Farmers Markets & Huckleberry Cobbler

It's funny when you move across country from a big city to a rural college town. You think every aspect of your life will be completely different. And it is. But life stays the same, too. The same values -- music, love, food -- follow you. Instead of wild concerts, its the familiar albums you play in the new car. We still have each other, but now there's a spastic hound dog to love, too. And instead of five courses at four-star restaurants, we're cooking. Pretty much every meal. 

In a way, this kind of rural accessibility is like living the Brooklyn dream. I don't need to plant gardens on my roof -- I have a garden in the yard! We have enough space in the kitchen to try pickling experiments on the weekends. And the farmer's market in Moscow Idaho brings us the best organic deals in town every Saturday.

Yeah okay, so I know in NYC we had the Union Square farmer's market and the food share at McCarrren Park. But it's a whole other plantation on this side of the country. It's impossible to find fresh fish, but you can buy some nice plants and flowers here. And you know what else they have out west? Huckleberries! That's right, it's not just a character in a classic novel anymore, kids.

I bought a pint and had no idea what to do with them. I did a reduction sauce on some pork chops and they were okay. But I wanted to bake something sweet. I wanted a cobbler. I've never made a cobbler before so I did what any 30 year old woman would do.

I texted my mom.

She came to the rescue with an old cobbler recipe that she said must have been printed before the second World War it was in such bad shape. It was in rumpled shape when Grandma followed the recipe even then.

Lucky for me, the Internet's a big place. I found it online. One problem though -- the cobbler was apple.

So I took out the apples and cinnamon, added some other berries to tone down the huckle, tossed in a bit of personal knowledge about maceration and ta-da! Huckleberry cobbler.

Huckleberry Cobbler

Ingredients:

1/2 pint of fresh huckleberries
1 pint of fresh blueberries
1 pint of fresh strawberries
3/4 cup sugar
dash of salt
juice from 1 lemon
1 Tbs. butter
1 cup flour
1 Tsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3 Tbs. shortening
1/2 cup milk

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• Instructions:

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Wash and chop strawberries and huckleberries to match the size of the blueberries. Add lemon juice, 3/4 cup sugar and a dash of salt and let sit until softened and juicy. Pour into a baking dish, dot with butter. Cover with foil; bake 15 min. Meanwhile, sift flour, 1 tsp. sugar, baking powder and 1/2 tsp. salt. Cut in shortening, then stir in milk. Drop by spoonfuls on hot berries. Bake uncovered 25-35 min. Serve hot, with plain vanilla ice cream.