You Will (Maybe) Make This Strawberry-Rhubarb Cobbler

If there was no Lauren there’d be no Maybe.She felt that the rhubarb was too prominent, that the fruit wasn’t cooked enough. But tell me this doesn’t look delicious:Here’s a good tip for all you aspiring gourmets out there: when you’re at the supermarket, pay attention to what’s in the produce section. Recently at Whole Foods I noticed prominent displays of strawberries and rhubarb. So tonight, when I was craving a diversion from my homework and the bread in the refrigerator, I typed in “Strawberry Rhubarb” at Epicurious and came up with this recipe (which, incidentally, has a 100% approval rating):STRAWBERRY RHUBARB COBBLER WITH CORNMEAL BISCUIT TOPPING.My formula for a good recipe is as follows:EASY TO DO + DELICIOUS RESULTS = GOOD RECIPEThis recipe was incredibly easy. My one mistake was with the rhubarb.First, wash and dry the strawberries:Then wash and dry the rhubarb:Here’s where I made my mistake. Well, I’m not sure if it was a mistake. The recipe says to cut the rhubarb into 1/2-inch thick slices. I found this confusing. I mean, are we talking width or length? Should I have cut it like celery?I ended up making little rhubarb sticks of 1/2 an inch width:If I had to do it again, I’d go the celery route.In any case, you put the rhubarb and strawberries in a bowl with flour, sugar and ground cloves. (I think the ground cloves make the recipe terrific; adds a lot of depth to the flavor):Pour into the pie dish:Now make the topping. There’s flour, sugar, butter, and corn meal:Mush it up with your fingers until it resembles course meal. Then add buttermilk and stir with fork:[I don’t know why I’m giving you these instructions. Just follow the Epicurious recipe!]Pour the topping on the strawberry mixture:And bake at 400 degrees for what I think is 25 minutes. (Follow the recipe, dummy!)Doesn’t that look delicious?Here’s what it looks like in the bowl:I think Lauren’s main complaint was that the fruit wasn’t cooked down enough. Someone on the Epicurious site makes the same point and suggests cooking the fruit first before adding the topping. I had never cooked with rhubarb before, so I didn’t know the difference. In any case, I think this is a perfect Springtime Sopranos-watching dessert. Unless you’re Lauren. In which case, the fruit wasn’t cooked down enough.