Disastrous Dissertation Dessert (aka Summer Fruit Cobbler)

This cobbler is perfect:
a) when you have writer's block
b) when you're berating yourself for writer's block
c) with a scoop of vanilla icecream.

Borrowed from Self Magazine (so you know it's good for you) and tweaked (so it's not *that* good for you), the best thing about this recipe is the smell. Truly heavenly aromas.

Start with a fancy new summer haircut...

...and, in stark contrast to our normal beverage selection, Bostonian summer called for a large glass of H2O:

This recipe can be made with a variety of summer fruits. Try my strawberry-nectarine combo, or whatever else is growing in your back yard.

You will need:

- 5 tbsp unsalted butter, sliced
- 4 cups (6-8) sliced and peeled nectarines
- 1 pint strawberries
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1.25 cups all-purpose flour
- Half a cup fine cornmeal
- 2 tsp baking powder
- Half a tsp baking soda
- 6 tbsp lowfat buttermilk [you can make this yourself]
- 1 tbsp raw sugar

Preheat your oven:

Run hot water from the faucet over the nectarines, to encourage them to give up their skins.

Heat 'em up.

Givin' up dem skins.

Chop up the nectarines into 1/2in. pieces, and then wash, top and core the strawberries:

Cut off top.

Halve.

'Core' - removing the bitter white part.

In a large bowl, toss nectarines and strawberries with 1/3 cup sugar, the cornstarch, some freshly squeezed lemon juice and a smidgen of salt:

Cornstarch. The anathema of parents everywhere.

Just squeezing a lemon. That's how we roll.

Then pour into a prepared (i.e. buttered) 9" pie pan or square baking pan.

Smell it. It's SO good!

In another bowl, whisk remaining sugar, flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

All the dry stuff.

Add sliced butter and mix until pea-sized:

Then add buttermilk:

When mixture looks just about combined...

Like this :)

...get your hands dirty, and form about ten 1/3-cup portions of dough. [You don't have to use a 1/3-cup measurement, just approximate.] Feel free to smell this too. TNB told you this was an aromatic recipe!

Place biscuits atop fruit so that 80% of the surface is covered. Lightly press with your fingers to flatten dough rounds.

The biscuits will expand in the oven to cover 90% of the cobbler. Now simply sprinkle with raw/brown sugar...

...and place onto middle shelf of oven.

 Bake for about 50 minutes, until fruit juices are bubbling and the biscuits are golden brown.

Tastes much better than a day of writer's block!