It is nothing short of a small tragedy that my first year harvesting tomatoes in our backyard went awry and produced nary one bulbous red fruit to be eaten fresh off of the vine. Instead, I was left with perhaps a dozen hardened green tomatoes and no more warm-weathered nights to change their minds. They remained picked and piled in our kitchen “ripening” away their days on a shelf of various foodstuffs.
Thankfully, my Google Reader showed me a handful of green tomato recipes that warranted saving them from rotting away forever. I suppose I could have made fried green tomatoes, but I’m a little apprehensive to wasting fresh produce in a frying pan. Regardless, this biscuit recipe not only calls for green tomatoes, but roasted red peppers and cheddar cheese, which makes them a winner in my book.
I dropped the butter count a little and substituted slightly more buttermilk for moisture. I also added cinnamon, which was actually pretty noticeable in the final product–in a very good way. Far more complex than your average Pillsbury! Now, I have five green tomatoes left…any ideas?
GREEN TOMATO BISCUITS
(via NPR.org)
1 1/2 cups green tomatoes, diced
1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Hefty pinch fresh-ground black pepper
Hefty pinch cayenne
1/2 stick butter
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1 cup grated sharp cheddar
1/4 cup roasted red peppers, diced
2 tablespoons melted butter
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a sheet tray with parchment, spread out the green tomato cubes and bake until they dry out slightly, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool. Raise the oven temperature to 425 degrees.
In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, paprika, cinnamon, pepper and cayenne. Cut the butter into the flour until it is reduced to oatmeal-sized bits. Beat together the buttermilk and egg, and then gently mix this into the flour-butter mixture until just barely combined. Add the cheddar, red peppers and cooked and cooled green tomatoes, and gently mix until combined. Place a fresh piece of parchment on the empty cooking sheet.
Turn the dough out onto a floured countertop, and knead until dough ball begins to form. Cut into biscuits with a biscuit cutter or roll into balls with hands and place on the baking sheets. Bake until lightly browned, about 15 to 20 minutes.
