Author: Cindy Randolph

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Cheese Biscuits

There are three secrets to making successful biscuits.

  1. You have to be willing to get your hands dirty. Mixing with a spoon overworks the dough. Your hands keep things delicate. Plus, all that squishing and making a mess is fun. (Or put the kids to work. They’ll love it.)
  2. Keep your butter cold. This ensures plenty of rise, rich flavor, and delicate layers of puffy biscuit.
  3. Add lots of cheese. I mean LOTS. Because cheese is good.

Follow these steps and I promise you perfect biscuits every time.

These biscuits only take about five minutes of active work and 12-16 minutes to bake. This means you can whip these babies up in no time flat for picnics, last minute guests, or dinner parties.

The cut up biscuit dough can be frozen in an airtight container and stored for a few months. This means that if you want to double or triple the recipe and save some aside for quick baking later you can. Just plop them on a tray, sling ’em into the oven, and sit back.

Cheese Biscuits Recipe

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 15 minutes

I prefer Parmesan and plenty of black pepper for these, but feel free to substitute cheddar, feta, or your favorite blue cheese. Instead of scallions you can use chives or olives. This recipe is merely a guideline to making perfect cheese biscuits.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • dash cayenne
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 7 tablespoons butter, cold
  • 2 scallions, finely chopped
  • 3 oz. grated Parmesan cheese
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk
  • Kosher, Maldon, or Black salt for topping (optional; not table/iodized salt)

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 425F. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, cayenne, black pepper, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

2 Dice the butter into small pieces. If they get too warm then place them in a bowl and put it in the freezer for about 10 minutes before continuing. Toss the diced butter with the flour mixture until well coated. (Again, if into tossing the butter gets hot in your hands place the whole mixture in the freezer for a few minutes.) Add the scallions and cheese and toss until well coated.

3 Add the buttermilk and mix with your hands until it just comes together. You may find you need an extra dribble of buttermilk, if so then go right ahead but do so judiciously. Do not over-knead.

4 Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead once or twice; no more. Form into an 8×8-inch square and cut into 2×2-inch squares and top with a bit of high-quality salt if using. Bake for 12-16 minutes or until golden.

Yield: 16 biscuits

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Cheese Bread

Ingredients

  • 2 cups finely grated fresh Parmesan (or Pecorino Romano)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1 1/4 cups sour manioc starch (povilho azedo)
  • 3/4 cup manioc starch (povilho doce)
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/4 cup, plus 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • pinch of ground nutmeg
  • pinch of cayenne pepper
  • pinch of black pepper

Preparation

1 Place the grated Parmesan in the bowl of a food processor. Add the eggs and yolks and blend until you have a smooth paste, about 1 minute. Set aside.

2 Place the two starches and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Set aside.

3 Place the milk, water, and oil in a small saucepan, and bring to a boil. Immediately pour the milk mixture all at once into the starch mixture and turn the machine on at low speed. Mix until the dough is smooth and the starch is all incorporated, about 2 minutes.

4 Pause the machine and add the cheese and egg paste, scraping directly into the manioc starch mixture. Add the nutmeg, cayenne, and black pepper. Mix the dough at low speed until it turns a pale yellow, about 10 minutes. You are trying to develop the structure of the dough by kneading it slowly. The dough will feel a bit sticky and moist.

5 Transfer the dough to a bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and chill for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator, or overnight.

6 Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

7 Wet your hands with olive oil (alternatively, you can flour your hands with manioc starch) and use an ice-cream scooper as portion control to make 1-inch balls, rolling them with your hands. Place them on the baking sheet, leaving 1 1/2 to 2 inches between each roll (or you can freeze them at this point by storing them in a ziplock bag for up to 3 months).

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Cheeseburger Mac & Cheese

What You’ll Need

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell’s® Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup
1 1/2 cups milk
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
6 ounces (about 1/3 of a 1-pound package) medium shell shaped pasta, cooked and drained
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (about 6 ounces)
1 package (14 ounces) frozen cocktail-size beef meatballs, thawed

How to Make It

Heat the oven to 400°F.  Stir the soup, milk, black pepper, pasta and 3/4 cup cheese in a medium bowl.

Arrange the meatballs in the bottom of an 11x8x2-inch baking dish.  Pour the soup mixture over the meatballs.  Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Bake for 25 minutes or until the mixture is hot and bubbling.

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Strawberry Mojito Cocktail Recipe

 

Adapted from The Berry Bible

The simple syrup recipe is for a larger batch of simple syrup to keep on hand. It keeps for months in the fridge if you store it in a clean container.

Ingredients:

  • 1 ounce (30ml) simple syrup
  • about 3 fresh strawberries
  • 4-5 fresh spearmint sprigs (chopped if you prefer smaller mint pieces in your cocktail)
  • 1 ounce (30ml) fresh lime juice
  • 2 ounces (60ml) light rum
  • 3-4 ounces (90-120ml) soda water

Directions:

  1. In a chilled highball glass (about 10-12 ounces), muddle the simple syrup, strawberries and mint leaves together with the back of a spoon or muddler. Crush the strawberries and mint leaves well.
  2. Stir in the lime juice and rum. Fill the glass with ice and top off with soda water. Gently stir.
  3. Garnish with mint sprigs or strawberry slices.

Note 1: A basic simple syrup is a 1:1 ratio of sugar dissolved in water. example- One cup sugar dissolved in one cup of water. We usually make larger batches and keep on hand in the refrigerator.

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Cherry Mojitos

Ingredients:

1 cup water
1 cup granulated white sugar
1 1/2 cups pitted fresh cherries (reserve a few for garnish)
20 or so good-sized fresh mint leaves
2 limes
8 ounces white rum
club soda, chilled
ice cubes, optional

Directions:

  1. Prepare a simple syrup (do this a couple of hours ahead of time- or longer- so that it has time to chill). > Boil water, add sugar and stir until dissolved. Let cool, then chill in the refrigerator until it has a chance to get very cold.
  2. In a blender or food processor, blend chilled simple syrup and cherries. Pour through a strainer, discard the cherry pulp and keep the sweetened cherry juice.
  3. Place 4 to 5 mint leaves in the bottom of 4 to 6 tall glasses. Squeeze half a lime into each glass. Add 2 ounces of rum to each glass. Use a muddler (or the handle of a wooden spoon) to smash the mint leaves, lime juice and rum together. Divide the sweetened cherry juice between the four glasses. Top each drink off with chilled club soda. Stir, garnish with fresh cherries and serve. Add an ice cube or two, if desired.

Tips:

*It’s okay to prepare the sweetened cherry juice up to one day ahead. Keep chilled.

*Don’t have a cherry pitter? Find a straw and poke the straw through the cherries. It might take a little longer, but the pit will pop right out!

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Cantal Cheese Tart

Crust:

  • 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, diced
  • 3 tablespoons (or more) ice water

 Filling:

  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup chopped shallots (about 2 large)
  • 1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/8 teaspoon (scant) freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon (scant) freshly grated nutmeg
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 cups coarsely grated rindless Cantal cheese (about 7 ounces)

For crust:
Blend flour and salt in processor 5 seconds. Add butter and cut in, using on/ off turns, until very coarse meal forms. Add 3 tablespoons ice water. Blend until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic. Chill at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 12- to 13-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Cut off all but 1/2-inch overhang. Fold overhang in and press so that sides of dough rise 1/4 to 1/3 inch above rim of pan. Freeze crust 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line crust with foil; fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake crust until sides are set, about 25 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Bake crust until pale golden, piercing with fork if crust bubbles, about 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Cool crust.

For filling:
Melt butter in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add shallots. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté until soft and beginning to color, about 4 minutes. Spread shallots in crust. Whisk cream, eggs, pepper, nutmeg, and salt in medium bowl. Mix in cheese. Pour custard into crust. Bake until filling is set in center, 35 to 38 minutes. Transfer tart to rack and cool 15 to 30 minutes. Push up pan bottom, releasing tart. Serve tart warm or at room temperature.

Ingredient tip: Cantal is a semi-firm cheese with a slight grassy flavor when aged. English farmhouse cheddar or sharp white cheddar are fine substitutes.