CantaloupeAlone

Never have I been so pleased with a biscuit recipe

I bake a lot. I bake for holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, picnics, bar mitzvahs, weddings, special occasions, and on. I also bake for me. When I'm out of whatever, or sick of eating whole wheat pita, oatmeal, and wild rice I like to bake up some carb-heavy, gluten nasty flat bread, zucchini bread, cake, cookies. I am adding this biscuit recipe today (and I've made a lot of biscuit recipes) to that list of quick breads.

The batch you see above is the 4th I've made since January, and all have been a success out of the gate. My cloud-like, fluffy, can't do anything but rise biscuit recipe is adapted from Greg's Southern Biscuits, which I found on Allrecipes.com. The main difference is mine don't have lard or bacon drippings, but only because I don't have that food in my kitchen. You bet I'd make them with good lard if I had good lard. Also, this is a great recipe for using up leftover, extra buttermilk.

Cl…

It's wise to keep a secret list of meals you can put together with what you might have in the pantry. Frozen vegetable (spinach, peas, fava beans, artichokes) + canned/curred protein (tuna, bacon, ham, prosciutto, smoked fish salami, etc) + grain (pasta, rice, noodles, barley) is a pretty good equation for those "I need a meal without a trip to the store times." These meals taste awesome with an egg on top, or a douse of cheese which I would consider more of a bonus garnish rather than an ingredient.


I came across Job's Tears (aka Chinese Barley, Tear Grass, or HatoMugi) in a Japanese grocery store in San Francisco. Its shape is rounder and fatter than your average barley. The grain has a memorable toasted cereal flavor, not far from Cheerios or puffed wheat cereal. The texture is springy and light. The best news is that's its really really healthy with iron, fiber, and protein. According to the package Job's tears are known for being easy to digest, and and s…

Orange and green are pretty food colors.

I like to cover the corners when creating food for groups. Something for the meat eaters and something for the non-meat (vegan, vegetarians, etc.) eaters. Fruitarians, raw foodists, and gluten impaired tend to be harder for me to please. I like grains, bread, and baking. I have a little list of star non-animal ingredients that I like to showcase for the vegetarians. Avocado, peanut, almond, tahini, mushroom, tofu, tomatoes (in season), whole grains (barley, wild rice, bulgur), legumes (black bean and garbanzo particularly) olives, sweet potatoes, and eggplant all stand on two legs for both crowds. Garnish with whats in season and everyone goes home full and happy.

This sandwich was dripping with creamy avocado, which I seasoned with lime, salt, and green onion. Almost like guacamole. Salted carrot and fennel, shaved thin for an easy bite, contrasted with a lightly sweet-salty crunch.

Big Avocado Sandwich

2 ripe avocados
1 green scallion, finely slic…

Loaded steak sandwich

Sandwiches may be my real passion. An artful stack of textures and flavors in a portable package. Filling and satisfying bites of everything you're craving all at once. Plus they are terrific for sharing. Do I need to sell you on the form and function of a sandwich? Nope, but it's always nice to dream about the perfect sandwich. Choosing high quality ingredients, and dressing them up a bit make for a superior experience. Also taking some time to consider how to cut and layer your sandwich will allow everyone to take a big bite without the sammy guts dropping out.

Blue Cheese and Steak Sandwich

1/2 lb skirt or hanger steak (the fresher the better)
1 tblsp molasses
1 tblsp soy sauce
1 splash hot sauce
1 tblsp oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tblsp crumbled blue cheese
1/2 tsp fresh cracked pepper
1 12-14 inch ciabatta loaf, split
6 oz roasted red peppers, sliced into strips
fennel fronds, optional
olive oil

Marinate the steak for 1-4 hours in molasses, soy sauce, pepper, ho…