the arugula files

Savory Palmiers

When I was fifteen I worked at a Barbara Ann's Bakery,  where I would eat sugary palmiers by the dozen when my boss wasn't looking.  These savory palmiers are stuffed with goat cheese, sundried tomatoes, and pesto. They are easy to make and are a perfect treat for salty snackers like me.

The recipe comes from Ina Garten's book Back to Basics.  I think Ina should have called her book Back to Heaven.  If you have a few bucks to spend on a cook book, this is the one for you.

Biscuit-Palooza: Cream or Lard? Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits

Welcome to part 2 of biscuit-palooza, where a few biscuit lovers are searching for the answer to the age old question--cream or lard? During part 1 of biscuit-palooza we tested a cream biscuit recipe.  This part 2 recipe falls into the lard category; these biscuits are made with butter, buttermilk, and vegetable shortening.  A word about vegetable shortening, i.e., Crisco.  It's weird--and scary.  It's also not good for you.  Still, we wanted to try it to see if shortening improved the taste.  Plus all of us remember having cans of Crisco in our childhood homes, so it was a little bit of nostalgia as well.

Biscuit-Palooza: Cream or Lard? Cream Biscuits

Here's a critical question: which is better for making biscuits--cream or lard?  This question--the great debate, so to say--is the focus of biscuit-palooza.  The challenge: find a great biscuit recipe that isn't too complicated, and produces biscuits that taste buttery, salty, flaky, and yummy in my tummy.  To find the answer, my friend Jeff and I embarked on an epic journey.  We tested three different recipes: one with cream, one with Crisco and butter, and one with butter and cream.  All of these recipes had different prep difficulty ratings, which I will discuss.  There's no time to waste.  Let's get started.

Parmesan & Thyme Crackers

 
These crackers are like Cheez Its only fancier and tastier. If you like cheese, you'll like these.  Use parmesan reggiano (throw out those green cans!) and make sure not to over cook them.  You want the crackers to have light golden edges.

Feta, Roasted Pepper, and Basil Muffins

These muffins are perfect match for tomato soup or serve them on their own for a quick breakfast.  The savory ingredients that I folded into the muffin dough are exchangeable.  Try substituting the feta, pepper and basil for cheddar and jalapenos or chives, bacon, and cheddar.