Blackberry Grunt
called a grunt, as that is the sound it makes when the bubbles from the liquid pop around the dough....
10 ounces all purpose flour, (approx 2 cups)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
½ stick of butter (2 oz) chilled and in small pieces
1 cup milk
20 oz (1 lb 4 oz or 4 cups) blackberries (fresh or frozen)
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
In a large cast iron skillet (10 inches) or similar oven proof skillet combine the berries, sugar, water, and ginger. Give it medium heat and bring to a simmer (stir occasionally). Once simmer obtained, reduce heat to medium low and cook for 15 – 20 minutes (I find cooking frozen berries longer is necessary), until liquid coats the back of a spoon.
While the cooking is taking place (or before, I don’t care), Mix flour, baking powder, salt into a large bowl. I use a whisk to combine the ingredients thoroughly. Work the (cold!) butter with your hands into the dry mix until about half of the fat disappears and the rest is in pea-size lumps. Make a hole in the center of the mixture and add the milk and stir with a rubber spatula until it just comes together (no extra mixing please or you’ll get a tough grunt… lol).
Press mixture into a ball and let rest in fridge while filling continues to cook (giving dough time to hydrate)
Once berry liquid is thickened get the dough from fridge, and using a spoon, drop dough “balls” onto fruit – evenly distributing is best.
Bake in the 400 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the top is turning brown. Allow the grunt to cool for 15+ minutes until serving (usually with vanilla ice cream).
Alternatives:
Substitute buttermilk for milk for a nice tang to the biscuit mixture.
If so, add ¼ tsp or so of baking soda (it’s chemistry! Acid plus base = bubbles = rise)
I often find recipes that add baking soda and often we are tempted to add it “just because it says so”. However, if we stop and think for a moment and ask why, often there is no good reason as there usually isn’t any acid to balance out the basic nature of the baking soda. Sure, you can add it, but it really doesn’t add anything to the recipe (unless you add too much – blech).
Another alterative is to find/get some yeast starter and substitute 1/2 of the milk for the liquid starter. Again, since the starter is acidic, I would recommend adding ¼ tsp of baking soda to the dry goods.
Stream of consciousness (method of writing where one writes down the first thought that appears in your mind... here's one from today from me...):
Itching
Glysolid
HUVECs
Pontine gliomas
Rhabdomyosarcomas
Malignant ascites
gone!
Worry, worry, worry
Palindromes
radar
another year
and another one
Wii
Nun chuck
You’ll shoot your eye out!
360
Too much
Reduction junction, what’s your function?
Pigs in a blanket
Nice and hot
Lost Dogs
Bad Indigestion
What is the hour?
5 pm Friday
weeks of travel in 
Certainly that played a part. Was it God’s hand leading us? Certainly. Or… Was it because I was an American? Possibly… Though bullets and bombs don’t discriminate, I felt safer there than I do walking through downtown 
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