Cheddar Dill Biscuits

2 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
8 Tbsp (1-stick) butter, cubed and very chilled
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp fresh dill, minced
2/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 450F.  Mix the four, sugar and salt together in a food processor.  Pulse in the butter, just until an even coarse mixture is formed.  Transfer dough to a mixing bowl.  Stir in the cheese, red pepper and dill.  Then stir in the milk just until incorporated.

Tip the batter out to a clean counter, dusted with flour.  Gently roll dough out to about 12x12-inch square.  Fold one third of one side over, and then fold other side over.  gently roll dough out to a 12x12-inch square again.  Repeat the rolling over and once again roll out to about a 12x12-inch square.   Cut out biscuits with a cutter or a glass.  Place on a well oiled baking sheet or one covered with parchment paper.  Using a pastry brush, glaze top of each biscuit with milk.  Bake about 12-15 minutes.

Makes 15-18 biscuits.

Le Tour de France - Nos Tour de France

Starting our 10 day tour of France with the Finale of Le Tour de France on Les Champes Elysees was a treat as wonderful as all the food we experienced.
We traveled from Paris to Brittany, to Toulouse, to Clerment Ferrand, up to the Loire valley and back to Paris - eating everything we could find along the way! Over the next few months in this blog, you'll see me work my way through many of the great recipes we learned, and try to replicate them in the American kitchen. All the food we had was wonderful (except the snails, I have to admit), but the bread - need I say more? I was reading Julia Child's "My Life in France" during this trip, and she swears that we can make a good baguette back stateside - I have my doubts but this will be a challenge I will undertake in this blog... Stay tuned here for more details as I figure it out.

Banana Plum Bread

Based on Babette's Best Ever Banana Bread, this is a variation on a her theme, and a great way for me to remember her warmly by. I use whatever leftover fruit we have hanging around, even maybe sometimes a bit too soft, that's OK. Or I add frozen fruit like berries, or diced mango which is really very good! Babette was always into nuts and whole foods - and we cooked a lot of whole grains together; I also sometimes add 1/2 cup chopped walnuts and/or 1 Tbsp bran or ground flax seed when the urge hits me. This makes for great variety but consistently fantastic banana bread variations. Thanks Babette!

Wet ingredients:
½ cup cream
½ cup milk
1 Tbsp white vinegar
2 ripe bananas
1 cup diced ripe plums (about 2 plums)
2 eggs
3 Tbsp. butter, melted

Dry ingredients:
1½ cups sugar
2½ cups flour
1 Tbsp ground flax seeds
3 tsp. baking powder
1½ tsp salt

Preheat oven to 325F. Oil four 16-oz or two 32-ox loaf pans. Mix together cream and milk with vinegar; alternatively you can use 1 cup buttermilk. Mash bananas in a big bowl and fold in all remaining wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Fold into wet ingredients and distribute among loaf pans. Bake 45 minutes, or until crusty and brown on top.