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abracanabraSpiced Surprise Brownies
I am involved in ongoing experiments in how to cook the fennel in our CSA. Neither Phil nor I are at all fond of black licorice, which is what it tastes like, so this is a challenge. In a fit of brilliant madness, I decided to make fennel brownies. I processed the raw fennel to smithereens and added it to my standard double-chocolate brownies recipe, plus cloves and craisins. Then I was forced to substitute mashed bananas for the eggs in the recipe. The results were promising but not ideal, which is why there's no recipe here! The craisins were a mistake. Next time I'll cut the cloves down to 1/4 tsp. and try adding some other spices--maybe nutmeg, cinnamon, or allspice. Or I'll go crazy and add orange extract too. Still--something one can cook involving fennel that's actually pretty tasty!
Root Vegetable Biscuit Bake
(based on this Epicurious recipe)
Of all the words in a recipe, take it from me, the one you least want to miss is "covered." I did. As a result, this got too browned on top and didn't look very good, though it tasted fine. Also, I had to cook the biscuits separately because I didn't want to put it back in the oven and I was trying to follow the original recipe's instruction to cook the veggies for 50 minutes and then with the biscuits for another 45. This is not actually necessary. On the other hand, at least I'm learning to check how many servings it's supposed to make before I start cooking. I've had a few too many vats of leftovers lately!
Filling:
about 4 Tbsp butter
1 1/2 c. broth (I used chicken--use vegetable to keep it vegetarian)
1 1/2 c. peeled and sliced carrots (about 3-4 medium)
1 1/2 c. peeled and sliced parsnips (about 3-4 medium)
4 mysterious white root vegetables that may have been white radishes or baby turnips
Aforementioned mystery vegetable's greens
1/2 delicata squash, chopped
1 leek, minced (or an onion)
5 cloves garlic, minced
3 c. kale, spine removed, chopped
1/4 c. grated cheese (I used mostly Colby with some cheddar)
1/2 tsp. dried powdered rosemary
2 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsp. Sherry (or cooking Sherry or wine or if necessary cooking wine)
black pepper to taste
Biscuits
1 1/8 c. flour
1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. dried powdered rosemary
1/4 c. cheddar cheese
3 Tbsp. salted butter, diced
3 Tbsp. yogurt
1/2 c. milk
Instructions
Butter 9"x9" or 2 Qt baking dish. Preheat oven to 400 F.
Melt 1 Tbsp. butter in skillet over high heat. Add carrots and stir constantly until they begin to brown slightly around the edges. Dump into pan. Repeat for parsnips, mystery veg, and squash, cooking each vegetable individually (otherwise they'll steam instead of brown). Mix all root vegetables together in pan. Layer mystery veg leaves on top.
In skillet, turn heat to medium-low and cook kale until it has begun to wilt and reduced in size. (I did this in the microwave with water. This would probably work better.) Layer kale on top in pan. Grind pepper over to taste. Sprinkle cheese across the top.
Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in skillet and saute leek over medium heat until translucent. Add garlic and rosemary and saute until everything's beginning to brown. Add flour. Stir until flour begins to brown, about 1 minute. Whisk broth in gradually. Add Sherry. Cook until sauce thickens, only a couple of minutes. Pour over vegetables in pan.
Make biscuits
Mix together flour, baking powder, and rosemary in large bowl. Add butter and cheese. Using fingertips, rub in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal.
Mix yogurt and milk together. Add gradually, stirring with fork until dough is evenly moistened. Drop dough to shape biscuits on top of vegetables in pan, using either two large spoons or an ice cream scoop.
Bake 45-50 minutes. Let sit 15 minutes to solidify.
I am involved in ongoing experiments in how to cook the fennel in our CSA. Neither Phil nor I are at all fond of black licorice, which is what it tastes like, so this is a challenge. In a fit of brilliant madness, I decided to make fennel brownies. I processed the raw fennel to smithereens and added it to my standard double-chocolate brownies recipe, plus cloves and craisins. Then I was forced to substitute mashed bananas for the eggs in the recipe. The results were promising but not ideal, which is why there's no recipe here! The craisins were a mistake. Next time I'll cut the cloves down to 1/4 tsp. and try adding some other spices--maybe nutmeg, cinnamon, or allspice. Or I'll go crazy and add orange extract too. Still--something one can cook involving fennel that's actually pretty tasty!
Root Vegetable Biscuit Bake
(based on this Epicurious recipe)
Of all the words in a recipe, take it from me, the one you least want to miss is "covered." I did. As a result, this got too browned on top and didn't look very good, though it tasted fine. Also, I had to cook the biscuits separately because I didn't want to put it back in the oven and I was trying to follow the original recipe's instruction to cook the veggies for 50 minutes and then with the biscuits for another 45. This is not actually necessary. On the other hand, at least I'm learning to check how many servings it's supposed to make before I start cooking. I've had a few too many vats of leftovers lately!
Filling:
about 4 Tbsp butter
1 1/2 c. broth (I used chicken--use vegetable to keep it vegetarian)
1 1/2 c. peeled and sliced carrots (about 3-4 medium)
1 1/2 c. peeled and sliced parsnips (about 3-4 medium)
4 mysterious white root vegetables that may have been white radishes or baby turnips
Aforementioned mystery vegetable's greens
1/2 delicata squash, chopped
1 leek, minced (or an onion)
5 cloves garlic, minced
3 c. kale, spine removed, chopped
1/4 c. grated cheese (I used mostly Colby with some cheddar)
1/2 tsp. dried powdered rosemary
2 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsp. Sherry (or cooking Sherry or wine or if necessary cooking wine)
black pepper to taste
Biscuits
1 1/8 c. flour
1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. dried powdered rosemary
1/4 c. cheddar cheese
3 Tbsp. salted butter, diced
3 Tbsp. yogurt
1/2 c. milk
Instructions
Butter 9"x9" or 2 Qt baking dish. Preheat oven to 400 F.
Melt 1 Tbsp. butter in skillet over high heat. Add carrots and stir constantly until they begin to brown slightly around the edges. Dump into pan. Repeat for parsnips, mystery veg, and squash, cooking each vegetable individually (otherwise they'll steam instead of brown). Mix all root vegetables together in pan. Layer mystery veg leaves on top.
In skillet, turn heat to medium-low and cook kale until it has begun to wilt and reduced in size. (I did this in the microwave with water. This would probably work better.) Layer kale on top in pan. Grind pepper over to taste. Sprinkle cheese across the top.
Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in skillet and saute leek over medium heat until translucent. Add garlic and rosemary and saute until everything's beginning to brown. Add flour. Stir until flour begins to brown, about 1 minute. Whisk broth in gradually. Add Sherry. Cook until sauce thickens, only a couple of minutes. Pour over vegetables in pan.
Make biscuits
Mix together flour, baking powder, and rosemary in large bowl. Add butter and cheese. Using fingertips, rub in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal.
Mix yogurt and milk together. Add gradually, stirring with fork until dough is evenly moistened. Drop dough to shape biscuits on top of vegetables in pan, using either two large spoons or an ice cream scoop.
Bake 45-50 minutes. Let sit 15 minutes to solidify.