Skillet Cherry Cobbler

I’ve hardly done any cooking or baking this year.  Having recently returned from a fabulous 11 day cruise in the east Caribbean, most of the first week of January was spent eating holiday leftovers and cleaning out the fridge and pantry.  By the time we got back, it was already the end of January, and I had hardly used my stove in the new year!  The first thing I wanted to do when we got back from vacation was to cook and bake.  Even though we ate a lot, and relaxed a lot, things just aren’t the same as when you’re at home.  So, although we still need to shed a few post-cruise pounds from all of the fabulous food we ate, I still felt the urge to whip up a homemade dessert for our first weekend meal back at home.

This is a quick and easy dessert you can make while supper is on the stove, and is done within a half hour!

I’ve learned over the years that diets don’t work, deprivation leads to failure, and what’s right for me may not be right for anybody else, and that’s ok.  It took countless unsuccessful attempts to lose weight, but I’ve finally found what works for me.  And, luckily, it’s what all of my family doctors have been advocating all along…eat a balanced diet, cover all food groups, don’t eliminate any food group (except junk food), and everything in moderation.  Get lots of sleep, exercise, and drink lots of water.  Sounds simple, right?  Well, it turns out that it is.  I have no problems losing weight while still enjoying dessert so long as I limit my portion size, and stick to healthy foods most of the time.  So, although I have a few pounds to shed, I’m not going to get there by eating only salad, eliminating all carbs and dairy, and saying no to a weekend glass of wine.  Sure, it may take me a bit longer to lose the weight, but lose it I shall, and the journey will be much more pleasurable if I choose a path of healthy eating with a few small treats versus limitations and exclusions.

You already know their recipes work, and they tell you why. But this book is particularly fabulous when you don’t want tons of leftovers but still want good food for two (or three) people.

For our first weekend meal back home, I chose this dessert recipe for a skillet cherry cobbler from The Complete Cooking for Two Cookbook from America’s Test Kitchen.  We all know that their recipes work, and what I love about these books is that they explain why it works at the start of each recipe.  What I like about this book is being able to create really good meals in smaller sizes.  I love beef stew, but if there are only two of us eating it, we would be stuck eating it all week long.  This book answers the call for those of us who are looking for good food and variety in smaller sizes.  The book’s recipes are designed to serve two people, though I found that this recipe made enough dessert for four decent sized portions.  Maybe that’s a testament to our scaled down portion sizes.  And that’s a good sign for us.  Either way, whether the two of you can tackle all of this in one sitting, or have enough for tomorrow night’s dessert, this recipe is just plain good, and easy to make.

This recipe involves real cooking, and none of that cherry pie filling stuff. Here, you will make your own cherry filling, but I promise you that it’s easy and tastes infinitely better than the gloopy canned stuff. I buy these cherries at my local European delicatessen.

Using a skillet to make the cherry sauce saves on clean up, since you just top the fruit with the cobbler mixture and it goes straight into the oven.  Using jarred cherries makes it easy to make this year round, and the small amount of cobbler batter allows for a quick cooking of 20 minutes.  Quick, tasty, and easy to follow instructions makes this a winner.  I had made this recipe a number of years ago when I borrowed the book from my local library.  I liked the recipes so much that I bought my own copy on Amazon.  Meat and Tater Man hasn’t complained about this book purchase…it’s loaded with great recipes for our small family of 3.

Fabulous on its own, or served with ice cream or whipped cream, this cherry cobbler is great. And, it’s easy enough to make on a busy week night too. So good it’s become a regular at our house.