No, this is not my comment on the state of world politics, but a great recipe for a cobbler that can be used to top, well, pretty much any stew or casserole. Thanks once again to the minimalist Mark Bittman for the inspiration.

Ingredients – for 8 hungry persons

• plain white flour – strong white bread flour also works well – 250g
• pinch of salt
• baking soda 1/2 teaspoon
• baking powder 1 1/2 teaspoon
• 2 eggs
• 75g butter – soft
• 240g buttermilk
• 5g herbs to suit, finely chopped

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180degC
2. In a large bowl combine the softened butter with a herb to suit the dish being cobblered: so perhaps rosemary for a chicken stew, or thyme for beef an onions. You choose.
3. Add the salt, baking soda, baking powder and flour. Stir roughly – or blitz for 10 seconds if using a processor
4. Add the eggs and, again, stir roughly. Do the sae with the buttermilk and the result should be a thick dough able to just hold its shape.
5. Dollop onto the stew or caserole.
6. Bake for 40 minutes until golden brown and slithly biscuit on the surface.

Hey presto!