tomato cobbler with blue cheese biscuits

I'm having a hell of a time getting used to life now that the semester is over. Yesterday I started my summer babysitting job and the change in schedule is throwing me all out of whack. I am now officially a nine-to-fiver...well, technically a nine-to-sixer. But I'm not splitting hairs. The point is that I'm not used to the Monday to Friday grind. It's weird.

Some questions for you nine-to-fivers out there: when do you people run errands? Like the kind of errands that can't be done over the weekend like the bank or the post office. I'm so flabbergasted about this seemingly mundane issue. Help!

Another question: How do you maintain the energy to work out and make dinner when you get home? My guess is that my crockpot is going to be getting a lot o' use this summa! As you may have guessed, this recipe is from that fabulous month of freedom I enjoyed between the end of the semester and the beginning of babysitting. Expect lots of quick and easy dishes in the upcoming weeks and months.

I've been told that this dish needs a different name. If the idea of a tomato cobbler freaks you out, just think of it as a tomato pot pie. Like a chicken pot pie minus the chicken. Whatever you call it, though, this was perfect with some heirloom cherry tomatoes I picked up the other day. I served this as a side to these crusty chicken thighs. Summery and filling with a lot of flavor and a little kick. Perfect for a summer time Sunday night dinner...you know, when you've got the time to cook up a storm. :)

tomato cobbler with blue cheese biscuits

for the biscuits:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp baking powder
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp coarse ground black pepper
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles
3/4 cup cold buttermilk

for the filling:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 large onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 pounds cherry tomatoes
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and coarsely ground black pepper

to make the biscuits:
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Add cold butter. With your fingers, quickly break up the fat into the dry ingredients. Rub the fats into the dry ingredients until well incorporated. Some butter pieces will be the size of small peas, other will be the size of oat flakes. Toss in blue cheese crumbles. Stir to incorporate.

Create a small well in the center of the flour mixture. Add buttermilk all at once. With a fork, quickly bring together the wet and dry ingredients. The dough will be rather shaggy. Dump dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead dough about 10 times, bringing it together into a disk. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until the filling is assembled.

to make the tomato filling:
Add olive oil and butter to a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add sliced onions and season with salt and pepper. Cook and brown onions, stirring occasionally, until caramelized, about 18 to 20 minutes. Add garlic and cook for one minute more. Remove pan from heat, add balsamic vinegar and set aside.

In a large bowl, toss together clean cherry tomatoes (no need to cut them), flour, and red pepper flakes. Add caramelized onions and toss together until everything is lightly and evenly coated in flour. Season with salt and pepper.

Place rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Pour the tomato and onion filling into a square 8×8-inch baking dish. Place in the oven and bake tomatoes filling for 25 minutes.

Remove the biscuit dough from the fridge. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out biscuit dough into a 3/4 or 1-inch thickness. Use a 1 1/2 to 2-inch round biscuit cutter to cut out biscuits. Dip the cutter in flour should it get sticky. Remove the partially cooked filling from the oven and carefully place 6 biscuits atop the tomatofilling in the pan. Brush biscuit tops with buttermilk and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Reshape and reroll excess biscuit dough to make extra biscuits at another time. (The shaped biscuit dough freezes very well.)

Return warm filling and biscuit dough to oven and bake for 17-20 minutes, until the biscuits are golden brown and cooked through, and the tomato mixture is bubbling.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 15 minutes before serving. Tomato Cobbler is best served warm.

Yield: 6 servings

Source: slightly adapted from Joy the Baker