Asparagus Biscuit Loaf

Following is my vegetarian version of a Tuna Biscuit Ring recipe that I cut out of a Gold Medal Flour bag almost 40 years ago. I’ve served it a lot over the years sometimes using salmon. I stopped making it into a ring shape because it was almost always lopsided though very interesting! When I managed to shape it just right it was quite the centerpiece on the table. I also cut back on tuna, though I love it, because of the mercury levels in the fish.

Our asparagus patch is on the down swing here in Wisconsin but obviously this dish is quite adaptable to whatever vegetable is in season. Served with cheese sauce it is quite a filling dish. For a lighter version make a mushroom gravy using thickened broth. Either way it’s a quick dish to make and not as complicated as it might seem. (Prepare the gravy while the loaf is baking. Voila!)

Asparagus Biscuit Loaf

1 egg, slightly beaten 2 cups cooked chopped asparagus or mixture of whatever veggies you like ½ cup chopped onion ½ cup shredded sharp cheddar, swiss, feta or your favorite cheese ½ cup snipped parsley or other herbs or micro-greens from your garden ½ tsp. seasoned salt, celery salt or spike ¼ tsp. pepper

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Reserve 2 tbsp. of the egg; set aside. Mix remaining egg, asparagus, onion, cheese, parsley, salt and pepper. Prepare Biscuit Dough. Roll dough into rectangle, 15″ x 10″; spread with mixture. Roll up & pinch dough together, beginning at wide side. Place loaf seam side down on greased baking sheet. Pinch ends together. With scissors, make cuts 2/3 of the way through loaf at 1″ intervals. Turn each section on its side (alternate sides); brush with reserved egg. Bake 25-30 minutes. Serve with hot cheese sauce or your favorite mushroom gravy (a recipe here).

Biscuit Dough 2 cups flour – I usually use 1 cup unbleached and 1 cup whole wheat 3 tsp. baking powder ½ tsp. salt ¼ cup olive oil mixed with ¾ cup milk or water

Measure flour, baking powder and salt into bowl. Stir in liquid to make a soft, puffy, easy-to-roll dough. Round up dough on lightly floured surface. Knead lightly 20-25 times, about ½ min.

Cutting the Loaf

Cheese Sauce

¼ cup butter or olive oil ¼ cup flour ½ tsp. salt ¼ tsp. pepper 2 cups milk of your choice ½ tsp. dry mustard 1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (about 4 oz.)

In sauce pan, melt butter over low heat. Blend in flour, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat. Stir in hot milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 min. Stir in mustard and cheese; heat until cheese is melted.

Glazing

It’s recipe time for the CobraHead Newsletter. For the last two months I had instructions not to use sweet potatoes or any potato in my recipe. But this time I snuck my proposal in before anyone could say anything. I don’t think they really minded though – these latkes are delicious. I’ll try to pace myself on the use of sweet potato recipes but we still have over 30 pounds left and they don’t sprout nearly as fast as the white spuds.

2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and shredded
1 cup minced onions
1 tsp. salt
3 eggs, beaten
½ rounded cup of flour
freshly ground pepper to taste

Toppings: Yogurt, lime wedges, cilantro & minced Serrano peppers, if desired.

Mix the latkes in a very large bowl. Stir together the sweet potato shreds, onions, salt, pepper and eggs. Mix in the flour.

Frying Latkes

Heat oil in medium hot frying pan – cast iron works well. Spoon about 1/3 cup mixture for each latke into hot pan and roundly shape and flatten. Fry 3-4 minutes on first side and 3 minutes on reverse until they are golden brown. Watch your subsequent latke fryings that they don’t get too brown. The sweet potatoes leave carmelized bits in the pan and blacken easier in later fryings using the same oil.

Latkes Cooling

Serve with yogurt, lime wedges and minced serranos. Garnish with cilantro.

Serving Suggestion

The original recipe came from ‘Vegetarian Planet’ by Didi Emmons. I’ve changed it slightly to suit our tastes but her book is jam-packed full of innovative and tasty vegetarian recipes.

Souper Sunday has passed but it’s still soup weather here. Actually soup weather lasts a long, long time in Wisconsin! Following is a recipe that I think came from ‘Sundays at Moosewood’ cookbook. I don’t have a copy of the book so I can’t be sure and as a well-worn family favorite the soup formula is mostly in my head.

Tomato, Lime, and Tortilla Soup (Sopa de Lima)

1-2 cups chopped onions 4 large garlic cloves, minced or pressed 3 T. vegetable oil 1-2 minced chiles (1 inch long) (or to taste) 2 teaspoons ground cumin seeds ½ tsp. dried oregano 3 ½ cups chopped fresh tomatoes* 3 cups vegetable stock 1/3 cup fresh lime juice** or to taste Salt to taste

Grated Monterrey Jack or Pepper Jack cheese Tortilla chips, crumbled Chopped fresh cilantro Chopped avocados

In a medium soup pot, sauté the onions and garlic in the oil until the onions are translucent. Add the chiles (I keep a bag of frozen Serrano peppers in the freezer), cumin, and oregano, and sauté for a few more minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes and sprinkle with a little salt. Cover the pot and cook gently until the tomatoes begin to release their juices. Stir occasionally. This will take longer with winter tomatoes than with summer ones. Add the stock and simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes. Add the lime juice and salt to taste.

Serve topped with grated cheese, avocados and crumbled tortilla chips. Garnish with finely chopped cilantro, if desired.

Notes: *Freezer tomatoes are fine. The only time I use fresh tomatoes is in the summer. I’ve even used leftover marinara sauce. **Go easy or by taste on the lime juice, depending upon the acidity of the tomatoes you may not need quite that much lime. You can also serve lime wedges and let everyone squeeze their own.

Garden Preserving Note: If I have time during the tomato harvest I will cook up the soup broth and freeze in one quart containers. Then it’s winter fast food time – just thaw, heat and decorate!

That looks and sounds wonderful!

Since we’re still in the resurgence year of Julia Child I thought I’d wind up the year with one of my many versions of her recipe for Gratin Dauphinois or Scalloped Potatoes with Milk, Cheese, and a Pinch of Garlic. I say many because I hadn’t opened the book in years for these exact ingredients since I started making scalloped potatoes this way. And usually the recipe is doubled for my 10 x 15 inch pan since it makes a great potluck dish.

2 lbs. potatoes (6 to 7 cups when sliced) – up to half of this could be sweet potatoes

425 degree oven – Bake 30 minutes or until done – this time it took 45 minutes

A fireproof baking-dish about 10 inches in diameter and 2 inches deep

½ clove unpeeled garlic (plus lots of sliced garlic mixed in with the potatoes

4 Tb butter (Julia used a lot of butter but I don’t think it’s necessary except for greasing the pan

1 tsp salt (or to taste – I used about ½ tsp)

1/8 tsp pepper

1 cup (4 ounces) grated Swiss cheese (or sharp cheddar)

1 cup boiling milk (may use half and half if you like)

This adaptation includes sliced sweet potatoes mixed with your favorite ‘regular’ potatoes which these days can be red, white or blue or ??? and lots of sliced garlic. After greasing the pan and smearing it with a garlic half, make two layers of potatoes, garlic slices, and sharp cheddar cheese alternately. Pour on the hot milk or cream ( I also squeezed a clove of garlic and added it to the liquid) and set the dish in the upper third of a 425 degree oven for around 30 minutes. It may take longer if you get heavy handed with the potatoes which is easy to do, or if you double the recipe.

Usually I cover the dish for the first half of the baking, especially with the bigger pan, so the potatoes don’t get overly browned. It’s also important to use a sharp or well flavored cheese if you want the cheese flavor to shine through. The milder cheeses get lost in the shuffle. This is not a soupy dish since most, if not all, of the liquid is absorbed into the potatoes.

My summer version uses freshly chopped garden tomatoes for the liquid. On occasion I’ve added mushrooms. This is a good basic recipe amenable to alterations of all sorts! Bon Appetite!

I love it when the larder is full of sweet potatoes! We harvested 76 pounds this year. Not bad for 20 home started plants in a Wisconsin garden.

There is nothing like a plain baked or roasted sweet potato slathered in butter. The other night I roasted small chunks of sweet potato mixed with Rose Finn Apple fingerling potatoes and cabbage wedges all tossed with olive oil mixed with crushed garlic, salt and pepper. After 45 minutes in a 400 degree oven the sweet potatoes were caramelized, the potatoes crispy on the outside & the cabbage starting to brown. It needed nothing else.

One of our favorite ways to fix these nutrition-packed gems is in a savory dish – Mexican style sweet potato quesadillas. We were served these by a friend about twelve or so years ago and they have been a family favorite ever since. There are lots of recipes for these but the one we like came from ‘Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home – Fast and Easy Recipes for any Day’ by Moosewood Collective.

Usually after making the same meal several times over the recipe evolves into your own with changes here and there. While we have changed the type of cheese (pepper jack comes to mind) and changed the type of tortillas (corn, whole wheat or ???) or baked instead of fried them, we have determined that the original version is the one we like best. We have found an excellent organic white flour tortilla with no hydrogenated fat at Whole Foods. When fried in the hot oil the baking powder in these tortillas causes them to puff up. The secret here is to make sure the oil is hot before you start, otherwise the tortillas just soak up the oil. If you’re intrigued give the following recipe a try. Don’t be afraid to experiment, you may come up with your own winner!

• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped onions

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 4 cups grated peeled sweet potatoes

• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

• 1 teaspoon chili powder

• 2 teaspoons ground cumin

• 1-2 pinch cayenne

• salt and pepper

• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

• 8 (8 inch) flour tortillas

• Salsa

• Sour cream

Directions:

In a large skillet, heat vegetable oil. Sauté onions and garlic until the onions are transparent. Add in the sweet potatoes, oregano, chili powder, cumin, and cayenne. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking.

When the sweet potatoes are tender, remove the filling from the heat and add salt and pepper; stirring to mix.

Evenly spread the sweet potato mixture onto the tortillas; sprinkle 2 tablespoons of cheese onto each tortilla. Fold tortilla in half over filling.

Using a clean skillet add a little oil; heat on medium high heat. Place the quesadillas in the hot oil and cook on each side for 2 minutes, until cheese is melted and the filling is hot. Add more oil to skillet as needed and cook in batches.

Serve with salsa and sour cream.