Recipes for Accompaniments

Cheese and Green Onion Drop Biscuits

  • 2 cups all purpose unbleached flour
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup butter, cold, cut into chunks
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil or canola oil
  • 1 heaping cup grated extra sharp cheddar cheese
  • Heaping 1/2 cup green onions, minced
  • 2/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400°F.

In large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together to combine thoroughly. Add butter. Using pastry cutter or 2 knives, cut butter into flour until it is coarse, pea-sized. Add olive oil, grated cheese, and minced onion. Stir together.

Add milk a little at a time, just until the dough is moistened and no longer dry and powdery. The dough shouldn’t be sticky, just moist enough to hold together.

Drop golf ball sized portions onto an ungreased baking pan. Bake for 15-17 minutes. Serve warm with Fra’ Mani Turkey Chili.

Perfect Cannellini Beans

  • 1 pound dried Cannellini beans
  • Warm water
  • 3 Tablespoons very good olive oil
  • 5-6 fresh sage leaves
  • Small piece of yellow onion
  • 3 garlic cloves, unpeeled
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • Olive oil and freshly ground black pepper for serving

Sort through the beans and discard any that are broken or discolored. Wash the beans and drain them in a colander.

Place the beans in the top section of a double boiler. Add 6 cups of warm water. Cover.

Set over, not in, barely simmering water on a very low flame. Gently stir from time to time. As the beans cook, check the level of the water in the lower section of your double boiler to ensure adequate supply. After 1 ½ hours, check the beans. They should have changed color uniformly from white to cream, and doubled in size. Otherwise, continue cooking the beans. Take note of the water level, then drain and rinse the beans.

Put the beans back in the double boiler. Gently stir in the olive oil, sage leaves, yellow onion and garlic cloves.

Add hot water to the previous level, cover, and continue cooking for another hour or until the beans are creamy tender. The beans should cook very moderately—no bubbling at all. Be aware of the level of the water in the lower section of your double boiler to ensure adequate supply.

Stir in salt and let the beans cool for an hour in their juices.

Moisten the beans with a little of the cooking liquid and drizzle with very good olive oil. Grind a generous amount of black pepper over the beans. Eat at once.