Butter the radish, pour the wine
Madison’s Westside Community Market opened yesterday and it was an absolute success. I got there at 9:00 and Diana from DreamFarms was already out of eggs but she did have a tasty wedge of feta. At the information booth Vivien was dispensing hellos and news about the apple trees along with the delicious complimentary coffee that the market offers. Everywhere I looked farmers and shoppers were chatting and renewing friendships.
JenEhr Farm offered a bountiful spread of greens including a blend of mustard greens, bundles of a type of mustard green I’d not seen before, bunches of sorrel, and a lovely, light green leaf with a mild bok choy flavor. I bought some of each, including several bunches of French breakfast radishes.
A crusty, deeply flavorful whole wheat batard from Madison Sourdough Company brought it all together on a plate for a seasonal and local lunch. The sausage from Sunnyhill Acres, the feta from Dreamfarm, the radishes and greens from JenEhr a dab of butter here and there, some sea salt, and a glass of crisp white from France…well it was almost local but it was simple, full of flavor and probably one of the most satisfying meals ever. Like a big sigh…spring is here…it seems as though it’s safe to come out of my hole.
Chicken n Biscuits
This beautiful meal is absolute bowl-licking deliciousness. Chicken and veggies enrobed in a winey, chickeny veloute with light, buttery biscuits proudly perched on top. After a good day at work, coming home and putting this together for the guys was a real pleasure. It would be easy to think of biscuits as off limits for dinner, but that’s not the way I think my good peeps…nope, a perfect biscuit is just as much at home on the dinner table as it is on the breakfast plate. Of course I used the cylinder technique to make the biscuits and I urge you to do so too. Surely I can’t be the first person to think of the cylinder technique but I will tell you that my sweet genius husband is very proud of me for it…that and my other totally original invention, the vacuum sleeve.
Chicken n Biscuits
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1 medium onion diced
6 tablespoons butter
2 chicken breasts, diced
2 potatoes, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup white wine
2 cups chicken stock
3 tablespoons flour
pinch of dried rosemary
Preheat the oven to 425°. Sauté the onions and chicken over medium heat. Set aside. Put the potatoes and carrots in a pan and cover shallowly with water…toss in some salt and cook until tender. If you use purple potatoes cook them separately from the carrots because the colors will mix. Drain and set aside. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a pan and mix in the flour. Cook over a medium low heat and then add the wine and chicken stock, whisking to form a sauce. Cook gently for a few minutes, taste for salt and then adjust. Add the rosemary, the potatoes, carrots, chicken/onions, and the frozen peas.
Vanessa’s Better Biscuits
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons of butter, very cold, diced
¾ cup of milk (more or less)
Put the flour, salt, and baking powder into the workbowl of your food processor fitted with the blade. Pulse this to mix it and then add the diced butter. Pulse until it is coarsely combined. Add the milk through the opening in the top as you pulse it to mix it together. Add it very slowly and only add enough to bring the dough together. It’ll be different every time you make them.
Turn the dough out onto the counter (here comes the cylinder technique) and roll it into a cylinder with a circumference that is the size of the biscuit you want to make. Cut the cylinder into equally sized pieces…again depending on the size of biscuit you want.
Butter a baking dish and pour the chicken mixture into it. Place the biscuits on top. Into the oven it goes for about 10 to 12 minutes or until the biscuits are golden brown.
Eat it up and feel good about yourself…a meal like this, you deserve it.
