Ingredients
2 cups (10 ounces) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon table salt
1 cup buttermilk, cold
12 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
3 cloves garlic, minced or grated

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 475*F.  Melt 8 tablespoons butter in microwave. 

2. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt in large bowl. Combine buttermilk and 8 tablespoons warm melted butter in medium bowl, stirring until buttermilk and butter for small clumps. Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients and stir with rubber spatula until just incorporated and batter pulls away from sides of bowl. Stir in shredded cheese. 

3. Using greased 1/4-cup dry measure or #30 disher, scoop level amount of batter and drop onto parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining batter, spacing biscuits about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake until tops are golden brown and crisp, about 12 to 14 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter over low heat in small saucepan.  Add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic softens and begins to color.  Remove from heat. 

5. Brush cooked biscuit tops with garlic butter. Transfer to wire rack and let cool 5 minutes before serving. Best eaten warm! 



Comments
This is a modified version of Buttermilk Drop Biscuits.  I made these for a gathering at Zekiah and they were a hit.  The cheese flavor was great and the biscuits were tender and tasty.  Next time, I think I might add some garlic into the melted butter that goes into the batter, to try to up the garlic flavors in the biscuits. 

I’ve got a few left in the fridge, so I hope to be adding a picture soon, unless they all get gobbled up before I’m able to!

Ingredients
1 pint small tomatoes, quartered or halved
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 cups quinoa
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups white wine
5 cloves garlic, minced
4-6 ounces feta cheese, crumbled or chopped
1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 400*F. 

2. Toss tomatoes with 2 tablespoons oil, salt and pepper.  Place tomatoes on wire rack set in baking sheet, cut side down, and bake 30 minutes or until tomatoes start to shrivel. 

3. After tomatoes have cooked for 15 minutes, start to prepare quinoa.  Heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in saucepan over medium heat.  Add garlic and quinoa and cook, stirring, until garlic is fragrant.  Add white and broth, cover and bring to boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, with lid half on, for about 15 minutes or until liquid has been absorbed. 

4. Add tomatoes, feta, and chickpeas to quinoa and stir well to combine. 



Comments
This recipe is from Sprout and Pea.  I had delicious local feta in my fridge and decided this recipe would be a great way to use it.  I thought it was delicious!  Next time I might add a little bit of lemon juice, but I thought the recipe was great as it was.  The roasted tomatoes were very flavorful and the garlic added great flavor to the quinoa.  This was a fantastic side dish for the grilled leg of lamb. 

The feta, by the way, was grand. 

Shown here with Grilled Marinated Leg of Lamb.

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup plain yogurt (I used Greek.)
2 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar plus 2 tablespoons
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
12 ounces frozen corn

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 375*F. 

2. Beat together butter, yogurt, eggs, and 1/2 cup brown sugar.  Add cornmeal, flour, baking soda and salt.  Mix until batter forms. 

3. In 10-inch ovenproof skillet heat olive oil over high heat.  Add frozen corn and 2 tablespoons brown sugar and sauté 5 minutes. 

4. Pour batter over sautéed corn and stir to combine.  Place skillet in oven and bake 30 to 35 minutes or until top turns golden and toothpick comes out clean.  Cool 5 minutes before serving. 



Comments
This recipe is from Five Dollar Dinners.  Many years ago, Art and I used to spend quite a bit of weekend time in Rockville, MD and there was a specialty food store there called Eatzi’s.  Sadly, it went out of business but it had the most amazing skillet cornbread that had bits of corn in it, not just cornmeal.  We’d often pick one up to take home with us and the bread was always devoured.  I’ve been looking for a recipe that comes close to that deliciousness for quite some time now and I think this might be the one.  The bread had just the right amount of sweetness, great texture due to the corn, and a nice crust from the skillet.  This might just be the cornbread of my dreams. 

Shown here with Spice-Rubbed Chicken Fingers with Cilantro Dipping Sauce.

Ingredients
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
1 1/2 cups milk, lukewarm
4 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon butter, cut into small bits, plus more for buttering dish
1 can coconut milk
1/4 cup sugar

Instructions
1. Mix yeast and milk in large bowl.  Let rest for 5 minutes until yeast has dissolved.  Stir in butter pieces then slowly add flour, 1 cup at a time.  Mix until dough easily pulls away from sides of bowl and forms a smooth ball. 

2. Place dough in buttered bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and rest until doubled in volume.  (This took about an hour for my dough.)  Butter 12 by 9-inch baking dish. 

3. Split dough into 18 pieces, roll into balls, and place in baking dish.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for another hour. 

4. Meanwhile, mix coconut milk with sugar.  Once rolls have risen, pour coconut milk over dough and heat oven to 375*F. 

5. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until done. 



Comments
I found this recipe on A Little Bit of Everything.  They looked great and, miraculously, I had a can of coconut milk that was unclaimed by any other recipe hanging out in my pantry!  I don’t have a lot of experience with breads that need to rise, since I tend to use the bread machine.  These were very simple to make, and the flavor was great.  They were a bit gooey and messy to eat, but I didn’t care one bit.