ITEMS
Basil
Butter Chard (young, tender chard)
Clover Honey
Pint of Whole Milk
Dozen Eggs
Organic White Flour / GF Baking Blend
PRODUCERS
Yellowstone Valley Farms - Billings
Missoula Grain & Vegetable Co. - Missoula
Wustner Brothers Honey - Missoula
Kalispell Kreamery - Kalispell
TerraWorks - Springhill
Wheat Montana - Three Forks / GF Montana - Belgrade
Mediterranean Salad with Butter Chard and Honey-Lemon Dressing
These toppings are good suggestions, but can easily be adjusted to your tastes or what's on hand. Adapted from Sylvia Fountaine. Serves 3-4.
~4 C butter chard, rinsed and spun dry, then cut or torn into small pieces
1 bell pepper (red, orange or yellow), thinly sliced
4 radishes, sliced - sub grated carrots or beets
1/2 a medium-sized cucumber, sliced
Handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
1 avocado, cubed
1/4 C kalamata olives, roughly chopped
1 C cooked chickpeas or lentils
1/2 C Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped - sub some mint or chives
1/2 C basil leaves, thinly sliced
1/4 C toasted pepitas, toasted pine nuts, or slivered almonds
Additional topping ideas: sprouts or pea shoots, crumbled goat cheese or feta, sliced red onion, sliced pepperoncinis, artichoke hearts, hard-boiled eggs etc.
Dressing:
2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
1–2 garlic cloves, minced or grated
1 tsp honey
1/4 C extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Whisk or shake together the dressing ingredients with a pinch each of salt and pepper. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine the prepped chard leaves with whichever toppings you choose, either tossing everything together or arranging the toppings in clusters or strips for a more interesting presentation. Before serving, taste the dressing and adjust as needed. Either dress the whole salad (you probably won't need all the dressing) and toss well to combine, or pass the dressing at the table.
Homemade Biscuits with Honey Butter
Adapted from Andrea Bemis, Local Dirt. Makes ~8 biscuits
2 1/2 C organic white flour, all-purpose flour, or GF baking flour
2 Tbs baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 C (1 stick, 8 Tbs, or 1/4 lb) cold unsalted butter, cubed
1 scant C whole milk, shake well to distribute cream on top before measuring out
1 Tbs white vinegar or lemon juice
2 tsp honey
Preheat oven to 450 F. In a 2 C measuring cup or small bowl, combine the milk and vinegar or lemon juice and set aside. Alternatively, substitute 1 C buttermilk.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt until well-combined. Dot the surface with the cold butter cubes and cut it into the flour using a pastry cutter, 2 knives, or a knife and a fork... whatever you have to work with. You want a coarse crumb texture with the largest clumps roughly pea-sized. Or, if you have a food processor, you can pulse the ingredients until there are pea-sized clumps, ~10-12 times, being careful not to over mix.
In the bowl, add the milk mixture to the flour mixture, then drizzle in the honey. If honey is stiff or crystalized, gentle heat will soften it up to drizzle. Stir and fold until everything is just moistened - don't overwork it. It will be crumbly in parts and sticky in others.
Shape the dough into a ball and set it on a lightly floured work surface. With floured hands, gently ease the dough ball into a roughly square shape. Then fold the square in half and press down lightly to reshape. Repeat this process of folding and flattening 3 more times. You're creating layers, which helps make a flakey biscuit. Don't worry about being too precise - the more you handle the dough, the warmer it gets, which affects how it rises in the oven. Cold butter and milk create steam in the hot oven, giving the biscuits a boost, so speed is better than precision.
Finally, press or gently roll out the dough until it's ~1/2 inch thick. Cut into whatever shape you like - I usually cut mine into rectangles with a knife or bench scraper, but you can also cut circles with a biscuit or cookie cutter or a mason jar. If you have scraps, gently combine, reroll and cut again. On a baking sheet or in a cast iron pan, arrange the biscuits so they're touching. This will also help them to rise, forcing them up instead of spreading out. If you like, brush the tops with 1-2 Tbs milk. I often don't, but it makes them more attractive. Bake for ~15 minutes, until nicely golden brown.
Honey Butter
Combine 4 Tbs softened butter (1/2 a stick) and 1 Tbs honey, softened if needed. Top with some flaky sea salt if you like. Serve with warm biscuits.
Additional Recipes & Suggestions
Make this Spiced Butternut Squash with Honey-Lime Butter. Or use sweet potatoes.
These Cherry Rye Muffins call for milk and white flour along with some rye flour. Use any berries you have available!
Real Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies - I'm recommending them AGAIN because they're so good.
Omelettes, Frittatas, Scrambles, and Quiche are all great ways to use eggs, milk, and leafy greens and herbs. If a breakfast casserole is more your style, make this yummy strata .