Pecan Shortbread Biscuits

Ok, I know we call them cookies in the USA. Sorry to anyone looking for a new twist on the fluffy buttermilk goodness commonly served with white gravy south of the Mason Dixon line.  Maybe your Appalachian mamaw made something like this, but she probably didn't call it a 'biscuit'.  However, I have Mrs. Beeton's to thank for most of this recipe, so I can't exactly call it a cookie, now can I?  Mrs. Beeton first started advising British homemakers on cookery and household management in 1860.  Among the chapters for recipes, first aid, and social customs, her first editions also included instructions on how to best manage household servants.  When I crack open my 4-inch thick "concise" version of her book of cookery, I sometimes wonder how I might adapt those original techniques...or modernize, perhaps, the idea of managing my servan--...I mean children.  Haha...I mean I want to manage my children better :-)  Maybe I'll just go bake some cookies with them...

Ingredients:
6 oz (1 cup) soft white or bronze chief whole wheat flour
3 oz (1/2 cup) semolina flour
2 oz (1/4 cup) caster sugar
Pinch of salt
1 cup pecans, finely chopped or ground into a meal texture
6 oz (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Combine dry ingredients, then rub the butter into the flour mixture until it forms a dough.  Knead gently if necessary to make sure there are not lumps of butter in the dough.  With a cookie scoop, scoop out balls of dough and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Leave 1 inch gaps between cookies.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove from the oven and gently place them on a cooling rack, or let cool completely before serving. Store in an airtight container.

Roasted Winter Vegetable Stew With Cannelini & Kale

Ingredients:
4-5 Carrots

3 Peppers (red, yellow & orange)
2 Onions
1 Head of cauliflower
4-5 Celery stalks
Canola oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

1-2 Tsp whole fennel seed
Dash of ground cumin
2 Bay leaves
8 Cups of good vegetable stock or broth (I use Rapunzel w/sea salt & herbs)
5 Cloves of garlic, minced
A 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, grated
Juice from one lemon About 6 cups of cooked cannellini beans (rinsed and drained if using cans)
1 Bunch of curly kale, stems removed & chopped

Method:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Coarsly chop the carrots, peppers, onions, cauliflower, and celery. Place on a large baking sheet, roasting pan or casserole dish. Toss with enough oil to coat the vegetables, then season generously with kosher salt & pepper. Bake until the vegetables are beginning to caramelize on the tips and are soft. (About 45 minutes to 1 hour.)

Next, (you can do this step in a crock pot if desired) place the cooked vegetables in a large stock pot with the broth,. Puree with an immersion blender to the desired consistency, adding water if necessary. Add the fennel seed, cumin, bay leaves, garlic, ginger, lemon juice. Bring to a low boil, then simmer on low heat, stirring occasionally. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired. Add the beans and kale, and simmer until the kale is wilted and tender. Remove the bay leaves before serving.

Ha Ha! I'm In A Cookbook!

Well, yes, it's a free cookbook... and my recipe is all the way in the back of the book, but hey, I won't complain.  Yeah, I'm not exactly famous. Well, my mom thinks I'm famous and that's what really matters, right?  To be clear, one might think it's fun to have a photo-shoot for a cookbook. But I was nervous, chattering...they asked me to chop an onion. Fortunately I didn't cry.  But in the one photo where my face does not look too weird, I'm not actually holding the onion I'm supposed to be chopping. Ugh...enough about me.

The recipe book is called Eat Up, and is the fourth in a series of seasonal cookbooks that promote buying healthy ingredients that are grown or produced within a 100-mile range of Chattanooga.
Gaining Ground is a non-profit organization whose motto is "We work to promote the local food movement in Chattanooga, because local food is better for the health of our neighbors and of our economy.  Supporting family farmers, farmers markets, restaurants, businesses, nonprofits, entrepreneurs, and policymakers who are growing Chattanooga - and encouraging everyone to Buy Local, Eat Better."

Go on...go to the farmer's market and buy some veggies, meat or honey...and pick up your own copy of Eat Up.  Even if it's to laugh at the goofy picture of me holding an imaginary onion, I think you will like it.