R x R Makes A Sweet Treat

I have a confession to make: I've never eaten rhubarb. I don't know how much of a confession that truly is as rhubarb seems to only make an appearance in pies. Now I'm a big fan of pie, so don't think that my reluctance to rhubarb has anything to do with pie. I've never seen it at the store and we didn't eat it growing up so I guess I just missed out on the great rhubarb craze. Until now...

I was gifted some rhubarb from a farm (which was already pre-chopped, how nice!) and didn't have quite enough gumption to venture out into my first rhubarb-pie-making foray. So I decided on modifying a nice southern recipe that I'm quite comfortable with--cobbler! Add some fresh raspberries from the garden and Voila! Raspberry-rhubarb cobbler.

This. Was. Tasty. I can't wait until next rhubarb season, because damn! Tasty.

I still haven't figured out dairy-free baking so this guy has butter and milk in it because those things are also tasty. If any one has tips for someone like me (who is allergic to the glory that is the cow but often eats it anyway because of the aforementioned tasty factor) I'll gladly take them!
The great thing about cobblers is that you don't really have to measure the fruit. At least my great-granny never did. She would just drawl, "Now, you slice these [apples, peaches, insert-fruit-here] and start layering 'em in." And I would until I decided it was enough fruit and I would stop layering and eat the rest!

In baking things must be measured (much to my chagrin since I pour and pray as you know) so this recipe is perfect for me because it's a happy medium of measuring for the filling and the topping, but not for the fruit!

Raspberry-Rhubarb Cobbler

--fresh rhubarb stalks, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces

--fresh raspberries
--3/4 cup sugar

--3/4 cup water

--2 cups flour
 

--1/2 teaspoon salt

--1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
--3/4 cup milk

Move a rack to the dead center of the oven and heat the oven to 400 degrees.

In the bottom of a glass baking dish, mix the rhubarb and raspberries together and evenly spread them across the dish. In a small saucepan, add the water and sugar and heat together, stirring often to dissolve the sugar and create a syrup. Pour this over the fruit and bake the dish in the oven for about 12 minutes to let the filling "set."

While the filling sets, whisk the flour and salt together in a bowl. Add the butter and using two butter knives (as shown above) cut the butter into the flour making a biscuit-y dough. It will be very coarse. Now add the milk and keep cutting with the knives until the dough just comes together (it will still be lumpy and resemble biscuits).
Pull the baking dish out of the oven and add the biscuit topping, dropping it into little clumps so that it begins to resemble a biscuit "crust." Put the whole shebang back in the oven and bake it until the topping is golden (25 or so minutes). Cool the cobbler for at least 25 minutes before attempting to eat it.

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook, not a doctor...
Time: 45 to make it plus 30 minutes before you can eat it.
Serves: 8 healthy pieces of cobbler
Calories: 338 per serving