for the most part. I'd actually say it gives Mad Coyote Joe a run for his money. In this recipe, you put the fruit on top of the dough, so when it bakes, it rises up and covers it (basically consuming it). The crust, well, it is smoother than Mad Coyote Joe's, I'm not sure which one I like better. My one disappointment: mango makes for a really really bad cobbler filling. Next time I'm switching back to strawberries (or maybe even blackberries) and trying it again.

I actually have a BBQ I'm going to on Friday, I might use that as an excuse to try this again.