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Saturday, September 18, 2010

Autumn Vegetable Cobbler with Cheddar Biscuit Crust





Welcome Autumn with a savory cobbler combining roasted Summer and Fall vegetables, under a Cheddar biscuit crust.

The vegetable harvest is almost complete here in Vermont.  I have piles of tomatoes and pattypans, as well as a good supply of winter squash: buttercup, acorn and my favorite, butternut.  


Using these vegetables and some of my clothbound Cheddar,  I made a delicious savory cobbler.  Here's how:


Autumn Vegetable Cobbler with Cheddar Biscuit Crust


In Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400F
Lightly oil an oval baking dish

Ingredients

For the Filling:
4 T best-quality olive oil
2 T butter
1 small to medium buttnernut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1" cubes
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1" diagonal slices
1 large Bermuda onion, prepped and cut into large dice
1 clove of elephant garlic, peeled and diced (this is a mild-flavored garlic)
2 stalks of celery, cut into 1" slices
2 very ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and torn into chunks
(optional) 1 zucchini, cut into 1" slices
1 cup white wine (flavorful type like Chardonnay)
1 cup strong chicken broth
1 tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp Herbes de Provence (or a tsp combining a few of these: rosemary, cracked fennel, thyme, savory, basil, tarragon, dill weed, Turkish oregano, lavender, chervil.  If you do this, go easy on the lavender)
Salt and pepper


For the Crust:
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt (non-iodized)
1 T of baking powder (heaping)
6 T unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup buttermilk (or regular milk or cream)
1/2 clove elephant garlic, minced 
1/2 cup coarsely-grated Cheddar cheese
Pepper (2 grinds)


Process
Filling:   
1. Put 2 T of the olive oil in a large saute pan.  Add the onion and carrot, saute hot for 5 minutes, until lightly browned.  Set aside.  


2. In a second saute pan, put the other 2 T of olive oil, the butter, and squash.  Saute 5 minutes.  Add the celery and garlic, saute another 5 minutes. 


3. Combine with contents of first saute pan, torn tomatoes and optional zucchini.  Transfer to prepared baking dish.
Deglaze pan with wine and chicken broth.  Add marjoram, Herbes de Provence, and a few grinds of salt and pepper.  Pour this over the vegetables in the baking dish, and put on a lid.

4. Braise in 400F (hot) oven for 30 minutes or until just tender.  Do not cook until completely tender, because the cobbler will bake for another half hour with the crust.


5. While the vegetables are braising, make the crust:  In a food processor with blade attached, combine
 the flour, salt, baking powder, and butter.  Pulse to combine until the butter is pea-sized.
Add the garlic, pepper, cream and buttermilk.  Pulse several times to just combine.  Do not overmix.
 Remove from food processor and toss in cheddar, mix in lightly with a fork until just combined.

6. With your fingers, drop large dollops of topping on the hot vegetables.  Don't smooth or pack it down, as this will cook like biscuits on top of the cobbler:


7. Return to the oven, and bake for another 30 minutes.  The biscuit topping should be nicely browned and cooked through.  Check the dough for doneness by cutting all the way through in the center of the cobbler. 



8. Serve either alone as a light meal, or along with grilled meat and salad. 



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Heidi is five months old today!  Happy Birthday Heidi!


5 comments:

  1. This looks incredible! We are still getting corn out this way, so I might add some of that into the mix as well. Thanks for the idea!

    ReplyDelete
  2. arugulove,
    Yes corn would be great too, put in right at the end before the topping goes on. I wish I had some! --sue

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is SO perfect and a lovely use of autumns bounty!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sue,
    We are big fans of the veggie cobbler.
    Thanks for the receipe.
    ST

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi, ST! Thank you!
    Yes, it's a favorite here, particularly with my husband! Looking at this post, I see that Heidi was 5 months old! She's just turned 1! Sue

    ReplyDelete

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