Cherry Tomato Cobbler with Gruyere Biscuits

Another cold day off means I get to share more stories and recipes!  I have already had a very productive morning: ran 4.5 miles, finished lesson plans for the week, submitted grad-school homework, and found a yummy recipe to make for dinner (oh and I'm about to start baking a crazy good looking dessert).  I am appreciative for the day-off, but I know that I am going to have to make it up eventually.  However, I think I'd rather go to an extra day of school when the weather is nice and have the time off when it is crazy cold like today.

What I really want to tell you about is this: It's restaurant week!  I love the idea of restaurant week and when I saw that R.J. Grunts had a restaurant week menu, I knew that Bri and I just had to go.  We had a cute little date night at this fine establishment and enjoyed some amazing food.  We got vegetarian chili and french onion soup for our appetizer, burgers and the salad bar for our entree, and a deep-dish cookie with ice cream and a chocolate oreo shake for dessert.  All this, plus a glass of wine each, was $33 per person!  It was a great deal and all the food was amazing.  We were super duper stuffed because of it, but it was a great night!  We came home and watched an episode of Sherlock on PBS and then passed out because of our food coma.  It was wonderful.

Eating out has turned into a great treat because we hardly ever have the time anymore!  With Bri in law school and me teaching, we are usually too busy or too tired.  On one of those nights, I made this awesome Cherry Tomato Cobbler with Gruyere Biscuits.  It was delicious and we had tons of leftovers to heat up during the week!  I love that this uses veggies and I adapted the recipe to use whole wheat flour and a lightened up biscuit mixture.

Cherry Tomato Cobbler with Gruyere Biscuits
(adapted from Tracy's Culinary Adventures)

Ingredients:
Tomato Cobbler:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 large sweet onion, sliced
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp fresh thyme
3 lb cherry tomatoes
3 tbsp whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
Gruyere Biscuits:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold, cubed
1 cup shredded gruyere, plus 2 tbsp
1 1/2 cup half and half (or heavy cream)

Directions:
1. Make the biscuits: In a large bowl, whisk both flours, baking powder, and salt.  Cut in the butter with a fork or pasty cutter until well combined.  Stir in half and half until just combined.  Stir in shredded cheese.  Place in fridge to chill.
2. Make the cobbler: in a large skillet, melt butter and oil over medium heat.  Add in onions and cook for about 20-25 minutes or until onions are soft and caramelized.  Add in garlic and thyme and cook for another 3 minutes.  Transfer to a bowl.
3. Add the tomatoes, flour, and red pepper flakes to the bowl.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Preheat oven to 375 and place tomato mixture into a 13 by 9 inch pan.  Take the biscuit dough of the fridge and drop 1/2 cup sized balls on top of the tomatoes.  You will cover almost the entire pan.  Sprinkle the rest of the gruyere cheese over the top.
5.  Bake for 60-70 minutes.  Biscuits will be lightly browned and tomato mixture will be bubbling.

Enjoy :)