If you truly love a recipe, Becks, let it go...

I lost my grandma's recipe for sauce and now I'm feeling like I should go look for it. I'm thinking I shoved it in one of the cookbooks. I remember the big part (basil, yes; oregano, no).

It's not as if cobblers are terribly complicated things.

I can't believe you aren't giving the cherries away to your neighbors. Americans are so degenerate.

That doesn't look like a standard cobbler. It looks like the normally biscuity part is more like a pie crust, so it reminds me most of this recipe, which is freaking delicious. I would imagine the substitutions to go: cherries in place of or in addition to other fruit (cherry-peach sounds fabulous), chilled shortening in place of lard, and almond meal or orange zest in place of the lime zest.

It looks as if the biscuits have just merged together.

3: The guy who fixed my shoes seemed to have a lot issues to work through.

And that is assuming he was just making-up the part about the elves making shoes for him.

The internet is pretty good at replacing my lost recipes, as long as I remember enough about the originals. At one point I had to replace the recipe for the chocolate cookies that my mother's family always made around Christmas time. It took some pretty convoluted searching to realize that the cookie my family had always called "chocolate macaroons" were known by the rest of the world as "chocolate crinkles".

6: Which biscuits don't typically do. From the picture, there's a lot more sugar and butter in that dough than in a biscuit dough.

That looks like more of a cake-batter type topping than biscuit -- maybe a thicker cake batter, but that sort of thing.

Becks -- do you remember anything about the process of making the topping? Were there eggs?

I definitely did not cut anything in to make this recipe, as most cobbler recipes require. It also was not one of those "pour the filling on top of the batter" recipes, which are the other types of cobbler.

12: So you put fruit in the pan and then poured? spread? topping on it. Was it pourable, or were you glopping down spoonfuls, or what?

The biscuit topping is essential!!!!

I put the fruit in the pan and then put the topping on it. It was also from ingredients I had around the house, so that rules out ones using buttermilk.

I don't ever make Emeril recipes but this one looks potentially similar. The cherry part said to put in almond extract/kirsh, though.

Although that does recommend cutting the butter in.

"Cooking forensics expert LB calmly probes the victim's memory. Young Ben's excitement, though endearing, is another distraction for LB to overcome. Fortunately, the victim is cooperative, struggling through the agony of a forgotten recipe to answer questions as best she can."

Young ben doesn't take kindly to this kind of treatment, Megan.

Hmm. The dogs and mice don't speak to us in our household, but an omniscient narrator does sometimes break in to explain things.

Then Young Ben might want to take it easy on the exclamation points.

There was a Cook's Illustrated recipe for cobblers several years ago that used a cookie-ish dough -- very easy and good. I know you have that reservoir of CI recipes, so I'm going to guess that it's that.

I was iffy on the cake batter theory, but cookie doughish sounds plausible.

I sure forget where that store of recipes was, alas.

You didn't leave it out in the rain did you?

21- That might be it! The topping was kind of sugar-cookie-ish.

"Despite LB's calm reconstructive work, the solution ultimately came from the archivist. Redfoxtailshrub's powerful memory and deep knowledge of the source material was triggered by the picture of the topping. Once she pointed the way to the solution, it was only a minute's work to find the recipe.

Young Ben gazed up at LB and Redfoxtailshrub, lost in awed admiration. One day, he vowed. One day he would be as brilliant and steady as them."

One day, he vowed. One day he would be as brilliant and steady as them.

That day won't be far off, if my mental decline continues apace.

Is my memory of the aforementioned CI repository a figment of my declining mind? If not, and someone can tell me how to get at it, I would happily receive the necessary information at redfox at gmail.

I FOUND IT. Foxy pointed me in the right direction. I actually got the recipe from a real-live cookbook, not the internet! It was from The Best Recipe, from the Cook's Illustrated folk and called "Cobbler with Butter Cookie Dough Topping".

I sure forget where that store of recipes was, alas.

This? It requires a password, though, which I have forgotten but my browser remembers.

I do have a bunch of CI recipes in a file. This is not one of them but I can (and will) mail it to you. It's formatted such that it could be imported into a Typepad blog. The problem is that the person who screen-scraped them did it slightly wrong so about every 10th word is runtogether likethis, which bugs me, so I haven't imported it on my cooking blog. I tried to clean it up using spellcheck but the size of the file makes it almost impossible. Any computer geeks have a good idea of how to fix it quickly?

29: Woo!

Thanks, RFTS, you've seriously saved the day. The look of sadness and frustration on Becks's face as she tried in vain to find the lost recipe earlier today was heartbreaking.

I FOUND IT. Foxy pointed me in the right direction. I actually got the recipe from a real-live cookbook, not the internet! It was from The Best Recipe, from the Cook's Illustrated folk and called "Cobbler with Butter Cookie Dough Topping".

That is indeed the very one I was thinking of! It has a nice chart for recommended amounts of cornstarch and sugar for a variety of different fruits, too.

But why are they biscuit deniers?

I must say the Bad Girl at that link is insane to have made it with strawberries, however much they may have made an appearance in the fruit filling chart. When you see strawberries, is your first thought "cobbler"?

35: Whenever I see strawberries, I think of the defenestrations of Prague. Then shortcake.

When I see strawberries, my first thought is usually "those probably aren't very good", unless they are very small, in which case my first thought is to gob 'em.

This talk of fruit pastry things reminds me that there's a berry farm near here that sells fresh fruit pies. Basically, they blind-bake a crust and pour in raw raspberries (or blackberries) coated in sweet fruit glaze. They should have them ready this week or next.

When I see strawberries, my mind goes completely blank, and I slip into a dissociative fugue. Typically, about a month later I realize that I am in a motel outside Topeka and have no recollection of how I got there.

How do you know that's what happens, then?

I perceive strawberries neither by sight, smell, touch, nor taste, but only by the nearly imperceptible crackling of the expansion of their seed-coats.

Toss those bad boys in a ramekin and chuck 'em in the oven and call it done, Becks.

40: are you accusing Otto of failing to wear his helmetcam?

I want to hear him say it himself.

Sigh. Is there no more trust in this society? Have we lost all faith in each other? Must we demand such testimony all the time?

A dissociative fugue story worth reading, if you didn't back when it came out.

45: There is nothing at all about berries in that story.

Berries are in the subtext all along. Duh.

47: Is that like when everybody tells me that Animal Farm isn't really about animals?

I made that very recipe, twice (once with fresh peaches, the other with freshish rhubarb) for the 4th of July party I attended on, um July 4th. It was delicious in both cases. As soon as I saw Beck's picture I was pretty sure that was the same recipe, and I read through the thread in breathless anticipation of whether someone else would identify it first. Well done, rfts!

And biscuit topping on cobbler is great too, neb, but not essential. Cobbler contains multitudes. In addition to being delicious, the cookie dough one is a little faster in that it doesn't involve any rolling out of dough.

I never rolled out no biscuit topping's dough.

37 Strawberries or wild strawberries? Mmh, wild strawberries, my parents have them growing all over their yard.

Our garden's hemorrhaging eggplant. I don't know what to do with it except Eggplant Parmesan, the only eggplant-y thing I like.

I never rolled out no biscuit topping's dough.

You had your manservant do it for you?

52: Are they big eggplants (as opposed to the long skinny Japanese or other Asian varieties)?

If so, prick one five or six times in various places with a fork, bake it in the oven until it's soft inside, then, after allow it to cool some, cut it in half lengthwise. Scoop out the soft innards and mash them with some salt, fresh ground pepper, and lemon juice. Use as a dip.

You could also mix in tahini if you want to go the full baba ghanouj route.

"allow" s/b "allowing"

Also, in addition to the salt, pepper, and lemon juice, add a little good olive oil too.

Well, there's an idea. Thank you, M/tchum.

You can also perform M/tch's routine on a grill.

I, however, believe that a cucumber should be well sliced, dressed with oil and vinegar, and then thrown out, as good for nothing.

Excuse me. Pepper and vinegar. Been getting that one wrong for well over a decade.

You could paint little faces on them and act out key scenes from The Elephant Man.

Thank you, M/tchum.

M/tchum.

56: No cucumber, no pickle.

I say old neb, I do believe the basis of your cucumber problem is that you're not drinking nearly enough Pimm's Cups.

51: I have wild strawberries growing all over my yard, and they are utterly flavorless. Prettier than the crabgrass, I suppose.

Oh, I love cucumbers.

You see, I meant to write "eggplant" in 56.

64: Then never mind. I'm of the same opinion.

51 The little tiny things (range from the size of a small to a large blueberry, mostly on the small side) with the very distinctive smell that is like nothing else? They're not actually the same thing as strawberries - 'wild strawberries' not wild strawberries, the French call them fraise de bois. In Polish there's even a completely different word for them, also for sour cherries for that matter which are less different.

56/64

You've previously established yourself as unreliable on food, so no worries.

I don't know what to do with it except Eggplant Parmesan, the only eggplant-y thing I like.

Spicy fried eggplant with shitake mushrooms. Yum.

What, because I don't care for feta?

Having to salt/rinse before eating is nature's way of saying, "go get a regular vegetable."

I confess that I hardly ever salt eggplant. Usually, unless I'm going to be roasting it whole and scooping out the innards, my first step with eggplant is to cut it into slices or cubes, toss it with olive oil, and bake it at 375 until it's toasty and cooked through. At that point it becomes the ingredient I add to stews, curries, cheesy baked things, lemony tossed things, whatever.

Knowing that eggplants used all to be white did a lot to reconcile me to their name, but not enough.

I confess that I hardly ever salt eggplant.

You don't have to salt them unless the water content is an issue with [whatever dish]. I've heard they used to be bitter, but can't remember it...

Slice the eggplant into thick rounds, arrange them on an oiled cookie sheet, slather them with roughly chopped garlic and herbs and oil, bake them at 375.

Cobbler made! And it was delicious! Thank you all!

Further to 73, if you do end up salting them, koshering salt is the way to go. Probably everyone knows that but it took me a surprisingly long time to catch on, so I mention it...

Yay, cobbler!

52: Buy kasha. (Toasted buckwheat.) Chop up an aubergine (eggplant) and saute in olive oil in a heavy pan, with soy sauce. Add tamarind (in the UK, my two options seem to be buying tamarind in blocks, soaking it and draining it, or buying little jars of concentrated tamarind. I usually succumb to the jars. Anyway, I add three tablespoons of tamarind to the aubergine, and then one cupful of kasha, and mix it all well up in the hot pan. Then add two cupfuls of boiling water and leave the kasha to cook for about 20 minutes, stirring sporadically.

The tamarind/soy/eggplant combination is apparently Malaysian: it's one of my favorite ways to flavor tasty kasha, and I think the only way that is purely vegan - most of the other flavor combinations involve cheese. (Kasha cooked in beer, with mushrooms and cheese, is to die for.)

I have wild strawberries growing all over my yard, and they are utterly flavorless.

You need to wait until they turn red, Di.

Those disappointing wild strawberries are known as dewberries, I believe. Often, they have thorny runners, waiting to snag the unwary ankle.

Knowing that eggplants used all to be white did a lot to reconcile me to their name, but not enough.

Move to England and you can call them aubergines!

81: But then he'd have to call zucchini "courgette" and rutabaga "swede". Doesn't seem worth it (although I must admit that it's fun to call arugula "rocket").

Regardless, I counsel ben to move to Greece so he can just call it "melanzane". It's delicious with feta.

Were any other Irish-Americans raised calling rutabagas turnips? I had a very confusing moment in college when I sent someone to the store for turnips for me and they came back with these purple and white giant-radish-looking doohickeys rather than irregular waxy yellowish things the size of my head.

83: I wasn't, but swedes and turnips are very closely related, basically just varieties of the same species. So you shouldn't take your confusion as evidence that the Irish are stupid or anything.

83: I was raised not knowing what a rutabaga was. Or a parsnip. But, it isn't like turnips were a regular part of my diet.

84: Maybe they're related, but they mash very differently. Rutabagas mashed with butter and pepper -- delicious. Turnips given the same treatment? Wet and unpleasantly fibrous. I was emotionally scarred.

86: If they were fibrous, I think you just got hold of some too-old turnips.

Hm, now I'm confused. There are yellow turnips, yes? What LB describes as turnips is not my idea of them!

Yellow turnips are also known as rutabaga.

I don't know what to do with it except Eggplant Parmesan

Ratatouille.

89: Racist.

89: I thought rutabaga was purple.

Huh. I just perused wikipedia. I see that rutabagas might end up with purplish tops but are in fact what I think of as yellow turnips. My CSA has been of no help - I got plenty of things labeled as baby turnips that were yellow, and thus I suppose were actually rutabaga, whereas many of the larger turnips I got were labeled purple-top turnips and thus, I suppose, were actual turnips.

The strange thing in all of this was that I thought that I knew what rutabaga were, and it was not either of the things I received in my CSA or what's up on Wiki.

I was raised with yellow mottled lumpy turnips, which I now believe to be rutabagas. The other kind is purple and white and smoothly round, tapering to a root at the end -- if you didn't know it was a turnip, you'd think it was a kind of radish.

What's the thing you thought was a rutabaga like?

93 Aren't they all turnip variants though, hence your CSA wasn't mislabeling? I lost track.

94: Yep, I knew both of those things to be turnips.

As for what I thought a rutabaga was, I think, upon reflection, that I may have been confusing it with kohlrabi. A very large, lumpy, irregularly shaped purple or greenish root veggie with stems. Now, I wonder what I thought kohlrabi was....

93: Yes, I believe you're right. I'm also amused to see that kohlrabi is also known as the "German turnip."

kohlrabi is also known as the "German turnip."

It's enough—positively enough—to give one the motherfucking cold robbies, and right after I began recovering from this blasted fever.

A very large, lumpy, irregularly shaped purple or greenish root veggie with stems.

Actually, kohlrabi isn't a root vegetable. The thing that looks like a turnip is actually the big fat primary stem and grows above ground. Kohlrabi is basically broccoli bred to have a big fat main stem instead of a big flowerhead. Of course, broccoli and turnips and kohlrabi are all in the same great cabbage family, radishes too. Go brassicas!

Rosaceae > brassicaceae

pfffft. Can't live on rosewater, neb.

("brassica" is a genus.)

Roasaceae also includes apples, plums, and strawberries, soup!

Damn, you're right. Apparently I've forgotten what little I even knew about the taxinomy.

Rose is a rose,
And was always a rose,
But the theory now goes
That the apple's a rose,
And the pear is, and so's
The plum, I suppose.
You, of course, are a rose,
But were always a rose.

Strawberries, really? I guess the flowers do look it, but that's some extremely different fruit there.

Rose is a rose,
And was always a rose,
But the theory now goes
That the apple's a rose,
And the pear is, and so's
The plum, I suppose
And the dear only knows
What will next prove a rose.
You, of course, are a rose,
But were always a rose.

[Dropped a couple of lines the first time.]

Strawberries, really.

Of course, cladistics would have us believe that most of the family/genus/class/etc-forming impulse is misguided.

Strawberries, really?

Almonds, even. It's a big family with more than a hundred genera.

Or so the cladistics would have you believe.

Almonds are a gimme once you've got plums.

|| DFW misspells "habiliments", news at 11. |>

Almonds should never be taken for granted, nosflow.

112: He rose from the dead to compete in a spelling bee, and he lost? How tragic!

That depends. Who won?

Almonds are a gimme once you've got plums.

I believe you mean "once you've got peaches".

Subgenus amygdalus: contains peaches, almonds, and Gary Farber.

If he were a dwarf, he would be Drupe-y.

Solanaceae is the greatest of all plant genera.

116: but peaches are a gimme once you've got plums, as are apricots and cherries.

Of course, broccoli and turnips and kohlrabi are all in the same great cabbage family, radishes too.

Myotch, it's more interesting when you put it this way. Specificity!

Solonaceae is a family, not a genus.

Likewise Solanaceae.

HANDY TIP: if it ends in "eae", it's a family.

And if it ends in 'Moon River', it's an Andy William's concert.

We are famileae!
I got all my genera and me!

125.2: Antibiotics should clear that up for you right quick.

I don't know what to do with it except Eggplant Parmesan, the only eggplant-y thing I like.

Baba ghanoush with toasted pita bread is really good.

Glad you found the recipe. I have one that I use that uses a crumble topping but we tend to call that a 'crisp.' I also discovered the crumbling cooked bacon into the apples prior to cooking in an apple crisp makes a good breakfast dish.

127: The breaded-eggplant pizza at Casa Bianca is also very good, although I don't think they let you bring your own eggplant.